Man, I’ve been having a lot of wet dreams lately. Not the usual, sexual kind, these dreams have included rain pounding against my window, the smell right before a storm, and the gloriousness of getting caught cycling in a torrential downpour. I guess you could say the drought has affected my psyche.

But my addled brain isn’t the only thing affected by a lack of rain and more that 75 days of triple-digit temperatures. The trees are shedding or dying. Lake Travis has turned into a wasteland. And while visions of waterdrops dance through my head, every yard in my neighborhood is pretty much dead. In fact, my lawn basically looks like this:

Next Tuesday, Austin moves to Stage 2 Water Restrictions. That means mandatory once-a-week watering of lawns. And with meteorologists saying the drought might stretch into 2012, it may be a long time before our little green friends drink again.

But don’t feel helpless. You can help lessen the effects of the drought, slow our movement into Stage 3, and keep your plants (kind of) green–all thanks to the help of gray water, or wastewater that doesn’t contain sewage.

My first encounter with gray water happened when I was living in Berlin. In my apartment, I had one water line for the whole flat. If I wanted to shower, I filled a bucket in my kitchen sink and then poured that into a standalone, plug-in shower unit. The water was warmed and then pumped through a shower head. The same water was then reused until my shower was complete. When I was finished, it drained into the kitchen sink.

At first, showering under dirty bathwater grossed me out–but then I realized that there wasn’t anything truly unsanitary about the water. There wasn’t any poop or pee. Other than soap, some dead skin and oils, the water was still pretty clean. That’s gray water: Not disgusting like sewage, but you wouldn’t want to drink it.

Using your gray water smartly is a great way to both conserve and help save your plants. All you have to do is take a shower!

Shower your way to greener plants

If you’re like me, this heat makes you shower twice a day. With the average shower using 2.5 galons a minute, that’s a lot of water going, um, down the drain. Since this water doesn’t have any sewage in it, you can reuse it on your plants. It’s that simple.

Step 1: Buy a bucket.

You’ll want to find a bucket large enough to stand in. After trying to find something local, I ended up getting this bucket at Target. It’s bendable and has built-in handles so you can carry it like a bag.

Bucket plus Dr Bronner's soap

Step 2: Use all-natural soap.

Many of the soaps we use have chemicals that aren’t as earth-friendly as they should be. To be on the safe side, I use Dr Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Made of essential oils, these liquid soaps get you clean and are earth friendly. You can get them at HEB, Whole Foods, and Target. They may seem pricey, but since they’re concentrated, you only need a squirt of soap per 1/2 gallon of water.

Step 3: Shower in the bucket.

Do your normal shower routine. When the water hits you, most of it runs down to the tub. By standing in the bucket, you’ll catch most of the water before it gets to the drain.

Step 4: Pour gray water on your trees or plants.

Now it’s time to use the reclaimed water. Since I’ve come to the realization that the lawn is going to die, I use the water to save the trees. Some plants may not like the fluoride and the chlorine, so you may want to let the water sit a bit before dumping it on houseplants. If you already water them with straight tap water, this may not be an issue!

Friends visiting from LA this weekend really enjoyed taking their water out to the trees. For me, using the gray water helps me feel a little more connected to my plants. And hopefully it won’t just save trees. Since the trigger for the stages is based on city-wide water usage and lake levels, if we use less water, it could also help prevent us from moving into Stage 3 drought.

If you’re an overachiever, you can use other types of gray water, just remember:

• Gray water from the kitchen includes grease and food scraps, making it hard to compost and potentially fetid.
• Gray water from the washing machine includes plant-beneficial phosphate and nitrogen, but often contain high levels of salt.
• Water with urine or poop is not gray water. Do not use your toilet water on your yard!!

We’ve all got to do our part!

How do you keep your trees and plants from dying during a drought?

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but Austin traffic has been lovely lately. At 4:30 everyday, streets are flooded with a brilliant fleet of autos. The sounds of horns and motors soothe your spirit with their melodies. To the left, to the right, behind and in front, you’re not alone! And everyone is peacefully happy together. No anger. The world is still and just as it should be.

