Well, this is where the heartbreak happens.  After only two weeks we had to disassemble our Thermal Bin.  Not because the temperatures had dropped but rather because we noticed that the free mulch was infested with red spider mites.  They had laid low when we were shoveling and moving the stuff, but a little after a week we started to notice them crawling everywhere.  Turns out to be a good thing that we didnt get it plumbed in but not for any of the reasons the plumbers gave for not helping. 

We had a mixture of wood and leaf matter from various sources.  Jean Pain used wood chips to build his pile but we are using what is on hand, free and local.

Im calling this 2.5 because our original paper plan quickly showed itself to have some problems. 

Here is how we are constructing Thermal Bin 2.5

We know how hard it is squeak by on a sustainable level of Natural Gas.  This is becoming more and more important with the advent of Fracking. 

Weather you choose barrels or totes is up to you and will depend on availability, budget, inclination towards plumbing, atheistic and space.  For more information, check out our page on daisy chaining rain barrels.

If you choose totes, here are a few things we have learned from our experiences.

A few years ago, my wife told me about a group of people who make a pledge to not buy new things for a whole year. There are exceptions on their list, of course; there is no such thing as used food or fuel, or other consumables, and it is expected that certain important items like underwear will still be purchased new, but for the most part, the rule was to buy it used or do without.

I was traveling recently and found I needed a crochet hook to finish what I was doing.  First I asked the people I was visiting if they had one.  No, but they were sure I could buy one at Walmart.

Its the end of September and we have almost exhausted this topic.  It brings us good news and bad news.  Bad news out of the way first. 

We had estimated that we would use 9.1 therms during our final month long experiment.  The results are that we used 10 therms.  Why is that?  Either the one afternoon of canning ketchup is responsible, or some of our assumptions about how much the pilots burn is slightly faulty.  Either way its a reasonable margin of error considering we dont have more accurate instruments.

We are building this page to be a compleiment to our Greenest Eco School & Office supplies page.

For this page we are putting together best places to look for supplies.  As always, we advocate making do and using up what you have first.  If you really need to buy something, here are some good places to look.