Tread Lightly - Is cruising still an alternative eco-freindly lifestyle?

[SaltyMonkey]

How many of you so called GREEN LIVING folks have a GREY WATER TANK in your boat?

I'll be it's small to nil.

SaltyMonkey has spoken!

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I'm pretty simple ............................................ minded.

Does this count?

Sure it does. It's also a pretty full boat.

Halden Marine Services | Marine Watermakers, Solar Panels, Wind Generators

[Eben]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

How many of you so called GREEN LIVING folks have a GREY WATER TANK in your boat?

I'll be it's small to nil.

SaltyMonkey has spoken!

Quick question...

Where do you think the contents of your tanks end up? Just because you pump it out doesn't mean it magically disappears...

I'm willing to get dollars to donuts that in some countries they just pump it out to sea untreated.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Eben

We think simpler is better, it works for us. We've been so caught up in the crazy world we've nearly lost sight of what's actually important. Working to get more money to pay for more things that ends up in the land fill just seems a little crazy after I've had time to reflect upon my life.

Nice sentiments Eben. I agree

[Ribbit]

The ignorance surrounding the environmental benefits of meat (and so called artificial fertilisers for that matter) is mind boggling.

How do you clean the land up and fertilise the ground without livestock? How do you make it safe to grow crops? How do you keep it in good heart? How do you produce enough compost to make a difference?

I have composted everything that came off a 1 acre field in a year, and it wasn't even enough to put on 1/10th of an acre!

There's a guy in America spends vast amounts of his time, scrounging stuff up to compost, and it takes mountainous piles of the stuff to do the job. In Eastern Europe, they still use human manure for fertiliser. How do you clean up the diseases in that, without livestock?

My immediate neighbour was a dairy farmer. His cattle fertilised the fields where they grazed (don't ignore the benefits from their urine either). But if cattle grazing followed cattle grazing, diseases that affected the cattle would build up.

So to clean the ground for them, the neighbour bought store lambs for the winter, and THEY cleaned up all the cattle diseases, as well as adding more manure and urine. Then when the cattle went out, THEY cleaned up all the sheep diseases.

All the deep litter from cattle gathered in the winter, was stacked to mature, then spread on the land. If the resulting grass wasn't right (you can tell by the colour) approaching the right time, my neighbour would go round with a pepper pot spreader and give it a 'tickle' with a suitable NPK.

That ensured that the protein level and balance in the grass was right, and so his herd lived longer, healthier lives, because they didn't wear out their guts working overtime, to digest low quality food.

Without killing and eating the surplus males every year, just what do you intend doing with them? Ignoring them and hoping they go away, so they rapidly over populate their grazing range, like has happened so often with deer? Anti deer hunting people that bought land here to prevent people from hunting surplus animals, have had to call in the very people they prevented from keeping things in balance, because their herds of deer became sick and were dying, because there wasn't enough land for them to range to keep healthy.

I just can't abide the pain and suffering these fools keep inflicting on animals, and all the while they pretend to themselves that they are somehow championing the cause of animals.

Never mind, once the Forest Laws are in place that they are working so hard to re-establish around the World (which most don't even realise), it'll be too late once the "Do Not Leave The City" signs go up, and the penalty for contravening it, will probably be death.

Remember, even a King could not go against the Forest Laws, because doing so risked assassination and overthrow, as illustrated by the Christmas Carol "Good King Wenseslas" (for those with the eyes to see what the words actually mean).

Do you fancy walking a few miles in thick snow in extreme temperatures at night, in areas with wolves and who knows what else, just to be able to legally get some sticks (from the King's land, at that) to try and keep your family warm, even though you live "hard against the Forest Fence", and daren't risk the penalties of trespassing there?

Think you will have the strength and energy to do it with lentils, perhaps? Or a handful of rice a day?

I don't rate the survival odds of those that don't wise up in time (thankfully most do eventually grow up).

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by Eben

Quick question...

Where do you think the contents of your tanks end up? Just because you pump it out doesn't mean it magically disappears...

I'm willing to get dollars to donuts that in some countries they just pump it out to sea untreated.

And the fish love it.

[boatman61]

Ribbit... cow's chicken and veg come in plastic foam and wrap.. therein lies the problem..
Ahh for the days when you picked your chicken outa the coop and chatted as it was 'top'd n tailed'
Alas these days its reserved for the posh restaurants with fish and lobster tanks..

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Eben

Quick question...

Where do you think the contents of your tanks end up? Just because you pump it out doesn't mean it magically disappears...

I'm willing to get dollars to donuts that in some countries they just pump it out to sea untreated.

Really? Deflecting the issue? Deflecting that YOU might be the criminal and empty it in the marina? We're not talking about OTHER countries NOR what other folks do. ANSWER THE QUESTION.

