- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part one)
- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part two)
- Vinay Gupta
- Alyce Santoro
- Mathis Wackernagel
- Tom Price
- Martha Marks
- Paul Hawken
- David Suzuki
- Wal-Mart's Green Gurus
- Alisa Smith and James Mackinnon, authors of Plenty
- Bob Perkowitz of ecoAmerica
- Ed Begley Jr.
- The Weather Channel's Dr. Heidi Cullen
Entries for June 10, 2007 - June 16, 2007
Total this week: 184
Not For Vertigo Sufferers...
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 06.16.07
Zerofootprint Guides: Offsetting - Offsetting As A Sop To The Conscience
by Ron Dembo, Zerofootprint on 06.16.07
Carbon offsetting provokes a powerful emotional response in some people. They just don't like the idea that you can pay someone else to mop up your carbon emissions. It smacks of indulgence and cheating. Critics say buying an offset while continuing to fly, or drive an SUV, or live in a mansion with all the lights on, is at best hypocritical, and at worst, downright dangerous. It simply avoids the issue, which is that we should be reducing our carbon footprint, and simply encourages the delusion that we can go on living in an environmentally profligate way.
Some even compare offsetting with the Papal indulgences of the late Middle Ages, where Catholics were offered redemptions for their sins in return for donations to the Church – buying their way out of punishment for wrongdoing. Critics say this is exactly what modern-day carbon offsetters are trying to do. They think money will buy them a clear conscience while they continue to fill the sky with fumes.
Certain high profile stories, mainly about celebrities trying to offset carbon-intensive lifestyles, give credence to the criticisms, but it is far from the whole picture. Offsetting is something that is practiced by thousands of individuals and organizations who are neither hypocritical or delusional. Let's look at the argument more closely....
Everything Poops + Business Sees The Changing Climate = Crapitalism
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 06.16.07
Months ago we posted on a landfill methane capture project: controversial because "offsets" were being sold to cover the costs of capturing and burning methane emitted from buried solid waste. Some likened the practice to selling indulgences for spiritual gain. Then, months later, the Vatican decided to go for the green, causing that simile to lose currency. Now it seems, covering and capturing all manner of poop gas is headed toward the realm of big business. Raw material in excess. Cows do it. Pigs do it. Even billions of crowded miserable little chickens do it. We think capturing the methane wafting from their piles of excrement and selling the credits for this effort is soon to be a global love story for investors. The business potential is nicely embodied by AgCert International (AgCert™), a business that sells credits for those greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. "Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, AgCert was founded to generate emission reductions from livestock farms to reduce the adverse impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to global warming and climate change. AgCert is now the worldwide leader in agriculturally derived emission reductions, and we are applying our expertise to create industrial based emission reductions as well. The GHG emission reductions are pooled and sold to industrial emitters, governments, funds and energy traders."...
MacBook Pro 15" Screens Now Mercury-Free LED, but 17" a No-Go + Tekserve Recycles E-Waste June 16-18
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 06.16.07
Pictured is my now-retired laptop. We worked together for over seven wonderful years. Until yesterday. Not replacing a laptop for all that time is an eco-feat in and of itself given that processing power doubles every 18 months. However, its timely demise brings home the reasons for getting heavy-metals out of computer screen manufacturing. Prior to my very physical computer crash, I happened to have investigated the new MacBook Pros at the Apple Store in Soho just this past week -- perhaps the fate which befell my machine was a bit of an accident on purpose? In any event, I was informed that the models with 15 inch screens now use LED backlighting in order to eliminate the use of mercury as well as to extend battery charge by as much as an hour. By happenstance, I was told that the 17 inch models are still not ready for prime time and it appears that getting and confirming this information may be difficult for most consumers. Apple's site is a bit confusing on this topic and the good folks at Tekserve from whom I purchased my replacement 15" LED model joined in a tech huddle before concluding that the dastardly deets on the 17" big boy were accurate. Further confusion can occur if you go to the Mac OS system profiler to get info on the type of display: all models will indicate "LCD" which could lead you to conclude that the monitors still contain arsenic and mercury, industry standard materials used in liquid crystal displays....
Design for the Other 90%
by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 06.16.07
Design for the Other 90%, on view at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum through September 23, 2007. Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion, 5.8 billion people, or 90%, have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted; in fact, nearly half do not have regular access to food, clean water, or shelter. Design for the Other 90% explores a growing movement among designers to design low-cost solutions for this “other 90%.” ... Design for the Other 90% demonstrates how design can be a dynamic force in saving and transforming lives, at home and around the world.
See innovations in shelter, water and transport, such designs as Domed Pit Latrine Slab kit by Martin Fisher, will help with health issues with the concrete lid creating a tight seal to keep the smell in and the flies out; and the wire handle heats up from sunlight, killing germs and reducing contamination. And the Bamboo Treadle Pump by Gunnar Barnes allows poor farmers to access groundwater during the dry season, is is able to be made locally from cheap materials thus producing income for the community as well....
Contraforma's Imperial Carpet Tiles: Look Great, But Green Enough?
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.16.07
TreeHugger really likes modular designs. Their movable, changeable pieces allow for both multiple, easily re-imagined configurations, and quick, easy replacement in case of an accident like a permanent stain. This proves most beneficial in things like carpet and cushions, where high traffic and errant red wine spills can damage or blemish your belongings. We really like the looks of the "Imperial" carpet tiles from contraforma, whose groovy shapes allow for lots of fun and different design possibilities, but their synthetic materials and no sign of lifecycle design or product take-back plan gets the TreeHugger thumbs down. FLOR has pretty much had the run of TreeHugger's coverage of modular carpet tiles (and their sustainable offerings definitely deserve the good green press they've received), and they will continue to until contraforma and others get hip to the green game. You can do it! ::contraforma via ::Freshome...
