August 30, 2012 G5Little Green IslandG4 August 30, 2012 ALAMEDA SUNLittle Green Island ALAMEDA SUN

RIDE THE RAILS 2012

Co-sponsor

Ride leaders provided by Team Alameda.

START/FINISHHigh Street

Station

Encinal Ave. & High St.

VersaillesStation

Encinal &Versailles Ave.

Park St. SouthStation

Encinal Ave. & Park St.

Chestnut-EncinalStation

Encinal Ave.& Chestnut St.

MortonStation

Encinal Ave.& Morton St.

CarolineStation

Encinal Ave.& Caroline St.

Webster StreetStation

Encinal Ave.& Webster St.

Fifth StreetStation

Encinal Ave. & Fifth St.

WoodstockStation

Pacific Ave.& Main St.

Hornet FieldAlameda Point

Atlantic Ave. & Main St.LUNCH BREAK

Bay StreetStation

Lincoln Ave.& Bay St.

MastickStation

Lincoln Ave.& Ninth St.

GrandStation

Lincoln Ave.& Grand St. Willow

Station

Lincoln Ave.& Willow St.

(NOT ON ROUTE)

Park StreetStation

Lincoln Ave. & Park St.(NOT ON ROUTE)

Island City CafeBlanding Ave. & Broadway

OPTIONAL END POINT

Former San Francisco

& Alameda Railroad

Right of Way

(Also Central

Pacific)

Former Beltline Right of Way

Former S

outhern Pacifi

c Righ

t of Way

Former South Pacific

Coast Railroad

Right of Way

GRAN

D ST

.

MO

RTO

N S

T.

BAY

ST.

WEB

ER S

T.

NIN

TH S

T.

WEB

STER

ST.

FIFT

H S

T.

MA

IN S

T.

CHES

TNUT

ST.

WIL

LOW

ST.

PARK

ST.

VERS

AILL

ES A

VE.

FERNSIDE BLVD

FERNSID

E BLV

D

ENCINAL AVE.

LINCOLN AVE.

CLEMENT AVE.

ENCINAL AVE.

MARSHALL WAY LINCOLN AVE.

PACIFIC AVE.

MAIN ST.

CENTRAL AVE.

HIGH

ST.

Former South Pacific

Coast Railroad Right of Way

Former South ern Pacific, Central Pacific and San Francisco & Alameda railroads rights-of-way

Map design by Eric J. Kos Alameda Sun

Ride your bicycle along the rights-of-way of four former Alameda railroads.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16Ride Start: 9:30am | End: 1:30pm

Includes Three (3)Railroad History

Presentations

Pre-ordered and Pre-paid Lunches from Shay’s Cafedelivered to Hornet Field.

No unaccompanied minors.No charge for entry. Helmets required.

Please visit bikealameda.org or email info@bikealameda.org for more information.

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Certifi ed Solar PV Installer

We can carry your rebate and tax creditc46-Solar Contractor License 97142Z

6114 La Salle Ave. #760Oakland, CA 94618

510-332-4971jorfali@savealotsolar.com

Jeff BridgeAn average lawn uses between

$400 to $1,400 a year in water, fertil-izer, pesticide and fungicide. There is also the expense of labor to mow that lawn and clean up the cuttings.

A single summer day’s water-ing averages 200 gallons of water. It makes sense in light of our projected water needs to eliminate or reduce the size of lawns right now.

The high-nitrogen fertilizer used to keep sod lush and green ends up in our streams and oceans where it creates toxic, life-destroying algae blooms. A significant amount of that fertilizer is manufactured from petro-leum.

Chemicals used to keep lawns weed-free and control fungus and

insects include: phenoxy, organo-phosphates, carbamates, benzoic acid, herbicides and organchlorines. These chemicals remain in the soil, water and air and create innumer-able problems in the environment and to our health and our children’s health.

The machines we use to mow our grass and blow away debris are not regulated or held to the same standards as our vehicles. They are responsible for amazing amounts of green-house gas emissions.

Yes, a lush green lawn is a beloved tradition in our culture, and there are many who would be heartbroken to lose that cheerful green expanse. For these people it is simply a matter of reducing lawn size.

Just cut your lawn area by a third or half and plant the perimeter with attractive, long-lived plants that need little water like sage and lavender. You will be amazed at how quickly hummingbirds and bumble bees arrive to harvest nec-tar and pollen. The aerial antics of the hummingbirds are hilarious to watch.

I am sure that many people read-ing this have already been exposed to this information. You want to lose the lawn but don’t know how to do it or think removal will be an onerous task?

It’s true that digging up estab-lished sod is a chore. So don’t dig it

up. Cover the grass with layers of sheet mulch consisting of cardboard, compost and bark chips and let nature do the work for you. In a few months the grass will be gone, the cardboard bio-degrades and you will have a patch of ready-to-plant garden plot.

A Google search of sheet mulch-ing techniques reveals how simple this can be and there are even

several non-profit organizations devoted to helping you get rid of the grass.

