Remember when we went green?

[grumpycakes]

Guys, we’re really slacking. Remember when we used to be environmentally friendly and stuff?

[grumpycakes]

My favorite green thing is still using real towels in the kitchen. I don’t do the rolled up unpaper towel thing. Just a stack of towels of various sizes and textures ready for any project.

[grumpycakes]

We’re talking about getting solar panels for the bakery. Electricity is EXPENSIVE.

[sarenu]

Mar 31, 2023 13:37:55 GMT -6 grumpycakes said:

We’re talking about getting solar panels for the bakery. Electricity is EXPENSIVE.

Ohh, this is finally an option for us. Let me know how it goes.

[sarenu]

We really like our stainless steel lunch boxes. And they’ve held up really well.

[mapleme]

Mar 31, 2023 13:37:55 GMT -6 grumpycakes said:

We’re talking about getting solar panels for the bakery. Electricity is EXPENSIVE.

I REALLY want solar for the cannery. We spend $$$$$$$ on electricity every month. More than the mortgage. And we have some nice new metal roofs that won’t need replacing for a long time.

But you and I should talk VFD. If you have any equipment that hard starts (like a mixer/blender/etc), it can draw a lot of power at once, which is brutal on the electric bill. Putting the equipment on a VFD that slow starts and then builds speed can lower your bill and extend the life of the equipment.

[mapleme]

I still love my FST. We use them at home and at work. I love that they are cheap, reusable and just work better than anything else.

[tj]

This is the least green I’ve ever been.

[grumpycakes]

Apr 2, 2023 14:39:05 GMT -6 tj said:

This is the least green I’ve ever been.

Meh, you’ve done your part 😂

[grumpycakes]

Apr 2, 2023 12:24:43 GMT -6 mapleme said:

Mar 31, 2023 13:37:55 GMT -6 grumpycakes said:

We’re talking about getting solar panels for the bakery. Electricity is EXPENSIVE.

I REALLY want solar for the cannery. We spend $$$$$$$ on electricity every month. More than the mortgage. And we have some nice new metal roofs that won’t need replacing for a long time.

But you and I should talk VFD. If you have any equipment that hard starts (like a mixer/blender/etc), it can draw a lot of power at once, which is brutal on the electric bill. Putting the equipment on a VFD that slow starts and then builds speed can lower your bill and extend the life of the equipment.

Whaaaa??? I need to know everything about this now. All my equipment is so old, I’m sure it’s drawing more than it should be

[mapleme]

Apr 2, 2023 15:15:01 GMT -6 grumpycakes said:

Apr 2, 2023 12:24:43 GMT -6 mapleme said:

I REALLY want solar for the cannery. We spend $$$$$$$ on electricity every month. More than the mortgage. And we have some nice new metal roofs that won’t need replacing for a long time.

But you and I should talk VFD. If you have any equipment that hard starts (like a mixer/blender/etc), it can draw a lot of power at once, which is brutal on the electric bill. Putting the equipment on a VFD that slow starts and then builds speed can lower your bill and extend the life of the equipment.

Whaaaa??? I need to know everything about this now. All my equipment is so old, I’m sure it’s drawing more than it should be

I'm not sure how your electrical company does it, but for my business, I get charged for overall usage (like I do at a home), plus for whatever is the most electricity I was using at one moment in time. That portion of the bill accounts for about 1/3 of my overall bill. That highest spike can be from running lots and lots of things at once, but it can also come just from a surge that you get when you turn things on. A variable frequency drive can lower that initial surge. Your mixers might already have one built in (since it probably has difference speeds), but it's worthwhile looking at your equipment to see if anything could benefit from one. I have them on all of my pumps, exhaust hoods and kettle mixers. My 200G kettle didn't have one on it's mixer, but the force at startup was causing it to bend the steel pin holding the agitator in place. And stripping the bearings on the motor. So I just added one and found the extra benefit of a lower surge on my last electric bill. I imagine that that motor wasn't always the reason for the highest peak, but has helped for at least one month.

[pbandj714]

I'm very not green and using sposies with the last kid (who just turned TWO, don't know how that's possible!) but my CDs will live on. A good friend asked if I still had them because she was interested so they will move along to their next baby butt this summer. Makes me smile.

[DGM]

Reusable sandwich/gallon bags and making my own hand foaming soap are about the most green I do now besides recycling. Womp womp.

[mc13]

Apr 3, 2023 11:10:56 GMT -6 pbandj714 said:

I'm very not green and using sposies with the last kid (who just turned TWO, don't know how that's possible!) but my CDs will live on. A good friend asked if I still had them because she was interested so they will move along to their next baby butt this summer. Makes me smile.

My sister is due with her first in about 5 weeks and took all my cloth diapers 🥰

[ovenrack]

I just got a bunch of unopened pantry and refrigerator goods from my boss who is moving 😫 including the prepackaged microwaveable bacon things.

Guys they’re terribly un-green and not great bacon but I hate the mess of cooking bacon and I have to say it worked great for breakfast sandwiches!

There is my totally useless contribution.

[rugger]

Apr 4, 2023 9:21:26 GMT -6 ovenrack said:

I just got a bunch of unopened pantry and refrigerator goods from my boss who is moving 😫 including the prepackaged microwaveable bacon things.

Guys they’re terribly un-green and not great bacon but I hate the mess of cooking bacon and I have to say it worked great for breakfast sandwiches!

There is my totally useless contribution.

Buuuut, by taking them, you kept then from being thrown away and that reduces food waste, which is clearly very green of you 🍏💚

[rugger]

My mom recently got super into Norwex, so now we have a ton of Norwex cloths for the kitchen, household, and body/face. Sure just keeps sending the products to us 😂

[sarenu]

We moved to an acre of land guys. There are some expensive houses here (ours is not).

Talk to me about gardens and keeping wild life out of them. We have deer, coyotes, and turkeys.

Also fun fact, a large group of domesticated turkeys is a gang.

[grumpycakes]

Apr 5, 2023 7:45:32 GMT -6 sarenu said:

We moved to an acre of land guys. There are some expensive houses here (ours is not).

Talk to me about gardens and keeping wild life out of them. We have deer, coyotes, and turkeys.

Also fun fact, a large group of domesticated turkeys is a gang.

And they act like a gang too…

But I love them

[mapleme]

I love seeing turkeys fly. They are so heavy and unwieldy. But yet somehow they manage to all get up into a tree and sleep. And the tree doesn't topple under their weight. It's like giant, heavy, clumsy, haphazard magic.

[sarenu]

Apr 6, 2023 6:55:54 GMT -6 mapleme said:

I love seeing turkeys fly. They are so heavy and unwieldy. But yet somehow they manage to all get up into a tree and sleep. And the tree doesn't topple under their weight. It's like giant, heavy, clumsy, haphazard magic.

The little babies are cute too. They are all bounce. Like little feathery springs.

[stringy]

Apr 2, 2023 14:39:05 GMT -6 tj said:

This is the least green I’ve ever been.

ditto

[stringy]

I'm going to sign up for compost pickup should spring ever come. Somehow my own compost pile just doesn't work out.