Berry Plants Galore!

In an effort to promote permaculture and urban gardening, and in an effort to free me from the shackles of my day job (recently described as my slave job), I am selling berry plants. I am excited at how many people are already taking the steps and understanding that the growing of food crops can only be a good thing. Those who realize that global food will not be available for long, local is the only sustainable food, and the more local the better.

It all started when I sourced out plants for planting at the Roosevelt Elementary School last fall in an effort to plant 350 edible perennials to raise awareness of global warming (http://www.350.org/). Note, 350 is considered the sustainable level of CO2 in the atmosphere, which we have already exceeded with no looking back. Anyway, I have since made relationships with local farmers who also want to do what they can to make a step towards sustainability.

Plant a blueberry and make a small step towards a sustainable food supply. Encourage your neighbours, friends, schools, workplace, institution, ext. to plant blueberries, raspberries, black currants and entire gardens and help many other make the step too. When we all start stepping in unison, we will have power and traction needed to take us to the next level of sustainability. A level that is going to be much more LOCAL, and a lifestyle that will be much more REWARDING!

Waste Vegetable Oil (SVO) vs. Biodiesel

I wanted to discuss a little bit of what I am doing with restaurant's waste vegetable oil (wvo). First off, I do not convert it to biodiesel. This is a big misconception that all waste veg oil is used for biodiesel. Whereas biodiesel is often considered a sustainable fuel, since it can be made from vegetable oil, it does require the addition of methanol and other caustic chemicals, it requires processing and added energy to convert to biodiesel, and it produces waste products (glycerin) that are no longer organic and not suitable for compost. Biodiesel is also not compatible with the rubber based fuel lines and gaskets of many older vehicles. Using unprocessed oil is preferable since it requires no processing, no added chemicals and does not break down fuel lines/gaskets. It is simply filtered and added to the fuel tank. The material that is filtered out can be fed to animals or composted, being composed 100% out of food products. The downside of using unprocessed oil in this form is that it is thicker than diesel, therefore it requires heating and/or the addition of thinner fuels to burn efficiently in diesel engines. NOTE, only Diesel engines can use wvo as a fuel. Also, vehicles do not start easily with cold wvo in the fuel system, so either you need to shutdown on regular diesel (have a 2nd tank and a means to switch fuels - which is what my conversion kits do) or preheat the engine prior to starting (requiring plugging in to 120 V outlets). These obstacles are easily overcome and my main focus right now is to sell easy to install conversion kits and work with people to convert their diesel fueled vehicles to use wvo.

I want to add that whereas using waste vegetable oil as a fuel is generally considered a sustainable practice and it is carbon neutral (the carbon released during burning is offset by the carbon absorbed by the plants when growing), it is not the answer to upcoming fuel shortages. There is not enough waste vegetable oil from restaurants to provide enough fuel for but a tiny percentage of existing vehicles on the road. And displacing food crops to grow fuel crops is not a good thing. It raises food prices and results in increased deforestation and exploitation of resources (human and natural). I consider a good bridge fuel to help the transition to more sustainable fuels of the future, or more likely, to the use of less fuel in the future. It is likely that we will be able to provide significant quantities of oil from algae in the future, often taking advantage of algae growth in waste water treatment applications, but it still is unlikely that we would ever be able to displace any significant percentage of existing fossil fueled vehicles. The only solution, as is going to become strikingly clear in the future, is to power down, to use less energy and to transition back to our roots of living sustainably off the land. It is going to be a difficult transition, but I feel, as do many others, that it will be a more rewarding future. Check out http://www.transitionwhatcom.ning.com/ and go to the Great Unleashing April 10-11 to meet others that feel this way.

The Great Unleashing

On April 10th I will have an outdoor exhibit at The Great Unleashing, April 10th at Bellingham High School (http://www.transitionwhatcom.org/) where I will have a 5000 watt generator running on wvo and providing electricity to other exhibitors, my truck running on wvo, my conversion kits, a wvo lantern, heater and a "super sucker" used to efficiently suck up oil from restaurants (from my 55 gallon barrels) and transfer the oil as necessary. I hope to gain a lot of contacts that will help take my business to the next level, which will also require a partner(s) that can devote the time to help facilitate growth. I want to work with others to continue to develop sustainable energy sources as well as products and services aimed at facilitating sustainability living.

A Little About Me

I am a Mechanical Engineer with an MBA striving to transition to a sustainable career. Green Conversions is my side business, my dream and hopefully my path towards achieving sustainability. However, I am a realist, and at this point in time Green Conversions can not support my family. Therefore, I have a full time job to pay the bills and work only on the side on Green Conversions. Since my job takes a lot of time and family time is critical, I only have a small amount time to devote towards my business. I mainly help people convert vehicles to waste vegetable oil (wvo), sell waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants and sell complete wvo conversion kits and fuel heaters. I now also offer Sustainability Consulting to businesses and individuals, helping people and organizations prepare for, and ideally prosper in, the market of the future, which will have to be much more localized as fuel prices rise. And I am selling berry plants (and berries this summer).

My website is: www.greenconversion.net, check it out for more info on some of my other efforts.