My buddy and I started a conversation at lunch before we had to split. It started with him saying that Frisco is under a level 3 water conservation thing. I said that McKinney is under the same thing. He said that car washes are not restricted by these conservation restrictions because that is their livelyhood, yet we can’t wash our cars in our driveways. He mentioned that it would be cool to have a personal drain in your gutter that collected your unused water and recycled it. After all, you are paying for it, right?
From there, I mentioned that I wanted to hook up some kind of alternative/supplimental energy system for the house. There are some houses in California that have solar panels on the roof that store energy and eventually feed the grid resulting in energy credits. I mentioned that I thought it was stupid that developers tear down trees to build buildings, then plant one or two cheap trees for asthetic purposes only. Neither one of us are hemp-wearing tree huggers, but it was funny talking about it.
I mentioned that there are miles of rooftops that are going unused. If building owners would put solar panels on their roofs, we would drastically cut our dependence on fossil fuels by lowering the load on power plants. I mentioned an Apple store that grew succulent plants on the roof. That helps filter impurities from the air. I had a thought the other day about putting a storm cellar in my back yard. I could keep my lawn and gain usable space. He mentioned a guy back in New Hampshire that had a house that was underground. He had to mow his roof. That would be so cool. The ground is a natural insulator, so you would save on energy.
He said that if businesses took the initiative and installed solar panels/converters on their roofs, the price of the equipment would drop and soon, we would be breathing cleaner air, paying less to drive our cars, and ultimately living better lives. Of course, you get into the whole conspiracy theory where the oil conglomerates are keeping this from happening. Seriously, though, if the oil guys would just invest in the solar panel guys, they’d make the same amount over time and may even live longer enjoying their fruits. What about the Arab oil people? How would they get paid? Well, you know all of that unused desert, where the sun beats down and it’s really hot? Light = energy. Heat = energy. Just freakin’ collect that with solar panels and you’re good.
Anyway. I’m not complaining because my electric bills have been good to me lately, but the planet has changed dramatically in the last 100 years because technology has boomed. That’s a good thing, but the planet is starting to suffer and there are ways that we could limit our drain on it.
Time to go find my hemp shirt and hug a tree. Peace, man.

