(I’m going through my old writings, and I came across this journal entry about the Encebado Fire on Taos Pueblo.)

Fire destroys that which feeds it. Simone Weil

It’s been very very very very very hot here. 90 is considered hot, but
it’s been 95. We’ve been eating fruit and popsicles for every meal, it
seems. Should I mention that we’re grumpy? No, I’ll just leave it at that.

On the Fourth of July, it was… hot, but a breeze picked up, the
temperature dropped to about 85, and rain threatened. It was raining in
the mountains, so we were hoping it would make it into the valley. I sat
on the back porch in the wind and watched lightning strike the
mountains. I thought, Yes, we’ll get some rain soon. My second thought
was, Fire.

About 30 minutes later I was inside and smelled smoke. I thought it was a
neighbor burning trash (very traditional here to burn trash outdoors in a
metal barrel – and very toxic, I might add…), but when I went outside, I
saw a huge plume of smoke coming from the mountains. Oh sh*t. A
wildfire. I thought we could get through one season without a fire.

The wind was very strong now and pushing this fire towards town at an
alarming rate. It had to be assessed before the Forest Service could order
fire crews, bulldozers and slurry bombers, though. This was also sacred
land on Taos Pueblo, so all decisions had to be approved through their
administration. While this process went on, we wondered what the immediate
future held. I wished I’d put gas in the car before coming home from the
holiday parade, and began to mentally pack up kids, dog, cat, food,
clothes, photographs and important papers. I hate that feeling, but we’ve
had so many fires in recent years, it almost felt normal.

The wind died down overnight into Saturday, temperatures dropped and the
humidity rose, slowing the fire advance into the valley. The wind on
Saturday afternoon (there is a perpetual breeze here) pushed the fire away
from town, thankfully, so no buildings or people were threatened. The
valley is now full of smoke, though, which is gagging me.

My mother, who is back in the hospital with very high blood pressure, is
worried that we are burning up in this fire. Her doctor (for some weird,
mysterious and stupid reason) took her off her anti-depressants, so she is
very irrational now. She watched CNN all day yesterday, and it’s adding to
her hysteria. I had to tell her we’re safe, but I actually was not
convinced we were. The fire seems to be under control, but the wind can
shift and change all that in a split second.

I always end up at the river this time of year. Fall is such a transitional time, and I don’t always do well with transition. Apparently, I subconsciously seek out the soothing sound of the low water moving over and around the rocks in November.

This has gotten to be a ritual to accept the onset of winter. Summer is gone, and fall is a beautiful and warm season, but the winter freeze is not far behind. Summer birds have come and gone, winter birds are moving in, and other wildlife are settling into their winter routines. Time at the river for me is a last hurrah and acceptance of the next seasonal change.

I don’t care for winter. As the sun begins its southward journey in August, I begin to wonder and worry about what kind of winter we will have. I don’t like surprises. Will it be cold? Snowy? Cloudy? Am I prepared? What are we in for?

I was told that the weather the first two weeks of September is indicative of the winter to come. I have found this to be true. This year, it was unusually warm and dry. Will winter be warm and dry? I hope so.

I don’t want winter to come. Ever. But come it will, as will spring. Catching a bit of river flow in November brings some sort of acceptance of that. The river is life, constant motion, feeding the plants, animals and scenery, and a respite from all that tries to still me or hold me back. It rejuvenates me, giving me the strength to move through yet another transition.

The willows are glowing gold with tinges of green, slowly surrendering to winter. The mud at the edge of the river smells… well… earthy and full of life. Just below the surface of the river, the rocks are covered with mud and algae waving with the water’s movement. Salt dots the mud and rocks on the edge, proof the water was higher earlier in the year.

I smell salt, mold and fishermen. Life.

I wish I could bring the sounds and smells home with me to share with you, but I can only bring back the sights. Click them for larger images.

These last two are of the US Geological Survey’s Gaging Station. Engineers have been measuring the height of the river here since 1931. The highest discharge was 9730 CFS (cubic feet per second) in June of 1948 and again in June 1949. For all the floods I’ve seen in the 22 years I’ve lived here, they have not been record-breakers, obviously! The lowest CFS was 155 in September 1956.

I wrote about a day at the river last November and a day on the Verde River in Arizona last spring.

