Daily Archives: 3/19/2007

tiny little turbines

I read about these tiny plastic turbines in treehugger today – they are so freakin’ cool. I immediately sent the link to my dad and stepmom and stepsister – they kind of live on a compound in the woods, and they need more sustainable energy to truly get compound street cred. In all honesty I must admit that the compound was an accident – my stepsister and her husband sold their house before they bought a new one, and they couldn’t find one that fit their needs, so my stepmom offered to divide her property and stepsis is building a home right next door. See? accidental compound. I’m always joking that I need a place to put my tiny and cute straw bale bungalow but sometimes I think about starting a competing compound with my brother and his girlfriend.

anyway, these microturbines are so exciting! you can put them up as a screen or garden fixture in your yard – they’re not bad looking – and just kind of casually generate energy (I refuse to say “reap the wind”). you can get an array of 20 turbines for about $25, apparently – that’s about 3.35x4ft. That sounds pretty fabulous. Now all I need to know is

  1. can you get these made from recycled plastic?
  2. how much electricity will be generated from the turbines?
  3. How easy would it be to create an array in a sturdy frame for traveling, say, on a camping trip? [besides trying to talk my dad into solar and/or small scale wind power on the compound, I also try and talk him into renewables while they camp at the beach]; and
  4. where can I sign up? I want to get some right away!

treehugger links to this plastics news article with more information about the inventor.

a nice compliment

I was talking to a sweet friend yesterday and she said I was charming. I know she doesn’t say that about all the girls (because she told me so) and it is such a nice compliment! I asked her if she thought maybe it was b/c I am from Tennessee, and she said “oh, yeah, and Niskayuna probably factors into that too” which makes me think of all the un-charming people I know from Niskayuna.

I mean, *I* think I’m charming, but I am also good at making myself believe things. Which may have factored into me thinking my little short car with the extensive molding and spoilers and and wheel covers really didn’t have anything to worry about in the snow as I extricated myself from my parking spot this morning, culminating in me perching dear little car over the top of a tall ice bump. I had to go ask some work men in the new house down the street if they would give me a push over the top, and luckily, either because of my surfeit of charm or their surfeit of gentlemanliness, they did. And it is very nice of my girlfriend to think I am charming as well.