Triaxis Energy

The Easy To Grow Cactus

cactus You may or may not like to grow plants at home. Most of us have something around the house. Whether it be a small flower, bonsai tree or just flowers in a vase having plants around is a nice way to warm up the place in which we live.

Many of us like plants but can’t spend the time taking care of them or just plain forget to. I know that I have forgotten on several occasions to water plants I have had an they have wilted or even died. It’s a shame to see but it happens. What I found was a good solution to this problem was to find a type of plant that is more self sufficient for when I’m not around. This is when I decided to grow a Cactus.

Cacti are neat plants because they are naturally suited for dry environments like deserts where they can’t get any water for long periods of time. They can survive extreme droughts because they store water inside themselves and they don’t require as consistent a supply of water that most plants do.

Since Cacti can stand long periods of time between watering they make great plants for people who enjoy plants but not the frequent watering or even fertilizing and trimming that go along with them. There are many different species of Cacti and they are pretty easy to find in places like Home Depot, Walmart and most other places that sell plants. I enjoyed growing my first Cactus because I could leave for vacation for two weeks and come back and it was still healthy as ever although it could have survived much longer if necessary.

Well some people may not like them because they’re spiny and not exactly the most friendly looking plants but they are quite unique and easy to maintain. If you like growing things Cacti sure are easy to grow plus you won’t have many animals digging them up or eating them if they’re outdoors, that’s for sure.

Make Your Own Bio-diesel At Home!

001 Bio-diesel has been around for some time now but has only been getting real attention in the last couple of years. Oil companies and their supporters have been finding ways to keep Bio-diesel out of mainstream production at every chance they get.

OK, I know that some people reading this are probably saying “Well Bio-diesel just isn’t practical” maybe because the oil source is too hard to come by or it’s too expensive to make. Bio-diesel is not as complicated as it looks. Plus it is a cheaper alternative to the fossil diesel you buy at the pump. Now I know that got your attention.

There is a lot of scepticism about how well Bio-diesel works in your vehicle too. I have read that Bio-diesel clogs injectors and fuel lines in your truck or car because it is too thick and that it’s dirty and so on. Oil companies claim that you can only burn B5 in your diesel engine (B=Bio-diesel and 5=5% mix of Bio-diesel to Fossil Diesel). On the other hand I have read numerous articles and websites about people who only run straight Bio-diesel in their vehicles. So there’s gotta be something to this whole Bio-diesel thing.

Recently I came across an article in a truck magazine about home brewing kits for Bio-diesel. I was totally blown away that you could buy this for your home. I was quite curious about how this would work as well since there are a lot of BS products out there making false claims about anything under the sun. I started looking around and found this one machine called the “FuelMeister 2″. It seems to be a pretty decent unit that makes Bio-diesel. It uses used cooking oil, lye and methanol to make Bio-diesel and can make up to 40 gallons per day for about 70 cents per gallon.

There are many different types of these Bio-diesel making machines out there but the FuelMeister 2″ was the one I came across most. If you’re interested I put a link below to a video clip about this machine. It’s a bit poor quality but still pretty cool to see. Go take a look.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=457773184300286737

Keep Your Car Cooler With A Sunshield

thief-car-sun-shade Getting into an automobile in the summer can become very uncomfortable on a hot sunny day. For example you may go into work early in the morning and park your car and think nothing of it. You don’t roll down your windows or park in a shady area. When you come out in the afternoon or when the sun has been up for a while you hop in your car and find out it’s blistering hot in there. A Sunshield is a great way to help reduce the heat in your vehicle.

Sunlight is the major cause of heat buildup in your vehicle and the largest part of your vehicle which lets sunlight in is your windshield. When you park your car or truck try installing a Sunshield. A Sunshield helps to reduce the amount of light that enters your vehicle and most reflect it. This helps to keep the temperature in the vehicle lower than that of an unprotected one.

Above is an example of a funny Sunshield as part of some insurance advertising campaign I believe. Although it is not reflective it will still help to lessen the heat buildup. Most of these Sunshields are reflective (at least the really effective ones) because if the sunlight is reflected then it does not absorb into the dark interior of the automobile and radiate heat in it.

Leather interiors as many of us know are extremely uncomfortable to sit on in the summertime heat because they get extremely hot. Especially if you are wearing shorts or going shirtless or even in your birthday suit if that catches your fancy. That’s why I stay away from leather interiors in vehicles… because of the heat! But naked people too I suppose.

So check these things out if you get a chance. They’re pretty inexpensive and you will not have to wait quite as long to air out your car before hopping in and driving it. Plus you can save gas by not using your air conditioning to cool your vehicle down.

