Recently, state laws that ban the sale of raw milk have come into scrutiny, due to recent challenges by Amish farmers. According the "The Raw Milk Facts" web site, milk from cows fed organic grass carries little risk of infection. Here is the story:

Arlie Stutzman was busted in a rare sting when an undercover agent bought raw milk from the Amish dairy farmer in an unlabeled container. Now, Stutzman is fighting the law that forbids the sale of raw milk, saying he believes it violates his religious beliefs because it prohibits him from sharing the milk he produces with others.

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Chances are good that if something sparkles, I'll probably like it. I go in especially big for sustainable glitz, so Verde's designer Gwendolyn Davis had me in just two clicks through her snazzy site. I was immediately captivated by a bamboo bracelet highly polished and set with Swarovski crystals, but it wasn't long before I found my way to the Antianara necklace. The pendant is a sculptured bamboo tile polished to a high sheen gloss, and set with a 1940's Vintage Swarovski Crystal. Verde has plenty to offer for non-sparkleholics as well. Lovely mother-of-pearl sculptured pendants and colorful "desert pearl" earrings can be found alongside hip lace-up bamboo cuffs and stylish leopard pattern bamboo bracelets. Do some window-shopping at the Verde site and you'll also learn a bit more about the ins and outs of sustainable living and fashion. P.S. Good news for TreeHuggers! Gwendolyn is generously offering a 15% discount for TH readers that use the coupon code of “treehugger07” when making a purchase from Verde....

The Mediterranean Sea is especially sensitive: there are large populations of people surrounding its shores and the influx of water with the other oceans is limited by the narrow straits of Gibraltar. Not only pollution, but also other man-caused activities threaten the Mediterranean, says EcoOcean, a non-profit research vessel, whose mission it is to research and educate on the marine environment of the Mediterranean Sea. Normally, marine research vessels are either funded by the government or belonging to institutions which mandate the research done on board, explained Andreas Weil, whose father a Swedish philanthropist, has donated enough money to build and fund research on the ship. Most of the time, researchers from Israel's seven universities submit a request and use the ship equipped with a dry and wet lab; projects are accepted as long as the research has an environmental bent. Basic research off Israel's coast is missing or severely lacking, explains Weil who got jazzed about environmental science after studying at the Arava Institute....

TED, short for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is an event like no others. The concept is simple: Bring together 1,000 thought-leaders from a variety of fields (design, science, entertainment, technology, arts, business, etc) for a 4 day conference where they can exchange their ideas. In the past, presentations given at TED were not made public, but that has recently changed and one of those now available is Al Gore's second presentation from TED2006 (the first was his slide presentation on global warming). It was taped in February, before the release of An Inconvenient Truth; the first half of it is basically Gore doing stand up comedy (!), but the second half is more serious and touches global warming and the problems he faced with how to effectively communicate the urgency of the situation. You can watch it here. For more about TED, check out the website. You can see more videos in the TED Talks section....

As part of London Architecture Biennale, this Urban Oasis is “a demonstration of sustainability and renewable energy working with aesthetic architecture to provide a tranquil oasis for London.” To the untutored eye, it is a strange structure in a nice square near the office. Designed by architect Laurie Chetwood, with a design team including Arup, it is the first fuel cell system in a public area in London integrated with photovoltaics and wind. It is “interactive and naturally powered and responsive to the external environment. The 12 metre high kinetic structure mimics the design of a growing flower: its photovoltaic `petals' open and close in response to the sun and moon utilising daylight to generate power. This is supplemented by a hydrogen fuel cell and a wind turbine to make it self-sufficient. It even uses rainwater it has collected for irrigation and cooling”. A thermal chimney, which is the trunk of the “tree”, helps power a turbine and creates a cooling effect around its base during the day for people who are sitting near it. This chimney is aided by a wind-powered turbine. ...

In an effort to help persuade federal regulators to raise fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, Environmental Defense released a report entitled ' Global Warming on the Road’. Their findings suggest that cars driven in the U.S. are responsible for roughly half of the global greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. This is true, despite the fact that the nation’s vehicles account for 30% of the roughly 700 million cars operating worldwide. Environmental Defense attributes this to more miles driven, lower fuel economy standards, and the use of more carbon intensive fuels. According to the report, “U.S. cars and light trucks were driven 2.6 trillion miles in 2004, equal to driving back and forth to Pluto more than 470 times”. Surprisingly, small cars were found to emit more carbon dioxide than SUVs. The lead author of the report suggests that this is due to the fact that there is a greater number of older small vehicles with higher emissions still on the road. See also ::Biobutonal: A Superior, Renewable Substitute for Gasoline and ::Who Killed the Electric Car?, ::THTV: Who Killed the Electric Car?...

When I can't get to sleep at night, I fire up a PDF of "LEED-NC Version 2.2. The rating system lists the intent, requirements, submittals, and technologies/strategies for each credit and includes the LEED-NC (U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Checklist. " Lets face it, LEED is boring. It is a prescriptive checklist of items that you put in your building and get points for. The more points, the better the rating. It is mind-numbing. It is design by spreadsheet, the victory of Excel over the pencil. Buildings that we would not have looked at twice get splashed everywhere, it is distorting our view of what is important about architecture and design. That is why Inhabitat's new series on Green Building 101 is so remarkable and important....

The "Archetype for the Living City" competition winner was announced this week: the Toronto design team comprised of architects Anne Stevens (Fort Architect Inc), Clelia lori (lori Architects) and Christina Carydis, Interior Designer Terrell Wong (Stone’s Throw Design), Mechanical Engineer Al Davies (Ecologix), Industrial Design Student Sunmee Kim, and Real Estate advisors McKellar Associates Inc. The point of the competition was to create a prototype of a green house that developers could build, and the program alienated many designers who consider 50 foot suburban lots to be as evil as the houses on them. The winning designers themselves say that the house " does not alienate either the consumer or the builder" i.e. predictable, don't rock the development industry boat if you want to get this built. In our first view of the entries, this one got points for building a nice model but otherwise didn't even show up on our radar. We would have preferred a more flexible program and a more exciting solution but hey, we don't have to build it. ::Design Exchange for an incomprehensible website- try and connect the winners to the teams....

The food's been flying in the blogosphere lately as Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and food writer Michael Pollan engage in a respectful, passionate and very thorough blog-based debate about Pollan's portrayal of the Austin-based grocery chain in his recent book The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's been a fascinating exchange to follow, but today Mackey raised the stakes even further in a very detailed response to Pollan's last post that finished with the announcement of five major initiatives Whole Foods has implemented, or will shortly implement, regarding animal compassion, its support of small, local farmers, and its education of its customers. According to Mackey......

Summer is here and as you go out the door, after “do you have your keys”, the most common reminder is: “don’t forget the sunscreen and your hat”. We all know that sunbathing is bad and that we should wear hats and cover ourselves with sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. But rates of skin cancer are not declining. Many people stay out in the sun too long, don’t apply the lotion as often as they should, and don’t cover up. But what about the sunscreen? There is some concern that the chemicals in the suntan lotion itself may be harmful. Ethical Consumer has analysed and identified some ingredients such as parabens, PABA, and synthetic perfumes that are skin irritants and potentially dangerous. It has rated the brands on the market that it considers to be the best, based on a number of criteria including environment, politics and employees' working conditions. Their conclusion--the organics win out-- Dr. Hauschka--a well-respected German brand, Urtekram Sun Lotion ( a Danish company) and Weleda Edelweis are the best buys, followed by Green People and Lavera. At the bottom of the list: Nivea, Piz Bruin, Body Shop and Ambre Solaire. ::Ethical Consumer...

Tiffany Threadgould is no stranger to the TreeHugger pages. We let you know all about her re-use ingenuity in the form of room dividers and egg crate tables. You saw her entry in our Eco-packaging design contest, we hope. Now that the Umbrella Inside Out competitions are under way, we feel compelled to recognize Tiffany’s contributions to the area of umbrella refashioning. If you didn’t catch sight of her here, maybe you glimpsed Tiffany’s Umbrella Skirt in one of the first issues of ReadyMade a few years back (issue 6)? Perhaps she taught you how to make a tote out of them on HGTV? No? It’s never too late, people. Learn how here and here. Continue Reading...