Austin Traffic; Photo by: http://www.wired.com/underwire/

Just Kidding!

Ok, ok so our traffic situation is actually, quite unremarkable. It’s enough to drive you mad. So what’s the plan? The Urban Rail Project!

Austin is proposing to install a streetcar-ish rail on existing streets, connecting the Mueller, central Biz district, Capitol, Airport, and UT through all kinds of land which may or may not affect you and the environment in a positive way.

What about South Austin?

This proposed plan will:

• cover 16.5 miles, connects five urban areas
• cost $1.3 billion to construct
• run on current roadways or in right of way lanes
• be constructed over a variety of land including parks and recreation, civic, residential and commercial.

[Check out Downtown Austin Blog, M1EK's Bake-sale of Bile, or Austin Contrarian for discussion of Austin Urban Rail Project]

Will this railway displace cars and bikers? Considering the epic ineffectiveness of the MetroRail, I’ve gotta say, we could have a disaster on our hands. If this new rail doesn’t benefit those who would trade in their car for a rail ride, then what will the city do when/if traffic congestion worsens exponentially?

That’s where you come in. YOU, dear citizen will be voting on this next year. Tell the city what you think!

How beneficial do you think this plan will be in tackling traffic congestion?

Will it discourage driving?

Will it increase biking?

Will it invade residential areas and parks OR connect them?

How will it affect the environment?

Do you think it should connect South Austin?

Let’s talk about it kids! Tell the city what you think! Tomorrow, Friday, April 29th, is the last day to weigh in!!

Revamped Dresser

My personal philosophy on furnishing a home is that second-hand adds character that something new could never achieve. Lucky we live in Austin where trends of recycling and recreating are elements stitched into our culture. Here, a garbage can is art waiting to happen. Just look at the Cathedral of Junk and the discarded piano project as examples. It’s a Concrete Rain forest- that is a city that quickly recycles and refurbishes waste. Just like the rain forest floor.

I own loads of pieces I picked up off a dumpster or curb, al now revamped and in my casita. I love telling my Austin friends that I found my coffee table on the street. They glow with green envy. Whereas out of towners blankly stare and force a smile that screams “WHAAAAT!?!?!? IT’S NOT FROM POTTERY BARN??? OH GOD, I GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE. WHY DO I TALK TO ARI? SHE’S SO…. POOR.”

Discarded dresser I found in a parking lot

I recently found a dresser that was in need of some love and thought I’d share the steps I took to redo it, in case you have an item you’ve been wanting to work on. Whether you live in Austin or Nantucket, anyone can be creative and anyone can make something great out of something old.

And ladies, don’t be afraid to tackle these kinds of projects. I just purchased a sander and operated it without any help. Yea, I got some concerned looks at the Home Depot, and my roomie was shocked to see me sanding away in the back yard, but I got the job done. She said, “It’s just weird seeing a girl with a sander.”

Pish posh! Every woman should have a tool collection–or wear high heels in the garden.

So, I found this dresser abandoned in a parking lot and thought I could fix it up:

• Step 1: Sanding

Sand the old paint off and smooth out the surface. I found this step to be really cathartic. There’s something comforting about taking something old, ironing out all of its scars and blemishes, and turning it into something smooth and new.

Sanding down dresser drawers

• Step 2: Painting

Put yourself into the piece. I love love love gold. I chose gold and an ivory color for this piece. Choose colors that really speak to you.Also, don’t scrimp on your brush, it makes all the difference.

• Step 3: Hardware

I’d suggest heading to Uncommon Objects on South Congress to look for hardware or cool pieces to add to your project.

• Step 4: Enjoy!

Ta Da! Who needs Pottery Barn when you’ve got Austin’s curbs? In just 4 hours something old and unwanted was transformed int something new and pretty–at least, I’d like to think so.

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Thousands have joined the 10:10 campaign across the globe. Photo by Jeff Moore

I’m really set on this idea that we don’t need government to pass legislation to tell us that we should reduce our carbon emissions. I think, we can just do it. I mean, what’s stopping us?

