Examining Efficiency Again: About Those Dishwashers...

I know it is a lazy Sunday morning and not a sleepless night, but I managed to find something that pretty much sums up the dishwasher debacle--European or no?

From MySimon's Consumer Reports page:

"You can pay $1,500 or more for a fancy dishwasher with hidden controls, digital displays, and special grime-fighting cycles. But when it comes to clean dishes, sparkling performance starts well below $500.

What's more, you needn't settle for a bare-bones dishwasher at that price. Luxury features such as a stainless-steel exterior are migrating to more low-priced models. This dishwasher guide will help you with your purchase.

Size matters
Most conventional dishwashers fit a 24-inch-wide space under a kitchen countertop and attach to a hot-water pipe, drain, and electrical line. Cabinet-matching front panels are available as kits, typically for several hundred dollars. Compact, portable dishwashers come in finished cabinets and can be rolled to the sink and connected to the faucet.

Conserving energy
Dishwashers are using less water as manufacturers strive to meet tougher federal energy standards. But it's taking longer to get dishes clean. Lower operating costs can save you more over a dishwasher's lifetime than the price difference between an efficient and less-efficient model. Don't rely on those familiar yellow Energy Star labels. Our tests are based on much dirtier loads and are a more accurate gauge of energy efficiency, in our judgment. See our Ratings for more information.

Types
The greatest differences in dishwashers, beyond results differences in our performance-based tests, are features and costs. There are a few distinct types of dishwashers, however, including traditional models, drawer-type versions, and portable models.

Low-priced dishwashers
They may suit buyers who care more about performance than glitz.

Pros: As a group, they clean dishes as well as premium-priced models.

Cons: They tend to be noisier than the upscale models and less convenient to load.

High-priced dishwashers
Pros: They tend to be quieter.

Cons: They don't clean dishes any better than the best low-priced dishwashers.

Dishwasher-drawer models
Pros: You can use them simultaneously or individually, and you don't have to bend to load a single- or, sometimes, a double-drawer model.

Cons: They can be expensive, and three versions of one model we tested had significant problems. What's more, models from Fisher & Paykel, which introduced these products to the U.S. market, have been repair-prone.

Features
Generally, the more you spend, the more features you can expect. But some aren't worth the extra expense. Here are the dishwasher features to consider:

Adjustable racks/loading aids--Racks that adjust up or down, adjustable and removable tines, and silverware and stemware holders let you reconfigure the interior and organize the contents. Those devices increase flexibility, especially when you cook for a crowd, and they can help accommodate large and oddly shaped items.

Dirt Sensor--It adjusts water use and cycle length to soil level. A dirt sensor can improve efficiency, but not all work well.

Rinse/hold cycle--It lets you rinse dirty dishes before you're ready to start a full cycle. This cycle reduces odors and prevents soil from setting while you accumulate enough dirty dishes for a full load.

Filters--These keep wash water free of food that could be redeposited on clean dishes. There are two types: self-cleaning and manual. Most filters are self-cleaning; a grinder pulverizes the debris and flushes it down the drain. That's convenient but noisy. Some pricey models have a filter without a grinder. It's quieter, but it needs periodic cleaning (usually every few weeks), a job that takes a few minutes. It's your choice.

Special wash cycles--Most dishwashers come with at least three cycles: light, normal, and heavy (pots and pans). Some offer pot-scrubber, soak/scrub, steam clean, china/crystal, or sanitizing cycles as well. The three basic cycles should be enough for most chores--even for baked-on food. A sanitizing option that raises water temperature above the typical 140° F doesn't necessarily clean better.

Stainless-steel tub--Steel is more durable than plastic, but models with a plastic tub tend to cost far less. While light-colored plastic might become discolored, gray-speckled plastic should resist staining. Even a plastic tub should last longer than most people keep a dishwasher.

Hidden touchpad controls--Controls mounted along the top edge of the door are strictly a styling touch. They're hidden when the door is closed. You can't see cycle progress at a glance. (Partially hidden controls are a good compromise. They show that the machine is running and often display remaining cycle time.)"

It appears that once again, you sacrifice time and performance for so-called "efficiency" here. It would be faster to do dishes by hand in Europe! Again, it may be worth your while to stick with the most efficient American appliances you can find, or do without altogether. I hear Fels-Naptha bar laundry soap is making a comeback...

