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All in a Day’s Work

All in a Day's Work by artifishall
All in a Day’s Work, a photo by artifishall on Flickr.

Somewhere in between St. Cloud and Minneapolis, MN I captured this picture of a man performing what must be an adrenaline pumping job. Here he is holding onto the insulator that holds up some heavy duty power lines and hanging them up on telephone poles, all while being suspended from a helicopter.

My theory is that this job would take way too long any other way. There aren’t roads along these lines so a crane isn’t feasible, even if it was it would take much longer for it to continually pick up new pieces and drive from pole to pole.

Minnesota is working towards wind generating 25% of the power for their state by 2025 and these lines will be transferring some of that power.

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Ecopods~ A Home on the Go

I was absolutely amazed when I saw the features of this eco-designed home! It is made from recycled materials, has a built in solar panel, and has a small ecological footprint. In addition, this unit closes up and can relocate from site to site. For those of you that are “on the go” travelers this may be just the perfect home for you. The link below will take you to the designers site and includes many more detailed photos of the Ecopod’s interior.

Ecopods

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Greenhouse Design of Dome

While I was volunteering for Sustainable Fox Valley this morning at Just Act Natural’s Green Market, a women asked me if I knew where to find a geodesic dome kit. I was unsure how to respond, I have heard of domes before. Like the bio-dome that is a controlled ecosystem or the comedy movie called, Bio-Dome. This was a question I did not have an answer for until now.

I researched the topic and discovered that there are kits sold from CO to design your own geodesic greenhouse. This is beneficial to do year round gardening in cold climates. The link below will take you directly to the site to learn more.
Greenhouse design

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Just Act Natural Green Market~ Downtown Appleton

This Saturday, tomorrow, Just Act Natural will be hosting the Green Market as an addition to the Farmers Market. This will be going on from 8am-12:30pm.

There will be many environmental vendors available which include: information about composting, solar panels, organic lawn care and much more. Diane and J.c. from Just Act Natural will be there to help you get started with a green lifestyle.

I will be volunteering with Sustainable Fox Valley. Sustainable Fox Valley is a non-profit organization that encourages being able to satisfy present human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. I will be helping the children from the Fox River Academy with the “Wonder of Worms” activity. This will be a fun and educational opportunity for the children and their families of the FRA. Decorated rain barrels made by the students of the Fox River Academy will also be on display.

This is a wonderful addition to the Appleton Farmers market and is filled with such great content to help our communities continue to grow. I hope you enjoy the article written by J.c. of Just Act Natural by following the direct link below.


Just Act Natural Green Market

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Milwaukee’s Rock the Green Music Festival


Rock the Green Music Festival is a non-profit festival that encourages sustainable and healthy lifestyles for communities near and far.

Veolia Environmental Services is a large sponsor of the event. The company will provide on site composting and recycling. There will also be eco friendly programs, emerging green technologies,  and tips to reduce your carbon footprint.

The festival will be powered by clean energy sources such as: biomass, solar, wind and bio-diesel powered generators. All disposable items will be replaced with their compostable equivalents, while a Green Team will manage waste recovery stations throughout the grounds. Finally, free water stations will replace the usual individually sold, plastic water bottles.

There will be locally grown food and beverage vendors, a bike tour before the concert, and 6 bands to fill the stage. Many interactive areas will focus around our 4 main elements: earth, water, fire, and air. These elements reflect the various sustainable and renewable technologies.

Milwaukee’s Rock the Green Music Festival

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Community Garden Partnership- Fox Cities

Most of the food my family and I eat has come from our garden or local farms. Yesterday, we stopped at a Community Garden in Appleton. I picked a leek and 2 heads of romaine lettuce. To give back to the garden I trimmed the flowers of the purple basil and pulled out weeds and dead leaves.

The Community Garden Partnership is a program of the Goodwill NCW. The partnership provides opportunities for diverse groups to share their gardening experiences. The link below will take you directly to the Community Garden Partnership site.

Community Garden Partnership