Weekly Archive for July 1, 2007 : TreeHugger

Brammo Motorsports, a company based in Oregon, will be releasing an electric motorcycle called the Enertia Bike for sale in the United States in early 2008. We've featured electric motorcycle retrofits before, but the Enertia Bike was designed from the ground up to be a fully electric bike. It has a top speed of 50 mph, range of 45 miles, and can fully recharge via a standard plug in 3 hours. It weighs just 275 pounds, and uses a direct-chain drive for power. You can see a video of the bike in action at the Enertia site....

Don Fitz is not a fan of green building. At least not the type he perceives the current green building vogue to represent: a movement by green architects, activists and politicians to promote building practices and "eco-techniques" with a narrow focus that do little to address the underlying environmental problems. He laments the fact that politicians in particular rarely demonstrate any real concern towards global warming, often choosing just to hitch their rides to the green bandwagon in order to bask in the positive glow it brings. In fact, he argues, current U.S. building practices are more likely to increase carbon dioxide emissions than they are to reduce them. He cites a few worrying statistics, most notable of which is the fact that over 90% of energy in homes is produced in "nasty" ways (i.e. by coal, oil, gas and "nukes"). ...

The Source toothbrush helps to cut waste by using a reusable handle made of wood fiber, blended with a plastic derived from Nebraska maize. Into this you can put disposable heads, which cuts down on 4/5ths of waste when you replace it, compared to throwing away a traditional toothbrush. You can buy them on Radius' website for $7.95, and replacable heads are $6.95. However, there are other green toothbrushes that are cheaper, such as the Preserve which costs $13 for 4. The other benefit of the Preserve is that you can send it back to the makers and they will recycle it for you. ::Radius...

US Congressional Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, a powerful Democrat, has announced that "he planned to propose a steep new “carbon tax” that would raise the cost of burning oil, gas and coal, in a move that could shake up the political debate on global warming...The proposal came from , chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and it runs directly counter to the view of most Democrats that any tax on energy would be a politically disastrous approach to slowing global warming." Good strategy to bring this up now, as it takes the CAFE upgrade pressure off. 'Not much here to see, move along now to carbon taxes.' The Times suggests he's just out to make a political point, in that the majority of Americans would not support real personal sacrifice in the way of a "cap and trade" or carbon tax measure. Sort of reminds us of another Michigan official who proposed bringing back the Selective Service System (the Draft) to make a point about popular support for the Iraq war....

What's a group like the G8 to do when it is forced to weigh competing funding requests for two critical, equally weighty issues such as AIDS prevention and global warming? That is the question it must now face as it mulls redirecting billions of dollars of funding currently targeted towards fighting AIDS to tackle climate change within the next few years. Members of the G8 have been "under pressure" in recent weeks to clarify their pledge of $60 billion for combating AIDS at last month's Heiligendamm summit, according to Jon Liden, a spokesman for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Ban Ki Moon, the U.N. secretary-general, criticized rich nations for the "lack of significant increases in official development assistance since 2004" and urged them to spend more on assistance to developing countries....

Size matters; bigger houses consume more resources to build and to operate. Thats why we love showing designs of small spaces and reviewing books like Small Living. It is another anonymous European production (you have to dig to find that the "idea and concept" came from a Paco Asensio and "editor and original texts" are by Sandra Moya in Barcelona; it is then translated into english and printed and bound in China.) This is more like industrial production than publishing as we know it, but they have produced an attractive volume with excellent choices, although the text is often meaningless and less than useful. But hey, we buy these things for the pictures. Included are Treehugger faves like the Wee House, Optibo, Layer House and many more. Two that we had not seen but liked a lot were the first, Markku Hedman's summer container from Finland, and the last, Drew Heath's Zig Zag cabin in Australia.(269 SF) Tasty eye candy in ::Small Living found at ::Ballenford Books...

Nanotechnology is all the rage these days: we've already told you of several projects underwaythat are employing this budding technology to curb greenhouse gas emissions by improving fuel efficiency and energy technologies such as photovoltaics and electricity storage (amongst others). Victor Lin, a professor of chemistry at Iowa State University and a program director for the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, has just invented a nanosphere-based catalyst that may help revolutionize the production of biodiesel. The nanospheres, loaded up with acidic and basic catalysts, convert vegetable oils or animal fats into fuel by reacting with the free fatty acids and oils. Lin's technology replaces methoxide, a toxic and corrosive catalyst that is traditionally used in biodiesel production, and eliminates several steps from the original reaction. As a result, the nanospheres, which can be incorporated into existing biodiesel plants and recycled, will help make production far cheaper, faster and less toxic. ...

