Green Marlborough

Marlborough sustainable action plan task force

2010-02-25T05:52:00.001-08:00

MSAPTF meet today. City working with buisness and residents to make Marlborough a prime example of a green community.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Glass Sponge

2010-01-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

New material that allows cheap cleanup of water:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/01/11/swelling-glass-absorbs-toxins/

Better living through chemistry

Indoor plants best of 2009

2009-12-29T06:47:00.000-08:00

With 2009 ending may websites are posting their best of 2009 lists. Lifehacker had an awesome one today detailing their top indoor plant projects for 2009:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/gardening/easy-lowmaintenance-plant-projectsbest-of-2009-104817

Greens week 3

2009-12-16T08:45:00.001-08:00

After three weeks I have harvested the right side of his tray for salads. The is still a decent amount of plants on the harvested side that will grow bigger now that they have space to grow. I should be able to harvest 3-4 small salads a week for the next 3 weeks. After that I will let the last remaining plants go to seeds.

Worm composter

2009-12-11T06:36:00.001-08:00

This is my worm composter. It has been up and running for 3 months now. It has been very easy to manage and upkeep. This one has 5 trays. I started using only the bottom tray. I ordered the worms online and they where overnighted to me. I mixed some kitchen craps with shredded newspaper (~40% scraps and 60% newspaper). I found that using my paper shreader to cut up the news paper which works better than ripping it up by hand. As I got more material I have filled up the top bigs. The top most big contains no compost material just "moist bedding". I feed compost into the composter about once a week, to the second to the top bin.(more if I end up cooking alot). Once a month I take the bottom bin and scoop out the dirt that is left behind from the worms. Since I feed the 2nd to top bin the food in the bottom bin at this point is 99% gone and the worms have worked their way up into the higher bins. I have to pick out a few worms from this tray and I store the dirt in a larger sealed plastic bin. This dirt is moist and very nutrient packed. I am using this dirt for my micro greens.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Indoor organic gardening

2009-12-05T08:13:00.001-08:00

Been a long time since I have updated this blog. I have decided to start blogging about several of my new indoor gardening projects. Below is the test bed for my micro greens grown on organic soil made from my worm composter. My overall project goal is to create a self sustaining system to create a comstant supplynof fresh organic produce

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Support Clean Energy

2009-07-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Show your support for Clean Energy:

http://pol.moveon.org/energystickers/

Its free....

Free showing of Food Inc.

2009-07-09T07:07:00.001-07:00

Chipotle mexican grill is sponsoring free showing of food.inc. This is a fantastic documentary about where your processed food comes from.

go see it!!!! think local, buy local, eat local

Japan gets green with more Hybrids

2009-07-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Japan passed the USA for # of hybrids bought.

With gas prices in the $2 range in the USA and $4.50/gallon in the japan has helped to drive sales.

Green Garden

2009-05-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

I was able to add more area to my garden by building some more terraces. Instead of buying timbers I was able to find someone who was disposing of an old cedar fence. I used the posts to make new terraces.

Teir one:

Teir two:

spoon hill clean up

2009-05-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

The weekend of May 2nd the citizens of the Spoon Hill neighborhood spent the morning cleanup up the area. After 2 hours we all cleanup up and joined the marlborough earth day fair.

thx to all the families that helped with the clean up.

life on the trail

2009-04-21T07:56:00.001-07:00

my sister is finishing the appalachion trail this summer. She started 2 weeks ago in virgina (where she left off last time she was on the trail). You can follow her adventure at:

atthclem.livejournal.com

Spring time is garden time

2009-04-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

It is almost time to plant again. There is a big movement to "Eat Local" in the green community and what is more local than your backyard.