Unless you’re living in the Arctic (and even then) you’ve probably noticed that summer is here. But your melting popsicle and soaking brow aren't the only indicators: with each rising notch of the air conditioner dial, you might also notice the electric bill soar, or Greenland’s ice sheet—part of the earth’s natural “air conditioner”— sink. Feeling too sluggish to even pull myself over to the A/C from my sweat-soaked keyboard in this sweltering Beijing apartment, and sorely lacking that classical Asian air conditioner, I called out to my fellow Treehuggers for their advice: how, I asked, can I stay cool without switching on the A/C, that expensive energy eater whose drips are the summer scourge of every city dweller, whose chills can make us sick, and whose numbing hum can be heard around the world, from the U.S. to Brussels, from Qatar to China to even (yes) the Arctic? It turns out that there are plenty of cheap, easy, and fun ways to beat the summer heat without beating the environment or your wallet. Green isn’t just cool: cool is green. Here are some ideas from Treehugger......

According to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), TreeHugger has been right to promote the use of compact fluorescent (here, here and here as well) and other energy-efficient lighting: a global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world's electricity bill by nearly one-tenth. The carbon dioxide emissions saved by such a switch would, it concludes, dwarf cuts so far achieved by adopting wind and solar power. Wow. According to Paul Waide, a senior policy analyst with the IEA and one of the report's authors, "19% of global electricity generation is taken for lighting -- that's more than is produced by hydro or nuclear stations, and about the same that's produced from natural gas." For the individual TreeHugger, the report concludes that the easiest, most obvious switch to make is from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent systems, and to watch out for the LED revolution, just around the lighting corner. ::BBC News via ::Gristmill Image couresty David Hobby at Strobist.com...

Engadget has a duo of articles heralding new responsible electronics recycling programs that are worth a look. Apple started it, and now Dell is following up their big world tour by raising the bar for the industry. Dell owners can now arrange for free-pickup of any Dell-branded product, anytime -- no purchase required. Just enter the asset tag into their website, print their pre-paid air bill, follow the instructions to pack it up, schedule the collection of your junk, and watch it ride off into the sunset. The lack of guesswork, and effort at all, will be enough to help everyone with a working internet connection recycle their old Dell, we hope. Second, California continues to bust out legislation to keep junk from going where it doesn't belong. This time, it's mandatory cellphone recycling, and it's also easy on the consumer end. Recycling will be free; you can visit the "Keep California Beautiful" website to get a postage paid box that'll send your old phone to a responsible resting place from the comfort of your own home. Dell: [CNET] via ::Engadet and "Keep California Beautiful": ::PR Newswire via ::Engadget...

We've written about Clif Bar on TreeHugger, not just about their products but also about different environmental initiatives the company has taken. We were thrilled when Sheryl O'Loughlin, the CEO of Clif Bar, took the time to answer all of the questions that we had for her about sustainability, organic ingredients and even touched upon the issue of the larger companies, such as Wal-Mart, going organic. We got some insight on Clif Bar as a company, about what Sheryl personally does each day for the planet and even some advice on what we can do individually. Below are the results of our interview. 1) Sheryl, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. The TreeHugger community is interested in knowing about Clif Bar as a business and what your perspective is on the green marketplace....

Honda doesn't seem to need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. They have just announced the construction of a $550 million automobile plant in Decatur County, Indiana, to build "fuel-efficient vehicles, [because they] believe U.S. consumers are turning away from powerful gas guzzlers." It's most likely that Honda Fit and Honda Civic (hybrid too, maybe?) models will be built there. The new plant should meet the ISO 14001 international environmental management standards, like all other Honda plants in North-America (except the new transmission plant in Georgia, but it's working toward certification). But even more interesting, they want to make it a "zero waste to landfill" factory. They say: "Our goal is that this plant in Indiana will have the smallest environmental footprint of any Honda auto plant in North America." ::Honda News, ::Honda to build in Indiana with fuel economy in mind...

Across the United States, giant truckloads of red, yellow, and green lenses are tossed into land-fills as cities upgrade to more efficient lighting technology. The folks at Greenlight Concepts are reclaiming these glass artifacts to create "Stoplights" — a new line of lighting fixtures. As you might expect, the lamps come in Red, Yellow, Green versions but they also have clear ones too. They're priced from $240 to $299 — ouch! :: Greenlight Concepts via Great Green Goods...

Southwest Windpower has released its much-anticipated Skystream 3.7 small wind turbine system, which has been designed as a grid-tie turbine with all necessary power electronics integrated into the system. With no batteries, Skystream 3.7 connects directly to the home to supply power. When the wind is not blowing, the home is powered by the electric utility. Depending on the local utility, excess electricity can be sold back to the utility or used at a later date," according to a company press release. "With a typical cost of $8,000 to $10,000 to purchase and install, Skystream 3.7 can pay for itself in 5 to 12 years. This payback period will vary and can be much quicker in states with investment rebates. It's anticipated that Skystream 3.7 will save the average homeowner $500 to $800 per year, based on 4,800 to 6,600 kWh produced per year and a $.12/kWh cost of electricity. :: Via: Clean Break and Red Herring...

Ethical, ecologically sound holidays and eco-friendly holiday accommodation. Quite a tall order and not one easily filled. But this site will at least help you move in this direction. The world-wide accommodation section lists abodes like organic Bed and Breakfast establishments, and even organic farm-stays. If you are going to fly to your destination you are encouraged to visit the Climate Care site to consider a carbon offset for your journey. (This one is run by the same crowd that the progressive Terroir Restaurant uses for their emission offsets). If off on a international jaunt, or even home grown for that matter, you could do worse that have a peek at the listings on offer here. ::Ethical Escape....

Gotta admit that after helping a friend run a festival of biking, which included hoody and deep crotched baggy jean attired BMX riders, who seem to take delight in littering, I wasn’t expecting an eco-conversion from this sector of society. Seems I was hasty in my judgement. Damn, don’t you just hate being pulled up on a generalisation. The Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC) have set out to address such impressions. I quote: “ASEC utilizes its collective assets to broaden the horizons of conscious consumption--paving the way for skateboarders, surfers, snowboarders, BMX bikers, and those passionately involved in the sports to achieve lasting sustainable benefits for individuals and community institutions. Like these sports, ecological sustainability is not just a trend--it is your chance to get involved and take action in a movement, and to leave behind those companies that only take from you, unconcerned about your needs, your body, your mind, and the fact that you do have a choice. This is your chance to lead, follow or be left behind.” Suffice to say the flash heavy website is choc full of stuff, vids, interviews, student articles, eco-tips, oh, and of course rad sk8boarding footage. We wish ASEC every success in bringing the green message to their industry. May others be as bold. ::Action Sports Environmental Coalition, via tipster, Lars. ...

Yes, it is a tent that comes with it's own solar panel and integrated, interior LED lights. You can also use the solar panels independently to charge batteries. It's approximately 4-6 hours of direct light to yield 2-4 hours tent light. The 7" (18 cm) solar panel is placed on the top of the tent's hub and clicked into place. The fly is then placed on top of solar panel & tent, and sun will charge the panel through the clear PVC window at the top of the fly. Unfortunately, like most tents, this one is made of petroleum-based materials (PVC and nylon). Surely there's a substitute that could be used out there! The tent comes in as 4-person and a 6-person version, and the prices are $180 (CAD) and $220 (CAD) respectively. :: Canadian Tire via Groovy Green ...

We have already introduced you to organic product line Alba, but the real stand out is the Sugar Cane Body Polish. Yes, this recyclable tub of scrub sloughs away dull surface cells—but the kicker is its moisturizing elements, in the form of nutrient-rich honey and tropical nut oils. Most of the scrubs out there leave your skin dry and raw. But this one zaps away the driest of winters and leaves your skin silky-smooth. How? “Sugar cane grains gently exfoliate,” says the manufacturer, “while oils from kukui nut, macadamia, almond, and sunflower penetrate skin with deep healing emollients, vitamins and essential fatty acids.” Another bonus—it smells so good you might want to eat it. This treehugger has never found anything nearly as nice (but the results compare to a certain absurdly expensive, non organic gift that we are not promoting). ::Alba Image right, courtesy of iStockphoto....