With a human population of, say, one-half billion people, some minor changes in technology and some major changes in the rate of use and equity of distribution of the world’s resources, there would clearly be no environmental crisis. Dr Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb, 1968

Today’s world population is 6,876,268,580, just a tad over Dr Ehrlich’s 42 year old recommendation.

The overpopulation discussion came up again yesterday when my friend, David, tweeted this:

I’m starting to think the only thing that will save humanity is a good old fashioned plague.

Someone asked if he meant that as a solution to over-population. He said:

Population and planetary destruction resulting from it, yea. Not sure we can fix it with science anymore.

My response was that, in 1985, An Atlas of Planet Management stated that if the population was 2% of what it was at the time, the world’s ecosystems would be in balance.

The earth was overpopulated by 98%.

Twenty five years ago.

And it has gotten worse.

I wrote a couple weeks ago about a walk I took with my 83 year old neighbor. She said her recycling is for naught, because it won’t correct the base problem of overpopulation. No matter what she does to be an eco-friendly citizen, it does no good when there are too many people using too few resources.

So how do you get rid of a majority of the people? That sounds cruel, but what else could be the solution?

David’s point of the plague wiping out the population does not only have to do with science, overpopulation and the depletion of natural resources, but also how people do not believe the sad state of our environment.

When I mentioned this to another friend yesterday, he said, ‘I just read in a NY Times story this morning that only “48 percent of people in the Midwest agree with the statement that there is ‘solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer.’” (Pew poll) Is it that people willfully refuse to believe anything they don’t want to believe, or is it that the American system of education is so terrible?’ People can google climate change and find all sorts of facts about it, but why don’t they? Are their heads deliberately in the sand, or are we not disseminating the information broadly enough?

There is much educating to be done about climate change. If people are living here and are obviously part of the problem, then they must take responsibility and tend to the earth and her systems.

Take your pick: Do your part, or succumb to the plague with the other 98%.

Do your part:

> Shop for eco-friendly products from environmentally conscious companies (or not shop at all).
> Recycle.
> Conserve energy at home.
> Buy organic and/or local food, or grow your own.
> Call out and stop supporting corporations and non-profits for greenwashing and hypocrisy.
> Stop flying.
> Have fewer or no children.
> Be kind and help others.

While you are googling facts about climate change, google tips for living an eco-friendly and environmentally lifestyle. Or start by reading my Eco-living Tips.

Lots of great eco news this week! Here is a sampling. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for the rest!

> This is the best story I have read in a long time. Helping others and recycling warms my heart. When both are done on a large scale, it’s humbling.

> Fall is the best time for hiking. Temperatures have dropped, so it’s more comfortable, and signs of changing seasons are everywhere. Use this checklist before you venture out.

> Last fall I wrote about the ecology of Manhattan in the 1600s. I have personal ties to the area at that time and had found a website about the island and the indigenous people who lived there. Now an interesting project has been launched that will carry that information further. The Welikia Project is ‘an effort to document the historical ecology of all of New York City and compare it to the current biodiversity of the city.’

> Most of my furniture is second-hand. I love yard sales, flea markets and thrift stores. Recycling furniture is eco friendly and lots of fun! Here are some excellent tips on furnishing your home with second hand furniture.

> I grew up in New England and appreciate what it stands for. This is a story and a slideshow of a unique custom home in Maine designed by a Harvard educated architect. New England is embedded in it.

Sunday morning, a few of us environmentalists had a discussion about ecology after reading an article on the potential extinction of plant life. The article talked about how important plants are to the planet, and how they are losing ground due to habitat loss and over-farming.

Our conversation was about how plants and animals are clearly telling us what’s wrong, or trying to anyway. We all agreed that if we don’t pay attention, we’ll be next. It won’t be a rapid demise, but more of a slow painful departure.

We need to change our ways. Now.

I’d been thinking about this earlier in the morning, how we are almost afraid of nature, trying to get rid of it, change it, showing our denial of its importance. Showing our ignorance is more like it.

This is one of my responses in that thread. Just a little reminder.

People don’t realize that we are PART of the planet. We’re not a separate entity. Get naked and go outside. There. Nothing separates you from bugs, plants, rocks or the wind. We are so far removed from nature, it’s scary.

