Sustainability V1 - Growing your own vegetables, Reed bed sewage system, Solar panels - General

Sustainability V1 Alright! What is this thread? Put it simply, It's everything sustainable. This includes but isn't limited to growing your own food, mounting solar cells on your house and shed, alternative fuels and construction. [editline]16th October 2016[/editline] I'll start us off. I'm looking into solar panels as they have dropped a considerable amount and wondering if there is are any differences from normal roof mounted panels and camper van panels? as i want to ideally pick up 8 180w Solar panels for my shed.

Imagine an entire neighbourhood or town growing their own fruit and vegetables, and exchanging/sharing between them. No more spending money on fruit and veg! :happy:

I imagine that would work between friends and family but you've then gotta ask what's their drive to do so for a wider community? whether this be a community farm or grown in their own backyard. Imagine a community farm or a job would be a better choice as people like things to do and growing your own food and raising cattle and other animals is an activity.

How much land would you need to be entirely self sustaining with a reasonable diet? Could you use urine to make fertiliser?

One day I'd like to live in a house entirely powered by solar, and have an aquaponics garden. [editline]18th October 2016[/editline] Something like this: [url]http://www.teslarati.com/tesla-hacker-off-grid-solar-home-batteries/[/url]

I'm working on saving up the money to build a tiny house, myself. The largest cost is the flatbed trailer for it - after that it should be easy to source construction materials, and I already have all of the tools. I just wish the first part wasn't the most expensive. It's hard to sit on plans for a long time.

If it wasn't for the fact I have very pesky cats, I would have most likely started a hydroponic system for yellow perch or walleye. Not only are they awesome meat fish, but farmed walleye = $$$

Here's a good tip: use old milk and soda bottles as mini pots! I have some on my patio. It faces north so there is no direct sun, but mint and green onions and chives are dirt cheap and grow good in the bottles from the reflected light. Plant easy stuff like that and will never have to buy those herbs again, plus it keeps bottles out of the gutter.

Been reading up on cold fusion, it seems a lot less resource intense than hydrogen cars as unlike hydrogen it could run your car for a year with a reactor the same size as a birthday candle without a refuel. Genuinely seems like something to look into as thorium has waste this doesn't.

[QUOTE=Sims_doc;51244013]Been reading up on cold fusion, it seems a lot less resource intense than hydrogen cars as unlike hydrogen it could run your car for a year with a reactor the same size as a birthday candle without a refuel. Genuinely seems like something to look into as thorium has waste this doesn't.[/QUOTE] For now, Cold Fusion is a pipe dream. However, traditional nuclear fusion (via several potential methods) is becoming somewhat more promising now due to technological progress and once Gen 4 fission reactors start getting built and put in operation it'll be much more cost-effective and clean (as in, far less un-reprocessable waste) than the current Gen 2/Gen 3 reactors much of the developed world uses. On the topic of personal sustainability, I'll likely look into buying a solar array for my house once I get out of college, depending on the cost. I definitely plan on trying to work towards purchasing a Tesla Model 3 for my next personal car though, since I'm all for EVs and Teslas are some hot stuff when it comes to modern vehicles.

[QUOTE=Lolkork;51263450]why would growing your own vegetables be more sustainable than local organic vegetables?[/QUOTE] It's decentralized and doesn't focus on a piece of land that can be destroyed overtime because your consistently growing produce on it.

[QUOTE=Lolkork;51263450]why would growing your own vegetables be more sustainable than local organic vegetables?[/QUOTE] I cant stand organic/"green" products from the market. Their price is unbelievable, home growing is much more economic.

For the past year or two the most my family has paid for electricity is 20$. A lot of the time we actually put more electricity back on the grid then we use thanks to our giant roof being conpletely covered in solar panels. [editline]27th October 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Sims_doc;51268666]It's decentralized and doesn't focus on a piece of land that can be destroyed overtime because your consistently growing produce on it.[/QUOTE] To be fair any piece of land can be destroyed by over farming rather easily. Your garden also isnt sustainable if you're using fertilizer that isn't 100% animal waste.

I've installed numerous solar systems into enclosed trailers. The solar hype is nice to see and products are going out more and more that offer fun features. Just remember guys to have a solar disconnect switch before the controller if you have more than 300watts on the roof. The blue sparky bit tends to jump alittle if you decide to disconnect it by hand and can cause a sharp but abrupt foul word to slip out of your mouth.

[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;51221438]How much land would you need to be entirely self sustaining with a reasonable diet? Could you use urine to make fertiliser?[/QUOTE] Quarter of an acre I think, if you want to grow produce, have a chicken coop, among other things.

Thinking about rebuilding a wall soon and I'm wondering if there's a better choice of concrete?

Looking for a solar install on my RV I live in for no more than $350 all-in. It just needs to charge the 12v deep cycle battery, though I will be looking to install a ~600-1000 watt inverter not too long after. I'm looking at a 100W Renology kit which comes with the charge controller, panel, mounting, and cables for ~$200. DP has already given me his opinion, I'm just asking to see if anyone else has a different take.

You can get [URL="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200W-12V-Solar-Panel-Kit-Caravan-MONO-Camping-Power-Charging-PWM-Regulator-/172301756230"]the panels for under 200 AUD. 200 Wat 12v[/URL] as for cables and inventor that's the extent of my knowledge.

[QUOTE=Sims_doc;51295949]You can get [URL="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200W-12V-Solar-Panel-Kit-Caravan-MONO-Camping-Power-Charging-PWM-Regulator-/172301756230"]the panels for under 200 AUD. 200 Wat 12v[/URL] as for cables and inventor that's the extent of my knowledge.[/QUOTE] Random no-name panel with no datasheet available? That's gonna work greaaaaaaaaaaat.

I feel like this is obligatory: [video=youtube;uNkADHZStDE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNkADHZStDE[/video] Honestly I'd be game for building my own house using shipping crates/the like, add in some solar cells on top, alot of deep cycle backup 12Volts, and some hydro/aquaponics systems. But I'd like to live close enough to civilization to get cable internet as satellite internet is pretty spotty.

I love the idea of this topic, and I often see myself dreaming about doing this. My best advice for anyone looking into green energy is to find an area with few neighbours and you're able to build a wind turbine, should give you >10kw to play with for a cheap one.

Don't forget about [URL="http://containerauction.com/read-news/shipping-container-housing-permits-and-building-codes"]building codes, etc.[/URL] Generally more metropolitan areas are less willing for people to build their own places, but it tends to be the more midwest you get, the less city/state housing regulatory authorities care. A youtube channel of note is [URL="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDsElQQt_gCZ9LgnW-7v-cQ"]Kristen Dirksen[/URL], she has a full documentary series going around the US talking all about the various challenges (technical, legal, etc) with off-grid/alternative living.