ANTIGUA
COFFEE SHOP of Highland Park:
DOING
LITTLE THINGS TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
[Nyerges
is the manager of the Old L.A. Farmers Market, every Tuesday from 3 to 8 p.m.
at Ave. 58 and Figueroa. He is the author of “Self-Sufficient Home,” “Extreme
Simplicity,” and other books. He can be reached at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]
As I was walking from the Old L.A. Farmers Market to
get my usual cup of coffee-chocolate at Antigua’s, I noticed a new flower bed
in the back of the coffee house. Where
there was once trash and dead weeds, now there was now a beautiful wood-framed
garden bed with colorful flowers and even some vegetables. But there was something different about this
approximately 6 by 6 foot garden space. There was a wooden pole sticking out of
the middle, and a plastic bucket was strapped to the pole with some sort of
tubing leading to the roof.
I went inside to talk with the owners, Dennis and
Miguel Hernandez. The Hernandez brothers were both born in Guatemala City,
Guatemala, so they named their coffee house after their home town. (Antigua is
the name of the “old” Guatemala City.)
They both moved to Los Angeles in 1999 as teens, moving to the U.S. with
their father. They both worked at similar jobs, including food industry jobs
which got them interested in starting their own coffeehouse.
After lots of work, they started Antigua at 5703 N. Figueroa
in September of 2007.
I saw Dennis and asked him to explain the unique
garden out back.
“Oh, you need to talk to Miguel,” he told me with a
big smile. “It was Miguel’s and his daughter’s idea.”
So the next day, I met with brother Miguel, and we discussed the
ecological garden.
Miguel told me that he had wanted to do something with
a little bit of space in the rear of the coffeehouse, a somewhat ugly little
spot where trash would accumulate. So,
with encouragement and help from his teenage daughter Kathy, he built the little sturdy-framed garden out
back.
RECYCLING COFFEE GROUNDS
“You know we throw a lot of coffee grounds away,
right?” Miguel asked me. “Well, we filled that little raised bed garden with
lots of our coffee grounds. It’s a
really good way to recycle the grounds.”
Miguel pointed out that they still end up tossing some used coffee
grounds away, because they use so much.
They do give some away to gardeners and mushroom growers, and they plan
to continually find a home for their used grounds.
SAVING WATER FROM THE AIR CONDITIONING
“But what’s that plastic bucket up on the post?” I
asked Miguel. He broadly smiled and he
told me that he realized the air conditioning for Antigua constantly drips out
water. “I ran a tube from the AC to that
bucket, and the water from the bucket drips down and waters the garden. Why not put that water to use?,” he asked.
Miguel wasn’t sure if the AC condensation would be
sufficient to water the garden, but to his surprise, he found that the water
from Antigua’s AC system filled the five gallon jug at least three times a day,
and up to five times during hot weather.
“There is so much water coming off the AC,” explained Miguel, “that I
run the tube to fill those overflow bottles, and I actually take water home for
irrigation.”
SETTING AN EXAMPLE
The little garden also has a little solar lamp, and a bird bath for the
birds. It’s a great example of what
anyone – even in the urban environment – can do to help save and recycle
resources.
The Hernandez brothers also recycle as many of their
used cans as possible, in which they receive certain food items. And during
very hot weather, they put out a jug of water and cups on the front entrance
for passers-by to get a drink. “A lot of
people, even homeless, really need a drink and sometimes they are a bit too
embarrassed to just ask for water,” explains Miguel. They also put out a water
dish for dogs.
“We’re just trying to do the right thing to give back
to the community,” explains Miguel. “And if we do this, maybe others will do so
also, and we’ll all make a difference to our community.”
UPDATE
UPDATE
Water dripping from
air conditioners: Is it sanitary?
Answers to your questions about the
news.
July 15 2013 3:02 PM
Ever wonder about the water that drips down
from air conditioners as an unwelcome sidewalk surprise when you’re walking to
work? In 2011, Forrest Wickman looked into the reason why ACs are so leaky, and
if there’s anything unsanitary about the water that’s dripping down on you. The
original article is reprinted below.
Air conditioner water:
Is it good enough to drink?
Walk down any city sidewalk on a hot summer
day, and you're bound to get wet—and not just when it's raining. Water drips
from window AC units, especially on muggy days, and this unpleasant drizzle can
fall into your hair or even onto the lip of your morning coffee cup. Is all
that dripping water sanitary?
Yes, as a general rule. Most of the dripping
from air conditioners is just condensed water vapor that comes from the air
inside the building. Window air conditioners are designed to drain this water
from the back, raining it down on any unsuspecting pedestrians below. In most
ways this water is exactly like rain (which also forms from condensed water
vapor) or the moisture that collects on a cool can of soda, and it's typically
no more harmful. However, in rare cases small amounts of water can be left to
stagnate inside the air conditioner, making it a breeding ground for bacteria.
On a hot and humid day, a window unit can drip
up to 2 gallons of water, which accumulates on its evaporator coil as it cools
and dehumidifies the air. (Very little condensation gathers on the exterior
side of an AC, which tends to be warmer than the air around it.) This coil,
like many plumbing pipes used for drinking water, is made of copper (which is
also what makes air conditioners so heavy), and it's much cleaner than you might expect
from looking at a dusty AC filter. While copper can be unhealthy in high doses,
the condensate from air conditioners seems to be low in minerals and dissolved
solids.
In a properly functioning air conditioner, the
water drips down from the coil into a condensate pan and then exits the unit
through a drain or tube. However, a clog in this drain or tube can leave a
puddle to accumulate inside, which is an ideal environment for many types of
harmful bacteria. In particular, a 1976 outbreak of Legionnaires' disease was
caused by bacteria that spread out of the air conditioning system at
Philadelphia's Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. (That's how the disease got its name:
Many of the victims were attending an American Legion convention.) While Legionella
is known to thrive in the cooling towers of large air conditioning systems like
the one at that Philadelphia hotel, it does not seem to grow in smaller units.
Furthermore, dripping water isn't really stagnant, so it's extremely unlikely
that the water raining down on pedestrians would be infected.
The water that drips from air conditioners is
probably even safe for drinking. (It's certainly more potable than the drinking
water in many countries.) Still, for the reasons mentioned above, it's best not
to tilt your head back for a draft. If you're looking for a better use for your
air conditioner's condensate, the Explainer recommends using it to water your plants.
Explainer thanks Douglas T. Reindl of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and Mark Sobsey of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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