- Emily Pilloton Discusses the Hippo Roller and other Designs for Humanity (Part One)
- Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design (Part Two)
- Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design (Part One)
- Andy Revkin - Climate in the Obama Age
- Fred Pearce - Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part Two)
- Fred Pearce - Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part One)
- Chris Goodall - Ten Techs to Save Our Butts (Part Two)
- Chris Goodall - Ten Techs to Save Our Butts (Part One)
Entries for November 19, 2006 - November 25, 2006
Total this week: 107
Its a Bamboo Holiday
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.25.06
bamboo bowls from Ma Zone
"Being an environmentalist is not about sacrifice," says Roots founder Michael Budman. "It's about change."- A TreeHugger mantra if there ever was one. That's why he sells bamboo bedding and home accessories in the new flagship store, covered earlier here. Michael Correoso, owner of Thynque, a new bamboo distributor, says "Change starts with small things," he says. "People realize: `Hey, I can do things that are good without changing my lifestyle.' Then they start thinking: `Maybe there are other things out there that I can do to make things better." Linda Lunstrom says "There have been companies that have gone out of business trying to create environmentally responsible fabrics," but now that bamboo fabric is competitive with cotton, she is jumping on board. The Star says "bamboo is helping to break down the persistent idea that living an organic lifestyle costs more and requires a style sacrifice from the consumer. And that's a big deal, particularly at this critical moment in human history." Read more about bamboo as "the new darling of design and fashion" in ::The Star
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Large Majority of Americans Support 40 mpg
by EcoGeek.org on 11.25.06
The Opinion Research Corporation just polled a bunch of Americans concerning automobile efficiency and the results are very encouraging. Seventy-eight percent of people say that they would like the government to impose a 40 mpg fuel efficiency standard (the current standard is 27.5 mpg.) Though it seems that Americans are not currently enamored with driving the 40 mpg vehicles that are available, apparently they would like to be forced into it.
The poll also showed strong support for bringing efficient EU models to America and support for gasoline taxes that would subsidize research and development of clean energy technologies. Most encouraging of all, the support was largely bi-partisan. Seventy percent of Republicans were in favor of new gasoline taxes compared with 78% of Democrats. The poll repeatedly shows that clean technology is not a partisan issue....
Material Love: a New Way to Recycle
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.25.06
We have covered Freecycle and the late lamented GarbageScout; Now we have another way of matching one person's garbage with somebody elses need. Materiallove was started by a group of web developers in Vancouver BC to help " North American residents and businesses find alternative ways to recycle and reduce waste. As an entirely free service, the materiallove network allows personal and business account members to buy, sell or exchange recyclable materials and used items with one another. From waste haulers to metal processors, local businesses that handle recyclable materials on a daily basis can list their profile for free in the materiallove business directory." It does not yet seem to have found its business market; items listed range from Laurie in Burnaby posting "Various small pieces of wood" and mike offering six bricks. , running the gamut to $750,000 house in Oakville Ontario that does not exactly look ready for the recycle bin. Nice looking and easy to use. In Beta and still mainly centered on BC; we wish it well and hope the business side catches on. ::Materiallove
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Powerwash Graffiti shows Chicago is Grey, not Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.25.06
We have written so much about the greening ofChicago recently; its green roofs programs, bicycle plans, etc. However it is hard to ride a bike if you can't breathe, and soot isn't good in the garden. The American Lung Association of Chicago and Advertising students from Columbia college are once again doing power wash graffiti to get the message out- 17,000 tons of pollution spew out of Chicago's two old coal fired power plants. "We're not painting the sidewalks, we're selectively cleaning off the dirt, much of which came from these two plants," says Kevin Tynan, Director of Marketing for the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, "The Fisk and Crawford plants are responsible for thousands of asthma attacks, hundreds of ER visits and dozens of premature deaths every year and they need to be cleaned up." ::cleanupfiskandcrawford.org and on ::Youtube
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Morph Your Bra for the Environment
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 11.25.06
There was a time when going bra free was gaia-chic. Burning a bra was a political statement. But next time you see a braless woman, she may be just shopping. Triumph has introduced the "No! Shopping Bag Bra" in Japan. Made of ecopet fiber, a polyester which is manufactured from recycled plastic bottles, the bra is inherently eco-friendly (now that's upcycling!) What makes this bra truly unique is its secret identity as a Bra Ranger (after the mighty morphing Power Rangers) which can be quickly converted into a shopping bag. One half of the shopping bag is folded into each bra cup, acting as a bit of padding when the bra is worn. When not performing its primary duties carrying one load or another, the bra sensitizes the public to the wastefulness of over 30 billion plastic shopping bags a year used in Japan. ...
How To Discuss Climate Change in Polite Company
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.25.06
Christmas parties’ are just weeks away. Conventionally, of course, the big three topics to avoid in the interest of keeping a party “nice” are politics, sex and religion. Climate offers us a 'two-fer' transgression opportunity: an easy overlap into both religion and politics with just one remark. Given the seemingly undefeatable energy of the denialists, Al Gore’s globally sustained celebrity status, and the recent shift in the US Congress, the party planets are aligned: it’s time to get prepared for some climate cheer. We suggest establishing your credentials as a controversial TreeHugger as soon as the host has taken your coat. You will, of course, have worn something very hemp and attention getting. When questioned or complimented about it, declare as loudly and happily as you dare ‘isn’t hemp glorious.’...
Natural Lighting Co.: Where "The Best Things In Light Are Free"
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.25.06
Natural Lighting Co., Inc. has one of those websites that facilitates understanding as well as ordering. Wishing there were more of those sort, we encourage you to have a look at it because the "potential is phenomenal" for natural lighting to offset the need for interior lighting in many buildings (link to Arizona Republic article on Natural Lighting Co.). Per the article, Natural Lighting's "main product is a natural-light unit that uses an acrylic dome to diffuse light into a light well. An interior diffuser cools and channels the light into a white acrylic bottom, the density of which varies for how much light is desired. The unit also has three chambers of so-called dead air, separated by Mylar plastic sealant, which slows heat penetration"....
Google TechTalks: Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Biofuels
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 11.24.06
Most people would agree that Google employs a high number of very smart people. One of the ways they keep sharp is by giving the opportunity to some of their employees and to outsiders to speak at the company. They call the events "Google TechTalks" and the topics covered range from Javascript to brain science. You can find a full list of these talks here, but today we'd like to highlight a couple in particular: Stanford Experts on Climate Change and Carbon Trading with Thomas C. Heller and Stephen H. Schneider, and Biofuels: Think Outside the Barrel by Vinod Khosla (who we wrote about here and here). Both are over an hour long, so make sure you have some free time before taking the plunge. Via LifeHacker. See also: ::Google to Tackle Global Warming, ::Google Founders Invest in Nanosolar, ::Google Zeitgeist number 3: Tofurkey, ::Google Upgrades Coverage of Public Transportation, ::Google Ends Search For Corporate Alternative Energy Source...
Tracking food with your Cell Phone
by EcoGeek.org on 11.24.06
Food is a complex issue, and, frankly, food packaging is getting crowded. We need to tell where it came from, what it contains, the labor conditions of it's harvest, how it's going to taste, if it's good for us, and whether we're getting a good deal. Which is why I will now predict a future where our cell phones can scan a barcode, and tell us everything we'd ever want to know about a product....
Faernyn's Grove: Wedding Gowns and Fetish Wear, Eco-Style
by Siel, Los Angeles on 11.24.06
Rene Geneva's Faernyn's Grove is bringing sexy back to Treehuggers with a line of couture fashion -- from corsets to wedding dresses to goth costumes -- made with sustainable materials using fair labor practices.
These funky, eclectic pieces, all designed by Rene herself, are created with formaldehyde-free silk, recycled textiles and organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo fabrics. All of these are sourced, says Rene, "directly from weavers who live in the villages where the cotton is grown, where the silk is gathered, and where the money is needed most" whenever possible....
TH Week :: Shed Some Light
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 11.24.06
This week, we want everybody to shed a little light on their lives, and see what small (or big) thing they can do to make their life a little lighter on the earth. Here are some suggestions from the TH Team.
:: Brittany reminded us again that CFLs really are the future of lighting, today.
:: Hank tracked down this cute little E-Book concept with real flipping pages to light up your micro-library.
:: The TH Team published our how to green your lighting guide for all your lighting needs.
:: Jeff found a neat e-petition to tax incandescent light bulbs.
:: Hank rounded up a little piece on piping light from outside to inside your house....
EVO – The Green Consumer's Loyalty Card
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 11.24.06
The EVO stand at the Green Festival a few weeks ago was a hubbub of activity. With their brightly coloured Pop Art graphics standing out from a cosy wooden cubicle they were quite the attraction; everyone was intrigued to find out what they were about. It must have been a good start for EVO since attracting people to join their membership and loyalty card program is what they’re aiming for. The EVO program wants to connect businesses and consumers in a far reaching network, across the US and eventually worldwide, which supports and promotes environmentally and ethically sound goods and services. By becoming a member you will, they say, “get exclusive benefits and discounts from the most inspiring companies on the planet.” EVO’s mission in this huge marketing scheme is to, “generate profits for conscious companies and expand the green market.” While you might baulk at this post encouraging consumerism on Buy Nothing Day I can tell you that EVO doesn’t launch until Spring 2007, all they’re asking for right now are suggestions of your favourite local eco-friendly businesses that you would like to see in the EVO directory. So instead of buying something today maybe you can suggest where you’d like to see more people shopping in the future.
:: EVO...
The Complete Organic Pregnancy, by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu
by Meaghan O'Neill, Newport, R.I. on 11.24.06
After Lexy Zissu and her boyfriend participated in “let’s-make-a-baby sex” for the first time, the writer lay in bed filled with anxiety. But not for the reasons you might expect. Looking wide-eyed up at the ceiling, she was less concerned with the drama of baby-making than she was with her physical surroundings: “What if is that’s lead paint? What if the stain where my window meets the wall is actually toxic mold? What if the zit cream I smeared on my face before climbing into bed can lead to birth defects?” Hence, The Complete Organic Pregnancy (Collins) was born.