I realize some folks just roll their eyes at the idea of global warming. Other peeps don’t appreciate the intrinsic immorality of over consuming one’s resources. But I think we should all strive to be more efficient and more sustainable whether or not you believe that the planet has finite resources.

So last year I made a pledge to reduce my carbon emissions in 2010 by 10%, and invited you to do the same. Now, I’m not the kind of gal who counts her calories or really pays much attention to any details, but this year has made me a bit of a crazy. Those of you who made the pledge can probably agree that it’s been exhausting.

The results to my 10:10 challenge are in. Last year my total carbon footprint was 8.1 metric tons. I had to achieve 7.29 metric tons of CO2 or less in the last 12 months to have reduced emissions by 10%.  Aaand I came in at…. DRUMROLL……

7.71 metric tons of CO2!!!!!!!

I was so close! I feel like a contestant in The Biggest Loser. I’m really disappointed, kids. While I was able to lower it by 9.5%, all I see is room for improvement. I just keep thinking, one day these efforts will become habits that I’ll just do, subconsciously. For example, when I first started recycling in 2005, it was really, really difficult. But now I just effortlessly take the extra seconds it takes to toss things into the recycling bin.

Maybe I shouldn't have taken that trip to Tulum? Nah. Photo by Evan Mathews

My biggest point of opportunity is cutting back on travel. I know it’s easier said than done, but flying is one of the worst things we can do with respect to carbon. Still, we all have places to be, and no one wants to be a radical, hippie that tells their cousin they’re not attending his wedding because you’re counting your carbon tons. However, we CAN cut back. Even if you don’t lay out an exact carbon budget, I think it’s as easy as just saying no to trips that feel excessive.

This is no time for panic or wallowing in misery! I’ve got a game plan:

1. I’m going to work from home more. If I can cut back on unnecessary commutes into town, that adds up 16 miles in one day. HUGE savings!

2. I’m going to go back to Pescetarianism. I’m not really the type that craves meats. I really only eat them to agreeable with my dinner dates, and that’s not a good reason to eat meat at all.

3. I’m going to make my house more energy efficient. I feel that the roomies and I are pretty efficient, the house could use some work. If I can explore more ways to lower our monthly bills, I may be able to get down another 9.5%-10% in 2011! Or maaaaybeeee, 11% in 2011!?!?!

Ready…. BREAK!

What are other ways I can cut my carbon emissions?

Simpson Kalisher

As ACL approaches, you probably have loads of friends making their way into Austin. If you’re like me, you’re scrambling to make housing accommodations for everyone, and of course, figure out how you’re going to actually get to Zilker Park. I’d like to offer you a ride aboard the city’s most voguish mode of transit: The Capital Metro System!

I know what you’re thinking: Only hobos, dirty trannies, and crazy people ride the bus. Not so. The bus system is quickly becoming a scene for ta new breed of elite. Nothing screams “I’m smart and care about my planet” more than being seen on Capital Metro. Become a member of the poorgeoise, and hop on a bus this weekend!

This past weekend on a visit to San Franisco, I was moved to ride our Metro more. Not only are most vehicles sustainably powered and extraordinarily efficient in SF, but they’re sooooo stylish. On my first Muni trip I saw the most glamorous woman step onto the bus.  She was wearing a classic black dress, fabulous shades and diamonds. Her beautiful, grey hair and graceful posture would make anyone think, “OMG, her limo must have broken down!”

But no, she was not only willfully riding the crowded bus, she also proficiently directed some lost tourists to the proper bus routes to get to their destination.

My point is simply that the bus is nothing to be embarrassed of. It’s simply the smartest way to travel.  I mean, who doesn’t like to be driven around town by someone else? You get to catch up on your reading, call your friends and family, people watch, sit back and relax–all while getting from point A to point B.

There’s no better time than ACL weekend to begin developing good habits!  Ride the Metro to Zilker Park. The bus system is mostly punctual, and you can plan out your day using Google Maps public transit option!

