What is Effective Ink?

What is Effective Ink?

Effective Ink is a blog documenting my adventures in adding sustainable technology to my home and sometimes micro-farm located in southwestern Michigan USA. This partly wooded property is about 1.5 acres in size and is surrounded by farmland (mostly corn), tiny lakes and forests.

Since it is a rural location, some services (like natural gas) are not available. Although natural gas is not renewable and is not considered sustainable, it IS one of the most economical ways to heat your home in northern climates. Instead, many homes in the area rely on propane for fuel, which is neither sustainable or cheap. When I first moved here in 2022, I was determined to come up with a better solution for heating. And that's where my adventures began.

So how did I chose the name "Effective Ink"? Well, my adult daughter, Caytee, lives with me, and she also runs a small portrait photography studio called "Ink Photography." Her studio's distinctive offering is a "mindfulness" photo session that strives to draw out the true essence of the subject and capture it in photos. She calls the results of this special process "The Ink Effect."

Because Caytee has been an integral part of my sustainable technology journey, providing both support and physical work to see things to completion, the name "Effective Ink" is a nod to both her way of seeing the world and her method of creating amazing results through mindfulness and determination.

So welcome to Effective Ink. I hope the information and advice I manage to capture in this blog will be helpful to others who want to find ways to add more sustainable technology to their lives.