We all have a role in our huge ecosystem, but because humans have ‘evolved’ brains and the ability to ‘reason,’ if you want to call it that, we feel superior to all natural things. We try to control or eradicate them, instead of working with them to keep the natural processes, of which we are ALL a part, intact.

Don’t forget where you are in the scheme of things. You are no better than an ant or an ocean, so get humble and do the right thing. If you need some help, go read my Eco-living Tips section.

Do it now to save YOUR ecosystem!

I’ve been seeing a lot of articles about Passive Houses (or Passivhaus) in the news lately. I’m glad, because this is the construction technique of the future, reducing utility bills by 90%! As energy prices rise, buildings will have to be more efficient. There is no excuse to not build a green home, and the Passivhaus is the best choice.

The Passivhaus, a performance based building standard, was developed in the late 1980s in Germany by Dr. Wolfgang Feist and Bo Adamson. The first passivhaus was built in Darmstadt, and Dr. Feist subsequently founded the Passivhaus Institut in 1996. Today there are approximately 15,000 residential and commercial buildings built to this standard in Europe.

Construction features of a Passivhaus are:

> Compact size – 50 square meters (approx 538 sq ft) per person
> Super insulation of floors, walls and ceilings
> Air-tight envelope with no thermal bridging
> High-performance doors and triple glazed, insulated frame windows
> Heat recovery ventilation (HRV)
> Passive solar
> HERS score 20-30
> PHPP Certification (Passivhaus Planning Package)
> Space heating must be no more than 15 kWh/sq m (4.75 kBtu/sq ft)
> Overall energy use must be no more than 120 kWh/sq m (38 kBtu/sq ft)
> HRV air exchanges must be 0.6 or less per hour at a pressure rating of 50 Pascals.

Benefits:

> Improved indoor air quality
> Increased physical comfort
> 90% energy reduction
> Minimal conventional heating system
> Suitable for retrofits
> Affordable

The point of passivhaus construction is to minimize energy loss by restricting air flow into and out of the building. The building stays warm in winter and cool in summer. There is not one passivhaus design. Feist says that style does not matter, as long as the efficiency and air circulation goals are achieved.

> The envelope is super-insulated, up to 16″ beneath the slab and in exterior walls (R 60-70). Strawbale, SIPs and ICFs (insulated concrete forms) or Rastra are suitable for passivhaus construction.

> Ceiling insulation of dense-pack fiberglass, cellulose or spray foam has an R value anywhere between R 60-100.

> The triple-glazed windows have a very low U-factor of 0.14. Some in Germany are as low as 0.17. The U-factor rating of the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC): the lower the number, the more efficient the window, based on the glass, frame and spacer material.

> Points where indoor materials meet the outdoors (thermal bridging) are sealed, as are all points where air can move. A blower door test is run several times during construction to test for air leakage before the building is completely closed up and finished.

> Once a building is air-tight, it needs ventilation. A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) exchanges indoor air with outdoor air with minimal heat loss. Most people will crack a window to get some fresh air in winter, and what happens? The heat goes out the window! An HRV reduces that type of heat loss while keeping the indoor air fresh and healthy to breathe.

Because passivhaus is performance-based, the buildings are monitored after final construction. The CEPHEUS project monitored 250 passivhaus’s in the EU, and their results showed an energy reduction of 90% on average.

I have heard varying estimates of the extra cost to build a passivhaus with a range of 5-10%. This is offset quickly with the huge energy savings. The payback period depends on each individual home’s energy use. The best thing to do is begin to conserve energy before building or retrofitting with passivhaus standards.

Passivhaus construction is not catching on quickly in the US, but the Passive House Institute US, based in Urbana, Illinois, is trying to change that. The Director, Katrina Klingenberg, a German architect, built her own passivhaus in 2002. PHIUS is authorized by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt as the official Certifier of Passive Houses in the US, designing and certifying homes and training designers and consultants.

In an email, Dr. Feist told me that the only thing keeping the passivhaus becoming more popular is education.

‘There is no limit to growth for Passive Houses – only the availability of specific components (which can be produced regionally in the EU as well as in America) and the distribution of the know how. This is indeed the bottleneck at the moment. But education programmes are already available – so it will be overcome.’

The European Commission has already mandated that all new buildings in the EU be ‘nearly zero energy’ after 2020. Feist says, ‘The Passive House is the prototype of a “nearly zero energy building.” Seen this way, in 2020 the fraction of Passive Houses of all new built will be 100% in that part of the world.’