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Earthtalk :: Global Warming Ways of Helping
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 11.24.06
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: What can I do, as just one individual, to help curb global warming?
-- Karen Cross, via e-mail
Most of our own direct contributions to global warming pertain to the modes of travel we choose. For starters, air travel burns more fossil fuels per person than any other form of transport. So if you can opt for other forms of long-distance travel, you can reduce your contribution of greenhouse gases significantly--provided, of course, that at least a planeload of others are doing the same....
Recovering from Thanksgiving: Cookbook Choices
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.24.06
While our neighbors to the south were having Thanksgiving dinner, we were glued to the computer watching the results come in from the Thanksgiving Challenge with the passion of the 2000 American election. We were the second and third people to vote and thus our choice of Marc in Berkeley was in the lead for about 12 minutes, and then we slunk down to a lovely light dinner of tuna and tomato pasta as he sank beneath the waves from the East. Our dinner came from a cookbook that Thanksgiving diners might need in the next few weeks: ::Anne Lindsay's New Light Cooking. This was prepared with the Canadian Medical Association and the recipies are light, low fat and delicious. Recipe for survival: less meat, more vegetables.
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TreeHugger Picks: What To Do on Buy Nothing Day
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.24.06
As Celine noted, today is both Black Friday and Buy Nothing Day. Avoiding the big sales, crowds and traffic doesn't mean you have to sit on your hands all day. Here are our thoughts on surviving Black Friday.
1) Buy Nothing Day doesn't mean living less, unless Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping has helped you "see the light".
2) The Freecycle Network is a great way to get (and get rid of) stuff without spending a dime or buying a thing.
3) Some cities and organizations are getting creative to get people involved in Buy Nothing activities.
4) We think that engaging in Buy Nothing Day(ngerous to the planet) is more constructive than simply putting conventional consumption off for another day.
5) The Swap-O-Matic is a new fun way to reduce consumption and waste in our community with a clever interface: a vending machine that allows you to give away things you don't need, and get things you like, all for free....
Big Ass Fans: Great idea, Dumb Name
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.24.06
Up in Dorset, Ontario they sell Big Ass pickled garlic and for years I have thought the name was stupid and offensive. Now I am writing a post about Big Ass fans and I think their name is stupid as well, but I do like the idea. Its simple: Big fans move slowly and quietly while moving more air than small fans. Since hot air rises, putting fans in to destratify the air saves a lot of energy in winter. In summer, moving air keeps you cooler- you save all year round. Fans make a lot of sense and big fans make even more. Too bad about the name- it may good for retail exposure and a wacky website but what architect is going to specify something called ::Big Ass Fans ? via ::Jetson Green
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United Nations Desert Conference In Israel
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 11.24.06
(camel looking at a sign on the road to the Dead Sea that says "Sea Level")
According to biblical tradition, Jews spent 40 years wandering in the desert in Sinai thousands of years ago before they settled in Israel. Spending all that time in the scorching sun, without much water in sight, may be why Israelis have been resourceful lately in developing water technology, such as drip irrigation and desalinization plants. Earlier this month, Israel hosted the United Nations first Conference on Deserts and Desertification. "We need to learn from the resilience of Israel in developing drylands," Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ambassador Gregoire de Kalbermatten told attendees from 30 countries. According to Israel21c, a series of panels and discussions integrated some of the world's leading international desertification experts and included Ghana Fisheries Minister Gladys Asmah, Jordanian Director General of Sustainable Development Dr. Khaled Nassar and India's Dr. Gurbachan Singh, Director of the country's Central Soil Salinity Research Institute. ::Israel21c via ::Stephanella’s Drive-Thru...
Mainstream Greenhome
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.24.06
I am not going to be churlish. After all, the Mainstream Greenhome is "Designed to meet the requirements outlined by the LEED for Homes Pilot Project, it will also use 50% less fossil fuel than a conventionally built home; recycle or reuse 90% of all organic waste onsite; consume 50% less water than conventional homes; and include products having low or zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)". Personal Hero Bill McDonough says ""The GreenHome represents a new milestone in mainstream green construction...[it] provides the average homebuilder with a model for making a typical American home green." which surprised me- no house with a two car underground garage on a 100 foot lot with about 5,000 square feet is a model of anything. The "mainstream" subdivision is a dying model and this is just a green dinosaur. ::Mainstream Greenhome via ::Interior Design ...
:: The Slate Green Challenge
by Brittany Jacobs, Seattle on 11.24.06
While cleaning might not be your favorite chore, in some cases it might help to reduce your impact on the environment and put a little ease on the old pocketbook. Vacuuming the coils of your refrigerator can work toward eliminating dirt buildup, which helps the energy-sucker run more efficiently. Likewise, cleaning the air filters in your air conditioners and hot-air furnaces helps save 5 percent of the energy used to heat and cool your home. If you are in the market for new appliances this holiday season, make sure you shop for the eco-efficient Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star label.
Looking to trim off a few pounds after the holiday? Look no further than The Slate Green Challenge with Treehugger. Join the pledge to trim twenty percent off our collective carbon emissions and learn simple ways to reduce your impact on the environment. Throughout the process we will provide all sorts of tips and information on topics such as transportation, holiday shopping, water and electricity. The first 500 to complete the challenge will look lean and green in their new t-shirt provided by our sponsors at I'm Organic. ::Slate Green Challenge Welcome ::Slate Green Challenge Week 5: Electricity...
Alternative Thanksgiving Tradition: Buy Nothing Day
by Celine Ruben-Salama, New York, NY on 11.24.06
Yesterday most Americans gathered around the table with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. Known as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, kicks off the holiday season and is the busiest shopping day of the entire year. In other words, today many rush to the mall to get a start on their holiday shopping.
In reaction to this fiesta in consumption, consumerism and traffic jams, Adbusters Media Foundation asks us to instead participate in Buy Nothing Day. The name implies not buying anything at all for 24 hours. But in fact it’s about starting (or reconfirming) a life-long commitment to efficient consumption and producing less waste. ...
Functional Before Fashionable Tee-Shirts
by Bonnie Alter, London on 11.24.06
Actually, they are fashionable and functional. Found at London Design Week, they were created by a lecturer and designer from a Manchester university. This series of tee-shirts explores how clothing can be useful and evocative as well as making a fashion statement. Made of 100% organic cotton, the designers show wry northern humour and an intellectual twist in their creations. The jar opener tee-shirt (pictured) acknowledges that common household problem of trying to get an extra grip on a stubborn jar. The obvious answer is using our shirt--recognising this, a tee-shirt design was born. Another has a good-looking graphic of an umbrella and raindrops--a nod to local weather conditions. And the Plug is a diagram for wiring a plug. It acknowledges the graphic quality of the information, plus you never know when it will come in handy. :: Umbrella...
Can Solar Power Revive the US Manufacturing Sector?
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 11.24.06
Perhaps not all by itself, but, according to the Washington Post, the production of solar panels for homes and businesses has proven itself a job-creator. BP Solar, for instance, plans to double capacity in its Frederick, Maryland, plant, which will mean the creation of 70 new jobs. In the three years since launching the solar service company SunEdison in Washington, DC, owner Jigar Shah has hired 150 people. While neither of these examples illustrate a widespread rebirth of some American manufacturing industries, the ongoing market demand for solar panels could mean expanding opportunities for workers who've had to trade high-paying jobs for less appealing (and worse paying) employment in the service sector:...
TH Blog Love – Our Favourite Greens Of The Week
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 11.23.06
Organic Reseacher: Carnival Of The Green by Matt Reed
How serendipitous that our weekly ritual of giving thanks to all our fellow green bloggers happens to fall on the yearly tradition that is Thanksgiving. Even if your not in the States eating turkey today we encourage you to give thanks anyway, starting with this week’s host of the Carnival!
Freshtopia: Pumpkin Pie Soup by Oscar and Tanja
Since we’re on a Thanksgiving theme here we’d better pop over to Freshtopia to see what Tanja’s rustled up in her kitchen for dinner. It’s sure to be local, organic, healthy and delicious with a bit of a twist. “Ok, Pumpkin Pie Soup, it sounds a little crazy but you should give it a shot.”...
TreeHugger 100-Mile Thanksgiving Challenge: Last Chance to Vote
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 11.23.06
Piping Light
by EcoGeek.org on 11.23.06
The most efficient use of solar power is lighting. Sunlight is already light, no energy is lost in conversion to or from electricity. Thus the success of windows and the more moderate success of skylights. But What if you need the light to get somewhere not directly connected to the outdoors. What if there's three feet of insulation between your wall and the outside, as there probably should be....
George Monbiot In Vancouver
by Treehugger Interns on 11.23.06
George Monbiot, who is touring his new book Heat, spoke in Vancouver last week. It was riveting, inspirational, and depressing all at once. Ecoshock, an environmental internet radio station, will be posting a recording of Monbiot's speech. Ecoshock is already hosting Monbiot's November 9th appearance (mp3) in London.
In other news, the cover of the Canadian edition of Heat features a photograph by Edward Burtynsky. Also, it appears that Monbiot is pronounced Mon-beyo. [Written by Ruben Anderson]...
Celebrating Thanksgiving & What It Stands For
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.23.06
Today is Turkey Day (or Tofurky Day, depending on your gastronomic persuasion) here in the States, where the holiday allows us a day to gather with family and friends, gorge on food and drink and pause for a moment to reflect on another year gone by. Sometime between carving the bird and slicing pumpkin pie, we'll recommend a read through Corby Kummer's op-ed in today's New York Times about the implications of global warming on America's native food culture. On a day that America celebrates its first harvest, his main point is that food production is being increasingly disrupted by climate change, and by and large, moving north: native foods often celebrated at Thanksgiving, like cranberries that were once famous in New England, for example, are shifting to Canada. Same for pumpkin for the pie and the string beans for the canned-onion-ring casserole, as opportunistic weeds and pests move into disrupted climate areas and wreak havoc with growing cycles and yields. Kummer argues (and we agree) that the day that we gather to give thanks might be a time to think again about how food is being grown where you live and what you can do about it. If we don't forget why the holiday was first celebrated and are willing to do something to keep it around, our local harvests will thanks us all. via ::NY Times...