I have expanded my garden to a second set of raised beds terraces. This year my wife and I plan on growing:

Sauce tomatoes:

Brandy wine
Cherry

Cucumbers
artichokes
Brussels sprouts
lettuce
carrots
onions
basil
dill
7 types of peppers (my wife loves salsa)

over the next few weeks I will have pictures and updates on the garden.

free light bulbs

2009-04-13T07:56:00.002-07:00

http://www.buxr.com/deal/free-cfl-light-bulb-home-depot-april-19th_20505

Free CFL at homedepot

Garbage Dreams

2009-03-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Last week i was attending sxsw and there was a fantastic movie:

Garbage Dreams

Zabbaleen, Cairo's garbage people, collect, sort, and recycle egypts garbage. They recycle 80% of what they collect turning it into raw materials to sell on the world market. Recent modern companies have contracted the garbage collection and only recycle 37%.

It was an amazing story and very well put together documentary. If a screening comes near you I highly recommending seeing the movie

students protest for green jobs

2009-03-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

Link to video

12,000 Students will descend on Washington in early March to demand action on climate change legislation, and the creation of green jobs. They plan to lobby more than 300 members of Congress and hold a rally outside the Capitol.12,000 Students will descend on Washington in early March to demand action on climate change legislalegislation, and the creation of green jobs. They plan to lobby more than 300 members of Congress and hold a rally outside the Capitol.

Using Aerogarden to start your seeds

2009-02-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

To keep fresh herbs in my house year round I use 2 aerogardens.

I have them growing on a rotating schedule so when one is ready for replanting the other is becoming ready to harvest. This time of year I switch them over to starter trays and give my garden a head start. Each tray has 62 plugs meaning I get 124 plants from the trays. I would suggest placing 2-4 seeds (the smaller the more you should use) per plug and then trim back to 1 plant/plug once that sprout.

woo hoo no cell tower on spoon hill drive

2009-02-26T08:50:00.001-08:00

After 3 months of opposition my neighborhood has won a victory and the city has denied Omnipoint communication's request to put a cell town on top of spoon hill

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1780547467/Marlborough-cell-tower-proposal-shot-down

Spring is coming

2009-02-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

Spring time coming and that means it is time to get ready for your garden. This year I will dedication to biweekly updates of my garden. Over these past few winter months I have been going a great deal of research on how to get the most out of my garden plots.

First topic...Vertical Gardening...

The concept here is to build up instead of sprawl your garden.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/vertical-garden.php

I will be running some experiments on how to grower vertically and posting the results here.

carbon footprint of the internet

2009-01-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

Harvard university has started looking into the carbon cost of the Internet and the IT industry.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece

Still in debate but Harvard claims one google search = 17grams of CO2

Track your energy usage online

2009-01-08T06:36:00.001-08:00

Today I would like to share a great website that allows you to understand your engergy usage.

http://www.wattzon.com/

"WattzOn is a free online tool to quantify, track, compare and understand the total amount of energy needed to support all of the facets of your lifestyle with the goal of helping you find ways to reduce your personal power consumption."

Simply make an account and then answer some questions about your lifestyle and wattz creates a profile for you.

It starts by looking at the catagories of:

Goverment (your states average usage to run and Mass is in the higher range of the states)
Flying habits
commuting
housing
food
Stuff you use

My quick profile says:

Post your badge in the comments and lets see how you do.

My badge stats:

I am a little over half the average usage of an american
I use as much power as the average american in 1965
my total power consumption is equal to running 457 CFL bulbs 24/7 for a year
A 20% efficent solar panel 197.9 Meters squared would be able to power me
If all my energy was converted to oil I burn 4 gallons a day (I live 4 miles from work and carpool so that helps)
your personal power consumption produces enough CO2 to fill 1,256 one-foot ballons per day.

This is a very cool site to see your impact and learn how to cut it down.

Bee state news on Organic farming no so Organic

2009-01-07T05:41:00.000-08:00

Interesting article from California this morning. Turns out most commercial Organic farms from this state have been unknowing using synthetic fertilizers

http://http://www.sacbee.com/288/story/1501772.html

" California Liquid Fertilizer sold what seemed to be an organic farmer's dream, brewed from fish and chicken feathers."