Or you can eliminate the oil all together, beat the traffic and ride a bike!

Also, see ACL’s Rock & Recycle page or last year’s tips on how to have a green festival.

Remember riding the bus is beautiful.  I’ll leave you a few borrowed photos of SF’s MUNI and BART: Viola!

Brad Evans of Citysnaps

Brad Evans of City Snaps

Paul Burd of Highly Subjective

Lily Gahagan

openorigins.com

Have you ever stayed at a hotel that placed lavender and chocolates on your pillow?  Or what about one that just had EVERYTHING covered.  They were that fab, eco-friendly, hotel with the peppermint shampoo and free bike rentals and maps and their picks of everything visitors should do in the area.  What if Austin was like that?  What if people visited Austin, and thought, “Gee they’ve just about thought of everything!”  What would that city look like to you?

Are you picturing what I’m picturing?!  Business folk carousel zip-lining downtown every morning for work, sporadic fountains and misting stations for cooling off, a giant playground in the center of the city… I could go on and on.

While my ideal Austin looks like something out of Dr. Seuss’s “Oh the Places You’ll Go”, your ideas are probably much more imaginative and/or realistic.  So let’s hear about it!!!

Austin Futures Fair wants to hear from YOU!  You have until tomorrow to submit a photo/drawing/map and 100 words on how you envision the future of Austin to the What is Austin site.  They’re trying to round up 900 entries to submit to the city’s Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, so let’s all get in on this.  It’ll be a great time to bond and get creative with your favorite Austinites.

Check out a few of the submissions for Austin Futures Fair. You can read their write-ups here.

What would you create to make Austin a more magical place?

What’s one thing that could make Austin a more self-sufficient city?

Is there something missing that you wish would appear?

As we learned last week, there may be poison in your water.  So just to be safe, we’re suggesting that all Austinites play it safe and try not to come in contact with tap water until we get word from the EPA.  Or if you MUST, let’s take after the gentleman in the video and wear appropriate protective gear:

Kidding.

But suppose that you’ve been diagnosed with cancer.  Suppose that loads of your neighbors and friends were being diagnosed with cancer among other respiratory diseases.  Suppose many of your young friends around were dying.  Who would you blame?  God?  Karma?  Apollo, the sun god?

The people of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, as well as countless unsuspecting Americans, are suffering with tragedies such as these.  Why?  What if I told you that MAYBE, POSSIBLY, the toxic ash that the neighboring coal plant was dumping and burning had something to do these cancer cases.  But maybe it was Apollo, who knows.

Photograph by Carlan Tapp in the 2008 Kingston, TN Fly Ash "Spill"

The thing is, it’s not just one isolated incident we’re talking about here.  This is HUGE.  Fly Ash is being dumped in a water source near you.  It’s in the air as well; don’t think that wind can’t carry these toxins over to neighboring areas. Quite possibly near your friends and family.  This stuff is really great; it has arsenic, and lead, and mercury, and selenium, and chromium… and you may be drinking it, breathing it, and eating it!  Well that’s just the yummiest cocktail I’ve ever heard of.  Watch out Margarita, you’ve got some competition baby.  OH, it’s also used to make concrete, dry wall, cement, compost, fertilizer, metal and plastic products.

So last week I went to Dallas to try to figure out exactly why the EPA hasn’t already recognized coal ash as hazardous and dangerous.  To break it down, the main opposing arguments were as follows:

1. Not ALL fly ash is toxic.

2. Coal-Fire Plants already regulate their waste disposal–and doing a fantastic job of it too.

3. (This one was my favorite) To label fly ash as toxic and hazardous would give fly ash products a bad stigma and consumers would be afraid to purchase any product with fly ash.  More regulation is bad for business.

REEEEALLLLLY!?!?!  You don’t say!?  You mean to tell me that if people are told that a product is toxic, they’re less inclined to use it!?!?!  NOOOOOOOOOO!  Well that right there a good enough for me ya’ll.  I take back everything I said.  Heavens forbid we lose money over a couple of cancer cases.  They’re just people.  It’s just our environment.  No biggie.