Digui Furniture's Molen Low Table
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.16.07
Combining traditional techniques with enlightened materials, Portland, OR-based Jeffrey Armistead and Digui strives to make furniture that withstands not just years, but decades of use and will be beautiful not just today, but tomorrow as well. Using locally harvested or certified sustainably-grown wood, Digui's Molen Low Table is intended to be used for a variety of tasks over its lifetime -- sofa end table, coffee table or bedside table are a few possibilities -- and its longevity is owed, at least in part, to the technique used to construct it. About the construction, designer Armistead says, "The table is composed of four panels, each supported by a dovetailed leg. The panels are connected to each other at a right angle, joined with a long tenon used typically in breadboard table tops to allow the table surface to expand and contract with seasonal changes in humidity. The Molen table uses traditional, joinery techniques -- legs dovetailed in the table top, the panels integrated with breadboard tenons allowing the solid timber to expand and contract, and mortises and tenons for the underlying rails -- to provide interest by changes in grain direction and exposing end grain." We like the sunken square box in the middle of the table, added for storage, which gives the table an almost whirlpool-like illusion of motion. Armistead's small studio is powered by Portland's PGE renewable energy program, and the table is available in plantation eucalyptus, local Northwest FSC-certified red alder, as well as locally-harvested black walnut. Digui just has a splash page for now; we hope to see more from them soon. ::Digui Furniture...
How to Go Green: Back To Basics
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 06.16.07
What’s the Big Deal?
The future is green, and you just found it. These days you probably feel flooded by dire-sounding environmental news ("the Earth is set to deflate by 2011") and endless suggestions for greener living ("algae cold-fusion reactors for your shoes"). But fret not. We're here to help sort things out and get your eco show on the road. Here, we bring it back to basics and break it down into bite sized chunks of simple, everyday ways to live a greener, healthier, more ethical (and ultimately more fun) life. So read on. And remember, if you have a friend, relative, or colleague who needs a little help on the green front, send them this way.Earthworks St Albans: Permacultural Training for People with Learning Difficulties
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 06.16.07
Permaculture just keeps on cropping up on the pages of TreeHugger. We’ve written about permaculturists greening the desert in the Middle East, and we’ve carried details of a small urban permaculture garden in NC. Last month we brought details of an innovative permaculture project in the UK called Offshoots, and now, thanks to an article in the latest issue of the ever-inspirational Permaculture Magazine (the article is unfortunately unavailable online), we bring news of another important project in the UK.
Earthworks St Albans was started as a reaction to a spate of closures of state-owned residential care homes for people with learning difficulties in the mid-ninties. It is now a registered charity that offers trainees, often with learning difficulties or mental health problems, work experience and training in horticultural and land-based skills. It has a two-acre site that is managed along ecological principles, and the organization is involved in conservation efforts, and in growing food for the local farmers’ market.
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Summer Sights: The Duncan House
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.16.07
Another summer site that is now open is the Duncan House, a Usonian design by Frank Lloyd Wright that was moved from Chicago to Polymath Park, a resort near Pittsburgh. Usonian houses were "ypically small, single story dwellings without a garage or much storage, L-shaped to fit around a garden terrace on odd (and cheap) lots, and environmentally-conscious with native materials, flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive solar heating and natural cooling, natural lighting with clerestory windows, and radiant floor heating (WP)"
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The Case of the Vanishing Birds
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.15.07
The days when we could look forward to being awoken by the pleasant chirping of birds in the morning (well, for those of us not living in the city) may soon be coming to an end. A report released by the National Audubon Society makes the case that populations of many of our fair feathered friends have been in drastic decline over the past four decades.
The average population of these common birds has fallen 68% since 1967; the 20 birds listed on the national "Common Birds in Decline" database (including such perennial favorites as the Common Tern and Field Sparrow) have lost at least half of their populations during that period. Some species, including the once familiar Northern Bobwhite (seen above), have witnessed collapses in their numbers as high as 80%. These numbers were obtained from the Audubon Society's long-running citizen-led Christmas Bird Count and its Breeding Bird Survey....
Tall Cities = Green Cities?
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 06.15.07
Richard Fuller is a post-doc researcher at the University of Sheffield, working in the ecological sustainability of cities. He has written an interesting comment piece for the BBC where he talks about the implications of what the UK Government see as the future of housing. More than half the population now live in cities, and they have grown rapidly in recent years. Because urban areas have tended to sprawl, many areas are now car-dependant - miles from anywhere and with a lack of decent public transport. The Government want new housing to be compact, and tightly spaced, 30 to 50 houses per hectare in fact. This would allow people to live near work, make bicycle and car trips more easily, and reduce the amount of land that we swallow up for redevelopment. Sounds like a good plan, but Fuller sees some problems.
“This will pack a lot more people into the same space than we currently do. It is perhaps the single most important piece of housing legislation for decades, yet it is not well known and the potential consequences of it have not been widely debated.”
One problem that Fuller sees is that we will all have less access to green spaces, which is important for our well being, “Green spaces, including our own domestic gardens, are important even to the most hardened city slickers among us. They are places to sit and contemplate, meet with friends, walk the dog, go for a run, feed the ducks, for children to play.” How will communities alter, once nature is effectively removed from the equation?...
MTV Tackles Climate Change in a Big Way!