Yesterday we introduced the Pilot Environmental Performance overview world map for 2006. Today we discuss two of the 16 national indices, used for the map, that deserve more exploration. The Boy Scout motto (as shown in the road sign) is of far greater utility for the earth's future than being conservative versus liberal, or living in denial versus being pessimistic about what can be done. Let's compare Europe to the Americas, then, to see what sort of preparations can be made, strategically, based on these performance index data. Look below for the first comparison, using CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)....

Eco-Chick: Sustainable Art Blooms in London by Starre Vartan ‘I love it when art and sustainability meet and create something wholly unexpected, something that’s fun, and gets us to think a little differently than we did before. The London Oasis is a flower-shaped sculpture, which, like a real flower, absorbs the sun’s energy (with photovoltaic cells); it’s also powered by a wind turbine and a hydrogen fuel cell.’ Green Fertility: Cottonfield Organic Underwear by Marie Myung-Ok Lee 'The urgency behind wearing organic undies has even hit Ladies Home Journal. I just read one of their innumerable tips in the current issue the urged readers to wear organic undies to (in their inimitable LHJ way) protect "sensitive areas."'...

We’ve talked about bike rental programs in France, Germany, Denmark, and Britain, but don’t recall discussing one for Canada. University of Calgary’s U-bike fills that hole. Started last year, when 10 discarded bicycles were salvaged and brought back into useful service. The garishly painted yellow and red striped two wheelers are available on campus for students to traverse the University at no cost of ownership, or hire, for that matter. There can often be problems of ‘diminished responsibility’ with free programs of this nature, with users taking the facility for granted and abusing it. But it would seem this is not the case here, as the fleet has now grown to 30 bikes in the past 12 months. However, the primary objective is to promote health and the environment. The bikes are a reminder to live a healthy lifestyle and to give people a fun and fast way of travelling around campus, says Eco Club president, Stephanie Ferguson. A modest, yet seemingly effective Product Service System, that is part of the Uni’s broader Sustainability Initiative, that includes, amongst other projects the Evolve program, which sets out to reduce campus energy costs by $30 million CAD over a seven-year period. ::U-bike. ...

Imagine England being run by Churchill today and Roosevelt sitting in the White House as they discuss our climate crisis. At some point Franklin says to Winston: “This is the Third World War. We had better mobilize our countries and allies into action!” The amazing thing about climate crisis is that our leaders don’t get it. This is the Third World War and if we realized it, and acted accordingly, we could still win it. If we sit and wait for Hitler’s armies to overrun most of the civilized world then nothing we will do will stop it. The truth about climate change is that our atmosphere, and the delicate system that controls our climate, could reach a tipping point, a point of no return, when it will spin out of control in a downward spiral. The social implications are horrendous. Today, Stephen Hawking, the most published physicist of all time, is calling for us to start working on colonizing other planets as a hedge. He gets it. Here’s what Winston and Franklin would do. ...

Pad is an interesting and elegant prefab idea with precast foundations, a service core and rooms that can be plugged in and added as needed. Two rules about modern prefab: 1) many designs are vapourware and the more wheels reinvented the less likely it is to happen; Pad does some serious reinventing but they have managed to get one built. 2) The real thing rarely lives up to the promise of the renderings. ::Pad and the real thing courtesy of ::evilcoffee's flickr review of the Grand Designs show in London. ...

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the EPA is required to regulate vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. The case in question, Massachusetts v. EPA centers on the issue of whether carbon dioxide and other gases, present a risk to public health. In July 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Massachusetts (who is joined by 11 other states, three cities, and a several environmental organizations) in a decision that stated: the EPA is only required to regulate emissions which can reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. Subsequently, the Court of Appeals upheld the EPA's decision not to regulate carbon dioxide based on the opinion that scientific evidence linking the gas to global warming was uncertain. The case will be added to the Supreme Court’s fall schedule. Given the Court’s recent decision on wetlands, it is unlikely that the majority will rule in favor of regulation. See also ::Samuel Alito & The Environment and ::Off-Grid Man Jailed For Confronting Utility Company. Update: ::Update: Massachusetts v. EPA...

Candles are sexy, spiritual, and look great at dinner parties. They are also an environmental nightmare. Many are made from paraffin wax, which is a by-product of petroleum. There have also been health concerns about inhalation of their smoke. The fragrant oils that make the candles smell so good are usually synthetic, from man-made combinations of chemicals. In response, a number of small companies have started to make some gorgeous looking candles from 100% natural wax which comes from sustainable sources and is not animal based. These candles are clean burning and there are no toxic smoke fumes. They use organic fragrances for the smell with scents such as Brazilian orange blossom, lavender, jasmine and Moroccan blush rose. One company has created a vegetable and palm oil natural wax blend which is environmentally friendly. Another has used soy wax. Some come in coloured recycled glass containers for the bedroom or bath. For the dining room or patio there are some good looking candle holders too. These sweet little elephant-shaped terracotta pots are made by women in rural Bangladesh. “My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends It gives a lovely light!" --Edna St.Vincent Millay ...

Posting Hugg highlights three times a week isn’t nearly enough to keep up with all the fresh, steaming loaves of green goodness that pop out of this mean, green, memedigger oven—but we’ll keep trying. Enjoy! The perfect companion to keep you company in your SurvivaBall: Genetically engineered pets coming to a toy store near you… Portland soon to become the 1st U.S. city to mandate 5% biodiesel… Young British designers win an award for their Cyclepod, compact, secure, and dry public bike storage… Southwest Windpower expects to start shipping their Skystream plug-and-play home turbine in August… Smart Cars, could they really be coming to U.S…for real…finally? Check out Hugg.com for a daily dose of reader-generated green news....

There are some ideas out there that just make sense. Once their time has come (and sometimes before), we take a look at some of the best ideas that have taken until now to come about. Here are our picks for ideas that should have been around long ago, and the projects that took too long to bear fruit. 1) Solar air conditioners; such a good idea that we posted about it again. 2) Restaurants that fry things and use their waste oil for fuel, like this British chippie, Burgerville and even McDonalds. 3) Wind power becoming more affordable than dirty power from the grid. The wind will be blowing long after all the oil and coal is gone... 4) Being a TreeHugger can not only save you money, it can make you some, as GE recently found out. 5) The EPA's headquarters are green. It took more than 30 years, but better late than never....

It seems global warming has been a hot topic lately with the release of An Inconvenient Truth. Now, ABC News wants to know if you’re experiencing global warming first-hand. “Have you noticed changes in your own backyard or hometown? The differences can be large or small - altered blooming schedules, changes in plants or animals in your community, erosion or droughts.” If so, then they want to hear from you to see how you’ve been affected. You can submit a story, send a video or tell your story via webcam. Responses will be reviewed to possibly be included in a 2-hour special about potential global threats to humanity. Click here to submit your story. ::ABC News...

How the mighty have fallen... Shame on the usually green German government who apparently caved in to big business lobby pressure and released a plan to cut carbon emissions from industry by a whopping 0.63% by 2012. "These figures are unbelievable, pathetically unambitious," said Regina Gunther from WWF Germany. "It is shameful that our environment minister has agreed to this." Professor Michael Grubb of the UK Carbon Trust: "I have been a big supporter of the EU ETS, but hearing the German news I feel more depressed than I ever have done about our ability to tackle climate change." How bad is it really? "Last year German industries were so successful in lobbying that their government handed them 21 million more tonnes of carbon permits than they actually needed," says a BBC article. "This pushed down the value of carbon in the EU ETS carbon market and made emissions savings less attractive to businesses across the EU." German TreeHugger readers, please let your representatives know what you think. To be fair, Germany is still 17.5% below 1990 levels in greenhouse gas emissions and a leader in wind and solar technologies, but it's no reason to drop the ball now. ::Germany sets 'lax' carbon quotas. Related: ::The 4 Stages of Global Warming Denial...