"But a state investigation caught the Salinas-area company spiking its product with ammonium sulfate, a synthetic "

Ammonium sulfate is a natural product and can be found in nature, but not it the amounts needed to maintian a fertilizer buisness. Under federal standards, the nitrogen in a fertilizer for organic farming must come from a natural source. But standard laboratory analyses used by organic regulators tell only how much nitrogen is in a fertilizer, not where it came from. Isotope testing was done to determine the source.

So when buying organic buy from a local source that you trust.

First tip of the year

2009-01-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Heating and cooling are some of the most energy intensive applications in a home and also the most costly in terms of electricity, gas, oil or even wood.Ceiling fans - summer and winterWhile you may be familiar with using a ceiling fan during summer, have you considered using it in winter also?

Heat rises and most of the heat you want is close to the ceiling during winter. A ceiling fan on a low speed can help push that heat down to where you are. Additionally, it can help reduce the instance of condensation on your windows. During winter the fan will need to run clockwise, which is the opposite of the direction you want it running in summer. The reason for this is that as cold air is denser, running the ceiling fan clockwise draws that cold air up, pushing the warm air close to the ceiling aside, which then travels down the walls to the lower level of the room. So when shopping for a ceiling fan, ensure it has a clockwise/anti-clockwise feature so you'll be able to use it all year round.Using as little as a hundred watts, an ultra-efficient ceiling fan can shave up to 10% off your heating costs.

happy new year

2009-01-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New year Marlborough

Lets all make 2009 a great green year

Coming to the Blog spot this year:

More tips to being green at home and in the office

Tips to help you be green and save you money [green and green :-) ]

Full detailed garden blog

Carrot mob..... The power of consumer spending

2008-12-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

Carrot mob is a consumer organization that looks to help support buisnesses that agree to social beneficial choices.

The idea is simple to organize spending of many consumers and leverage it against the changes a company makes. The first example is shown in the video below.

http://www.carrotmob.org/

it is very interesting and a great concept...

Fuel

2008-11-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

Change your Fuel change the world... check out the trailer

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/fuel/

amazon goes greener

2008-11-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Amazon launched a Green/easy to open packaging program. As the largest online retailer in the USA this is a big step to cut down on waste full and non recyclable packaging

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10081078-54.html

Get out and Vote

2008-11-04T05:28:00.000-08:00

It is the big day so get out a VOTE...

Not sure who to vote for? Information source here:

http://www.votesmart.org/search.php?search=01752

After today continue to vote everyday with your wallet. Support local and green business

pictures of my garden

2008-10-28T06:38:00.001-07:00

as promised here is a link to the pictures of my garden.

The first set is the construction of the retaining walls

next is the starter seeds and plants I grew inside

finally the whole garen outside

http://photos.wpigrad.com/stefan/main.php?g2_itemId=2049

My Garden this summer

2008-10-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

So this summer my wife and I planted a vegetable garden in our backyard. We mapped out yard to find the area that received the most sun. This part happened to be a hilly area of our property. This then required me to terrace this area so I am including those costs in numbers below.

This garden yielded fresh organic vegetables all summer and allowed us to can the extras for the winter. All season the plants absorbed CO2 and provided me food. The biggest environmental savings is in the fact that I only have to walk outside to get the vegetables rather than has a truck ship them to my market from a farm. This is about as local as you can get. If every family had just a small garden think of how much that could help clean the air and reduce our carbon foot print.

What we planted:

2 cayanne pepper plants

1 habernero peppler plant

1 cherry pepper plant

2 jalapeno pepper plants

3 publano pepper plants

3 Serrano pepper plants

6 cherry tomato plants

8 sauce tomato plants (mix of heirloom and other large tomatoes)

6 head of lettuce

12 leeks

2 parsley plants

the cost of the seeds and starter plants was ~$85 and another $30 for starting trays, fertilizer, (organic worm poop), and other misc. supplies.

