I'm going to jump around here but I feel there is some news that will get too little publicity. Our friends at INHABITAT released a story about a new solar technology developed by the brainiacs at MIT that will create a 'ten-fold increase in the amount of power converted by power cells.' Dye-glazed glass panels 'capture and concentrate' sunlight and transfer it to photovoltaic cells. It uses cheap and available resources, is easy to manufacture and can be used on top of existing solar cells to dramatically increase their efficiency.
In other words, this is a HUGE leap in solar technology that will be available within a few years. What makes it so remarkable is that the process is inexpensive and can be made readily available for broad uses.
On another front, a summary of the Great Trinity Forest Management Plan is available for your reading, review and responses at the Trinity River Corridor website. I encourage you to check out this long file. This is still in the review process before being presented to City Council. It's a pretty nifty website. You can also watch the progress as they continue to build on the new Calatrava ..... thing.
And now for the punch line. I caught this tonight from the DMN website about a new Dallas Housing Authority project going up in Far North Dallas. At first, I was just attracted to the headline, "Rich and poor to live side by side when housing project opens soon." Imagine my amazement when the writer (ahem...Ragland) kept writing the word 'zeroscaping' as a legitimate term. Aaaargh!!
Okay, I'm alright. Please, DMN, it's XERISCAPE. Just because people pronounce it ZERO-scape doesn't mean you should write it as such. 'Zeroscape' implies the lack of something....essentially, landscaping. Xeriscaping is a landscaping process for water efficient plant materials and procedures to maintain them. If you don't get it, don't write about it. This is precisely why I avoid using the term altogether and pursue the term 'Water-Wise Landscaping'. It doesn't sound like the desertification process of the southwest in your lawn. Besides, the term 'xeriscape' belongs to some people up in Denver. Let'em keep it.
By the way, xeriscape landscaping does NOT mean the absence of water.
Desert Vision by David Lanz
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worth noting: Xeriscape(tm) is a trademark!
Denver Water, the water department of Denver, Colorado [www.water.denver.co.gov] says:
"Denver Water holds the copyright to the name "Xeriscape" and the Xeriscape logo. Neither may be used as part of a business name or product. However, we welcome the use of the word in books, articles and speeches promoting water conserving landscape. For permission to use the term, "Xeriscape," please e-mail or call 303-628-6343. For more general information, please call the Denver Water Conservation Hotline, 303-628-6343."
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