Looking for something that sifts through the massive amounts of green products out there—and gives you the best of the best? Green Design, recently released by Mark Batty Publisher, is a full-color journey through a carefully chosen selection of green toys, objects, fabrics, paper, and alternative energy sources. And, it sports a chapter about LEGO by TreeHugger writer Dominic Muren. Over 50 designers are included, from American Apparel to Sonic Fabric to Jimi Wallets to Stupid Sock Creatures. Printed on recycled paper of course, the book is priced at $34.95. (Yep, not cheap. But worth it—your treehugging friends will be green with envy when they spot it on your coffee table.) Click here to purchase at 37 percent off. ::Mark Batty Publisher...

Adobe Systems, developers of the fabulous and ubiquitous Photoshop, Acrobat and other solutions for the design and publishing enthusiast, have broken new ground again, this time in green building. The software developer recently announced that one of their San Jose buildings has reached the highest level of environmental efficiency and friendliness. Their West Tower recently achieved the U.S. Green Building Council's highest award: LEED-EB Platinum for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in an existing building. It's the first building in the country to receive the platinum certification since the Green Building Council's existing-building program went public in 2004. The building features a bevy of cost-saving, energy-saving systems, including a computer system that checks the weather forecast before turning on the sprinklers. The $3,600 smart irrigation system will pay for itself in less than five months, by saving $10,000 each year. By retrofitting parking garages in the East and West towers with fluorescent lighting, Adobe will save $100,436 a year on an investment that cost only $157,775. We hope others in Silicon Valley see that being green and saving cash goes together like Photo and Shop. ::Mercury News via ::Hugg...

Kirei has been on the green design scene for awhile now (we first mentioned it here) but we have yet to see it implemented in such an elegant piece of furniture. Iannone : Sanderson's Signature 2.0 Console is a showstopper; we really like the way the decorative graphic kirei inlay offsets the modern, minimal design. Looks perfect for anyone with a lonely wall that could use some storage as well. For anyone who needs a refresher on kirei, it's produced through a process of washing, weaving, and then compressing bamboo-like stalks of sorghum, which is often a byproduct of alcohol and molasses production. Definitely resource-efficient, definitely sexy; the only thing we aren't crazy about is the price (US$1,699), which might just be worth it for such a responsible, eye-catching design. ::Iannone : Sanderson available at ::2modern.com via ::2modern Design Talk...

Thanks to Solar Cookers International (SCI), a California-based firm we introduced to you in a previous post, solar cooking is spreading like wildfire in Kenya. According to an article on Yahoo! News, more than 10,000 Kenyans have now been trained to whip up meals with SCI's low-cost solar cooker, which uses parabolic mirrors. Kenya is part of "Sunny Solutions," a program initiated by SCI to introduce the cooker to East and Central Africa, and replace or at least reduce traditional wood-fired cooking with efficient energy from the sun. ...

Newfoundlanders in Israel this week have found they have a lot in common with Israelis. Besides crossing the street without looking at lights, and being extremely informal and personal when it comes to business, both countries are sure that there is a good fit for codeveloping marine technologies. In 2003, the Canadian Government drafted an action plan - Canada's Ocean Strategy - and this week, some 15 Newfoundlanders left the comfort of St. John's and ventured across the Great Big Sea to meet some Israeli companies with marine technology. Although not immediately obvious, some of the imminent bilateral business arrangements, brokered by CIIRDF and Canada's National Research Council, have positive environmental kickbacks. This TreeHugger met with the Newfoundlanders; their warmth and enthusiasm for life was so contagious that she is considering moving back home to Canada's most easterly province....

The Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index was formally released in Davos, Switzerland, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum this past January. The EPI is a new effort to gauge countries against a set of 16 specific indicators tracked in six policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Quality, Water Resources, Productive Natural Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, and Sustainable Energy. The world map shown here combines the indicators to portray overall environmental health by nation. You might think of the colors as proxy values for sustainability. Coincidentally (or not?) yellow, red, & orange nations appear to be places from which large numbers of people migrate to new homes in the blue and green. Data lovers, hang on. More posts on the index and underlying environmental trends are coming....

Last year we sort of made fun of Mike's (pre-treehugger) idea for an artificial partial solar eclipse- a giant reflective orbiting space blanket to reduce amount of sun reaching the earth by a few percent to counteract global warming. Perhaps he should have patented it- The New York Times recently listed a plethora of zany suggestions- pumping reflective sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere; floating giant white foam frisbees to reflect sunlight; even orbiting Mike's giant reflector. It is all about geoengineering, or "rearranging the earth's environment on a large scale to suit human needs". It seems to us that we have done a bit too much geoengineering already. ::New York Times see ::worldchanging on the same subject and ::Mike's post here...

Now for Americans accustomed to streetside diners this might not be such a big deal. But in Melbourne, Australia, the novelty seems to be proving a business success. Take two old shipping containers. Chop one up to make a bar, selling 11 types of beer, as well as wine, cocktails, and of course the obligatory coffee. Serve ‘slow food’ sandwiches too. Convert the other container into rest rooms and a storeroom, and you nearly have yourself a ready-made bar. Not quite. Patrons need somewhere to sit. So artfully strew some packing crates and shipping pallets about the place, and Presto! What was once a carpark by day and drug den by night is suddenly a hip, cool inner city bar. And all your buildings and furniture are salvaged industrial discards. Pick a name like ‘Section 8’ as a reference to the character of Klinger from M*A*S*H, (who was always trying to get discharged from active duty as being insane,) and you have the whole wacky picture. And when the site lease is up? No worries. Load it on the back of truck and move to the next location. Maybe not so crazy, after all. ::Section 8, via MCity and Inside Business....

Some years ago there was a call for India’s Delhi to make all billboard signage (see pic above) solar powered. Now moves are afoot for there to be a mandatory requirement for installation of solar panels on any office or major commercial space that has an area of 250 sq/m (300 sq/yds). This follows on from our story about the push for Delhi’s traffic lights to become solar-powered LEDs. Delhi Power Department has proposed making solar heating and lighting in all commercial buildings drawn at least some of their energy from the sun. “What we are looking at initially is to make sure that the large commercial establishments such as five-star hotels, banquet halls, large kitchens and restaurants in the city switch to solar energy so that the power consumption for these particular establishments as well as for the city as a whole is brought down,” said Rakesh Mehta, Principal Secretary (Power). Energy efficiency and use of renewable energy are the two main strands of the proposal. What a great move coming from one (if not, now wearing the mantle), of the most populated of all countries. via ::Delhi Newsline....

We've had green chemistry on the brain a lot lately, and for good reasons: according to a new report released today by Clean Production Action, all of us carry upwards of 200 different industrial chemicals in our bodies. The focus of the report, though, isn't the chemical sludge flowing through our systems -- that's well established -- but rather how six companies have taken significant steps towards reducing and even eliminating substances known to be dangerous to our health and environment from the products they create and the services they provide. Healthy Business Strategies for Transforming the Toxic Chemical Economy provides case studies of Avalon Natural Products, Dell, Inc., H&M, Herman Miller, Interface Fabrics, and Kaiser Permanente that detail the processes by which these companies are rethinking and redesigning their methods of design and production, as well as their products themselves, in order to eliminate dangerous chemicals....

A Canadian investment firm , Sprott Asset Management, has produced a report studying the financial implications of climate change. Conclusions: Economic changes will be just as severe. Watch out for massive commodity price swings and a huge buildup of nuclear capacity. Prepare for hyperinflation and buy gold. Forget about biofuels. "As oil prices surge, the incentive to produce energy from vegetable oils heightens," the authors predict."This in turn is likely to result in the increased cultivation of plants like palm and soybeans, used to make biofuels. When we take into consideration the potential shortages of food crops that may result from an abrupt climate change, it is likely that governments will soon be facing a choice between feeding people and feeding SUVs." :: PDF: Investment Implications of Abrupt Climate Change and if that is too depressing, read ::The Onion. UPDATE: Read what Andrew Leonard of Salon says about this....