During the growing season I supplemented the watering from the hose with a 55 gallon rain water collection barrel. due to the great rain season we had this summer there was only a hand full of times I had to water the garden with the hose.

So what did I get out of the work and ~$115 investment....

The fabulous weather this year gave me cherry and whole tomatoes starting early July. We did get them into the ground a few weeks later than we liked so the peppers did not start yielding till august. With only the addition of store bought onions we had fresh salsa all august and September.

what was canned:

6 pints of cherry tomato sauce (garlic and olive oil were bought)

8 quarts of regular tomato sauce (basil was grown indoors in my aerogarden)

8 pints salsa (onions added from store)

3 pints of various hotness chilli pastes

so not a bad year. Next year I plan to add more terracing and some netting around the bigger tomatoes because it seams that chipmunks love them.

I just recently got my data server for photos running again and will include a link to the garden pictures shortly.

Green idealists fail to make grade, says study

2008-09-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Great article from the guardian in the UK. About flying the the enviroment and peoples
green life style.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/24/ethicalliving.recycling

this is also followed up with a great BBC show whiched aired last night on BBC america

http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/331/index.jsp

4% of world greenhouse gases are due to aviation vs cars and light trucks (from countries with admission standards) account for around 1.7%.

been a long time.

2008-09-12T06:26:00.001-07:00

Have a crazy busy summer I have not posted any updates. Things have calmed down at work and I will be starting up regular postings.

This summer had a near perfect growing weather and my garden did wonderful this year.

Al Gore = No so Green

2008-06-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of famous celebrities talk about how we need to be more green but very few really put forth an effort. Private plans, huge houses, big lawns, eating flown in exotic foods .. are just a few examples of how they don't even try to practice what they preach. So who won a undeserved noble prize last year??? Al Gore... and who's house uses enough electricity to power 232 normal homes.. for a month.... or 20 houses for a full year. You can read the whole report here

Al Gore not so Green

moral of the story is practice what our preach..

Grow your own

2008-06-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I finally got my garden in. We planed Tomatoes, 5 types of hot peppers, leaks, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and watermelon. I terraced the yard in the sunniest are of my land. We placed the plants that need the least water at the top (ie the peppers) and the tomatoes at the bottom. To help lower my watering costs I bought a rain barrel through the city's reduce price rain barrel program. The barrels simply hook up to a gutter down spout and collect the rain water during a down pour.
A second program the city offers is the reduced cost composters. During the Earthday Fair I purchased a "Earth Machine" composter for $25 from the city. This was a much needed upgrade from my normal compost pile. The composter is simple to work. Just snap together and dump leaves, grass, food waste (no meat or dairy) through the top. In 4-6 months you can start shoveling rich dirt out of the bottom.

Planet Green starts today!!!!!!

2008-06-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

The discovery network is launching a new cable channel today. In 8 hours the first channel 100% dedicated to Green living, working, playing, building, business....

Planet green by the discovery network

Planet green is available on the Comcast network in Marlborough:

Great news! Comcast offers Planet Green on channel 233. Tune in today, or call Comcast at 800-266-2278 for more details

If you have another network then use the channel finder to see if your provider is bringing this great new channel to you.

First impressions:

After spending around a hour on the Planet green website I am extremely excited. I see a lot of focus on lifestyle changes. Being a huge foodie I love all the eat local, teach your kids to cook, and growing your own garden. Not only are these great ideas for the planet but more likely you will eat better, spend more time with your family, and save money. Overall there is a great mix of programs and ideas.

Look through the site and comment on what you are more excited about.

Find a local Farmers market

2008-06-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

The US gov. has a new online search to find local farmers markets. Search Here:

http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

You can go by state, zip, payment type...