In all seriousness, this is idiotic.  This should have been taken care of long ago.  Please take a moment to tell Lisa Jackson of the EPA that you want to clean up this mess.  Eva Hernandez of the Sierra Club offers some tips on what we need the EPA to change.  See how you can take action with the Sierra Club.

Finally, the following is short 8 minute film about the people of Bokoshe, OK.

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What should we do with coal ash?

Should businesses be exempt because it might hurt the economy?

What’s the sexiest way to wear protective gear?

Imagine you live in a place where your surrounding environment was as toxic as smoking 20 packs of cigarettes a day.  Imagine you are completely unsuspecting that the water you drink, the air you breathe, the food you eat all have traces of harmful metals and chemicals. Sounds like some horrific story out of Erin Brockovich, but it’s precisely what’s happening across the country.

Check this video of a couple in West Virginia whose water LIGHTS on FIRE:

A new study found 39 new toxic ash dumping sites from coal plant waste in 21 different states, including right here in Texas.  Basically coal plants everywhere are dumping their toxic sludge improperly and contaminating drinking water with arsenic and other heavy metals.

Did you know that Texas does not regulate coal ash dumping?

Did you know that Texas has 18 coal-fire plants, some of which are close to Austin?  The Fayette Power Plant, 60 miles southeast of Austin, was recently  found to have contaminated surrounding groundwater with levels of arsenic and lead exceeding the federal health-based standards for drinking water.  So far over 25 private drinking wells and over five public drinking wells have been discovered to be contaminated near Fayette.  It’s difficult to determine exactly how many other wells or areas have been affected.  Additionally there’s no telling if the other 17 plants in Texas are conducting similar business practices.

So is Austin’s water contaminated?

What about our neighbors?

I thought this dirty business of corporations massively polluting and endangering the lives of citizens was a thing of the past.  Didn’t we figure out by now that the environment needs to be protected by law?  I mean it’s not very difficult to understand.  We’ve established that chemicals and toxic pollutants mixed with our natural environment is no bueno.  SO WHY ARE STATE OR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES NOT RESPONDING TO THESE CRIMES?

If I were to dump toxic chemicals into your family’s water resource, shouldn’t I be held accountable for quietly poisoning you?  So why isn’t Texas holding coal fire plants accountable for their bad behavior?

Texas Coal Ash Hearings:  How You Can Help

Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 8th, 2010, hearings will be held in Dallas.  The Battle?  We need to make sure that we convince the EPA to enforce regulations for coal companies to dispose of their waste properly and begin cleaning up their nastiness.  Someone needs to protect our people and our environment from harmful toxins. There’s already a carpool and shuttle setup. You can also sign The Petition to protect our communities from coal ash.

Here’s a little more about coal ash, why it’s dangerous and how it affects Texans:

In the words of my younger brother, my Dad is “super Mexican.”  As children, the man insisted we waste NOTHING, and he always loved doing things the hard way. I mean, why should we spend 30 minutes making potato chips ourselves when we could just go to the store and buy some?  Why did we have to bike to visit his sister when the Suburban was sitting in the garage fully gassed up. Dad was soooo “Mexican”–and it used to drive me crazy.

While hanging out with Dad on a recent family gathering in Wimberley, I watched him walk around the cabin and make sure no one left on lights or threw away their glass bottles. Suddenly it dawned on me: Dad’s not a cheap Mexican, he’s just simply resourceful.

When I was a child, my Dad, brother and I used to go out into the woods and harvest prickly pear, or as Dad calls ‘em in Spanish: “tuna” [thoo-ná].  In the hot summer days, we’d use them to make make popsicles, lemonade, meat marinade or just swallow those pink suckers whole.  As we got older, we started adding them to margaritas. So to celebrate summer, I thought I’d adapt those old recipes and share how to make prickly pear MARGARITAS…handpicked, Guerrero style.