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 06.15.07
When the world’s largest television network with a potential audience of 1.5 billion people in 162 countries decides to make global climate change a top priority, it’s time to sit up and take notice. In fact, the MTV SWITCH campaign launched yesterday aims to target people between the ages of 15 to 25 who happen to live in countries with high carbon emissions. The aim is to connect with them and lead them to question their high consumption lifestyles, hopefully raising their consciousness of the environment in general and the fight against global warming in particular at the same time. The organizing principle behind all of it is the idea that when large groups of individuals choose to begin taking small actions on their own it can add up to massive results. To help get youth involved they’ll be targeting them with public service announcements, television programs, and online resources accessible via the MTV Switch website. And you can bet they’ll be incredibly effective at making the connection inside of kids minds with them too… As one of my students recently blurted out in class in response to a question about whether global climate change is real, “Dude, it’s on MTV!” It seems that in the strange and wacky world of teenage minds our friends at MTV have made themselves a more trusted source of news than CNN. Go figure!...
Floods, Monsoons, Heat Waves, Drought: Climate Change In Asia Now
by Alex Pasternack, Beijing, China on 06.15.07
Chittagong, Bangladesh (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman)
In Asia, it’s already a killer summer, even if the season hasn't started yet. A week after China released its action plan on climate change (sans emissions caps), 76 people have died over a six-day period in China’s southern and eastern provinces due to severe flooding, brought upon by heavy rains. The floods have forced more than 788,000 people from their homes, caused damage estimated at more than 2.9 billion yuan ($371 million) and affected over 300,000 hectares of crops. State media reported that the director of the country’s National Meteorological Center, Jiao Meiyan, attributed the rainfall in part to “global climate change.” Meanwhile, a heat wave in India and Pakistan, where temperatures hovered at 50 degrees Celsius, has killed 340. In Bangladesh, heavy monsoon rains have killed 126.
The impact of climate change on developing nations in particular is like "low-intensity biological or chemical warfare," said the Namibia representative at a recent meeting of the UN Security Council, secretary general Ban Ki Moon writes in a recent editorial. "This is no academic exercise," the Namibian all but shouted. "It is a matter of life or death for my country."...
TreeHugger Picks: Sugar - Not Just For Eating Any More
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.15.07
Hot on the heels of the news that we may be able to use sugar to make products currently manufactured with oil, we got to wondering: what else is the sweet stuff good for? Here are five ways to use sugar and its byproducts that won't rot your teeth.
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 | 1) 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. |
 | 2) This tasty-looking coffee table made of sugar and compressed coffee beans is a functioning item, recycling innovation, and an artful expression, all rolled in to one. Something to ponder: Will my dog want to chew on it? |
 | 3) Made from natural sugar cane alcohol, Ecoflame is a cooking fuel that burns cleaner, hotter and more efficiently than petroluem-based fuels, we're told. Certified under Canada's Environmental Choice Program, it is non-toxic, non-explosive, has no harmful emissions, is safe for use indoors and outdoors and is smokeless and odor free. The remaining two picks are after the jump... |
Let's Make Oil From Corpses!
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 06.15.07
The Gas and Oil Exposition in Calgary was gate-crashed by the Yes Men, the combination theatre group and political activists. They pulled off an impressive con, pretending to be representatives from the NPC and Exxon. Andy Bichlbaum gave a talk, posing as Shepard Wolff of the NPC, where he admitted that the Earth is heading towards “huge global calamities”. On the bright side, he suggested, “the oil industry could "keep fuel flowing" by transforming the billions of people who die into oil.”
This was quite a surprise to the audience who expected the NPC, advisors to the White House on oil and gas issues, to be announcing the findings of a DoE study. Fellow Yes Man, Mike Bonnano, then took the podium posing as an Exxon employee named Florian Osenberg. "With more fossil fuels comes a greater chance of disaster, but that means more feedstock for Vivoleum. Fuel will continue to flow for those of us left," he said cheerily....
Greens in Government in Ireland
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
One gets depressed watching American politics, where the Democrats pander to big coal and the Republicans are fighting renewable energy, or Canadian politics, where national parties are fracturing into regional self-interest. It is interesting to see that in other parts of the world, the Green Party is a real alternative. In Ireland, six members of the Green party have joined the government and will take two cabinet positions. According to the Economist, "As a result, the new administration is expected to support a more radical policy on climate change, including the introduction of a carbon tax which the outgoing administration had abandoned following pressure from business leaders. The government also agreed to carbon emissions reduction targets of 3% per year; to set up a commission on climate change; and to set more energy efficient standards for new buildings."
Perhaps its time for Greens in government over here. ::Economist...
The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Really.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
WHO:Israel Has Low Environmentally-Induced Death Rate
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 06.15.07
More fuel to the fire when I explain to my Canadian mother why I choose to live in Jerusalem: Israel, apparently, has a low environmentally-induced death rate, reports a cheery article in the Jerusalem Post this week. Unfortunately, Israelis probably make up for it in road deaths and other unfortunate events. But thanks to research from the World Health Organization, us TreeHuggers stationed in Israel can sleep more soundly knowing that the doom and gloom environmental reports we read over here may be misguided. According to the report, Israel gets a decent grade when it comes to negative health effects due to environmental degradation.
Estimates of years of life lost in Israel due to respiratory infections and diseases, lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases caused by outdoor pollution are among the lowest in the world, with 6,000 estimated deaths per year from these causes. Israel, believe it or not, is considered one of the best-rated countries in the world, reports the Jerusalem Post. The worst are Angola, Burkina Faso, Mali and Afghanistan....
Gotta lotta bottle - Smart Glass Jewelry
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 06.15.07
Ever thought of wearing coke bottles on your ears? The jewellery designer Kathleen Plate has thought about wearing them round your neck as well! Sounds heavy, but Kathleen's Smart Glass collection lends glass bottles the lightest touch. If endorsing the world's largest soft drinks manufacturer isn't up your style street never fear, Kathleen also reuses Skyy Vodka, Pellegrino, Aveda, as well as all manner of beer and wine bottles. So whatever your favourite beverage you can find them transformed into beautiful accessories. Kathleen started designing jewellery by making a pair of earrings for a friend's birthday whilst at graduate school. They proved so popular that soon after selling to boutiques in the early 90s she had clients such as Aveda and Coca Cola knocking on her door. ...