Marlborough 2010

2008-05-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

At the M.E.E.T (Marlborough Energy Environmental Taskforce) meeting a large focus of the time was dedicated to talking about the 2010 vision. A long list was generated of where we would like to see Marlborough in 2010. Some example highlights where:

Green jobs,

Mass transit including regional and local rail and bus systems

Mixed spaces provided business and residential zoning

More incentive programs to build green, clean, and renewable

Bike lanes and walking paths linking

Affordable renewable energy sources for home and businesses

Do you have any ideas or comments of what you want Marlborough to look like? If you do post a comment.

In line with this vision Rohm and Haas electronic materials has gone solar. They installed a grid of panels from Evergreen solar, a local marlborough solar company.

Pack light this summer

2008-05-15T10:10:00.001-07:00

Spring is here which means that summer vacations are around the corner. With the growing cost of fuel everyone is looking to get better gas mileage. Packing light will help you save. The less weight your car or an airplane has to carry the more fuel efficient it will be. To get ready for your summer trips I would suggest the following fuel saving tips:

For Road Trips:

Keep your tires properly inflated

Keep your air and fuel filters clean

Clean out your car. Extra weight reduces your cars efficency

On the highway drive 65mph (every 5mph over is ~ 7% loss in fuel efficiency)

Remove your roof rakes if not in use to reduce drag on the car

When Flying:

Travel light

Help the airlines use less fuel by bringing less stuff on the trip. For packing advice I would recomend reading the one bag project. They highlight a lot of great tips for packing light.

Edible Estates

2008-05-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

Edible Estates is a project by Fritz Haeg with an enviromental and social purpose. The project proposed to replace a standard grass lawn with a productive and interactive edible landscape. 6 prototype yards have been built. Each is a different climate zone.

#1 - Salina, Kansas, 2005 / commissioned by the Salina Art Center
#2 - Lakewood California, 2006 / exhibited at Machine Project, produced for Fair Exchange at Millard Sheets
#3 - Maplewood , New Jersey, 2007 / sponsored by Garden Supply
#4 - London, England, 2007 / commissioned by Tate Modern and exhibited in the Turbine Hall for Global Cities
#5 - Austin, Texas, 2008 / commissioned by Arthouse for the exhibit Fritz Haeg: Attack on the Front Lawn
#6 - Baltimore, Maryland, 2008 / commissioned by Contemporary Museum Baltimore for Cottage Industry

Along with the environmental issues addressed by the project many social issues of community, family, and urban and suburban neighborhoods. So check out her site and learn more.

As for the plans for my yard... I am still working on them. I want to add some fruit trees, and Terrace one area for a full garden. I will update with plans, pictures, and comments in the weeks to come. Its spring and time to get outside.

Eco - Lawn--

2008-05-12T06:40:00.000-07:00

Good for the planet and good for your wallet. Last year I did not keep up with watering and fertilizing my yard and in turn I have several large spots of dead grass. Over the winter I did research to figure out what to do about this. I came up with two great green solutions Eco Lawn and Edible estates. This post will update on Eco-lawn and the next will be edible estates. Both of which I plan on incorporating into my yard

Eco - Lawn

Eco Lawn is a grass strain developed by Wildflower Farm founders Miriam Goldberger and Paul Jenkins. It is fast germinating, deep rooted, and slow growing. The deep roots allow the grass to thrive with being watered. The slow growing means you do not have to mow as much. This allows for easy care and cuts down on your green house gas emissions from your mower. The seed does cost more than regular grass seed 29.99/5lb bag vs 21.99/5lb bag(home depots price). But when you take into account the savings on fertilizer, gas or electric to run your mower, water, and your time, you quickly make up the money. I stopped by a dealer in Tolland, CT this weekend to by the seed. They where charging 44.95 for a 5lb bag so I have ordered it off the website and will update everyone with the instillation and growing progress in future posts.

Note: Shipping for 1 bag of eco lawn is $14.95 but 2 bags is $15.70 so ordering more is economical.

Prime time for the Planet

2008-05-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

The sundance channel has starting to bring us THE GREEN. This is a series of shows, blogs, interviews, movies, shorts... you name the media they have it.. All dedication to being green. I spent my lunch break today going through a large amount of their content and would recommend you check out the documentary section and I love the series "its not easy being green".

