TH Forums Highlights: Next Green Revolution, Solar for Trailers + More
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03. 3.08
1) Forums user Ian Gordon notes, "On page 67 of the latest Economist magazine features an article entitled the next green revolution. As you might expect it lauds the likes of Monsanto and includes the opinions Brett Begemann and David Fischhoff of Monsanto, Thomas West of DuPont's Hi-Bred (another chemical seed corp), Ian Ferguson of Tate and Lyle (an industrial food producer) and Cropnosis an agro-industry consultancy in the pay of, you guessed it, the big agrobusiness combines." The article seems pretty biased, from where Ian Gordon is sitting, but there are always two sides to every story...
2) User nolakate is looking for some solar and green building experts: "i am purchasing a manufactured (trailer) home on the coast of south carolina and trying to keep future electric costs down as i am retired. i plan to have solar bubbles (skylights) installed, a tankless water heater, and putting ceramic tile on the front (south facing) part of the flooring for passive solar. i really would like to do solar panels, but don't know if they would be practical and able to recoup the cost." Anyone?
3) Lastly, Forums user stevenchen18 is looking for a way for the suburbs and tree farms to co-exist: "it is very hard for a farm/tree farm to survive in a urban or suburban setting due to high land prices. That is why they are going away fast. (Forums user) CarolinaJim is the owner of a tree farm in the suburban of Swansboro, NC. He said he will keep the tree farm as long as he is alive. I told him that one tree farm is not enough. He needs to develop a successful model so that other urban/suburban farm/tree farm can stay." What do you think: Are tree farms worth saving?
For nolakate, if you've not purchased the manufactured home, run from the dealer thankful that you escaped. I own several as rental property. They are generally poorly built, use shabby materials, have no overhangs and use cheap windows excluding passive solar. Very few redeeming qualities for the end user. In a short period of time, a modest home (Google search Katrina Cottage from Lowes) will save you far more money than a mobile home will. A home will go up in value. A trailer declines until you pay someone to haul it off.