WiiConnect24: Ensuring Vampirism
by EcoGeek.org on 11.23.06
One of Nintendo's biggest accomplishments with the new Nintendo Wii is its extremely low power consumption. During gameplay, the device uses only 17 watts, less electricity than a compact fluorescent light bulb (not including the display.) The Wii uses at least ten times less power than either the PS3 or the Xbox 360.
However, the Wii has been marketed along with an online service from Nintendo called WiiConnect24. This service encourages users to keep their Wii's on all the time, while delivering them services like free games, firmware updates, news, and some social networking. The problem is that WiiConnect24 prevents the Wii from having a true power-save standby, and keeps the device on all the time. Initial reports show the Wii using about 10 watts of power in standby mode, five times that of the XBOX 360 and ten times EU recommendations....
Coca-Cola Opens First Cafe in Toronto
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.23.06
Photo credit: sixsteps @ flickr
On fashionable Bloor Street in Toronto, there is one building that always stood out as an icon of modernism; it was home for Georg Jensen for years. We recently passed it and noticed that it was now a cafe, Far Coast, that looked good and fit right into the lovely structure. We now learn that it is the North American prototype for a new coffee house chain being developed by none other than Coca Cola. There is no indication of this in the store; instead you find bamboo floors, a fair trade coffee, cups with recycled content, biodegradable utensils and bamboo stir sticks. In the men's loo, they have waterless urinals. Do we dare to give them credit for making the right moves here, the company that makes Dasani bottled water, and of course, Coca-Cola, not exactly the healthiest thing around? Perhaps. ::Now Magazine doesn't think so. ...
Vermicondo: Worm Composter By Levitt Goodman
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.23.06
Levitt Goodman Architects, known to Treehuggers for their great prefabs, decided that worm composters were ugly, and didn't fit in a modern condo, so they designed the Vermicondo, a multi-level condo for worms. From The Star: "There are no nicely designed worm composters," says Janna Levitt, "just a number of goofy ideas like chalets and cutesy Victorian houses." According to Levitt, the "grab your wheatgrass, make a shake and go" crowd is not keen on cutesy. For that matter, they probably aren't too keen on worms, but worms that come in their own chic highrises just might have a chance. It appears that worms are upwardly mobile, and by designing it in layers, the worms start on the lower floor, eat all the waste there and then move upstairs. To top it all off, like any TreeHugger building, it has a green roof of wheatgrass. ::Levitt Goodman via ::The Star...
The Road Less Traveled: Santa Ana California
by Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts on 11.23.06
I'm thankful that local green stores are opening up across the globe. One I'm excited about is 'The Road Less Traveled' in Santa Ana California. One day, Delilah saw a 'for lease' sign on the window of a little store front. It was serendipity as she had been considering how great it would be to have a local store that featured all of the green products she knew were out there. She took the lease, and started her new business....
The TH Interview: Roger Duncan, Plug-in Partners
by Eckhart Beatty, San Francisco on 11.23.06
Roger Duncan serves as the Campaign Coordinator for Plug-in Partners, a national campaign for plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs) striving to demonstrate clearly the viability of this market by doing the following: garnering support in the form of online petitions and endorsements by city governments across the country; procuring "soft" fleet orders; and developing rebates and incentives. TreeHugger's Eckhart Beatty recently had the chance to chat with Mr. Duncan about plug-ins and the future of automotive transportation.
TreeHugger: Why was Plug-in Partners founded in Austin, Texas?
Roger Duncan: As one of the more progressive utilities in the nation, Austin Energy has long led the nation in energy conservation. I was asked to see what else we could be doing in the area of clean energy, and I told the City Council we should start a new initiative in the transportation sector since I saw an eventual convergence between the electric and transportation industries. In my capacity as a manager we might be able to take advantage of the abundance of wind and solar potential to power cars. Soon we began seeing a convergence between the electric and transportation industries. ...
Wild Asia's Responsible Tourism Award Winner: Evason Phuket
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.23.06
With features like a solar thermal plant for hot water, an energy monitoring system with peak demand control and its own wastewater treatment plant, the Evason Phuket Resort is a vacation spot any TreeHugger would love. Nestled into Rawai Beach on the south eastern side of Phuket Island in Thailand, the resort doesn’t discharge any water to the sea and recycles water from its sinks to keep its gardens green. Set amongst 64 acres of tropical gardens, facing the Andaman Sea, the resort composts kitchen waste to use in the garden, and reuses engine oil to treat wood and keep it a shiny black. The resort only uses local suppliers, who are asked to keep plastic packaging to a minimum, and half a percent of their annual revenue, about 2.5 million baht (about US $70,000) goes to social and community programs like the rebuilding of libraries in schools hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami. All of these impressive attributes were enough to win the resort one of Wild Asia’s 2006 Responsible Tourism Awards in recognition of the outstanding implementation of environmental management practices and social programs. The resort is certified under Green Globe 21 and Green Leaf tourism certification schemes. ::Evason Phuket Resort via ::Wild Asia and ::Hugg (GreenLiving)...
Today Was Fun Tea
by Bonnie Alter, London on 11.23.06
We have read about Today Was Fun's Green Green Tea which is carbon neutral and organic, hence the double green moniker. But their original product was this good looking Teastack. It contains four organic teas that provide a spiritual and hot cuppa. There is Happiness Tea with hibiscus flower and rosemary, Sleepy Tea which is laced with lemon balm, lime flower and lavender, Inspiration and Friendship. These stylish and handy containers are re-fillable when the supplies run out and would look good in any kitchen. Mixing tea and philosophy is natural to the creators, so the names represent what they hope to share with the world. The packet’s instructions tell the drinker to “put your work and worries in a drawer”. Set up by an Australian woman living in England, she has won the Best New Organic Product award two years in a row. She believes that no one should work on Fridays. Sounds good and tastes good, just don't call them tomorrow. :: Today Was Fun...
Benchmark Study by Rand Concludes That Renewable Energy Could Hit The 25 Mark
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.23.06
“Renewable resources could produce 25 percent of the electricity and motor vehicle fuels used in the United States by 2025 at little or no additional cost if fossil fuel prices remain high enough and the cost of producing renewable energy continues falling in accord with historical trends, according to a RAND Corporation study ...” (Note: pdf version of full report is free under this link.) 'Significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion (15 percent of projected U.S. emissions) can be achieved. In addition, an estimated 2.5 million barrels of oil consumption would be displaced, according to the study'. What makes the Rand study especially noteworthy is that the authors went through numerous scenarios in their modeling. Now what we need is the converse benchmark, projecting what kind of cumulative US energy conservation levels can be achieved with an all out effort by both public and private sectors, with renewables set at the prospective 25% level. With both studies done, the tricky part would come when setting policy for the confluence of conservation programs and renewable energy growth. ...
First Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Announced for Iowa Location
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.23.06
According to the Des Moines Register, Emmetsburg Iowa, USA will be the site of first commercial-scale, US cellulosic ethanol plant. "The Voyager Ethanol plant in Emmetsburg will be converted from a 50 million-gallon-a-year conventional corn dry mill facility into a 125 million-gallon-a-year commercial-scale biorefinery producing ethanol from not only corn but also the stalk, leaves and cobs of the corn plant..." "The $200 million plant expansion is scheduled to begin in February and take about 30 months to complete". The article also notes that Iowa currently hosts 25 ethanol plants, exhibiting an infrastructure and knowledge base that improve the prospects for additional plants to be located there in the future. Potential sticking point: project completion is contingent upon partial funding from a USDOE grant....
Lost in Space: Utne Reader, November-December
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 11.23.06
Digging into an issue of Utne Reader (the older title of the magazine has returned with new owner Ogden Publications) often takes a reader around the world; the latest issue also takes them into space. The issue's feature section includes "a requiem for the Space Age," a consideration of the promises and pitfalls of the new corporate space race, musing on "law and order in the final frontier," and even an argument for staying focused on the planet we inhabit vs. those we don't. Readers more interested in earth-bound matters will find plenty to engage them, also, including a report on the Pacific island of Nauru, which has become barely habitable as a result of over 100 years of phosphate mining, an overview of urban wind turbines, a brief article about American cities' attempts to reduce the environmental costs of searching for a parking space, and a presentation of options available for a green wedding. Finally, the November-December issue celebrates the life and work of journalist I.F. Stone, and also announces the nominees for the Utne Independent Press Awards. Congratulations to all the nominees, including our many friends in the "Environmental Coverage" category. As always, Utne Reader combines thoughtful original work with the best writing from a wide range of independent publications. ::Utne Reader, November-December 2006...
TreeHugger 100-Mile Thanksgiving Challenge: Time to Vote
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 11.22.06
TreeHugger 100-Mile Thanksgiving Challenge: Meet the Judges and Finalists
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 11.22.06
The entries have been received, and the judges have had their say - now it is your turn to vote for the winner of our 100-Mile Thanksgiving Challenge. Before we show you the delicious entries from our finalists, let us introduce you to the wonderful group of judges that helped us along the way.
- TreeHugger friend Siel (and occasional contributor ) is the voice behind green LA girl and has been testing out the 100-mile diet around Southern California.
- Jill Cordes is the host of Food Network's "The Best of..." and creator of jillcordes.com. She will be sharing with us her "Best of...100-Mile Thanksgiving Dinners."
- Michael Chiarello is a celebrity chef who can be seen cooking up a storm with local ingredients on Food Network's "Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello." You can find his NapaStyle line of cookware online at napastyle.com.
- Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon are the founders of the 100-mile diet and run the website 100milediet.org. We would like to extend our gratitude for their innovation and inspiration in local eating.
- Brahm Ahmadi is the executive director and co-founder of People's Grocery, an Oakland based non-profit focused on building a community-based local food system in West Oakland.
And now to our five 100-Mile Challenge finalists vying for the grand prize from Organic Valley......
Crude: Oil at US$900,000 a Barrel
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.22.06
The artists and marketing genii at Citizen are launching a new line of perfume, working with New York artist Cory Ingram. We can't say it better than the press release:
"It is a limited edition perfume in which "50 ml of crude oil is exqusitely packaged and branded. Both art piece and luxury item, Crude foretells a potential future for one of the 20th century's most influential raw materials.