Personal note: in all my dishwasher-using years, I've never had to use anything beyond the standard WASH cycle--not even the pre-wash one. I've also never had to fill both detergent cups--only the one with the lid on it, and only 2 T. of soap at a time. The above information confirms just how much of what we buy for the home is over-priced, over-hyped, and under-performing bling. Why buy a fancy model when a "contractor special" will do, and do better?

Late Night Energy Examination

Unable to sleep until I answered the "washer/dryer combo, or separate appliances" question, I hopped on Google.

Here's what I found: those cute little combo machines that wash AND dry do so at great cost of time, energy, and money. Of course, this makes sense, given the convenience trade-off.

Another thing to consider when thinking about purchasing foreign-made appliances: do they have an American plug on them, and can they run American currency? I read plenty of horror stories of people who ordered them, only to find they can't plug them in!

One brand actually requires you to buy "stackable" washers and dryers, because the washer has to plug into the back of the dryer, then the dryer plugs into the wall.

Other complaints are that the machines (combo or separate) only last about 6 months before trouble erupts, and then erupts nearly constantly on these machines. And still others complain about the washing/drying time--up to 3 hours for some loads that contain towels, jeans, or other thick, heavy items. Longer drying times can be had with "ventless" units that don't vent their moisture to the outside.

Then there's the high-efficiency laundry soap...like there's a special soap for these things. M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G!! Dishwasher soap is also low-sudsing, or you can just use less regular laundry soap (or diluted soap) for each load.

No wonder the suicide rate in European countries is so high.

For countries that are supposed to be under severe water and energy crunches, the machines they churn out aren't really efficient at all when it comes to time. I suppose Granny with her washboard was more efficient under these terms (using less soap, water, and energy) than a modern-day appliance would be! Granny had all day to wash, but we don't any more. We also didn't have to worry about trying to plug Granny in.

I guess I was wrong about American appliances not being up to snuff. I'll be damned if I'm going to wait three hours for ANYTHING to get washed, or even dried unless I put it on the clothesline. Egods, I wonder what their dishwashers have in store for me--but that's for another restless night!!

I guess another car-appliance analogy is true: the more efficient one is, the more you have to give up for that efficiency, like time, space, and speed.

There WERE some cool features on them, though: self-heating water, time delays for both washing and drying, and accompanying drying cupboards. Maybe one day our American appliances will get self-heating water and time delays, so we could run them overnight when electricity rates are cheapest--oh Maytag! Whirlpool! Kenmore!

The answer to my question was LOOK CLOSER TO HOME AND FORGET THOSE FOREIGN LAUNDRY APPLIANCES FOR NOW!

Here's the MySimon page that sums up washing machine comparisons beautifully.

Saving Energy Begins at Home Part III--Examining Efficiency

It's been a long time since I wrote on this subject, so I'll catch you up on Part 1 and Part 2.

I'll begin with what exactly drove me into this article, and that is the prospect of possibly finding another suitable house. Instead of looking on the low end of my budget scale in hopes of finding something I could "make" livable and resalable, I tried a new tactic: looking at the top of my budget and deducting for "flaws." I looked at one house today (nope, didn't hold a candle to the bungalow, but I guess I have to move on now) that had been 99% renovated, and needed all the appliances. Since it's been awhile since I had to buy appliances, I had Hubby go search the web to see what's what in Appliance Land.

Oh boy, you would not BELIEVE what we found! For starters, the words I wrote in Part 1 of this saga were more than prophetic--especially the stuff about french door refrigerators not being energy efficient. It turns out they are the absolute WORST of the bunch!

Upon further analysis, I found that the appliance industry is a lot like our current automobile industry--anything American-made is just not up to par with foreign models as far as efficiency goes. Whether it's water, electricity, or unleaded gas, we just don't cut it here at home any more.

Something else I discovered: unless the appliance has something to do with water or cooling/freezing (such as refrigerators), there really is no point in looking for efficiency, because it isn't to be found. Take clothes dryers for example--other than capacity and energy source, there really is no other means for making these things more efficient, other than using a clothes line. What WILL make it more efficient is using a washer that spins fast enough to drain very nearly all the water out of washed laundry so the dryer doesn't have to work so hard to dry it. The appliance itself cannot be made more efficient other than to switch to gas, or use it less.

