Living Littleton

   On November 19, RTD will be having an open house about the extension of the southwest line at the City of Littleton City Council Chambers, located at 2255 W. Berry Ave 80165.  Come to see a presentation of the environmental study and provide your input for the project.  Public comment will end on December 18, 2009, so this may be your best chance to be heard. 

  You can view the Southwest Corridore Extension Environmental Evaluation online at; www.RTD-FasTracks.com.  After November 3rd, you can view the document at the Bemis and Highlands Ranch Libraries.  

Time allocated for the open house will be from 6 to 8 PM.

   On the weekend of September 19 & 20 the first ever Colorado Fall Home Show will be held at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver.  The creators of this event expect to have approximately 300 exhibitors present, show casing the newest trends in remodeling, energy conservation, and green living. 

  I’ve always enjoyed going to the shows held in the early spring because of the wealth of new ideas that are presented every year, and I’m expecting no less from this event.  It’s amazing how much you can learn plus the contacts you can acquire to aid in your research on areas of interest for your own home. 

  Tickets for this event are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, with kids under 12 admitted for free.  In the past, you could get discounted tickets at King Soopers for events like this, but I can’t say for sure, yet, on this one.  You can print out a discount coupon from their web site, that will also get you $2 off adult admission.  That site is www.gardeningcolorado.com/fall/default.htm.

Recently, an engineer friend made me aware of this new engine design that came from Angel Labs located in Lodi, California.  This new engine is a recent NASA design winner from Raphial Morgado.  According to the inventor at “25 pounds, it produces 200-500 horse power at 150 MPG on bio fuel, and the bio fuel is also the lubricant, so it needs no oil.  It’s called the MYT Engine (massive yet tiny).  Get more information plus videos of the engine running by going to their web site at http://www.angellabsllc.com.  Hopefully, this is the kind of technology that actually gets incorporated into everyday life, as we’ve all heard of great tech breakthroughs that promise to change our lives, only to never see them never reach their potential.

Here’s a most unusual digital clock that not only reports on time, around the world, but other things that people would find noteworthy.  What’s really unique is that it shows instant up-dating of statistics.  You can track births, deaths, car or bicycle production, energy consumption, illnesses, rise of the national debt, and environmental issues.  If you’re a teacher, this would be a great learning tool for your students.  Take a look at   http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf.

Recently, a group of civic minded residents got the Ken-Caryl Ranch governing bodies to approve the ranch’s first community garden.  The newly approved site will be on the east side of the present Community Center building, which is located in the east part of Ken-Caryl Valley.  This property is actually owned by Jefferson County as part of their open space portfollio, and is leased to Ken-Caryl Ranch through the Ranch’s Metropolitan District.  Jefferson County gave their OK, and now it was up to the Ranch to also give their blessing.  That blessing came just recently, but with one main cavaet, and that is the resident group needs to raise approximately $84,000 to construct an eight foot high perimeter fence around the garden site to prevent it from becoming a buffet for the area wildlife.  Fund raising has since started with pledges from a local school PTA, individual citizens, and the Ken-Caryl Ranch Foundation.  In it’s present incarnation, the garden will have a total of 4,700 square feet of actual garden area.  Of that, there will be 13 raised beds and 24 grade level beds.  If you want more information go the the web site at; http://www.kencarylcommunitygarden.org.

I was reading in a recent article in the Rocky Mountain News about the big change in recycling.  This summer I heard about how prices for recyclables was sky rocketing and how recycling companies were taking more and more products that they wouldn’t have considered, because of the demand.  Well, like the price of gas and other commodities, these prices have dropped, as well.  Just since mid October the price for a ton of plastic milk jugs dropped from $800 to $200.  The price for soda bottles has dropped from $400 a ton to $40.  This shake out is also hurting because now these recycling companies have to pay someone to haul away the less desirable types of plastic (number 3-7), and do this all with less income.  If you are someone who recycles, I would suggest you contact your recycler and ask for an up-dated list of what’s acceptable and then stick with it.  If we can keep the undesirable products out of the system, we can help the recycling companies survive this down turn so they’ll be there to serve us in the future.  You can also help by products that have minimal packaging.