Trying to choose web hosting for your self or a client can be challenging. Choosing Green hosting is a bit less challenging as there are less hosts to choose from but you still want to make the right choice.

UPDATE: We ended up trying Carbon neutral web site hosting to see how it really compares to Solar Hosting.
In making the shift we learned a lot…

Let’s compare two leading green hosts:

The Solar Powered Web Hosting Company (AISO)

The Carbon Neutral Web hosting Company (DreamHost):

• MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: Currently has their own solar panels and runs their own energy efficient servers in their own energy efficient building. They are working on a Green Roof. This shows amazing dedication and shows they are definitely trying to make a difference on every level. This is a tough act to follow. You even see a web cam of the solar panels HERE.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: Is a GREEN Hosting company because they are carbon neutral. That means they purchase renewable energy certificates that offset the carbon emissions generated by all of their business activities. They hold a Certificate of Carbon Neutralization from http://www.thegreenoffice.com. Their site HERE details more about their commitment and how they approach being green.
• VALUE:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: Currently they offer a tiered program that offers 750 to 1.5GB for storage and 5 to 25 GB of traffic bandwidth for $10-50 a month. The hard drive storage is for the website and your email accounts. You can buy more storage and bandwidth also.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: DreamHost is offering unlimited bandwidth and storage for about $10 a month if you pay yearly. This one size fits most approach seems refreshing. Plus no worries if your site starts to take off and get popular.
• FEATURES:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: Currently they offer Linux, Mac and Windows plans and their more expensive Windows plans offer advanced features like Live website traffic reports, ASP, ASP.Net 1.0-3.5 with AJAX extensions, and Cold Fusion MX 7 Enterprise. These features can be essential to some of you who are still in the proprietary world of Windows.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: DreamHost is offering unlimited bandwidth and storage. They also offer a number interesting features like “one click installs” of programs like WordPress, Gallery, ZenCart, PhpGedView, Pligg, dotProject, Moodle, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, WebCalendar, Advanced Poll. This means installation is very easy. DreamHost seems to excel in the area of Open Source offerings and their servers are all Linux based.
• CONTROL PANEL:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: The control panel is coming along. There was a long time where there was no panel and we are glad to see that they have added one.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: The control panel is very advanced with countless features like “one click installs” media streaming and cron jobs.

PANELS SCREEN CAPTURES: (click images to see a larger view)

If you need hosting, go Green with solar powered AISO or with one of the leading Carbon Neutral Web hosting Companies DreamHost.

VitalBodies would like to thank both companies for giving us all some excellent green and sustainable choices.

UPDATE: We shifted to Carbon Neutral and so far, are happy we did.

One click installs, unlimited storage and bandwidth plus a control panel like we have never seen.

And with our current plan we can host unlimited domains!

That means we can can have .com, .net. and .org all hosted and more all for the same price!

This sealed the deal for us.

We like the solar hosting people and solar hosted our site for a some years. When we needed them they were always there.

Which did you choose?

Trying to choose web hosting for your self or a client can be challenging. Choosing Green hosting is a bit less challenging as there are less hosts to choose from but you still want to make the right choice.

Let’s compare two leading green hosts:

The Solar Powered Web Hosting Company (AISO)

The Carbon Neutral Web hosting Company (DreamHost):

• MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: Currently has their own solar panels and runs their own energy efficient servers in their own energy efficient building. They are working on a Green Roof. This shows amazing dedication and shows they are definitely trying to make a difference on every level. This is a tough act to follow. You even see a web cam of the solar panels HERE.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: Is a GREEN Hosting company because they are carbon neutral. That means they purchase renewable energy certificates that offset the carbon emissions generated by all of their business activities. They hold a Certificate of Carbon Neutralization from http://www.thegreenoffice.com. Their site HERE details more about their commitment and how they approach being green.
• VALUE:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: Currently they offer a tiered program that offers 750 to 1.5GB for storage and 5 to 25 GB of traffic bandwidth for $10-50 a month. The hard drive storage is for the website and your email accounts. You can buy more storage and bandwidth also.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: DreamHost is offering unlimited bandwidth and storage for about $10 a month if you pay yearly. This one size fits most approach seems refreshing. Plus no worries if your site starts to take off and get popular.
• FEATURES:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: Currently they offer Linux, Mac and Windows plans and their more expensive Windows plans offer advanced features like Live website traffic reports, ASP, ASP.Net 1.0-3.5 with AJAX extensions, and Cold Fusion MX 7 Enterprise. These features can be essential to some of you who are still in the proprietary world of Windows.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: DreamHost is offering unlimited bandwidth and storage. They also offer a number interesting features like “one click installs” of programs like WordPress, Gallery, ZenCart, PhpGedView, Pligg, dotProject, Moodle, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, WebCalendar, Advanced Poll. This means installation is very easy. DreamHost seems to excel in the area of Open Source offerings and their servers are all Linux based.
• CONTROL PANEL:
  • Solar Powered:
    • AISO: The control panel is coming along. There was a long time where there was no panel and we are glad to see that they have added one.
  • Carbon Neutral:
    • DreamHost: The control panel is very advanced with countless features like “one click installs” media streaming and cron jobs.

PANELS SCREEN CAPTURES: (click images to see a larger view)

If you need hosting, go Green with solar powered AISO or with one of the leading Carbon Neutral Web hosting Companies DreamHost.

VitalBodies would like to thank both companies for giving us all some excellent green and sustainable choices.

Which did you choose?

Infusion Fibers makes high quality, beautiful bags using sustainable natural fibers like hemp, organic cotton, linen, jute and bamboo. Additionally, in keeping with their goal to lighten the burden on the earth, Infusion re-purposes many fabrics, both new and used, that would otherwise have been discarded. Each item is hand made and all fabrics are carefully selected.

So when VitalBodies needed that Elusive PERFECT BAG for a top secret project we are working on for the VitalBodies blog, we knew just where to look. VitalBodies secret bag is not shown anywhere yet, as it is secret… so ssshhh.

If YOU want a bag, you can find a selection of bags at Infusion Fibers Etsy Store.

Also at Infusion Fibers Etsy store, you will find an assortment of soft goods for the home such as buckwheat and kapok pillows.

VitalBodies liked that fact that we could have a custom bag made to the size we needed for our project, and choose our favorite eco fabric hemp. Plus we could support both buying hand made and supporting a work at home artist.

As an example of recycling fabrics, one of Infusion Fibers newest designs is the Crescent Bag, made with upcycled burlap coffee sacks.

Infusion can also customize purses, shopping bags, totes, messenger bags and more…

Where To Buy: http://infusion.etsy.com

Infusion Blog: http://infusionfibers.wordpress.com

“A weir is a small overflow-type dam commonly used to raise the level of a river or stream.”

THE CURRENT WEIR:
The water for the water system comes from a very small creek deep in the dense old growth woods on the Oregon Coast. The water is loaded with fir needles and sediment and the flow is weak rather than strong. The current weir is a small dam that raises the water level so we can pre-screen the water before sending the water down the hill through nearly a 1/4 mile of tubing. Even with the existing screen the tubing or screen can become clogged because of all the fir needles and sediment naturally occurring in the area and water.

THE CURRENT SCREEN: Our current screen is an open-ended 6 inch diameter pipe less than 2 feet long that has been drilled with lots of holes and wrapped in a stainless steel screen. The screen is Zip-tied on each end and the Zip-tied ends of the screen are then stuffed into the open ends of the pipe. This design works well for it’s intended purpose but tends to need cleaning about 4 times a year and clogs un-expectedly every now and then. What usually ends up stopping the flow is the weir filling up with sediment and completely choking the filter.

SCREEN DESIGN GOALS: Ideally the next newly designed screen within the weir would be self cleaning or non-existent. Because of the remote location on the side of a small water fall, that might not be possible. Additionally the size, shape and amount of fir needles and the low amount of flow also tend to make designing a self cleaning filter difficult. If a self cleaning design is not possible, the next screen design should prevent clogging and be easy to clean and monitor. Additionally, adding some degree of filtration to remove dirt and sediment would be helpful providing the filters do not clog or need changing more than the screen. The design should also be such that the water flow is not slowly reduced until the screen clogs. Instead, the flow should not be reduced until the entire screen or the entire filter needs to be cleaned.