As our natural resources decline, the future of our society falls into question. How will everyday materials be valued, rethought, branded and consumed? Will a once plentiful resource become a luxury item? At $280 for 50ml, a barrel would be $900,000.
Also included in this range, a 1ml vial on card tester, that is a beautiful replication of a luxury perfume sample, normally given free as product promotion. As with all branded cosmetic launches, there is a “gift with purchase.” Cory’s manifestation of this is the Keffiyeh Wallet, made from a traditional Keffiyeh, a fabric most commonly used as head dress for Semetic tribes.
The three pieces in the line are:
Crude: 50ml packaged perfume, $280
Crude (tester): 1ml of crude oil vial on card, $60
Keffiyeh Wallet: hand made from a single Keffiyeh, $120"
Nothing up on their website yet at ::Citizen but you can email ruth (at) citizen-citizen.com . Thanks, Harry at ::Mocoloco
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An Inconvenient Truth out on DVD
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.22.06
screen shot of the credits, An Inconvenient Truth
In case you didn't read Collin's post, An Inconvenient Truth came out on video yesterday. If you haven't seen it, do so right now. If you have seen it, see it again. Buy it for everyone for Christmas- "The DVD is packaged to make the smallest possible environmental footprint - it is made of 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper, no excess materials, and absolutely no plastics. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this DVD will benefit the bipartisan climate effort, The Alliance for Climate Protection." Be sure to sit through the credits- they are a clever graphic presentation of a few simple ideas to save the planet. ::The Inconvenient Truth, and of course, check out the Convenient Truths: Green Video Contest!...
Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You!, by Laurie David
by Meaghan O'Neill, Newport, R.I. on 11.22.06
Laurie David’s latest project to get people marching in her virtual Stop Global Warming campaign is The Solution is You!, a handy pocket guide to curbing climate change. Part autobiography, part activist’s toolbox, the book, which weighs in at less than 75 post-consumer-recycled pages, is a quick read, but chockablock with all the facts, figures, and fury you’ll need to arm yourself in the war against global warming. From statistics that’ll have you squashing dissenters in any debate to handy tips on how you can reduce your own everyday emissions, you’ll want to dog-ear nearly every page. ...
Most Huggable
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11.22.06
Wind not strong enough to spin a conventional turbine? Maybe it’s the blade that needs improving… A report published in the Sunday Telegraph denies climate change and rankles believers… As Wal-Mart’s organic labeling lawsuit unfolds, Sustainablog peels back the layers… A technology advance for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) may help illuminate their purpose… Angelina Jolie makes a surprise visit to Cambodia for fund a forest conservation project… ...
Defining Hypocrisy, Canadian Style
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.22.06
So here we are in Canada, which along with the States and Australia was laughed out of Nairobi for its attitudes to climate change and Kyoto, and we are off to mail a letter and what is on the current stamp from Crown Corporation Canada Post? Wind turbines. With mountains in the background. Where are the smokestacks for the coal burning power plants? Where are the giant trucks digging up the tarsands? What gall. If I had not put them on the envelope already I would have demanded my money back. ...
TreeHugger Picks: What We're Thankful For
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.22.06
For TreeHuggers in the US, Thanksgiving is just a day a way, so we'll take time to pause and reflect on some of the things that TreeHugger is thankful for this year.
1) From the trailer to the theater to the DVD, we're thankful for everything Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth did to help bring global warming to mainstream consciousness.
2) We're thankful for Tesla Motors, who've shown that electric cars can be hot and fast and eventually affordable.
3) That's right: TreeHugger is thankful for Wal-Mart. We know they aren't perfect, but from selling 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs to offering organic food and sustainble fish to a huge new market, the giant retailer is making some big steps in a greener direction.
4) We're thankful for Loomstate, who are still committed to showing off how sexy being green can be.
5) Lastly, we're thankful for the emergence of wave power, for showing that clean, green energy has been here all along.
What are you thankful for this year? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below....
:: Reduce Your Impact with The Slate Green Challenge
by Brittany Jacobs, Seattle on 11.22.06
Although compact fluorescent light bulbs require higher upfront costs, they use two-thirds less energy and last eight times longer than the average life span of an incandescent bulb. One simple CFL purchase of less than ten dollars has the potential to reduce your carbon emissions by 1,300 lbs and save you around thirty-six dollars throughout the life of the bulb. Better yet, if every American household took the same action we would eliminate 800,000 cars’ worth of greenhouse-gas emissions. Talk about an easy way to make a big impact!
For other easy ways to make a big impact in reducing your carbon emissions check out The Slate Green Challenge with Treehugger. Over 27,000 of our readers have made the pledge to collectively reduce their CO2 emissions by twenty percent, so why haven’t you? This week’s topic of electricity addresses ways to reduce your impact while trimming your energy bills. If you are one of the first 500 contestants who are serious about the challenge our sponsors at I’m Organic will have you looking both conscientious and cool in your new organic cotton t-shirt. ::Slate Green Challenge Welcome ::Slate Green Challenge Week 5: Electricity
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Gary Larson's 2007 Calendar: Benefitting Conservation International
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.22.06
After making a career out of drawing elephants, wildebeest, frogs, bears, horses, salmon, and other wildlife, cartoonist Gary Larson is working to help end the destruction being wrought upon these animals and their habitats. Though he retired from cartooning 11 years ago, and from greatest hits calendars in 2002, he's come out of retirement this year to release a page-a-day calendar of some of his greatest hits; all of his earnings from the 3 million calendars printed, (about $2 million) will go to Conservation International to help end the illegal wildlife trade in Asia. Larson, who worked for the Humane Society as a cruelty investigator before becoming a syndicated cartoonist, says that protecting wildlife is “at the top of my list.” Perhaps his calendar will be at the top of yours this holiday season. It's available at Amazon and other fine booksellers. ::USA Today via ::Gristmill...
Califia: Eco-City of the (Near) Future
by Meaghan O'Neill, Newport, R.I. on 11.22.06
Born from architect Paolo Soleri’s ideas of “arcology”—theoretical habitats that marry architecture and ecology to maintain high-density populations by reducing the overpopulation and environmental-impact problems common to urban areas—the Green Century Institute was founded to spread the word. After attending several Arcosanti conventions—which addressed Soleri’s ideas—in central Arizona, Michael Gosney started up the San Francisco-based group to see if he could manifest some of those ideas physically. Now, GCI is working to make a San Francisco Bay-area eco-city, known as Califia, a reality by 2015. ...
Talking to Tahmineh Javanbakht of Artecnica about Design With Conscience
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 11.22.06
Artecnica are a product design studio with a difference, not only do they make beautiful and innovative products, but they make products with a conscience. When I was in LA recently I went to meet the co-founder and art director of Artecnica, Tahmineh Javanbakht, to talk to her about their work. Artecnica’s Design With Conscience program started with the production of Tord Boontje and Emma Woffenden’s tranSglass series in Guatemala. This series of vases, carafes, drinking glasses, and candleholders made from recycled wine and champagne bottles, epitomizes Artecnica’s efforts in ethical production. The bottles are collected from recycling plants around Guatemala City, then they are cut and polished by specially trained artisans. These men used to work in the packaging factory that produces the tranSglass series, now they have a highly skilled job making top quality design products that are sold all over the world. ...
Dual Mode trains in Japan
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.22.06
Rails carry more people more quickly than roads, particularly in rush hour. Unfortunately our modern low-density suburban development is not necessarily built around rail corridors, and people hate transferring from buses to trains. In Japan, the Hokkaido Railway Company has introduced a DMV (Dual Mode Vehicle) which can run on roads like a bus in low density areas (they are doing it because of declining populations in Hokkaido) and then on rails in more developed areas. ::Japanrail News
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Peace Oil
by Bonnie Alter, London on 11.22.06
It's extra virgin, great on salads and a lubricant for relationships in the Middle East. It's Peace Oil-- olive oil produced in Northern Israel by a collaboration of Arabs, Jews, Bedouins and Druze working together. This joint venture is sponsored by the Charities Advisory Trust which encourages co-operation between communities. Its vision is that through economic co-operation and daily contacts, barriers will be broken down, and understanding and respect built. The label for the bottle reflects this with the words "Peace Oil" in English, Hebrew and Arabic. The oil is pressed from organically grown Suria olives found in the foothills of the Carmel Mountains in the Galilee. They are grown organically, but because the neighbouring farms are not organic, they do not yet have certification. It is not produced in bulk and the olives are taken straight from the tree to the mill and pressed within hours of picking. This gives it a very pure and characteristic taste--perfect for salads and garnish. Profits from sales are used to support peace and reconciliation work in the Middle East. :: Peace Oil...
Vertigo Flue-less fire
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.22.06
'tis the season where we like to cuddle up in front of the fireplace, but they can burn a lot of gas, much of which just goes out the flue or is wasted by the pilot light. The Vertigo not only claims 100% efficiency in delivering 2.6kw of heat, it "uses advanced technology to literally breathe life into your room. Utilising a patented catalytic system, the fire has the ability to burn off the odorous and stale air in the room and efficiently return warm and neutral air back into your airspace." We have no idea how burning natural gas indoors without a flue can lead to better air; we would keep our CO detector in fresh batteries. However it looks great, just fastens to the wall, and needs no chimney or flue; "neutralizing airborne odours" is a bonus. ::Vertigo from West Country Fires...
