The Living Skyscraper by Blake Kurasek

As I got older, I watched the farms and orchards disappear, replaced with cookie cutter communities. Houses that all looked the same and were close enough to scratch your neighbors back while they were in the shower cluttered the horizon and slowly took over the entire area. By the time I moved out of town at 18, there were no more farmers in the area, the suspenders were gone and the soccer moms had moved in.

Now 30, I have seen more and more farms disappear as land is annexed to squeeze in more people. Where I currently reside, there are still many farms in the surrounding areas, and as I drive the back roads to work, I cringe at the though of the roof-tops that will consume the beautiful land over the next 20 years.  So what are we going to do when all the farms are gone? Where will we grow our food? What will happen to the green in the concrete jungle?

Enter The Vertical Farm Project from Columbia University. The idea came about in 1999 when an environmental sciences professor mentioned the idea to his students. In 2001, they actually began researching and outlining the idea, and it has continued to grow since then (Pun intended!).

According to Dickson Despommier, the professor of environmental sciences and microbology that started this ball rolling, vertical farming could provide many benefits around the world. Aside from adding additional green space in overpopulated urban areas, the avoidance of deviated weather conditions such as flood

s or droughts would be a major asset. Growing crops indoors in well maintained conditions will assist in optimal growth rates year round. One acre of vertical farm could produce the same amount of 15 acres of soil-based farmland.

Unfortunately, these farms are still in the proof of concept phase as they figure out ways to reduce the costs of creating the massive structures. If costs are brought down, maybe we could see some of these farms created in highly populated urban areas by 2020! Keep our fingers crossed. Some additional advantages:

Advantages of Vertical Farming

• Year-round crop production
• Eliminates agricultural runoff
• Significantly reduces use of fossil fuels (farm machines and transport of crops)
• Makes use of abandoned or unused properties
• No weather related crop failures
• Offers the possibility of sustainability for urban centers
• Converts black and gray water to drinking water
• Adds energy back to the grid via methane generation
• Creates new urban employment opportunities
• Reduces the risk of infection from agents transmitted at the agricultural interface
• Returns farmland to nature, helping to restore ecosystem functions and services
• Controls vermin by using restaurant waste for methane generation

Given the popularity of such groups, it would be impossible to maintain such a large group of kids in a single pack, which is why different packs exist. It came as quite a surprise to find out that none of the organizations worked closely with other packs, they were very much segregated into individual groups.

It’s funny that a group that promotes teamwork does not practice such things on a larger scale. Every year, Cub packs spend money on gear that they are only going to use once or twice a year, while the rest of the time it sits idle. Seems like such a waste to spend so much money on the same things another Cub pack has.  Wouldn’t it be more economical to discuss different outings and trips with the other pack leaders so they could pool resources, or trade items to use while staggering their trips? Of course it would!

BorrowMe allows Cub Packs to list a central repository of items they have in their inventory to share with other packs. They are able to share their resources and gain additional resources that they never had before. Resource sharing can greatly reduce costs in purchases as well as storage. Is it time that you looked into it?

Some Items that You Might Need To Borrow:

• Kub Kar Scales
• Kar Track
• Duct Oven Pots
• Tents
• Sleeping Bags
• Trailers
• Storage Space
• Sports equipment
• Fishing Reels

Many of these items were purchased with full knowledge that they would unlikely see more than 3-4 months of use before they had to be retired, and in a majority of cases, these items were purchased brand new. While children may be the light of our lives, they are also a huge drain on our finances. It can easily cost more than $150,000 to raise a child up to the age of 18. There must be a better way.

Again, we come back to the scenario of ‘why should I buy it new, when there are probably a dozen sitting unused within blocks of me!’, this is especially true in suburban areas where 95% of the residents have children, or are having children. For those who are having their second or third child, they can probably reuse many of these items themselves, but what about the new and single mothers who are just starting out?

With the current recession, money is tighter than ever. Despite things looking up, it will take awhile for North America to return to it’s former financial glory. BorrowMe gives new mothers a venue to connect with seasoned vets to acquire some of the things they require for free or at a cost much lower than buying retail. It’s a win-win situation. One person gets what they need, one person gets a few more karma points and clears out some space in their garage!

Helping others can give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, especially when the other party has another party in the oven. You can help build a better community and help people find what they need at the same time, can you get any better than that?

Looking for some ideas for things you could add on BorrowMe?

• Car Seats
• Strollers
• Cribs
• Highchairs
• Gyms
• Playpens
• Nightlights
• Books
• Changing tables
• Rockers
• Bottles
• Baby tubs
• Hooded towels
• Baby monitors
• Outlet covers
• Slings
• Jumpers
• Carriers

It got me to thinking about how many other people had similar shelves in their houses, and how many thousands of books were out there, just waiting to be read. Then I remembered that people tend to join Book clubs! So I thought, why couldn’t they use BorrowMe.com for their group?