Link to some promos for this show on Youtube(I'll try and get some full videos to download) :

Its not easy being green

If you where a fan of the British show "Junk Yard Wars" you will recognize the father as the team caption of the team "Brother at Arms". He is a master with a welding torch and got plenty of experience there converting trash into useful machines.

Please check out all their content and let us know what you liked.

Reuse vs Recycle

2008-05-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

Recycling is great for the environment, keeping materials out of land fills and supplying manufacturers with a high grade of starting material. It costs most companies less energy to make a product out of recycled material then having to start with standard raw materials. This is good but if you reuse an item that keeps the material out of the landfill and costs zero energy. So think Reuse then Recycle. There are several online communities dedicated to this concept. They allow people to trade or give away stuff that they would normally throw away or just have cluttering up their house:

freecycle
Craigs List(post or search under the for Free category)

This concept can not only be applied at home but also in the office. At work we started a program of saving all the packing material that gets shipped to us. Packing peanuts, Bubble wrap, Air bags.... We then use these materials to pack and ship our own products. Shortly after this program was put into place we where able to stop ordering packing supplies. Not only did this program greatly reduce our trash it also saved us money. That's Green and Cash Green.

Simple Reusing Ideas:

With the great success of this program at work I applied it to my person life. My wife and I shop online a fair amount. Both for connivance and price. The down side to this is it generates a large amount of cardboard box and packing material waste. I started saving the boxes and packing material in my attic. Now when we need to ship something or box up a present we go upstairs to our own little shipping center. This takes almost no effort to do and saves you money.

Putting in a little more effort:

We put new counter tops in our kitchen last year. The old ones where warn out but still provided a nice flat surface. I kept the in the garage figuring I could come up with some project for them. Recently I started to convert one of the pieces into a new desk for my home office. I even got some left over paint off of "free Craigs list" to paint it.

Do you have a story or idea about reusing something? Leave a note in the comments and share your ideas!!

Earthday fair over but more to come

2008-05-06T06:22:00.001-07:00

The Earthday fair has come and gone with great success. Even with the wet weather there was a good turnout and an overall positive response from the community. My wife and I purchased a composting Earth Machine which I setup in our backyard on Sunday. I will follow up a full review post later this week.

What is next for the Green Marlborough group? Keep this paged bookmarked for local updates and articles. I will also be posting information of some green projects I am working on, local environmental news, and upcoming events. So keep reading and keep Marlborough Green

Earth Day Face Painting

2008-05-05T08:05:00.001-07:00

Mobile post sent by samdar using Utterz. Replies.

Packing up

2008-05-03T10:13:00.001-07:00

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Energy

2008-05-03T10:08:00.001-07:00

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Pets

2008-05-03T10:06:00.001-07:00

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Oil car

2008-05-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

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Staples

2008-05-03T09:25:00.001-07:00

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2008-05-03T09:00:00.001-07:00

Mobile post sent by samdar using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Mary

2008-05-03T08:44:00.001-07:00

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Banner

2008-05-01T16:11:00.001-07:00

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Earth Day Fair this weekend

2008-05-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Marlborough

Earth Day Fair

Free, Fun and Educational !

11am-3pm, Saturday, May 3
at Ghiloni Park
239 Concord Road, Marlborough

=See a Veggie Oil car and Evergreen's solar panel display
=Eat solar-oven-baked cookies
=Walk with Wayside
=Learn from Energy Experts!

=Exhibits on local green efforts by business, city departments, and organizations
=Energy experts
=Free food
=Activities: solar oven-baked cookies, wild animal puppets, walking with pedometers, face painting, toss-the-trash game
=Music, art/posters
=Education on energy, water, waste, food & transportation.

The Fair follows Clean Sweep, a city clean up which is 9am to noon at Memorial Beach parking lot on Hosmer Street.