Mountain Dream Blog

It is October 2008 and the race is on to save the very fast changing world we live in. We have been at war for over 6 years now and I don’t see a change coming any time soon. With war comes an unbalanced economy and we have seen a direct impact on the national debt and the state of the union. We basically piled debt on top of debt and the poor are getting poorer as you read this. We have also seen huge increases in the price of gas and that causes the price of everything to go up!I have been sitting around thinking how can I make a change for the better and start giving more respect to the world that surrounds us! How can I lower the impact that my life has on mother earth? So last week I decided to start a list of things that I can do to help the world rather than hurt it. I also thought about the beneficial rewards that I would get like lower bills and better quality of life.The first questions I thought about was food! How to eat cheaper and throw less away!So I pretty made a rule for myself!1. Buy fresh food and stay away from boxed and food shipped from far away!2. Buy Food in containers that you can reuse for food storage or use them as Plant containers or for other storage.3. Make fewer trips to the store and try to stock up on longer lasting veggies. I buy potatoes and onions , oranges, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, asparagus, green beans, spinach.4. I buy fresh to reduce garbage and use the bags for trash bags or for shipping stuff(they make great stuffing and protections for shipped goods)5. I stopped drinking sodas and drink water and coffee.6. I reuse coffee grounds as fertilizer for plants!7. Take short showers and don’t use water just to waste it. Lets keep things cheaper and conserve when there are watches and warnings. This includes carwashes during draughts and over watering lawns. Not only does this produce molds and spreads disease it is a practice. Just watch the weather channel and they will tell you everything that is going on and if it is ok to water or wait!8. Make sure your toilet isn’t leaking. If you hear it refill after a while it has a leak!9. No dripping faucets!10.Use candles for light and heat11.Try not to run the heat and use more candles, be careful though. You’re playing with fire!12.Use that toilet a few times between flushes if it is just you and no poi.13.Plant your own Herbs and Plants to eat and use the coffee grounds for fertilizer.14.Walk more and drive less. Carpool when possible?15.Don’t eat out too much, sure eating out is good for the economy! Take your leftovers home and eat them tomorrow!16.Check your tires often. The environment is always changing and you can save gas money this way and help lower pollution. You can find this info on a label either on the door, fuse box, or in the manual. I also ask a few different tire guys to make sure you are using the right pressure for the brand you have.17. Make sure your oil and car fluids are at the right level.18.Don’t leave on lights throughout the house. Use environmental friendly lighting. According to CNN lighting is a 40-billions dollar a year industry and there are huge fears of changing the format that we use to light! You better bet you grapes that the big dogs in corporate America Power are praying to god that led doesn’t take over and become the new standard! Just think all the money that can be saved using this method of lighting. They are called light omitting diodes and are eco friendly and have no mercury unlike CFLS and last over a decade! IT is by far the best method of lighting and is being used in towns and business all the world for various causes. Over 95% of the energy that is used incandescent bulbs is wasted into heat energy!19. Don’t buy new things, burn up the thrift stores and find those hidden deals. I got a 50-dollar microwave for 15 and it was in great shape! I got a toaster for 4 and it rocks, rah yeah a coffee maker for 3$, what a deal and I saved a whopping 100! If I had shopped at Wal-Mart it would have been 4 times as much. I bought a desk chair for 10 bucks and saved 20 on the deal! You just have to be patient and keep you eye open for roadside deals.20.Go to the Thrift store buy and old record player and flip it on EBay! Not only are yousupporting the store you are supporting EBay and you making money and helping someone find that dream lost treasure. I have been flipping Junk store goods for about 5 years now and love the process. I love when you find that perfect EBay hit and you get offered more than you dreamed for the item. Also buy used things from the net, it works in the same process and you help keep the earth a greener place!21.Make sure you keep good wires and plugs on your car! It saves a great deal of gas money and keeps pollution down.22 Don’t use anything with Aspartame in it, not only is it bad for your body but it gets put back into to the watershed. I know some of you just got mad and may have decided to stop reading, but wait read this!! I did a little research and this is what I figured out. This is just opinion but this makes me yonder! Aspartame is made from two amino acids, or protein components, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. I looked up Phenylalanine and was upset at what I saw!IF you have phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare birth defect in which an enzyme needed to process phenylalanine is missing. If you consume too much you could die very suddenly. Diet sodas and other foods may contain Aspartame, which is roughly 50% phenylalanine. They say 1-15,000 are born with this disorder. Lets take Aspartame out of the picture and out of the water table!23.Think before you buy and don’t be a buy now guy. Make a list of things you need and keep on the wall!24.Get an LCd monitor they are cheaper to run and better for earth.25.Stay in environmental friendly Hotels and use eco companies as much as often.26.Shop at yard sales! Every Saturday you can great sales all over the south and great state of Alabama! There are even yard sale festivals all over the country.27. US reusable products as often as possible!28. Donate your old stuff to thrift stores and let someone have a brighter future.29. Don’t buy new books, go to library if you don’t have the money! Plus they may have wifi and records that you need!30. Use natural Fertilizer on plants(organic), it is good for the plants and good for you.31.Don’t pay 8 for shampoo, get the cheap stuff and try to get natural.32. Don’t shave as much, guys grow a beard!33. Slow down on the road 40-60 is around the optimum speed to save money and varies from car to car. (source howstuffworks.com) General rule Bigger gets betters mileage the slower you go and the more aerodynamic the vehicle the higher speed(Go here bookmark and check this site out! http://www.globalstewards.org34. Try to use recycles things always!35. Use Hemp products and natural products36. Carry a water bottle and keep it full and stop stopping at the store.37.I used to smoke cigarettes and wasted much of my money on them and stopped a few years ago. IT makes you feel so much better after you lose the toxins from them. IT is choice and will not get into this. Roll your own it is cheaper and natural!38. Carry snacks from home like fruit with you, healthy and smart too.39. Are you addicted to the Gum? Cut down and watch out for new gums and candies.40 .Turn off your computer or put it to sleep. Putting it to sleep when you’re not using it. Same thing with your TV also.41. Today I bought compact fluorescent lightbulbs. 13 watts at 800 lumens verses 60 watts at 850. That is a huge difference in power consumption and you can find compact fluorescent at your local dollar store. I bought two for $5 bucks and they are supposed to last 5 years. I will let you know how long they last. I really do think the light is brighter than other light sources. Led is nice but cost around double the price the compact fluorescent.Thanks for Reading my life saving tips for the environment I hope I made someone think and start practicing the art of conservation. More environmental tips coming soon. Leave a comment and I may add your suggestion!Please Donate and support me and environmental campaign. Donate down below! I plan to make a short film this year and enter it in a few contest next year! I want to share a story of life and use the camera to capture and tell the tail of Earth. Please help me get there thanks for your support!Thanks Chandler www.mountaindreamrentals.com www.AlabamaRockCompany.com Start Building your web Empire today!

