Hens in the backyard

by bigbold
Urban Hen Enthusiast Brings Idea Home to Roost in Kamloops:
[Via All Today's News - Sightline Daily]

After several visits to Kamploops city hall and a campaign that has rallied urban hen enthusiasts with the slogan of “omelettes for everyone,” one BC woman and her supporters have persuaded the city of Kamloops to look at a pilot project that could allow residents to raise chickens in their backyards.

Would hens be sustainable in an urban environment? What other livestock could be raised? Looks like 4H could come back to the city.

Most municipalities that permit hens do not allow roosters for obvious reasons. And the birds, or rather their eggs, must be for personal use. No competing with the big farms.

As stated in this article, it is legal to keep up to 3 hens in Seattle proper. Raising your own chickens will probably not save any money but you will know exactly where the eggs came from and how they were produced.

Plus they destroy slugs.

I think this would be a great way to keep some of the heirloom breeds going, especially since some can be thought of as family pets. You can learn more at the City Chicken or Backyard Chickens.
in March 2009, Seattle Tilth is having a class on raising chickens or starting from chicks.

As a humorous aside, these roosters will never be fashionable in an urban setting. Not with squawks that last 15 SECONDS!

Technorati Tags: Economy, Environment

Change

by Marcin Wichary
A Brief Guide for Mac Switchers/Try-ers (No Laments, Please!):
[Via Web 2.0 Expo]

Wow, CNET’s Rafe Needleman sure raised a ruckus with his Mac switcher’s lament article. If you are thinking about moving from a Windows PC to a Mac and want to avoid the feeling of lament, read on, I have some advice that might help you make the change.

This is a really helpful article for those making the switch. It covers all sorts of useful viewpoints that can be applied to anything creating a large-scale change.

Don’t make the shift cold turkey if you can. Talk with people who are experts. Talk with others in the same situation. Use communities to help. Take classes and read books.

These approaches work with almost any change. They are not really Mac-specific in their underlying usefulness. The use of human social networks is critical for the rapid implementation of any novel process.

These approaches use social tools to help make a personal change. It can be as simple as getting a new camera or buying a new car. Implementing an innovation works best when the social aspects of change are used.

These are use of subject matter experts, local mavens and community leaders. Moving the information of change around a group rapidly is the best way to guarantee rapid uptake of new technologies.

Technorati Tags: Education, Social media

Changing humans

3 of your office mates have already read this post:
[Via seachangestrategies.com]

Wonderful must-listen Marketplace segment on how hotels persuade guests to re-use towels. Bottom line, I note that says most guests IN THE ROOM YOU’RE STAYING IN have re-used generates the highest level of cooperation.

This has obvious and intriguing implications for our line of work, doesn’t it?

Learning how to leverage social mores can be used for good as well as ill. For too long, corporate ads have used these approaches. Let’s think about how human social networks can be used to change the world for the better.

It is through human interactions that people change their behavior. Peer pressure is not the same as nagging. Nagging is not a successful approach. But there are other ways as discussed in the above link. And ‘being one of the group’ is such a successful strategy.

Technorati Tags: Social media, Sustainability