Another "efficiency" wasteland is stoves or stove/ovens: again, the only difference to be made here is to use gas fuel or limit use of ovens/stoves. The appliance itself cannot be made more efficient, but the ignition source on gas stoves CAN be more efficient, as well as how you use your stove/oven.

The real difference among stovetops is the burner: more "open" burners are less efficient (such as those coil types) because they're more exposed to surrounding air. The more sealed your burner, the more efficient. Also, the more conductive your cookware, the more you help the efficiency of your burners.

Still another "efficiency" wasteland is hot water heaters--they heat water, and they all heat water the same way. The only difference is the size of tank, and the source of fuel the heater uses. Tankless heaters SAY they cut down energy usage, but they only cut the energy used to STORE hot water because there's no tank. Tankless units cost about $500 or so (depending on fuel used, and yes, they come in gas, electric, propane, oil, and geothermal), but cost about another $1500 or so for installation (you can't just slap these babies up anywhere! They need their own dedicated fuel source, dedicated venting, dedicated water line, and dedicated circuit). For all the money they cost to get up and running, they only save $30-60 in annual bills--they also take time for the water to actually turn hot at the faucet, costing you water as well as power money.

It's best to make optimal use of the one you have--by turning down the temp to 120 degrees, insulating it with a foam jacket, and making sure you have the correct size for your usage.

The only REAL appliance efficiencies we should be worried about are refrigerators, deep freezers over 10 cubic feet, and dishwashers--the most efficient ones being made overseas somewhere, and none of the super-efficient lines run the whole gamut among refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers (so much for matching appliances and resale value). The name on the fronts may match, but are you really getting the expected efficiency that ought to go along with it? Not really--some manufacturers that make red-hot dishwashers don't make refrigerators so well, and vice-versa. It's all hit-and-miss.

I guess the best you could hope for is appliances that are red-hot for efficiency and don't carry an obvious label on the front. As for me, I'm going to be satisfied if they all come in the same color (white).

If you are looking for appliances MORE efficient than the much-touted Energy Star ones, go here to ACEEE--they actually give you performance numbers to look for, instead of government-created performance ratings from well-lobbied companies. Energy Star appliances are only about 20% more efficient than their predecessors--close enough for government work, right? There's better out there if you can (and want to) afford it, and ACEEE ratings can give you as much as 50% more efficiency.

Think of them as the "hybrids" of a home, and think about how you feel about driveway hybrids (only these "hybrids" actually make sense immediately and over the long haul, plus you get to take them with you when you move out--lifetime buys, maybe?). Taking the car-appliance analogy further, today's cars really cannot be made more efficient except by changing the fuel source or limiting use. Sure, tweaks to the engine and/or transmission, shrinking the size, and messing with the configuration (in-line as opposed to side-by-side occupancy, for example) can be done, but for SAFETY'S sake, we've gone as far as we can go with the bodies.

Cars may as well be the "stoves and dryers" of the world.

The Protectionist Plastic Police

Well, Obama’s gone and screwed the pooch again—this time, he signed into law several new rules for credit card companies to do business if they want to do business with credit cards.

Obama’s become Champion of the Financially-Impaired. Now he’s Money Man without the flowing cape and spandex tights—under his button-down shirts is a huge tattoo of a green dollar sign.

Because a relative handful of people (when compared to the rest of the population) can’t stop spending, and can’t seem to pay for what they bought, the rules of the game have changed to protect the imbecilic, such as:

• A set grace period time of 21 days

• An interest rate hike cannot occur unless the payment is at least 60 days late

• Credit card agreement changes must have a 45-day notice before they take effect

• No more over-the-limit fees, late payment charges, etc.

• No more charges for human tellers, phone payments, etc.

• No more double-cycle billing or retroactive interest (this one I agree with)

These new rules will apply to EVERYONE, whether paying on time and in full, or not. The effect this will have on everyone, for the sake of salvaging some sort of credit card profits, will include:

• No more free cards—an annual fee may come back into play for all card levels

• Teaser rates will become extinct, as will balance transfer offers

• Cash advances will either hike to double what they are now, or go extinct altogether

• Reward programs and cash-back cards will probably also become extinct, or at least come with more stringent qualifying terms

• More cards will come with variable rates rather than fixed ones

He’s effectively put time, spending, and payback limits on these people, and I guess I’m the only one who sees it.

