Avocado Pit

So as I was walking through the dining facility last week I went to the fruit section to grab a apple or pear and they had a basket of avocados sitting there. I stopped and and stared at them for a minute because who would just look at them and say "Hmm, I think I will bite into a nice avocado with my meal." I think they were out there because I doubt the people working there knew what they were, and just put them out on the fruit cart.
Obviously after staring at them for so long, I couldn't pass the opportunity up so I grabbed one. I ended up cutting it up on a burger later for dinner, and it wasn't half bad considering how far of a journey it made to get to me.
So I took the pit and some toothpicks back with me to where I live, and cleaned it up.
I cut the top off of an empty water bottle, which we have a never ending supply of, and voila!
Something to "grow" while I am here.

Generating Power

None of the electricity here is provided from the city power grid (yes, they have electricity, it isn't that desolate out there) instead it is all produced here on base. To provide what I imagine must be a massive amount of electricity the military uses large JP-8 (jet fuel) powered generators. The ones pictured are some of the smaller ones about the size of a large van and the largest are the size of a semi trailer.
I say it must be a massive amount of electricity because there are a large number of buildings on the base most of which are not very well insulated and all are air conditioned. Due to people of industrialized countries being acclimated to much colder temperatures than are necessary and the high temperatures outdoors here, most rooms are kept at 18C/64F which requires the unit to run constantly. Add on top of this the fact most individuals make no efforts to conserve electricity whatsoever and you can see why it takes several generators to power even one building. The two pictured are part of a grouping of 8 that provide for the tower alone!
The amount of greenhouse gases being released daily must be staggering.
Now consider for a moment that the solar intensity levels here are extremely high (no sunglasses at noon and I can't even open my eyes) and the number of sunny days is a little over 300 and what power possibility leaps out at you?
PV Solar Panels!
While admirably the little sidewalk lights are solar powered, it is a far cry from truly taking advantage of an available resource. The initial cost of setting up the solar panels would be a bit pricey, but given the seven years this base has been occupied they would have paid themselves off by now and then some. You would only have to burn about 1/4 of the fuel you are going through now which means one less thing you have to worry about the logistics of shipping.
An environmentally and financially sound ways of generating electricity overlooked in the interest of conventional means.

Operation New Dawn

As some of you know I have been in Iraq for about one month now, and by far the most striking things I have seen are the environmental travesties being committed daily. Almost everyone one looks the least environmentally sound choices are being made. By themselves they seem like small things, but as part of the big picture they compound into some serious problems. Now I am not so naive that I don't realize there are instances, given the nature of military operations, when an environmentally conscious solution cannot be implemented.
With that being said we have been here seven years and in that time more lasting solutions could have been implemented.
Sadly, they have not.
So I will give all of you back home a look at how a few things are done, and possibly how they could be done differently to minimize the impact we have on the local environment.
Operation Iraqi Freedom has now officially become Operation New Dawn.
If it is truly to be a new dawn for this country and its people, then they must also learn how to care for the environment they inhabit. If mistreated, as it is now, then it will surely grant no peace and security to those who have disrupted it.
First the Iraqi people must be taught how to do this, and as we all know the best way to lead is by example.