CLEANING: Cleaning the existing screen is done roughly 4 times a year. As the screen slowly clogs, water flow is slowly reduced until the screen needs to be cleaned again. Cleaning the current screen requires
removing the entire screen and pipe unit from the weir and carefully removing all the fir needles and sediment. Occasionally the pipe and screen unit need to be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned or even rebuilt with a new screen. The next screen design should be able to achieve easier cleaning and perhaps only need to be cleaned once a year.

NEW WEIR DESIGN GOALS:
SELF CLEANING
PREVENTS CLOGGING
EASY TO CLEAN
EASY TO MONITOR
ADDITIONAL FILTRATION
DOES NOT REDUCE FLOW
INCREASES POTENTIAL FLOW AND HEAD
NEEDS CLEANING LESS OFTEN

NEW WEIR DESIGN: One idea is to build a small waterfall into the current weir. The waterfall could be a flat, contained area that the water flows over. This would allow the water to flow as a small, wide waterfall into a newly designed screen and filter box. By having the water flow in the form of a small, wide waterfall (rather than a tube) we would prevent clogging. In the diagram there is a 12 inch wide waterfall, that is seen from the side. Another even better design is to use a short run of large pipe coming from the weir to the weir filter. This would allow the Weir Filter to be completely outside of the stream bed. Large rocks can make their way down the stream bed in the rushing waters of winter. Over flow could (and should) pipe back to the stream. Ideally one should only take what water is needed and using a simple shut off like a float valve down below, stop the water from flowing down the pipe. This would leave as much water as possible to flow down the stream bed.

NEW SCREEN DESIGN: VitalBodies design idea was to buy or build a filter box. In water garden design they are often called POND SKIMMERS or WATER FALL FILTERS. This basic design is not self cleaning but is easy to clean, monitor and maintain. The design illustrated meets most all of our requirements. The filter basket would catch things like fir needles and small rocks and could easily lift out and be dumped.

“UV filtration could mean that we no longer have to use Chlorine.”

NEW POTENTIAL: Another design idea that VitalBodies proposed, is to make use of the water that is used for a micro hydro-electric generator. The power could be used to run a UV filter and what is called a UV clarifier. The UV clarifier is an underwater light that could be placed in the cistern to prevent algae and such. UV filtration could mean that we no longer have to use (or could at least use less) Chlorine Bleach to “purify” the water, much of which is used for drinking.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: VitalBodies also pointed out in our consultation that bleach, sadly, is only 6% chlorine, and the other 94% they do not have to state on the label what that is. What ever mystery 94% is, could be almost anything?

MAKING USE OF NEW POTENTIAL: To make use of this potential VitalBodies recommended that they might need to raise the low spot of the water line (tubing) that runs down the hill by moving a small section. In addition, we could have the tubing up by the waterfall be of a larger diameter for some distance, then come back down to the current diameter to increase HEAD. Since the flow of water is nearly 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the water has HEAD and FLOW from traveling so far down (nearly 1/4 mile) to the cistern, we could likely create enough power to make cost-efficient energy.

NOTE: Electric UV (Ultra Violet) water purification can happen with or without hydro.

CONCLUSIONS:

Creating a new design for the weir and screen seems possible and affordable.

The new design could be allowing more water to flow down the stream bed by making simple changes to how the valves are set up like using a float valve.

As Eco Consultants,  VitalBodies promoted generating sustainable power with the system of tubing already in place or create even more power with some small modifications.

The system could easily reduce the amount of maintenance needed.

A more consistent flow of water could be achieved.

SIDE NOTES: VitalBodies used Inkscape an Open Source Vector Graphics program to create the illustrations.

VitalBodies.com Sunflower Logo

VitalBodies.com

ORGANIC – ECO

VITAL & SUSTAINABLE

SHOP FOR LIFE

Copyright 2007 VitalBodies.com

This artwork was originally designed for the VitalBodies web site.

Done as a vector drawing and exported to JPG.

Intended to create a bright, eco life and be iconic…

Vector art created from a bottle cap to a sunflower.