For those of us who can still balance a checkbook on the ends of our noses, and are responsible with plastic, there are ways around these protectionist crackdowns:

• The rules don’t go into effect until something like October, so get free cards, make balance transfers, and take advantage of teaser rates while you still can.

• Use any rewards or cash-back programs while they’re still in effect, but be prepared to cash out if the programs are set to go under.

• Seek out new cards to replace old cards (while they’re still free) that have already opted for more stringent terms on their own, or have a soon-to-be expiring rewards or cash-back program.

• Keep your monthly charges to no more than 20% of your income—this will keep the red flags off your record, and keep the credit card companies from slating you for higher interest, agreement changes, lowered limits, or lower FICO scores.

• Pay the charges off in full every month. If you cannot, then only charge what you CAN afford to pay off each month.

• With the advent of electronic banking, credit card companies have shortened their grace period from 28 days to (soon to be) 21 days—with a floundering postal system that can’t support itself no matter how much money is thrown at it, I suggest you go to electronic banking, and if at all possible, get a credit card at the same bank. Why? Because the bank just has to transfer money from you to it, and doesn’t need 21 days to do it—this saves you time, allows your money to earn interest for 19 days, and avoids all those nickel-and-dime fees.

Better yet, set up a recurring payment plan so the bank will automatically get money every month, reliably. You get an electronic statement before the bill is due, so all you’d have to do is change the amount owed, not the payment date. Another thought: set a specific amount, and use that as your credit card budget each month. If the payment amount is more than the amount actually owed, you have “credit” on your card.

Let the Money Man protectionist police set limits for out-of-control spenders—you now have loopholes to avoid the credit crackdown that you were never responsible for, and shouldn’t apply to you. Some of us CAN be more equal than others, despite the “fairness and equality” doctrine of the current administration.

Because of this new set of regulations, Obama has created the unintended consequence of making credit less available to those he’s trying to protect and serve. Less credit available means less shopping and spending, and less economic activity…which will lead to no economic recovery on the part of irresponsible shopping-and-spending masses. They’ll be forced to spend less, which is fine by me—the only real ways we’re going to get out of this mess is through production and savings.

Unfortunately, by cutting off credit to poor people, it only servers to broaden the gap between rich and poor, which Obama was trying to bridge by knocking us ALL down a few pegs with outrageous tax-and-spend bailout programs, coupled with various vote-buying projects. However, since the government now owns most of the banks…well, you know how this is going to end!

Fortunately for some of us, being knocked down a few pegs doesn’t exactly make us poor—probably because we already save and are responsible with money and credit.

Warning to Dumpster Divers, Thrift Store Shoppers, and Yard Salers

From a reader: "Please be uber careful with your dumpster findings...

You could very well bring bedbugs into your home or your thrift shop!

I am saying this because you mentioned the bag was doubled... which is how I have been tossing things left and right for the past 9 months as we battle the little *ahem* buggers. I have thrown out perfectly good looking furniture, clothing, bedding, you name it. All because of bed bugs, which are on the rise in a very huge way in this area (I seem to recall you are in the HRoads area.)

One bug is all it takes to become infested, and getting rid of them is a long, very expensive, very time consuming process. I've been at it since September last year, though we've actually had them for over two years and didn't KNOW it till last September.

It doesn't matter if you keep a spotlessly clean home, they don't go for dirt of filth, only blood from live beings. Preferably humans but they'll feed on four-legged critters when desperate.

Pest Control is expensive and not guaranteed. Heat is the ONLY sure way to kill all life stages.

So, when you find things like that... before you bring them inside your home or take them to a thrift shop, toss them in a hot dryer (high heat) for 15 minutes or so (I go more bc I'm paranoid) Even Dry Clean Only things can go into the dryer if they are already dry. I learned that *after* I tossed some nice things that I now know I could have saved.

Thick things like comforters and sleeping bags and the like, I wouldn't even touch. I tossed all of mine bc I read many storied where people were re-infested because they un-bagged a comforter that eggs had survived inside of, despite hot washing and drying."

Utopia Burning

Well, California voters shot down all of Ahhhnold's latest attempts to restore some sort of fiscal sanity, so this means firefighters will be let go, schools will be shut, and a host of other things previously mentioned in the news...and right before summer fire season starts.

