Weekly Archive for April 22, 2007 : TreeHugger

It is the first time I have seen a standing ovation for a video monitor. Margaret Atwood interviewed George Monbiot via Longpen, which was a challenge because the internet connection to Wales was a bit rough and she had to do a song and dance at the beginning until it got going and boy, with George on the line it got going. George noted that 1.5 metric tons of CO2 were saved, more than we should generate in a year. He speaks so well, answered Margaret's questions but also questions from the floor on war, north/south relations, vegetarianism and responding to Elizabeth May's questions about the Canadian green plan with words that are hard to repeat on a non-partisan website. The audience was captivated. Margaret Atwood didn't develop the Longpen specifically to fight global warming, but it is such a fabulous way of bringing great authors to smaller centers where they otherwise might not go, and to get the George Monbiots of the world on the road, carbon free. That so many people could respond so positively to an interactive interview by internet was a revelation. George is so thorough and articulate that they ran out of time before the Longpen could be put into action to sign my copy of Heat. However I am thrilled with my sketch of a TreeHugger by Margaret Atwood, sent seven feet by the remarkable ::Longpen. ...

The UK Government's chief scientific adviser, David King, speaks about the human need for science in a recent BBC article. "The challenges facing science, and humanity, as we move through the 21st Century are manifold. I would place none higher than the test we face in our stewardship of planet Earth. " He says that, "Mankind has never had a greater need for science, and for the spark of human ingenuity to apply this to tackling today's great global challenges." King explains that the UK creates more academic papers on the subject than Germany, France or Japan, and only slightly trails behind the far larger economy of the US. He goes on to explain that science has a stern test ahead, as the global population is set to continue rising, mostly in developing countries that aspire to a Western, and therefore polluting, lifestyle. His solution is to encourage talented youth to consider a career in science, and to help develop technologies that will allow us to face the challenges ahead. It is his hope that, "It is a powerful demonstration that in the UK we have been able to grow our economy in real terms by around half since 1990, whilst greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 15%. Action is affordable and is the pro-growth strategy. It is inaction that we cannot afford." :: BBC...

At a Vatican conference on climate change yesterday, the pope said that people need to "respect creation", stating that he believed it was against God's will to abuse the environment. Whatever your stance on religion, it's great when leaders talk about environmental issues, providing that they take the right stance. 85% of the world's population is religious, so if they can be influenced to become greener it would create a huge impact. However, if they have the wrong stance they can similarly do a lot of bad. There is still a worrying amount of evangelical Christian churches that believe that global warming is inevitable, and that it is the beginning of the inevitable collapse of society that comes before the second coming. If you believe that, then you probably don't bother to recycle. The next time you see a Christian sticker on the back of an SUV, you are perfectly justified in informing the owner of the Pope's view on the matter. :: The Guardian...

Rebecca Ward is an Australian based Jewellery (Jewelry) artist (born in New Zealand) who specialises in using found materials for her unusual, humourous and addictive pieces. She scavenges pebbles, glass and other detritus from beaches in New Zealand, and other materials come from rifle ranges, demolition yards, second hand shops and roadsides. We at TreeHugger really love recycled jewellery, such as Mark Vaarwerk's and Spacefruit's recycled plastic jewellery, and Melissa Kolbusz's industrial recycled materials jewellery. ...

Back in 1997 Lord Browne of BP famously spoke at Stanford University on the need to take the threat of climate change seriously. TreeHugger's Alex Pasternack explained the modern context of that decade old call to action here. In spite of anything BP has ever done "wrong" in the intervening time, Lord Browne was correct, of course. On that basis, perhaps we should pay attention to what he just said, in yet another invited speech at Stanford University. A few excerpts follow. "And the [1997] speech itself, and the change of policy which it represented, opened up a similar debate across the industry. The instant reaction was, in the enduring words of one industry veteran, that we had "left the church". The more thoughtful reaction led to a process of reconsideration and over time, a realization that the industry had to engage with the problem and to be part of the solution. Many other companies had been moving in that direction over a long period of time. But some stood and continue to stand outside that consensus. That is their privilege in a free society. But the old church is now a pretty small place."...

Yesterday Matthew noted that "the toilet paper industry is a very harmful one. It's criminal that tonnes of paper are bleached every day, simply to provide white toilet paper." We should also point out that Canada's boreal forests are being chopped down to make it. In Canada, there are alternatives made from recycled paper. Greenpeace says that "If each household in Canada replaced 1 roll of toilet paper cut from ancient forests with 1 roll of recycled toilet paper, we could save 47,962 trees in a year. " They have produced a shoppers guide showing which products are forest friendly and which are not. Unfortunately we have tried some (like Loblaw's PC Green) and found it useable as sandpaper, and couldn't get through a roll. However Cascades brand seems soft enough. ::Greenpeace.ca Greenpeace in the USA also provides a list of American TP that is acceptable. Read also Warren's post on Kleenex Kleercut=Wiping away ancient forests...

We’ve discussed Triodos Bank before. For those of you who have not heard of them, Triodos is a European savings bank with offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium that invests only in projects with a positive environmental or social impact. 33% of their investments go to renewable energy, 10% to organic farming, 11.7% to urban regeneration, 9.1% to natural healthcare. You get the idea – they take your money and put it to good use. It doesn’t end there, however, as they also provide some fascinating educational experiences for their customers in the form of their annual general meetings. In addition to getting an opportunity to hear about the bank’s development and growth, customers are treated to an organic lunch, get to meet some of the businesses and non-profits that Triodos finances, and to hear leading environmental speakers discuss the hot topics of the day. This year’s meeting will address the topic of ‘ethical consumption’: ...

A few months ago Treehugger reported on the £5 ethical designer carrier bag, made by high fashionista Anya Hindmarch. It came with all the best intentions: launched by Sainsbury's supermarket, profits going to an environmental group, made of unbleached cotton. First it went on sale at a boutique, Keira Knightly was photographed with one, it was distributed as a goodie at chic Oscar parties and it sold out immediately, with bags then being flogged on ebay for over £225. On Wednesday another 20,000 were released at 450 supermarkets across the country. Women stood in line from 2 a.m. onwards to get their hands on this must-have accessory which was all gone by 9 a.m. It is questionable whether everyone in the queue was a keen environmentalist, eager to recycle, but hey--one step at a time. An Anya Hindmarch spokeswoman said she was "completely overwhelmed" by the response and that she hoped "that we have achieved our aim, which was to use our influence in a positive way - to make people think about what they're doing and be more responsible." There is one little problem. Yesterday the Evening Standard revealed that the so-called green carriers were made in China, using cheap labour. And the bag was neither organic nor fair trade. Never mind the air miles. Handbags at dawn: today Sainsbury's denies any duplicity, insisting that it had never claimed that the bag was Fairtrade or organic. It says that it was made in a factory that pays double the minimum wage and complies with Chinese labour law. Hindmarch says that it was shipped by sea. This is an embarrassment for the supermarket which has been making extravagant claims about its green credentials. Activists said that it was bordering on hypocritical and that the whole high-profile episode tarnished Sainsbury's image. Coming to the U.S. on June 20--get in line? :: Evening Standard ...

I have spent some time trying to find words to describe Environment Minister John Baird's performance in an interview on CBC with Avi Lewis on Friday morning, but can think of few suitable for a family friendly site. (painful listening here) He had 22 minutes to defend the new Green Plan, and used it all to blame the previous government for not doing anything, three times saying "I can't turn back the hands of time", never answering a direct question and just saying over and over "its the best green plan in the world". Which it isn't. We applaud the ban of incandescent bulbs, which has become the target of abuse from the right wing media, (how many times can I cancel my subscription to the National Post?) but our biggest problem, the tar sands, essentially gets a free pass with "intensity limits"- they have to reduce the amount of GHG emitted for each barrel of oil produced, but can produce as much oil as they can, without caps. ...

Via:- Dow Jones Newswires (subscription only). "California air regulators on Thursday approved the nation's most sweeping restriction on emissions of formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical found in kitchen cabinets, shelving, counter-tops and ready-to-assemble furniture. The rule will require manufacturers to reduce by more than half a toxic chemical [formaldehyde] in manufactured wood..." The standard would begin in 2009 and be fully implemented by 2012. This will be extremely good news for "Columbia Forest Products, an Oregon-based manufacturer that began taking formaldehyde out of its plywood in 2002." It's also great for construction material suppliers who have already have certified formaldehyde free products (like SierraPine Composites, as pictured). California being a huge market-maker, other manufacturers are likely to come all unglued over this. "For some American cabinetmakers, manufacturers and others in the wood industry, the higher standard would force them to use more expensive wood glues and lead to longer processing times. That could affect profits and drive up prices for consumers, said dozens of witnesses who testified during Thursday's hearing." ...

The USBCELL, a AA battery that charges via USB port, has kinda taken the internet by storm, and for good reason. The batteries are sturdy, powerful, and take the annoying clutter of a charger completely out of the equation. This new advertising campaign isn't just touting the virtues of the USBCELL, it's also shining some negative light on the alkaline industry. And, frankly, that negative light is justified. The "I Am Not An Alkaline" campaign is good for the the world, and for consumers. These certainly are the most convenient rechargeable battery around, lets hope they put help a dent in alkaline sales. ...

I visited the Green Living Show in Toronto, which is something everyone within a reasonable distance should do, it is great. Almost all of the exhibits were interesting and perhaps three could be classed as greenwashing (fabulous ratio for shows, if you go, try and guess which ones) , and some are really outstanding. Some are perhaps revolutionary. Beside highways everywhere, there are sound barriers made of concrete or steel. Anthony Biglieri and Josef Scholbeck have developed the living wall, a double wall of willow with earth filled between, to make a green, CO2 absorbing, growing wall that provides a visual and acoustic barrier that actually does something. What a wonderful idea at ::TheLivingWall...

Researchers at Purdue have found that when cornstalks are processed to produce ethanol, their particles undergo a change that has not been seen previously. This could pave the way for a viable method of large-scale ethanol production from cellulose. Cellulosic ethanol is better than other current ethanol production processes, because it puts less pressure on food prices. Michael Ladisch, co-author of the research, said, "Cellulosic ethanol would allow industry to expand beyond the limits brought about by corn's other uses, like sweetener production." Previously, cellulosic ethanol has been rather hard to produce, but this research should allow a more economical method to be developed. "This study will help us translate science from the lab to an industrial setting and will help produce cellulosic ethanol economically," Ladisch said. The image shows a cornstalk after the pretreatment developed by the team. The pores on the surface have been opened up, allowing more surface area for the ethanol production process to occur. :: Purdue University...

The panda might be more charismatic - heck, even its poo is popular - but surely the Chinese sturgeon also deserves its place in the sun. Or, rather, in the dank, irreversibly polluted water of the Yangtze. Last week this massive river, source of 35% of China's total freshwater resources, was said by state media to be "seriously" and "large[ly] irreversibly" polluted. This week, 400,000 rare fish were released into the river in an attempt to save its fish stocks from extinction - and to follow up on Earth Day. Included in the masses of fish were about 110,000 Chinese sturgeon. "Weird" animals need protection, too, and the sturgeon is surely deserving. One of the oldest vertebrate species in the world, it's been around for more than 200 million years. Pre-release, the precise number found in the Yangtze was unknown, but placed at about 500. Now there should be about 110,500 - hopefully not all choking for breath, and hopefully not going the way of the adorable and functionally extinct Yangtze river dolphin. We can take comfort from the words of a researcher at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute surgeon breeding center: "[The sturgeon] have been raised in a water quality similar to that of the river, and should adapt soon." (Lucky them!) Some of the fish have been implanted with devices for monitoring, and those that fail to adjust to potentially noxious freedom may well be brought back to the institute for "recuperation." ::Xinhua News Agency (April 15 and April 23)...

Sheryl Crow recently toured the US in a bio-fuel bus, spreading the green word. "I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming," the star said, "Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating." So far so good, but what exactly did the singer-turned-environmental-researcher have in mind? "I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting." Hardly an exciting idea on it's own, but Sheryl took it to new extremes with the suggestion that we use, "only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required". ...

According to China's top meteorologists, the chances that the skies will open up over the "bird's nest" stadium at the Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 are 50/50. But the Chinese government isn't known for taking chances -- especially when they've got a huge arsenal of anti-aircraft cannons loaded with silver iodine bullets. "We will use catalytic agents to force the rain clouds over the National Stadium to fall down prior to the opening ceremony," Zhang Qiang, who is in charge of Beijing's artificial rainmaking projects, told the state-run China Daily. Even though the practice is common in China's drought-plagued northwest -- China has the world's largest rainmaking force, employing over 3,000 people -- many scientists question it's effectiveness. Still, Beijing is undeterred, especially considering its other big reason for pulling out the big rain guns: to get rid of the smog. Under its Olympic pledge, Beijing must meet World Health Organization levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ground-level ozone, and lower particle concentrations (aerosol levels) to those found in major cities in developed countries. While Beijing has plans to turn off its own factories and prohibit traffic during the Games, experts have discovered that much of the city's pollution drifts in from other cities in nearby Hebei province, full of factories and cars, and from inner Mongolia, which is rife with sand, dust and toxic smelter plants. Rain can help to disperse smog, but as atmospheric scientist Ken Rahn, a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University's Air Pollution and Control Institute in Beijing, recently told me, the only real way to fight China's pollution is with serious comprehensive emissions standards, cleaner factories, and a cleaning-up, or a phasing out, of coal. It's a solution that will take much longer to effect than the city's "advanced techniques." But given the chances that rainmaking actually works, and the possibility that it can decrease badly needed rain elsewhere (and not to mention the energy it takes to try it), the long-term solutions offer a more favorable forecast....

This was announced in February, but we are finally seeing it in homes in the capital of Catalonia. The City of Barcelona has distributed three bags to 720,000 households; yellow, green and blue to correspond with the colours of the recycling containers found in the city. Each bag is decorated with the list of appropriate materials that you can put inside. This not quite city-wide campaign is a pilot project to encourage recycling and hopefully add to the increasing amount of recyclable waste collected in the last few years. In 2006 the City collected more than 266,000 tons of recyclables, representing 31.4% of the total waste generated in the city and 165% more than the year 2000 (5% more than the year 2005). The City says that the biggest growth was in organics collection which has grown 511.8% in 5 years - but this is also an ongoing pilot project whose availability throughout the city has increased annually. Stats for recycling per person per year in Barna read like this: 53 kg of paper, 16 kg of glass, 20 kg of oversized waste like furniture, 8.8 kg of plastics and 53.7 kg of organics. Regardless, the new fandangled recycling bags (kind of like Ontario's blue boxes for curbside collection), made from 100% recyclable polypropylene are aimed at encouraging people not only to recycle more, and more effectively, but perhaps also to start using our beloved, LCA-approved cloth grocery bags. We've seen that they are the best choice according to the Australians, so let's get Catalonia on board. ...

AgraQuest President Dennis Joyce; Vineyard Grapes with AgraQuest Product (on left) and Without (on right) It’s getting to be that time of year here in the Northeast. And it happens to be one that we get excited about: it’s almost that time to plant our garden. Since this year marks the first that our backyard garden is organic (it takes three years), we started looking for products that will coincide. We were interested to learn about AgraQuest, a bio-science company that develops organic products to help protect our garden from those awful pests that we lose so many tomatoes to. And not only do they sell products for the home gardener but to agricultural and institutional farmers as well. Their products do not leave any residue on produce or crops, which is an increasingly important benefit in light of consumer and regulatory pressure to reduce residues. We recently had a chance to sit down and chat with Dennis Joyce, President of AgraQuest, to learn more about their company. Dennis, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. How did you become involved in AgraQuest? ...

Yesterday, Kohl's announced plans to convert more than 75 percent of its department stores in California to solar power beginning in May. The first stores involved in the project will be in Laguna Niguel and Visalia. Twenty-four of Kohl's 80 California stores will immediately convert, and the company is seeking permits and approvals for another 40 stores in the state. Kohl's management said the company's initial solar foray will generate more than 35 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy. ...

Who better than our friends at StyleWillSaveUs to let us know about the upcoming sustainability week at the London College of Fashion. Starting next week on Monday 30th April, a series of events are planned to celebrate the growing awareness of eco-design in the fashion industry. As you style mavens will have noticed the eco-fashion movement has gone from strength to strength in the UK over the last couple of years and I am particularly proud to say that many of TreeHugger's favourites are British designers: Ciel, Enamore, Terra Plana, Beyond Skin - to name but a few! It is gratifying to see that prestigious design schools such as the London College of Fashion are recognising this trend and promoting it. Virgina Rowe of SWSU will be speaking at the 'Is Green The New Black?' conference day on Monday 30th, Galahad Clark of Terra Plana shoes will also be at this event. To see the rest of the week's events check out the SWSU post. ::London College of Fashion...

Justin recently introduced us to the hybrid school bus. Now, Via Yahoo Finance News, we are able to learn the details:- IC Corporation Delivers the First Hybrid School Buses That Can Attain Up To 70-100 Percent Increase in Fuel Efficiency, 90 Percent Reduction in Emissions. "The new hybrid school buses are built by IC Corporation, the nation's largest school bus manufacturer, and Enova Systems, a leading provider of hybrid drive systems. The hybrid bus is a result of a nationwide initiative called the Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus Project. A total of 19 hybrid buses have been awarded to states around the country by Advanced Energy, a non-profit corporation that initiated a buyer's consortium of school districts, state energy agencies and student transportation providers...The initial power train for the hybrid school bus will couple an International® VT365 V8 diesel engine with the 25/80-kilowatt hybrid-electric power train, incorporating a transmission, batteries and an electric motor...The hybrid school buses are also outfitted with a proprietary GPS system called AWARE(TM) Vehicle Intelligence that allows school officials to track the exact location and performance..." TreeHugger notes two related subjects of great importance....

Nope, that’s not some new panda born in China and destined for a life of ease at the Wolong Panda Reserve in Chengdu. Instead that’s Kiswahili for “Plant Trees”, and since Roots & Shoots latest campaign is to plant trees in Tanzania where that’s the national language, they’re asking people around the world if they’re ready to “Panda Miti”. Titled “Rebirth the Earth: Trees for Tomorrow” they’re getting youth involved in the fights against pollution and global warming while helping to increase habitat for animals all at the same time. And it’s not just that they’re working to plant trees in Tanzania either, they’re also focusing on planting native species in their own countries at the same time; particularly here in the U.S. Their goal is to raise $10,000 to create 5 tree nurseries in Tanzania that can serve as hubs for sustainable forestry, and see to it that at least 3,000 individual trees are planted in the U.S. alone… How to get involved? That’s simple, head over to their website and check it out, it could be a great way for your group of students, scouts, etc., to get involved in protecting tomorrow for all of us… Pandas included....

It seems that British supermarket giant Tesco are not the only ones going off air-freighted cucumbers. According to a story over at The Guardian, legendary British rockers Spinal Tap have also come to their senses, and are planning to reform for this summer's Live Earth concert being organized by Al Gore (for more info on Live Earth, check out our posts here and here!). The infamous trio will be performing at the London event in Wembley Stadium, and have even released a short film about their growing eco-awareness. Director Rob Reiner explained the band's motivations for embracing activism:

"They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming. Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing - that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."

...

A green lawn has all sorts of symbolic meanings for Americans: while biologist E.O. Wilson claims that "human beings have a natural genetic affinity for lawns because their grass-filled open spaces remind us of the African savannahs we evolved upon," lush, uniformly green lawns also signify success and prosperity. As we've noted on a number of occasions, that perfectly manicured carpet of green comes with environmental costs; a number of viable options exist, though, for foregoing chemical fertilizers and pesticides, non-native grass species, and emissions-belching gas mowers. Seventh Generation's monthly Non-Toxic Times offers a number of tips this month for keeping your lawn green in all senses of the word. They also point to a national organization, SafeLawns, that is dedicated to "...educating society about the benefits of organic lawn care and gardening, and effect a quantum change in consumer and industry behavior" by building a coalition of non- and for-profit organizations that share their mission. On April 4, SafeLawns issued a challenge to American home and building owners on Washington, DC's National Mall. According to the NTT, SafeLawns asked Americans:...

Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye -- everyone in the Middle East. Saddle your camels – Israel is announcing that it is to open the largest health food store in the region and among one of the largest in the world, reports Israel Today. Israelis are definitely slow in adopting the recycling/green lifestyle, but when they do get around to it – they do it with gusto. ...

With all this talk about Spinal Tap reuniting to do a Live Earth concert, it brought to mind the fact that druids still exists. And they have some revealing insights on the appropriate use of technology. Similar to the Beachy Amish, it appears that there is a electro-schism in the Druidian movement. Some sects, such as the New Order of Druids have web sites (warning: druid music), even television stations. Other are more austere; take this piece from the Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, where he speaks out on sustainable technology. The picture pretty much 'sums' up what he feels is appropriate; the closest Treehugger has come to this mindset is this probably this custom wooden iPod case. All joking aside, there are some interesting points and quotes in this article, including one from Arthur Clarke - "“Every sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”" It reminds me of the movies Waterworld or Beyond Thunderdome that are loaded with gadgetry people are struggling to use. Is this the answer to our woes? Who is ready for the rule to rule?...

Perhaps it is the new Green Plan, perhaps the start of the Green Living Show, but all of the Canadian papers are green today. The most interesting was the start of a new column in the Globe and Mail looking at "how individual actions can contribute to global ecological change." The first in this series by Heidi Sopinka notes that the fastest growing type of household in Canada is the single person. " The new solo-living cohort are young (25 to 44), far more flush than the thrifty jar-reusing widows that once ruled the one-person roost and, as it turns out, the biggest consumers of energy, land and household goods. Now that their numbers are shooting up, people who live alone represent what Joanna Williams, a sustainable development professor at University College London, calls "an environmental time bomb." From washers to toasters, singletons burn through just over twice as much energy per capita as those who live in a four-person household." Given that most single people live in smaller places downtown, and often do not have cars, I am not certain that Professor Williams' statement would hold up in North America but it is provocative. Sopinka suggests co-housing, community kitchens (like the Vancouver one shown in picture) as "a way for people to get together to cook in large quantities and then parcel it out." and getting a room-mate. ::Globe and Mail...

The Brixton Market is an old, meandering Caribbean food market, bursting with energy, atmosphere and a true sense of community. The stalls are bulging with exotic fruits, vegetables, fish, clothing and bargains; the reggae music is pounding away amongst the orderly chaos. Located in south London, it really came to life in the 1940’s when the area became the centre of the immigrant West Indian community. Anna Lucas is an artist living in the area. She has been interviewing the merchants and shoppers at the market about how they use roots and herbs to cure their ailments. She has taken the descriptions of ten of these herbs and made them into a series of gold-printed brown paper bags. Each one has a picture of an herb, in gold, on the front and a transcript on the back. The traders have been giving them out when selling their produce. When this treehugger went searching for the bags several of the traders said “oh the artist, she just shows up and gives them out whenever she feels like it”. An old geezer with a flat cap said that the colours should be stronger on them (he was right). After five stops—success at last. Coriander (pictured) above with quotes on the back: “They are different lot of communities living in Brixton, they are from different part of the world so different part of the world people use different type of herbs. If some people are from Columbia they use more oregano, tarragon, mint and thyme. If somebody’s from Jamaica they use thyme more. There is not one Indian who is not using coriander in their food. Coriander is every day. I see the Indian Mister Singh, he is supplying 400 boxes per day. This means 9000 bunches coriander he supplying in the market." :: South London Gallery...

image from Inhabitat Warren loves his Siggs, and with the current concerns about bisphenol A, we have been thinking that perhaps it is time to pack in the Nalgene and get one. Sigg makes aluminum bottles, and while we still have a little residual concern about the old Alzheimers and aluminum thing, it may be the lesser of two scares these days. And, SIGG is really into design, with lots of nice ones in the catalogue now. It is sponsoring a competition called "what's your eco-style" and inviting designers to "show off your own eco-conscience on a SIGG bottle" . Unlike those competitions that don't have prizes other than "exposure", here if you win you get a hundred of your own designs to flog on streetcorners or give to friends. (although a royalty like every other industrial designer gets would have been nicer.) Sign up at ::Sigg via ::Inhabitat ...

Hydra was a mythical beast with many heads; Hydra appliances are are multifunction designs that theoretically take up less space but end up just crowding countertops, and I couldn't decide if this should be in the Untreehugger or the Less is more category. Product Dose did a summary of a number of them and we wonder if they do any of their functions very well. The silliest is probably the 3 in 1 breakfast maker- a coffee maker, toaster oven and egg griddle all in one. Other versions included a toaster that has an egg poacher and a microwave with a toaster built in. We would think that a frying pan would be a bit more versatile and permit a bit more variety in your breakfast. We did like the composters, both shown on TreeHugger here and here, and the countertop dishwasher looked interesting (although you could probably zip that many off in the sink in a minute or two) and since we think that small fridges make great cities, we found the fridge interesting if expensive. See them all at ::ProductDose...

What is “the world's largest retailer of carpets” doing selling environmentally and ethically responsible jewellery? It’s a question that could also have been asked when they started selling organic homewares, or a line of organic home cleaning products. In the press release launching the jewellery to be known as the Grounded Jewel Collection, Paulette Cole, CEO of ABC Home, said, “It’s a natural progression to develop collections that are in line with our values. With the environmental movement steadily gaining momentum, consumers are open to incorporating “green” into all aspects of their life, and this is an obvious niche to fill. [albeit one also inhabited by the likes of GreenKarat] As a mission-based company, we feel that compassionate and sustainably created jewelry resonates with a greater magnitude of beauty and can be worn with a deeper sense of purpose.” ...

A wonderful thing about LEDs is that talented designers are using them to develop entire new ways of looking at lighting. It is like the computer revolution, when back in '77 Ken Olsen, the head of minicomputer maker DEC, said "there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home"- he just never saw the possibilities of the technology and the creativity of the people using them. That is where we are with LEDs- the first reaction is to make them fit into conventional fixtures and treat them like regular lights. Or, you can be like Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn of the Dutch design firm Drift, who are looking at lighting in entirely new ways, taking the attributes of LEDs and inventing new connections and patterns. Fragile Future is "a modular light system overgrowing the wall. One module is a visible circuit with little lights. This module is easy to attach to the next one (in seven different ways), while the switch-leg will continue. So it is possible to create a composition from just a few, up to 50 modules, according to the space and atmosphere." made out of real dandelions, or an alternative that is less fragile. ...

Yellow Loyale Sundress and Ekovaruhuset’s Gown, credit: Josh Wiese via eco-chick.com Eco Fashionistas united for the EGBNY Project Earth Day Fashion Show to enjoy a glamorous evening of champagne, organic hors d’oeuvres, and leggy models scantily clad in bamboo clothe, soy-fiber, and organic cotton. The event featured a student design competition and runway show of emerging professional eco-designers to raise awareness and draw attention to fashion that respects the environment, but is also glamorous, luxurious, and trendy. ...

7,500 UK homes could soon be powered by clean wave energy, thanks to a £21.5 million government grant. The project, 10 miles off the Cornish coast, will cost a total of £28 million, and now has sufficient funds to go ahead. Planning permission still needs to be sought, but hopefully this offshore project should be less of a problem than recent attempts by UK politicians to install green energy sources in their homes. The project will include a hub into which various generation devices could be plugged. According to Stephen Peacock, who works for the RDA who provided the grant, "Wave Hub has the potential to make an enormous contribution to tackling climate change and we believe it could transform the wave technology industry." :: The Guardian...

So says Peter Sondergaard, speaking at the Gartner Symposium ITXPO 2007. His keynote was on emerging IT trends and how they will affect IT on a personal and professional level. Peter highlighted four major trends; green IT was one of them. Score one for the good guys. Peter thought that this would play out in a few ways; he mentioned that "by 2009, organizations will be required to deliver scaled down versions of applications, content, and value added services to a customer's personal, virtual, or home computing environment", suggesting a lighter, "just enough" approach when it comes to computer use. He also warned that the strong public and political interest around environmental issues will affect all suppliers and users, and IT organizations need to be cognizant of its environmental impact. "IT directly impacts the amount of CO2 emissions and can impact the reduction of CO2 emissions." Green is big, and it is unpredictable," said Sondergaard. Gartner has been promoting this sort of crazy talk for some time, where the IT industry needs to fully recognize how much waste they are creating (more than the airline industry.) Sondergaard ended with a quixotic warning; IT managers had better select and purchase IT technology on the basis of improving business performance, or else they will quickly become irrelevant. Aha - essentially revealing what every IT pro knows, that the trillions we blew on IT up and into the early 21st century was mostly a waste. Maybe he was going for a laugh at the end, but it really was a revelation. ...

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about Phoenix Motorcars and its not quite attractive but very advanced electric vehicles. Pacific Gas & Electric laid down its money to add Phoenix SUTs (sport utility trucks) to its fleet, and George Bush recently ogled a Phoenix on the White House lawn. Now it comes over the PR wire (via Green Car Congress) that Phoenix will also be offering a plug-in hybrid option for its line. With a small internal combustion engine traveling along with the advanced battery pack, the vehicle won’t be limited to its 150-200 mile battery range, but will be able to kick into gas mode whenever stored electricity starts to peter out. All cost issues notwithstanding, many think that the plug-in configuration is key in convincing car buyers that electric vehicles are viable and practical for those of us who aren’t George Clooney or Ed Begley Jr. ::Green Car Congress Also check out AutoBlog Green for some video of the SUT in action and words form the company’s VP of sales and marketing. ...

Weekly trash collection in the UK is set to be a thing of the past as most councils move to a fortnightly pickup. There has been a lot of negative coverage of the new scheme, with residents claiming that it's unsanitary to have rubbish bags lying around for up to two weeks. However, councils claim that 30% of waste is recycled under fortnightly pickups, compared to 23% with weekly pickups. These estimates suggest that £22m could be saved by reduced landfill fees, as this extra recycling would reduce waste by 1.2m tonnes. Sir Sandy Bruce Lockhart, the chairman of the Local Government Association, explained that English residents have simply got to alter the way they percieve refuse collection, "For decades people have been used to being able to throw their rubbish away without worrying about environmental consequences or rising costs. Those days are now over." :: The Guardian...

Photo Credit: Arts Tasmania The real-life Tasmanian devil could not look more different than its slobbering, whirling, rabbit-terrorizing animated counterpart, even if it tried. And, while the iconic Loony Tunes fireball is safely ensconced in Toon Town, the fox-size Australian marsupial is being threatened with extinction by a mysterious and contagious cancer that spawns misshapen facial tumors. "I think there's a real risk of extinction within 20 years across the whole of Tasmania," says Hamish McCallum, a professor of wildlife research at the University of Tasmania, in an interview with Discovery News....

We want to learn more about you! It's been an eternity since we had a reader survey, but this one is good, and to thank those who do it, we're offering 3 Voltaic bags from Voltaics Systems which we'll draw randomly from those who took the survey. To take the survey, follow this link. Thanks!...

We have covered the founding of the Sustainable Furniture Council (SFC) here, here and here. The SFC is the result of a challenge by Gerry Cooklin, CEO of South Cone, to the industry’s leaders to: "stop destroying the environment and join me in developing cooperative, sustainable business practices that will meet the changing consumer demands for greater corporate responsibility." The group is still very much in its early stages (the website is still under development), but Cooklin, along with SFC Executive Director Susan Inglis, recently took some time to answer TreeHugger’s questions about their reasons for starting the SFC, why they consider the furniture industry to be such an important driver towards sustainability, and how they expect the Council to operate as an agent for change. Treehugger: Can you tell us a little bit about what inspired you to start the SFC? Susan Inglis: Gerry started it, so he will have to answer this question, but I can tell you what inspired me to get involved and help make it happen. I happened upon a meeting that Gerry had in his showroom last fall to discuss the idea of forming the council, and to discuss the idea of the industry taking responsibility as a body for promoting sustainability. Immediately it was clear that this was too good an idea not to be realized, and also clear that I was being called to action. I love the power of taking responsibility, and it was especially inspiring to be called to lead the industry to a new level of responsibility (that is ‘response-ability’ as in the ability to respond. We can always respond, and I love being reminded of that!)....

At an alarming rate, some of Hawaii’s rarest birds are going rare to the extreme… The Tribeca Film Festival draws that stars, but climate change dominates… Green buildings are everywhere, but which one leads the pack? San Fran’s new Civic Administration Tower will raise the bar yet higher… Purdue researchers say their H2Car paradigm could run the country on a hydrogen hybrid system… The organic fertilizer TerraCycle, notable for worm poops and reused plastic bottles, has fallen into the sights of Miracle-Gro’s legal rifle… 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? ...

June Laakkonen was my 5th grade teacher, and after I figured out how to spell and pronounce her last name (say “lack-uh-nen”), and then worked past the fact that her face featured a perpetual frown I came to realize that she was actually a terrific teacher with a real sense of humor… In fact, she once said with a smile “Don’t frown so much Kenneth or you’ll wind up looking like me when you're old!” It feels odd to remember that particular conversation over 20 years later, though I can actually hear her saying it as we walked into the classroom back then… But the things I clearly remember most out of that entire year were the two trips that she and her husband organized with parents to take us out of the classroom for several days in both spring and fall to experience the woods and marshlands of eastern Long Island. It’s something they did with every class, every year, and we won’t get into the fact that I’ve heard the site’s now been turned into waterfront condo’s; but I can say for sure that we learned a whole lot while we were camping there that stayed with us afterwards. In fact, so much so that if I look back I’m pretty sure those trips got me thinking about protecting the planet a long time before I ever understood why being an “environmentalist” is really about protecting humanity at all. So now, when I read that a new study shows trips like those may actually improve test scores as well, it kind of intrigues me to think how she would view it…...

In a perfect example of green design, a firework company has developed a new type of casing which creates a perfect sphere when it explodes, is biodegradable and is cheaper to produce. By mixing sawdust and rice chaff with biodegradable plastic, they've developed a product which is cheaper and greener than it's predecessors. Company president, Tokuo Kon, said, "we used materials that are unique in Akita, an area that is rich in wood and rice," Kon said. My only problem is that I hear the term 'green' far too much now in relation to product design. It's something that all companies should be working on, constantly. If an item is truly revolutionary or innovative, then I have no problem with the term. However, if the 'green' item is just a slightly less harmful product, then does it really deserve the moniker? There are so many products that profess to be less harmful to the environment than existing brands, that surely we are reaching the point where new products should be assumed to be green? Today, we should be punishing harmful products with a negative prefix, rather than promoting less harmful ones with a positive one. Perhaps we should drop that term, and instead label non-green items with a prefix indicating how antiquated and harmful they are. But what color to choose; grey, brown? :: Asahi...

Without skipping a beat, plans to expand America’s biggest Earth Day celebration for 2008 have begun. This past Earth Day, the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival was attended by over 200,000 people in New York, Chicago and San Francisco and reached millions more through print, radio, TV and online media. If all goes as planned, next year the festival will take place in additional cities. By combining live musical performances from diverse genres with educational outreach and cultural events the festival successfully disseminates the environmental message to a wide audience. TreeHugger Jessica Root, who manned our booth at the New York arm of the festival, confirmed that indeed the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival was reaching a new audience. “Plenty of business people stopped by on their lunch break,” Jessica reported. “Many had never heard of TreeHugger before, but were curious and enthusiastic about the concept. Lots of people signed up for our daily and weekly email newsletters too.” ...

Cassette tapes are a now obsolete technology (thank goodness), but I imagine there are plenty still out there in the bottom of peoples drawers soon to be heading to junk shops and rubbish bins. One designer has found a pretty groovy use for them. Marcella Foschi, tears apart found cassette tapes and joins them back together with zippers, all handmade and her own original design, they made their debut at the Tokyo Designboom 2006 Mart where young design professionals showcased their latest products. These are fun, practical (they are more of a pouch or purse than a wallet) and neon coloured, with the added benefit of nostalgia (check out some of the artists represented). Best of all though they make use of a something that would otherwise end up in landfill. ...

