Eco in World: For the World Water Day (musicvideo)

Eco in World: To live along with natural disasters; Pollution is for Processing.

Natural "disasters" are here to stay. They`ve forever been here, but as the world is more connected than ever, all incidents hit us more directly and frustrates us more than ever. To learn how to live alongside them is the new challenge for all parts of the world.

I am in a little peaceful corner here writing, trying to help out with a tiny bit of communication which has all been said before, but I know that I am also responsible as citizen of one of the oil nations, for many of the disasters already been here. So I have to be active, and cannot ignore my nabour. This time around, Japan has a hard time. And before we start to use our seeds in the Svalbard Seed Vault or building a giant Noah's Ark, I am interested in communicating that to build houses or lifestyles to merge with the natural changes of today and tomorrow, is much more important. To build infrastructure and engineering that is more than just technique above nature, that can live alongside nature, is what we have to face.

It is a practical language. To keep up the sustainability, in other words, keep the natural Balance. Bears can express it or "make actions" to keep it, but it is not a "language" in the sence of words.


This frog "knows" that I am about to pinch him,
so he got himself some jumping legs to escape from it.

In the spot where the earth needs to renew. This is logic. This is not "intelligence" in the form of an organism that "thinks". Rather I find this kind of organism, called a "she" or the earth, one hardworking body connected to not only our actions, but our bodies, too.

From farming methods, we all know that urine as an example is very good vitamin to feed plants with, and some Asian coutries even use it for preventing colds and diseases as they dip children in urine bath. It comes from our natural body, and plants again are purifying it by using their "body" and leaf, and the former urine is now thin air. Using the flow of elements: Think about this as a water circulating system with a tap in your sink. A tube system to the local river where everything ends up and in the middle of this system there is some technique to purify and make this water clean. Well, the question how to purify this water from the lake to the tap, and then back again to nature , that is the activity that decides whether the water will leave traces in the tubes to make this pure or not, and whether what comes out of the tap is drinkable. Mother earth works just the same way.

Like pollution from acid rain water comes from us, but a single plant again is trying its best to purify it, and is yet another sign that pollution is for processing, and not for keeping. If humen too are "seen" as pollution, or their techniques are, nature will naturally process it - and trying to force the process into pure elements like clean air again.

I am very much aware of that the earth is neither an animal or a human, but this time we speak of nature as one living condition, and not a fossile.

This drivers' expression on his car (from Freeland ecovillage): "Unbalance" instead of "Ambulance"

Reminding of this post as we speak (Straw Bale Houses Earth Quake Resistant): http://ecoiselin.blogspot.com/2010/09/eco-in-denmark-straw-bale-houses-earth.html

Eco in Denmark: World's largest solar district heating plant

Yesterday I went for a daytrip to city Marstal (on island Aeroe/ Aero), mostly famous for its sailor history and where the very last transport by sailboat happened. "Farewell To Sails" had its exhibition when I went there, restoring an old ship that drowned and I went for a museum ride. Apart from my enthusiasm for boats and everything that floats, I went to see another tale - how the trial supplement of a solar collector plant for the city's single swimmingpool became the world's largest district heating plant to cover 30 percent of whole Marstal's requirements for heating! I think it is so nice when a little try-out turns into something expansive and re-used, like this one!:)

The plant in whole, 18,354m2. The markers are pointing at the different producers of solar panels and collectors delivered to the plant (four), also the tank for storage, as well as the circulating system and the pit heat store.

Budget of such a project. Supported by EU and Danish Energy Authority

Originally, the story begins with Marstal wanting their swimmingpool to be heated from "alternative energy" because the oil heating had a way too expensive bill. This was in 1993, and economy pushed the island into thinking differently and it was after several meetings an idea of a solar heating system. At the same time Marstal District Heating was interested in replacing some of their waste oil consumption by more eco-friendly fuel. With alittle midwifery from the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers, it resulted in a solar collector on the swimmingpool roof in 1994. The 75m2 solar collectors were to heat the pool only. However, the system also served another purpose: It was a test system to show if solar heating on a major scale was worth staking on. And it was. After six months, the results on paying the heating bill looked so promising that they decided to develope 8,000m2 of solar panels on the field behind the heating plant - and connect them to the district heating network. This was the beginning of the great success! From May till October, Marstal's consumption is 100% covered by solar heating. Source: http://www.solarmarstal.dk/

In danish: A district heating storage, to store heat from solar panels.

Sailor city Marstal. Collecting muliple creativities from all over the world when travelling by the sea.

the restoration of an old sunken ship.

Eco in Denmark: WATER. The household wastewater, acid precipitation and groundwater

Fresh drinking water, acid precipitation, soil water storage, as well as wastewater and groundwater, is a big problem or challenge in today's fresh water loss and biomass growth. Not only is it unhealthy for us, but also with our spill of chemicals, important vegetation is losing minerals to grow and the groundwater itself that is moving outside of the community sewer transportation would end up disturbing already fresh lakes,coastline and rivers that we are also using and animals are in. Big, growing problem... and the EU has decided that all the member countries within year 2015 will have to make sure the water condition is good.

Where to find one solution? On my very first stop on this trip, I cannot avoid telling about their very own constructed waterland system (økologisk pileanlegg)! With inspiration from Odsherred, "Fri og Fro"-ecovillage August 9 - 16:
 

 " We're refreshing our own grey wastewater in a special-designed evaportranspiration construction!" - The folder explains, which I got hold of at the ecovillage in Odsherred, Denmark. As well as our own wastewater, it also takes acid precipitation (sur nedbør) and precipitation as it evaporates (fordamper)!

HERE'S HOW:

A polyethylene-lined basin (the ecovillage in Odsherred has installed 6 basins) filled with soil is planted with clones of willow (Salix viminalis) (piler) grown as a short rotation coppice. The basin receives input from wastewater and precipitation and has no discharge, but the water is evapotranspired by the willow and nutrients are consumed by the willow biomass, which is cut down regularly. 

The species Salix viminalis was effective in evapotranspiring (fordampning). It was concluded that the yearly ETA (måling av fordampning) of the constructed wetlands is more than twice as high as potential evaporation calculated from Makkink. The average potential evaporation (Makkink) in Denmark is 582mmyear-1. The measured ETA from a constructed wetland (økologisk pileanlegg) in Jutland (Jylland) was 1332mmyear -1. (Source:Susanne Rosenild,2005).

The willows, which are fast to grow, are using the minerals in the water to grow and evaporate the water through its leaves. The evaporated water is completely clean,and the report also says the system is called "oasis effect", as it basically is a constructed oasis! Some waterland constructions also plant more vegetation and long rows of willows especially around such a site, to create yet more feedback to the ecosystem. The wastewater is conducted from the single grounds til four bottom tanks, where it gets pushed through some cords up to the waterland construction. Here there are some instruments to analyze the incoming water and water level. 

If there is something wrong in the system, the whole construction actually sends an sms and alarms one of the members of the ecovillage community! Also when there is too much wastewater. What an invention!

For more information, in danish and some english, read an environmental research report here.