Gender Benders Feminize Fish. Who's Next?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
Canada has a lotta lakes; so many that they can afford to take a few and do some destructive testing -"Entire small lakes are available to test hypotheses about freshwater ecosystems"-)(::Experimental Lakes) In one of them, Karen Kidd of the University of New Brunswick tossed in a heap of birth control pills (well, more accurately, she seeded a 34-hectare lake with 5 ppt 17∝-ethynylestradiol—the active ingredient in birth control pills) to see what would happen. (This is a big issue for TreeHuggers- we talk often about gender bender chemicals getting into our water and 85% of the hormones in birth control pills goes through the body and down the toilet. At the same time we say don't drink bottled water, drink tap. For cities with "closed loop" systems like those on the Great Lakes, we are, as Jacob so aptly put it, spiking the punch.)...
Jute in Time for a Green Funeral Revival
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.15.07
Fresh off our story a few days ago reporting on the increasing trend towards more eco-friendly funeral pyres in India, we bring you news now of a Scottish company's attempts to revive the jute industry by building coffins with the plant material. J Funerals, based in Dundee, has been trying to find innovative ways to use jute after a recent slowdown in the manufacturing industry.
Jute is a strong natural, biodegradable fiber derived from plants in the genus Corchorus and has high tensile strength and low extensibility. After cotton, it is the second most important vegetable fiber for cultivation and for various purposes, including making cloth, weaving curtains and backing for linoleum.
The company had primarily been using it to make shrouds, linings and urns. Sandra Thomson, its managing director, realized its potential as a material to make coffins early on. "It started as a dream," she said. "I have a huge passion for jute and was determined that jute was not going to die out of Dundee." ...
A Sweet Deal: Kicking the Oil Habit with Sugar
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.15.07
While this breakthrough discovery may not immediately resonate with a majority of the population (not 70% of it anyway), it has already sent the scientific world into a tizzy over its potential implications for biorefinery and our dependence on oil. As reported in this week's issue of Science (subscription needed), a group of scientists have discovered a way to convert glucose into HFM (hydroxymethylfurfural), a chemical that is broken down into components used to manufacture products now made from oil.
Since crude oil is the base component for fuels, plastic and several industrial and household chemicals, finding a method of replacing it with an environmentally friendly, cheap renewable plant matter has long been one of the Holy Grails in science. Z. Conrad Zhang, the lead author and a scientist with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)-based Institute for Interfacial Catalysis, described the team's accomplishment thusly: "What we have done that no one else has been able to do is convert glucose directly in high yields to a primary building block for fuel and polyesters."...
Most Huggable: Gore on the G8, Next Gen Computers, Active Summer Kids
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 06.15.07
Gore comments on G8 climate efforts: “a disgrace disguised as an achievement.” The message is getting through in San Fran: the city wants renewable community power… Ready for a wool computer? Check out the entries from the Next-Gen PC design Competition… Gaiam wants to keep your kids active this summer. Here’s how… Just before you put that lemur in a headlock, check out these “animals that are better than you…” Most Huggable is a daily roundup of some of the top stories from Hugg.com, TreeHugger’s user-generated green news site. Why not submit your own green news? ...
Manta Birostis Lounge Chair: Damien Melotte's Ode to Coral
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.15.07
As we've noted several times before, coral reefs are extremely vulnerable to climate change; while this is certainly bad news for the corals themselves, it doesn't bode well for those plants and animals who need them to live either. Inspired by the form and graceful underwater gliding of the coral-dwelling Manta Birostis, or Giant Manta Ray, designer Damien Melotte created the Manta Birostis lounge chair as a way to both raise awareness about and lament the slow destruction caused by bleaching corals. The chair is built on FSC-certified wood legs and upholstered with a combination of a recycled plastic shell and biodegradable latex rubber, and disassembles for more efficient delivery. As the chair of his local chapter of the o2 Global Network (o2 Australia), he also has some good things to say about design....
Taking Back the City: Superkül Live/Work
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
There are a couple of themes that we drone on about at TreeHugger: how cities are part of the solution for global warming because people have smaller carbon footprints; how revitalization along transit lines gets more people out of cars; how efficient it is to work from home. We also love the urban mix of uses on mainstreets, where for generations people have lived over the store.
Andre D'Elia and Meg Graham live over the store; they are the principals of Superkül, a young architectural firm in Toronto. They bought a building next to the psychic on a sketchy street in the west end Toronto, put their office on the ground floor and their house above. Originally a two storey building with a shop on the ground floor and an apartment above, it had in the recent past been used solely as a residence. Its conversion to Home / Office involved its complete renovation and the addition of a third floor.
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Waldmeister: Handmade Wooden Bike Wins Award
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 06.15.07
ISPO is the International Sports Expo, held in Germany twice a year. It’s where many of the up and coming trends are first spotted. The Waldmeister (literally Forest Master) bike by Marcus Wallmeyer scored a win in their current ‘BrandNew’ jury selection. It is handmade from about 100 thin layers of wood. The design is obviously unique but we’re told the ride also offers unprecedented comfort. Seems like the designer of the JANO plywood Dual bike was on the the right track after all. Another pic, after the jump, of the Waldmeister in all its glory. It seems not to contain a single piece of Shimano componentry, instead employing other top notch hardware. No details provided on price ::SuperNova Design, via ::ISPO...
DNA Kit to Fight Illegal Animal Trading
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 06.15.07
Photo credit: George Braun
Watch out, evil-doers: A new weapon in the fight against the illegal trade of endangered and threatened species has just been added to the arsenal.