Let's also not for get the 40,000 or so prisoners he wants to let loose, along with the layoff of untold police officers.

See what happens when voters learn how to vote themselves largesse? They've voted Utopia for themselves in California, and now they have it at the expense of some other really important stuff. Liberal expediency in action.

I hope they enjoy their free health care, their almost free colleges, their illegal alien havens, and their low property taxes, because that's all they're going to have to their names after the fires move through.

UPDATE: Now California's engaging in Tea Parties of their own--now they get it! Unfortunately, they don't get that you can't have Utopia without a plan to pay for it...and, of course, they don't want to pay for it.

Now I'M Changing the Marketing Plan

Instead of global warming, climate change, climate chaos, or whatever the left has dreamed up now, I'm inventing a new disease: Man-Bear-Pig Flu.

It combines the hysteria of the polar bear's imagined plight, the Swine Flu cacophany, and the susceptibility of man to other people's marketing plans.

Ground Zero for this new flu is Al Gore's residence, and it's spread via contact with politicians and activist groups.

Right now, Man-Bear-Pig Flu should be considered a pandemic, considering the fact that many, many countries are under attack, and some have fallen prey to it. Others are carefully plotting just how hard to fall under its spell and when to do it. Still others have already fallen for the spell and lived to tell about it, suffering many casualties along the way (mostly economic).

As of now, the only cure for this is to learn to ignore the BS, and seek out the truth for yourself. There will be no shot, no prescription, and no OTC remedy, so you're on your own.

Piety is No Substitute for Technique

Thank you, Etienne Gilson.

This can be applied to so many things, "piety" being a metaphor. We can apply it to global warming, politics in general, or even the 13-year-old boy who recently lost a court battle to avoid chemotherapy.

I was watching the segment about the book "Money, Greed, and God" by Jay Richards on Book TV yesterday afternoon, it being a rainy day all day, and I was depressed about not being able to take my trash out without getting cold and wet. Anyway, he mentioned this quote, and I thought it could apply to a hell of a lot more than what he was applying it to at the time.

I was deep in thought about applying it to Obama supporters--those who think Their Man will get them through this tough economic time, so they "pray" and wait (mostly wait) for some sort of program to come through. Obama himself is practicing piety by designing these programs in order to capitalize on these down-and-outers (for heaven's sake, don't call them losers).

They hired a man who is large on piety and short on technique, just like we voted in Jimmy Carter so long ago, thinking our prayers were answered. Well, Jimmy showed us what he was made of, and Barack will as well--all hope and prayer, and no technique. Or rather, his technique will be to call in (or appoint) some crony from the Chicago days or Harvard days to come on and design a plan that will maximize power and charisma while minimizing perceived damage and the usual unintended consequences that crop up afterward.

Think of it this way: when a pope has a brain tumor, does he want the rest of the pointy-hatted crowd gathered around him to pray it away? Of course not! He goes to a brain surgeon just like everyone else--even he knows piety is no substitute for technique, and god doesn't have a medical license.

Now apply this to all those environmental do-gooders out there...especially Al Gore. Environmental piety by way of hybrid cars, solar panels, buying so-called "green power" and so on is no substitute for the techniques of conservation and efficiency, rather than just buying someone else's pre-fab way out of the box.

When All Else Fails, Change the Marketing Plan Part II: Harnessing Animal Spirits from Above

Now that "capitalism" has become a bad word and a failed economic engine, here comes our lord and savior Obama to save the day--by veering and steering us into the cone of death made up of carbon emissions taxes, junk food taxes, executive pay limits, universal health care, new credit card rules, and incentives for buying houses, cars, and alternative energy products we don't really need--all in an effort to harness our wayward individualist natures, and put our collective backs into building a new liberal Utopia to put us on even ground with much of the rest of the world. He's a community organizer, all right!

He changed the marketing plan. Instead of using profit as motivation, he's using taxes and guided incentives to steer us toward HIS goals and away from our own.

He's flattening the world, and getting us to help him. "Global warming" has gone through a few changes--from "climate change" to "climate chaos" and has now moved onto something else. The "war on terror" and "war on drugs" have new names, as do the border wars and illegal immigration, and anything said or done against the president's views or agenda is deemed as "racist." All have been sanitized and bubble-wrapped for your protection.