In A Galaxy Not So Far Away: Star Flaws
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 11.22.06
You’ve probably encountered the news about the cosmonaut, who is earning millions of dollars for the Russian space agency by whacking a golf ball from the partially solar powered International Space Station (seen above). The stunt is being paid for by Canadian sports company E21, ostensibly to commemorate the 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard's golf swing on the moon. Apparently the ball weighs 15 times less than a standard golf ball. Yet, if anything were to run into this particular golf ball, during the three years it is expected to stay in orbit, it would be like being hit by a 20 tonne truck doing 180 kph (112 mph). It seems that even a mere fleck of paint floating in space has been known to gouge a groove in the windshield of space shuttle. And NASA is supposed to be currently keeping track of over 13,000 largish items of discarded space debris. That’s a good use of human and technical resources, huh? Via Fox News and The Age. ...
a Zero Waste Society
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.22.06
Showing a picture from (now defunct) Garbagescout at the Worldchanging book launch, Alex Steffen said something like: "Garbage is simply useful stuff in the wrong place". It is true- In Toronto we have no beer bottle garbage, because there is a ten cent deposit on them. In the UK, the Institute for Public Policy Research is calling for Britain to become a zero waste society. It says taxes should be applied to disposable products such as razors and cameras, encouraging people to buy more lasting products. They say consumers should learn to repair and reuse items rather than throwing them out, as well as recycling more. The think-tank report wants manufacturers to be compelled to design durable products that can be reused rather than throwaway plastic that will need regular, and profitable, replacement. 'We have become an increasingly throwaway society, reliant on cheap, disposable and hard to recycle goods,' said Nick Pearce, the think-tank's director. 'Business needs to take greater responsibility for the whole life of a product.' ::Guardian
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TH Reader Proposes "Tax the Bulb"
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 11.22.06
Treehugger reader Francis Irving pointed us to a cool new feature at the British Prime Minister's web site: citizens can create e-petitions, collect signatures, and then send them directly to Downing Street. Francis himself has already used the system to create a petition calling for a new tax on inefficient light bulbs. The text of the petition reads: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to levy a tax on energy inefficient light bulbs so that their long term financial and environmental cost is visible in their retail price.In his comments, Francis compares the environmental costs of traditional incandescent bulbs, and the benefits of compact fluorescents (a subject with which we're familiar). We say if you can't ban them outright, a tax sounds like the next best step to push British consumers towards more efficient lighting (and it fits nicely with "Chelsea Tractor" and "pay as you throw" proposals). We don't know, though, if the Prime Minister can do this himself, or if it takes an act of Parliament. ::"Tax the Bulb" at E-Petitions Image by PiccoloNamek at Wikipedia...
How to Green Your Lighting
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11.21.06
What’s the Big Deal?
How we light up the places we live and work makes a big impact on how we feel. It also makes a big impact on the environment. The kind of bulbs, the kind of fixtures, the kind of power, and the habits we keep can all add up to a very significant greening. Start with the fact that a conventional incandescent bulb turns only around five to ten percent of its consumed energy into light, the rest goes out as heat. From there, there’s no limit to how green your lighting can be.Britain Needs A ‘Pay As You Throw’ Tax
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 11.21.06
Such is the proposal of a new report released on the weekend by the UK’s Institute for Public Policy Research and Green Alliance. They point out that only about a quarter of domestic waste gets recycled in the UK, whereas across the Channel in the Netherlands they can manage almost three times as much. In another example, of the 4 billion foil lined TetraPaks (longlife milk and juice) used in UK, only 10% get recycled, but Germany, who has a tiny levy on the cartons, processes 65% of the things. The report cites other instances of European neighbours seeing pronounced reductions in consumption of throwaway goods where a ‘Pay As You Throw’ tax has been applied. But it also notes that there are some good news stories on the home front, like supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, working with their suppliers to replace the use of cardboard boxes with reusable crates, saving approximately 8,400 tonnes of cardboard a year. Items suited to a throwaway levy are said to include, single use cameras, disposable razors, picnic tableware and non-rechargeable batteries. ::Institute for Public Policy Research, via ::The Age....
TreeHuggerTV - What if. . . Convenient Truths Video Contest
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 11.21.06
How Windows XP Wasted $25 Billion of Energy
by EcoGeek.org on 11.21.06
Microsoft has been touting Vista's new power saving features, saying that upgrading to Vista could easily save consumers and corporations $50 to $75 per computer per year in energy costs. The question, though, is what marvelous new code makes this miracle possible. The answer? They fixed three stupid mistakes that have cost the world billions of dollars and millions of tons of CO2 in the past five years.
First, Microsoft never put power-saving options high on the list of default specs. In order for XP to run smoothly, with all its bells and whistles going, desktop machines had to run in "high-performance" mode, the equivalent of flooring your Honda at every green light. So the defaults were often set to "High Performance." Even when they weren't, consumers generally chose the setting themselves, not realizing that it had any affect on power consumption....
Al Gore Trains Climate Crisis Ambassadors
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 11.21.06
"My heart was beating so much, I thought my chest was going to crack open. I was absolutely thrilled." Mother of two, Elizabeth Bastian, explains how it felt to be one 85 Australians selected to join Al Gore’s Climate Project. "Having two kids makes you think about the future much more than when you're living for the present," she said. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), working in partnership with Al, sent out an invitational email, asking Aussies with access to a laptop and a data projectors, would they like to deliver 10 global warming presentations to their local communities over the next year. Recently the successful applicants spent three days being personally trained by Al Gore, for their own version of An Inconvenient Truth. Joining Elizabeth will be a eclectic mix of presenters such as Bruce Beatson, a retired dairy farmer; Anna Keenan, a student from Brisbane, who postponed her 21st birthday party to attend the training; Felix Riebl, lead singer with Melbourne band The Cat Empire; and FM radio hosts Merrick Watts and Tim Ross. Al’s slide show is being localised with additional Australian information on climate science, impacts and solutions. Similar projects are planned for the US and UK. As Anna Keenan said, “I think that climate change is going to be the most important issue over the next 50 years. It’s really important for young people to get involved.” The ::ACF, via The Age and ABC Online. ...
Bergman’s Organic Pima Cotton Clothing
by Celine Ruben-Salama, New York, NY on 11.21.06
Since 1986 the Swedish company Bergman’s has been churning out garments for the whole family made with their own certified organic cotton. Over the years, this family business has perfected their organic Pima cotton grown in their own fields in the Cañete valley, in southern Peru.
High quality and classic models characterize the brand. You’ll find shirts, slacks, skirts, jackets, undergarments and more for the whole family. Unlikely to ever go out of style, these organic cotton clothes are a worthwhile investment in my book. ...
Carbonfund.org Introduces Carbonfree Shipping
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11.21.06
Finding those perfect eco-friendly products can be tricky, especially if you don’t live in one of the world’s major metropolises. The world of online retail brings the marketplace within reach, but the shipping of products is not without its environmental detriment. To help confront this problem, Carbonfund.org, a carbon offset non-profit and the force behind Working Assets’ carbon neutrality, has teamed with Carnegie Mellon’s Green Design Institute in the creation of a scheme to calculate and offset CO2 emissions from the shipping of online purchases. The newly launched program, called Carbonfree Shipping, includes Better World Books, 3R Living, Evogear, and Alonovo. Carbonfund expects that other online sellers will adopt the program soon as well. Check out this week’s installment of TreeHugger Radio on Ecotalk for more on Carbonfree Shipping and a word with Carbonfund Executive Director, Eric Carlson. :: Carbonfund.com...
Most Huggable
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11.21.06
A zero-carbon, zero-waste community of 30,000 people in Portugal is part of an ambitious new plan for an eco-tourism hub on the country’s coast… Australian researchers come up with a shower head that uses air to use 1/3 less water… Expedia.com’s carbon offset option for travelers is so far a success… Stella McCartney and Jackie Chan battle it out for a place in the eco skin-care arena (or maybe not)… Which is better, hot water from the stove or tap? The people ask and Pablo answers… ...
Hot Video Contest Seeks Solutions to Hot Problem: Convenient Truths
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 11.21.06
Since it has left theaters, buzz has died down on Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth. We say, let it live again! The documentary is released today on DVD! Due in large part to the film, global warming is now part of the public discourse. From US Magazine to “The Colbert Report,” everyone knows something about global warming. Great. But what are you actually doing about it?
TreeHugger and Seventh Generation, Inc., want you to put your money—or at least your time and a video camera—where your mouth is, by inspiring and inciting your peers to take action against global warming.
We call the contest “Convenient Truths” ($25,000 value in prizes!) as an ode to Al as he has called the contest "a great way to spread the word and bring the issue into our daily lives." ...
Polycrystalline Silicon Shortage Extended: Bad News For Solar Power Pricing For Up To A Decade
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.21.06
From Financial Times (US Edition, subscription only) “The faster growing solar panel industry is forecast to overtake the chip sector in the next five years in its use of silicon. But it must first overcome an acute shortage of the commodity, which is throttling its expansion”. From the Tokyo Edition (full story linked) "Industry experts warn that a worldwide shortage of poly-crystalline silicon will not ease in 2008, as some expect, but could continue for at least another five years. Solar projects will either have to be abandoned, or governments will have to pay billions of additional dollars in subsidies". Among other things, this postpones serious discussion of ending all government subsidies for solar power. It affects computer pricing as well. One has to wonder if the laws of supply and demand have somehow been overcome? Could electricity pricing and availability be the problem? Someone explain!
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Earthtalk :: Fire Retardant Dangers
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 11.21.06
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: Are the flame-retardants used in many products as a fire safety precaution dangerous to our health? If so, what can I do to avoid contact with them? -- Katya, via e-mail
Flame-retardants are in widespread use in both the U.S. and Canada, primarily in carpet padding, foam cushions, polyester bedding and clothing, wallpaper, and the plastic housings for computers, faxes and other electronics. Most are made from variations of a chemical known as PBDE, which stands for polybrominated diphenyl ether....
AirPod: A Personal Air Purifier from Blueair
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.21.06
AirPod is a svelte "personal air purifier" that cleans 45 cubic air per minute, weighs less than 2 lbs. and looks great doing it. According to manufacturer Blueair, AirPod "uses approximately 60% less material to manufacture, 50% less packaging and 85% less energy than other air purifiers with comparable performance. It also runs on less than five watts of power where other units require 40 watts. No chemicals are used on the filter or elsewhere and no ozone by-products are released from the unit. In addition, all components and the packaging are 100% recyclable." It works by combining mechanical and electrostatic filter technology with a quiet fan that draws air through the "HEPASilent" filter, where negatively charged particles cling to the fibers. Air then passes through the docking station that contains an ionizer which charges particles in the air. “The AirPod concept was born from the idea that people want to breath cleaner air wherever they happen to be,” says Bengt Rittri, president and founder of Blueair. “We set out to create a portable personal air purifier that is highly effective, extremely compact, eco-friendly and good looking. We also took into consideration the fact that people want to personalize their gadgets and appliances.” Striking resemblance to a certain ubiquitous consumer electronic notwithstanding, we like the design and the statistics supporting its function; has anyone had an encounter with one? Please feel free to let us know how well they work in the comments section below. ::AirPod via ::MoCo Loco...