The device will allow officials to test suspicious goods on the spot to discover if they have been prepared using ingredients from rare species. Developed with the aid of British DNA forensics specialists, the test works to uncover the use of tissues from protected animals, especially bears, in traditional medicines—a lucrative market in Asia—by detecting specific proteins found in the animals.
Trials of the DNA test kit in Australia and Canada have already identified 16 cases where illegal products were destined for the market. (Oh, snap!) The timing of this kit could not be better. Already, organized crime syndicates, with the assistance of corrupt government officials, have turned environmental crime into a multibillion-dollar business—one that is rivaling even the drugs trade, according to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency....
Coming to NYC: Solar Panel Abatements, Underwater Turbines and Farm Aid 07
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 06.15.07
This week, the bad boy of biodiesel Willie Nelson and billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg strolled the Union Square Farmer's Market and sampled snap peas to spread word that this September 9th, Farm Aid will be going local. As a sign of these urban green times, for the first time in the history of the 22-year run of the farm-funding concert series, NYC will host the event. The good news throws luscious compost onto the growing local food movement here, but local farmers still face challenges. Dairy is New York State's number one agricultural industry, with some 6,000 dairy farms, however nearly 40 dairy farms are lost each month. But on the sunny side, Bloomberg unveiled hat the city would soon start offering property tax abatements to private building owners who install solar panels to generate electricity. And he said the city would issue a request for proposals this fall to find a private company to install solar panels on a number of city buildings....
Go Green and Stay Hip with Mavi Organics
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.15.07
We were less than impressed when the dress-to-impress hipsters at Diesel rolled out their "Global Warming Ready" campaign a few months back; it isn't TreeHugger's style to talking the green talk while doing nothing to green the walk. Mavi, Diesel's contemporaries in fashion popular with the hip, under-30 set, having taken a different -- and smarter, we think -- approach, and have started phasing organic cotton into their chic men's and women's denim. For now, the organic option appears limited to the Mona model for women and Hunter and Matt (all $80) for men, with pledges from the company to further incorporate the pesticide-free cotton into denim and perhaps its knits and twills. The company, which means "blue" in Turkish, was founded in Turkey in 1991 and sells seven million pairs of jeans each year in over 600 specialty stores, department stores and specialty chains stores in 50 countries around the world; if they continue to offer greener options in more of their European and Mediterranean-inspired styles, you should be seeing some in a store near you. Shop online at the Mavi shop and learn more about them at mavi.com. ::Mavi Organic...
Hertz Adding 3400 Toyota Priuses To Fleet
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 06.15.07
The increased demand for green vehicles is spilling over to the rental car counter, where many more drivers will soon be able to choose a hybrid vehicle. Hertz plans to add 3400 Prius hybrid cars to its fleet as customers seek more fuel-efficient vehicles. Hertz will spend $68 million to add the hybrid cars by 2008, the company said today. The first 1000 will be available at U.S. rental sites within the next few weeks. Rental-car companies are offering more fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles amid record gasoline prices and increased concern among consumers about global warming. ...
Do Farmers Markets Really Work? The Guardian Offers Constructive Criticism
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 06.15.07
A little while back this author was accused of being overly critical, even whiney, for suggesting that farmers’ markets could be even better if more of an effort was made to reduce both plastic bag use and the amount of car traffic that some markets generate. Of course, we are still huge fans of farmers' markets, and local food in general, but we do feel that even great, green, sustainable institutions can strive to be even greener, and even better – after all, we have some major challenges ahead of us, and resting on our laurels isn’t an option.
On a similar note, then, we have just come across an interesting article by Guardian correspondent Rachel Dixon, also a big fan of farmers’ markets, who dares to ask if farmers markets really work. Rachel’s problem is not traffic, nor plastic bag use (she brings her own), but rather, firstly, the fact that many markets are too infrequent to have a real impact on farmers’ income, and secondly, that they are still seen as too elitist and expensive. Her article is, however, careful to point out that these criticisms mainly apply to UK markets, and she is also helpful enough to offer some insight into how these problems can be fixed.
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Beer Waste to Energy: Anheuser-Busch's BERS System
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 06.15.07
While St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has only jumped into organic brewing relatively recently, according to this morning's Post-Dispatch, the company has been involved in alternative energy development for over two decades. BERS is a very appropriate acronym for the company's "bio-energy recovery systems," which not only pretreat wastewater from 9 of the company's breweries worldwide, but also extract methane from anaerobic bacteria that break down organic matter in the wastewater.
According to P-D writer Jeremiah McWilliams,...
The World's Most Endangered Destinations, Monument Division
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
Jasmin listed many of the natural wonders that are threatened by global warming, development, pollution and overpopulation; important architectural wonders are being lost to the same forces. Robert Falcon Scott's hut at Cape Evans in Antarctica is being buried in snow due to changes in weather patterns; Sert's Miro Foundation in Barcelona is suffering from water infiltration; Sonargoan-Panam City in Bangladesh is under a triple threat from neglect, climate change and flooding. See the 100 most endangered sites as selected by World Monuments Fund, on organization that calls "attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, armed conflict, or natural disaster" and produces this disturbing map at ::World Monuments Watch....
Lightning Looking to Zap Tesla
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 06.15.07
The Tesla Roadster is impressive; it's one of the first electric cars to be desirable to TreeHuggers and petrol-heads alike. However, a bit of competition never hurt anyone, and is great for us consumers. That's one reason that the Lightning electric car is good news. The other is that it has 700 bhp and does 0-60mph in 4 seconds.
The company is taking orders on their three different models now, with production planned to start in 2008. There's a luxury model, a lightweight sporty model and an extended range model with a range of 250 miles. The company are using Altairnano's Nanosafe batteries and Hi-Pa Drive wheel motors from PML Flightlink....
