For weeks, we have been planning a fundraiser hoping to raise enough money to send our group to Chicago for a conference. We worked out the details. We got the location, the hoses, buckets, towels and the man power all in order. Planning this thing was a nightmare. It’s unbelievable how hard it was to get enough volunteers together on the same day to do this event. We got our posters and gear and are ready to go wash some cars!

Saturday morning the day of the car wash. It was raining so hard, you could say it was cats and dogs. Needless to say we had to cancel the car wash. We eventually organized another day to do the car wash and raised part of the money required for our trip. Thankfully we were still able to go because of a generous person helping us with the remaining balance.

Sound familiar? Share your nightmare fundraiser below.

Fundraising stinks. Let’s end bad fundraisers!

Youth Specialties is coming up and I know there are tons of loyal YS attendees who would love the opportunity to boast in their attendance record.  So, this post is going to be an interactive one.  So get ready to comment below with your responses…

Who is Mr. Stinky?

How many years straight have you attended Youth Specialties?

Have you ever attended all YS conventions in one year?

What is your favorite memory of NYWC?

What was the best NYWC swag you ever received?

There is a rumor circulating around that Mr. Stinky will be in Nashville!  Last year at NYWC he gave away tons of $CASH$  Wonder what he will do in Nashville?

Thanks,

Mr. Stinky

Update:

Follow along with our little experiment to see how long it take for a Sun Chips Eco-Bag to decompose if just left out in the environment.

Please note: You may wonder why this is not in a compost pile like the website instructs.  Well,  I don’t have one, I use my woods as one big compost pile.  So this test is to replicate if the bag was to just fall along the road or be left at a park or something. (Am I taking this too seriously?)  Check out the progression below.

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Day  175. BIG NEWS!

Big News! Frito-Lay has announced the end of production of the SunChips Eco-Bag.  BOOOO!

USA Today story: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-10-05-sunchips05_ST_N.htm?csp=usat.me

At first I was very disappointed, but as seen from my own test.  It didn’t seem to work that well anyway.  However I am disappointed to hear that so many people would be so whiny to complain that the Bag “was to loud”.  Really.  That is sad.  Are we that spoiled by our Hyper-Consuming practices that we can’t handle a extra crinkly potato chip bag?  In fact, USA Today goes on to say:

Wow, have we this much time on our hands.  Are all the other problems in the world solved to the point we can make such a fuss about a potato chips bag?

Lastly, an indy artist friend of mine  Matt Black (www.mjblack.com) says that he likes the bag and is planning on using it as an percussion instrument at his next live performance.  So see, There is advantages to having a “too loud” potato chip bag.  No amplification needed.

Anyway.  Here is my latest photo our our little bag.  Still looks the same.  I will report back next spring and maybe some actual decomposition will have happened by then.

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Day 85.

Well it has been nearly 3 months since we put the Sunchips bag out in the elements.  NOT MUCH Difference.  I had to pull back the leaves and there is even a tiny vine growing near it.  In fact, I would have had a hard time finding the spot if it was not marked.  I looked under the bag and No visible change, not even where it was pressed in the dirt. Little disappointed.  On the top part of the bag it looks like the hole has grown, but it is just dirt stuck on the top.  So, Hardly no decomposition.  But again, I am not using a compost pile. I wanted to test how it would naturally break down if it just fell along the road as litter.  Check back in a month or so and see what has progressed.

Day 31:

Well it has been almost a month.  A pile of leaves was covering the bag now.  I uncovered them to take the picture and then put them back.  There wasn’t much change since the last picture. However I did realize later that there may be something more going on under the bag.  I will check that next time.  Check back in a month or so to see the progression.

Day 14:

After some major rain the bag looks a little faded and more crinkled but that is all.

Please note: You may wonder why this is not in a compost pile like the website instructs.  Well,  I don’t have one, I use my woods as one big compost pile.  So this test is to replicate if the bag was to just fall along the road or be left at a park or something. (Am I taking this too seriously?)

Day One:

You may have heard about Sun Chips new biodegradable chip bag. We are very excited about this new Eco-bag and Sun Chips are now Mr Stinky’s favorite chips. But in the nature of science and in honor of Earth Day 2010, we decided to do our own little test.