Artist Janet Chui wanted an alternative to paper cards and was tired of e-card sites full of pop-ups and flashy ads, so she took matters into her own hands. The result is BlueGreenPlanet, a completely free site supported by donations--not ads--that takes a stand against paper cards, sending an explicitly pro-environment, pro-sustainability message. Writers and artists contribute thoughtful pieces on themes such as nature, peace, and meditation. Text and images can be paired up as the user pleases or at random. As a nice touch, the site's front page includes daily information about moon phases and visible planets as well as holidays from around the world. Chui also writes a column for e-zine EMG called Healthy Green Artists that educates artists about environmental issues; June's column is on alternatives to wood chip paper. ::BlueGreenPlanet and ::Healthy Green Artists via ::Janet Chui...

This very natural chair was spotted at the London Architecture Biennale (where else!). It is as pure and basic as they come: take some bales of hay, cover with grass turf, and abracadabra—a chair. Comfortable, compostable and completely eco-friendly. Just don’t wear white trousers….Also seen at the fair: natural, electricity free blenders for making smoothies. Chop up the fresh fruits and put them in a blender. Attach the blender to the stationary bicycle and pedal away. The pedal power, supplied by the customer, supplies the energy to make the blender go. Oh yes, be prepared to wait quite a while for your drink....

Manhattan's Upper East Side is better known for fur coats and doormen than for crunchy granola and waste reduction. Upper Green Side, a nonprofit group launched in February, aims to change that. They're fierce advocates for cyclists, farmer's markets, and waste reduction. Via frequent visits to the local community board and a great many letters to various New York newspapers, they're pushing for fully separated bike lanes throughout the neighborhood (and the city) and recently celebrated the successful launch of a Greenmarket at 92nd Street and 1st Avenue. It's great to see their support for the historically overlooked poorer areas of the Upper East Side; if they can bring the power and wealth of the Park Avenue residents on board as well, they'll be a power to be reckoned with. ::Upper Green Side...

Firstly, Grist has a look at rep. Henry Waxman's Safe Climate Act and concludes, in short, that it kicks ass. It's based on incremental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; to learn more about the principle and why it's a better way to do things than setting big targets with distant deadlines, read this excellent post by Jeremy Faludi on WorldChanging. If you are in the USA, it might be a good idea to contact your elected representatives and show your support for the bill. Secondly, they report that NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen wrote a piece for the New York Review of Books in which he's supposed to be reviewing three books that deal with global warming: The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery, Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert and An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. "Supposed" because he actually spends most of the piece talking about our climate and the possible repercussions of global warming. He also gives props to Al Gore for having had better insight than him on certain points in the past. A very interesting read....

Yes we’re pretty keen on vegetables here at TreeHugger. We like to grow them, cook them, eat them, eat off them and eat with them. We’ve no shortage of information about biodegradable cutlery on TreeHugger; we’ve reported on knives, forks and spoons which you can throw on your compost heap, from the States to Australia via oh so stylish Italy. However we do like to be thorough so today we would like to add the UK based supplier Vegware to our cutlery catalogue. They are working with the US company Excellent Packaging and Supply in order to bring SPUDWARE™ to the European market. SPUDWARE™ cutlery is made from 80% potato starch and 20% vegetable oil. They say they it will biodegrade in around 90 days and even quicker is you snap them first. Uh, after you've eaten that is! Via: The Observer Magazine ::Vegware...

How much more would you be willing to pay for a non-toxic computer? "Uh, how is a computer toxic?" you ask, "and why does it matter?." Consider the amount of PCs that will be thrown out in the U.S. over the next few years (imagine a 22-story pile of old computers covering the entire 472 square miles of the City of Los Angeles, one study estimates) and the sort of nasty stuff that goes with them (flame retardant chemicals, plastics, and heavy metals like cadmium, lead and mercury) when they get dumped in poor villages in India and China. According to a new nine-country survey (PDF summary here) conducted on behalf of Greenpeace by Ipsos-Mori, PC users in Mexico are most ready to put the green where the green is: on average, those surveyed would shell out $226 extra for an eco-PC; in China, PC users would pay $199 more. German users, on the other end of the spectrum, would be willing to pay only $58 more for an environmentally-friendly computer. ...

Congratulations to our pals at TerraPass, who've just balanced out just over 100 million pounds of carbon, the equivalent of taking almost 15,000 Honda Civics off the road for a year, with investments in renewable energy. Their stated goal is to offset 10 billion pounds of carbon; now that they've got one percent down, we're sure the other 99 percent will just fly by. They've been busy on the first one percent, doing some good work with Syriana, Ford and (our gracious web host) Pair Networks. The first one percent is just the tip of the iceberg (so to speak) and we wish them the best of luck with the next 100 million pounds and beyond. Keep up the great work! ::TerraPass blog via ::AutoblogGreen...

A great way to bring some life to your boring white walls, these wall flats by Inhabit have peel-and-stick adhesive tabs, automatic pattern repeat, and (perhaps the coolest part) are made of 100% bamboo pulp. As we all know, it's one of the world's fastest self-repleneshing resources; to insure that the tiles are healthy for you, too, they're molded in a chemical-free process. Since they're essentially bamboo paper molded into sexy shapes, it's also fairly easy to recycle. Got boring walls? These wall tiles are simple, modern, versatile and get the TreeHugger thumbs up. ::Inhabit Wall Flats via ::2modern Design Talk...

Vibrations from passing trucks, the rumbling of speeding trains and even the footfall of busy city commuters could be captured and converted into energy to light walkways and buildings, engineers say. A London-based architectural firm is working on a project that aims to harness the pulse of a city and use it as a renewable energy source. ...

Researchers at Georgia Tech are showing-off what they say is a combustor with virtually no emissions of either nitrogen oxide or carbon monoxide — two main contributors to air pollution. Their design, which is modeled around an aircraft turbine engine, as opposed to the piston-driven combustion engine that's found in most cars, relies on a new and unique fuel delivery system. In current turbine combustors, fuel and air are usually premixed prior to it being injected into the combustion chamber. While the process helps to reduce emissions, the process is complex, expensive and difficult to control, say the Georgia Tech scientists who've taken a different approach....

The I.D. Magazine - TreeHugger Umbrella Inside Out competition is serving as a clever campaign to re-imagine discarded umbrellas as a worthy source material for fashion forward designers. Given that in the U.S. alone the annual umbrella sales tally falls at around 33 million, chances are that there are more than enough tossed brollies for the competitors to work with. Any chance one of the umbrellas might have belonged to you? (Check out the Umbrella Inside Out site for fresh stories on re-use, Cradle to Cradle^(R), and umbrella fun!) ...

We love when designers come up with really cool ideas for outdoor living spaces, better yet, when those ideas include recycled products. Industrial Evolution, founded by Howard Sneider and Will Machin, is a company located in Providence, RI (and even better yet, when they’re in our own backyard) that is dedicated to our environment by making waste products into functional products. As sculptors, Howard and Will say they are overwhelmed by the numbers of any given industrial waste product. While they could use all of it to make sculptures, they’ve decided to put their talents to use by creating products that are functional products. The website states: “We see creative reuse not only as an environmental good, but also to exercise the ability to re-imagine the materials that make up the world around us.” Their specialty seems to be transforming discarded city bus brake drums into long lasting beautiful planters. We imagine these planters can be used indoors or out and are pretty indestructible. Unfortunately merchandise cannot be ordered through their website, however, they do provide an address for ordering information. ::Industrial Evolution...

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, has issued an annual review of his household and its finances. Interspersed between the numbers of staff (142 including two butlers, five chefs, three chauffeurs, seven housekeepers and nine gardeners) and number of letters personally written ( 2,247) are some fascinating facts about his green life and commitment to saving the environment. Bricks are placed in the cisterns in both his country and city houses to conserve water. Royal water is recycled in a natural sewage system. Wood-chip heating systems are being installed, along with solar panels, on top of Highgrove, his country house. In London they use a green taxi. He has stopped playing polo because of the environmental issues—he had to travel to and fro by helicopter. Duchy Originals, his luxury line of beautiful and expensive organic food, bath, and gardening things made a profit of only £1 million on a turnover of £46 million. His garden at Highgrove is completely organic and highly regarded--more than 25,000 people were invited to visit it and left donations to the Prince’s charities of £113,000. The Prince’s Trust, his charity for the past 30 years, brought in £110 M. :: Telegraph...