Improving Timberland's Eco Footwear
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 06.15.07
Warren mentioned back in April that Timberland won a Green Award from Backpacker Magazine and, since we’re familiar with the company, we thought we’d take a closer look at their newest line of shoes. We were excited upon their arrival since we heard that Timberland was “going green” and the box did in fact have the Green Index labeling that Lloyd introduced to us. For men, the “Earthkeepers” collection has a few different styles to choose from which are made from natural, sustainable and recycled materials. But for women we aren’t as lucky. While the Caimile sandals that we tried (shown above) had cute detailing made from coconut buttons and “are Bohemian inspired by eco-chic,” there wasn’t much else that we found to be “eco-friendly.” While our sandals are soooo comfy (we’ll surely be wearing them all summer), we were disappointed that more of the materials weren’t made from the same materials as the men’s. We are intrigued by the Larkspur sandals though – wedges made from natural bamboo. Hmm…we could use a new pair of shoes… ::Timberland...
New Wave Furniture by Aswoon/Susan Woods Studio
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.15.07
Daniel Blochwitz for Aswoon/Susan Woods Studio
Taking bent ply to curvy new heights, Aswoon/Susan Woods Studio creates lounge chairs, public seating and couches with a very bendable sensibility. Often requiring little more than a single sheet of poplar plywood, the furniture boasts ornate shapes and funky lines not often seen from wood furniture, and something we've never really seen from bent ply. Defining green design as "the art of developing ideas and, as a result, physical objects in compliance with the principles of economic, social, and, especially, ecological sustainability", the studio looks to "reclaim and re-use materials, and continuously search for those which can be recycled and re-integrated" into their work; they're currently looking for anything from used mattresses to bottle caps for future use. Until those pieces arrive, check out more curvy goodness after the jump. ::Aswoon/Susan Woods Studio's New Wave via ::PadStyle...
Villa Näckros: Swedish Floating Prefabs
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
Prefabs can go in places that conventional buildings can't; some even float, like the Näckros Villa designed by Strindberg Arkitekter in Sweden. It started as a project for a client but has turned into an industrial project; The first was built in 2003 and they now are for sale in two different models.
As is true in North America whenever a new prefab idea comes along, the problem is where to put them, and unless a developer puts together the land as well as the building then it takes forever to get a design out into the marketplace. In this case there is a pilot development in Kalmar, Sweden-"a floating residential project in the centre of town with the opportunity to leasehold or freehold. The project will be a guide for the future design and construction of floating living in Sweden."...
Shocking News: Americans Still Driving Solo
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.15.07
Notwithstanding higher gas prices, worries about global warming or peak oil, more Americans are driving alone to work than ever before. According to the Census Bureau, from 2000 to 2005 the share of people driving alone to work increased to 77%. More recent statistics indicate that little has changed even with 3 buck gas.
For most suburban commuters, "it's very hard to find someone to ride with, and it's very hard to find public transportation," said Alan Pisarski, author of "Commuting in America." "There aren't always a lot of options for people."
Car pooling has dropped and transit use is stable at only 4.7% of the population. AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom said commuters are willing to drive more fuel-efficient autos but are loath to give up the keys entirely, regardless of gas prices. He said many people equate carpooling and mass transit with "a decline in their personal standard of living. The freedom of mobility that comes with the use of a personal automobile is something we are very, very reluctant to give up as individuals," Sundstrom said. Of course, he is from the AAA and gets paid to spout such drivel. ::MSNBC...
Dead Lands Walking: The World's Most Endangered Destinations
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 06.15.07
Photo credit: Michelle McFarlane
If you haven't already made considerable headway into your travel wish list, you're about to run out of luck, says Forbes, because your would-be destinations may have vanished by the time you get your travel agent on the line.
“There are thousands of places in the world that are endangered,” says Kecia Fong, a conservator at the Getty Conservation Institute, as quoted in the magazine. “The kinds of sites that are most endangered have rapid development like building roads or hotels to deal with an influx of tourists.”
With the additional toll that global warming, pollution, and deforestation are taking on the world's historic sites and natural wonders, it should come as little surprise that these popular tourist spots are in jeopardy. So which locales are on death watch?...
TransNeomatic Bowl
by Joey Roth, Brooklyn, USA on 06.14.07
Inspired by the scooters that zip through Vietnam's streets at all hours but distressed by the mountains of used tires that end up in the country's landfills, designers Fernando and Humberto Campana created the TransNeomatic bowl. Made from a used scooter tire that's filled with a web of natural wicker, the bowls articulate the tension between modernity and tradition that informs much of the developing world. The bowl is actually a set of well-mediated contrasts: warm and cold, organic and mechanical, fast and slow. Each bowl is made in Vietnam using familiar handicraft techniques, and is part of Artecnica's Design with Conscience campaign.
UPDATE: A number of sharp-eyed readers have pointed out that the tire used here is new. I'm checking to see if this is just a prototype, and if the production models actually use tires "rescued from landfills"....
The Green Bishop?
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 06.14.07
Richard Chartres, the 132nd Bishop of London, is one of the Church of England’s most outspoken members on climate change issues. We recently featured news of his personal attempts to cut his own carbon emissions, but how is his fast progressing? The Guardian recently visited him to see if his home life was as green as he is trying to make the entire church.
Last year Chartres said that flying on holiday or buying a large car were a "symptom of sin". He pledged to avoid flying for a year soon after, because he was criticised in the press for still taking flights for "diocese work" as well as retaining a chauffeur-driven car.