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It’s about to be springtime once again in Birmingham, Alabama and time to start fighting the allergies!  Coming from the country allergies was something you got used to and could easily be helped with a little whisky, naww that’s just an old wise tell! Anyway I have found that in the city, allergies can be a huge battle! Sometimes I just have to getaway to get some fresh air to clear my head!  The only relief seems to be an occasional trip to the country.

           It was just over 4 years ago that I moved to Birmingham from Nashville and it has been a lot of fun. On any given day you can ride around the ham and see the beautiful smoke stacks just puffing away!  One of the best places to see this is up at the canon near Altamont school. If you look straight ahead you will see the huge orange flame that dominates the smoggy Birmingham sky. The best view is in the wintertime, with no leaves to block the way!  Go right before sunset and you can watch the city transform and light up the night clouds.

The flame is located near the Avondale area and burns non-stop 24-7 is what I understand.  If you drive near it at night you will sense the power and have a better understanding of the size.  Every time I see it I wonder the same thing,   “humm I wonder what’s being burnt?” It even burns during the rain.  There are many other flames that are burning across Jefferson county everyday as well. I was totally overwhelmed by how many smoke stacks there are in Birmingham! I would there are more in Birmingham than any other city I have been to.

            My buddy Chuck lives on the side of Red Mountain near Vulcan and has great view of downtown and surrounding areas!  You can look off in the distance and see at least 4 smoke stacks on any given day, not to mention many planes flying through downtown to get to the airport. I often have to do a double take and realize that I am in Birmingham and not some nuclear wasteland on the path to death. If you look off to the NW you will see several huge smoke stacks that I understand to belong to Alabama Power.  If you drive west on 59 you will several other stacks around the Hueytown area.

            What is even scarier is the statistics you can read in the paper of the top polluters in Birmingham.    For some strange reason they keep polluting and releasing chemicals into the watershed. What is really sad is that they pay their fine and do it again and again.  I hear a lot of people say, “The Earth will heal itself!”  That may be true to a degree, but all the long-term damage that is done to our eco-system is not reversible!  What about the effect it will have on genetic code and all the organisms that start the cycle of life.   What is really crazy is that it all can be prevented if we stand up and take control of this computerised corporate world. It all starts here and now today and not tomorrow!

You can be a leader and change what is happening in around your area by reading the newspaper and watching the news! Look in magazines and find reports that are issued yearly and even monthly!  Join your local protection agency!  For the Alabama area click here..   http://www.aeconline.ws/    If you ever see something that is not right in your community you should mail them and let them know what is up!

            If we all decide today to make a change and start using more alternative Energy sources we may all face a much cleaner and greener future.  I started recycling a few years ago and have never stopped. That is the quickest and easiest thing that you can do to change this world today! I have a friend who learned that she could make money from the cans she had been throwing away for years. Now she enjoys the extra cash she makes every couple of months. It is amazing the feeling of positive Energy that flows through you when you realize how you become a part of the change for the better.