Ecosol Powerstick: Quick, Portable Recharging Power
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.21.06
It would be great if we could all have solar chargers like these to keep our gadgets running without cumbersome adapters, tangled cords and the dirty power grid, but they won't work for everyone. They take time, a little planning and foresight and sunlight, which are luxuries that we all don't have all the time. How to easily and efficiently keep you cell phone, PDA, iPod and other gadgets charged? Check out the Powerstick. Made by a company called Ecosol (who are also into solar power), it combines a USB "thumb drive" with a rechargeable lithium polymer battery and a set of adapter tips designed to fit a plethora of gadgets. Plug it in to any USB port; 90 minutes later, it's 90% charged and you can resurrect a cell phone, PDA, digital camera or a host of other electronic devices. The handy LCD meter readout shows how much juice is left; on average, the device will add 3 hours of talk time or 6 days of standby time to a cell phone. It's ultra-portable, ultra-reusable (it'll go for at least 500 charges) and an all-around pretty slick little device; the folks at the Consumer Electronics Association were impressed enough to give the Powerstick the Best Innovation 2007 award at this year's CES. Sure, it's conventional power, but your computer is going to be on anyway, right? ::Ecosol via ::Core77...
Make A Water Filter From Old Tires
by Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts on 11.21.06
Crumb rubber, chewed up old tires, is used on athletic tracks, playgrounds, and increasingly as an alternative to mulch. Now, Dr. Yuefeng Xie, associate professor of environmental engineering at Penn State Harrisburg, has found crumb rubber makes an excellent water filter.
"My research has found that crumb rubber, derived from waste tires, can be used as a filter media," Xie explains. "The crumb rubber could be used for treating wastewater, ship ballast water, and storm water."His research shows that the crumb rubber is more efficient than anthracite or sand filters. More traditional filters rearrange themselves to allow larger particles through at the bottom, and finer particles filtered out on top- this is exactly the opposite of what you want to have happen. The rubber keeps the large particles out on top, and thus creates a much higher throughput. The rubber filter is also lighter in weight, making it ideal for portable emergency filtration. The use of waste tires also makes this an much cheaper option, and better than sitting in a landfill.:: Penn State...
Richard Wrightman: Campaign Furniture Updated
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.21.06
When it comes to flatpak design, IKEA has nothing on the Victorian British Military, where officers travelled in comfort and style with furniture that could be knocked down and reassembled quickly, albeit with the help of lots of soldiers and sailors to do the work for them. New York designer Richard Wrightman was inspired by it: "The collection of modern campaign furniture offered is inspired by the timeless functional aesthetic of its 19th century predecessors. Lightweight, and collapsible, the collection combines style with function." We particularly like this cot, that has drop-in trays to act as a coffee table, and can also be designed to extend to 29" high, so that it can be used as a console table. ...
DOE Presents Scenarios for Widespread Hydrogen Vehicle Use
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 11.21.06
We've looked at a number of hydrogen fuel cell concept cars in the past, and noted that GM plans to put some vehicles on the road for testing in the near future. We're still a long ways from highways packed with vehicles that emit only water, though. How long is a question that's almost completely up in the air, but last week, representatives from the US Department of Energy presented a "Scenario Analyses of a Nascent National Hydrogen Transportation System" at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. Sebastian Blanco from AutoblogGreen was in attendance, and gave a thorough report last Thursday on the presentation by Sigmund Gronich, technology validation manager at the U.S. Department of Energy – Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies, and his team. Sebastian reported that the group did give potential dates for widespread use of hydrogen-powered personal transportation, but those dates are definitely "potential," and based on many variables that the team members conceded they just didn't know....
New Balance 100th Anniversary
by Bonnie Alter, London on 11.21.06
New Balance running shoes are one hundred years old, and to mark their centenary they have designed three limited-edition pairs of shoes inspired by their three longest-term employees. The 577 (pictured) is dedicated to Audrey Stewart, who has worked in the stitching department for almost 25 years. The other two are named after loyal male employees: Victor Dixon who works as a “toe and side laster” and Ian Byers, who creates special football shoes. Their portraits and signatures will be featured on the insoles (gasp!) of each shoe and the packaging will tell their story. Only 1906 pairs will be made of each type. New Balance was set up in 1906 (get it?), with the British factory opening in 1982. New Balance are controversial as a green company. Although they claim to be ethical, the manufacturing sources for many of their shoes are questionable. To their credit, they don’t have celebrities endorsing their shoes. They are interested in good fit, with sneakers available in 5 widths, and have produced vegan shoes. In Britain they are committed to domestic production--most of the trainers (British for running shoes) are handmade in their West Cumbrian factory--with no third-world sweatshops involved. Happy Birthday. :: New Balance...
More on Hydrogen 7 by BMW
by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 11.21.06
Remember BMW’s Hydrogen 7? The luxury sedan, which will be limitedly released next year, discharges mainly water vapor from its combustion engine. The hydrogen verses electric debate is still on—but If you are interested in how this machine eats up the pavement, Wired has an article on a recent test drive in Berlin. ...
Chemical Risk Management: San Francisco Style
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.21.06
From the San Francisco Chronical: - "Starting Dec. 1, a first-in-the-nation ban goes into effect in San Francisco, prohibiting the sale, distribution and manufacture of baby products containing any level of bisphenol A and certain levels of phthalates". This small excerpt is from a lengthy feature article which is best read in totality. Here's our two-cents about the policy issues that flow from the ban. Rule: when the US Government abdicates it's traditional role of negotiated rule making on difficult issues, whether it's on managing climate risk or for hazardous chemical exposure control, the predetermined outcome is always the same: state and municipal governments step in to fill the vacuum. (This time it's a global abdication, as it was the European Union which first acted on the referenced issues.) At first it's an ordinance here and a law there; but, it can replicate rapidly, resulting in an impossible mixture of standards. Once the snowball rolls, it's difficult, almost impossible, for industry lobbyists to keep up, which eventually leads to calls to Washington DC with "you gotta do something"-type requests. 'Hello is this Ms Boxer's office?'...
Nanogreenhouse: Paint Your Walls with Photo-catalysts
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.21.06
We have discussed the miraculous pollution-fighting properties of titanium dioxide before; now you can have them in your home or office. Toronto's Nanogreenhouse will apply their "Smart Coating System" which will "react in the presence of light to neutralize bacteria, mould and volatile organic compounds while producing oxygen and water." for about 3 bucks per square foot. TiO2 systems are usually proposed for outdoor use where there is lots of ultraviolet light, so we are not certain about the effectiveness of painting a condo with it as they propose. However but might work in offices where the flourescent lights are on all day long. ::Nanogreenhouse via ::The Star...
Mogga Transformer Chair
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.21.06
We have been showing tables that transform, but few chairs and never one like the Mogga, from Icelandic designer Olafur Omarsson. It uses tambour wood (usually strips of wood bonded to a flexible backer) which slides in grooves on the frame to act as a seat in one position, a table in another. Says the designer:" Mogga was designed for small spaces. Imaginary scenario was created by the designer where people would need a chair that could be turned into a table without many problems. Function was inspired by old breadboxes and was tested on another design project leading to the Mogga design" ::Omarsson via ::Design Spotter...
Denim Therapy for your Tattered Jeans
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 11.21.06
No, no, treehuggers don't like throwing stuff away especially when it comes to a long loved pair of jeans. We say 'fix it' above recycling. But sorting out the cuts and holes of an old pair of jeans is not an easy task and often results in just buying a new pair. Now however, there's Denim Therapy for your falling apart jeans. This New York based company made it their business to treat all kinds of broken and torn jeans or denim item. Their unique reconstruction technique lets them place new cotton fibres into the existing denim fabric to fill undesired holes. Denim Therapy promise to give each pair of jeans individual attention (no group therapy) and cure them with matching grain, colour and feel. Discrimination is not allowed by the Denim Doctors; they treat each pair of jeans the same regardless of its brand name. All you have to do is go to their web site, fill out a form and mail them your patient. The estimated repair cost is $7/inch.
If you can get your shoes fixed in the street, why not your jeans? We hope their business takes off and inspires more people to offer cool repairing services, a business not yet fogotten... ::via Springwise ::Denim Therapy...
How to Green Your Electricity
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11.20.06
What’s the Big Deal?
The cost of electricity is going up (both in dollars and in environmental and health impacts) and it doesn’t show any signs of doing otherwise. About half of the energy in the American grid is coal generated. We won’t bore you with what you already know: coal is a really stinky, dangerous, nasty, unsustainable, and silly way to make power. By using less energy, and greening the electricity that we do use, we can lighten our footprint immensely. The subject of electricity and its environmental impacts is a massive one and we can’t cover every corner of it here. We hope that this brief guide can offer some solid suggestions for greening your electricity and use thereof.Velocipede – No, They Haven’t Found A New Dinosaur
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 11.20.06
Two years ago we flippantly suggested the Go-One recumbent might be the future of cycling. It still might be. Now it has its best chance, having finally been made available for sale in the USA. Though we suspect for all it’s innovative technical wizardry and aerodynamics, the price tag might slow the speed of uptake. Not too many of us have a spare $14,000 USD kicking around in the sock drawer, ready to put down on a tricycle. More is the pity. Still — we can drool. ::Hammacher Schlemmer....