They can, very easily! Think about it. If you have 5 avid readers, each with 20 books listed, that’s 100 books to go through (80 not counting your own!), now think about the avid readers you know who only have 20 books. Most people who like to read have 50-100 books on their shelf EASILY, if not more. I had one friend who had 3 full bookshelves in their living room, plus 15-20 boxes in their basement.

Imagine the opportunities to read that many books, without having to shell out $10, $30, $100 to read it! You can fulfill your minds need and craving for knowledge, at a fraction of the cost (If any!). Here are a few examples of the different types of books you might have on your shelf that would be of interest to others:

• How To Books
• Horror Fiction
• Recipe Books
• True Crime
• Photography
• Historical Accounts
• Romantic Novels
• Childrens Books
• Autobiographies

There are so many different types of books out there for every kind of reader, it’s time we started opening our bookshelves to others and see what else is out there for our imaginations!

Unplug Your Unused Appliances – A lot of people don’t realize that many appliances and chargers are still drawing power when they are not in use. From your office printer, to your bread maker and Xbox, they are all suckling at the power teat while sitting idle. By plugging these items into an energy star rated power bar, you can stop these watt sucking vampires from upping your monthly bills. While it may not seem like much, you can easily save $200/yr on your power bill.

Ditch the Bottled Water - Even though the great BPA scare made many people switch to reusable water bottles, millions of bottles of bottled water is still sold every year. Most people don’t think about all the trucks it takes to deliver all that water around the world to the grocery and convenience stores. Not only can you save a bundle buy purchasing an in house filtration system, but you are reducing the amount of bottles that go into the trash or have to be recycled. This way you can have convenient, fresh filtered water anytime you want, but you help to reduce green house gases (Sorry, it won’t help with your ’significant others’ gasses).

Buy Local, Go Organic – In the same vain as bottled water, it takes millions of gallons of gas to deliver fresh produce and other food products around the globe. By buying locally grown, organic produce you are not only supporting and investing in your local economy, but you are helping to reduce carbon emissions from large trucks barreling down the highways.

Resource Sharing – Take a look around your garage and basement. How many of these things did you ‘have to have’ at the time, and now they are collecting dust. How many items do you own that are used once or twice a year, and sit idle the rest of the time. Why can’t your friends or neighbors borrow or rent these items from you for a small fee? Why do we have this crazy idea we need to own EVERYTHING when there are surely 5-10 of them within blocks of your house. Save some money, save some space and get to know your neighbors!

Ditch the Credit Cards – While many will say that this is more money saving than reducing your carbon footprint, think again. Of course you will save money, but since credit cards make over-spending so much easier, you end up contributing more waste from all those products you bought. And as with other items in this list, they had to get to the store somehow! You will be reducing greenhouse emissions.  A few tips to keep from spending: Leave the credit cards at home unless you absolutely need them. If you have a serious credit card addiction, you might want to put your assets on ice, literally. Put yours cards in a Tupperware container filled with water and put it in the freezer, that way if you have a sudden urge to spend, you have time to walk yourself down while the cards are defrosting (Don’t try putting it in the microwave either, it will melt your cards!)!

These are just a few of the things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and your spending. What tricks do YOU use in your day to day life? Post additional ideas to share in the comments.

With Freecycle, you have 2 options, give and receive. You can post an item for somebody to take, or post something you are looking for. That’s it. Moderators have been known to be almost militant at times when people don’t follow these strict rules. But what about the people that want to do more with their stuff? They Can BorrowMe!

Similar to the Freecycle network, BorrowMe.com allows users to post items they want, or have to give away, but with many more options and control.

So if you’re upset with Freecycle and and are looking for alternatives, come check out BorrowMe.com and take it for a spin!

The boss actually ran into this problem himself a few weeks ago when attempting to acquire a washer and dryer he got from some friends. While they only needed to travel a few kilometers, loading up the BorrowMe Mobile (Smart Car) was out of the question. At a loss, he posted a Wish on BorrowMe for the assistance of a pickup-truck for an hour or so. Once listed, he chose to also post to Facebook with our usefull ‘Post to Facebook’ option, which turned out to be a smart choice.

Because he has well over a hundred people on his Facebook Friends list (Which greatly outweighs his 30-ish friends on BorrowMe.com), the post was seen by many more people. While he did not get a response from his friends on BorrowMe, he had 3 responses from different people within 24 hours from people on Facebook! Some people think that because BorrowMe doesn’t have a million members, they won’t get their wish or won’t be able to get rid of an item they have. Turns out they were wrong!