Jeff Bridge is the general man-ager at Ploughshares Nursery. You can reach him at 755-1102.

Lose That Lawn You will be amazed at how quickly hummingbirds and bumble bees arrive to harvest nectar and pollen.

Courtesy photo

Your grass is swallowing up as much as 200 gallons of water in a single day.

Green Resources at Your FingertipsEnvironmentally sensitive home repair can save money

Using green techniques to renovate your home can save money and the environment.

Pat ColburnThe Alamedan

If you’re thinking of doing a remodel on your home or business, you’ll want to keep in mind some of the rebates and free programs that are available. These programs can guide you in best practices and help offset your costs.

Alameda Municipal Power offers both commercial and residential rebates. On the commercial side rebates are available for LED and heat pumps, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), cooling equipment, reflective window film, lighting, compressed air systems, and retrofitting basic lamps.

Residential customers can receive rebates on refrigerators, LED and heat pumps, solar panels and insulation. Residents can also exchange three incandescent bulbs for three free compact fluorescent lamps. These lamps offer flicker-free start-up and have color ranges to meet individual needs.

Energy Upgrade California in Alameda County connects you to the experts and resources you need to take a “whole-house” approach

and directs you to rebates and incentives for sealing and insula-tion, energy efficient heating, ener-gy efficient windows, high-efficiency water heaters, permanent energy efficiency improvements, water-saving devices such as low-flow showerheads and toilets, sustain-able landscaping and self-adjusting irrigation controllers. Rebates of up to $4,000 are available; Energy Upgrade California can help you take advantage of affordable financ-ing options to offset your upfront costs.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) offers rebates for water heat-ers, insulation as well as HVAC.

Energy-efficiency rebates are also available to property owners and managers of multifamily dwellings that contain two or more units. The program encourages owners of exist-ing properties to upgrade to quali-fying energy-efficient products in individual units and in the common areas of residential apartment build-ings and condominium complexes.

East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has rebates for toilets, clothes washers, landscap-

ing and sprinkler timers. High-effi-ciency showerheads, faucet aera-tors and other water-saving devic-es are available to most EBMUD customers.

Because submeters encourage conservation, EBMUD offers rebates for submeter installation to multi-family property owners who install water meters on individual dwelling units; meter and bill residents for water; and install water-efficient toi-lets, showerheads, and faucet aera-tors when required.

Property owners also may be eligible for rebates for toilets. Apartment owners can get a rebate up to $250 per dwelling unit for this program.

The website www.StopWaste.org offers information on greening your environment.

This includes, but is not limited to how and where to recycle; where to take hazardous waste; green purchasing web links for business and industry, home remodeling and green-building guidelines.

Pat Colburn is Alameda’s Green Realtor. Email her atPat@PatColburn.com or call 919-6169.

Prime Buyer ReportsHome solar power is a great

option for clean, renewable energy. Whether on or off the grid, home solar energy systems come with a number of benefits, including federal and state tax credits. As the home solar energy industry expands, the number and types of jobs performed by solar contractors in Alameda County expands as well.

They can install all of the neces-sary components for a new residen-tial photovoltaic system, solar water heating, solar pool heating, and more. These home solar contractors can guide you through the solar

system design process to arrive at the optimal solar electrical or solar thermal system for your home solar energy requirements.

Some solar contractors may do only solar water heating or only solar electricity, or both. What’s the difference? Solar hot water systems are to generate hot water for your home only, and not to generate elec-tricity for other appliances. Solar water heating systems include stor-age tanks and collectors.

Most solar water heaters require a well-insulated storage tank. In two-tank systems, the solar water heater preheats water before it enters the

conventional water heater. In one-tank systems, the back-up heater is combined with the solar storage in one tank.

There are two types of solar water heating systems. Active sys-tems have circulating pumps and controls; the less-expensive passive systems do not.

Active systems have either direct or indirect circulation systems. Direct systems have pumps that circulate household water through the collec-tors and into the home. They work well in climates where it rarely freezes.

Indirect systems, on the other hand, have pumps that circulate

a non-freezing, heat-transfer fluid through the collectors and a heat exchanger. This heats the water that then flows into the home. They are popular in climates prone to freezing temperatures.

Passive solar water heating sys-tems are typically less expensive than active systems, but they’re usu-ally not as efficient. However, pas-sive systems can be more reliable and may last longer.

Integral collector-storage passive systems work best where tempera-tures rarely fall below freezing. They also work well in households with significant daytime and evening hot-

water needs.Thermosyphon systems cause

the water to flow through the system when warm water rises as cooler water sinks. They must be installed below the storage tank so that warm water will rise into the tank. These systems are reliable, but contractors must pay careful attention to the roof design because of the heavy storage tank. They are usually more expensive than integral collector-storage passive systems.

Information on the benefits of solar power techonologies canbe found at www.primebuyersreports.org.

Home Solar Power Options Available from Local Contractors