If you’ve never had prickly pears, you’re in for a surprise. They’re not as sugary as most fruit.  They have a gentle, mildly  tart sweetness similar to Swedish Fish candy.  I find them to be perfect for margaritas because their flavor is subtly sugary with just the right kick to compliment the soury sweetness of agave, tequila and lime.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Handpicked Prickly Pear Margaritas:

Step 1:

Using a pair of tongs, grasp the prickly pear and with a knife (or machete if you’re a badass), slice the prickly pears off of mama cactus.

Collect them in a bowl.  Be very careful not to prick yourself.

Step 2:

Use your gas stove top, a fire or a candle to burn off the thorns.  This process will also make the prickly pear juices flow.  (Alternatively, you could boil them).

Step 3:

Cut or peel off the prickly pear skin and puree the flesh with some water and agave nectar.  We pretty much wing the measurements, but I’d say 1/2 cup of water to every 3 prickly pear.  Squirt agave to taste.

You can strain your seeds, but they are edible.

Step 4:

Add 1/4 cup of lime juice, tequila, ice, agave to taste, and a splash of orange juice and blend.  We usually pour 1-2 shots of tequila per person into our margaritas, but we like them strong. Garnish with lime or strawberries.

Step 5:

Drink up.

When we were done with ours, my uncle said, “So much work for margaritas!”  And that’s precisely the lesson.  Food takes work.  It doesn’t, and shouldn’t come easy.  Most of all, it’s fun!

What’s your favorite seasonal summer drink?

What other seasonal fruits have you made into a cocktail?

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A wise man once told me a little parable about the cycles of life and nature.  He said his neighbors were having trouble with ants destroying their crops.  After a few weeks they found a pesticide that wiped out the ant species.  Their crops were healthy for a while, until the arch enemy of the crop ants, the “bear ants” had free reign over the farms.  They came in from the surrounding rain forest and began causing more damage than their smaller counterparts.  He said his fellow farmers didn’t understand that every action in nature has a reaction.

“What did you do?” I asked.  “We’re trying to exterminate the bear ant,” he replied.  I thought he was joking, but apparently not.  Life these days seems to be that way.  We humans, make mistakes, HUGE mistakes, but don’t really learn from them.

We’ve just faced one of the biggest human errors in history.  Whoopsies, we accidentally spilled 172 million gallons of oil into the gulf of Mexico.  Our bad.  Now what?  Whoopsies, we accidentally spilled 800,000 gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River.  Eeek, Team Humans is not doing so well this year.

The thing that frightens me most about all of this is that every time we do some damage, however minuscule or catastrophic, we can never fully grasp the effects it will have on us in the immediate future.  We are a race of learning through trial and error methods, which isn’t the most sustainable method if you consider the global scale in which we live.  We build coal-fired power plant on a coast, and years and years down the road realize that they emit mercury into the sea and air, making it unsafe to consume too much tuna on account of mercury poisoning.  Later, some kid who lives far from that plant, grows up eating tuna sandwiches everyday.  That kid was me, I loved tuna.  Did you know mercury intake causes loss of sight?  I am legally blind without contacts.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.

The point is, it’s not over, and there’s really no telling how long we’ll be dealing with this.  This week scientists found oil specs in crab larvae.  So what happens when other animals begin eating these larvae?  If little droplets of mercury from a coal plant can make a child lose her sight, then what affects will oil specs have?  I have no idea.  I don’t think anyone will for a while.

Ceresco Dam off the Kalamazoo River

I’m not here to tell you what you should think.  I don’t really know if I can say that I think this oil spill was worse than the Exxon Valdez spill.  How do you measure something like that exactly?  I’m simply saying that it’s time we all stopped believing exactly what we’re told.  We need to think critically about our actions.  So say that the oil spill isn’t AS BAD as everyone is making it out to be.  So what?  It’s still a horrific accident that we should learn from.  We’re smarter people than to not understand the obvious.  And OBVIOUSLY the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from Canada to the gulf isn’t such a good idea right now.  Just saying.

Are manmade disasters inevitable?

If so, what can we do to limit the impact they have on our environment?