Lloyd Says, It’s Cool to be Green
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 11.20.06
Amber MacArthur is the New Media Specialist for City News International and one time judge of the Webby Awards. Seems she is a fan of TreeHugger and in particular, our own TreeHuggerTV, reporting that we’d won a recent Vloggie Award. Lloyd Alter is our resident architecture and prefab expert, whose writing style often requires that he puts his tongue in his cheek, while placing fingers on keyboard. Anyhow, as the two are in Toronto, they thought why not hang out in a city park (with trees) and have a chin wag about the rise of blogs and the burgeoning parallel interest in ‘going green’, all whilst maintaining one’s hipness. If you pardon the mini advert at the front of the segment, you’ll get an insight into what drives Lloyd to be one of our more prolific writers. Hear what “baby steps” he has made in the ongoing greening of his own lifestyle. And maybe you’ll even pick up on the subtle name dropping for one of Lloyd’s fave eco products. See the interview here >::City TV....
The Slate Green Challenge: Week 5 - Electricity
by Brittany Jacobs, Seattle on 11.20.06
Nowadays, it’s hard to live without your iPod, laptop, alarm clock, cell phone, television, and all those other modern conveniences that make life a little easier (and more fun). But, did you know that leaving these devices plugged in while not in use constantly draws at least 1 kw of energy per gadget? If you are like the rest of us (guilty!), you could be using up to ten appliances at any given time. Try unplugging your gadgets or using a power strip that can be shut off completely, which can save up to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per two-person household annually, as well as hundreds of dollars off your energy bills.
To date, almost 27,000 people have joined us on The Slate Green Challenge. That equates to a pledge of 46 million pounds of collective CO2 reduction! There are four weeks remaining in the challenge and you can still join us. It all starts with a carbon footprint analysis and follows with information on such topics as food, transportation and this week’s topic -- electricity. Be one of the first 500 to complete the challenge and win a free t-shirt from our friends and sponsors at I’m Organic. ::Slate Green Challenge Welcome ::Slate Green Challenge Week 5: Electricity
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Most Huggable
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11.20.06
The Economist analyzes green dreams and the boom in alternative energy… China has a new Chery hybrid ready to go, meanwhile, Prius sales droop… EcoRazzi gets in tight with Ed Begley Jr. and Rachelle Carson about their new eco-reality show… An amending of the London Convention now allows for carbon dioxide to be buried beneath the surface of the earth… Young evangelical Christians call for an end to the “degradation of God’s creation." ...
Factory Farms Should Make Safer Turkeys
by Union of Concerned Scientists on 11.20.06
The turkeys on our Thanksgiving dinner tables this year are different from the ones the Pilgrims had at the first Thanksgiving. Nearly all of the 50 million turkeys Americans will eat on Thursday will come from animal factories. While raising turkeys in a factory setting might make the birds cheaper and available to a large number of consumers, factory farming comes with negative consequences for our health and our environment. ...
Seen In New York: Solar Powered Parking Meters
by Celine Ruben-Salama, New York, NY on 11.20.06
Being an extremely occasional driver, it took me a while to discover the ubiquitous multi-space, pay-and-display parking meters that grace the sidewalks of New York. The so called "Muni-Meters" caught my eye because on top of each is an angled solar panel. With over 2,000 machines throughout the city the main reason for choosing a renewable energy sources was cost. By virtue of having their own power source laying underground power mains was avoided close to halving the overall installation cost for the machines. ...
A Little Peace With My Peas, Please
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 11.20.06
Speaking about the Slow Food movement, Israel has its own contribution to spiritual culinary pursuits, Chefs For Peace-- who recently showed off their cooking skills at Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto, the "Exhibition of Taste". In celebrating one of the world's best known food festivals, the meet not only promoted ten years of excellence in taste, but peace between Palestinians and Israelis as well. ::BBC...
TreeHugger Picks: Shipping Containers Do More Than Ship
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.20.06
The holiday season really kicks in to high gear this week, and with the holidays comes lots of food, lots of drink and lots of stuff, and that stuff has to come from somewhere. Too often, it comes from ship, train and truck in ubiquitous shipping containers, so we'd like to take the chance to remind everyone that shipping containers are good for more than just running stuff on the H2O Highway.
1) From Adam Kalkin's Push Button House to the All-Terrain Cabin, shipping container prefab is all the rage.
2) Even so, they should never be the ultimate building form, though it does signal a new creativity among architects and builders that may be more powerful than any magic-bullet building technique.
3) Freitag's flagship store in Zurich employs 9 containers rising from a 4 x 2 base.
4) Section 8 is a bar made from a shipping container in Melbourne, Australia, where the novelty seems to be proving a business success.
5) Organitech has developed an automated, high-density vertical farming module for the standard shipping container....
"New + Notable 2006" - Intriguing Products from I.D.
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.20.06
I.D. magazine's December issue is out, trumpeting the year's most intriguing products with the extensive "New + Notable 2006." The list lives up to its billing, delivering an impressive showcase of the best design from the past year, and there's a fair sprinkling of TreeHugger throughout the twelve categories. Ranging from the decorative: "Greener Than Grass," the latest rug from German textile designer Mary-Ann Williams; to the functional: Ecopod, the compactor and sorter that can make recycling fun (in the middle, above); to the futuristic: Leaf, the LED lamp designed by Yves Béhar for Herman Miller that we were impressed enough with to cover not once but twice (it's on the right). There's some other stuff we've covered (the Mix LED lamp, Molo's Paper Softseating and Valcucine's new kitchen design) plus some stuff we should have (like Kenmore's latest Elite series washer & dryer, with iPod-generation looks and energy efficiency nearly 50% higher than Energy Star standards and DDCLab's eco-friendly collection of apparel and accessories called [and made from] Cork). Thumb through pages 43 - 115 for plenty more example of the way that great design can change the world, and check out the shout out to our friends at Good magazine on page 119 -- it's all in ::I.D. December 2006 -- "New + Notable 2006"...
Argentinean Scientists Develop Biodegradable Material Similar to Plastic
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 11.20.06
Two teams of Argentinean investigators have been developing for the past three years a new biodegradable material from soy and sunflowers proteins that was recently awarded with the Dupont-Conicet Scientist Technologic Development Program: a 25 thousand dollars prize. Its main utility: agriculture and food packaging. Proteins to elaborate the material are obtained from soy and sunflowers seeds. Once isolated and dried, compost similar to flour with 90% proteins is obtained. Then, with water and other components, films of the new material are produced. “The material’s main disadvantage is that proteins are permeable to water, and that widens the applications it can have”, said to Argentinean newspaper La Nación doctor Adriana Mauri, one of the project’s coordinators. Its advantages are that as soy and sunflowers seeds are used to make eatable oil, the material could be produced from oil industry’s leftovers; and also, the material’s permeability to gas: "this is great because food packaged with this could have longer conservation time”, explained doctor Patricia Eisenberg, another project coordinator. With this prize, the team will begin to add other components that can help reduce the materials’ disadvantage. One of the best applications of the material is to enhance bilberries’ life, by covering them with a thin transparent eatable film. “A market that will require this type of materials is the organic food industry”, points the expert. ::Via La Nacion...
Organic Researcher Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 11.20.06
As TreeHugger is the new manager of the Carnival of the Green we'd like to mention this week’s host, Organic Researcher. Head on over to the Carnival to check out a round up of last week’s green news and events, submitted by other bloggers and green sites. To learn more about Carnival of the Green, where it will be and how to host, please click here to link to our previous post....
Call For Entries: Media That Matters Film Festival
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11.20.06
Arts Engine's Media That Matters Film Festival is the premiere showcase for short films with big messages, and they want your submission. They're looking for a diverse collection of films to engage diverse audiences and inspire them to take action, so if you have a keen interest in filmmaking and a vision for affecting positive change in the environmental (or other socially conscious) arena, roll the cameras and send in the finished product. The films can be diverse in style and content, with documentaries, music videos, animations, experimental work and everything else in between; what all the films have in common is that they spark debate and action in 8 minutes or less. The deadline is January 17, 2007 (see the rest of the submission guidelines here); the festival launches in New York City in June with a World Premiere at the IFC Center and an Awards Ceremony at HBO where every filmmaker is honored and many receive cash awards sponsored by major foundations and corporations. The June launch events are just the beginning of a jam-packed year of Media That Matters. The films stream online in their entirety, broadcast nationally and are distributed on DVD to educators and activists. Media That Matters reaches thousands through community screenings around the country; watch the sixth annual festival submissions online here. If you have a vision to inspire the world to act through film, this is for you. ::Media That Matters Film Festival...
Wind Turbines Sprouting at Ski Resorts
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.20.06
foundation for wind turbine at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort
We have noted before that our snowboarding obsession, where we drive two hours each way to be electrically winched up a hill to ride down a clearcut trail on artificial snow made by pumping huge amounts of Georgian Bay water using massive KwHr of electricity, is not exactly treehugger correct. Ski resorts can see the writing on the wall as well, as global warming shortens the seasons and increases the costs for snowmaking; Warren notes how Aspen Skiing Company is building LEED ,and Eric describes Vail buying offsets. Mammoth Mountain Resort in California sits on top of a volcano and is drilling for geothermal to heat its buildings. Jiminy Peak is the first to install its own wind turbine, but there are now 19 ski resorts relying on 100% wind power, and 47 resorts using some kind of renewable energy. I feel better already. ::New York Times...
Fleet Hero Awards
by Bonnie Alter, London on 11.20.06
Cars and trucks are the cause of 25% of all CO2 emissions. The Energy Saving Trust works to cut the amount of CO2 produced by transport vehicles by promoting efficient and sustainable approaches to travel and transport. Their annual awards recognise pioneering achievements in green fleet management. And the winners…Bolton Alternative Fuels Co-op which makes biodiesel fuel out of vegetable and cooking oils collected from restaurants and pizza parlours. Not the only ones to have done this, they collect it in a big yellow “taxi” and have saved their members nearly £5,000 in fuel costs over the past year, as well as reducing carbon emissions by recycling almost five tons of waste vegetable oil. The fuel also powers a community van that sells fruit and vegetables. ...
Laneway House by Kohn Shnier Architects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.20.06
Many cities have extensive networks of back lanes; sometimes the garages and service buildings evolve into houses. In Toronto, architects have been trying for years to develop back lane housing; there is so much opportunity to increase density and safety. Unfortunately in this case "not in my backyard" can be taken literally, and it rarely happens. When it does, it is usually a renovation of a pre-existing condition, like this renovation by Kohn Shnier Architects, known to Treehuggers as the designers of the Q series of modern prefabs. The entire lot is 26 by 40 feet, yet it packs in a parking space, a bicycle storage level over the garage, and room for a family of four....