The addition of renewables (solar, wind) can make a passivhaus a net-zero home, but the energy creation and consumption of a passivhaus is meant to be just that – passive. To me, that is a gentler way to live, and there are no moving parts to maintain. A 90% reduction in the energy consumption of a passivhaus is good enough for me!

I am all for recycling. We need to reuse and re-purpose as many items as possible. Of the three Rs of recycling – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Reducing would lessen the need for Reusing and Recycling. Recycling, although a positive thing, still uses energy and has some questionable, to me, long term consequences.

Having been a landscaper for many years, I’ve seen a lot of people opt for plastic lumber for walkways, walls and planting beds. Great stuff! It is made of recycled plastic and does not rot, like wood. Exactly. Does not rot.

Will. Never. Decompose.

Although my neighbor’s walkways look good all the time, never weathered, never showing signs of age, never rotting, at some point, when someone else comes in and remodels, those walkways, that plastic that was once saved from the landfill, will eventually get thrown away. One question I have is – 20, 30, 100, 200+ years down the road, will there be enough landfill space to accommodate today’s recycled plastics?

I just read an article about a New Zealand man who recycles plastic trash into bricks to use in landscapes and other outdoor settings. He would like to see his product used for sustainable emergency housing where natural disasters wreak havoc.

This is an honorable task, since it minimizes landfill waste and could shelter people in need, but think about it. What will happen to those landscapes and homes long after you and I are gone?

Think again.

See what you can do to Reduce your use of plastics. Today.

(Just as I was getting ready to post this, I found this on Triple Pundit – Landfills: A Viable Alternative to Recycling?. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.)

(photo flickr D’Arcy Norman)

Many years ago, I was helping a friend landscape her new home here in Taos. Gretchen was an avid bird watcher, so we designed her one-acre lot to attract, feed and shelter birds. Aside from hanging hummingbird feeders and others filled with sunflower seeds and thistle, we planted perennials and over 30 native shrubs, and created a brush pile with scraps of tree trimmings. She strategically placed a few birdbaths around the garden.

Being a bird watcher myself, I have implemented a lot of her ideas in my yard over the years. My bird garden has fewer shrubs and more perennials, and is limited to the area right around the house. I have a couple of brush piles for shelter, and until I cleaned my yard to sell my house, I had a few dead trees (snags) standing. Most exciting, in my travels, I have become familiar with the plants in the wild.

I was out showing property the other day, and drove by a yard that looked a lot like Gretchen’s. The entire lot was planted with shrubs that would not naturally grow right there in the sagebrush. It was deliberately planted and beautiful with late summer, red berries gracing many of the plants.

There was a small sign by the road that I could not read, but on the way out, I stopped. It said ‘Certified Wildlife Habitat – National Wildlife Federation.’ Wow, I thought, I didn’t know you could get certification for feeding the birds!

When I got home, I went to the NWF website. For $20, you can apply for certification and receive other benefits, such as a membership, magazines, discounts and your name in the NWF National registry of certified habitats.

But even better, they tell you how to create a wildlife friendly yard! For free!

All you need to do is provide elements from each of the following areas:

> Food Sources – For example: Native plants, seeds, fruits, nuts, berries, nectar
> Water Sources – For example: Birdbath, pond, water garden, stream
> Places for Cover – For example: Thicket, rockpile, birdhouse
> Places to Raise Young – For example: Dense shrubs, vegetation, nesting box, pond
> Sustainable Gardening – For example: Mulch, compost, rain garden, chemical-free fertilizer

There are links to each of these categories, and there are a lot of details. They tell you how to create water features, build nesting boxes, garden organically, plant for birds and butterflies and much more. It’s very informative!

Whether you want to certify your yard or just create wildlife habitat, the National Wildlife Federation is a wonderful site to learn from.

And your wildlife will love you for it!

As an FYI, here is a list of habitat plants that Gretchen and I used in our Zone 5 southwest gardens. Be sure to use native plants or those that are adapted to your area.