The Church of England is currently running a carbon footprint reduction, which aims to reduce emissions by 60% before 2050. The scheme’s website states, "Creating 'the 40% Church' can start with putting a low-energy light bulb in the vestry or switching off the parish photocopier at night. If we each take responsibility for these little things today, the larger ones will become much easier tomorrow; but unless we take up responsibility ourselves, we cannot expect others to do the same."
Chartres said, "I do encounter pockets of resistance within the church, but I would describe this as unawareness - live, drink, eat, for tomorrow we die. It is said in Genesis - and this is mythological language, of course - that we are here to till and keep, to develop and conserve; that we are people who should be respectful of limits, balance and rhythms." ...
Fuel-Cell Powered Aircraft Ready For Take Off
by Tony Bosworth, Sydney, Australia on 06.14.07
Czech company Jihlavan Airplanes' Rapid 200 will be used as a flying test bed.
A European research project, led by Turin Polytechnic University, is designing a fuel-cell powered, manned inter-city aircraft.
“Hydrogen and fuel cell power technologies have now reached the point where they can be exploited to initiate a new era of propulsion systems for light aircraft and small commuter aircraft,” says Romeo Giulio of Turin Polytechnic University and the project coordinator.
The Environmentally Friendly Inter-City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells (ENFICA-FC) project will receive €2.9 million (US$3.9 million) in funding from the European Union as part of the aeronautics and space priority of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
The fuel cell system will be installed in several aircraft, which will be flight and performance tested. The results of the project will be presented at both on-ground and in-flight public events at the end of the three-year research project....
Europe's Largest Solar Powered Building
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 06.14.07
A new office building in Madrid, Spain, is expected to become Europe’s largest solar power plant on a building. The building will become the new office for Spanish telecom company, Telefonica.
The construction will contain 16,000 solar panels, running the entire length of the complex on the roof. It’s estimated that it will generate 3 megawatts at peak power, which totals 3.6 gigawatt hours every year.
Telefonica are hoping to see a 15% reduction in heating bills, and a 34% reduction in air conditioning bills, but this won't be sure until construction is complete. One thing is for sure; Madrid isn't short on sunshine. Rainwater is rather more scarce though, so the building will collect rainwater for recycling, and for use in the surrounding grounds and gardens. :: UPI
See also :: Richard Rogers & Bamboo for Madrid's Airport Extention :: Madrid Metro Ecologic Cleaning System :: Certified Wood for El Prado in Madrid...
Add Thomas & Friends to the List of Toxic Chinese Products
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 06.14.07
RC2 Corp., which sells Thomas the Tank Engine toys, is recalling over 1.5 million Thomas & Friends wooden railway vehicles and accessories because their surface paint contains lead. This is a massive recall; it's about 4 percent of all the trains RC2 has sold in the United States. I can personally confirm this, my son had fourteen of the items on the list. Get the return form here.
The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report states that the toys were manufactured in China. Now, I don't want to nip and prod but my kid, your kid, played with those trains. And, barring readers who just woke from a coma (congrats, by the way), it's not news that lead paint has been banned in the US for almost 30 years. Did that message not percolate across the Pacific? Guess not, because China was held accountable for 65 percent of all the recalled products in this US this year, with lead being named as a recurring cause among the recalls.
Some say that when a country has 800 million people employed in a manufacturing economy, it will just take some time to correct these issues. Cough, cough; in the case of lead, you have had 30 years. Truth is, these are simply bad faith manufacturing practices and the list is endless - the one million recalled Easy-Bake Ovens, the deadly vinyl lunch boxes, the melamine pet food, the Chinese cold medicine that killed 51 Panamanians, the toothpaste that contains anti-freeze, the soy sauce made out of hair. Here's one word for you - 近义词. :: ABC
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TH Blog Love – Our Favourite Greens Of The Week
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 06.14.07
Frugal For Life: The Halfway Thrifty Award
"This award is harder to get than the Nobel Prize, it is handed out at whim and only on rare occasions. This award only goes to those people who have a great idea about being thrifty but then something holds them back from going all the way."
Maria Energia: The Green Options Interview: Denise Persson, Genesys Conferencing by Maria Surma Manka. Hitting two blogs in one go here is Maria's own personal green blog and a link to her latest interview on Green Options with Denise Persson. "Genesys Conferencing is global provider of web, audio, and video conferencing services. It does business in 25 countries, including with nearly half of the Fortune Global 500 companies."...
Building Green Airplanes: "This is Not Star Trek"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.14.07
That's what the CEO of UK discount airline EasyJet said while introducing a design that would slash CO2 emissions by 50%. Andy Harrison continued "This is not leading-edge technology. It is there, it is available. It needs putting together." A couple of his engineers cobbled together a bunch of ideas, like open rotor engines, composite materials and flying more slowly.
We might note that it may not be Star Trek but it still science fiction; open rotor engines are noisy and have been rejected before. This reminds us of "efficient incandescents"- lets keep doing what we are doing until this wonderful new technology makes it all better.
The Guardian notes that the easyJet announcement follows a stark admission last week by a senior industry figure that airlines had "lost the battle" over the environment and would pay the price in excessive government regulation for several years. ::Guardian
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Lake Inferior, Soon To Be?