Use your one remaining weapon--your vote--to stop this nightmare.

Keeping Up With the Enemy

Remember General Patton? He won the battle by reading what his enemy wrote--in this case, a book on tank warfare by Rommel. He used Rommel's own information and advice against him.

I'm suggesting you do the same against Obama in the economic arena by reading what the White House is currently reading: Animal Spirits. If you don't have the time or inclination, Amazon has a lot of revealing information you can glean without ever having to buy the book.

Don't spend money on this book if you can avoid it, but do get access to the book itself, as well as the reviews--people just can't shut up about books sometimes, and they tend to reveal all, making book purchases unnecessary.

The information I want you to have is how this current administration is trying to herd us (like cows and not cats) into a financially- and psychologically-engineered Utopia of their own making--through engineered bank stress tests (which had faked outcomes), continual printing of money to flood the stock market with, faked earnings reports coming from TARP banks, and so on...eventually (some day) ending with an honest profit made in an honest way.

The more "engineering" that takes place between now and that eventual someday, the further away that someday gets.

We're all being herded in one direction by government actions--either by spending (incentives) or by taxation, and not only the government benefits from it, as we now know (Al Gore, G.E. and others are just waiting to get their hands around our globally-warmed throats). See the below entry "The Tyranny of Taxing Sin"--it's a perfectly good example of how we're being herded into Obama's (and others) versions of clean Utopian living.

During the last few years, we were herded toward and to irrational exuberance, which created the bubbles we are now experiencing the bursting of, under the guise of "our own control"--again, engineered with low financing rates, easy access to credit, and a lot of looking the other way. Now we're being herded toward government control, extra scrutiny, and micromanagement, and this will end in great detriment to our innovation and productivity. No stray thoughts here!

Now that you know what's floating around the halls of the White House and Congress, you can employ the Patton method of assaulting your enemy with his own information, as well as learn the best method of protecting yourself and your stuff from what could possibly come in the future.

Government would rather do your fishing FOR you than have you learn to fish for yourself--that way, they can better control what kind of fish you eat, how often you eat it, and limit how large and what kind of fish you can catch in the first place. This is how they herd us into one certain direction--with red tape, taxes, and incentives. This is why it's more important than ever to resist the marketing tactics by government or anyone else--make YOUR OWN incentives!

UPDATE: From the unofficial Obama Book Club page about this book: "The proper role of the parent is to set the limits so that the child does not overindulge her animal spirits. But those limits should also allow the child the independence to learn and to be creative. The role of the parent is to create a happy home, which gives the child freedom but also protects him from his animal spirits.

Government - parental provider of the happy home."

This is how a liberal government sees its role in your lives. If you need government to provide you with a happy home, you may as well have yourself lobotomized now, or you can wait for government to do it for you--either way, you lose individuality, creativity, and innovation in favor of the government-sponsored wet blanket of uniformity for the sake of ultimate control.

Remember the W recovery, remember your Obama-dodging activities, and remember who to vote against in the coming elections--lots of these idiots can be voted out very soon. This 800-lb. gorilla can be killed off by individual efforts!

From F.A. Hayek and The Road to Serfdom: "The economic freedom which is the prerequisite of any other freedom cannot be the freedom from economic care, which the socialists promise us and which can be obtained only by relieving the individual at the same time of the necessity and of the power of choice; it must be the freedom of our economic activity which, with the right of choice, inevitably also carries the risk and the responsibility of that right."

Global Warming--When All Else Fails, Change the Marketing Plan

Truths and Myths About Global Warming from Capitalist Magazine.

And the winner is...May 3 New York Times article by John Broder (no link available--membership required to enter site):

"The problem with global warming, some environmentalists believe, is “global warming.”

The term turns people off, fostering images of shaggy-haired liberals, economic sacrifice and complex scientific disputes, according to extensive polling and focus group sessions conducted by ecoAmerica, a nonprofit environmental marketing and messaging firm in Washington.

Instead of grim warnings about global warming, the firm advises, talk about “our deteriorating atmosphere.” Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up “moving away from the dirty fuels of the past.” Don’t confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like “cap and cash back” or “pollution reduction refund.”

EcoAmerica has been conducting research for the last several years to find new ways to frame environmental issues and so build public support for climate change legislation and other initiatives. A summary of the group’s latest findings and recommendations was accidentally sent by e-mail to a number of news organizations by someone who sat in this week on a briefing intended for government officials and environmental leaders.