Perennials
> columbine
> bee balm
> penstemon
> hollyhock
> aster
> black-eyed susan
> cone flower (echinacea)

Shrubs
> trumpet vine
> honeysuckle
> currant
> yucca
> rose
> silver buffaloberry
> four-wing saltbush
> fernbush
> wild plum
> western sand cherry

Trees
> pinon
> juniper
> blue spruce
> chokecherry
> NM locust

And lots of sunflowers!

I used to focus on green building and renewable energy in this weekly recap, but there is so much other great stuff out there, I have to broaden my scope. Don’t worry, green home lovers, I will always include something for you! Read my Twitter stream and Facebook page for lots of green building news!

> By now, you should all be aware of the health and environmental dangers of plastic reusable and disposable drinking bottles. We’re all looking for convenient and good-looking solutions. I, for one, am not crazy about drinking out of metal. It gives me goosebumps, and I just found a beautiful, recycled glass solution!

> My friend, David aka The Good Human, never misses the irony in a situation. Last week, he posted an article about the toxicity and health hazards of everyday cleaning products, and he nailed the real situation in the title, Why Call It Cleaning If We Just Spray Toxic Chemicals All Over The House?.

> I am a big fan of remodeling. We won’t have open land forever if we keep building on it. Besides, in this economy, it makes more sense and is faster to remodel than to sell, if you are needing a change of scene. You can remodel with efficiency and certification in mind. Everyone was skeptical at first, but it’s happening again and again. Here is a beautiful LEED Platinum Certified remodel.

> You also know that I am a small-house advocate. Having grown up in a big house of wasted space, my tastes may have been formed then. I don’t like to see waste anywhere! Why are homes getting smaller these days? Environmental consciousness or the economy? Check out this blog post and read the comments for a good discussion.

> I am not a vegetarian. My body and I feel better when I eat a high protein diet. I am less tired, and I eat less when I eat meat, eggs, dairy along with my salads, fruits and vegetables. Some people say this is unhealthy concerning cholesterol and heart conditions. Here is some scary info that has nothing to do with arterial plaque build-up

Worst. Gardening. Season. Ever.

I have apologized for my gardens over and over this summer. They look awful! They should have reached their peak a couple weeks ago, but I am still waiting.

Here in northern New Mexico, we had a very cold spring. After a fairly dry but cold winter, we got hammered with snow in March and April. That didn’t stop the hummingbirds, though! This picture was taken at daybreak on April 23.

May greeted us with 16 degree temps and snow. I was ready to plant lettuces, greens and broccoli in the garden. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. I wondered if I’d ever get my tomatoes outside! Meanwhile, the greenhouse was teeming, but it was even too cold and cloudy inside for optimum growth.

We had close to record-breaking temps in early June. We rarely see mid-90s, especially in June! The trees were about two weeks behind leafing out, so they were covered with the fresh, springy yellow-green of new growth, but it was 95. I felt like I was in a Dali painting.

By the end of June, the weather was somewhat normal with summer rains and cooler temperatures, but the plants were not where they were supposed to be yet. Cool weather crops were suffering from the hot, dry conditions. The lettuce was tough, tasteless and not refreshing. Tomatoes were digging the heat, but I knew they’d suffer when the temps went back down.

I was tired of watering. The rain gave me a break, but then it got unusually hot again in July. The lettuce finally bolted, before I ate much of it. The tomatoes did not go outside until late, so they are behind. I have two tomatoes the size of dimes. The other blossoms were all blown off the plants in a storm last week. If those two tomatoes ripen before frost, I’ll be shocked. I’ll be bringing those pots into the greenhouse soon. Seems I just put them out!

I have about a dozen apples, and the magpies will probably get to them before they are ripe. There are no apricots. The blooms on both trees froze in May.

There are big bare spots in my flower beds. Even the weeds don’t seem to be doing well! The cosmos, a Taos icon, have just started to flower, and they are only about 1′ tall. We are talking about a 6′ towering plant that is normally covered in blooms and bees in mid-July! Not this year!

My hollyhocks, another Taos icon, are about 2′ tall and hold few flowers. These usually tower high into the summer sky! They get very weedy by reseeding, and I dig them up by the dozens to keep them from taking over. This year, I am babying the ones that made it.

What does flower does not last long, because it’s been so dry. I had more stalks than ever on my yuccas, but the flowers dropped after a few days instead of the normal ten day show.

It’s been disappointing, and that’s an understatement. If this is my last summer in this house, this was not a very good send-off.