[HippieSmell]

Originally posted by virginiadiver69
I don't suggest you start eating cat food or anything. I have gathered you are someone who is so certain of OUR imminent demise that can be averted by human intervention. I'm sure even someone who is as "poor" as you are could find funds to offset your carbon footprint. Some examples; reduce the minutes on your cell phone...hell, get rid of your cell phone. Do you have cable tv, satellite even? How many video games do you buy in a year, how much music do you download?

Ahhh, that was a nice break from this thread. Anyway, to answer your questions: I don't have a house phone, so I have a cell, but I use maybe a quarter of my minutes, if that. I don't have cable or satellite TV, I buy about 3 games a year and don't download music. I'm not just poor, I'm in debt. And yes wlagarde, it's because I'm a recent grad. My only real luxuries are my computer and my aquarium. The rest of my free money is spent mostly on books and beer. To be honest, there's not a whole lot more to conserve. My shoes maybe, they have holes in them and need conserving.

Originally posted by virginiadiver69
I built my house about 1 1/2 yrs ago. I calculated about a 20% premium to have it built in manner that would allow me to be very low impact. As stated before, all of my non-potable water is a rain water collection system($15,000), I take military style showers(soap up, turn off water while I wash then back on to rinse.), turn OFF the water when actually brushing my teeth instead of letting it run the whole time, hot water heater is a demand only system about the size of a brief case($1,500), I use a hot water loop so I don't have to let the water run to get hot water($50), cloths washer is a front loading style that uses less than a gallon of water per load($1,500), cloths are hung out to dry when the temp allows for it(which is most of the year), geothermal water loop for mid range temp control($10,000), 16 SEER furnace and air conditioning for extreme temps($3,000 x 3), about 50% of my daytime lighting is provided by solar tubes($2,000), I recycle and compost, most of my "refrigeration" is done in my root/wine cellar(I do have a small refrigerator for fresh fish, dairy and meat). All of my meat and dairy is harvested locally and last but not least not a SINGLE splinter of wood was used in any fashion in the construction. It is 100% concrete, recycled plastic polymers, steel and glass. It's not one of these ultra modern homes either. If you didn't no any better you would swear it was a circa 1800 Victorian.
My motivation was not to "save the earth" either. I live in a roual aria where "services" are iffy at best. I also like the idea of self sufficiency.

Sounds like some of the features I wish I had. Makes me wonder why you bash things like solar panels though. Seems like they're right up your alley. That's great that you conserve water, but that's not really the issue here. Is there a shortage of water in Virginia?