            There are many other things that you can do to help the earth as well as save a ton in the wallet!  You would be surprised how cutting the lights off when not needed and not wasting hot water can add up to a lot of cash.  Also don’t forget about carpooling, a simple and effective act that can save you money and save earth.  Hey that TV, throw it out the door!  There are better things you can spend your time doing! For yawl that have to watch some tv, just turn it off when you are not using it!  Anyway until next time catch my new Blog  “ Pave the Grass then Paint it Green!” Coming next week……….

IF you have any stories with pics , would love to post them! Of course i am only interested in environmental problems!

www.mountaindreamrentals.com www.AlabamaRockCompany.com Start Building your web Empire today!

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Imagine one day that you are hiking through the woods and the temp is a mild 50 and you are half way to the summit. You look to the west and see a huge dark cloud blowing in! The first thing you think “Damn I should have checked the weather!”

You keep hiking and blow it off and pretend life is grand! You are smiling just enjoying the view when suddenly you see a flake and then another flake! Before long it is starting to turn the ground white and the temp just dropped 20 degrees within an hour. You are in the middle of a 5 mile hike and stuck in the middle of a snow storm and you didn’t bring warm clothes!

It is late fall in the Appalachian mountains near pigeon Forge, TN and you are alone in the mountains about to make the biggest fight of your life! You start thinking and remember that you didn’t bring a lighter or matches with you! Your thinking “What if I would have carried more food?”It is starting to get dark and everything around you has started to turn white.

You start to panic and realize that you need heat and shelter now! Please don’t get wet, please! You know that feet are wet from the snow and to find wood is going to be harder and harder as the snow pours down. By now wind has started to pick up and the snow is so thick that it is hard to see! You are starting to think back to that college survival class and remember, rah got to find a cave and start a fire. So as you hike to find a cave you are becoming more wet as the snow melts and soaks into your clothes.

You find a cave and start to gather wood; you get lucky and find a whole pile leftover from a beaver earlier in the year! Now you have built a pile of wood and have even managed to find some dry leaves before they got too damp by the heavy snow! Now what, how are we going to start that fire pal? Hum the snow has hidden all the rock so finding some good rock will be super hard! Hum lets go for the bow shaped stick with shoestring technique.

So we have taken a shoestring and have found a stick that is bent and have made a bow with it! Now take a straight stick a couple of feet long and twist it on your shoestring! Now you should be able to move the stick as it is attached to the stick. Now find a larger flat piece of wood and try to find a little pocket where you can place the end of your stick.

Once in place start pulling the bow back and fourth and try to hold downward pressure to the stick! After a few minutes you should start to smell the burning wood! Take some dry leaves and crumble them up and add the crumbles to your hole. Keep on bowing the stick and soon you should have fire! Add more leaves and keep building the fire up! Blow on the fire and it will build faster!

As soon as you the fire gets large you need to dry out your clothes! The wet clothes can drop your body temp very fast and hypothermia can set in! If your clothes are super wet, take them off and place very close to the fire. Don’t burn them; you will need them to stay alive! Alright we got passed step 1!

Simple life saving tips will come to you in the moment of need. Here is a good tip for keeping warm more efficiently using the heat energy of the fire. It will be a great deal of work but well worth it if you need the heat. Find some rocks and build a wall around the fire. The heat will be absorbed into the rocks and will last longer. Plus you can take the rocks and build a bed with them and stay very warm!

If you are having trouble keeping the wood burning, find a big leaf and keep fresh air to it. In survival class we learned how to make a really cool fire pit!
We dug a hole about a foot and half by foot and half wide. We then dug another hole about a foot from the large and made it just big enough to get air through. Then I dug a hole to connect them. This caused better air circulation to the fire pit. It acts much like a chimney of a house. It will be tough to get the fire started but well worth it once you get it going. I believe this to be the most efficient method using air flow!

So you wake up the next morning and it looks like your in the middle of Russia and everything has 2 foot of snow! You sit for awhile and realize you have no idea where you are and you know walking in snow can be a dangerous feat in the woods. You have no food and you have built a nice little fire and you have found a rock overhang to make camp!

The weather is still cloudy and you see a flake here and there and wonder what should I do? You could find a creak and follow down stream and hope to find people! That sounds too risky and you could end up deeper in the woods and stuck in a larger storm with no cave to hide in! What about build a huge fire near the creek and hope someone sees the smoke? This could be a good solution if the clouds aren’t too thick!

Fires have saves much life and the heat can keep you warm until it is time for supper! When you’re lost in the woods and need food, it is time to kick in primitive hunting style! The easiest and quickest hunting solution would be a long dagger!

You will need a sharp rock that has some good weight to it! Walk around and find a nice tree that is about an inch to inch and a half and is very straight. Take the rock and use the weight and cut the tree with the sharp tip. Go all around the tree and try to make the sharpest tip you can. Once you get the tree down, cut the other end so that the spear is about the same height as you are and cut the end.

Ok now you have made an awesome hunting spear and you are ready to begin the hunt. I would suggest going to the creek and try spearing fish. They are relatively easy to catch and they cook quickly and have the nutrients to keep your mind sharp. It is not easy and will take you awhile to master the technique. By now you should sitting and eating your fresh caught river trout and the sun is starting to set. Another night in the cave, will help come soon. To be continued….