LEDs, rain-harvesting and pilgrimage talk

Shedding light on LEDs
Local sustainable architect Hyland Fisher, who periodically sends me sustainable-home tips (see “Eco-friendly window glass: Bird-safe and more,” The GreenHouse, June 6, for instance), recently sent a link to an Oct. 17 piece he wrote on his blog, titled “LED lights not as efficient as touted.”

“[A] recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy may lead you to reconsider replacing your fluorescent lamps with LEDs,” Fisher wrote. “This is very important for people who have been paying the high retail price for LED lamps. When LEDs first came out it was said by environmental leaders and even by Popular Mechanics [magazine] that they had a much longer life than fluorescent lamps.

“Not so.”

According to the study, Fisher pointed out, “LEDs do not last as long as initially advertised [and] ‘the average life-cycle energy consumption of LED lamps and CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) are similar.’”

Go to www.hylandfisherarchitect.com to learn more about Fisher and to keep up with his useful blog.

Harvest the rain
Nani Teves, the Butte Environmental Council’s Code Blue water-outreach coordinator, reminded me that on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 10-11 a.m., BEC is hosting a free rainwater-harvesting workshop.

“If you’ve ever wanted to put your roofs and gutters to work collecting rain for you, this event is a must,” says the BEC website (www.becnet.org) of this informative event. “Learn how to safely and sensibly collect and store water for use in your garden.”

The workshop—which will also offer healthful, organic snacks—is being held at a private home; contact Teves at nanibay@hotmail.com or 891-6424 for more information and to register.

Trek on down to the Women’s Club
One of my favorite places in town, the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology at Chico State, is hosting Lessons from a Pilgrimage, a free “World Explorations Special Event” on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 4-6:15 p.m., at the Chico Women’s Club (592 E. Third St.).

Northstate Public Radio’s Nancy Wiegman, who hosts Nancy’s Bookshelf, will share stories of her time in France, when she walked the Voie d’Arles, part of the famed Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) pilgrimage route to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

After her talk, local classical guitarist Warren Haskell will provide French-themed music, and Bacio Catering & Carry Out will provide scrumptious, good-for-you food.

(In the spirit of Wiegman’s walk/talk, leave your car at home and walk or bike to this event.)

Call 898-5397 or send an email to anthromuseum@csuchico.edu for more info.

Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching—even when doing the wrong thing is legal. —Aldo Leopold

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. —Martin Luther King, Jr.

So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most open-minded westerners generally view listening to the natural world as a metaphor, as opposed to the way the world really is. Trees and rocks and rivers really do have things to say to us. —Derrick Jensen