Soylent [food replacement] founder Rob Rhinehart shares his thoughts on extreme sustainability.
I am electrically self-reliant. My home life runs comfortably on a single 100W solar panel, which cost $150 and was available on Amazon Prime. I tracked down a few manufacturers in China who all said it costs around $40 to make. The US for some reason leverages massive tariffs on Chinese solar panels, so they ship them through Malaysian customs. Why do the politicians even bother?
For storage a $65 lead acid automobile battery does the trick. It's 12V so can be charged directly from the solar panel, and holds 420Wh, way more than I use in a day. That's $0.15 / Wh so I don't see why everyone is so excited about Tesla charging $0.43 / Wh for the Powerwall, sans inverter and installation.
He got rid of his fridge and other kitchen implements to make it work. What are the biggest energy users in your place? Could you pare things down as much as Rob?
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday August 05 2015, @03:50PM
I prefer Qdoba because of Cholula sauce. I like their freshly made food and fresh ingredients. But let's not pretend that a 1200 calorie burrito is health food just because it is fresh. It is arguably better than the same number of calories from McDonalds... but a ton of calories is a ton of calories.
Also, my habit of using nearly half a bottle of Cholula isn't so good for the salt content, either.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 05 2015, @04:58PM
A ton of calories is a ton of calories, but at least it's real food. The main bad calories come with their queso(s), chips, fried taco salad bowl, white rice, and tortillas. The upshot, is that you can easily have a tasty, but more healthy option depending on your choices. You can get a Naked Burrito (No Tortilla) which drops the calories by about 300 and brings your 1k calorie meal down to a still very tasty 700 calorie meal. Qdoba can be a very good option for people with many different dietary needs. You'd just have to think about what you are getting and/or look at their Nutritional Chart to make smart decisions.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday August 05 2015, @06:19PM
The thing I like about the big burrito model the most is that you only get ingredients you directly ask for. So I only have myself to blame for that (delicious delicious) pile of calories.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh