- 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 March 25, 2007 - March 31, 2007
Total this week: 145
Shimon And DiCaprio Swap Green Plans In Israel
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 03.31.07
It’s not exactly new news, but when high-profile celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio come all the way to Israel, Israelis tend to talk about it for months. So in a way, Leo's landing in the Holy Land still feels fresh! On a visit with his Israeli model girlfriend Bar Refaeli earlier in March (besides bodyguard brawls with the paparazzi), Leonardo’s visit entailed a meeting with Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres where the two talked green shop. According to BANG: Shimon told Leonardo about his Peace Valley project - a joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian economic development plan - and Leo spoke about '11th Hour' his documentary on the environment.The Blood Diamonds star announced filmmaking plans in 2005 and true to his word, is promoting his soon-to-be-released feature-length documentary on the state of the global environment. According to the National Ledger, Leonardo said the film will focus on those who acknowledge global warming, such as Stephen Hawking, Mikhail Gorbachev and Andrew Weil....
Doie Launches Spring Collection 07
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 03.31.07
The beautiful bamboo clothing line Doie has recently launched it's Spring Collection 07. Elaborating on her theme of dark soft shapes with highlights of oriental style silks the designer Sara Kirsner has expanded her sports/leisure wear collection to include a more structured look. The spring collection includes wrap tops and dresses, halter neck styles and empire lines, all modelled by none other than TreeHugger's friend and ally Summer Rayne Oakes. For the first time the Spring collection is available to buy online directly from the Doie website. :: Doie...
Circular Reasoning on China's Circular Economy
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 03.31.07
China is drafting its first law on creating a “circular economy” that provides a legal framework for its national sustainable development strategy. Mao Rubai, chairman of the Environmental and Resources Protection Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said the draft law will improve resource efficiency, and is expected to pass at the end of the year. The handling of eWaste is included in the framework, of which China takes about 70 percent of the world's 'supply'....
Be Wise and Join a CSA
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 03.31.07
This is not just the story of a local farmer making good, this is the story two people, Bill and Marsanne Brammer, sharing a love for healthy food and working hard to spread organic food both locally and nationally. Begun in 1977, the Be Wise Ranch offers local San Diegans an alternative to mass-produced produce. With just a few avocado, citrus, peach, nut, pomegranate and apricot trees, this husband and wife team launched their organic farm, selling mostly to area farmers markets and wholesale distributors. As their produce selection has exploded, so has the wildlife in the area, which the owners attribute to their location next to a wildlife preserve and their abundance of trees free of pesticides, which many birds nest in....
Haute Trash: Fashion from Rubbish
by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 03.31.07
Image: Trash to Fashion Awards New Zealand 2004
Trash to fashion is not a new concept, but might be just a little out there for most. TreeHugger has touched on trash fashion before in the story on Trashin' Fashion and Trashion. Personally I love the inventiveness of anybody willing to turn old trash into wearable art which is what most of these creations are. But ... Who is doing it? And why?
Haute Trash is a troupe of artists and designers who produce runway fashion shows and other performance art featuring haute couture made from society's trash, they create fashion out of trash in order to entertain, educate and empower others to rethink, reuse and recycle. They are appearing at Burning Man's Green Open House on 14 April and Sierra College Earth Day Celebration on 19 April....
"Wow, Architects Are Cooler than Al Gore!"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.07
So said Archinect after reading a new report from the UN entitled "Buildings and Climate Change: Status, Challenges and Opportunities"
"Buildings can play a key role in combating climate change," the U.N. Environment Program said in a report issued in Oslo during a conference on ways to promote economic growth without damaging the environment. Simple measures include more blinds to keep out the sun in hot climates, switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs, better insulation and ventilation. "Avoid building a bigger house than you need," was among the tips.
It also recommended refurbishing old buildings rather than demolishing them and designing new buildings for long use. The report also said there were other factors to keep in mind--even gender. Some studies have shown women prefer higher room temperatures than men, even when wearing similarly thick clothing. ::CNET Read the entire report (7 mb pdf) here...
Arrange from Everyspace
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.07
Everyspace is a team of Brookyn designers who "find inspiration in the challenges of urban living and aim to design furniture and household objects that offer creative solutions for city dwelling." The arrange shelf is designed "to integrate nature and furniture. Originally intended for a front hallway, the shelf functions as a catch-all for your comings and goings and doubles as a modern receptacle for flowers. Install the back plate on a wall and change the orientation of the shelf left or right for different looks. The tubes can be easily removed and filled with water as needed. All components are sustainable, simple to put together and easy to dismantle." Made from bamboo, steel, glass and rubber.
They have a wonderfully minimalist booth this weekend at CA boom; nothing but butcher paper and felt pen. Pictures at ::NotCot ::Everyspace
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Lyocell Hoodie from Fila
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.31.07
We’re always on the prowl for new workout clothes. They are often hard to find - whether it’s the price, the fit, the weight…who wants to be uncomfortable in expensive workout clothes? So when we read about Fila’s tissue-paper-thin top, perfect for the upcoming spring season, we felt okay about ditching the college sweatshirt (okay, well sorta). It’s so lightweight that we can wash it at night in time for our workout the next day not to mention that it’s made with 100% Lyocell. We’ve mentioned Lyocell before, the biodegradable cotton alternative made from wood fibers with a silky feel. Many of our readers commented on the cost in our previous posts but this hoodie is $60. Now if only it would warm up so we can take our workout outside…Available for men as well. Via ::Women’s Health ::Fila...
World's First Electric Bike Rally: Open To All
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.31.07
In China, You Can't Be Green If You Wear Fur
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.31.07
Thank goodness the developed world is not subject to such fractiousness. Otherwise, how would anything positive be accomplished by Kyoto signatories in the face of climate disaster? Via: The Electric New Paper:- At China's annual session of parliament, the actress Gong Li "put forward a proposal to clean up the environment. However, after the state-run media splashed photos of the star with a fur over her shoulders, there have since been cries for her removal from the political body, reported AFP...A youth website did an online poll and found that of the more than 12,000 respondents, 52 percent said Gong Li had no right to serve in the lower house, while 26 percent said she was vastly unqualified...Others felt that it was 'shameless' for her to wear fur while talking about the environment, and some even called for her to be 'punished'." The context for the actress' statement, apparently, was "the importance and urgency of processing garbage, sewage and excess gas,..." Indeed. Image credit: China Information...
Rats Kicked Off The Spinach Plantations...With Herbicides
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.31.07
Via Monterey County Weekly:- In a desperate attempt to keep virulent strains of E. Coli bacteria away from spinach, farmers are reported to be spraying their field margins and grassed waterways (as pictured) with Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, on the theory that by killing the grasses, a scourge of poopy rats and crappy cattle will be kept away. Someone seems to be forgetting to address the key question: how might rats, or any other mammalian life forms that might visit the spinach fields, come to host virulent strains of E. Coli in their respective guts? One obvious possibility is that they've been hanging around feed lots where maintenance doses of antibiotics are handed out prescription free. And then there's the self defeating aspect of trashing water quality, while increasing flood flow peaks downstream. TreeHugger urges you to read the entire article...and then send in your check for membership in the nearest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Yea, we know. It's winter and locally grown spinach is not to be had outside California and Florida. Popeye had the answer. And it's gonna taste so good when it's in season. Image credit: Aerial photo of grassed waterways in tilled cropland USDA Agricultural Research Service....
Kedrosky on the Nitrogen Fertilizer Perfect Storm
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.07
Everything I know about economics (which isn't much) I have learned from Paul Kedrosky, who notes that nitrogen fertilizer prices have gone through the roof. Corn needs fertilizer and we have noticed that there is a lot of corn being planted these days. Paul says "Why are nitrogen fertilizers costs up so much? Demand is part of the equation, but there is a supply issue as well. Keep in mind that the price of nitrogen is tied directly to the price of natural gas, with 1 ton of fertilizer requiring about 33,500 cubic feet of natural gas. The upshot is that with rapidly increasing demand, plus increased components prices, we have a pricing perfect storm for nitrogen fertilizers."
Why does nitrogen fertilizer need so much natural gas? Paul recommends this link, discussing the Claude-Haber process. Fritz Haber is a fascinating character; read more about the new biography of him at Amazon. ::Infectious Greed...
No-Tillage Farmers Look to Earn Carbon Credits
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.31.07
This week it was announced that South Australian no-till farmers were hoping to receive carbon credits due to the notion that their farming practices reduce carbon dioxide emissions by cutting soil oxidation and not requiring the burning of stubble. According to the Conservation Agriculture Alliance if such a deal was to go through about half of that states farmers might qualify. A memorandum of understanding was signed with carbon credit retailer Carbon Planet. You may recall we mentioned zero-till farming in Brazil last month. In case you’ve forgotten what it was all about we would encourage you to have a peek at the seven benefits listed after the fold. These were lifted from the site of the Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association (WANTFA), who started out in 1992 to reform farming methods. And they need to, as soil salinity is the greatest immediate problem afflicting the West. The area of salt affected land in Western Australia is increasing at a rate of one football field per hour, with about 450 species of native flora and 250 species of invertebrate water fauna facing extinction in Western Australia’s wheat belt. Due to WANTFA’s success they’ve since spawned associations in other states and in New Zealand, now totalling 4,000 members that make up the aforementioned ::Conservation Agriculture Alliance, via ABC....
Getting Ready for Earth Day: Greening Your Car
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.30.07
[Ed. note: This is the second post in TreeHugger's series featuring easy, high-impact ideas and tips to help you get ready for Earth Day. Stay tuned for more!
Though TreeHugger doesn't advocate driving, we realize that it's still the way that many people get around every day. Whether you're a daily commuter or a weekend wanderer, there are lots ways to green your car use, beyond taking the bus, hopping on your bike or simply not climbing behind the wheel as much.
1) Going the speed limit is the "single most immediately effective thing you can do" and it doesn't matter if you drive a hybrid sedan or an SUV: the benefits are immediate and massively propagating.
2) Proper tire inflation reduces rolling resistance and improves your gas mileage; some say inflating with nitrogen makes tires leak more slowly, and some say it doesn't matter.
3) Take action with Pump 'Em Up if you're looking to get active and help others make their cars green(er), and see where you compare (and add your two cents) with what our readers are driving.
4) Gadgets like the solar-powered car vent can help keep you cool without having to flip the switch on the A/C and further tax your engine and reduce gas mileage.
5) Beware: new car smell is toxic and air quality inside cars is often worse than outside. See where your car ranks and learn some tips for keeping toxics to a minimum in your car's interior.
For more tips about greening your car in preparation for Earth Day, check out TreeHugger's How To Green Your Car guide....
Hierro: Spain's Completely Renewable Island
by EcoGeek.org on 03.30.07
Spain has declared that El Hierro, one of the smallest of Spain's Canary Islands, will soon be completely carbon neutral. The island, with a population of around 10,000, will be powered by a combination of wind and hydroelectric power.
Most of the islands power will be taken from it's 10 megawatt hydroelectric infrastructure. Interestingly, excess wind power will actually be used to pump water uphill into one of two reservoirs. The potential energy of that water will then become a kind of gigantic battery for times when the wind isn't so strong. This unique system basically allows for wind power to become a steady, instead of intermittent, source of power.
The wind turbines will also power a desalination plant for the islands population. Of course, just in case, a diesel generator will be maintained just in case the carbon-neutral system fails. No word on exactly when the system will be up and running, but the windfarm and pumping stations are already being built. ::AP...
Most Huggable: Live Earth Taking Heat In DC, Changes to Endangered Species Act, Beef Eating Moms
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 03.30.07
A study suggests that beef-eating mothers produce sperm-deficient boys… Oxford researchers have a fuel cell under development that runs on air sprinkled with hydrogen… Changes being pushed in the White House would make new endangered species listing harder to pass… Senator James Inhofe is raising objections to a Live Earth throwdown on the Mall on Capital Hill… A wind turbine with an observation tower? Check out the vid… Most Huggable is a daily roundup of some of the most tantalizing stories from Hugg.com, TreeHugger’s user-generated green news site. Why not submit your own green news? ...
Beyond LEDs: GE Accelerates OLED Development
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.30.07
OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate when an electrical charge is applied. OLEDs are flexible, so they can be incorporated into things like wallpaper, curtains and car interiors. GE has been developing OLEDs since 1999, and in 2003 they demonstrated a 2'x2' OLED light source (see pictures above). For a behind-the-scenes look at what is going on, check out this recent blog post by one the GE engineers involved in OLED development. After the jump, there is a video that shows OLEDs being bent, and having holes punched in them:...
TreeHugger Picks: Biomimicry in Product Design
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.30.07
When it comes to concepts central to the notion of TreeHugging, few are higher on the list than biomimicry. We have a lot to learn from the way things are designed in nature, and both the general principle and more specific examples can be applied to everyday products to help them more effective, last longer, and be more efficient (see our recent look at sea sponges used for solar power for a great example). Here are a few of our picks for biomimicry in product design.
1) Biomimi-wha? If you're new to the subject, read a quick 'n easy definition of the concept in lay terms.
2) Sto Lotusan paint uses "the Lotus Effect" that mimics water beading off a lotus leaf to essentially be self-cleaning.
3) Read our interview with Seventh Generation's Gregor Barnum to learn about how the company integrates biomimicry in their products.
4) Check out "Better By Design: An Innovation Guide" for a bevy of everyday products that use of design-for-environment and biomimicry principles.
5) Want more? This biomimic database has lots more examples of biomimetics used to solve engineering problems, even if its design leaves a little something to be desired....
Spring Cleaning: "100 Reasons to Get Rid of It"
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.30.07
The March/April issue of Blueprint includes a great article entitled “100 Reasons to Get Rid of It.” According to the article, 80% of what we own we never use and 1.4 million Americans suffer from chronic hoarding and clutter. We found it inspiring, not just because it made us realize how much clutter we really have, but because our time for spring cleaning is quickly approaching and there are so many other options rather than just throwing something in the trash. The article includes some of our favorites like Swap-O-Rama-Rama, Freecycle, Earth 911, Paperbackswap, Recycline and Peerflix. But they also introduced to several new organizations as well, such as Help 1 Up (furnishes homes for disaster victims), Operation Fairy Dust (sends formalwear to teenage girls who need help getting to the prom), World Computer Exchange (sends computers to more than 50 developing countries) and Youth For Technology (puts scanners, computers and cameras in the hands of deserving, impoverished kids around the world). You can view the full article here. ::Blueprint...
Surface Magazine: The Spring Fashion Issue
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.30.07
While not an out and out "green" issue, the current issue of Surface magazine puts some thought and effort into coverage of some green products, services, ideas and people. They've come up with some interesting takes on the topic, starting with the "Preface" (page 016), which notes, "So while being green seems surprisingly easy these days, it has become ever more difficult to define exactly what this means, especially within the design community." What follows is their attempt to flesh this out from their design-oriented, glossy perspective. They take note of the edgy, ethical fashions from Noir's Illuminati II collection (page 053), which makes use of organic cotton cultivated by local workers in Africa and whose sale benefits the newly established Noir Foundation, an organization that supports African workers. John Houshmand's salvaged-wood furniture gets a nod on page 061, as does artist Miwa Koziumi, who recycles discarded plastic beverage containers into stunning pieces of art (mostly sea creatures). ...
Wanna Buy a Whale Faucet?
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 03.30.07
It sounds strange, but the whale faucet actually looks like a killer whale and seems set to work wonders in eliminating the use of disposable cups in household bathrooms around the planet as it enables the standard faucet to serve as a water fountain and mouth rinser all-in-one. It simply acts as an adapter that hooks on over the standard faucet, and then allows you to redirect the water flow in an upward direction just like a fountain. What to do when that's not what you need? Well that's simple too, just let the bottom of its mouth hang down and it acts like any other faucet you've ever seen. So couple all of that functionality with a price of just $2.99, kids genuine enthusiasm for things like a novel toothbrush and their propensity to waste other things like plastic disposable cups, and I'm betting this may be one household invention that can really make a difference in your house. ...
Big Reports for Teenie Tiny Products: LCA and Nanotechnology
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 03.30.07
A report released this past week confirms that LCA is “an essential tool for ensuring the safe, responsible, and sustainable commercialization of nanotechnology.” U.S. and European experts concluded this in the report titled, “Nanotechnology and Life Cycle Assessment: A Systems Approach to Nanotechnology and the Environment.” With the number of nanotechnology-enabled products entering the market expected to grow dramatically -- from $30 billion in 2005 to $2.6 trillion in global manufactured goods using nanotechnology by 2014, wisely implemented assessment tools such as LCA can help corporations and researchers determine likely environmental impacts at various stages in a new nanotechnology product's life cycle. It also enables governments, industry and consumers to compare the environmental performance of a novel nanotech product with that of conventional products already on the market.
The report is based on discussions among 27 international nanotechnology and LCA experts from a two-day workshop held in October 2006, and is being simultaneously released by the European Commission (EC) and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, an initiative of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The report concludes that our cherished International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and other widely used frameworks for LCA are fully applicable to nanomaterials and nanoproducts....
Cameron in Trouble Over Wind Turbine
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 03.30.07
David Cameron, the conservative leader, has hit a snag in his green campaign. A wind turbine erected on his house has been found to breach planning permission, and has been removed. The permission was for a turbine attached to the chimney stack, which it was not. Surveyors are now unsure whether the stack is strong enough to support the turbine at all, so it is currently lying in Cameron's house.
The turbine was part of a green overhaul of Cameron's house, including 'solar panels, high-level insulation and systems to recycle both air and water'. Critics have said that it's unlikely the turbine would provide a useful amount of power in it's urban location however....
Aquarium Owners: Are Your Fish Fair-Trade Certified?
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 03.30.07
As we normally associate fair trade with products like coffee, chocolate, and handcrafted goods, this probably seems like a really strange question. But, in the case of one species of tropical fish, a number of environmental organizations, and the pet industry, are pushing for a certification standard. For fifty years, the cardinal tetra (shown above) has been sustainably harvested by residents of Brazil's Rio Negro region. The income from the sale of the fish has kept the local economy humming, so logging and mining haven't gained a foothold. That could change, though, as commercial fisheries in Florida have experimented with breeding cardinal tetras. Successful farming of the fish could have devastating consequences for the Rio Negro economy, and, by extension, it's ecosystems:...
That’s ‘One’ (Weird Looking) Folding Bike
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.30.07
The ‘One’ bike is a design concept by industrial designer, Thomas Owen, a recent graduate of the UK’s University of Derby, from whence he departed with a B. Sc. (Hons) in Product Design, Innovation and Eco-design. Seems he studied subjects like Eco-design Methods and Strategies, Eco-design Management, Eco-design Applications and Appropriate Technology. Some of which must have lead him to take on the not inconsiderable challenge of redesigning the world’s most efficient means of transporting humans. A prototype ‘One’ bicycle was made, but it doesn’t look like it was quite road-ready. We do however like that Thomas did think outside the diamond (frame), though wonder if he was influenced by the Locust by Czech designer, Josef Cadek? Either way it’s an interesting take for a cute looking city bike. ::Thomas Owen via Yanko...
Contradiction in Terms Dept: Sustainable Parking Structure
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.07
Only in California could one find such a deliciously silly story. Santa Monica has just opened "the nation’s first sustainable solar-powered parking structure. The six-story, 882-space structure at the Civic Center features photovoltaic roof panels, a storm drain water treatment system, recycled construction materials and energy efficient mechanical systems."
Evidently the cars are well treated: “From the Santa Monica Mountains to Catalina Island, these parking spaces have the best view in town.” And they are going for LEED certification, which should be a challenge for an above grade parking garage, even if it was made from site-grown bamboo and ventilated by flapping butterfly wings.
After all, the City is spending $180 million plan to add 1,712 parking spaces over the next ten years- just what every city needs right now when we are trying to discourage cars, not give them ocean views. ::Lookout News...
The greencodeproject: No Impact Media
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.30.07
Hollywood may have brought us The Inconvenient Truth, Who Killed the Electric Car?, The Day After Tomorrow, etc. They may have carbon offset such films as Syriana and Sweet Land. They may travel to the Oscars in hybrid cars, or cruise tinsel town on a bicycle. But maybe they also can be more holistic in their approach to their craft, like, say, the inimitable Robert Newman. At least that seems to be the aim of the greencodeproject. Documentary and filmmakers, cross-media producers and broadcasters are encouraged to adopt their own mini Kyoto. “The essence of the project will be to research and develop a Green Code for Film, an open set of guidelines, suggestions and principles which will guide the actions of those individuals and companies who support the Code. These might range from the smallest of eco-actions like using fair trade coffee in the office, or using post-consumer re-cycled paper, to hiring production vehicles from transportation car-share co-ops now springing up everywhere, to making larger commitments to community education or producing more socially engaged, or bio-ethical media.” Their official Canadian launch is planned for the Hot Docs festival in Toronto late next month. ::greencodeproject....
Teach Them Young: Solar Toys
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.30.07
There was an old song, "they've got to be taught, before it's too late", about teaching children to " hate all the people your relatives hate"...but we aren't advocating that aspect. Instead, teach them the principles of a wind generator and how solar power works with these scientific and good looking toys for children. The "Blow-light" (pictured) generates small amounts of electricity when you blow on the blades. This lights up the LED's, giving a bright neon colour to the mini-wind turbine. Plus it's fun. Then there is the frog solar robot kit for the older child, that hops along in the sun. Or a lovely little helicopter with rotor blades that go round in the sunshine--put it in the shade and the blades stop turning. For the man who has everything, there is a metal, miniature wind turbine for his desk. The turbine blades spin when sunlight falls on the solar panel. For Father's day: a toy golf cart that moves along a flat surface when sunlight falls on the roof. Plus all kinds of solar gadgets, garden accessories and DIY kits. Where do all these treats come from? A small, family-run business whose owners have backgrounds in conservation and engineering, trying to "stay true to their 'green beliefs' by making the best use of new technology". And they have a largely paperless office, and operate close to home. :: Select Solar....
Fast Company: A HIP way to Think About Green Companies
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.07
HIP stands for Human impact and profit. Fast company and two San Francisco firms teamed up to "evaluate and rate publicly listed companies. Our goal: to look beyond good intentions and focus on concrete results--how human impact drives the bottom line--as a guide for investors seeking to generate compelling returns and benefit society.....Our analysis assessed the share of a company's products and services that contributed a net positive benefit to customers' and employees' health and wealth; the net positive benefit to society, including the environment; the value or benefit paid to employees and suppliers; and the share of that value that was fairly distributed (that is, by gender, ethnicity, or income class), including executive pay."
It actually works better online than in the magazine, because you can click on the numbers instead of going back and forth, and easily click through to backup information. I was pretty surprised at some of the ratings, with United Technologies coming up with the highest practices score, but they have their methodology. Worth a look at ::Fast Company...
‘Environmentalism: Biggest Threat to Freedom’
by Eric Kane, New York, NY on 03.30.07
Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, recently offered a warning that environmentalism and measures to curb climate change are a threat to human freedom. When I read these and other similar statements, my initial thought was to write a scathing assessment of his remarks. On second thought, I realized such outlandish ideas might not even warrant a response. But I thought our readers might be entertained by the following quotations. Enjoy. “The biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity at the beginning of the 21st century is not communism or its various softer variants. Communism was replaced by the threat of ambitious environmentalism.” “While some deserts may get larger and some ocean shores flooded, enormous parts of the earth (could become) fertile areas able to accommodate millions of people.” Finally, Klaus called environmentalism a “religion based on political ambition rather than science.”...
NICE Electric Car Company: Is it a Car, is it a Van, is it a Vectrix?
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.30.07
We briefly mentioned NICE electric car company in our post on the London Motor Show here. It looks like they are shaping up to be a serious competitor to companies like GoinGreen in the expanding electric car market in London. Not only are they now selling the Mega City electric city car, and the Multi Truck II, a delivery van designed for London businesses, they are now also the London dealer for the much awaited Vectrix – a high performance electric scooter which our correspondents have previously drooled over here and here. We are guessing this is a pretty new arrangement, as no prices for the Vectrix are up on the NICE site yet, but they are unlikely to be cheap....
The 1914 Galt Prius
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.07
For everyone who thinks hybrids are new, we offer the Galt Gas Electric, built in Galt, Ontario (now merged into Cambridge ON, home of one of Toyota's biggest plants). This was, according to the Globe, "a masterpiece of engineering." It had a twin-cylinder, 10-hp, two-stroke engine that ran on gasoline and kerosene at a steady 800 rpm. This drove a Westinghouse generator that produced 40 volts and 90 amps. The electricity generated was stored in four batteries located in running-board boxes. It had no transmission, but a single control lever provided five forward speeds — up to a maximum of 50 km/h — and three in reverse. The lightweight Galt was reputed to be capable of achieving fuel economy of about 4.0 litres/100 km (60 MPG- hey, thats good for a two grand rebate!) and to be able to travel about 30 km on battery power alone.
Toyota should tool around the block and pick up the rights- the Fleming Gray company is still operating there, although they are now making hockey skate sharpening equipment instead of cars. More in ::Globe and Mail
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Daimler Chrysler's Plug In Sprint Hybrid Van Test
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.30.07
Via Planet Ark: "Daimler-Chrysler said it would produce a "test-fleet" of up to 20 plug-in hybrid versions of its 2007 Dodge Sprinter in order to evaluate the performance of the electric vehicles in real-world driving conditions...DaimlerChrysler said it would combine the rechargeable battery on the Dodge Sprinter with a diesel engine for a bigger gain in fuel economy, saying that would be the first real-world test of that technology." As pictured, the Sprinter is a commercial vehicle with high top suitable for side racks, standing up, etc. Miscellaneous items: there is always an after-market for "conversion" of commercial vans for recreational travel - that could lead to the first hybrid RV; we have no idea if the Sprinter implements regenerative braking; and, Chrysler the company is up for sale, which, when transacted, will surely lead to pressures to reduce costs. Will the test lead to commercial production? Image credit: Dodge....
The 100MPG Naro Car On Display
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.29.07
The Naro Car is a slim vehicle that operates a bit like a motorcycle, with a banking action to prevent it from tipping over. The car is designed for city use as a personal commuter, a taxi or a delivery vehicle. It is intended to return over 100 miles per gallon from a 4-valve gasoline engine (too bad it's not an electric vehicle). The Naro will be on display next week at the AFVI (Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute) show in Anaheim, California....
SmartPower’s Clean Energy Ad Challenge; Win $10,000
by Celine Ruben-Salama, New York, NY on 03.29.07
“Clean energy. It’s real. It’s here. It’s working.” So says SmartPower, a nationwide, non-profit marketing campaign that promotes clean energy. Issued in 2003 their 20% by 2010 challenge aims to have 20% of the US energy supply come from clean, renewable sources by 2010. SmartPower focuses on communicating the overall quality and dependability of clean energy to a mainstream audience thus building a robust clean energy market by stimulating demand for clean energy in new market segments. Their approach seems to be working; in 2004, SmartPower and collaborators created demand for over 100 gigawatt-hours (GWH) of clean energy in Connecticut!
The group uses a mix of traditional and viral marketing methods and works in close collaboration with cities and towns, faith communities, educational institutions and businesses to spread their message. Right now, they need your help! Become the winner of $10,000 by participating in their Clean Energy Ad Challenge a YouTube video contest. More below the fold…...
Using Maple Syrup To Make Bioplastics
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.29.07
Researchers in Canada have discovered that maple syrup may aid in the production of bioplastic. It turns out that a form of bacteria called alcaligenes latus has a sweet tooth, and behaves particularly ravenously when exposed to maple sap and syrup. Researchers found that the bacteria not only thrive when added to maple syrup, but also transform the sugars in the sap into a family of natural polymers that can be used to make plastic-like materials that are biodegradable – everything from "green" food packaging to drug-delivery films that dissolve harmlessly in the body.
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Coal Mining Returns to UK
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 03.29.07
South Wales is seeing a resurgence in deep coal mining. A mine in Cwmgwrach is taking on 60 workers, and a nearby mine at Aberpergwm will soon be ready to take on 200 more. These mines, and others like them, are restarting production following an almost total slump since the 1970's.
Mine chairman, Gerwyn Williams, says; "In seven or eight years a lot of things have changed. The price of coal has gone up and Europe is faced with an energy gap. We don't think that renewables are going to meet the gap that we've got, so everybody will come back to coal."
Increasing demand for power, and new applications for coal are increasing demand, but it does feel like a step backward. Those Welsh hills would be a lovely spot for a nice wind farm.
See also: ::Tim Flannery on Coal, ::Book Review: Big Coal - The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future...
Absent "Blue Skies," Beijing's Air Now Officially "Hazy"
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 03.29.07
Beijing has issued daily pollution reports since 1999, but weather reports always called the grey or yellow layer of particulates that often covers the city wu, or "fog." Starting this month, they've given the stuff a slightly more accurate name: mai, meaning "haze." Whatever they want to call the airborne product of power plants, construction sites and cars (the word for "smog" is fog + haze, wumai) the government says its making some progress on reducing it: last year, the city claimed 241 "blue sky days" last year, which was three more than its target and 141 more than in 1998. But even that term is a bit foggy, since blue sky days include days of moderate pollution; and anyway, the number of days with severe haze increased. The director of Beijing's environmental bureau recently stated that adding more "blue sky days" would be "very difficult." And last year, the government admitted, it failed to meet its 2 percent emission reduction targets last year: SO2 emissions rose 1.8 percent higher than the previous year, while Chemical Oxygen Demand, a water pollution index, gained 1.2 percent. How many more euphemisms can there be?...
Convenient Truths: Sheryl Crow Touring for Climate Change Solutions
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 03.29.07
Celebrities are certainly doing their part to spread the word on the climate crisis; now, musician Sheryl Crow is contributing to the effort with an 11-date tour of college campuses. Crow and StopGlobalWarming.org founder (and Convenient Truths judge) Laurie David will combine their talents with a program of information and music meant to encourage college students to get active, and do their part in the fight against climate change. The tour will begin on April 9th with a show at Dallas' Southern Methodist University, and conclude on Earth Day (April 22nd) at Washington, D.C.'s George Washington University. Along the way, students will see a full program: a 90-minute presentation by David, music from Crow, clips from An Inconvenient Truth, comedy, and a dialogue with audience members. To keep its own carbon footprint down, the tour buses will run on biodiesel....
Building Green: Energy Efficiency and Aesthetics From The Same Materials (Part 9)
by Ted Owens, New Mexico, USA on 03.29.07
Depending on the area that you live in and the local building codes, the straw bale walls can either support the roof directly (load bearing) or the roof can be supported by a post-and-beam structure. There are many ways to construct a straw bale or green home. I chose a post-and-beam structure because it was required by code in this area. The advantage of this approach is that the roof can be completed before the straw bales are stacked. This will help to protect the bales from rain during construction. The advantage of a load-bearing straw bale wall is that the vertical posts are eliminated from the construction process, thus saving some wood.
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Green History Song Loop
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.29.07
Some of you may recall summer of 1983, when Wayne Newton replaced the Beach Boys at the White House Fourth of July party, after US Interior Secretary James Watt reportedly deemed the band unsuitable. Ancient history right? Actually the circumstances then seem, in retrospect, oddly reminiscent of those surrounding this contemporary story. Via LA Times:- "Promoters of "Live Earth" — which they describe as "a 24-hour concert on 7/7/07 across all 7 continents" — wanted to use Washington's National Mall as the North American venue. When the Interior Department rejected the proposal, questioning whether planners could get enough portable toilets for the expected crowd, the promoters turned to Congress. In partnership with Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, "Live Earth" organizers sought a congressional resolution allowing them to hold the concert...on the steps of the Capitol." That's where the plans changed. ""While it's unfortunate for the American people that we are being blocked from staging the U.S. concert in our nation's capital, the show must go on," Chad Griffin, a "Live Earth" advisor, wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Capitol Hill." What happened? See the whole Inhofe, er. the whole article here. Image credit: Beach Boys Band...
Etheco Offers to Pay You to Go Green
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.29.07
A frequent complaint TreeHugger hears from people who are considering purchasing green products and services is that they're more expensive than their conventional counterparts, and it's often the case. Things like food, furniture, transportation and even utility service that consider the planet's well-being generally cost more, for a variety of reasons. In an attempt to turn the tables on this phenomenon, ethical and green-living website Etheco (whom we've mentioned before) has partnered up with UK Power to pay consumers in the UK to go green. That's right; in exchange for switching to a greener electricity supplier, they'll give you the £11 commission they would ordinarily receive for helping broker the deal. Says Jason Hollingsworth, a founder of Etheco, "We’ve developed this tool to help combat the greenwash used by some companies to sell, what amount to nothing more than highly compromised and confusing products...We are all for an open source approach to ethical living and green energy in particular, the more informed the consumer is and the easier it is to make the right choice, and the more people who make that choice, the happier we are. If this means we have to pay everyone in Britain to switch, then we will." Learn more about the initiative and make the switch at their website and read the full release after the jump. ::Etheco ...
Biodegradable Sports Car Debuts
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.29.07
Students at Warwick University in England have built a car out of biodegradable materials. The tires are made out of potatoes, the brake pads composed of cashew nut shells, and the body of the car is hemp. The car, which runs on bio-fuels, and bio-lubricants, has a top speed of 125 mph. ...
Sundance Channel Launches The GREEN Minisite
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.29.07
In preparation for the debut of The GREEN presented by Robert Redford, the first block of dedicated all-green programming coming to a television near you April 17, our friends over at the Sundance Channel have launched The GREEN minisite. Designed to support and enrich the television programming, the site will present multimedia content focusing on our planet's ecology and concepts of green living that balance our needs as humans with responsible use and care of the planet. Designed for both education and entertainment, both television and minisite programming will emphasize information, practical advice and community building, and it looks like it's going to be great. TreeHugger's own Simran Sethi (who's also on The GREEN advisory board) will be co-hosting the television programming with Majora Carter (watch a great video of her speaking at TED2006 here), and we're excited to see what their take on green TV looks like. Stay tuned for more from Sundance Channel in the coming weeks, and click on over to the TreeHugger Blog at sundancechannel.com for more. ::The GREEN minisite...
Getting It Right Before It’s Too Late
by Ron Dembo, Zerofootprint on 03.29.07
No one can have failed to notice the shift in public perception of climate change in the past few months: the scientific debate, dangerously prolonged, is truly over. But this is not in itself a victory for those who are struggling to avert planetary disaster (as I’m sure most readers are well aware). Before there is anything to celebrate, we’ll have to take that momentum and turn it into action.
Right now, action is often something we talk about in very general terms. We want to “do the right thing,” or “take our responsibility seriously,” or “go green.” But what all this means is not always clear. I don’t mean to unfairly accuse anyone of greenwashing. But I think it is safe to say we’re not all pulling at the same oars, both as businesses and as individuals. And that’s probably natural. Consensus is just emerging now.
That makes this a threshold in human history. This may sound like Hollywood melodrama, but the inescapable fact is that the decisions we make right now will have a disproportionate effect on future generations. In other words, it is a time when leadership will bear immense rewards.
For this reason, I was very proud to take part last week in a conference that brought together some real leaders. Some were household names. Federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion, Toronto Mayor David Miller, former Prime Minister Joe Clark all spoke passionately about leadership and the environment. I took the stage immediately after it was vacated by a man named Al Gore. (I have to say, speaking after Mr. Gore teaches humility.)...
Home Lighting and Mercury
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 03.29.07
We've known for some time that energy saving bulbs contain mercury; it's essential to how they produce light. However, the manufacturers have previously explained that the energy saved results in less mercury output from power stations. This saving is more than enough to offset the problem, so it was a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, new research shows that the mercury released when an energy saving bulb is disposed of is in a form more able to enter the food chain than that released by power stations....
Greening the Almighty Yuan: Consumer Choice Comes To China!
by Rachel Wasser, Beijing, China on 03.29.07
You’re reading TreeHugger, so you know that the green in your wallet can be leveraged for a greener globe. Eco-consumption, though something of a contradiction in terms, is an idea, a movement, and finally a market with deep roots in the Western world. (These are our roots, treehuggers!) Now, with consumption rapidly rising in China, the awesome power of consumer choice is finding its way to the Middle Kingdom’s expanding middle class. “The conditions are ripe for consumers to support [green consumption in China],” says Ma Jun, a prominent Chinese environmental activist. “They have multiple options and the government is very open on the provision of environmental information.”
Last week, just in time for World Water Day, a coalition of 21 Chinese environmental groups called on consumers to pressure polluters using their purchasing power. The campaign, dubbed Green Choice (not to be confused with this Green Choice, which we’ll be covering soon), has made use of the government’s provision of environmental information to produce a blacklist of companies cited for violating environmental laws. So who’s made it onto the Great Wall of Shame? Nearly 5000 Chinese companies and over 50 multinationals, including American-Standard, Dupont, Nestle, Panasonic, and PepsiCo. Much more post-jump....
Ask TreeHugger: Black Clouds and Air Conditioners
by Helen Suh MacIntosh, Cambridge, MA, USA on 03.29.07
Question: Our air-conditioner has begun emitting black, soot-like particles when we turn it on. We've tried cleaning the filter but it continues. Are these particles dangerous? Does this mean that we need a new air conditioner? Also, how do you know if an air-conditioner is leaking freon?
Response: Window air conditioners contain rubber gaskets that can become brittle after many years of use. As a result, the rubber gaskets can eventually break apart into tiny pieces that can then be blown out of the air conditioner. If your air conditioner is more than several years old, the black dust is probably these little pieces of gasket that are blown from your air conditioner.
These gasket pieces are probably not dangerous. Since you can see the specks of the gasket, the gasket pieces are too big for you to breathe them into your lungs. It is possible that little gasket pieces can get into your body if they get blown on your food or if they get on your hands and you happen to eat them by mistake. But, eating these gasket pieces by accident are unlikely to be cause you any harm. ...
Sngle Fmly Dtched 56' mstr 35,440 SF Cleveland
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.29.07
Seth recently said that zero was the new black, we say less is the new more, but clearly the message has not reached Cleveland, where some guy named LeBron James is building a 35,440 square foot house complete with a theater, bowling alley, casino and barber shop. Oh, and a recording studio, aquarium and a sports bar. The master suite has a two storey tall walk in closet and is forty feet wide and fifty-six feet long. According to the Akron Beacon Journal:
'A place like this does not have a ``dining room.'' It has a dining hall (roughly 27 by 27). It not only has a ``great room'' (34 by 37), but a bigger, two-story ``grand room.'' The ``family foyer'' off the six-car garage -- near the elevator -- is inconsequential compared to the ``grand foyer'' inside the front entrance, complete with a sweeping, divided staircase leading up to four second-story bedrooms.'
Most of the Akron commenters think that it just great that he has stayed in his home town, and think that he can spend his megabucks any way he wants. Many TreeHugger commenters get mad at me when I complain about rich people enjoying themselves. But surely in this day and age there is a happy medium between comfort and a house with a carbon footprint the size of Ohio. ::Akron Beacon Journal...
Water Outta Thick Air: The Whisson Windmill
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.29.07
Yep, it is another one of those wacky inventions that will send droves to the comments section to decree it is doomed to failure. But at least its Australian inventor is optimistic enough to be taking out international patents on the design. Max Whisson’s apparatus draws air [62] in past a fan [10], whose blades are cooled by the overlay of tubes carrying compressed refrigerant [right image]. The blades thus being colder than the ambient air temperature cause water vapour in the surrounding air to condense on the fins [52] beyond the spinning blades. This liquid water is then collected [56]. Max, a retired medical specialist believes a four-metre square (43 sq ft) device could extract an average 7,500 litres (~2,000 gallons) of water a day. According to one news report, he says there are about 10 to 15 litres in every 1000 cubic metres of air, or as he adds: "An average-sized window with a gentle breeze flowing through it will produce a million cubic metres of air every hour.” Max was, apparently, inspired by fog harvesting and the Namib beetle, both of which we’ve covered previously. Via ::The Australian, ABC Online and IOL....
Stella McCartney's New Skin "Care" Line
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.29.07
We know that designer Stella McCartney is very eco-minded and it is apparent with each new venture. TreeHugger has covered her in the past from her vegan boots to her Pampering perfume. Now we’re bringing you the latest on Ms. McCartney and her new skin care line called Care. The line, launched this month at Sephora, “caters to those who’d say ‘never’" and is inspired by Ms. McCartney’s own personal philosophies. Care contains no endangered plants, genetically modified ingredients, petrochemicals, paraben preservatives or synthetic fragrances. In addition, it contains 100% certified organic active ingredients. Although it does seem to be on the expensive side, it is comparable to other luxurious skin care products and combines ultimate pampering and nature. Via ::Body + Soul and ::Hugg ::Sephora ...
TreeHugger Radio: A Conversation with Ed Begley Jr.
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 03.29.07
This week on TreeHugger Radio, Simran Sethi talks with actor and eco-advocate Ed Begley Jr., a man who not only walks the walk, but drives and bikes it as well. Mr. Begley’s life has most recently been chronicled on Living With Ed, a reality TV show that goes inside his home to see what makes this green machine tick. Ed is also a final judge in TreeHugger’s Convenient Truths user-submitted video contest. Listen to TreeHugger Radio each week on Air America’s EcoTalk, here on TreeHugger.com, or pick up the podcast on iTunes. (listen/right click to download) ::TreeHugger Radio ...
Space Invaders: New Objects for Small Spaces
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.29.07
This month's Metropolis Magazine covers design for small spaces: "As urban dwellers are confined to increasingly compact quarters, there is greater demand for space-saving innovations in the home. Storage solutions and efficiency appliances are two ways to make the most of small square footage." Some, like the Ecopod Recycling Unit, the Columbo designed Boffi Minikitchen and the Sheer Kitchen have been seen here before; others are wall and storage systems that are not particularly unique to small spaces; others are very cool, like a fascinating "dining desk from Poggenpohl or the Belatto Action Wardrobe that also can act as a room divider. The new Bosch fridge fits in 24 inches and has a vacation button to reduce energy usage (and even a Sabbath Switch for orthodox jews!), Remember, Small Fridges make Good Cities! Worth looking at in ::Metropolis...
Carbon Planet: A Transparent Carbon Offsetter?
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.29.07
At our back-of-house email meetings TreeHugger’s writers have been debating the merits of various carbon offset schemes. One of the reoccurring themes to surface was that of transparency, of where the money was going. Particularly as most such offset companies seem a little coy about this aspect. So it came as a bit of a surprise when digging around Carbon Planet’s website to learn they were remarkably very frank on this point. “People sometimes question Carbon Planet's margin (which is currently running at thirty percent). Why, they ask, should they purchase carbon credits when Carbon Planet is taking ‘so much’.” They go on to say, ”We choose to publish where the money you pay goes because we are committed to transparency and because we want to allay fears of new potential customers that the wholesale price of carbon credits is vastly less (e.g. 1%) than our retail price. However, we do not expect to be criticised for margins of the order of thirty percent. First, the thirty percent is a gross margin, not a profit margin. From that thirty percent we must run Carbon Planet — sales, marketing, web site, supply, the lot, and at this stage the profit is very much smaller than thirty percent.” Elsewhere on the site they even go to the trouble of telling you who they bank with, and which brand of computer they use. Much more on their business model can be found at . ::Carbon Planet’ Philosophy FAQ....
Biofuels - It’s Getting Annoying Now
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.29.07
Just yesterday Matt discussed George Monbiot's call for a moratorium on biofuel expansion. Treehugger has complained about biofuels from corn or palm oil for years, and taken some abuse for it; the main argument is "don't worry, all of these ethanol plants will run on algae or switchgrass in a couple of years, corn is just an interim measure" or the Palm Oil Truth Foundation sends another dozen emails about the glories of clearing the rainforest to grow fuel. The subsidies keep growing and the forests keep getting ploughed over.
Craig Mackintosh at Celsias writes about "the obstinate pushing of ethanol from corn, sugar, soy, and palm oils in the face of their overwhelming detrimental effect on people’s lives, and on the environment. It is where big industry, desperate to retain consumer dollars, is influencing government - who are in turn pandering to very destructive whims."
He has prepared a great summary of posts and articles from around the world showing both sides of the ledger- " Enough already-the facts" side against biofuels and the "Determined Obstinacy- We drive, come hell or high water" side, an attempt to draw "a clear line between the effects of biofuels on people and planet, and what government and industry are doing regardless." A wonderful resource. Read at ::Celsias...
Make/Shift Shelving
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.29.07
Make/shift shelving is for the tenant: Peter Marigold designed it for tenants and apartment dwellers needing storage but unable to attach anything to walls. It looks good, and is stylishly decorative, as well as being utilitarian; as opposed to some of those ugly ones that we all have used in our past (and present). Inspired by the humble recycled wooden crate, the units expand and contract and can even be used as boxes to move house. They can be wedged into any width of alcove, depending on how far the wedge-shaped units are pushed in. The original design was wood, but now they are being made of a relatively eco-material: a polypropylene that can be broken down and reused. Marigold is interested in simplicity, and making beautiful objects inexpensively. Another of his pieces, Prop, consists of a crate wedged into a corner, halfway up a wall, supported only by a pole at an angle, resting on a sick of rice. He's hot--his name was just mentioned in this month's Wallpaper so watch for him. :: Peter Marigold Via :: Design Museum
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Vinyl Windows: John was Right and I was Wrong. I Think.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.29.07
We are very civilized here at TreeHugger and rarely criticize other writers when we disagree with their posts, and never fight in the comments. (unlike at Grist where you can see Dave Roberts and Jason Scorse go at it hammer and tongs over mercury in CFLs, Go Dave!). However I have always strongly disagreed with a post John Laumer wrote two years ago about vinyl windows. John was perfectly clear about the problems in the manufacture and disposal of PVC (vinyl) windows, but suggested that they last so long, save so much energy, and are such a small percentage of the material in a house that even though vinyl has problems, the advantages rule. "Millions of people with low incomes live with inefficient, uncomfortable windows. Vinyl replacement windows are the most common and easily installed technology for upgrading energy performance affordably."
Being discreet and civilized, I waited a year to counterattack, couched it in "much has changed in a year" and went on to say "it becomes apparent that this seemingly innocuous plastic is one of the most environmentally hazardous consumer materials produced.” and "PVC (polyvinyl chloride or vinyl) is the worst plastic from an environmental health perspective, posing unique and major hazards in its manufacture, product life and disposal." Take that, Laumer!
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Alcoa Employees To Blog Field Environmental Research
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.29.07
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today that 14 of its employees will assist in scientific field research expeditions around the world this year, through a partnership with Earthwatch Institute. ...The Alcoa fellows will take active roles in addressing climate change and other environmental issues, from monitoring seabirds in Alaska to assessing impacts on coral reefs in the Seychelles. Apparently the employees will be blogging their experiences starting this coming June, as field work gets underway. Now, the full press release on this effort includes several other positives about Alcoas' environmental performance, and although no company is perfect, this is the right stuff. Where do we apply?...
Sugar Powered Battery, Errr...Fuel Cell, With Pre-Commercial Promise
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.29.07
Via Energy Daily:- Chicago IL (SPX) "Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri have developed a fuel cell battery that runs on virtually any sugar source - from soft drinks to tree sap - and has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium ion batteries, they say..."This study shows that renewable fuels can be directly employed in batteries at room temperature to lead to more energy-efficient battery technology than metal-based approaches," says study leader Shelley Minteer, Ph.D., an electrochemist at Saint Louis University (pictured). "It demonstrates that by bridging biology and chemistry, we can build a better battery that's also cleaner for the environment." As proof of concept, she has used a small prototype of the battery (about the size of a postage stamp) to successfully run a hand-held calculator." Reportedly, materials used to build the sugar battery are biodegradable. Funding for the study was provided by the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Minteer's previous work involved an alcohol powered fuel cell. So...what happens if you feed the sugar battery a classic bum wine?...
Downloading Designs: Vivacizzare Your Desk with Piopio
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.29.07
Good Italian design is so expensive and transport costs so much, but with downloadable designs, it does not matter where it comes from. In time for Easter or Passover, Scarabokkio offers this cute little box, which google translates as:
"In order to augur Good Passover to you, Scarabokkio® introduces PiOPiO!
You can fill up it of ovetti to the chocolate, and give a pensierino Paschal to your friends. But PiOPiO can simply vivacizzare your writing desk. It begins with PiOPiO the new series of DIY (print + cut + pastes + fold) dedicated to the paper toys."
I mean, who doesn't want to vivacizzare their writing desk?
As we have said before here and here, soon our homes will become our factories as more clever designs are dematerialized and Sears beats the kinks out of the Compucarve Home CNC machine. We have seen it in furniture and its coming soon in houses. Download your ::PioPio from Scarabokkio via ::notcot
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Carbon Tracker: What's the CO2 in Your Neighborhood?
by Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts on 03.29.07
NOAA has set up a carbon dioxide tracker on the web. The 'CarbonTracker' project allows anyone with an internet connection to observe the carbon dioxide flux in Earth's atmosphere. With 60 stations world-wide and 20 in the USA the resolution is not high, but it is a start. It is also not 'live' carbon dioxide tracking, as it takes about 6 months to analyze and ensure quality of the data. All of the data is free to the public, and the source code for the program is also available. This would be a cool widget to plug into Google Earth somehow- allowing people to layer and map the CO2 in their area with ease. (How has carbon dioxide flux changed in my neck of the woods?) :: Carbon Tracker (via NOAA)...
Motorola 100% EnergyStar Certified
by EcoGeek.org on 03.28.07
Motorola has become the first cell phone company to make all of its cell phone chargers are Energy Star certified. At first it doesn't sound like too big a deal, but when the EPA added up the effects that a 40% increase in charger efficiency would have, it came to well over 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. There's a lot of cell phones in this country, and if every company took the same steps that Motorola now has, we would save enough energy to light 760,000 homes for a year.
"EPA salutes Motorola's leadership as the first company to ensure all of the power adapters in their phone chargers earn the ENERGY STAR," said Bill Wehrum, Acting EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. "By being more energy efficient, ENERGY STAR-qualified adapters reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution associated with the generation
of electricity."
See also ::Unplug your Cellphone Charger ::Motorola's Bike Charger
::Hugg (thanks linton)...
Getting Ready for Earth Day: Save Water When You Flush
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.28.07
Ed. note: For the next several weeks, we'll be running a series of posts featuring easy, high-impact ideas and tips to help you get ready for Earth Day. Stay tuned!
Saving water is simultaneously one of the easiest and most effective ways to be a better TreeHugger; we'll start by looking at one of the biggest water-users in the house: the toilet. With standard models using multiple gallons each time you push the handle, they literally flush fresh, clean water down the drain. If the "if it's yellow, let it mellow..." mantra doesn't work for you, here are a handful of ideas and products that'll help reduce the amount of water you flush on each visit to your toilet.
1) This quick review of alternative toilets includes one with a waste incinerator and a couple of waterless, composting models.
2) The Bio-Lux composting toilet uses sawdust as an "artificial soil matrix" to decompose human waste into odorless water and carbon dioxide through aerobic fermentation. You empty it twice a year and toss the compost in your flower garden.
3) TwoFlush offers a quick 'n easy retrofit that turns any toilet into a water-saving dual-flush model.
4) This Argentinean model takes the water used in the basin, for hand-washing and such, and reuses it when you flush.
5) Gadgets like the dual flush toilet and controllable flush handle can save about 67% by flushing less water for light loads.
6) Sinkpositive is a handy device that cycles clean water through the faucet, for hand-washing and such, and reuses it the next time the toilet gets flushed.
7) The Propelair potty literally 'blows the crap and water down the drain' with just a little water and a quick burst of air.
For more tips and info about using less water as you get ready for Earth Day, check out How to Green Your Water...
Burger King To Buy Cage-Free Food
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.28.07
The New York Times reports that Burger King announced yesterday that it would begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that did not confine their animals in cages and crates. The company said that it would also favor suppliers of chickens that use gas, or “controlled-atmospheric stunning,” rather than electric shocks to knock birds unconscious before slaughter. Few slaughterhouses use this method, although it considered more humane. ...
Video: Wind Turbine + Tourism = Nice View
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 03.28.07
TreeHugger Star Search: Jake Gyllenhaal
by Summer Bowen, Santa Monica, California on 03.28.07
We’ve caught Jake Gyllenhaal riding his bike before, and we even knew he’d had $10,000 worth of trees planted in Mozambique. Gyllenhaal’s eco-celeb status doesn’t stop there - just last year the carbon neutral movie star joined Salma Hayek in raising awareness about the effects of global climate change on northern Canada’s indigenous people. Says Gyllenhaal, "Global warming is an abstract concept to most people; we know it's happening, but we can't really visualize its effect. Unfortunately, the Inuit people put a human face on global warming, they are literally melting away. They are the canary in the coal mine."
More recently, Gyllenhaal has been making smaller green lifestyle statements: arriving at Hollywood award shows in a bio-diesel powered eco-limo, driving his own Prius around LA, and sporting eco-fashionable organic cotton Loomstate jeans....
Wee Laddies Give Green Supercomputing a Go
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 03.28.07
The Scots have developed pretty neat little gadget, a green supercomputer. Although the phrase may be perhaps an oxymoron, the machine does consume 10 times less energy and is 300 times faster than its traditional equivalents. That seems like the right direction.
The computers name is Maxwell, which incidentally is not a bad idea in and of itself; perhaps giving the thing a name will promote better maintenance practices to extend (his?) life. Maxwell also operates in less space (only two racks) and runs much more coolly than equivalent machines. He's pretty difficult to program right now (probably because he's using "field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) in place of conventional microprocessors"), and solving this communication problem will take another two to three years. But after that, he will be on the force, solving a variety of problems from the oil and gas industries, amongst others. Good boy, Maxwell!...
TreeHugger Picks: Not Just Four Walls & a Door
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.28.07
TreeHugger loves green building, prefab architecture and other resource and energy-efficient buildings and dwellings. While most of it is designed to have four walls, a couple windows and doors, there are definitely alternatives to these more traditional construction techniques. Here are some of our picks for structures that eschew tradition and find function and comfort without the restraints of square corners.
1) Yurts are efficient, elegant and comfortable, to the surprise of TreeHugger's resident architect.
2) These prefab domes are lightweight, fire proof, earthquake and typhoon-resistant, and, using the modular building system, can be constructed in less than a day.
3) Michael Jantzen's Transformation House is an interactive, responsive, self-contained structure that can change its shape to accommodate different functions.
4) Inspired by the Dymaxion vision of TreeHugger hero Bucky Fuller, Pod shelters are easy to put together and take apart, contain only a few simple parts, and almost anyone -- including those not so good at math -- can put them together.
5) The Hexayurt is an emergency structure which is cheap, self-contained and easily packed for transportation; a Hexayurt village is intended to replace all the infrastructure which might be damaged after a major disaster such as an earthquake or flood....
Salmon Return to the Thames
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 03.28.07
Salmon used to travel up the river Thames, through London, to their breeding grounds in Berkshire. However, the industrial revolution and the pollution that accompanied it killed them all off by 1833.
The water quality slowly improved, and in 1974 a single, stray salmon was found alive. A few were also found in each of the years that followed. These discoveries led to the formation of the Thames Migratory Fish Committee, who were tasked with reintroducing salmon and sea trout to the Thames....
Kids Take a Bite Out of Local Schoolyard
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 03.28.07
While many of us wouldn't even consider eating some of the stuff found on the schoolyards we grew up on, there's a program afoot to change all that for at least some students in America. It's called the "Edible Schoolyard" and it's the brainchild of Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, and the author of several cookbooks including a storybook and cookbook for children. In essence, she realized that students need to learn how to eat healthy if we're going to slow the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in this country, and that kids will also learn environmental responsibility while cultivating a preference for fresh and local produce at the same time. Of course, this in turn will help to support local, sustainable agriculture that has a myriad of benefits, not the least of which is the fact that it helps put all of us on a low carbon diet. So how does the program work? Well it helps to foster edible gardens on school grounds which students can cultivate with their own hands, connecting them with nature before they bring the finished produce inside to learn how to cook it in a healthy manner while still at school. Ultimately working to raise their sense of environmental stewardship while making healthy food choices for themselves and the planet at the same time. ...
Green Clean: Its the Small Things That Make the Difference
by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 03.28.07
An article at Hunts Post Uk, is saying something that we at TreeHugger have known for a long time, that chemicals in the home are not doing anybody any good. Check out TreeHugger's guide to greening your cleaning, recipe to make your own bath cleaner, try cleaning the old fashioned way, and try this recipe for a natural hand softener.
'Freda', uses lemon juice to clean the kitchen, beeswax to polish furniture, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar as all round cleaners and deodorizers, and instead of artificial room-spray, Freda sprinkles rosewater. Freda is part of a UK national on-going campaign to ban toxic chemicals in household products as part of the WI (women's institute), with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund.
Freda was one of the WI members whose blood was tested for chemicals three years ago. Members took part in tests to see how many hazardous chemicals they had retained in their bodies as a result of exposure to a possible 70 chemicals in ordinary household goods. Freda's blood had traces of 25 including DDT (a pesticide that was alleged to have links with cancer) even though DDT has been banned in this country for decades.
Go Freda! ::article link...
Chicago's Green Exchange: The World's Greenest Mall?
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.28.07
"Green building" and "sustainable development" aren't two terms that jump to mind when one thinks of "the mall." The sprawling, eponymous mega-structures, usually accompanied by acres of impervious parking lots, in many ways symbolize rampant overconsumption and disposable culture that TreeHugger crusades against each day. A new mall, Green Exchange, aims to change all of that. Under construction in Chicago, the mall plans to open in spring 2008 with a long list of green attributes to attract conscious consumer and business alike. The 250,000 square foot building will hold about 100 vendors, including an organic restaurant and café, a sustainable furniture store, a green building supply company, an eco-friendly printer, architects and designers focused on sustainability, an environmentally-friendly clothing company, a car-sharing service, a bike shop, and more. A 9,000 square foot courtyard garden will offer a green respite from shopping, and a green roof will top things off. Parking spots will feature outlets for plug-in hybrids, and "priority" parking will be given to drivers who pilot their hybrids to the mall. The building, a former lamp factory, is being renovated with goals of LEED-Silver under the USGBC's Core and Shell program, designed for adapting buildings for reuse. It all looks very good on paper; whether or not a "green" mall will prove successful is subject to discussion and, ultimately, its reception upon opening next spring. Stay tuned, and read more at WorldChanging, Green Options and Business Week. ::Green Exchange via ::Hugg(linton)...
Time to Garden!: Mother Earth News, April-May
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 03.28.07
Spring is officially here, and in much of the northern hemisphere, the weather's beginning to catch up with the calendar. For many Treehuggers, that means one thing: time to get started on the garden! The folks at Mother Earth News are also thinking about gardening in their latest issue, and readers can get the goods on growing blueberries and sweet potatoes, as well as instructions for using sticks and branches to build garden trellises and fences. In addition to these features, regular departments have advice on transplanting seedlings, and building up your garden's soil. While gardening is a big part of the story in the April-May issue, it's certainly not the only story. Readers will also find helpful tips on lighting, including plans for a small solar lighting system. You'll also find tips on choosing farm-fresh eggs; if you want to take the next step, there are even details on raising your own chickens in almost any setting. And two more features provide information on two ends of the transportation spectrum: electric bikes and scooters, and pick-up trucks. While online features for this issue are still in the works, the print edition is available at your favorite bookstore or newsstand. Or save yourself the trip, and subscribe for as little as $10. ::Mother Earth News...
CA Boom Prefab: Alchemy Architects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.28.07
The Wee House from Geoff Warner's Alchemy Architects has become so iconic that it has been Warholled, but the original wee house was just the start. Geoff's firm has now produced iterations of it ( and some not so wee houses) across the United States and Canada. Geoff says: "With sustainable practices as a mainstay of our daily work, Alchemy utilizes recycling and reuse along with building strategies that reduce waste. Our multidisciplinary team draws inspiration from art, literature, history, and leading creative thinkers to create alternative and atypical project solutions. Alchemy’s innovation on the weeHouse prefab system and “tightwad panache” renovations has gained recognition on an international scale." at ::CA Boom this weekend.
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The Ellsworth Ride with NuVinci CVP Hub
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.28.07
Don’t be fooled by the elliptical frame, the built-in fender (mudguard) tailight, the chainless belt drive or the carbon fibre components. Oh, no. What is more intriguing here is the NuVinci CVP hub drive. NuVinci because it is a modern industrial adaptation of an idea that the inventor of the parachute and tank, Leonardo da Vinci himself apparently conceived, some 500 years ago. CVP because it stands for Constant Variable Planetary transmission. Not that tells you much more. (It means it has no fixed gear ratios.) But let’s try this instead: “The NuVinci transmission uses a set of rotating balls between the input and output components of a transmission that tilt and vary the output speed of the transmission. Tilting the balls changes their contact diameters with the discs, which varies speed.” Still none the wiser? Watch the little demo video and all shall be revealed. At the moment all there is to see are some computer renderings. We trust they will materialise into real products. Fallbrook Technologies, who make the drive, say it can be scaled up to work on electric vehicles, agricultural equipment and wind turbines. Ellsworth who make the bikes, beginning at $3,000 USD, say they are first to put the NuVinci into a bicycle. Which they reckon is high on speed and stability whilst low on maintenance. ::Ellsworth Ride, via a tip from Lloyd, who first espied it at Core 77....
Swobo Do Bikes Too
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.28.07
There is so much wonderful wordsmithing on this site that I’m just going to cut and paste to tell the story. From the keyboard of Swobo: “Great companies are not defined by their products. Great companies are defined by the ideas they embody, or the point of view they broadcast within a culture. Swobo bikes will ooze the same design ideology that has been evolving within our clothing. Our goal is to position Swobo bikes somewhere between grabbing a skateboard or the keys to the old Volkswagen. We wanted a kicked-back urban bash-mobile that can be dropped, stepped on, bike-piled and launched. All our bikes can be ridden in jeans, but the Folsom can be ridden in a snowmobile suit. With some BMX dust thrown into the look, feel and ride, it begs to be beaten into submission. With no brake levers to grab, you will always have one hand free for waving, not drowning. This bike will make you laugh. Like your sisters hot friend, they are mesmerizingly beautiful in an ugly kind of way.”...
Casual Car Pool: Easing the Commute in the Bay Area
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.28.07
TreeHugger is a big fan of carpooling, having featured such organizations as eRideShare, NuRide and Ridester on these pages before. These are all handy, effective services, though they require things like registration to their respective sites and specific instructions as to how the car pool or rideshare will go down (who picks up who, where you're going, etc.). Casual Car Pool take a different approach, offering Bay Area commuters a ride across the Bay Bridge, while avoiding the toll, and riding in the (theoretically faster) carpool lane, pre-registration or sign up not required. Just show up at one of the designated 20+ locations in Oakland, Berkeley and other Bay Area locales (many are near public transportation, so you don't have to drive to them), and catch a ride; cars with three or more people get to skip the toll and cruise in the carpool lane. No more fighting bridge traffic or fighting for a seat on BART, and the fewer cars on the road cuts back on congestion, emissions and parking difficulty in the city. The organization has been going for 30 years, so they're obviously doing something right, and we suspect there are many similar organizations in cities around the US and the world. Anyone else have a Casual Car Pool in your town? Leave details in the comments section below. ::Casual Car Pool via ::Eco-Chick...
Sail, Kayak or Pedal: Three Boats in One
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.28.07
We love self-propelled carbon free transport, but who is going to complain if there is a little wind at your back. We also like using leg power as well as arms, which is a problem in canoes or Kayaks. Hobie solved this problem with its Mirage Drive, which converts a stepping motion into dual flipper action that is surprisingly strong, easily winning a tug of war with a tandem kayak. "Your feet rest naturally on the pedals and you pedal effortlessly similar to a bicycle. The larger muscles in our legs produce more powerful propulsion versus arms using a paddle."
Throw in a paddle and you have a full body workout. Add the outriggers and a sail as in the Adventure Island model and you can go just about anywhere. Its all rotomoulded plastic, but light, long lasting and cheap. Unlike the Tu-fin, the recumbent position means a low, stable centre of gravity, and it is in production. Maybe if I can convince Hobie Alter that I am a long lost relative he will give me a discount. ::Hobie Adventure Island
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Ethical Consumerism: Fig Leaf or Feasible
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.28.07
Off to a local town hall to hear representatives of the big ethical organisations debate the pro's and con's of ethical consumerism. On the left side of the table were The Co-operative Group, and Ethical Consumer Magazine. On the other side were Leo Hickman and the Fairtrade Foundation. A battle of the titans. Actually an agreement of comrades in the struggle. The Ethical Consumer magazine researcher talked about how to make an ethical purchase. Consider the different aspects: environmental, human rights, animal rights, organic, fair trade and the background of the company that made the product. She encouraged people to “buycott” not boycott; i.e. show your support with your purchasing power. Next up: Leo Hickman, the ethical living columnist from the Guardian; who wrote a book about his experience of living ethically with his wife and newborn child for a year. He said that he was astonished at the growing interest in ethical living; in the last 2 or 3 years these have become mainstream concerns. He gets hundreds of emails from people who share his dilemmas such as whether to eat a fair-trade or an organic apple. ...
Invest in Conservation, Save Energy. Watch Your Bills Go Up.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.28.07
Toronto calls itself a green city, and its wholly owned power distribution subsidiary Toronto Hydro has been handing out the CFL's and advertising conservation like mad. It has been so successful that the electricity loads in the city fell by 178.5 million kilowatt hours — enough to power 178,000 homes for a month — between spring 2005 and the end of 2006. Oops, that means a $10.4 million drop in revenue, leading to a 6.3% increase in hydro rates to cover it, eating up almost every penny of the savings. This is such an incentive to turn out the lights, telling everyone to spend money to conserve and then penalizing them for doing it. Only in Green Toronto. ::CBC
No, wait, there is the green province of Ontario, encouraging people to invest in green technology. Max Woschnigg did, building a big 80Kw turbine and saving $ 3,600 a year in power, while selling excess back to the grid. He just had his property reassessed for tax purposes and guess what, it is worth more with the turbine and his taxes just went up about $ 3,600. Another great incentive from the Green Government of Ontario. ::Tyler Hamilton inthe Star
And we wonder why people aren't being serious about conservation.
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San Francisco To Ban Plastic Shopping Bags
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.28.07
Two years ago we reported on San Francisco’s proposal to put a levy on plastic shopping bags. But now we learn they have leapfrogged that idea and gone for a full ban. As the San Francisco Chronicle saw it: “San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 this afternoon to make the city the first in the nation to prohibit petroleum-based plastic checkout bags in large markets and pharmacies.” Biodegradable plastic and recyclable paper will be allowed under the legislation. Though we should point out that even biodegradable bags will not degrade significantly in most municipal landfills, where useful composting micro-organisms are decidedly thin on the ground. Six months is time given for large markets to get their shop in order, with large drugstore chains being offered a full year to comply. It looks like the supervisors acted after becoming frustrated with the California Grocers Association inability to voluntarily reign in the volume of bags they gave away, estimated at 180 million plastic bags last year. Via ::San Francisco Chronicle...
Sustainable Furniture Council Launches in Style
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.28.07
We hope Gerry Cooklin will forgive us for using this poor quality photo, but we just wanted to capture this guy's passion, and he wouldn't stay still long enough to get a better shot!
Monday night in High Point, North Carolina, and the movers and shakers of the furniture world are, well, moving and shaking to an energetic salsa band while discussing ways that the furniture industry can help protect the world’s precious resources and reduce its own environmental footprint. This is the launch of the Sustainable Furniture Council, which we have previously covered here and here, and which describes itself as: ‘a non-profit industry association committed to promoting
sustainable practices within the home furnishings industry.'
The group sets out its initial aims as follows:
- To raise awareness of the sustainability issue
- To assist companies in adopting good practices
- To serve as an information clearing house
- To create a symbol of assurance for consumers
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Can a Leather Chair be Organic?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.28.07
The Wall Street Journal points out that while there may be organic standards for food, when you get into furniture and clothing words like green, natural, organic, or sustainable can have all kinds of meanings.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that product fibers like cotton or wool that are labeled "organic" be produced without the use of most conventional pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. However, the department doesn't regulate how these textiles are processed. This means consumers could potentially buy a chair made with organically grown cotton, but the chair could be treated with a chemical dye or flame-retardant. The Organic Trade Association has standards for textile handling and processing -- which ban things like toxic dyes -- but the guidelines are voluntary.
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Farmer's Little Helpers: A Pill To Cut Down On Cow Farting
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.28.07
Anyone who has driven through dairy country has noticed that cows out to pasture generally all face in a similar direction. We always thought that bovine behavior had a practical basis...if you were a cow that is...such that if your neighbor let fly, you would be better able to hear trouble coming and "hoof it". Now, we see that some German agricultural researchers may have developed a novel means of climate change mitigation (Bovin-o?) which, if it has commercial success, may allow cows to align themselves in a more casual manner.Via the Guardian Cow farts (methane gas) are responsible for a good chunk of total greenhouse gas emissions. "And now, German scientists have invented a pill to cut bovine burping. The fist-sized plant-based pill, known as a bolus, combined with a special diet and strict feeding times, is meant to reduce the methane produced by cows." According to one of the researchers at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, "The idea is that the cows would use the methane to produce glucose instead of passing it as wind. In turn this should help them to produce more milk." Note: methane gas has a longer atmospheric lifetime than it's breakdown product, C02, and hence methane has a much higher climate forcing potential. Thus, a little prevention goes a long way. The underlying marketing principle here seems solid too. Give farmers a productivity enhancing tool that has corollary environmental benefits and the free market can make it happen. Still, it's not a good enough reason for bringing a cow on the elevator. For those concerned with animal welfare and bio-accumulation potential, we read elsewhere that that bolus' active ingredients are various humic acids, natural plant derived tannins specifically. Image credit: The Berkshires ...
This Month in Wired: Not Much
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.28.07
Wired is so hit and miss; sometimes there is nothing to write about, other times they just get it wrong. In April they do both; just one page in the issue with anything of interest, part of the Wired 40- "The masters of innovation and technology, global thinkers that dominate their industries and point the way to the future. The 40 most wired companies in the world."
Except on the "Green Power" page, the four most innovative green companies that they can find in the world:
Sunpower, which might make a Top 40 List at TreeHugger: "Acquiring installation specialist PowerLight gives SunPower total command of the solar food chain, from R&D to rooftop. The plan is to shear overall system costs in half, enough to let sunshine compete head-on with cheap coal-fired grid power."
Then Toyota, paying attention to the least green thing they have done in years: "How about a buff Tundra CrewMax truck - with a dashboard nav screen that also displays the view from a tailgate-mounted camera - to tow your groovy Prius? Toyota doesn't confine all that cool tech to little green geekmobiles."
and then they just fall of the edge with Exelon: "Emission caps? Carbon taxes? No worries when two-thirds of the 25,000 megawatts you produce are atom-powered. Exelon is aiming to build the first new US reactor in a generation. Now, if Uncle Sam would kindly figure out where to stash spent nuclear fuel."
and horror of horrors: Monsanto for making bioengineered corn for ethanol. "Frankencorn engineered for ethanol production is so 2006. Bring on the trans-fat-free soybeans! After years of fighting cultural headwinds, Monsanto is finally figuring out how to go with the flow. Climate-change special: drought-tolerant corn."
And I thought Fortune missed the boat. These guys fell off it. .::Wired
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Fortune's Green Giants Aren't All Green
by EcoGeek.org on 03.27.07
Fortune Magazine is following what seems like every other magazine out there with its own "first-ever green edition." Among pages on Schwarzenegger's credentials and the new big business of clean technology, Fortune has put together a list of the top ten greenest mega-corps.
While it is nice to see that some of these monster corporations have have green credentials (each of the companies listed has between 5 and 380 thousand employees,) it can be difficult to make the big businesses of auto-making, aluminum refining, and tar-sand mining to sound environmental at all.
Reading the list, it becomes obvious that there's only one way to measure green credentials from Fortune's perspective, and that is to compare each company to other companies in the same sector. Yes, Alcan is greener than Alcoa and Suncor is greener than Exxon. But that doesn't make Alcan and Suncor green....
Video: Green Blogs, Carnival of the Green, Nick Aster, Arcadia Maximo...
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 03.27.07
Ask TreeHugger: What's the Dirt on Phosphate-Free Soaps?
by Helen Suh MacIntosh, Cambridge, MA, USA on 03.27.07
Question: Why is it so important to use phosphate free soaps? Is there a difference in how they work? They don't seem much more expensive, but is there a catch? Also, why aren't all soaps phosphate free? We know it is possible since there are many on the market, and we are told that they are better for nature. So why still make the more harmful soaps?
Response: Phosphorus, generally in the form of phosphates, has historically been one of the main ingredients in detergents (which are soaps made from synthetic materials). In the detergents, phosphates served as a “builder” to improve the detergent’s cleaning efficiency. Builders, such as STPP, are important to the cleaning process, as they help to remove dirt from the clothes and to minimize soap scum (often seen as a ring on the tub, washing machine, or shirt collars). The need for builders in detergents and soaps is especially important in areas with “hard” water that contain calcium and magnesium ions, since the builders prevent these ions from interfering with the cleaning process.
Of the detergent builders, phosphates were the most popular, because of their superior cleaning performance. Their strong cleaning performance, however, has increasingly been overshadowed by their harmful effects on rivers, lakes, streams, and other fresh waters. Levels of phosphates in these fresh water bodies can be much higher than normal as the result of contamination from municipal and domestic wastewater that contains phosphates -- some or much of which (depending on your perspective) comes from phosphate-containing detergents that go down the drain after use. ...
Metropolis and IIDA Throw Green Design Contest
by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 03.27.07
“In the 21st century a first-rate interior must not only excel in beauty but be in tune with society and the earth,” proclaims the call for entries for the IIDA/Metropolis Smart Environments Awards. The annual awards program, recognizing sustainable design, is open to all interior design and architecture professionals practicing legally in their jurisdictions. Winners will be in the running for a spread in design magazine Metropolis, which along with the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) sponsors the contest. What’s the caliber? Last year awards went to six projects, including Cass Calder Smith's (CSS Architecture) Slow Food restaurant in San Francisco furnished with recycled and all-natural materials, HOK's green office in Toronto (shown), and a LEED-gold rated showroom for carpet manufacturer Interface designed by TVS Interiors....
Club Re:Solution: An Indoor Pleasure Garden
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 03.27.07
This coming Sunday might be April Fools Day, but Club Re:Solution is no joke - there's going to be some serious partying going on! Described as an all day party with a green tinge, this event is where live music meets fashion, technology and art in an indoor pleasure garden. This green garden of delights will be created in The Kinetica Museum in London's Spitalfields Market. There is free entry from 12 noon to 6pm, and £6 thereafter till 11pm. We are told you'll be able to "grab an organic beer or vino, chill out on a bale of hay or take a ride on a sexy Segway or C5. Check out the wiggly wormery, test your greenness in the Futerra/Anti-Apathy video confessional, CAT’s carbon clinic. Catch the ethical fashion show with Junky Styling, Enamore, From Somewhere, Terra Plana and Beyond Skin - from burlesque hemp undies to state-of-art styling with a twist." ...
Hybrid Truck Unveiled by Kenworth
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.27.07
Kenworth Truck Company recently introduced a hybrid-electric truck, called the Kenworth T270 Class 6. In a press release, Mike Dozier, Kenworth chief engineer, said: “During steady driving conditions above 30 mph, the T270 hybrid operates like a standard diesel vehicle with all power coming from the engine. Below 30 mph, it uses a combination of diesel and electricity. The system automatically switches between the two modes of operation and is seamless to the driver.” Kenworth will have limited production of medium duty hybrid trucks for municipal fleets and utility companies this year with full-scale production expected to follow in 2008. The goal for the T270 hybrid is to improve fuel economy by 30% in start-and-stop applications, such as utility trucks and pick-up and delivery. “The more stop-and-go in the application, the better the truck’s performance,” said Dozier.
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The Dangers of Biofuel
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 03.27.07
The Guardian have published a column by George Monbiot, on the dangers of bio-fuel. Although this won't be a popular view-point, Monbiot believes that the majority of biofuel production is more harmful to the environment than petroleum production. His argument; there's nothing wrong with the theory, but the practice has gone very wrong indeed. His answer is to halt production until more efficient production is available on a large scale.
Biofuels are desirable because the plants from which it is create store carbon as they grow. Therefore the carbon released during its use is offset, it will be reabsorbed by the new plants being grown for fuel. However, there are other factors that need to be taken into account, which can cause biofuel to seem like a less desirable option. There is no simple solution; developing countries are gaining increasing political power from their crops, but at the same time they are losing out ecologically.
One problem is that the demand for fuel crops is raising prices, making them less affordable as a food source. According to Monbiot, in some cases grain now costs double what it did just one year ago, and stock piles are low. Fuel manufacturers can afford these higher prices, and if this continues then there is a very real possibility that it could create a very real food shortage....
Most Huggable: Cargill Ousted, Motorola’s Greener Phones, The State of the Green Blogosphere
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 03.27.07
American agro-giant Cargill is forced to close down a soybean export terminal in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest… Indianapolis is hoping to green itself from above, starting with the roofs… An online marketing firm decides to probe the state of the sustainable blogosphere… Vermont’s Governor will travel to China this summer to exchange ideas on sustainable business and best practices… Motorola becomes the first cell phone mogul to make all chargers and phones Energy Star compliant… Most Huggable is a daily roundup of some of the most tantalizing stories from Hugg.com, TreeHugger’s user-generated green news site. Why not submit your own green news?...
100+ MPG Sports Car: Caterham Seven Roadsport
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.27.07
Science Worlds reports that Britain will see the launch of a new car company next week that aims to be the most sustainable in Europe. Axon Automotive, based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, will make their debut at the Sexy Green Car Show show at the Eden Project in Cornwall. The Axon Eco-M edition is based on a Caterham 7 Classic and uses the standard 1.4 liter engine. However, to improve its aerodynamics and reduce its weight Axon have done away with the roof, windscreen and more, and brought in new lightweight components made from recycled carbon fiber. The technique for recycling carbon fire, previously thought to be impossible, has been developed by British company Milled Carbon.
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"Toxic West Virginia" from ViceTV: Coal Mining
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.27.07
The issue of coal mining has become a serious concern not only here in the United States but globally as well. Most recently Lloyd covered the Montana and Canada regions and Stephen showed us a video from New South Wales. We found this video, thanks to Eco-Chick, from ViceTV that shows some phenomenal reporting about the coal mining issues in West Virginia (Jeff wrote about West Virginia previously, as well). ViceTV has an entire series dedicated to the issue and we highly recommend watching all of it. For further reading, check out the eye-opening book Lost Mountain by Erik Reece. “…it is like grabbing a hot electrical wire – it fills you with fire, and makes you want to scream like hell.” Video Via ::Eco-Chick...
This Old (Green) House
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.27.07
This Old House, PBS' seminal home improvement and remodeling show, has begun its first-ever green renovation. They're using as many environmentally friendly building products and methods as possible while creating a functional home on a budget for a contemporary family. The show is renovating a 1926 Craftsman bungalow in Austin, Texas, adding two bedrooms and a bathroom to the home to accommodate the homeowners' growing family. The renovation looks to be doing a pretty good job of considering the current building and not simply gutting the house and turning it into a hulking home with a few green features; the compact house was built to use natural air flow, high rooflines, and deep overhanging eaves to keep the summer heat at bay without air conditioning. "We don't want a big house; we're not going to gold-plate everything," says Michele Grieshaber, one of the homeowners. "We don't need fancy -- we need functional." Features like photovoltaic cells on the roof, rainwater collection for irrigation, spray-foam insulation, recycled-glass tile and countertops, and formaldehyde-free wood composites are just some of the resource-saving strategies and eco-friendly materials planned for the project, which will be rated by the Austin Green Building Program. Learn more about the project here and tune in to your local PBS station to watch the green transformation. ::This Old House via ::CSRwire...
Flood Maps: View Sea Level Rise
by Celine Ruben-Salama, New York, NY on 03.27.07
As the earth’s ice caps continue to melt rising water levels are a global threat. If you find it hard to wrap your head around the concept, don’t worry, you are not alone. In response to this issue Alex Tingle, an accomplished programmer, created Flood Maps. Users can adjust the sea level in 1 meter increments up to 14 and observe the consequences of the rise for coastal areas around the world. The model is based on data from NASA and uses the Google’s mapping API which gives the application a familiar and easy-to-use interface. ...
organicARCHITECT Announces 2007 organicAWARDS
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.27.07
Eric Corey Freed, architect and proprietor of organicARCHITECT (mentioned here on these pages), has been working to promote green building and design innovation through his various projects since 1999. One of these projects is the annual organicAWARDS, which recognize the most exciting products introduced in the past year that promote both design innovation and environmental responsibility, and the 2007 winners have been announced. The list of award recipients includes the WorldChanging book, the Erosion Sink, Herman Miller's Leaf Light (also mentioned here) and the Tesla Roadster, which the press release notes as "perhaps the most innovative product recognized among organicARCHITECT's winners of 2007" (and we have to agree). There are some other good ones on the list: gDiapers' Cradle-to-Cradle diaper, EcoSmart Fireplace and Habitus' cork mosaic tiles are there as well, and, overall, it's a pretty good list. It's always good to see some solid positive reinforcement given to ideas and products that incorporate both design and sustainability, and the flurry of media focusing on green in 2006 helped push even more in a greener direction. We can't wait to see what gets recognized next year. ::organicARCHITECT's organicAWARDS 2007 via ::WorldChanging...
Organic Fruit Is Healthier: Science Told Me So
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.27.07
Not that we’re surprised. But it is nice to have the bunsen burner brigade on board too. Some lab coats at University of California in Davis grew two batches of kiwifruit; one organically and the other conventionally with the attendant cocktail of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertiliser. Then compared the two. The organic ones showed 18% more polyphenols and 27% more antioxidant activity. Polyphenols, although sounding rather nasty, turn out to be good at reducing cholesterol, improving blood circulation and according to some studies, help in prevention of certain cancers. And antioxidants are said to be pretty effective at duelling with free radicals, known for damaging cells. The organic kiwis also produced ascorbic acid, (vitamin C). The study published in the peer-reviewed British journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, “suggests that the organic plants, thrown onto their own defences against disease and predators, are more "stressed" and therefore produce more of these beneficial compounds.” And it's not the first time such reseach has popped up. A couple of years ago we noted that organic milk had been shown to have significantly higher vitamin E, beta carotene, antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids. Via ::AFP....
CA Boom Prefab: Jennifer Siegel
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.27.07
We have followed Jennifer Siegel for years, since her 2003 Seatrain House, still the best shipping container house we have seen, through her show house (shown being installed above) her Swell House, non residential with her sustainable portables, the Takehome series of affordable designs not to mention numerous side trips through her monthly publication, Materials Monthly. Was there ever a more prolific supplier of great ideas for TreeHugger posts? Jennifer has consistently been at the head of the curve of prefab modern and sustainability, always producing something innovative and new, so we expect great things at CA boom. ...
Google Me a Bicycle
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.27.07
Last christmas Ikea gave all its 9,000 U.K. employees a moving bonus: a free folding bicycle, worth £139 and made by Raleigh Poland. In addition they gave them a 15% subsidy on public transport. This week Google did an "Ikea" and offered its 2,000 employees in Europe, Africa and Asia a German Raleigh folding bike, the Dahon Curve, worth £349. As well as being able to choose from men’s and women’s hybrids, there’s a Google cruiser. Also available is a smart silver helmet with Google on the side. The Ikea bikes appeared on ebay very quickly; how long will it take for these, complete with Google logo, to appear... Others have written about Google's free biodiesel shuttle bus service to work in the Silicon Valley and the installation of solar panels at their headquarters. But one last Google tidbit--did you know that Google Europe has also this week been given an award for using free-range eggs by the Compassion in World Farming organisation? :: Guardian...
Eco-Tourism at the Iberá Marsh in Corrientes, Argentina
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 03.27.07
If you’ve already been to Buenos Aires and Patagonia or you’re looking for a new Argentine landscape, try the Iberá Marsh in Corrientes province. This 3.458.000 acres swamp is South America’s second largest, and one of the most important fresh water reserves of the world. It’s located at the very heart of the province, and it serves as home for species like jacare, swamp deer, river wolf and the aguará guazú along with 350 bird species, and plants like Irupe, aguapé, water sequin and bot poppys. In this natural paradise a company called Rincon del Socorro offers a series of natural and luxury accommodations including a luxury eco-lodge, a cattle ranch and a guesthouse ranch. The first one is perhaps the obvious choice for TreeHuggers: a 30000 acres former cattle ranch that holds a boutique hotel with only six rooms and three cabins, organic restaurant, playroom and swimming pool, among other facilities. This inn was built in 1896 and recycled from its original architecture lines. The three cabins were also recycled from its original structure and are just 50 meters or park away from the hotel. According to its owners, a variety of local deers can be seen wondering these parks....
Ryker/Nave: Green House in Montana
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.27.07
Lori Ryker wrote the book- Off the Grid: Modern Sustainable Housing and with partner in life and work Brett Nave, has built half a dozen Montana modern, sustainable homes. She told Outside Magazine: "one of our big goals is to make beautiful buildings and help people understand that green materials don't predetermine a certain style" (Nave adds) "we're not talking about earthships."
The 2,300 square foot house is built from locally harvested Douglas fir, recycled barnwood, and windows from an old post office. Behind the scenes it is insulated with Icynene, harvests rainwater, and a grey water collection system. Lots of opening windows: "If you wan to live in a passive- solar house, you have to open windows. You have to participate. Sustainable design is about creating a place that allows you to interact with the environment, not shut yourself of from it." See a slideshow on ::Outside Online...
The Power of Sun
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.27.07
The other night this TreeHugger happened to catch part of a TV documentary, simply called The Sun. We think it came via the BBC, but can’t seem to locate an original link for you. Suffice to say, given all the talk about the need to rethink our energy needs beyond oil and coal, we were quite taken with a few of the mindbending stats. Apparently the sun has enough of a fuel store to keep on shining for another five billion years. And it's energy output is estimated to be 386 billion, billion megawatts. Or put into more meaningful language; “in 15 minutes the sun radiates as much energy as mankind consumes in all forms, during an entire year.” No wonder it is the nuclear reactor that William McDonough most prefers. ...
Rob Hopkins of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Culture
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.27.07
As Lester Brown recently noted on this site, the coming decline of oil will be ‘a seismic economic event’. So what do we do when we learn that the ’black gold’ will soon start running out? Do we grab a gun and head for the hills, or do we redouble our efforts to build strong, resilient communities and economies that are not dependent on fossil fuels? Rob Hopkins is at the forefront of the latter approach. Originally a permaculture teacher, Rob began tackling peak oil by coordinating an energy descent action plan with his students for Kinsale, the town in Ireland where he was living and teaching. The resulting document received a huge amount of interest from around the world (and can be downloaded as a PDF here), and has since given rise to the Transition Towns movement – a rapidly spreading, community-lead approach to peak oil planning, which is currently being implemented at a village, town and even city level. Rob also writes a popular and solutions-based peak oil blog called Transition Culture. In this interview, Rob tells Treehugger what inspired him to tackle peak oil, why the survivalist approach holds no interest for him, and how permaculture has influenced the Transition Towns concept. He also explains why he doesn’t believe in a technological solution to the coming crisis, and he gives his thoughts on how everyone can help prepare for the challenges ahead.
[Photo credit: Jersey Evening Post]
Treehugger: The Kinsale Energy Decent Action Plan appears to be a first of its kind, namely an inclusive, community focussed approach to getting off oil. What inspired you to initiate the process, and how have you adapted it to help other communities through the Transition Towns concept?
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Radiant City: A Documentary about Suburban Sprawl
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.27.07
"80% of everything that has been built in North America was built in the last fifty years and most of it is brutal, depressing, ugly, unhealthy and spiritually degrading."- That's James Howard Kunstler gleefully munching the Calgary scenery in Radiant City, a new film about what's happening on the edge of town. It is a sort of docudrama following the Moss family through their daily life of commutes and gymnastic classes and shopping at the power center, with commentary by the always articulate planner Ken Greenberg, new urbanist Andreas Duany, philosopher Mark Kingwell and, of course, Jim Kunstler at his best.
It truly does show the suburbs at their soul-destroying worst, "overlaid with zombie monoculture. Politicians call it growth. Developers call it business. The Moss family call it home." We call it sometimes very funny, sometimes overlong and draggy, sometimes as Vanessa Farquarson of the Post quoted, "almost too true to be real."
There are not too many entertaining nights out to be had watching movies about urban planning. We hope this will make it to the States; everyone concerned about the future of our cities should see ::Radiant City. Watch the trailer here.
Thanks to Environmental Defence for the sneak preview. Opens across Canada (sort of) on Friday.
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Eco-Pod House ready to Launch
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.27.07
Actually it does look like it might take off any second. In fact it is an interesting design by inventor/ builder Aidan Quinn, who has been living in it for the last four weeks. To the Manchester Evening News he said:
“I have always wanted to build a house and it seemed to me that there had to be a way of doing it more efficiently to not only cut down CO2 pollution during construction but also running costs. Our homes are responsible for creating 27 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions and that clearly is not sustainable. I wanted to find a better way to live.”
So his Pod has solar panels on the roof to heat the water, a wind turbine to generate power and a wood burning stove in case there’s no wind. There’s a water harvesting and recycling system and odourless dry toilet, and the pod sits on a deep concrete base which incorporates the underfloor heating system.
Now if he composts in an EcoPod and goes out horizontally in an ecopod, Aidan will have all the bases covered. ...
Austin Powers Up Green: 'Plug In My Hybrid Baby'
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.27.07
Via Wall Street Journal (subscription only) comes news that the Mayor of Austin Texas has a formal plan to have the entire city integrate plug-in hybrid vehicles into a load balancing scheme designed to satisfy daytime peak power demands. The kernel is this: Austin gets a good chunk of power from the Texas wind, which peaks it's output at night. Cars go home, charge up overnight; owners drive to work and plug back in to the local grid, sharing the wind-accumulated juice to help light and cool the daytime work experience. This sounds a lot like the scheme RMI has been talking about for a decade, with fuel cell powered vehicles sharing hydrogen power with the grid during the commuter workday. Might even go back as far as the 1960's with 'Plug-In, Turn-On, Walk-Out.' Anyhow, see a few bits from the WSJ coverage below the fold. Previous extensive coverage of Plug-In Partners can be found here, and here, or here and here. We could go on linking back to the TreeHugger plug-in archive; but, the important point is that mainstream print media has seemingly caught the climate fever. Looks a like about a year-long gestation period for the infection....
Canadian Tar Sands: a Hydrocarbon Hurricane
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.27.07
A million barrels of oil per day are made from Alberta's tar sands. It is a difficult process; According to Andrew Nikiforuk in his brilliant article in Explore:
It is a mess of heavy tar trapped in sand and clay that requires Herculean engineering efforts to upgrade into oil. "You know you are at the bottom of the ninth when you are schlepping a tonne of sand to get a barrel of oil" notes CIBC chief economist Jeff Rubin. It uses enough natural gas to heat three million houses, and even oil analysts consider the use of a clean fuel to make a dirty one poor alchemy, its "turning gold into lead"
It is, like all of Nikiforuk's work, extremely well written and totally terrifying. Explore is a sort of Canadian Outside Magazine and its content is unfortunately not available online, silly because they are so proud of saving 200,000 pounds carbon by printing on 100% recycled paper and could save a lot more if they sold it by the byte, and real shame, as this is a shocking and important article....
Search the Green Web with GreenMaven.com
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 03.27.07
You don't have to thrash about the wilds of Google for your eco-conscious queries, true believers. GreenMaven's niche-based search engine pulls results from thousands of environment-positive Web sites and news stories to help you narrow it down, whether you're looking for vegetable-tanned leather pumps or a green moving company....
dvGreen, Sustainable Event Design from New York
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 03.27.07
We love great new eco business ideas and this is certainly one of them. dvGreen is a brand new sustainable event company who don't sacrifice style and still make things eco. They are the one and only in NYC, organising anything from green weddings to eco cocktail parties or organic birthdays. Recycling, composting, tree-free invitation cards along with carbon offsetting are on their menu. These and many more small ideas like donating or composting leftovers, decorating with organic flowers and table linens result in a big impact when it comes to reducing the ecological footprints of those ‘beautiful, amazing, fabulous parties that just happen to be Green’. Danielle Venokur (hence dvGreen) is the one throwing her magic wand (represented in the logo) to ‘wave and magically create your dream, green event’. And she’s having fun! After working for one of New York’s top floral design houses where she also enjoyed her work but missed the green in the business, Danielle founded dvGreen, a sustainable event design and production company, passionately explained here. The service even goes as far as offering natural hair and beauty product recommendations. Anyone want to get married? ::dvGreen
For more tips on partying treehugger-style, check out TreeHuggerTV How To Throw an Eco-Party
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20,000 Rental Bikes to be Unleashed in Paris
by EcoGeek.org on 03.27.07
This July, Parisians will have an exciting new way to travel around their city. About 1,500 stations stocked with specially designed, vandal-proof bikes will be scattered around the city. Once your membership is paid, and your credit card is on file, the bikes can be borrowed from one station and returned to any other station in the city. Membership ranges from $2 for a day to $40 for a year, and rentals are free for the first 30 minutes. To reduce opportunities for theft, riders will be encouraged to return the bikes to a lock station quickly by incrementally escalating rental fees. The second half hour is $1.30, the third is $2.60 and the price increases from there.
A similar project has been extremely successful in Lyon, where the membership fees are a bit smaller, but biking has been shown to be faster than any other mode of in-city transportation. Lyon's deputy mayor gushes, "It has completely transformed the landscape of Lyon -- everywhere you see people on the bikes."...
Seen In New York: Guilt By Association
by Celine Ruben-Salama, New York, NY on 03.26.07
New York City dwellers are notoriously car-less. And why wouldn’t they be? The city boasts a robust transit system and generous sidewalks are ubiquitous throughout the five boroughs. Although a bit dangerous, the mostly flat terrain lends itself well to bicycle riding. In addition, parking is expensive and hard to come by. Auto insurance rates are among the highest in the nation. Rare is the occasion when a car is really needed; that’s when we go online and book a Zipcar (similar to Flexcar)....
Seth Godin: Zero is the New Black
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.26.07
You don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing; you just need to read Seth Godin. Here he nails the impact of No Impact Man:
Ever since he was written up in the Times last week, No Impact Man has been causing shockwaves. Here's a guy who, with his family, is going without... reducing his intake to local foods and his output to a tiny fraction of the typical American's.
I was at the Union Square Market last week, buying some local eggs. A well-dressed woman marched up and handed two empty cardboard egg trays to the farmer, for reusing (a step better than recycling).
Suddenly, $40 an ounce for raspberries flown in from Chile isn't so sexy any more.
Now, people look at someone driving a Chevy Suburban the same way they look at a fit person parking in a handicapped space. "Why," they wonder, "do you need to do that?" It's sort of a mix of suspicion and pity.
The richest and best-educated people in our economy are shifting, and pretty quickly. They're just as willing to spend money as they always were, but now it's not focused on fancy organic stuff at the Whole Foods Market or giant bulletproof cars from Germany or private jet travel. Instead, the market is trying as hard as it can to spend time and money without leaving much of a trace.
I think this story has legs and is going to be around for a long time. Zero is the new black. ::Seth Godin
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Larry's Beans - Just How Good Can Coffee Be?
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 03.26.07
It seems that the question of just how good Larry’s Beans are doesn’t just lie in taste of the dark rich liquid. Considered by many to be the leading exponent in the US of how to smoothly blend sustainability and cool in one brand, Larry’s Beans are going way beyond the call of duty to make their coffee the fairest of them all. Larry’s Beans are sourced worldwide from small family farmers who are paid an international fair trade price for their shade grown organic coffee beans. They even publish a document trail on their website to ‘show you the path each lot took to get to our warehouse (a “lot” is a specific batch of beans). The trail begins with our contract with the producer coop and ends with delivery to our warehouse.’ Each bag of coffee has a lot number printed on it so the consumer can trace their beans back to the source. At the US end of the business it appears that Larry’s Beans are having a great deal of fun showing everyone how it’s possible for a business to be both successful and sustainable. ...
Apply Now For Wild Gift: Carpe Opportunity, and Seize The Present!
by Rachel Wasser, Beijing, China on 03.26.07
If you’re lurking around the quarter-life crisis range – anywhere from 21 to 30 – man oh man have we got a potential present for you! Wild Gift is a “nonprofit organization that supports leaders… building communities whose citizens live in harmony with each other and Nature.” Specifically, they support five successful applicants a year in realizing their project ideas, which must “benefit the natural environment and the human community.” Lucky recipients of the Wild Gift come into a package valued at $11,000 - $15,000, which includes leadership training, deep wilderness treehugging and trekking time, and cash to turn ideas into action. Recipients live, if not off-grid, at least off the beaten path for a year.
The organization favors projects that will improve natural and social conditions in communities and serve as models that can be replicated – the Wild Gift is one that keeps on giving. This will be the program’s third year in its current form, and past recipients have launched a nature writing program in California, a solar power firm in India, and a consultancy that helps establish community farm operations in the USA. Applications are due April 1, so if you have a project to propose, move fast! But if you’re looking for a gift that’s less of a commitment or you’re in the proscribed age range, don’t despair – check out TreeHugger’s Green Gift Guide or How to Green Your Gifts instead! ::Wild Gift Image from X's album Wild Gift....
Camden Kiwi Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.26.07
This week is Carnival of the Green # 70 and it's being hosted by Camden Kiwi! 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.
Note: Next week we'll be rolling out our new Carnival of the Green logo! For those that have hosted or are hosting in the future you will have the opportunity to add it to your site....
Most Huggable: City of Bikes, Worried Hunters, and Bush Whacking Science
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 03.26.07
Global warming as serious a threat as terrorism? Most Americans seem to think so… The city of bikes: Paris has plans to set the mood by seeding the city with over 20,000 affordable, rentable bikes… Sportsmen are getting worried about the changing climate as hunting traditions become endangered… The Bush administration has been systematically interfering with the findings of climate scientists, the Guardian reports… Dwell now offers video segments showcasing key green moments in sustainable architecture… Most Huggable is a daily roundup of some of the most tantalizing stories from Hugg.com, TreeHugger’s user-generated green news site. Why not submit your own green news? ...
TreeHugger Picks: Flooring
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.26.07
There are a dizzying amount of decisions to make when working on a remodel or renovation of your home. Though it's underfoot, flooring is a major consideration, affecting your home's aesthetic and air quality. If you're pondering a renovation or new floor, here are some of our picks for what to put down.
1) Bamboo is always among TreeHugger's top choices, but, beware: it isn't always TreeHugger green.
2) Reclaimed wood, like the goods from Trestewood or Pioneer Millworks, lends a timeless, well-loved quality to floors.
3) Both Mioculture's and Habitus' tiles add cork's sustainable, soft, sound-proofing qualities to your floor.
4) Linoleum, originally developed in the late 1800's, is a great long-lasting, sustainable alternative to vinyl floors.
5) Mud floors are attractive, comfortable to walk on, heat-absorbing, and earth-friendly. Really.
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Tell US Congress to Strengthen Fuel Economy Standards
by Union of Concerned Scientists on 03.26.07
The cars we drive could go much farther on a gallon of gas. Making cars more fuel-efficient can reduce oil dependence, save drivers money at the pump and cut back on global warming pollution. But the average fuel economy of the vehicles automakers build has remained stagnant for decades.
The automakers already have the technology to make more fuel-efficient vehicles, even SUVs. What we have now is a tremendous opportunity to pass strong national fuel economy standards.
Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA) and Todd Platts (R-PA) have introduced the Fuel Economy Reform Act, a bipartisan measure that would strengthen U.S. fuel economy standards.
You can tell your member of Congress to support the bill.
If your representative has already signed on, they will be listed here. You can send them a letter of thanks through the link at the top....
Quiksilver's Dollars Plummet Due to Lack of Snow
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.26.07
Due to the unseasonably warm winter, especially in Europe, Quiksilver, a winter sports company, saw its net income plummet 86.7% just in the first quarter of this year. We already know that many ski resorts are suffering from lack of snow due to global warming, but now we're seeing it trickle down into the entire industry as well. Quiksilver purchased Rossignol in July 2005 to expand its reach into snow sports and saw an opportunity to extend some of their other lines as well, including Roxy apparel. When Quiksilver was riding a 52-week high back in December they announced that the integration with Rossignol was nearly completed. But now, retailers have pulled back on new merchandise and are dramatically discounting the products they already carry. Quiksilver Chief Executive Robert McKnight Jr. said that Rossignol orders specifically are now down 20% to 25% and that some retailers are packing away this winter's Rossignol products and saving them for next year. This downgraded the stock and shares are now at a 52-week low at $10.90. Let's hope that all of the skeptics now agree we need to "Save Our Snow." Via ::Wall Street Journal...
Clean Green Cars: Green(er) Car Info for UK Drivers
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.26.07
Launched to give British drivers more information on greener car technology, buying greener cars, and greener driving practices, Clean Green Cars publishes news, like a note on Mazda's "sustainable zoom-zoom" strategy, features, like a best-in-class rundown of the most eco-friendly cars in each category, and a manufacturer watch, with the spotlight currently trained on Saab's bio-ethanol and Land Rover's hybrid aspirations. They also feature a handy jargon buster, to help anyone who doesn't know the difference between CNG and LPG or biofuel and biodiesel, and road tests for a bevy of makes and models. Clean Green Cars has a focus on relativity as well; "[their] goal is to advise which cars are the best of their type, whether that is a small hatchback or something that can carry seven people. Small diesel hatchbacks or hybrids do not suit everyone - if you need an off-roader, that is your business, not ours. But some of these vehicles are greener than others, and we'll tell you which." As with all promising new sites just getting their start, there's a little "wait & see" involved in whether or not it will be a viable source in green(er) transportation, but for now, from newbie to experienced greenie, Clean Green Cars looks to have something for every green car enthusiast in the UK. ::Clean Green Cars via ::AutoblogGreen...
World's First Building-Integrated Wind Turbines
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.26.07
Three wind turbine blades have been successfully installed on the Bahrain World Trade Center, a twin skyscraper complex. This is the first time that a commercial development has integrated large-scale wind turbines within its design to harness the power of the wind. The three massive turbines, measuring 29 meters in diameter, are supported by bridges spanning between the complex's two towers. Through its positioning and the unique aerodynamic design of the towers, the prevailing on-shore Gulf breeze is funneled into the path of the turbines, helping to create power generation efficiency. ...
TreeHugger Radio: Al Gore Testifies, Young Muslims and Christians Find Common Ground, and The Ski Industry Gets Serious About the Environment
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 03.26.07
In this installment of TreeHugger Radio, Al Gore takes flak from some in the scientific community for potentially exaggerating aspects of the climate change issue. We ask TreeHugger correspondent Tim McGee in Los Angeles about the balance between science and fiction. Also, Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, tells how his group is helping bring young Muslims and Christians together onto common ground: Earth stewardship. On the slopes, warmer winters have the snow-sports industry taking strides to dodge disaster. Lisa Isaacs, Environmental Programs Director for Mammoth Mountain, tells us why the ski industry is taking this so seriously. Listen to TreeHugger Radio each week on Air America’s EcoTalk, here on TreeHugger.com, or pick up our podcast on iTunes. (listen/right click to download) ::TreeHugger Radio
(Eboo Patel image credit: Nubar Alexanian)
...No Light Shed on Electronic Purchases
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 03.26.07
Consumers wanting to buy energy efficient products are being left in the dark about the greenest models to purchase, according to a new study released recently by the National Consumer Council (NCC).
The report looked at 350 electronic products such as TVs, laptops, and DVDs, and found that there was an Information Blackout as to the power consumption of these items - just one had an energy label sticker on it! The report also uncovered that there was a human side to the issue too, as most staff could not answer basic questions about the energy efficiency of products. Most help lines and websites were also of limited use, but equally ill equipped for assist eco-conscious consumers. Light's out - where's the switch? Related: ::Electronics Category...
Sea Sponge Soaks up Sunlight
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 03.26.07
Last week, we wrote a post about biomimicry, which is the process of taking qualities from living organisms and using them in design. We thought we would bring you news of a good example, courtesy of the humble sea sponge, which could lead to a more efficient method of making solar cells.
Currently solar cells are made under high temperature and low pressure, which requires a large amount of power. However, certain sea sponges are capable of forming silicon structures without these energy-intensive conditions. By mimicking this process, and replacing the silicon with zinc oxide, scientists have succeeded in creating primitive, but cheap solar cells.
Reducing the energy required to make solar cells will lower production and sale costs, and make them a viable option for more applications. It could also bring us nearer to a possible tipping point for solar power, where increased adoption and economies of scale cause a break into the mainstream. Related: ::Solar Category...
Pre-Engineered Bamboo Homes Enter The US Market
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.26.07
Bamboo Technologies, previously noted on TreeHugger for sponsoring a design competition, has moved their bamboo. And we want one. Favorite design, of those pictured on their website, is the Pavilion (pictured). 'Dad, can my friends and I have a sleepover on the porch, without the air conditioning. Dad... please?' Fabulous idea to put the pavilion on stilts - bamboo bending in storm winds, above the flood flow, people smiling. From the BT site specs: "Interior space is 707 sqft. [Bigger than a FEMA trailer.] An optional cupola or vented skylight adds extra light." "The 9' Extended Porch covering a 6 ft deck area is optional and provides 717 sqft of outside deck area." Insulation options are laid out here. Our second favorite (pictured below the fold) is the "EcoHome," with lower floor designed for integrated straw bale wall construction. Now we just need to grow some structural BOO here in the US and figure out how to termite-proof those uprights. ...
Recycled Toothbrush Targets Mainstream Market
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.26.07
We have known about the Recycline Preserve toothbrush for a few years, but now it is going mainstream. Rider Thompson of Sustainable is Good, writes:
"Recycline’s backbone product, the Preserve Toothbrush is being tested at 100 Target Stores and the company doesn’t know how long the super retailer will give them to prove mainstream consumers want their eco-friendly product. Talk about pressure for the Waltham, MA company founded by Eric Hudson. Hudson and his company have been making major strides in the last few years and the next step is to break into the mainstream consumer market."