Seed Or Sod Lawns

woodlot-rolls When preparing a new lawn you have a choice of planting grass seed or installing an instant lawn with sod. Sod is simply pre established lawn that has been peeled off the ground with 1/2″ to 3/4″ of soil backing (which contains the root zone) and rolled up like a carpet. These carpets however are a living ecosystem.

Sod is grown on farms in big field of grass and when the grass is mature and healthy enough it is peeled up by a machine, rolled up and stacked on skids for delivery to nurseries and garden centers or directly to customers. The one most important thing to remember when buying sod is that it must be a fresh as possible. Sod which has been sitting around for a while will generally be dried up and dying. Sod must be moistened regularly to keep it alive. If the dirt on it looks all dry and cracked, it has been neglected and should be watered to maintain stay alive. It is best to look for sod that is still damp and the soil looks smooth.

To install sod it is laid out in large mats close together providing an instant lawn which is healthy and beautiful. Sod must be watered heavily to establish a strong and permanent root zone plus the fact in which roots take time to establish and light watering will only get the Sod and not the earth beneath. So the Sod will dry up quicker without water to absorb from the ground.

Starting from scratch and seeding your yard is the most cost effective way to start a lawn. Grass seed is inexpensive when compared to Sod and it does not involve as much work to start. Once you have a fairly flat enough surface you simply need to seed it where as with Sod it must be flat and then you still need to unroll all of the Sod and cover the yard. The only problem with Grass Seed is that it takes longer to establish than a lawn done with Sod.

So there are some things to consider when staring or redoing a lawn. Sod is more preferable when you want a quick and healthy lawn that is at least initially weed free. Then again seeding a lawn from scratch is much more cost effective if you have the time to wait for it to grow. I personally like Sod for the fact that it is professionally grown and maintained but in the end it all comes down to how well you maintain your lawn. I still prefer to seed a lawn though because Sod is not impervious to weeds so I don’t want to spend the extra money and still end up with weeds.

Either way when choosing how to go about reestablishing or starting a new lawn there are two styles of planting to consider. Both are effective and will give you a lush and wonderful lawn to enjoy whether you are on a budget or just want a quick fix.

Antibacterial Or Not?

Cleanliness is a necessity for all of us but what is the best soap for us to use. I’ve heard from many people around that Antibacterial soap is not all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t know exactly what to believe but some of their arguments make me raise questions about it’s usefulness.

With all of the super flus and ever growing numbers of new viruses showing up one must ask his/herself what is the best option when it comes to buying our soap. Now we must note that regular run of the mill hand soap is a proven to clean and kill germs so why even bother buying Antibacterial soaps. Well, some germs are simply stronger I suppose so many people find it necessary to buy these germ killing soaps to guarantee that they are truly clean.

I have used these soaps before and find they do a good job but I’m not really a Antibacterial soap junkie or anything. I use whatever has a decent scent and tends to clean dirt and grime well enough. On the other hand some people say that Antibacterial soaps are terrible and they actually cause viruses to mutate into these super flus like SARS, West Nile, Swine flu, etc.. Now I’m no expert but I seem to understand that germs and microbes mutate to adapt and survive so I get what these people are saying but I don’t necessarily believe that Antibacterial soaps are the cause. Although they could possibly be part of the problem.

So, I don’t know which is really better but it is definitely an interesting theory that we should think about. I don’t think we should panic thinking this is a life threatening problem though. Even hand sanitizers fall into this category but they are a good way to eliminate germs when we are not near a sink or shower. Maybe the best way to deal with it is to use ordinary soap when possible and hand sanitizer when we travel.

“Who Killed The Electric Car?”

who-killed-the-electric-car3

“Who killed the electric car?” is truly an interesting movie. I have seen this movie a couple of times now and I find it very informative and well put together.

“Who killed the electric car?” is about the downfall of electric cars (mainly General Motors EV1) and the questionable and even sometimes shady actions taken by different parties to keep electric cars off the road. What an eye opener. This movie really turns your attention towards automotive industry, government, oil companies and so on and makes you wonder what we’re not seeing them doing behind the scenes.

Now I’m not trying to point fingers or raise any political issues here. That’s not what this is about. I just believe that this is a great documentary that is worth watching if you’re interested in electric cars and their future. This movie raises the question “Where are all the electric cars?” and it shows what happened to some of them.

So if you’re curious about electric car technology and would like to learn a little bit about the history of these cars, check this movie out. I highly recommend it. It’s definitely one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen.

Self Watering Plant Trays

pl650s2 Here is a pretty nifty device for watering your plants while you’re away from your house quite often or forget to water them as frequently. They are clean cut little units that retain water and allow plants to absorb the water from a mat in the tray up through the bottom of their pot.

I’ve seen these around in various configurations but with the same basic water absorbing principle. It really is a neat way to water your plants or seedlings even and it is such a simple technology. When a plants soil is getting dry water is absorbed through the mat by the soil in contact with the mat and the mat continues to absorb more water. It works a little like a syphon by drawing more water into the mat as water is absorbed.

