Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.

In an uncharacteristic fit of romantic desire, free from the guilt-inducing sins of hangover or forehead glitter, I randomly and voluntarily decided to get my wife flowers. It's been a while, some might say far too long, but I wanted to do something special.

Daunted by the price tags, I sat there in a haze as I tried to break down the cost per ounce --as if I was buying cheese or bulk laundry detergent-- all for an item who's prophesy had been subsequently foretold: store to home, home to vase, vase to shelf, shelf to compost. Basically, it would be $60 to buy something just to watch it's slow, quiet death. How did this tradition begin?

Fortunately, there was a local nursery across the street and I decided to see what they had to offer. The combination of their aisle-after-aisle Ohio grown roses and the warm humid weather sprung my wallet into action, and I was out the door two ripe hybrid tea Peace roses (perfect, given the warm political, romantic and environmental climates).

Fast forward to one week later...

While the romantic sentiment took well, I wholeheartedly admit that I have never been an avid gardener, and our house has, for some time, been the Guantanamo Bay of gardens. My black thumb has consumed more plants than a Cheech and Chong movie, and it's all because of my laziness. On the first day I'll water and coddle, on the second day I'll just water, and on the third day I drink beer. Fourth day usually involves buying more beer and drunkenly pulling up dead plants. So what's a lazy beer connoisseur to do?

Well, for us lethargic gardeners that rent our homes, but consistently search for permanent solution sans permanent solution prices, Book of Joe had an interesting April 13th solution.

From the Picket Fence website:

Watering Made Easy Original Sprinkler System
The easy way to green grass. Here’s a permanent, hidden sprinkler that costs a fraction of the cost of an underground system. Click on your garden hose — no screwing. Sprinkler pops up as it waters up to 70 ft. diameter. Installs quickly and stays in place, adjusted as you set it. Simply mow over it. Includes sprinkler assembly, hose quick-connect, protection shell and cover, twine for determining location and layout guide. $39.95


Definitely more appealing than the temporary set-up of a Yard Camel and I'd honestly consider a purchase, but while I like the idea, I was trying to figure out if there was a way that I could set it up with a greywater reclamation system (remember the Aqus post?).

For instance, take the gray water package units from Brac Systems. It's all well and good from an ambitious standpoint, but tell me if this looks like a renter's set-up...


I'd be happy to invest 10% with our current landlord for its installation, but even if I was a homeowner, this project would daunting in scale alone. So I was wondering...

Given the ease of installation with of a rain catchment barrel, combined with the ease of use of a temporary sprinkler system, compounded with the impermanence of its implementation, given the power of water pressure as a result of gravity, could you hack it to be both eco-friendly AND affordable to the masses? Basically, could you do this...If we're going to utilize gravity to push the water through the pipes, the barrel would most likely need to be a tad bit higher than shown in my shoddy Photoshop rendition. But all in all, I think the concept could work. This way, you wouldn't need to permanently install the application, but could choose where you wanted to use the typically wasted rainwater in your yard or garden.

Version 2.0 attaches to the commode so I'll spare you the stinky details, but you get the point. Anybody want to hack this and tell me how it goes?

If there's grass on the roof...

Green roofs, while conceptually and environmentally brilliant, have been plagued with something we are all to familiar with in the Midwest: weight.

In most cases, the majority of existing buildings have the space, but can't afford the load weight. Or often times, the building can afford to hold the roofing system, but would crumble under an additional moisture load. Such added weight is even a problem with on sloping roof systems.

"...green roofs can retain as much as fifty to seventy percent of water that falls onto a roof. Retention varies according to climate. Hutchinson et al reported that a 10 to 12 cm vegetated roof in Portland, Oregon retained 69% of the total rainfall with peak flow reductions of 80% during a 15-month monitoring period. Investigations in East Lansing, Michigan cdompared a gravel roof and a vegetated roof with the mean percent rainfall retention ranging from 48.7% for a gravel roof to 82.8% for a vegetated roof. A similar range was seen on two roofs of different slopes in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Total rainfall retention was 55% for the sloped roof and 63% for the flat roof. Peak flow was reduced by 57% for the sloped roof and 87% for the flat roof." WEBSITE

Poundage-be-damned, green roofing companies are finally beginning to recognize that the existing market is far more available than the future market, and have consequently begun to reduce the load weight in their systems. On company that caught my eye is GreenTech, a Roswell, Georgia based company that specializes in athletic fields, landscpaing systems, golf course systems, and yes, green roof systems.


They're no newcomer to the game, though. In addition to laying claim to New York's largest greenroof and the grass at Wimbledon, GreenTech has found a way to box out the weight and open up the lane to a lighter, newer, more accessible green roof.

***
From their website:

The GreenTech Roof Garden System weighs less than comparable systems for a couple reasons. Forklift and drainage channels displace soil with air. But more importantly, no drainage medium (gravel) is required in the system. This feature works to reduce weight of the system as well as cost of materials and labor.

***

So why is this system able to shed the pounds?

The system has built-in drainage channels that allow the water to flow through the soil into open channels and directly to roof drain outlets. At the same time, each high-density polyethylene module protects the roof surface from root infiltration and damage to the roof membrane. The result is a large planting surface -- with the all-important root depth -- that's more lightweight and flexible than other green roofs. Given the fact that it still discharges the water, some might view the system as less than substantial as other systems, but it needs to be kept in mind that the grey water discharge can be stored for landscape use.