Here’s a wacky gift idea that guarantees to be a topic of conservation; the Global Warming Mug! This ceramic mug shows you the consequences of global warming as you sip your coffee in the morning, changing the world back to normal just as you finish it. When you pour hot beverage into the mug, you simulate global warming as the map of the world heats up and shows the oceans rising and land vanishing. A pleasant reminder to take better care of our planet and reduce that CO2. Prices vary around $15, available at ::Wacky Planet and others. Thanks Roger for the tip!...

Jimtex Yarns and Martex Fiber have introduced Eco2Cotton™ Brand yarns and fibers made from the recycling of new, pre-consumer (post-industrial) cotton knit cuttings, discarded during the apparel cut and sew process for t-shirt making. The cuttings are reprocessed and blended into fiber similar to new cotton, and can be re-spun into yarns or mixed with other fibers. According to the release from Jimtex, ‘a blue t-shirt contains only 60 percent of the cotton grown to produce it: the remainder goes to waste. Eco2Cotton yarns recapture blue cotton scraps, blend it with a small amount of acrylic or polyester, and then make blue yarn’. Although Jimtex emphasizes its “new” feedstock, to appeal to America's obsession for material never-exposed-to-humans, actual discarded clothing could also be used for creating 'new' yarns. If color sorted, the result could be a myriad of yarn colors and textures made from used clothing. ...

In April, a reader tipped us off that the British government was consulting with advisory group the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable on using microgeneration technologies to make Brits more aware of their household energy consumption. A BBC commentary by SCR co-chair Alan Knight noted that the group would report to the government in May on its findings. It's likely not too great a leap to assume that the report took a favorable view of home and building owners generating their own power through renewable sources: The Observer reported yesterday that the government is prepared do away with planning restrictions that currently keep British citizens wrapped up in red tape if they want to install a wind turbine or solar panels on their homes:...

The Mvura (African Shona for ‘water’) was one of the student exhibits at ChangeX, which we noted earlier this year. It has been granted Bronze Prize in the student category of the 2006 Australian Design Awards. Julie Frost identified that “1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water and 6, 000 children die every day from diseases that can be prevented by improved water and sanitation.” Her answer to this dilemma was to create a household water purifier that use pasteurization using direct solar heat to treat water. 15 litres of water is added to the drum, this can then be carried in traditional manner, on one’s head. Back at the village the drum opens out into a wide black disk, so water can be heated, in about two hours, to 65ºC. At this temperature harmful bacteria are said to be neutralised, and a soybean wax is used to indicated that the correct temp has been attained. Made from polyethylene, one of the more benign plastics, the drum is designed to be field maintainable. Cameron ’Design Like You Give Damn’ Sinclair and Victor ‘Design for the Real World’Papanek, would, I’m sure, be very proud of Julie’s endeavours. We need more like her. Other pics after the fold, and also at ::Australian Design Awards and ::University of NSW....

It appears as if brown continues to look green. Last week UPS announced that its ‘green’ delivery fleet had logged over 100 million miles since 2000. This alternative fuel fleet currently consists of hydrogen fuel cell, liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, electric and propane – powered trucks. However, UPS isn’t stopping there. The brown parcel giant has partnered with the EPA to develop a hydraulic hybrid delivery truck. Unlike conventional hybrids, this technology allows energy captured during breaking braking to be stored in hydraulic tanks. Estimates suggest that the hydraulic hybrid can improve fuel efficiency by 60-70%, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40%. For those interested in viewing the technology first hand or taking a test ride, the trucks will be on display today outside the EPA’s regional offices in lower Manhattan from 1-1:30 pm. The trucks will be parked on Duane Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street. See also ::LIME: Special Deliveryand ::UPS To Spend $600 Million On Improving Efficiency...

Here’s a new brand phenomenon (maybe): ‘brand dematerial’ or ‘brand 4 less stuff’. The world of non-material branding is still pretty immature compared to its big brother product. So, it’s not so easy to obsess about the services you use or to demonstrate ‘who you are by what you do and not what you own’. There are some exceptions, for example who you bank with (demonstrates a certain financial status), how you fly (mainly a class status) and more recently who and what you are sharing amongst your social network (what you are listening to, what you are collecting, who’s in your contacts list etc.). To go one step further, an even newer concept is brands that are actively shaping their market and demonstrating something about their values, and your values, by participating in ‘dematerial’ innovation – looking for new ways to deliver consumer or business solutions that rely less on material production and lighten their impact on the world. Tricycle is doing exactly this. Zipcar is way ahead and already thinking about adding service lines, beyond the car service, to build on its strong brand and membership model. ...

“Netjetters” is the name of the contest, run by the Guardian, where the winners get a three month paid trip in return for writing a regular blog about their experiences for the paper. It is quite inter-active in that readers can send suggestions to them about places en route where they should go. This year the theme of the competition was to create a “green” trip, in keeping with the growing popularity of eco-tourism. The winner is a female Londoner who is planning to take the “Great American Road Trip” by bicycle—but with a twist. She is going to turn it into a green expedition, rating each state by how green it is and trying to eat locally grown organic food as she travels. She has already researched the locations of organic farms,shops and markets, even "in states like Kentucky”. She intends to stop off at eco-projects and places of environmental interest as she rides the 4,274 miles between Virginia and California. “My aim is to show that this trip is accessible to most people and that while America's roads may be perfect for gas-guzzling cars and disposable travelling, they don't have to be used that way”. :: Guardian...

What does our oil dependence cost us as consumers? This week TreeHuggerTV gets the inside track on "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and finds out how clean, quiet, efficient electric cars were systematically pulled off the road and could have been useful during Hurricane Katrina. We also fuel your Umpa Lumpa fantasies with energy generated from chocolate waste, shed light on Fetzer Wines' new solar array, and get our green groove on with Barbara Streisand. You can also rifle through our archives to read more about our news items this week. Why did the Smithsonian Museum see fit to remove the only fully intact EV1 on display recently? And news from the other side of the pond on how the electric car is fairing in London. For those of you who like to drink and drive (although obviously not at the same time!) you can find out more on Fetzer Wines and their solar plans...

We’ve had this story on hold for a few days, waiting for the rain to clear in Scotland. Invisible Heating Systems were planning to post pics of their Road Energy System being laid down in the carpark of their new offices, but had to postpone the work. Now it has gone in. ...

Al Gore admits driving a “hybrid pimp mobile,” do-it-yourself hand cranked iPod power, organic elves, the green World Cup scorecard, and America’s solar appetite. Al Gore bludgeons Bender the robot (Futurama Bender, not producer Lawrence Bender) to promote An Inconvenient Truth. (Who’s the robot now, punk!)… A DIY guide on how to make any device hand-crank… The Keebler Elves go organic (making them only slightly less creepy)… Eight out of ten Americans want builders to offer a solar power option for new homes, and two thirds are willing to pay a premium for it… A look at how the World Cup’s “Sweet 16” score on renewable energy, sustainability, and green initiatives… Check out Hugg.com for a daily dose of reader-generated green news....

Engineering students from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have won the Society of Automotive Engineers Supermileage Competition on June 9, beating 40 teams from Canada, the U.S. and India, with a vehicle that achieved 3,145 miles per US gallon (0.074 litres/100 km). It's the fourth time in six years that the UBC wins first place. In ideal conditions, their 2006 vehicle can do Vancouver to Halifax on a gallon (3.79 litres) of gas, costing less than $5 at the pump. The team captain, Kevin Li, says: "We achieved this level of efficiency by optimizing many aspects of the vehicle design, including: aerodynamics, light-weight construction, a small displacement engine (54 cc), and conservative driving habits". Of course, we're not about to see such cars on our roads, but we can bet that all students involved have learned many important things that they will take with them once they're out of school, and it's also safe to say that big players in the industry are paying attention for breakthroughs and tricks that they can apply to their own vehicles. ::Supermileage Competition, ::UBC Engineers Create Vehicle that Travels from Vancouver to Halifax on a Gallon of Gas, via ::Jalopnik...