On a day when the world watches and listens to a concert designed to both entertain and educate, its only fitting that we post some furniture that does similar double duty. The Alto Table, part of the Domus Design Collection functions equally well as both as a coffee table and end table/occasional table. The top is hinged, allowing for an easy change between low coffee table and C-shaped end table with a quick 'n easy turn of the base. Though exposed, the hinge is simple & clean, offering a clever hint at the table's other half. After the jump: a dining table that does double duty as a long coffee table with transforming legs...pretty slick. Now go watch Live Earth. ::ddc via ::Apartment Therapy...

Dwell magazine has disappointed of late; I thought it had lost its focus and was drifting toward being a sort of more modern Architectural Digest. Not so the July/August issue, titled "Always Modern- At Home with Timeless Design". In an era when so many great modernist houses are being demolished, Dwell devotes almost the entire issue celebrating some of the best of them, showing how people live and thrive in these houses today. Perhaps those Paul Rudolph houses we mourned would still be with us if there were more articles like this, if people realized that one can adapt to a work of genius instead of blowing it away because each room didn't have an ensuite. There is also coverage of Lynn Gaffney's house (treehugger here), a Kitchens 101 essay , and they even make Phoenix look interesting, which is a challenge indeed. "Neutra Territory" written by his son, Raymond Richard Neutra, is worth the price of the issue on its own. Dwell has a new editor: Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG, a site I have watched and admired; We wish him well and look forward to a renewed focus on modern green living. ::Dwell...

We’ve heard about the problems with biodiesel many times before, most notably in Lloyd’s post about Malaysian palm oil production endangering Orang Utans. We are relieved to hear then, via a post on Lyle Estill’s blog over at Piedmont Biofuels (remember our 3 part interview with Lyle here, here and here?), that the grassroots end of the biofuels industry is reacting, and reacting strongly, to differentiate sustainable fuels from their unsustainable counterparts. As part of this process, the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance has been born (website in progress), and Lyle is certainly impressed:

“Wow. They have a working feedstock group, a production practices group, and an eye on marketing—the works. This is a group that is doing some work, even before it has a website in the world. Normally it’s the other way around: nice website, no action in the world. And they are planning a Hard Rock Café kickoff fundraiser in New York City in the fall. Remarkable.”

Lyle’s post goes on to describe, and comment on, an initial proposal from Bob King of Pacific Biodiesel, on what sustainable biodiesel may look like. Read on after the jump for the suggested points that would need to be focused on: ...

Save us from our own best intentions! Jacobs, one of the UK's leading consultants in sustainable transport, is banning biking for its own employees. The Times Online reports the text of the memo to all employees in which the company's health and safety manager says:

It’s patently obvious that if you are struck by a wayward vehicle when you are on a bicycle or motorbike you are going to be more severely affected than if you were in a car. The reason for this policy is to protect our employees from other vehicles on the road.

There will be a few limited exceptions when employees will be permitted to travel by bicycle, but that would be when that mode of transport is required to undertake the job, for example, carrying out surveys along river banks and tow paths.

What could be behind such a dramatic measure? And is it the right attitude for a company which is a key advisor to Transport for London (TfL), which targets to get five times more people onto bikes by 2025?...

Steven Holl's fabulous Nelson Atkins Museum of Art graces the cover (and will grace TreeHugger in an upcoming post); we liked the new Music Building in Montreal by Saucier and Perrotte. However smaller projects really shine in this issue; Lee and Mundwilers's Coconut house "tweaks iconic forms to deliver views without losing privacy." Peter Gluck demonstrates how unTreeHugger a building can be with a guest house for cars, but Pierre Thibaults Les Abouts house makes up for it. Topping it off are three very small projects: a barn in Sonoma, a chapel in Osaka and Elizabeth Alford's studio. These small and exquisite gems carry the day. Not much online at ::Architectural Record...