As you rub your eyes and emerge from the Earth Day haze, TreeHugger Radio gives you the post-Earth Day hangover episode. This week, we talk to David Roberts from Grist about the webmag’s unorthodox list of chart toppers, including the least noteworthy green news stories, the most eco-friendly nudie model, and the strangest thing to turn into biodiesel. TreeHugger’s own Alex Pasternack reports from Beijing on China’s recent car show season, and Emily Gertz from Worldchanging explains how to hang a price tag on a tree. Catch 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 ...

From China comes this bike that can transform itself into a suitcase. There was some doubt whether this bike would actually be produced, but now we've heard that it's in production (see photos below) and will be available sometime later this year. A prototype of the bike was on display last week at the Canton Fair in China. The prices will probably be $399 USD. Here's a video demonstrating the bike opening and closing:...

Treehuggers love solar powered bikinis (or do they love the pin-ups of the girls?), so here is another one. The one-piecer has solar panels on the front, artfully placed around Spanish swimming champ Gemma Mengual's cleavage. They will harness enough energy to charge up your iPod or mobile, whilst parading along the beach. This bathing suit is going to be made commercially and available in the shops soon. It was shown as part of the fun at an underwear fashion show in Valencia, held for the World Cup Sailing. The manufacturer, Triumph, has also made a nautically-themed bikini with a silver anchor in an indescribable place, in homage to the sailing competition. :: gizmodo...

More than 20 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from energy use in homes. A major source of the problem is heating, and while it's almost summer, this topic is still an essential element in reducing your carbon load overall. Some of us keep our homes warmer than we need to, and most houses leak some heat (and, in the summer, cool air)--a waste of energy and source of greater CO2 emissions. In this week's TreeHugger/Slate Green Challenge, we'll help you figure out how heat is escaping the confines of your abode and what you can do about it. Taking action will pay off when you're ready to turn on the air conditioning, too.

Wondering what the heck we're talking about? Click ::Slate/TreeHugger Green Challenge Intro
For this week's installment, click ::Heating. ...

Wood contains carbohydrates, and is sort of obvious, the "hydrate" suffix in the term "carbohydrate" implies hydrogen. It gets there from water, during photosynthesis. By simple pyrolysis, essentially just a matter of heating wood in an oxygen starved "retort," it's easy to extract this naturally collected hydrogen and a bit of methanol, setting aside, if we wish, the charcoal byproduct for sequestration. The charcoal might just be "buried" as suggested in a research paper on this topic published in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy Technology Review. Alternatively, the charcoal byproduct of wood pellet pyrolysis could be used for a soil amendment. Viewed and managed in this way, trees become the ultimate climate protection machines, certainly deserving of the Richard Branson-offered prize. But who gets the award? The extraction is very old technology after all. ...

Computer applications designed to minimize our ecological footprint (or "ecosoftware," as Lloyd dubbed them) continue to roll out: yesterday, Snap.com released its CO2 Saver toolbar. The app not only helps users apply power-saving settings to their computer, but also tallies the amount of CO2 not emitted by changing those settings. On the one hand (as Lloyd noted in his review of Local Cooling), this application adds no real functionality -- all of the settings can be changed through the normal power options in most operating systems. On the other hand, though, it does drive home the idea that our use of home electronics has consequences for the climate. Like the gas mileage displays in most hybrid vehicles, applications like the CO2 Saver could spur our sense of competition with ourselves to further lower our emissions... and that would be useful! ::The CO2 Saver from Snap.com...

We love transformer furniture that serves multiple functions; it lets you live in a smaller space and still have room for guests. The New York Times has a slide show with a wide range of attractive units,(some seen previously on TreeHugger) from this simple Danish ottoman for $ 298 through to a $ 6,290 lovely number from Ligne Roset. Watch the slide show at ::New York Times For Mobile Architecture fans, Design within Reach hired Chris Deam to design a modernist retro Airstream complete with George Nelson ball clocks and Paul Smith upholstery, for “rock climbers, surfers, dot-com guys.” It packs a lot of living into a 16' trailer for $ 49,000. ::New York Times...

We’ve covered One Planet Living plenty of times before. Now we’ve come across One Planet Agriculture, a campaign from the Soil Association, the UK’s governing body on organic food. The campaign is intended to address fossil fuel and energy use in agriculture and food systems, and to help prepare the industry, and consumers, for the challenges of climate change and peak oil:

“A new and irresistible driver will then, over the next few years, force change in the way we live, farm and buy our food. Whilst many of us have anticipated these changes, it has been the debate over environmental care, closer connection between citizens and the land, and animal welfare that has raised awareness of the need to change both our methods of production and the means by which we process and distribute our food. In the future, however, what has been 'nice to have' will become imperative.”

... <

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Entries for April 22, 2007 - April 28, 2007

Total this week: 144

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.28.07

by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 04.28.07

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by EcoGeek.org on 04.27.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.27.07

by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 04.27.07

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by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04.27.07

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by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 04.27.07

by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 04.27.07

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by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.27.07

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by Olivia Zaleski, New York City, USA on 04.26.07

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by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 04.26.07

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by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 04.26.07

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by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04.26.07

by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 04.26.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.26.07

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04.26.07