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 06.14.07
Reports about a rapidly dropping Lake Superior, probably the most beautiful and certainly the largest of all the Great Lakes, (max depth = 1,330 feet), are showing up all over. You'd think the print media were on a "hunt-for-signs-of-global-warming." Keep it up, guys, and you'll restart the secret Canadian-US fight over water sneaking.. There's already ridiculous conspiracy theories about the Army Corps secreting water to downstream States. So, the rest of the drought stricken US can just go on a conservation binge, and forget about getting any nice clean cool water from Superior. USA Today has the latest: some crowning excerpts follow. "Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake, has dropped to its lowest level in 81 years. The water is 20 inches below average and a foot lower than just a year ago...Wetlands have dried up. Power plants run at half capacity. Cargo ships carry partial loads. Boaters struggle to find a place to dock...The water has receded, sometimes 50 feet or more, from its normal shoreline...The average water temperature of Lake Superior has risen 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1979...A drought and warm weather are the immediate cause of the drop in water levels. In the past year, precipitation was 6 inches less than the average of 31 inches. The lake's southern shore had a green Christmas in 2006. The ice and snow pack that usually cover the lake arrived late, allowing water to evaporate...Edison Sault Electric power plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., will operate at less than 50% capacity this year because its water flows have been slashed as a result of the low lake levels,.. Via:: USA Today Image credit:: Porcupine Mountains State Park, Upper Penninsula of Michigan, South Shore of Lake Superior, Kerema's Backpacking Trip...
British MPs Bananas Over Fair Trade
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 06.14.07
Photo credit: Ashour Rehana
Labels need to be placed on everything from bananas to T-shirts to show how much people in developing countries were paid to produce them, say Members of Parliament in the U.K.
The House of Commons International Development Committee wants the government to study the feasibility of such a labeling scheme, in addition to appointing an official to promote fair trade. Although the fair-trade movement has taken off in many upmarket stores, it said, the performance of some larger retailers "falls well below standards we consider acceptable."
Customers should be able to know if the products they purchase are the result of exploitation, according to the committee's report.
"Supermarkets already know how much farmers are paid for each kilogram of fruit or vegetable they sell, and companies know how much they pay per kilogram of coffee, or for each T-shift," said the report. "Passing this information on to consumers should not be a difficult task." :: BBC News
See also: :: Do You Know Where Your Banana Has Been? and :: Man Eats only Fair Trade for a Fortnight...
Wine and Biodiesel Byproducts Combine to Make 'Green' Polymer
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.14.07
Wine-making, meet renewable energy production: a team of undergraduate engineering students from Oregon State University has developed an environmentally friendly, biodegradable polymer derived from biodiesel and wine-making byproducts that could replace polystyrene foam meat trays in supermarkets and be used in the manufacture of fire logs, furniture and other consumer goods.
The senior chemical engineering students created this new polymer by combining glyerin, a biodiesel production byproduct, and tartaric acid, a common byproduct of wine production. "When put together, those ingredients can make a hard, bubbly polymer," said Heather Paris, one of the students. They blended sawdust and woodchips into the mixture to produce a more flexible, moldable material after their first attempts yielded a very hard, sticky substance. ...
Outsourcing Global Warming
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.14.07
A day rarely goes by without some mention of outsourcing and the U.S. trade deficit that has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. In addition to eliciting worries among economists and policymakers because of the related wage reductions and job losses, the yawning trade deficit has also alarmed many scientists concerned about the surge in greenhouse gas emissions in countries like China. A new study published in Environmental Science & Technology has now shown that the rapid growth of imports in the U.S. over the few years has contributed significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions of its trading partners, particularly those like China with lax environmental regulations....
Drink your Veggies: Pepsi Introduces Cucumber Soda
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.14.07
In case you are not getting enough vegetables, you may be pleased to learn that Pepsi in Japan has introduced cucumber flavoured soda pop. Google translates the press release as "the cola beverage of the refreshing tasting of the balance whose “cucumber” flavor and stimulus of the carbonic acid only of the cola are exquisite. Liquid color of the emerald green which has impact, produces the refreshing impression." We look forward to it with sandwiches at tea time. And please, no comments saying "why is this green?"- just look at it. ::Japan Probe via ::Neatorama...
LiveGreen: San Diego's Going All Sorts Of Green
by Tim McGee, Helena, MT, USA on 06.14.07
TreeHugger's guides for How to Go Green are one of the best ways to get started in making your own life green. But what if you want more help? What about all those local issues? Who is figuring out the heavy lifting in your neck of the woods? Wayne and Amanda Green (no known relation to our very own Hank Green) decided they would bear the brunt of this effort for the good people in San Diego - the Greens decided to 'go Green'. Aptly named LiveGreen is the company they created to do just that, and help others find the 'green way'. I had the pleasure of meeting with Wayne and discussing his little (not so little anymore) company a few months back. Since I met with Wayne he has moved into a new (old) house, and started some amazing projects. Including completing a solar system to generate 100% of their power, a vermi-composting system for all organic waste, and an organic garden to supply the Greens with 80% of their food. They hope to begin replacing their appliances over the next year with energy efficient options, and plan on replacing their car as well. We need more local hero's like Wayne and Amanda. To get an idea of how it all happened I asked Wayne a few questions about his company, motivation, and vision for the future....
A Resort Cottage to Go
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.14.07
Luanne DeMatto, above, at her park model home in Rhode Island; it offers “country club living,” she said, without the cost. Jodi Hilton for The New York Times
The New York Times discovers "Park Model" homes, a less expensive way to get a second (or first) home. These are prefabs made by mobile home or RV manufacturers, but are limited in size to 400 square feet and are not considered permanent dwellings. They are not, as the Times says, "Called park models because they can be parked anywhere" but because they are designed to be placed in organized parks.
“It’s like having a million-dollar home but at a fraction of the price,”
TreeHugger has discussed before the benefits of this type of land use; the cost of entry is far lower as the land is rented rather than purchased; there are shared resources; the density is higher. Unfortunately most park models are vinyl inside and out and built as mold bait. ::New York Times
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DIY: Tensegrity Tables
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.14.07
Buckminster Fuller is one of TreeHugger's heroes. Aside from his awesomely radical, ultra-efficient designs, of which the geodesic dome is probably most well-known, anyone who wrote a book called “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” gets 'hugged for sure. One of his other concepts, coined for artist Kenneth Snelson, is "tensegrity" -- the combinatio