Junk Raft

I found the Junk Raft website about a week or two ago in the Discover Magazine blog. It's taken me a while to read the entire thing, but I found it to be both fascinating and disgusting at the same time.

In order to raise awareness of the problem of plastics in the ocean, they are sailing to Hawaii on a raft made of junk plastic.

Probably the most disturbing thing I saw was this picture:

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But, at least... it's not on my bike

I saw this commercial last night while watching the Columbus Destroyers get beat by the Cleveland Gladiators.



So some kid finds a POS car on the side of the road and decides to fix it up. It takes his entire summer and a bunch of money, but heck, it's worth it as long as he does not have to suffer the humiliation of riding a bike, right?

Streetsblog has a much better (and funnier) write-up on this commercial.

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Good-bye Hummer

I just read this on MotorTrend's website:

In one of its smartest moves in recent years, General Motors is looking to dump Hummer, or "everything from a complete revamp of the product lineup to partial or complete sale of the brand," according to Rick Wagoner. The chairman and CEO also says the new Chevy compact will begin production in Lordstown, Ohio in mid-2010 (not 2009, as reported in my last post and at Automotive News), and that GM will close four big-truck plants. The era of the big truck/SUV clearly is over. And so, too, is the Hummer brand as an albatross, as perhaps the last vestige of Ron Zarrella-era GM malaise.

Read the complete article here.

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Patent Bending

If you want me interested in  something, all you have to do is insert a bicycle into it.  Patent Bending is a show on Discovery/Science Channel that takes old patents that were never produced and puts them to use.

Tonight's episode combined two things I love.  First, bicycles.  Second, reel lawnmowers.  Here are some great facts about gas-powered lawn mowers: 

• The lawn mower that was tested for the show ran at 111 dB.  A jet engine is about 120 dB.  At 140 dB, hearing damage can occur.  
  
• A new lawnmower puts out about 40 times the smog as  new car.
  
• According to the EPA, lawnmowers account for about 5% of the pollution in the U.S.
• Abut 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilled each year while refueling lawnmowers.(The Exxon Valdez spilled a tad under 11 million gallons of oil.)
• 80,000 people a year are sent to the hospital because of lawn mowing accidents.

Personally, I own and use the Scotts Classic mower.  I think it is great.  I love being able to mow the yard and talk to my wife.  I can mow around the swingset while the kids are on the swings. I can listen to my iPod without turning it up to an intolerable volume.  And best of all, I am still using the two gallons of gas I bought in 2006.  

For those thinking about a reel mower, do it.  I was worried about pushing it thought the grass.  Because it is lighter than a gas-powered lawnmower, it takes about the same amount of effort to push.  You should not bag those clippings, so don't worry about the bagger.  

If you are serious about reducing the amount of gas you use, a reel mower is a great option.  While you may think "every little bit counts," small engines are gas hogs.  Getting rid of your gas powered lawnmower is not a "little bit."

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