Hybrid taxis will soon become a much more common site in the streets of New York City. Permits have been sold for a total of 281 hybrids taxis, which is a tenfold increase. They've been there for awhile; it comes as no surprise to us TreeHuggers that when it came time to auction more taxi permits, though opening bids were set at the discounted price of $320,000, the final bids were much higher, with the highest going for $554,147. Why pay so much? Drivers are reporting that hybrid customers tip better because they're excited about the hybrid experience; add that to the gas savings, which can be up to double that of a regular cab in city driving, and it all makes sense. Nine different hybrid models have been approved for use in the city, from the popular Prius to the luxurious Lexus RX 400h. ::Townhall via ::AutoblogGreen...

[This is a guest post by Katie Kurtz. -Ed] The cover of this Sunday's (6/25/06) issue of Parade Magazine shows a sweating businessman wiping his brow with his tie next to the headline "How Climate Change Affects You Now." The lead sentence of this special report sets a rather unusual tone – "As we learned last year in New Orleans, weather can be a weapon of mass destruction." With a readership of 75 million Americans the fact of its publication might prove that learning about the affects of global warming has gone mainstream. Written by author Eugene Linden (Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations), the report is filled with facts about global warming that many of us are becoming more and more familiar with (the past ten years have seen the hottest summers on record, glaciers are melting, the weather is getting worse, et cetera). Under headings such as "Look Outside: The Weather is Already Changing," "We're Making It Worse," "A Darkening Financial Forecast," and "Climate has Destroyed Past Civilizations," Linden lays out in plain language not only the devastating affects of environmental changes but also how it impacts American's pocketbooks. He also mentions the report last year by Science magazine that surveyed "scientifically credible" articles from 1993-2003 and found that "Not one took issue with the consensus that humans are contributing to the changes that we are seeing." A list of solutions is also offered – from encouraging mass transit to writing to government officials about steps they can take. The website will feature more tips on how readers can make changes to slow down the rate of global warming. ::The 4 Stages of Global Warming Denial [This has been a guest post by Katie Kurtz.] Update: The magazine is out, and the website has been updated with Why You Can’t Ignore The Changing Climate and 25 Ways To Help Curb Climate Change. A big "thank you" to the Parade Magazine team for linking to TreeHugger in the "more to know" sidebar!...

We've featured many a folding bike in the past, now here's one that is said to be the smallest and lightest in the world. It's so small that you can take it on public transport with a no-bicycles policy. The $300 A-Bike utilises automotive grade, engineering polymers for its structural components, saddle and handlebars and has a level of stiffness, fatigue and impact resistance comparable with aero-grade aluminium. By using these new materials, the A-bike’s weight has been reduced to just 5.5 kg (12 lbs). it can be folded inside 10 seconds into a compact 26” x 12” x 6” (66 x 30 x 15 cm) package and has pneumatic tyres. Via ::gizmag...

Okay, Okay. I’ll do it! First Lloyd says, “Hey, that solar powered boat race you wrote about previously starts today, how’s about an update?” Then our tips editor, forwards the media release. Seems like there is no escape. In case you missed the first instalment: The Dutch inspired by their successes in the World Solar Challenge, a cross continent solar car race decided to launch an aquatic version. It roughly follows the route of a historical 124 mile (200km) ice-skating race. Hooning along at 12 mph (20kph), driven solely by dear old Sol, the boats complete the route in about 6 days. The images above show the entry from Delft University, known as the Eneco 2. They’ve tried to get the maximum deck area for coverage by photovoltaic panels (right pic), while still having the least amount of hull in the water, to reduce friction (fishes eye view - left pic). It has been a labour of love by ten naval technology students. The panels are the same ones that allowed the Dutch team to win the Australian road race three times. Today they’re setting off through the eleven Frisian cities, to see if they can be as dominant on water. About 30 other teams from around the globe will have something to say about that. ::Frisian Nuon Solar Challenge, via Fresh Technology....

Producing biodiesel from algae has been touted as the most efficient way to make biodiesel fuel. The advantage being that the land requirement for growing the biodiesel is very small. Independent studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing 30 times more oil per acre than the current crops now utilized for the production of biofuels. Algae biofuel contains no sulfur, is non-toxic and highly biodegradable. Some species of algae are ideally suited to biodiesel production due to their high oil content, in excess of 50%, and extremely rapid growth rates....

Loyal readers of these pages are largely aware that the term "environmentalist" does not automatically mean "tie dye and Birkenstocks" anymore (not that there's anything wrong with that); we're all about promoting the modern aesthetic mixed with "green design" as the biggest thing since sliced bread. It makes sense, then, that TreeHugger is well-represented at a lecture called "Green by Design." It's happening this Wendesday, June 28, at the 92nd Street Y in New York, and features TreeHugger's own intrepid green designer, Dominic Muren, as well as Robert Frenay, the author of Pulse: The Coming Age of Systems and Machines Inspired by Living Things and Yael Alkalay, the founder and CEO of red flower, a line of beauty products made with organic and sustainable botanicals. Hear about the next wave of environmentalism and how it will shape every aspect of your life, from wardrobe to work, hearth to home, vacations and more at the Steinhardt Building, 35 West 67th Street at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $12.00 in advance, available from their site, and $15 at the door. We recommend it for anyone who wants to jump on the bandwagon and ride the crest of the wave of the future. ::Green by Design...

Yet more thinking-out-of-the-box when it comes to solar energy. This time around Sunengy reckons we should be building floating panels connected into rafts of solar arrays. A thin film Fresnel sheet, held distant from the actual photovoltaic cell by a supporting frame, focuses the sun’s rays. The heat generated on the cell itself, is dissipated by siting it in contact with the water. The Fresnel lens will rotate into the water to protect itself in the advent of strong winds. Because the lens and cell unit rotates it can track the movement of the sun throughout the day. Sunengy from Australia also suggest their design uses 50 times less ‘exotic materials’ than standard solar cells reducing costs per kilowatt. ::Sunengy, via New Scientist....

The good thing about being a small country, is that when an emergency presents itself, the whole population can group together, focus and take swift action. That's what happened recently when the US Secretary of State called Israel earlier this year asking Israel to support the US anti-whaling position at the annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) in St. Kitts-Nevis. ...

Elizabeth Grossman's HIGH TECH TRASH: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health is just out from Island Press. The IP website notes: "High Tech Trash is a wake-up call to the importance of the e-waste issue and the health hazards involved", a fair characterization of the book's thesis. We received a publisher's review copy of High Tech Trash, and after a few chapters realized that the title is misleading. Only a few chapters focus on product end-of-life issues. The book is really much broader than the title implies, giving an overview to the full range of product life cycle issues for consumer electronics, with a focus on the human toxicity issues stemming from byproducts, emissions, leachate, and solid waste. It would serve as a good introductory overview for citizen activists, reporters, or for a new employee at a regulatory agency. Although it contains a bibliography, this is not a scientific or engineering reference work. There is not a single chart, table, or illustration, for example. The book also is light on new solutions, leaving the reader without examples of design principles, products, or business models that take us in a better direction. The most glaring omission: Climate Change is not mentioned. For a life cycle overview to gloss over energy efficiency in the product "use phase" is a serious flaw....

John Lorinc writes about urban issues for major Canadian magazines and newspapers. He has written “The New City”, analyzing where we went wrong in Canada, what we can learn from this and presents a vision of how we can build a better future. Richard Florida likes it: "His vision for building safer, cleaner, more creative, more efficient and more democratic cities puts the urban centre at the heart of the debate over our global future, where it rightly belongs”. We liked it too. ...

Ah, the sixties. Peace, love, understanding, and lots of organic gardening. While the Baby Boomer generation drifted away from its hippy roots in subsequent decades, a number of them are returning to the land after conquering the business world and suburbia in the 80s and 90s. According to the AARP Bulletin, small, local and mostly organic farms are providing a second career for many that came of age during the Vietnam era, and now want to return to a least some of the ideals that drove them when they were younger:...

We continue to be fascinated by the idea of a solar powered air conditioner, particularly after reading this in Alternet. Until central air became common, Florida and Arizona were barely habitable- you went in winter and cleared out. Now 20% of our energy goes to power air conditioning, and it defines the peak loads. 5.5% of our gasoline goes to power our car air conditioning, and four southern states-California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, account for 35% of it. Clearly if we are going to use less energy we have to address this problem. So here is a challenge to all you Lifehacker and Make types- build it for us. And not a lame ice-cooled pretend air conditioner but the real thing. Here are some ideas and parameters: ...