Contaminated Chinese catfish are being fed to sons and daughters of the US South. This is sure to start the global trade fat burning in the run up to the coming US elections. Chinese seafood exporters are reported to have captured the market for 22 percent of all [US] imports, "because their fish are cheaper to raise...The fish are being raised, however, in a country whose waterways are an ongoing environmental problem, tainted by sewage, pesticides, heavy metals and other pollutants." Those special traditional Chinese herbs and heavy metal spices give it a "kick." The malachite green biocide...molecular structure is pictured above, and explained below...makes for an appealing green fillet tint that works well on food TeeVee. Perfect for the corporate picnic on the lawn of an Antebellum period mansion as well as for a modestly priced wedding banquet. "... Illegal substances like malachite green [4-[(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-phenyl-methyl]-N,N-dimethyl-aniline] keep showing up in Chinese seafood shipped to the United States, provoking a partial U.S. ban on such shipments last week...The Chinese government's own reports express alarm that many rivers in this region are so contaminated with heavy metals from industrial byproducts and pesticides, including DDT, that they are too dangerous to touch, much less raise fish in." ...

The fifth Taipei Biennial (4 Nov 2006 - 25 Feb 2007) with a theme of "dirty yoga' attempts to explore the conflicts that exist among different extreme values, and was translated by participating artists into works about consumerism, youth culture, identity and other 'hip' subjects within contemporary art. E Chen is one artist whose work invites viewers to see mass-produced objects in a new way. His installation "One thousand year bloom", described as a "poignant meditation on consumption", reflects on Taiwan's position within the phenomenon of globalization. It consisted of a roomful of knitted random objects, such as flower pots, fire hydrants and cacti, which were slowly mechanically unraveled over the course of the exhibition, leaving piles of discarded yarn in their wake. For another yarn art project which discusses environmental issues see this previous TreeHugger story about a crochet coral reef....

The concert has kicked off, but some out there are still bemoaning Live Earth as insignificant in terms of meeting the challenges of the climate crisis. A shallow spectacle. If aspects of our civilization weren't shallow, would we be in this climate mess in the first place? Let's not fight it, let's adapt it and integrate it. We would even argue that no publicity is bad publicity. Uh, wait, no raising of awareness is bad raising of awareness. How about no consciousness-raising is bad-consciousness-raising? That's "CR" to you dyed-in-the-wool crunchy politicos. Ok, the hairdos, affected accents, and self-effacing self-importance of le music pop of Live Earth may get a bit trying along the way (yes Eskimo Joe, climate change does have something to do with the new iPhone coming out), but there exists a sweet spot between well-intentioned narcism and dropping out. In this NRDC video, TreeHugger's Founder Graham Hill and Media Architect Nick Aster remind us why getting into the green zone of the new aesthetic helps to make a lasting difference.

For 40 years...the green movement and the green aesthetic have been associated with hippies and that market is very served, and it's a very small one. And so to get it to cross over into the mass market, you need to make it compelling and sexy.

...

I happened to be visiting Los Angeles a week ago when I got the last rental Prius on the Hertz lot (Hertz is a sometime sponsor of ours). If you were to have overheard me tell this to fellow TreeHugger Summer Bowen with whom I was meeting for a quick coffee at LPQ, you might have thought me hysterical with joy for having purchased one of the first iPhones which had gone on sale that same day. Look, we New Yorkers don't drive often so this was a first for me and it was eco-geekily thrilling. Frankly, I can see one getting carried away. I must say, however, that I was as concerned as the next greenie when a few days later Al Gore III got pulled over by police for driving over 100 miles per hour just south of LA. They found drugs in the car. In his Prius. How would this poor PR reflect on our collective efforts to speedily put the world environment back on track? Was this a career-ender for the glamorous Prius? Wait, Gore's Prius was going over 100 mph? Our old friend Rush Limbaugh soon weighed in wondering "How in the world do you get a Toyota Prius to go 100 mph without a cliff to go over?" The LA Times explains the technical deets and reports that the folks at Priuschat.com actually found it to be a PR coup for the little Hybrid that could. It seems that sometimes you can get arrested in this town....

India is hard at work building a series of solar power generation stations that it plans on sending into space to quench the country's ever increasing thirst for energy. “India’s hypersonic air and space transport activity are now sharp focussed on energy production through space solar power by having solar power stations in orbit. The era of expendable launch vehicles should end and reusable launch vehicles (RLV) are needed,” said V.K. Saraswatch, the Defense Research and Development Organization's chief controller. A two-day conference to discuss the best strategies to meet this ambitious objective was held a few weeks ago in which Saraswatch argued that RLVs should be used in concert with a hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HTDV), a fast transport vehicle, to put the stations in orbit. Dr. Gopalaswamy, the former chairman of Bharat Dynamic Ltd. (part of India's ministry of defense), and Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the country's president, were on hand to lend support to the proposed plans. ...

