Tips on Going Green within the Home and hence Save Some Money
March 25, 2008
Why all this discussion about going green first of all you may be asking? Well simply put, more and more people these days are very concerned about doing what they can to lower their fuel bills, use energy more wisely and trying to reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in the landfill. The whole point of going green is to find some best practices, whether they are at home, at your place of business or simply in our everyday lives that will help us to achieve this goal. So here are a few random... Read more »
When Disaster Strikes and Dealing with Emergencies
March 24, 2008
Did you know that most injuries during disasters are caused not by the actual event but by lack of planning and lack of appropriate management? This means that in any major event, individuals have a huge impact on whether and how they survive. Because most people will face an emergency situation at some point in their lifetime, learning how to deal with major disasters is an essential skill. Here are a few tips for dealing with natural and manmade disasters alike: Remain Calm However difficult this... Read more »
Bamboo: The Ultimate Construction Product
March 23, 2008
In the U.S., most people probably think of bamboo in terms of a thin reed used for decorative purposes, such as a houseplant or rug for your living room. But the reality is that bamboo is a fine resource for use in construction. Bamboo is not really a tree; it’s a grass - a grass that can grow 120 feet tall and 13 inches thick. That’s quite an impressively growing grass, and one that can be used very effectively for building things. Thick bamboo poles harvested from giant bamboo as described... Read more »
A Guide to Austin’s Greenbelts
March 10, 2008
On the eastern edge of the Edwards plateau lies one of Austin’s greatest treasures: the Barton Creek Greenbelt. After millions of years, the runoff of rainwater carved a canyon into the plateau, and created one of Austin’s treasures. The most popular of Austin’s greenbelts, the Barton Creek greenbelt is just shy of 8 miles long, and covers 809 acres. The greenbelt runs from Zilker Park downtown, to the rocky entrance of Camp Craft Road, just off of the Capital of Texas Highway,... Read more »
Cork - the Renewable Wonder Wood with Many Uses
March 7, 2008
Cork is a wondrous material that provides mankind with numerous benefits. Cork is made from the bark of the evergreen species of oak genus called the Quercus. The wood is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. It has also been introduced into warmer areas of the United States, but by far the number one producer of cork oak is Portugal, which accounts for half of the world’s cork. The cork oak tree has a very thick bark (known as “cork”), which can be harvested for the... Read more »
Caribbean Ecocide or Where Did the Cancun and Playa Del Carmen Beaches Go?
March 7, 2008
Looking out across the dark Caribbean night from Punta Allen one sees three equally sized glowing areas on the distant horizon to the north. The furthest out is Cancun, the next Playa del Carmen and the last Tulum. Cancun has a bit less than a million people; Playa has 300,000 and Tulum now over 30,000. Playa Del Carmen is the fastest growing municipality in Mexico. But from Punta Allen each lighted area appears to be the same size since Cancun is farther away than Playa and Playa is farther... Read more »
African Orchids are a Wonderful Thing
March 5, 2008
Why Are The African Orchids So Popular All Over The World? Orchids are indeed some of the most beautiful flowers in the world. The African orchids are characterized by small white flowers unlike the flowers you usually see in other types of orchids which are large and often of bright red, yellow and other such vibrant and attractive colors. The role of the bright flowers is to attract insects to help the flower to pollinate. A Few Things You Need To Know About The African Orchids There are more... Read more »
The Jaguar and Why He is the Keystone Cop of the Rainforest
February 29, 2008
The jaguar or panthera onca has to be one of the most magnificent animals on Earth. Maybe the most magnificent. Only the tiger and lion are larger cats. Our Maya friend Aniceto says we have a jaguar den on our ranch; probably some shallow limestone cave covered by dense growth. Part of our ranch is virgin rainforest. We’ve never seen our jaguar but he has. One evening coming back from his “milpa” he saw it in the middle of the road. Usually they don’t come... Read more »
Natures Own Organic Fertilizers
February 26, 2008
Many people take pleasure in gardening. They put considerable time and energy into creating pleasant environments around their houses using the very simple elements of seeds, a spade, and fertilizer. A great many people prefer organic fertilizer to the artificial kinds that are manufactured from synthetically produced chemicals. Urea is a good example of such a fertilizer. It is commonly used to promote blooming in plants. Natural organic fertilizers are so called for obvious reasons. All of the... Read more »
The History Of An Exotic, Romantic Flower: The Orchid
February 26, 2008
Most of us regard the orchid as a beautiful, exotic and romantic flower. Most are also unaware of their spectacular history and the passionate efforts which have gone into finding, cataloguing and creating the orchids which we enjoy today. A register of orchids is held at the Royal Horticultural Society in London. The Vanilla orchid was the first to enter Europe back in 1510. This was the source for the second most expensive flavouring extract (the most expensive being the saffron crocus). Over... Read more »
