Kate’s Controversies

Maybe the grass in Mountain View grows slower, and does not have (goat-poisonous) dandelions -- I don't think a couple herds of goats during the summer would work similarly for lawns here in upstate New York.

How do you tell it to consume 4 inches instead of 2?

This one's easy for a life-long Hudson Valley resident, born near the banks of the mighty Hudson in Troy, New York: clean up the Hudson River. Many thanks, Pete Seeger, for the great theme songs all these years! :) - Larry

I've gotta be careful for what I ask for: it was announced in my local newspaper, the Albany Times-Union, that the long-stalled clean-up, a collaboration of General Electric and EPA of the Hudson, started this week(!) at the source-polluted site in Fort Edward, New York, a little north of Saratoga Springs: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=800812. It's getting easier being green!!! - Larry

I heard of one study where moveable fencing was use to clear land with the introduction first of goats, instead of a brush hog. The goats were moved to the next plot and sheep kept the grass short. Then hogs were turned loose to dig up the roots of problem plants. Worked pretty well!

One would also need a tortoise to trim the edges of the lawn.

This sounds like a pretty cool concept. Since my lawn is covered in dandelions every spring, this would be a goats dream. Unfortunately, I don't see my father giving up his lawn mowing ways. I don't think that my father would be willing to trade a messy lawn for a poop strewn uneven cut lawn. Plus, they might start eating buds of the saplings, and that is a no-no!

This is quite a good idea, I believe. It is ideas like this that positively contribute to our environment.

"Plus, they might start eating buds of the saplings"...

My dear friend, the goats will eat everything... grass, hedges, saplings, tree bark. In a month your yard would look like a Army training ground. It would be fun to watch the Googlians pulling their hair when the goats will run havoc in the parking lot, jumping from car to car.

I love American innocence...

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/poisonousplants.htm

I had to clear this up for myself, the first entry said dandelions are poisonous to goats and the later one suggested they are not. I'll post it here in case someone else wants to be clear too.

It's not easy being green (video)

Great video, Kaplin - enjoyed it! Another version of Kermit's song, a softer version, was also done by a French artist now living in the U.S. southwest, Naim Amor (video performance on KCRW.org). - Larry

I wonder how much gas was used transporting to and from the area - I couldn't find an address on the web site. As far as emissions reduction, I think that is a good idea, but gas consumption could be a draw if the pasturage area is small enough - unless they bought the goats. Baaaaaa

Mike, I just noticed that your motto. It fits the case in discussion pretty good...

David Banner did not like to go green

it is a drop on a Hot plate IMO, No humans no polution!

We can use their dung for biofuel and fertilizer and they are delicious when they are young. Cabrito!

In Georgia, they have had goats maintaining the hillsides near Buford Dam for over 15 years. The slopes near the dam are to steep to mow. The area has a tall fence around it to keep the people out and the goats in. Seems to be working pretty well.

Would it not have been 'greener' to leave the hillside vegetation as mother earth had provided? Trading a green hillside for "fertilized" land seems unnatural, considering fertilized is simply a fancy word for goat manure.

Viewing/smelling decaying goat manure, on what was once a green hillside, seems foolish, let's see if the goats really are invited back next year.

Here in Malaysia there is a radio spot encouraging everyone to use the internet less as two typical searches use as much energy as boiling a kettle of water.

My first reaction was "so?" And then my second reaction was "BALDERDASH!"

I fully believe in reducing wasted energy, that is a big part of my job-reducing wasted energy and preventing carbon emissions for no good reason, but stopping internet usage? What we get everyone to get in their car and go to the library to look up information? Or maybe they drive all over town searching for something when they could have found it on the internet in seconds. The commercial is stupid.

Here is Google's stand on the subject substantiating my balderdash assessment.

"Recently, though, others have used much higher estimates, claiming that a typical search uses "half the energy as boiling a kettle of water" and produces 7 grams of CO2. We thought it would be helpful to explain why this number is *many* times too high. Google is fast — a typical search returns results in less than 0.2 seconds. Queries vary in degree of difficulty, but for the average query, the servers it touches each work on it for just a few thousandths of a second. Together with other work performed before your search even starts (such as building the search index) this amounts to 0.0003 kWh of energy per search, or 1 kJ. For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

In terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2. The current EU standard for tailpipe emissions calls for 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven, but most cars don't reach that level yet. Thus, the average car driven for one kilometer (0.6 miles for those in the U.S.) produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand Google searches."

Yes , the electric plant just keeps working, so when i stop internet i go out in the car burning gas.