C-Ice: it contains a hit of cannabis syrup; it’s legal and it’s healthy. Will you get a buzz from it? Probably not, because the THC has been removed (spoilsports). The new drink is a form of iced tea and reportedly tastes like cannabis (what?) without the high. The key ingredient is cannabis sativa syrup— a source of hemp. It is being pushed as a healthy drink that can “boost the immune system as a result of the vitamins, minerals, omega oils and amino acids found in cannabis”. It has received the endorsement of the cholesterol charity Heart UK and some multiple sclerosis patients have been drinking it to relieve symptoms. It’s part of a new wave of beverages known as “functional drinks” in the trade. As carbonated soft drinks become less saleable, new variations are popping up. “Red Bull” is the most well-known but others are enriched drinks, such as fruit juices and nectars, with added multivitamins, calcium and minerals. Some call them “canned carbohydrates”, others say “Let’s have another round!”. :: Financial Times...

Now in its 28th year, Materials for the Arts is one of the most venerable materials exchange programs out there. Complementing New York Wa$teMatch, which works mostly with for-profit businesses, MFTA is funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Board of Education as well as the NYC Department of Sanitation and provides materials for artists and teachers. Donations of goods and funds are tax-deductible and can usually be housed in MFTA's warehouse, though there's also a direct donations program for large pieces of furniture or equipment and large or hazardous quantities of smaller items. They got their start when the Parks Department needed a refrigerator for storing temperature-sensitive medications for animals in the zoo, so they've never been afraid to think big. Now they funnel over $3.5 million worth of landfill-destined materials to schools, art centers, and community groups every year. Time Out New York has called them "the invisible glue between those who create trash and those who create art." ::Materials for the Arts. See also: ::Hudson Valley Materials Exchange...

ethanol plant being built in Texas where there is no corn To reiterate our point that ethanol is used most effectively shaken, not stirred, with a touch of vermouth, we present three articles for your Sunday reading: New York Times: With oil prices at $70 a barrel sharply lifting the prices paid for ethanol, the average processing plant is earning a net profit of more than $5 a bushel on the corn it is buying for about $2 a bushel,. And that is before the 51-cent-a-gallon tax credit given to refiners and blenders that incorporate ethanol into their gasoline. "It is truly yellow gold," Robert Rapier on investing in ethanol: "Maybe someday cellulosic ethanol – the much touted next generation of ethanol technology – will warrant these kinds of valuations. I have great hope for cellulosic ethanol, and believe it can eventually make a contribution. But for now, I don’t think the underlying fundamentals warrant the valuations placed on grain ethanol producers – especially those far from corn supplies." Alternet: "Is turning food into fuel as millions starve to death really the ethical answer to our oil addiction?"...

If you are in London this summer and are looking for some sustainable inspiration you should take a dose of Potassium. This design store is getting involved with London’s sustainability weeks by featuring designers from the [re]design collaborative. They say, ‘these are designers who don't want to make landfill, but instead redesign discarded objects and give them different form and function.’ Among the exhibitors is a TreeHugger favourite, Julienne Dolphin Wilding with her beautiful reclaimed wood furniture. ::Potassium 2 Seymour Place, London, W1H 7NA; Monday to Saturday 11:00 to 19:00, Thursdays to 21:00, Sundays by appointment. Until early August....

We fell in love with the William Garvey version of a Japanese ofuro (soaking tub) but we always thought teak was unsustainably harvested. Not at all, says their website-"Burma Forest Act 's intention was to protect and, as far as possible, to arrange the cutting so as to keep well within the productive power of the forests and to ensure a permanent & sustained yield from them"...." It is no exaggeration to say that Myanmar teak is the most environmentally protected timber in Asia."(read here) and "We use teak from Myanmar that is harvested in an environmentally sustainable way" Alas, the truth may lie elsewhere. Planet Ark says "Myanmar's famed teak forests are shrinking due to rampant logging fueled by a cash-strapped military government and timber-hungry neighbors China and Thailand." (link) and just last month the Independent said "Burmese teak remains on a US Department of Labour list of items for "which there is a reasonable basis to believe ... may have been mined, produced or manufactured by forced or indentured child labour." and "There's simply no need to make furniture from conflict timber." (link) so we will admire but will take a pass. ::William Garvey ...

It’s something that I have long thought indicated either naivety or hypocrisy. Companies selling ‘hemp’ clothing in the ubiquitous blend of 55% hemp and 45% traditional cotton. Their promotional material often touts the environment benefits of hemp over cotton, yet nearly half of their garments are made from the very same cloth they demonise. So it’s pleasing to see Fair Hemp stepping up to the plate and offering clothing with a blend of 55% organically grown hemp and 45% certified organic cotton. Moving on from wristbands, the company are making a line of men’s and women’s fitted Ts dyed with eco-friendly reactive dyes, and softened with a natural enzyme. Another cool move is to remove those itchy labels from the neck seam. According to Fair Hemp “switching to 5 men's hemp/organic cotton t-shirts saves approximately 1 pound of agricultural chemicals and over 600 gallons of fresh water compared to what goes into a 100% cotton t-shirt.” ::Fair Hemp, via PRWeb....

When the bamboo clad computer monitor arrived on the scene (in the wake of the bamboo iPod case, mouse and keyboard) we had the temerity to ask, “what next?”. In short order that question has been answered. A telly! The 19” LCD TV is due to arrive ‘in-store’ in about a months time, too late alas for the Soccer World Cup finals. But it will be time to be RoHS compliant, as will all new electronics destined for European sale (see Justin’s recent post on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive). The bamboo television also has UHF tuner input, built-in speakers, ports for external ones, displays up to 16.7 million colours, offer 5 modes of power saving and weighs 4kg (~9 lbs). It is expected to retail for about £350 ($640 USD). ::Play Engine, via Gadget Candy....

By now, nearly everyone has heard the news that physicist Stephen Hawking is raising the alarm about global disaster from manmade environmental or nuclear causes. "It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," says Hawking, in the related Associated Press article. His message seems to be more one of not putting all our eggs in one basket in the face of near-inevitable catastrophe, rather than the more hopeful one of conservation and cleanup promoted by most environmentalists, but Hawking's interest in developing the technologies we'd need to colonize space stresses the same lessons that environmentalists learned from Biosphere II – that artificial environments are much more difficult to get right than we thought, and beyond our current capabilities. Perhaps the most obvious sign of how far our dreams of living space lie from the realities comes this week from New Zealand, where it is reported that the International Space Station, considered our best hope for colonizing Mars, has just dumped a capsule full of its trash into the Pacific Ocean to make room for new supplies. Perhaps a little down-to-earth conservation is more important to Hawking's future than it sounds. [Written by: Eva Jacobus]...

Autoebid, one of the UK’s leading websites for buying new cars, has launched a new service encouraging fuel-efficient purchases. By clicking on the somewhat oxymoronic “green cars” button, customers can create an initial shortlist based purely on vehicles’ CO2 emissions. The customer can then select the car they want, decide on exact specifications, before searching for the best price from UK dealerships. The site is based on a “reverse auction” principle, which means that dealers compete to offer the lowest price to the customer, often resulting in large savings....

Most readers of this site will be familiar with the idea of capturing methane escaping from landfills and using it as a source of energy. Nothing too radical in that concept, it is already being done in countless locations around the world. However, one organization in North Carolina is taking the idea a step further and addressing what best to do with that energy source once you have captured it. Energy Xchange develops energy intensive, yet socially progressive projects using excess methane from landfill, thus offering a greener alternative to fossil fuel use. One of its most prominent initiatives, Project Branch Out, has set up heated greenhouses for the propagation of native species. These plants are then sold on to cash-poor tobacco farmers, who are also provided training, thus helping them to diversify into the nursery business. The farmers then sell their products on to other landowners, creating a “virtuous cycle” of positive economic, social and ecological effects in the surrounding community. ...