The article notes that much of the recycled plastic in the toothbrushes and razors comes from Stoneyfield Farms' waste yoghurt containers. Recycline’s Kathryn Lively told Rider: “Our relationship with Stonyfield Farm is a great example of how businesses of the future can work. Here we have one company (Recycline) that uses another company's waste (Stonyfield yogurt cups) to make their products (Preserve brand products). " Read the whole article at ::Sustainable is Good...
Sustainable London
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.26.07
The exhibition Sustainable London, Addressing Climate Change in the Capital, is a show that is a primer on how climate change is being tackled through planning and in new developments across London. The 61 different case studies on display display the real progress that is being made towards the creation of a sustainable 21st Century city. Happily, several of the projects have already been reviewed at treehugger: BedZED, a mixed use solar urban village, the Alpine House, a pavilion for alpine plants, at Kew Garden and an environmental school addition. There are lots of interesting surprises. Gallions Park is a zero carbon development, proposed by Greenpeace. On this brownfield site, residential units will be built with electricity generated on site by a heat and power plant that will use bio-mass, such as wood, for its fuel so that the site will produce zero net carbon emissions over the course of a year. The Palestra building, by Will Alsop a well-known British architect, has 14 micro-wind turbines inobtrusively placed on its roof. Combined with the solar panels, they will supply the good-looking new 12 storey office building with 4% of its total energy needs.
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UN says Palm Oil Industry is Wiping out the Orang Utan
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.26.07
Sometimes I feel like the evil Mugatu in Zoolander, out to get Malaysia. I write a few posts about palm oil, orangutans and dying for a cookie? and get letters like "Your views on palm oil smacks of ignorance. ...Whatever little that I know of palm oil, I learnt from this site www.palmoiltruthfoundation.com" and "www.palmoiltruthfoundation.com gives another perspective to the story. Maybe that's what we all need, to see both sides before deciding?" I say No to Biodiesel from Unsustainable Palm Oil and get told to "Please go to the following link to get better informed about the goodness of palm oil." Have I maligned a nation and an industry, even if it loves The Great Global Warming Swindle?...
Green Design at Puro Diseño Fair, this Weekend in Buenos Aires
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 03.26.07
From March 28th to April 2nd will take place the 7th annual Puro Diseño fair, one of the main design events in Buenos Aires. Scanning the exhibitors’ list and program, we found some of our featured Argentine green designers are going to be there, so it might be a great opportunity to get in touch with them or buy their stuff. Some of them are the fellows from Baumm, the Argentine alternative to Freitag, who make messenger bags with recycled advertising banners; designer Silvina Romero, who makes jewelry with repurposed threads; and Tribalia, the brand founded by an Argentinean living in Milan which sells carpets and knittings from 100% natural sheep and llama wool spun under Inca techniques by fishermen in Rosario (Santa Fe province, Argentina). Puro Diseño exhibition will also offer a Conferences Program that includes a presentation by our colleague Emily Pilloton (also featured in TreeHugger), from Inhabitat, about Green Design; and a Future Trends seminar. Of course we hope to make new green findings and will be at the presentations, so we'll bring you the scoop when the fair takes place. Puro Diseño is open to the public and will be open from 12am until 10pm at the Blue Pavillion in La Rural exhibition center (4200 Santa Fe Av.). Admission is 12 pesos (about 4 dollars). ::Puro Diseño Fair...
IBM Commits to Greenhouse Gas Reductions
by Eric Kane, New York, NY on 03.26.07
Last week, IBM announced that it would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% from 2005 levels by the year 2012. The commitment was made as part of the company’s participation in the Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘Climate Leaders’ program. To date, the ‘Climate Leaders’ program has enlisted more than 100 companies to set similar voluntary reduction targets. IBM’s most recent goal follows an earlier pledge in which the company successfully reduced its emissions by 6.2% from 2002 levels in 2005. The technology giant plans to achieve further reductions through improved energy efficiency in its offices and limited use of perfluorocompounds in semiconductor manufacturing. My, how times have changed since the IBM 5120 (pictured above) was introduced. See also ::A Personal Computer for the Planet...
Repurposed: From the Landfill to the Gallery
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 03.26.07
When we recycle materials like aluminum, plastic or glass, we generally expect that these cans, bottles and other containers will go towards the creation of more cans, bottles and containers. Many in the art world, though, are looking at our refuse and seeing the building blocks of beauty. Starting next Monday, the online exhibit Repurposed: Art from Recycled Materials will showcase artistic work literally salvaged from the trash. Sponsoring organization EBSQ is challenging artists to take a second look at the things most of us still discard, and to give them a new life as objets d'art: ...
Tainted Pet Food: We Could Be Next.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.26.07
I am completely fascinated by the current tainted pet food scandal, not just because I have four cans of IAMS that my cat will never get to eat. What interests me is how it demonstrates the danger of concentration of production in very few hands, and b) despite all of the billions spent on advertising, there is so little "choice".
In this case, a small Canadian producer anticipates the growth of private labels in the '70's; starts buying producers in the States and builds a factory in Kansas, keeps growing until it is producing 91 different brands from the generics and house brands in Wal-mart to the expensive and supposedly better stuff from Iams and the like. It converts itself into a Canadian tax dodge called an income trust, where management has one goal- reduce costs and keep up the distributions to unitholders.
Then around March 10, something goes wrong, and animals start getting sick or dying all over North America. The company starts feeding its food to its own animals. Nine die.(a scandal in itself) It finally orders a recall of sixty million cans or pouches. According to the Globe:...
Gourmet Magazine Goes (Occasional) Vegetarian
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.26.07
The covers of Gourmet are often graced with roast suckling pig or some other very meaty dish, and there have been letters to the editor when there is not enough meat to the issue. Thus we were surprised to see the editor in chief, Ruth Reichl, note that "we live in a society that consumes more meat than any other group in history. there are currently more than 3 billion domesticated cattle, sheep and goats in the world, and that number does not include the 100 million pigs and 9 billion chickens that we consume every year. Livestock grazing and feed production now use 30% of the surface of the planet, and that takes a toll on the environment."
She continues with "for much of human history, eating meat has been considered a sign of wealth and privilege" but Isn't it time we realized that eating vegetarian meals is neither penance nor virtue but simply another mealtime option?"
The magazine is now starting a monthly vegetarian section, and this month's recipes say " its time to uncover the truth: Vegetarian meals can be bold, exciting and satisfying."
This will be news to many Gourmet readers, and is a welcome addition to the magazine. ::Gourmet
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How To Save The Dead Sea From Dying Twice
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 03.26.07
We’ve already wrote once about the dubious plan to connect the dying Dead Sea to the Red Sea by way of a channel. Now The Economist is also calling it so, as Israeli government officials last week upgraded what they are calling a “Peace Corridor” to a “national project”. Under the new definition, the project will face fewer bureaucratic hurdles reports the Economist outlining how the 200km-long conduit will bring water from the Red Sea, at Israel's southern tip, to the Dead Sea. This conduit of “peace” according to some estimates could cost as much as $5 billion. If you listen to an interview here with researcher Hillel Wust-Bloch from the Minerva Dead Sea Research Center, you will learn that the Dead Sea is not dying because it is old and tired. You guessed it – man-made manipulation, greed and over-harvesting of minerals and estuaries, is the root cause for the environmental red alert in the area (Wust-Bloch works with both Jordanians and Israelis on sink holes to help palliate the ailing Dead Sea). Can we really let governments play with and potentially destroy delicate ecosystems before our very eyes? If we look at the artificial Suez Canal and the water that now flows into the Mediterranean Sea, some estimates say that nearly 40% of all the species found in the Med Sea today are invasive ones brought via the Suez...and the very reason why billions of globular jellyfish infiltrate Israel in the spring. Messing with waterways can have a significant impact on biological diversity. While, we know that TreeHuggers are not necessarily the type to lobby and write letters, now may be high time for you to nudge one or two of your friends working in a major international green organization to step in. ::The Economist...
Sharkwater: Demystifying Ocean Beasts
by Kyeann Sayer, Nomad on 03.25.07
Can terror pass through amniotic fluid? My mother jokes that seeing Jaws at the height of her pregnancy transmitted the phobia that kept me from snorkeling in the open seas until age 27. Who knows? Certainly there are many of us out there whose greatest fear involves clinging to a flotation device, legs dangling, dorsal fins circling, with that indelible music accompanying the horror.... We've spoken of the disservice popular culture has done to our shark friends here and here. The new film Sharkwater, which opened in Canada on Friday and will premier in the States in September, gives them a new image, and explores some species' impending extinction:...
Acorn House Wins Best Newcomer At Observer Food Monthly Awards
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 03.25.07
With the announcement today of the winners of the Observer Food Monthly Awards we are pleased to find that the London eco-exemplar restaurant Acorn House was awarded Best Newcomer. As Bonnie Alter reported a couple of months back, "Acorn House is a green, eco-restaurant with a serious mission. Built from organic and recycled materials, it looks like a proper, grown-up eatery, with its clean lines and stylish interiors." In today's Observer Jay Rayner, one of the OFM Award judges, writes: "At the heart of the restaurant that has won our coveted newcomer of the year award is a load of old rubbish. 'That was the first thing I thought about when I saw this site,' says chef Arthur Potts. 'How can we deal with the rubbish?" ...
Schwarzenegger Talks Green
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.25.07
When our fabulous Simran interviewed Arianna Huffington, she was a little skeptical about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s green credentials as Governor of California:
“It is incredibly important to ask whether the measures that are being taken are enough to get us to the stated goal, or is it another way to get credit for something that will never happen. And by then, of course, the governor will no longer be in office and there is no accountability.”Of course Ms. Huffington ran, and lost, against Arnie, so her criticisms should be taken in context, but she is right to say that announcements in themselves are not going to stop global warming. She is also right that some of the Governor’s ‘green’ moves are little more than gestures (a Hummer on biofuels is still a Hummer). Fortunately, however, as we learned through Remy at the fabulous O2 Network, the Governor seems to be going out of his way to prove that his greenness is more than just talk. In a recent interview on CNN Money he sets out some of the measures he is taking to make California a leader in sustainability. ...
The Little Red Schoolhouse Goes Virtual
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 03.25.07
In a world where nearly everything can be done in a virtual setting, it seems no surprise to me that someone has come up with the concept of taking the one-room schoolhouse online. It's all the brainchild of Billy Hudson, a biochemist who directs the Center for Matrix Biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The whole idea is to connect rural kids to advanced learning via laptops and Webcasts that enable them to tap in to the vast global network of knowledge that can be much more accessible to 21st century students who just so happen to live in urban areas. ...
Hotel Design: Getting Rid of the Ick Factor
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.25.07
Ron Barrett, New York Times
We talk about healthy houses all the time, getting rid of carpets and drapes that harbour all kinds of little critters, dealing with air quality and using natural materials. The hotel chains are catching on, and are beginning to offer hypoallergenic hotel rooms. They have wood floors, wood slat blinds, dust mite liners on beds and pillows. According to the New York Times:
This much cleanliness might seem a bit neurotic. But it’s not enough anymore for hotels seeking health-conscious patrons to serve organic cuisine and offer all-natural bath products. As more hotels try to set themselves apart, a new amenity is emerging: the hypoallergenic hotel room.
The concept isn’t aimed just at the allergic, but also at guests who are concerned with what might be called the ick factor. “The whole thing is geared toward ‘What about the guy before me?’
Evidently both occupancy rates and rack rates are higher. As one who never touches the bedspread in a hotel room I can see why. ::New York Times...
Eco-To-Go: Reducing Take-out Waste
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.25.07
Don't you hate it when you order takeout and besides all the containers, there are stacks of servietttes and half a dozen knives and forks that you don't need? (and no need for comments that TreeHuggers shouldn't do takeout because of the packaging, we know) The Eco-Agents in New York City did. This group's main preoccupation is saving the Amazon Rainforest, but are also "involved in personal and group discussions about creating responsible environmental consciousness towards nature in particular when it comes to plastic and paper waste." They have started a campaign called eco-to-go, where customers inform the takeout joint that they want nothing but the food in its containers, no napkins or forks or other waste.
We have noticed that certain takeout chains get this already, asking if customers need condiments or cutlery. Congratulations to Eco-Agents for trying to make this more common.
We suggest that they might go the next step of suggesting that people bring in their own containers to avoid wasting cardboard or polystyrene, (like they do at Bring Your Own.Org) but it is a start. ::Eco-Agents via l-e-mental thanks, Harry...
Recycling Buildings: Titanic Mill
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.25.07
Last evening we discussed building preservation and re-use with Catherine Nasmith, one of Toronto's leading preservationists, publisher of Built Heritage News and former chair of the Toronto Preservation board. She noted how important it is to save older buildings as part of the texture of our cities, and also how much more resource-efficient it is to renovate rather than replace. However there is often concern that one cannot make an old building as energy-efficient and green as a new one.
Coincidentally, this morning we learn of a project in the UK where a huge1911 woolen mill, built the same year as the launch of the Titanic is being converted into condos, and that the building well be completely carbon free. "All Titanic Mill’s heat and a high proportion of its electricity will come from a Combined Heat and Power unit, or CHP. This will be fuelled using various species of tree cuttings, chipped to create a biomass fuel. The sustainably-managed trees undergo a regular period of growth each year, allowing wood to be harvested in a continual cycle. During the growth process the trees extract CO2 from the atmosphere in sufficient volumes to balance the CO2 which is released when wood is used as fuel." It also has 400 KW square metres of photovoltaics and rainwater harvesting.
Unfortunately this mill appears to be in the middle of nowhere near the town of Huddersfield, and the site plan shows it surrounded by a sea of parking, so while the building may be carbon neutral its residents probably won't be. ::Titanic Mill via ::Observer
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Latest Idea for No Impact Man: The Gotta Go Briefcase
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.25.07
While reading up for our post on No Impact Man it occurred to us that while he is not using toilet paper, it appears that he is using the toilet, which is certainly creating waste and having an impact. Clearly he needs a composting toilet in his apartment (the condo board won't mind, will they?) and Michelle should carry this wonderful new briefcase from Japan to work everyday on her scooter, for transfer to the composter when she gets home.
"In today’s fast paced corporate market, every minute counts and often can be the difference between success and failure. No longer is it feasible or convenient to take time out for toilet breaks, especially in taxis, subways or rail systems where facilities aren’t always provided. Now, there is the Gotta Go Briefcase. A full functioning briefcase that also doubles as a portable lavatory." American Inventorspot via ::trendhunter
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Happy 50th Birthday EU!
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 03.25.07
Today Berlin is the focal point of the festivities celebrating 50 years since the treaty of Rome established what has now grown to a 27-member Union of European States. If you want to see what can be expected at a party reported to cost €1.7 million, read on below. And while the EU boasts successes and progress in many areas, perhaps the most impressive is 50 years of leadership in protecting the environment. TVlink gives a brief overview and points out the most important achievement of European policy:
"It is now widely accepted in the 27-member club that there is no contradiction between economic growth and environmental protection and that strict laws aimed at protecting the environment will lead to more, not less jobs in the long term."...
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Here are a few recommended websites.