The power of BorrowMe’s social integration with Facebook allows you to get your wishes and items out to a much larger group of people you know, or people you know through somebody else (One of the people that responded to his plea was actually a friend of a friend). This goes to show that using the Post to Facebook feature on the site will get more eyes on your stuff, but that there are many people that are willing to help out another human being, even if it’s a friend of a friend.

BorrowMe is a way for people to get to know their friends and neighbors better, to build better communities and to use that closeness to help reduce the amount of stuff that goes to landfills, make some return on those seldom used big ticket items and to save money! It’s a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction. The more people see that the system works, the more likely they are to use it. The more friends they have doing it, the more chance they will get on board as well. So the next time you are in need of something, even if you think it’s small, try posting on BorrowMe and see what you can get!

An idle wardrobe helps nobody!

BorrowMe is a great option for theater groups to share resources between groups, and request gift-in-kind donations from their faithful patrons. Let’s look at this in a bit more detail.

Theater groups have many different costumes and props that they keep around for different performances throughout the year, while the rest of the time they sit around collecting dust. At other times, they are in need of more sets, lighting and sound equipment for different productions. With their minuscule budgets, purchasing new items is out of the question, and asking for money from patrons is seen as tacky in some parts, so what are they do to?

One option is to create a Wish list on BorrowMe.com for the stuff they are looking for and promote the URL at the end of their performances or maybe hand out some fliers. This will allow people to donate items they already have and are not using themselves instead of money, something more people would be willing to do.

Another option is resource sharing with other groups. Unless the group is in a very small town, there are usually a few theater groups spread across the city, and they are probably in the same boat. Why not start a group on BorrowMe and invite the different the different group heads to join. Everybody can list the items they are will to lend to each other for different performances and productions. “Not using that spotlight next week? We could use it for our production of Hamlet and Eggs”.

This type of engagement ends up being a win-win situation for everybody involved, one group can put significant idle resources to work, while the other group gets the benefit of borrowing or renting at a reasonable cost instead of buying new items.

Theater groups are under economic pressures to create greatness from very little. The challenging financial environments are always tough to work in, but opening up to ideas such as resource sharing can open doors that were never thought possible.

A few ideas for items that theater groups might have on their Wish Lists:

• Paint
• Tools
• Lumber
• Excess Storage
• Lighting Equipment
• Bulbs
• Speakers
• Microphones
• Fabric
• Sewing Machines
• Office Equipment
• Skulls (The fake ones of course!)

Remember, one mans junk is another mans treasure!

Wouldn’t it be nice to lend one of your co-workers the latest season of Desperate Housewives so you can add another person to your gossip group at work? What about letting the guy two cubicles down your jigsaw to make those cool shelves his daughter wants for her birthday? It’s not hard to turn a stagnant office place into an area of friendship and closeness with a minimal amount of effort. It will not only benefit the employees, but happier workers will also benefit the company as a whole!

We have all sorts of idle items laying around our house; from TV on DVD to movies and video games. Why not do some in office trading and lending? It saves you from dropping $50 on that game you will finish in a week, or save you from spending $80 on that Hard Cover novel you have been dying to read. Resource sharing with co-workers gives you more piece of mind than dealing with strangers. Many people find they are more comfortable lending to people they are familiar with, and you can’t get more familiar than the people you work with!

With so many people hit during the recession, many families are starting to open their eyes to new and less conventional methods of saving money and reducing their consumption. Resource sharing at work, and in their neighborhood makes a lot of sense for everybody involved, and helps to reduce the amount of stuff that ends up in landfills. It’s a win-win-win situation. As Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton) said in Death To Smootchy, “You can’t change the world but you can make a dent.”, Let’s make some dents people!

He had checked out Freecycle with no luck, and since it didn’t have any kind of Wish tracking feature, he posted a Wish on BorrowMe.com. It took only a few moments to list his Wish, and when prompted, he also chose to post his Wish to Facebook. Within 24 hours, a friend of a friend saw the posting and sent him a message about a rowing machine he had up for grabs.

They sent a few messages back and forth regarding a meeting time and location, and a deal was struck. Could it get any easier (Well, we’re still working on our telepathy feature, so until then…)?

Save money, find what you need! This just goes to show that using the social features can greatly increase your changes of finding items, or letting others know you have stuff to get rid of!

Do you have any of these in your basement that you could part with?

• Free weights
• Dumbbells
• Exercise Bike
• Elliptical
• Punching Bag
• Weight Bench
• Butterfly Bar
• Treadmill

If you don’t want it, chances are that somebody else does!