What did you do in the garden today?

[Sammster]

My neighbor just sent me this photo

 

[gtaus]

Shifting the pollution to other parts of world isn't really cleaning up.

No, I suppose not. Are you talking about the pollution related to the mining and manufacturing of the minerals for batteries? If so, as I stated, we need safer and more environmentally friendly minerals for batteries in the future.

I do stand by my statement that I think it's great that California is trying to clean up its air pollution. My hope is that by forcing people to use less air polluting electric motors will result in both cleaner air locally, but also, we might see new technologies for the rest of the country/world to meet the demand generated by California.

When I left the military, I went back to Minnesota where the air and water are clean. My lungs were damaged while I was in the military overseas, and being stationed in California was hard on me because of expose to so much air pollution. Dear Wife and I enjoyed our tour in California, but my lung health improved dramatically after I left California.

I noticed that cobalt minimg in the MN Boundary Waters area is a lot more problematic to many Americans than cobalt mining in Africa where about 70% is currently done.

I live in Minnesota, but west of the iron range and the Boundary Waters area. I have never heard of any problems with cobalt mining here in Minnesota. I know our miners dream of the glory days when the mining towns were full and bustling. They think/believe it has something to do with political policies changing. Mostly, however, it is automation that has displaced our miners. Those jobs are never coming back.

If you have a link to any stories of problems with cobalt mining in Minnesota, I would like to read about it. No doubt, we will never see it in our local news or newspapers.

 

[gtaus]

49.00 US Dollars = 74.524449 Australian Dollars

everything is expensive here. Buying from the US is a thing of the past these days, especially the postage costs.

I had the opportunity to visit your beautiful country of Australia twice when I was in the Navy in the 1980's. Great memories of my visits there. Although I found your prices higher than mainland USA, at the time I was stationed in Guam, and the prices in Australia were a bargain to me compared to what we had to pay on Guam. I guess everything is relative.

I would think that goods from China might be less expensive for you. The distance from China to Australia is about 4,700 miles whereas China to the USA is about 7,000 miles. I suppose the amount shipped to each place might have a big impact as well. When I lived on Guam, shipping costs from anywhere were mostly prohibitive. Oh well, you adjust the best you can.

 

[gtaus]

Create the market for better batteries. Create the demand for better batteries.

I guess you are I are on the same page. Let's move forward to better, safer, and more environmentally friendly tech.

 

[gtaus]

I have a few battery yard power tools. When I first got them I would go through 2 batteries before I needed a break. Then it was 1 battery. After covid a battery will last me 3 days . Same batteries, long covid sucks.

If you are suffering from long covid, I'm sorry about that. Not complaining for myself, but, yes, as I get older, I take more breaks and my same batteries "seem" to last longer in the machines.

Kind of like the joke of a baseball sports reporter interviewing an aging pitcher, asking why he is not throwing the ball as hard anymore. The aging pitcher replies, I'm throwing the ball just as hard as I ever did, it just doesn't go as fast anymore!

That's my stage of life as well. I work just as hard, but don't get the same amount of physical work done as when I was younger.

Having said that, I am in the Ryobi line of tools and when I started, about 20 years ago, they had Ni-Cad batteries rated at 1 Ah of capacity. Ryobi promised to keep the same battery format, so the newer Li-Ion batteries of today work even better in my oldest tools I purchased 20 years ago. The same size Li-Ion battery as my old Ni-Cad 1 Ah battery is now rated for 4Ah. So, the new batteries have more power and 4X the run time. Plus, the newer Li-Ion batteries are much cheaper in comparison than what I paid for those original Ni-Cad batteries 20 years ago. What's not to love about that?

 

[Sammster]

My lungs were damaged while I was in the military overseas

Thank you for your service!

 

[Sammster]

I guess you are I are on the same page. Let's move forward to better, safer, and more environmentally friendly tech.

Just going to give my 2 cents, then let it go. Aside from all the pollution in the manufacturing and transporting of batteries - there is the concern of the disposal of spent batteries. Not to mention the coal burned to create the electricity needed to charge the batteries. Don't misunderstand. I'm all about a cleaner envirenment.

 

[akroberts1085]

I just ordered an electric tiller/cultivator. I'm going to try to get all my veggies ready for Spring.

 

[gtaus]

Aside from all the pollution in the manufacturing and transporting of batteries - there is the concern of the disposal of spent batteries.

My local HD has a battery recycle bin. Our local recycling plant has bins just for batteries. I just don't have much confidence that any of those batteries go anywhere but to a landfill. So, I agree battery disposal is an issue I hope we solve.

Not to mention the coal burned to create the electricity needed to charge the batteries.

I know some people have solar panels for charging batteries, which would not require coal plants to make electricity. I looked into that myself, but a small solar setup would cost me about $150.00 and it cost less than 1 cent to recharge a battery on grid power. So, I passed on the solar panel idea. It would take a couple of lifetimes for a small solar setup used to recharge my tool batteries to pay for itself.

Our local electric company sends out a statement about once a year indicating that about 20% of our electricity now comes from renewable (solar, wind) sources. Although that is good, it also costs more for us consumers. Coal based electricity is still the cheapest. The hope is that renewable sources of electricity will come down in price in the future if we invest in the technology today, and improve it over time.

Don't misunderstand. I'm all about a cleaner envirenment.

I think most of us are for cleaner environments. It's easy to see how much we pay for electricity on our monthly bills, but it's harder to see how much we "pay" for living in a dirty environment. As I said, my lungs were damaged in my military service, so I can feel the cost of living in an area with air pollution as I will be hacking up my lungs as a reminder.

 

[gtaus]

I just ordered an electric tiller/cultivator. I'm going to try to get all my veggies ready for Spring.

Which electric tiller/cultivator did you buy? There are lots of great options today.

I used to till up my garden every year with a big walk behind gas powered tiller. The tiller worked great. But I eventually converted to raised bed gardening. Then I bought some Ryobi 18v and 40v powerheads with a universal mini tiller attachment. That works great. I also got a smaller standalone Ryobi cultivator, but I don't think they make it anymore. Both are great. Battery powered tools are much better for me.