Earth Day is an international event designed to raise awareness and concern for the environment. Started April 22nd in 1970, it is one of the largest grassroots movements in U.S. history. C. Crane is fortunate to be based in Fortuna, CA, which is surrounded by state and federally protected areas such as the Headwaters Forest, Pacific Ocean Coastlines, the Eel River and so many more. With so much abundant beauty it’s no surprise that people here feel strongly about conservation.
Many people in our area and elsewhere faithfully practice sustainability as a way of life. Where every day is Earth Day, so they are constantly looking for ways to reduce dependency on outside resources, and minimize waste. What used to be considered “hippie” counterculture has now worked its way into mainstream
The best thing about Earth Day is that everyone can participate. Take one of our pocket radios along if you are helping with a community project. The CC Solar Observer is a great outdoor radio for listening while you garden to grow food, raise chickens, or work your own sustainability program. Even something as simple as using rechargeable batteries with our Solar Battery Charger can help the environment since they use far less natural resources than disposable batteries.
We’re curious – are you a conservationist, and if so, how?
We installed solar panels on our roof this January, and we are generating over 3000 watts of power every day. We hope this will help furnish sun power to our local power grid and utility. We are in a drought here in California, so we conserve water as much as we can. I try to catch all kitchen waste water and use it on our garden and potted plants outside. We use old ashes from the fireplace and coffee grounds for mulch around the trees and outdoor plants. We have a C. Crane Internet radio and a Pocket radio and love them both.
Mr. K,
I am glad to hear about your PV panel installation. I hope the payback will be quick for you. I would love to hear more about your PV system. I read about a man in my area who installed a 10k watt system at his house and has not had an electricity bill since the installation.
I, too, recognize the need to minimize the loss of water (and money!) down the drain. To that end, I removed the P-trap of my bathroom vanity and put a 5 gallon bucket under the sink. I use that water to flush the toilet via the pour-into-the-bowl method. I would do the same thing with my kitchen sink but there is a heating system radiator under the sink. Since my bathroom is on the second floor of my house and my water heater is in the basement, it takes awhile to get hot water to my shower. Rather than have the cold water in the pipes go down the drain, I save it in half gallon juice bottles for drinking, plant watering and use in my humidifier. I also save rainwater for use on outdoor plants. I wish I had an underground tank in which to save rainwater and may have one in my next home, along with a PV system. I hope you are also saving other kitchen waste (banana peels, egg shells, potato peels, etc.) to compost rather than having the valuable resource hauled to a landfill. Like your PV panels, a compost container outside would also pay for itself with the rich black gold it creates.
CCrane radios have been a staple for me for so long that I had to have one of them reconditioned a couple of years ago.
Bill W.