The First Priest of Junk!

    Before we get this started, I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Vince Hannemann, for being a lovely and willing interview-ee for this awkward interviewer.
    And now... Welcome, friends, to the Religion of Junk. This innovative new belief system is centered around a cathedral, located in south Austin, a religion that puts the highest of regards on beauty, architecture, recycling, sustainability, and most of all, JUNK. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you, The Cathedral of Junk! 
  Yes, yes, I know. This may not be an "actual religion". However, Vince Hannemann, creator of the famous Cathedral, has put new meaning to the words 'junk'. His 30-foot high, structurally sound, tower of so-called trash shows us that one man's trash, truly is another man's treasure. Mr. Hannemann uses C.D.s as a beautiful decoration, tires embedded in cement to pave walkways, and pieces of corrugated tin roofs, screen doors, wooden fencing, and pads to make a small hut. Empty bottles? set in concrete to create a striking wall. He even found moving pods, 5 for $25 bucks, and made storage sheds out of them. So, in the words of the King of Junk himself, "Just because someone's giving it away, doesn't mean it's junk". So, keep recycling, always reuse, and never pass up free samples at a grocery store. Thanks for reading, my charming followers, and until next time....
                  This is River, over and out! 


     
         

Topping It Off with Green

I spend a lot of time in downtown Austin and one of my favorite places to grab a bite is Austin Java in City Hall. Now the bathrooms in City Hall have always amused me, they have a two way flush to conserve water. These bathroom appliances intrigued me and so I decide to do some investigation. It turns out that City Hall does a lot more than up for one and down for two to help the environment.
The feature I find most amazing is the green roof. This covering over the front plaza not only provides shade for pedestrians on a hot summer day, but helps to filter the air, and storm water. The roof is made of various ground foliation over a strong yet thin membrane. The plants filter CO2 out of the air and put oxygen back in, and they filter storm water. This storm water is then collected and used to irrigate the various garden plots on the City Hall plaza. To learn more about the wonderful conserving ways check out City Hall’s site or look for a feature in city hall in Terra’s magazine in December.

Keep it  Eco-friendly Guys

Rapier

Agave...The Picture Of Green Design

10 minutes from ABIA... 6 miles from downtown ... attractive pricing... these are only a few qualities of the agave neighborhood. Agave is not what one would normally consider as a "normal neighborhood". The modern styled houses of the neighborhood separate it from the average bland neighborhoods. These homes have brightly colored exteriors, innovative floor plans and interesting landscapes.

These houses are landscaped with plants native to Texas, which in and of itself contributes to the overall goal of helping the environment. These plants require no more water or sunlight than what they already receive from this climate, reducing the amount of water normally used to water plants.

Agave homes also include a variety of green architectural techniques, such as spray foam installation and green appliances such as on demand water heaters and low flow toilets. The more green you put into the house the more "green" you're spending, right? WRONG!!! Designing smaller houses and not using extra material inside the home helps to keep the price of these houses from going out of control.

You may be asking yourself why do I need to buy a new house to be green? The answer is that you don't. You can swap out some of you appliances for energy star appliances and replace your old installation material with a more environmentally friendly kind and a number of other things. You could in theory give your home a green makeover, but in some cases it would be easier to build a completely new house from the ground up and make it green.

The next time you're in the area, drive through the neighborhood. It might not be your style in particular, but it may inspire you to consider sustainable architecture. Plus the houses are really cool, but that's just icing on top of the cake.

Stay Eco-Friendly Guys,
~Romulus

Green Living Fun Fact!

Hey terra-fanatics

Did you know...

A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

☺Romulus☺

***By the way...those smiley faces are not because I like contaminated fresh water, just saying.