Additionally, the GreenTech allows for almost 40 times the drainage and air flow capacity of conventional drainage systems. Even the drainage channels displace soil, resulting in a 20 to 40% weight reduction. You can even remove the individual sections to replace, repair, or modify the existing system.

But this is what I like most:

The system can be installed in very unlikely places. A back patio loft in the city can suddenly transform into a mini Central Park. You drop the crates, fill with dirt, cover with sod, and finish the edge (simplified, yes, but it is undoubtedly FAR MORE basic than most systems on the market). I like.

Money down the drain and back up again...

Keeping with this week's theme of getting clean, we're still in the bathroom (kind of). RenewABILITY Energy, Inc has an unfortunately named product that I desperately need to see in action.

I'm stoked if the Power-Pipe™ works as it claims, because the technology could be easily tweaked and retweaked over the next decade (I think it's still in version 1.0), pulling a ton of heat loss back into buildings and homes. However, I can't imagine that all the heat-conducive copper comes at a cheap price.

Here's the gist...basically, the warmer waste water in the drain pipe warms up the incoming cold water before it reaches your hot water heater...kind of like putting hot water in a tea kettle before you boil it. Might not work as efficiently down south, but it's obvious to see why it would help those in the frozen north.

From their Website:

Drain-water clings to the inside pipe wall and falls quickly creating a thin “falling-film” which quickly imparts its heat to the pipe wall. Copper is used for both the inner pipe and outer tube, and its conductivity has a heat transfer rate that is 4-6x greater than other classes of heat exchanger on a surface area basis...

The heat from this film is transferred easily and efficiently to the cold water circulating in the Power-Pipe™ around the outside of the drainpipe.

The incoming cold water is preheated before going into the water heater and plumbing fixtures, saving money and energy while increasing shower-capacity. A sixty inch Power-Pipe™ unit can bring the cold water temperature up from 10 degrees C to as much as 24 degrees C, under equal flow conditions. If it is connected to only the water heater or only the cold water fixtures, the savings is less but the temperature rises up to about 28 degrees C.

Power-Pipe™ raises the temperature of incoming cold water by recycling free heat from waste-water going down the drain. About 90% of all hot water energy goes down the drain, allowing the Power-Pipe™ to recycle as much as 60% of the wasted heat. The more hot water you use, the more energy you save.

Water your yard with yo dirty self...

If you're married to my wife, then you know how much water can be wasted in the shower (to the couch I go)...

While it's a relief to know that there are numerous products available to curb your usage, you will still, ultimately, need water...at least until the specs on my Blow Me Clean dry-shower are finished (the test name is currently being thrown around in some focus groups).

Until my patents clear, it's nice to see that someone has developed an efficient AQUS-esque system that collects your soapy discharge: The Waterleech. It's simple, it's portable, it comes with accessory bling, and it's in version 2.0.

Think of the applications...

...because we all shower and bathe...

...and Mama Nature needs some electrolytes...

...because water is the new oil.

#2 of a kind....

Travel anywhere in the Pacific and you'd be surprised at the European influence --not just in a royal Monarchial sense-- but in the bathrooms.

What?

You heard me right...yes, the bathrooms.

Why low-flush/dual flush toilets have never caught on stateside, I'll never know. Travel anywhere east of Lisbon or west of Papeete and you're bound to find a two-flusher underneath your bum (in addition to, ahem, less scrupulous versions of what some might consider to be a toilet). For those of you that have never experienced them before, the two flusher provides two different levels of flushing power: Level #1 using half the water at code yellow, and level #2 opening up the locks on the dam. Pretty logical, eh?

But for some reason or another, Americans require a 30 gallon SHWOOSHing sound to insure that our poo is whisked away on a 50 mph hour log ride to the water washing plant far, far away from the sterile bubble of home. Think Homer Simpson shouting "USA, USA" in the episode Bart vs. Australia.

Actually, if you're an American you might even consider this conversation a bit too gauche for your virgin ears? My apologies, but as you'll see from a quick googling toilets and restrooms are the talk of the world (I want this one). You haven't lived till you've tried your first Asian squatter.



Back to the conversation at hand...

The crude, frail design of dual-flush toilets has advanced quite a bit over the last decade, so maybe there's a chance we'll see them soon. Up until recently, they've never been able to meet the needs of American sturdiness. Solid construction and sleeker designs will hopefully provide some form of a competitive edge in the US market. Until that time, I guess I'll just keep posting about other crazy designs (some of which might just work!) in loo [sic] of a dual flush post.

One crazy design that caught my attention was the Royal Flush Water Saver.

Whether you're looking to save the environment or your just a fan of the TV show Oz, you'll no doubt appreciate this grey water recycling system. We've posted about grey systems before, but the system takes it to a whole new (see: prison-like) level.

While I think the design is oddly genuine, I still have my reservations about American idiosyncrasies and the toilet/cleanliness combo (see: aforementioned 500 mph log ride). It's obvious between this system and the Aqus system that there is a viable way to recirculate used water back into reservoir tank, but I think the Aqus system might be in the lead, design-wise. I'm just not sure many Americans, obvious as it may be that the hand-washing water isn't coming FROM the toilet, might still think/feel that that the toilet H2O is the source.

Additionally, there are many misconceptions as to the flight patterns of airborne particulate swirling through the bathroom post-flush (FYI: according to Jaime and Adam, that myth was busted). As a result, many might assume that the sink would be infested with germs and bacteria after the first flush, much less the many flushes thereafter.


Still, I can't help but find myself a teensy bit excited at the thought of competitive development in this field (yes, I need to get out more often). It's simple: competitive market interest produces perfected design.