Asked about the summary, ecoAmerica’s president and founder, Robert M. Perkowitz, requested that it not be reported until the formal release of the firm’s full paper later this month, but acknowledged that its wide distribution now made compliance with his request unlikely.

Environmental issues consistently rate near the bottom of public worry, according to many public opinion polls. A Pew Research Center poll released in January found global warming last among 20 voter concerns; it trailed issues like addressing moral decline and decreasing the influence of lobbyists. “We know why it’s lowest,” said Mr. Perkowitz, a marketer of outdoor clothing and home furnishings before he started ecoAmerica, whose activities are financed by corporations, foundations and individuals. “When someone thinks of global warming, they think of a politicized, polarized argument. When you say ‘global warming,’ a certain group of Americans think that’s a code word for progressive liberals, gay marriage and other such issues.”

For Your Reading Pleasure: Gustav Stickley and the Simplification of Life

Simplification of Life--starts on page 1 of the book.

Why am I reading Stickley, you ask? I put an offer in on a bungalow-ish house, and was looking up whether or not it might be a Craftsman house, or just one of many bungalow kit homes that were sold during that time.

This man pretty much spearheaded a backlash against Victorian and Edwardian over-ornamentation for the masses (read conspicuous consumption), and led the way back to simplicity and function over form and useless frill. From it sprang what we know today as Mission style, Stickley furniture, Arts & Crafts style, Craftsman homes, and even William Morris designs, Louis Tiffany furnishings, and I'm sure Amish style fits in here somewhere. Frank Lloyd Wright brings up the rear in all this, and I am most grateful for his building contribution of putting kitchens and baths back-to-back (and aligning upstairs baths over top of downstairs ones) to save on plumbing supply costs (copper back then). Nowadays, it serves pretty much the same thing, only add "holes made in walls" to the list of good reasons to consolidate the water travels.

Stickley's philosophy was to celebrate the individual artist, his craft, and the quality of it, rather than fall for the cheap and mass-produced with no regard whatsoever for quality. The goal was to get back to nature as much as possible--through color, design, and materials in earthy colors, textures, lines, and ingredients (such as in ceramic tile, wood, concrete, leather, flax linen, wicker, and wool).

Sounds pretty timely, doesn't it? I found this a little further into my Craftsman readings: The way we run in ruts is wonderful: our inability to find out the right principles upon which to set to work to accomplish what we take in hand, or to go to the bottom of things, is simply astonishing: while the resignation with which we accept the Recognized and Usual as the Right and Inevitable is really beautiful.

Another stunner is found on page 194, paragraph 2 of The Craftsman, and runs over into page 195, the first part of the page--it seems Gustav Stickley was a social and environmental commentator as well as a home and furniture designer. Many of his compatriots sympathized with Socialism, as well as the idea of bringing back Medieval guilds and exclusivity of the trades (part of the industrial backlash).

If I end up getting the house, I don't intend to restore it unless I win the lottery--I couldn't begin to afford all that woodwork! Instead, I was looking at the possibility of doing a "reminiscent remodel"--something that LOOKED like it could've been original to the house (in the kitchen and bath--counters, sinks, tub, and toilet will be modern versions), but with a yesteryear look. Since all the beautiful woodwork has long since been removed, I don't intend to replace it--insurance companies would have my hide for adding such a fire hazard! Instead, I can add the look of those wonderful built-ins and accessories with furniture, lamps, and textiles that are timeless and can go with me when I go.

I am doing research to see exactly what went into a bungalow kitchen and bath--certainly laminates weren't involved! I do know that modern, energy-efficient appliances will go in, as will a low-flow toilet (required by law). My usual problem is mixing up the time periods and falling for Victorian stuff (like tin ceilings and bead-board wainscoting) which would be inappropriate here. Easy fixes, but inappropriate.

If only I could find a butcher block counter that stayed hygienic after cutting into it, or maybe a marble-looking counter top made of something other than actual marble (a soft stone) or Formica...oh well. I guess I should wait for offer acceptance, huh?

UPDATE: I found a hygienic butcher block counter, and found something close to marble in engineered stone--now I'm just waiting to hear back about the offer.

UPDATE 2: I didn't get the house--I was outbid by a local rental empire.