We will update this every few week, so tune in to find out how quickly the cool new Sun Chips Eco-bag returns to the earth.

Happy Earth Day!

Mr Stinky

Also:   Become a Fan. of Sun Chips

The history of the electric vehicle goes back further than most of us realize.  In fact the “New York Times stated that the electric car has long been recognized as “ideal” because it was cleaner, quieter and much more economical than gasoline-powered cars.” -quote from “History of the Electric Vehicle”

Below is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article.  “History of the Electric Vehicle”

Photo of Thomas Edison with an electric car, 1913.

“Main article: History of the electric vehicle

Electric cars enjoyed popularity between the mid-19th century and early 20th century, when electricity was among the preferred methods for automobile propulsion, providing a level of comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. Advances in ICE technology soon rendered this advantage moot; the greater range of gasoline cars, quicker refueling times, and growing petroleum infrastructure, along with the mass production of gasoline vehicles by companies such as the Ford Motor Company, which reduced prices of gasoline cars to less than half that of equivalent electric cars, led to a decline in the use of electric propulsion, effectively removing it from important markets such as the United States by the 1930s. However, in recent years, increased concerns over theenvironmental impact of gasoline cars, along with reduced consumer ability to pay for fuel for gasoline cars, and the prospect of peak oil, has brought about renewed interest in electric cars, which are perceived to be more environmentally friendly and cheaper to maintain and run, despite high initial costs. Electric cars currently enjoy relative popularity in countries around the world, though they are notably absent from the roads of the United States, where electric cars briefly re-appeared in the late 90s as a response to changing government regulations.

1830s to 1900s: Early history

Before the pre-eminence of internal combustion engines, electric automobiles held many speed and distance records. Among the most notable of these records was the breaking of the 100 km/h (62 mph) speed barrier, by Camille Jenatzy on April 29, 1899 in his ‘rocket-shaped’ vehicle Jamais Contente, which reached a top speed of 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph). Before the 1920s, electric automobiles were competing with petroleum-fueled cars for urban use of a quality service car.^[18]

In 1897, electric vehicles found their first commercial application in the U.S. as a fleet of electrical New York City taxis, built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia. Electric cars were produced in the US by Anthony Electric, Baker, Columbia, Anderson,Edison ^{[disambiguation needed]}, Studebaker, Riker, Milburn, and others during the early 20th century.

Despite their relatively slow speed, electric vehicles had a number of advantages over their early-1900s competitors. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline cars. They did not require gear changes, which for gasoline cars was the most difficult part of driving. Electric cars found popularity among well-heeled customers who used them as city cars, where their limited range proved to be even less of a disadvantage. The cars were also preferred because they did not require a manual effort to start, as did gasoline cars which featured a hand crank to start the engine. Electric cars were often marketed as suitable vehicles for women drivers due to this ease of operation.

In 1911, the New York Times stated that the electric car has long been recognized as “ideal” because it was cleaner, quieter and much more economical than gasoline-powered cars. Reporting this in 2010, the Washington Post commented that “the same unreliabilty of electric car batteries that flummoxed Thomas Edison persists today.”^[19]

Acceptance of electric cars was initially hampered by a lack of power infrastructure, but by 1912, many homes were wired for electricity, enabling a surge in the popularity of the cars. At the turn of the century, 40 percent of American automobiles were powered by steam, 38 percent by electricity, and 22 percent by gasoline. 33,842 electric cars were registered in the United States, and America became the country where electric cars had gained the most acceptance. Sales of electric cars peaked in 1912.

In 1917, the first gasoline-electric hybrid car was released by the Woods Motor Vehicle Company of Chicago. The hybrid was a commercial failure, proving to be too slow for its price, and too difficult to service.”

For more Wiki info:

“History of the Electric Vehicle”

 

I was checking out some new cars and I ran across this new ALL electric car.  The Nissan Leaf. The first realistic all electric car.  The reason the Leaf stood out to me was the quick rate of recharge.  It can be receive 80% of it’s charge in less than 30 minutes.  It gets about 100 miles a charge.

It is a cool car.   I think it really has a chance to make it mainstream.  It is due to hit the market in 2011.

check out the link and let us know what you think.