Zerofootprint is inviting you to participate in something extraordinary. Tomorrow, join a group of world citizens and pledge to reduce your Environmental Footprint by 10%, in 1 year, at Zerofootprint's online event during Live Earth. This party is happening at www.zerofootprint.net on 7/7/07 and is the kick-off to a global campaign, using the power of the Web, to engage citizens of the world around reducing their footprint. Let us show the world that together we can have as much positive impact on the planet as one large country....

Here’s one more reason to question the environmental viability of dams: another study shows that India’s dams are significantly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane, a gas which is not measured in the overall statistics for carbon emissions. Both carbon dioxide and methane are released from the decaying vegetation of spillways, reservoirs and turbines of hydropower dams, but methane is twenty-three times more formidable in trapping heat than carbon dioxide. India has approximately 4,500 dams, the third largest number of dams after the US and China. According to the study done by the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil, these dams emit an amount of methane that is equivalent to 850 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. ...

Escape from Suburbia is a rich interplay on the subtle relationships between the potential solutions each person faces as the demand for fossil fuels outstretches supply. With issues such as the energy crisis, neighborhood gardens and the collapse of the American way-of-life, it would be easy for the independent film to use its 90-minute running time to whirl into a rant that leaves the viewer shocked and the director sounding like an eco-crazy - but the result of Escape from Suburbia is the complete opposite. ...

Yesterday, we heard the announcement that Live Earth Rio de Janeiro was going to be cancelled, due to the Brazilian government being concerned about security reasons and not being able to insure the safety of its attendees. Brazil is the only country to host the event with a free admission and apparently 700,000 Brazilians plan on attending the event. However, in a press release we read today, we learned that Live Earth Rio was back on for Copacabana Beach. "We are thrilled that Brazil will be a part of this monumental global event and that Latin America will help drive Live Earth’s message about working together to combat the climate crisis. Rio is the only concert that is free and open to the public, and one of Live Earth’s enduring images will be of the hundreds of thousands of people on Copacabana Beach being a part of Live Earth’s global movement,” the press release stated. ::Live Earth Rio...

A generator has been developed that harnesses the power of tiny vibrations. Anything that experiences constant vibration, like a bridge, would be a perfect location. However, only very low power devices can be run from the generator, which converts 30% of kinetic power to electricity. Steve Beeby from the University of Southampton worked on the device, and sees applications where batteries are inconvenient or impossible, “Vibration energy harvesting is receiving a considerable amount of interest as a means for powering wireless sensor nodes. By removing wires and batteries, there is the potential for embedding sensors in previously inaccessible locations."...

The good news: the bald eagle is finally making a comeback. The bad news: it's only one of several hundred endangered species doing so. Due in large part to legal and political meddling, the Bush administration has earned the dubious merit of adding the fewest number of species to the endangered list in the past six years than any other administration since 1973. As a result, there is now a waiting list of 279 species on the edge of extinction and, out of the 1,326 already officially listed species, approximately 200 are close to total extinction. Furthermore, the Bush administration has removed 15 species from the list to date, a higher number than any previous administration. "It's wonderful the bald eagle is recovering — one of the most charismatic and best funded species ever," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who now works for Defenders of Wildlife. "But what's happening with the other species? This administration has starved the endangered species' budget. It has dismantled and demoralized its staff." ...

Designs for perpetual motion machines have cropped up pretty regularly for hundreds of years. The thing is, it's impossible to get more energy out then you put in. In fact, it's almost impossible to get out the same as you put in. It's a shame, because powering the entire world without generating a single atom of pollution would be, well, quite handy. An Irish company called Steorn has been claiming for a while that they have cracked it with their Orbo device. This quote from their website makes some bold claims, "Orbo produces free, clean and constant energy - that is our claim. By free we mean that the energy produced is done so without recourse to external source. By clean we mean that during operation the technology produces no emissions. By constant we mean that with the exception of mechanical failure the technology will continue to operate indefinitely."...

