Santa Clara County Considering Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Santa Clara County is considering a push to make wiring all new homes and homes that are remodeled more friendly to electric car chargers. As it stands today, typically electric vehicles are charged on chargers connected to 110 to 120 volt outlets. This can take a few hours to charge an electric car battery. A faster charge can be had with a 220 volt outlet the type more commonly found for use with dryers and washers. A yet faster charge as little as 30 minutes or so can be had on an outlet that serves 480 volt DC. However currently there are no rules in place in Santa Clara County to require the high voltages for auto charging. The supervisors are considering requiring all new construction and all remodels to come with at least 220 volts in the garage so that a new owner of an electric vehicle will not also have to get their house rewired. Because with all the talk of charging stations all over the country as common as gas station. The fact of the matter is the charging station most people use every day is the one in their garage. A lot of people will think this is not a good idea because hey it adds to the cost of a home or the cost of a remodel and that is all true but if you own an electric vehicle you will be saving the money on not buying gas. I suppose if you don't own an electric vehicle you will spend the money regardless and not see the savings but I do suppose you will at least have smaller lines at the gas station and that is worth something right. What do you think?
Photo by RightBrainPhotography@Fickr.com
The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013
The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 is a new bill winding it's way through government bureaucracy that basically says that companies cannot throw you in jail for up to five years and fine you huge sums of money while hiding behind copyright and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Basically what this is about is companies like Apple computer, Samsung, and Sony don't want you doing such nefarious things with the product you buy from them as Jail breaking them. Or god forbid that you take one of those products to a new perhaps cheaper carrier and cut off their cash cow. Now they are using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to say that simply jail breaking a phone is breaking their copyright. That is simply wrong.
The Beginning
In the beginning of the personal computer age in the time of the TRS 80 and other computers of that time and day you were given the code and some simple programs to master to help you learn how to code. On the TRS 80 it was BASIC and one of the first things I did was I coded some games and I took out the original coders name and put in my own. It was simple to do and it was cool for a kid who was twelve and it taught me to love what you could do on a computer. So here we start out where they give you all the code and teach you basic programming and the computers are always in need of working on and you just have to work on them they are made for the owners to work on all the time. Basically remove 4 screws and you can get into your Personal Computer anytime you want now what do you want to upgrade and make better or faster? Then DMCA comes along and these companies are saying whoa stop there don't change a thing. After they taught us hey you need to keep working on this machine to keep it going and keep it up with current technology. Now they say stop. Not only do they say stop but they say you bought this from us but we still own the copyright on it so you can't touch it and if you do you will go to jail. Many people did anyway and some got in trouble with law. That's how we have come to the Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 To stop these abuses of regular people just trying to make to phones that they spent their hard earned money on work better for them.
Comparisons
So what is you bought a table from www.ikea.com and it was beautiful, the best table you could find. But then you found out that everyone in town had virtually the same table as you? So you said to yourself hey I will buy some paint from www.homedepot.com and paint my table. But then you get the call from Ikea, don't paint the table because if you do you are breaking the law and you will go to jail for a long time and be fined so much money you will never be able to pay the bill. Sounds pretty stupid right? I know it totally makes sense about this table. But for some reason these phone companies just don't want to let go of this control they have on all of us. I know you are thinking why is this type of post of a green living blog? Well, part of green living is being able to choose and live a life in the easiest cheapest way. The Unlocking Technology Act Of 2013 will help to make our lives a little easier and cheaper. If we want to unlock our phone to get more features or to take it to another cheaper carrier then we can. More power to you.
Spotify, a photo by Johan Larsson on Flickr.
Paper Or Plastic Which Grocery Bag To Choose
Paper Or Plastic we are given this choice at least once and sometimes several times every week as we go about something as simple as our grocery shopping. So what is the right answer? I know that some people just prefer the plastic and some people will say hey it takes as much energy to make a paper bag as it does to recycle a plastic grocery bag. But this is my thought on the paper or plastic grocery bag question. I think that a paper grocery bag is made of a biodegradable product that can be used over and over again. Now I know that a plastic grocery bag can be as well but it just isn't as durable as a paper grocery bag. I mean think about it. Remember back in school when we covered our books with paper grocery bags and it would last a whole year. Then we would throw what was left away at the end of the year. Do you think we could make a book cover out of a plastic grocery bag that would last a whole year of school?
Deforestation To Make Paper is a Big Problem
There are some that say huge swaths of forest are being deforested to make paper bags. I say that is not true. The truth of the matter is that paper is made from trees that are fast growing and from trees that are replanted at a rate that will keep up with the rate of cutting otherwise the paper company will go out of business.
It is Easier To Recycle Paper Than Plastic
The steps the recycle paper are fairly straightforward. First you must collect the paper products. Then the large bales are soaked so that the paper separates into individual fibers. Chemicals are then added to this soup of water and pulp. This paper soup is then sent into a system to remove all of the ink. Once the ink is taken off the pulp it is treated just like fresh pulp and fed into a paper machine.
Reusable Shopping Bags
Reusable Shopping bags are really a great thing. They are the best thing to use. They are king of like the steel reusable water bottles. The best choice for the job at hand. But if you are like me you don't always have your reusable bags with you. So you know the new laws that say you have to purchase a bag for 10 cents if you don't bring your own reusable bags? I hate those laws. Now since this is a living green blog you would probably think I would love those laws but I hate them simply because they take a normal cost of the grocery business and pass it to the consumer as if it's a great thing. Not to mention that they sell you the reusable bags. Make using reusable bags as easy and simple as throw away bags and then it will become so simple and normal and people will have no problem with it. But I do like them I just don't like the fact people have to pay for them and then are forced to pay ransom for their groceries if they forget their reusable bags at home.
Santa Clara County is considering a push to make wiring all new homes and homes that are remodeled more friendly to electric car chargers. As it stands today, typically electric vehicles are charged on chargers connected to 110 to 120 volt outlets. This can take a few hours to charge an electric car battery. A faster charge can be had with a 220 volt outlet the type more commonly found for use with dryers and washers. A yet faster charge as little as 30 minutes or so can be had on an outlet that serves 480 volt DC. However currently there are no rules in place in Santa Clara County to require the high voltages for auto charging. The supervisors are considering requiring all new construction and all remodels to come with at least 220 volts in the garage so that a new owner of an electric vehicle will not also have to get their house rewired. Because with all the talk of charging stations all over the country as common as gas station. The fact of the matter is the charging station most people use every day is the one in their garage. A lot of people will think this is not a good idea because hey it adds to the cost of a home or the cost of a remodel and that is all true but if you own an electric vehicle you will be saving the money on not buying gas. I suppose if you don't own an electric vehicle you will spend the money regardless and not see the savings but I do suppose you will at least have smaller lines at the gas station and that is worth something right. What do you think?