It’s not exactly a life saving product or anything but it definitely can be helpful if you’re a little forgetful when it comes to watering your household plants. Plus you can keep your plants watered more consistently and healthier too. I think it can be a handy little product to have around if you grow plants or flowers indoors.

Drive Thrus Suck!

tim_hortons_2 I can’t hardly put into words how stupid these things are. Drive thrus are the most ridiculous lazy man’s inventions out there. Sure they may (and I mean maaaaaay) save time but I find at many of these places just take longer to get your food or drink. Plus while you’re waiting in these lineups in your RUNNING CAR you’re just putting more emissions into the air.

Coffee shop drive thrus are the biggest issue when it comes to getting poor service as well as dumb people that have to order half the menu. I mean, come on what are you in a drive thru for you ass! How many people have to have coffee in the morning and have to go through a drive thru. So many lazy people in a rush think it’s better to sit in their car for ten minutes pumping exhaust from their car into the air when they could just park, go into the place and get their coffee faster. This sort of ignorance is just mind blowing.

Certain cities like Toronto, Ontario Canada have anti idling bylaws which make it a ticketable offence to have a parked vehicle idling even if you’re in it. I think that’s a reasonable idea. But I think we should put some more strict laws on drive thru idling. A lot of Carbon Dioxide gets released into the atmosphere from idling cars.

Now I may be ranting but I have been in enough drive thrus in my time especially coffee shop ones to know that lazy people make the world go round. Look how much take out we consume in a year. Not even pizza or burgers just coffee for example or tea. Say for example that you drink one coffee a day. That’s 365 coffees a year. Now suppose you go to the drive thru for each one of those orders and then think of how many of those times you will be in a decent sized lineup. Now how much time is your car sitting and spewing gases out the tailpipe? A crapload!

What I’m trying to say basically is that cars put out way to many emissions to have them sitting in some drive thru for 5 minutes or so while you wait to get one stinking coffee or happy meal. Give me a break people. Make your coffee at home and use a thermos. Stop using and throwing away disposable cups. Stop wasting money and stop idling in drive thrus for orders you easily have the time to go into the restaurant and get.

Quiet Revolution Wind Turbines

quiet-revolution Here’s a cool looking new design for a wind energy turbine. It’s a design from a UK company called “quietrevolution” who design these vertical axis turbines as an alternative to conventional propeller style turbines.

Quietrevolution’s design is based on the principle that regular Horizontal axis wind turbines have to track the wind in order to continuously produce electricity where a Vertical axis turbine will spin regardless of wind direction.

This is such an innovative design and has a promising future from the looks of it. One excellent feature of this Vertical axis turbine is the fact that it is narrower than your typical propeller style wind powered generator. This can allow for more of these types of turbines to placed in closer proximity to each other which makes for better use of valuable real estate. that makes a big difference in urban environments where space is hard to come by. You don’t see many if any wind turbines in cities.

Not only are these products functional but they are easy on the eyes to. Big bladed propeller style turbines although not that bad tend to get a bad rap for their appearance as well as their noise output. Many people don’t want them around but quietrevolution turbines are clean cut, small in comparison and produce less noise and vibration.

There is a video on Youtube of one in operation:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0katKL0UIc

you can also check out the quietrevolution website: http://www.quietrevolution.co.uk/index.htm

Handwashing Dishes

Dishes Washing dishes is an unwanted but necessary task we must deal with after every meal. No one wants to do it either so it is always left up to the dish washing machine to clean them automatically. However washing dishes by hand is much better way to save money on water and hydro than using a big old dishwasher.

Dish washing machines are very helpful and good cleaning machines but they use a lot of water (Hot Water) as well as electricity to power them. They do use more water and obviously electricity to operate which can be reduced saving you money in the long run. Washing your dishes by hand not only reduces your hydro and water consumption but can be faster too. Dishwashers usually have long run cycles since they don’t actually scrub the dishes but use streams of hot water to wash them. Plus dishwashers also have heat or even air dry cycles which consume a lot of time to complete.

When you wash dishes by hand you can wash them all at once, drain the water, rinse and then dry them. Personally more time consuming but you can hand dry them too to speed up the process or let them air dry to hive yourself a break. Let’s face it, most of us wash the dishes before we “wash the dishes” or we just have pots and pans or delicate materials we can’t put into a machine because they might get damaged. When that’s the case you’re already washing the dishes yourself sooo….

Lets get something clear. I’m not putting down these machines for being huge power wasting contraptions or something like that. I’m just trying to point out that washing dishes by hand is not as wasteful. Another thing to remember is that you should not operate a dishwasher at nothing but full capacity since you’re just throwing money away. Would you do a load of laundry for just a pair of socks? Well just something to consider.