Tag Archive for 'orlando'

Install a power meter monitor yourself

Aaron Fechter, Orlando resident and inventor of the Rockafire Explosion has created a power meter monitor you can attach to the box outside your house. You then get to see how much your power bill would cost (I’m assuming there is some way to program the current rates).

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor can save you money on electricity and save the Rock-afire Explosion from extinction! As the distributor of these monitors, I am using the proceeds of the sales of these monitors to finance the creation of new shows. Those who buy one of these from Creative Engineering, Inc. will also be given access to a private website showing lots of behind the scenes footage never before seen as well as other benefits. If saving money on electricity and saving the Rock-afire Explosion are worthy of your interest, please give me a call or send a note to me at aaron.fechter@gte.net

Eco-Friendly Walls at a favorite local Hangout

Dandelion CommuniTEA Cafe is a real leader in Central Florida, in their neighborhood, and on a number of of financial, social, and health & wellness fronts. Now they are even taking leadership in green building with their application of the American Clay product on their walls. The clay adds 5 LEED points and comes in a variety of colors and textures.

This video was created by our friends over at EcoFactory, a great community site for people interested in the planet, the environment and social issues impacting humankind. They provide news, social features, and lots of great videos and podcasts featuring innovative people and solutions to the world’s problems.

Visit EcoFactory for the original American Clay story, then register or subscribe!

5 Must-Read Local Orlando Food Websites

Seems like food is a rising trend in Central Florida, and the following list of sites reinforces that with some great links and lots of juicy content to sink your mental teeth into. I present, in no particular order (and by no means comprehensively) a list of sites you should check out if you’re into food:
Winter Park Harvest Festival

  1. Winter Park Harvest Festival
    This website exists right now to promote an event, happening November 20th in “Central Park’s West Meadow”, whatever that means. Already, the site has loaded up with some great how-to articles for growing your own food and announcing some smaller events leading up to the festival.
  2. A Local Folkus
    Started in 2007, this locally-sourced blog is written by John Rife, who is now taking an active role in advancing the Slow Food and Slow Money movements here in Central Florida. He is well-known for taking massive continent-spanning road trips in his camper named Kodi, along with his wife and his dog. Now John talks about heritage, local markets, gardening, and local events, with lots more road-tripping thrown in. Subscribe and enjoy!
  3. The Good Garden
    I recently met author Sarah Kinbar through a local gathering called Florida Creatives Happy Hour, and it turns out we shared a former employer. Sarah has years of experience with traditional print magazines, and now she is stamping out daily posts on her site about growing food and fun things you can do with the things you’ve grown – lots of fun recipes and personal stories. Sarah also works with a team of contributors to make sure there is a “fresh” post every day!
  4. Edible Orlando Magazine
    Apparently, this website is also available in dead tree form… This brand new magazine produced locally about the great culinary escapades and I believe it is very focused on the Slow Food movement. As of this writing, all their content is locked inside the digital edition in the sidebar, but the full magazine’s content is available there. The site is part of a network called Edible Communities, which also produces a healthy number of podcasts in addition to almost 60 regional magazines.
  5. The Thin Chef
    This blog is a weekly entry by “thin” Katie Farmand, who happens to be one of the editors of the Edible Orlando mag above. She makes no promises about being a diet blog: In her own words, “Not low-calorie, or low-fat, but food that is real, whole, and fuels your body.” Still, there are some fun-looking recipes here, and it’s worth checking out.

Like I said, these are certainly not the only 5 sites about food in Orlando, or even about this particular subject. At the same time, I hope you have learned something, and will continue to learn by checking out these sites!

Some links via: Anjali Fluker, Orlando Business Journal