I get so tired of these empty deflective arguments:

"If he does it, so can I waily waily waily..."

[Eben]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Really? Deflecting the issue? Deflecting that YOU might be the criminal and empty it in the marina? We're not talking about OTHER countries NOR what other folks do. ANSWER THE QUESTION.

I get so tired of these empty deflective arguments:

"If he does it, so can I waily waily waily..."

I'll post a picture of Taleisin's grey water holding tank soon.

[Southern Star]

Until I retired, I prosecuted 8 murders, hundreds of sexual assaults, thousands of cases of domestic abuse, countless robberies, break-ins, frauds, thefts etc. I'd like to think that improved our environment!

Now I have a 40 foot cat with watermaker, microwave, two refrigeration units, up-to-date electronics, a 1050 amp house battery bank, an electric as well as manual windlass, 22 inch led tv, terrific stereo system, a large invertor, an RIB with a 20 HP outboard, etc. I also eat red meat once a week on average. No, I don't dump my holding tank unless offshore. I generate virtually all of my amperage with solar. I never dispose of non-biodegradable waste in the water. I have gone to all LED light fixtures.

Nevertheless, my wife and I want to enjoy ourselves in comfort and are doing so, now that we have sold our primary residence/vehicles, with a fraction of the carbon footprint of virtually every pedophile I prosecuted. Am I supposed to feel guilty?

Well, shoot me out of a cannon. No, that might take some non-renewable resources!

Brad

[Eben]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

Until I retired, I prosecuted 8 murders, hundreds of sexual assaults, thousands of cases of domestic abuse, countless robberies, break-ins, frauds, thefts etc. I'd like to think that improved our environment!

Now I have a 40 foot cat with watermaker, microwave, two refrigeration units, up-to-date electronics, a 1050 amp house battery bank, an electric as well as manual windlass, 22 inch led tv, terrific stereo system, a large invertor, an RIB with a 20 HP outboard, etc. I also eat red meat once a week on average. No, I don't dump my holding tank unless offshore. I generate virtually all of my amperage with solar. I never dispose of non-biodegradable waste in the water. I have gone to all LED light fixtures.

Nevertheless, my wife and I want to enjoy ourselves in comfort and are doing so, now that we have sold our primary residence/vehicles, with a fraction of the carbon footprint of virtually every pedophile I prosecuted. Am I supposed to feel guilty?

Well, shoot me out of a cannon. No, that might take some non-renewable resources!

Brad

Like I said, it doesn't work for everybody, that's fine. We all have a different level at which we feel comfortable. Some of us just prefer less complication (and you could make a perfectly valid argument that simpler is more complicated due to all the extra steps required to achieve the same task). There's no right or wrong.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Eben

Like I said, it doesn't work for everybody, that's fine. We all have a different level at which we feel comfortable. Some of us just prefer less complication (and you could make a perfectly valid argument that simpler is more complicated due to all the extra steps required to achieve the same task). There's no right or wrong.

I don't know... when I was living aboard full time on the hook hopping back and forth along the Algarve and Andalucia/Balearics.. every time I needed water I'd do quite a few jobs in one.. run the engine as it should.. in gear.. boost my batteries.. clean my chain.. wash off the little bit of garden on the hull.. wash down the boat.. do my wash.. e-mails..
Then.. back on the hook for another couple of weeks and the dinghy..
Beats the hell out of servicing stuff when you could be wallowing with a good book in a hammock or... admiring the admirers on the beach..

[Mike OReilly]

It is all about finding the right balance -- for you. As I said, my choice of systems are driven by what I can fix & maintain OR they are very reliable. I'm not the smartest minnow in the sea, so I have to keep things simple. I can manage basic mechanical and electrical stuff. Plumbing mostly makes sense to me. Rigging is OK. Non-finessey fibreglass I can do. Sewing, I can mostly manage. Diesel ... basics are OK, but serious stuff I'm pretty hopeless. Refrigeration ... yeah right. I wouldn't know where to begin with watermakers, hot water, showers, etc.

Some people (most people) are far more skilled and talented than I, so my "simplicity" is not your simplicity. And that's just peachy.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

I never dispose of non-biodegradable waste in the water.

Really? Are you sure that soap in the shower and that toothpaste and that washing up liquid are good for the environment? And all the other scraps that get into the water including pesticides and and perfumes and and and antibiotics etc etc ad nasihah hahaha!

You should go back into business and prosecute these say-lors who pollute the rivers and bay so I cannot go swimming in the lagoon!

[SaltyMonkey]

You're all BAD people. Very Bad!

You need a grey water tank in your boat so I can swim in the lagoon without oil in my hair from your salad dressing and smelly toothpaste.

Contact me to purchase your grey water tank! Special just for you!