Evolve or Die: Mother Jones, November-December
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 11.20.06
The bold exclamation on the cover of the latest issue of Mother Jones may sound a bumper-sticker slogan, but Julia Whitty's cover story offers a unique and complex look at the twelve tipping points that could trigger massive climate destabilization, and points to a thirteenth that could lessen the impact for current and future generations: unprecedented levels of global cooperation. Borrowing from evolutionary biology, game theory and climate science, Whitty paints a grim picture, and then conclusively demonstrates that we're not beyond hope... if we can evolve.
Evolution also underlies a series of articles on "corporate do-goodery," with Bill McKibben, Amy Cortese, Adam L. Peneberg and others writing about companies as varied as Interface, Google and BP, and the difficult interplay between acting in the public interest, and remaining vigilant about the bottom line. Some companies are "doing well by doing good"; others are clearly more concerned about appearing as solid corporate citizens while engaging largely in business as usual. Distinguishing between the two is often a frustrating exercise....
Less is the New More: Transformer Tables
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.20.06
In small spaces there is not always room for a dining room table and a coffee table; why not have one unit that serves both functions? It is not a new idea- according to the New York Times, "In the American colonies in the 17th century, for instance, some homes had settles, or long wood settees, whose high backs were hinged so they could be unlatched and folded down to make a table when the dinner bell rang. Victorian explorers — at least those with enough money to travel in style — rarely ventured into the dark and uncharted without collapsible furniture that could do double and sometimes triple duty" They might have liked the Esprit table from Target that goes from 12 to 32 inches high, and doubles in width. ::Target via ::New York Times...
Reduce Packaging, Win a Prize
by Eric Kane, New York, NY on 11.20.06
For anyone who’s walked the streets of New York City in recent years, a parked Fresh Direct truck has become a familiar site. Unfortunately this scene has become synonymous with what is best described as extreme over packaging. In an effort to protect its products, Fresh Direct delivers groceries in cardboard boxes that often hold as little as a few items. Subsequently, a food delivery can yield several boxes. Although responsible shoppers can recycle these boxes, one can’t help but wonder if there’s a way to reduce packaging while achieving the same effect. In fact, this question has inspired a contest at ‘there.blogging’. The contest calls for entrants to develop a proposal that would help reduce waste from Fresh Direct and other similar businesses. For contest information and to submit your ideas click here. ...
Shimotani Pellet Stoves that Look Good
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.20.06
As Justin and Collin point out, pellet stoves are hot. Unfortunately in North America they are also ugly, looking like olde-fashioned wood stoves that would fit in grandma's house but not in any self-respecting modernist's. In Japan, Satoshi Seki designed this modern and colourful unit for Shimotani. Now why can't North American manufacturers do this? ::Shimotani via ::Mocoloco...
Ecoist and Luna Bar Team Up
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 11.20.06
We've given nods to Ecoist, the accessories design label that finds innovative and stylish uses for excess packaging destined for the landfill, numerous times over the past year. Ecoist has teamed up with another TH favorite brand, Luna Bar (a product of Clif Bar), to acquire 4 million wrappers that the energy bar maker won't be using as it moves towards an organic makeover. Those wrappers will go into a unique line of limited-edition handbags. Whether you purchase these bags, or other one-of-a-kind accessories (the movie billboards collection looks really cool), Ecoist will throw in a copy of An Inconvenient Truth on DVD to shoppers who purchase $200 in products at the company's website. Just enter coupon code thetruth06 at checkout. ::Ecoist and Luna Bar...
25% of America's Energy Could Come From 100 Million Acres of Land
by EcoGeek.org on 11.20.06
This headline, as you may have noticed, is not really good news. Sure, we at Treehugger like the idea of ethanol and bio diesel, but 100 million acres is an awful lot of land and I'm not sure that we have that much to spare. Nonetheless, this statistic, from a recent report from the University of Tennessee, is interesting and encouraging.
The report was commissioned 25x25, an organization that hopes that 25% of America's energy will come from renewable sources in the next 25 years. The report, which studies the viability of that vision, is encouraging on several fronts. First, almost all of the 100 million acres would come from rangeland, not from farmland, meaning we'll be depriving cows of their meals, not people. This, of course, is contingent on the development of inexpensive technology that can convert switch grass to ethanol. Without that, says the report, we've got nothing....
Rainham Marshes: Designer Birdwatching
by Treehugger Interns on 11.19.06
When you think of organizations at the cutting edge of green design, the UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is not the first to spring to mind. All this may well change however, as the conservation group recently unveiled an innovative new hide and education centre at Rainham Marshes in Essex. The Guardian recently published a glowing article by Janathan Glancy about the site here, from which we borrowed this rather wonderful photo by David Levene. Praising it’s simplicity and lack of gimmicks, Glancy's description certainly intrigued this Treehugger (and ex-bird watcher). In these high-tech times, it is nice to hear about an environmental education centre that focuses on, well, the environment, rather than touch screens and multi-media displays. Designed by Van Heyningen and Haward Architects, the Guardian hails the new building as as "one of the best new buildings in the Thames Gateway". ...
Dean Betts Opens Slow Food Café in Matakana, NZ
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 11.19.06
When passing through Matakana seems like a regular small town north of Auckland surrounded by beautiful landscapes and a stunning coast line. However if you get the chance to stop there and spend some time you’ll soon come to realise that things run a little deeper and a little slower in this town. In fact it has been said that Matakana is on it’s way to becoming the first registered Slow Town in Australasia. The Cittaslow movement started in Italy in connection with the Slow Food movement that concentrates on protecting the environment whilst promoting local goods and produce. The success of Matakana’s local farmers market shows just how popular the idea of supporting the local food industry is in this community. It is not surprising then that the American chef Dean Betts, who brings years of Slow Food experience to this part of the world, has chosen to open Cosi, his latest restaurant, here. ...
Concept E-Book Has Pages
by EcoGeek.org on 11.19.06
Criticisms of electronic books abound. Everything from their weight to their smell has been derided by lovers of traditional books. These days, however, it doesn't take long for a new innovation to arrive in response to these criticisms.
The objection we focus on today is, in my opinion, a rather lame one: You can't flip pages with an e-book, pressing buttons is just not the same! While I agree that it isn't technically "The same," I don't think it's much worse. It's not like we're genetically predisposed to turning pages. I'm actually pretty sure pushing buttons is easier to do. But just because a criticism is silly doesn't mean that innovation won't respond. Thus a turnable e-book concept from Timothy Yeoh: The Turnover....
Whack Your Weed With Organic Foam: 'Some Like It Hot'
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.19.06
Sometimes a weed is just a weed. Not worth getting all foamed up about. Besides, a weed control product usually has a narrow range of functionality. However, the New Zealand-made "Waipuna system uses a non toxic, biodegradable Organic Hot Foam method and is applied to unwanted weeds, killing them instantly. The Organic Foam solution contains natural plant sugar extract from corn and coconut. The Waipuna system can also be used in Municipalities for: • Chewing gum removal; • Grafitti removal; • Cleansing of Monuments; and, • Sanitation and general cleansing". The kill them instantly part is sure to gratify Americans. Just be careful where you aim! On the other hand, we can't wait to find out if this qualifies for the Jackass show. Preview the streaming video here. See kids standing amidst the resulting foam below the fold. Top photo credit: University of California at Davis.
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HOME House Project Exhibition in Cleveland
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.19.06
The HOME house project exhibition, first organized by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, N.C, was based on a 2003 national competition to design an affordable house that would exploit environmentally sensitive technologies and materials. It has been travelling since, and now hits Cleveland. According to the Cleveland Institute of Arts director: "So soon after Cleveland was again ranked the poorest big city in the nation by the U.S. Census Bureau, our hope is this collection of award-winning house designs will capture the interest of city planners, builders, architects, community development activists, advocates for the poor, environmentalists and any other residents concerned about the critical issues of affordable housing, environmental sustainability and good, community-oriented design.” On unitl December 22 at the ::Cleveland Institute of Art. via ::Plain Dealer...
Vote Now for the BBC World Challenge
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 11.19.06
Better late than never. Voting closes in just under three hours (5 PM GMT) for the BBC World Challenge contest, meant "to reward projects that make a real difference to local communities" with a minimal environmental footprint, and often with a positive impact on the environment. Stow your cynicism about sponsor Shell, last year's inaugural contest was a great success, offering crucial media attention (and even sizable prizes) to the finalists. The winning project, Coconets, used coconut waste to help Filipino villagers fight landslides. Take a look at this year's awesome finalists -- including silicon salvagers in the UK, rural handicrafters in Swaziland, solar panel leasers in Laos, and elephant dung recyclers in Sri Lanka -- and hugg the vote. : : The World Challenge
(Photo: from a project located in Khulna, Bangladesh, fighting the scourge of arsenic contamination in local water sources.)...
Giuditta Blandini Stile Biologico
by Erin Courtenay - Madison, WI on 11.19.06
You can trust Italians to avoid the burlap sack curse that will sometimes beset even the most well-intentioned eco-textile designer. With an eye for design that enhances rather than obscures a woman's figure, Giuditta Blandini of Florence offers TreeHuggers a collection built with organic fabrics colored with vegetable-based dyes. Slinky sweater dresses and pretty camis are made with the finest organic wool, linen, cotton, hemp and silk. There are plenty of modest styles available for the office or visits with in-laws; like drape-y linen slacks (an Italian classic) paired with a blouse and cardigan, or cute and comfy hemp dresses. Giuditta and co. even offers a collection of bridal gowns made of linen, silk, hemp - and my personal favorite, a beautiful gown of organic cotton and soft alpaca. A woman-owned and operated company, Giuditta Blandini Stile Biologico has been designing with eco-friendly fabrics and dyes since 1997. Unfortunately our sleuthing has not turned up any retail locations outside of Italy, but those inspired by the TomKat "La Dolce Vita" frenzy can find boutiques throughout the north and south that carry Stile Biologico....
