Tag: grow

America's Effort, Individual Change

Why we should consider Indoor Farming

Taylor Houghton

Indoor farming!? Ever heard of it? I didn’t know much about it either until I did some research. Indoor farming is the future of urban farming!! You can grow your crops at any time of the year and anywhere in the world! Think of the possibilities! Not only that but we don’t have to worry about the use of pesticides! Why? Because it’s indoors and that means no bugs! We can create the prefect crops and plants! Especially with today’s food production. There is a demand for food increase. Crops are currently being grown where climate conditions and in land that allows. Indoor farming expands this by allowing the crops to be grown ANYWHERE and AT ANY TIME! (I had to restate that and put a little emphasis on it because that is just amazing to me!)Image result for indoor farming

Side note: Although indoor farming is great, this doesn’t mean we should just give up on saving and taking care of our planet. I believe this is just an alternate solution especially with the population increase. It is also great to get year round veggies and fruit!!

 

Let’s talk about the benefits:

Indoor farming is more productive! It is so much more productive than traditional farming that it can produce 100 times more! It is because of the direction that one grows the crops. This may be confusing, let me explain. Indoor farms are designed vertically so it allows multiple different levels of production. For example, if you wanted to grow in your own home, traditionally you would have the plant sitting in a corner growing. Indoor farming allows you to grow on or behind the walls! Confused? Me too. Look at the picture below to get a better idea. 

This is just talking about your home. Imagine the possibles of a whole businesses or perhaps a warehouse of some sort. The production would overwhelming!

In the long run, indoor farming is more sustainable for a number of reasons! It uses less water (90% less), less power, less space and weather doesn’t have devastating effects on the crops like traditional farming does. Not to mention a recent concern with land space, no need to worry anymore! Indoor farming takes up not nearly as much space.Image result for indoor farming

We can grown organic food with out spending the extra money. We don’t need to use chemical pesticides or any chemicals in that matter to produce good crops. The environmental factors will not effect them because they are INDOOR! As I said before, fruits and vegetables YEAR ROUND! It is possible to harvest anything at any time! You want strawberries in December, not a problem! It’s so easy and simple!Image result for indoor farming

Technology is taking over traditional farming! There is no more for a need of fertilizers, getting down and dirty, or working harder than you need to! All of the requirements are good quality soil with nutrients, excellent lighting system, water, and of course space to grow. It’s that simple.Image result for indoor farming what do you need

Check out this Facebook video link!! Future farming might be in a warehouse in New York City!! Check out The Bowery Farming Company!! 

http://business.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1384836634939790/

 

 

America's Effort

Green Roofs and Solar Roof Panels!!

Taylor Houghton

What is currently on your roof right now? Just simply a roof right? What if I told you there were two Eco-friendly roof ideas that could better the planet! Green roofs and solar roof panels! They are great ideas because if you think about it, we don’t really use our roofs for anything besides hanging Christmas lights. Let’s put our roofs into good environmental use!

First off, what is a green roof? A green roof system involves high quality water-proofing, root repellent system, drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium, and plants. It’s basically a plant-based roof! It is pretty amazing because there are so many benefits to it! Michigan State University tells us that, “…they can improve storm-water management by reducing runoff and improving water quality, conserve energy, mitigate the urban heat island, increase longevity of roofing membranes, reduce noise and air pollution, sequester carbon, increase urban biodiversity by providing habitat for wildlife, provide space for urban agriculture, provide a more aesthetically pleasing and healthy environment to work and live, and improve return on investment compared to traditional roofs.” With all those benefits why wouldn’t you want to invest into getting a green roof!!

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Below is a video about why cities need more green roofs and they also look into the largest green roof in New York City!

If green roofs aren’t your forte, let me tell you about solar roof panels! They are also called ‘solar shingles.” They are photo-voltaic cells that are designed to like a normal roof so no one would really know the difference. For example, Tesla is a company that sells them. They are cheaper and more durable (3 times stronger) than the traditional roof. Tesla also gives a lifetime warranty. I don’t know about you but when sometime says lifetime warranty, I know it must be good and true. They also come with battery pack so you can still have power at night time. Not to mention, it saves you money on top of that!! It is worth the investment! I can’t wait until the entire world is cover in solar roof panels!!

Image result for solar roof panelsImage result for solar roof panels teslaImage result for solar roof panels tesla

Below is a video about Tesla’s solar roof tiles! Take a look!

Tesla Is Now Selling These Solar Roof Tiles For Cheaper Than A…

Tesla Is Now Selling These Solar Roof Tiles For Cheaper Than A Regular Roof

Posted by David Wolfe on Saturday, May 13, 2017

Individual Change

Sustainably Living

Taylor Houghton

What does it mean to live a more ‘sustainable‘ life?

Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the earth’s natural resources and personal resources.

For my first official post, I am just going to give five general ideas to help you live more sustainable. These may be things you have heard of before or they might be completely new to you. This is just a starting place! What ever the fact, here a simple ways to live more sustainable in your everyday life!

  1. RIDE YOUR BIKE! Riding your bike is actually sometimes quicker than driving! Often times when I ride my bike, I pass a whole line of cars of people stuck in traffic. It of course depends on where your going and what you have to carry, but when you can I would advise you to try to ride your bike!

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2. CAR POOLING! This is another great alternative to helping reduce car emissions. Think about it… if for example, you and a co-worker are going to the same place anyways why not ride together? Not only are you helping the planet, but your also saving money in your own wallet. Image result for car pooling

3. REDUCE HOUSEHOLD ENERGY USE! This idea may seem kind of impossible but it’s not. A lot of the times people leave lights on in rooms their not in. Why? It takes two seconds to flip the switch back up. Try turning off the lights when you leave the room or when you leave your house! This will also save you money in your pocket!

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4. RESELL AND DONATE! When your going through your old stuff, why not make some money off it too? I like the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” (or something like that). Goodwill is a awesome place to drop your unwanted things off if you just want to get rid of them. Back in the day, the only reason people would get rid of their clothes is because they didn’t work anymore or were too worn out. Now a days, people get rid of clothes because their out of style. Clothes is a luxury. We don’t need the newest stuff. If you aren’t willing to stop buying new clothes, at least donate them to someone who could use them! This doesn’t just apply to clothes, but also furniture, dishware, old toys, etc.

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5. PLANT SEEDS! People have ‘grown’ away from planting their own plants. Try setting aside a small area in your yard or window cell. You don’t need acres of land. It’s really a simple process. Also planting trees always helps the environment! If everyone in the world planted one tree, there would be roughly seven billion more trees tomorrow than there was yesterday! Think about the changes that could happen! Those trees would remove over 27 Million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually! Start planting! Image result for plant a tree

With that said, here is a video of little boy who has the mindset that we all should have! Enjoy!