Canada's biggest grocery chain, Loblaws, has been struggling for a few years in anticipation of the Wal-Mart grocery invasion; it built new warehouses that didn't work, neglected its own fabulously successful President's Choice franchise and filled the aisles with cheap Chinese knockoffs of everything from barbecues to furniture instead of food. Now heir Galen Weston Jr has taken over and promises change, doing his own commercials and touting the new green line, including local food. Back in May he told CBC: "As long as it makes sense for everybody, we are always happy to work with local vendors, local suppliers, local manufacturers across the board." So here it is, July. We just returned from the store and the only local fruit or vegetables in the entire store: Cherries. Period. It's a big ship and it takes some time to turn around, but if there was one obvious step that you could have taken to visibly show your commitment, this was it. Selling a bag for 99 cents doesn't make you green; selling decent food at the peak of our short season to fill it does. ...

Fancy yourself an electronics-minded inventor? Well, here's your chance: John Young, the Pentagon's Director of Defense Research and Engineering, just announced a public prize competition to develop a wearable "electric power system" for soldiers. The grand prize: $1 million (with $500,000 for second place and $250,000 for third place). Here are the guidelines: "The essential electronic equipment that dismounted warfighters carries today - radios, night vision devices, global positioning system - runs on batteries. This competition will gather and test the good ideas for reducing the weight of the batteries that service members carry. The prize objective is a wearable, prototype system that can power a standard warfighter’s equipment for 96 hours but weighs less than half that of the current batteries carried. All components, including the power generator, electrical storage, control electronics, connectors and fuel must weigh four kilograms or less, including any attachments....

Rockwool Ltd. is a Copenhagen-based insulation company that has been involved in life cycle assessment since 1990. They also make horticultural substrates for germinating plants and hydroponics. This company is doing what we Treehuggers wish all companies would do: they provide LCA data for their plethora of products on both their website and at purchase points. They have 35 operating companies throughout Europe and North America with social responsibility, sustainability, ethical and environmental policies. Their insulation products rely on “trapped air to provide thermal properties, which has neither ozone depleting nor global warming potential.” On the Danish lca-center website the Rockwell LCA-expert, Anders Ulf Clausen says,

[LCA] is considered as a product declaration just like when you buy a litre of milk and can see how much fat, how much water and how much calcium the product contains. We have a similar declaration of the building material. We would like to show the costs for energy, impact on the greenhouse effect, acidification, overmanuring and other effects on the environment so the customer himself has the possibility to assess it.

Now if only we could get all companies to follow suit. Check out their website for more information and LCA data. Image credit: Baulinks...

The alé is a three wheeled car that according to the designers site uses a new engine system where vapor is burned, rather than liquid fuel. I'm not sure entirely how this differs from a normal combustion engine, but if the results they have been getting are correct then they are certainly doing something right. The stable design can pull 1.7 g when cornering, even using road tyres, and can pull from 0-60mph in five seconds. This is pretty impressive performance for a drive-train that is also so frugal with fuel. ...

We have mixed feelings about the Live Earth concert celebrated by Israeli artists tomorrow. On one hand we are really excited about the event leading up to it - today there was a green expo and market at Rabin Square promoting organic food and clothing; ecological movies, shows for kids and a yoga workshop in Tel Aviv. And tomorrow from 6 to 11 pm will be a large screen set up at Rabin Square to broadcast the event live from Channel 10. Some local Israeli artists are expected to perform and will include Din Din Aviv, Mosh Ben Ari, Shotei Hanevua and the Jerusalem band Hadag Nachash....

Bonnie previously asked How green will Live Earth Be? Heidi Sopinka of the Globe and Mail questioned it as well. "When it comes to rock shows for environmentalism, should we be championing public awareness over carbon burden?" Bob Geldof takes a European view: "I hope they're a success. But why is Gore actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years." but that certainly isn't the North American position. A couple of people were quoted in the Globe and Mail article.

View MicroPollWeb SurveyFree Web Polls

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PICNIC is "a seductive, exciting, intangible, unpredictable, cosmopolitan and cheerful annual event for and by the creative industry" held every year in September. They have now issued the Picnic Green Challenge:

We call on creative entrepreneurs to dream up cool green products and services. By ‘cool’ we mean consumer-friendly. By ‘green’ we mean greenhouse-gas-reducing. Ideally, entries should have something to do with IT or new media. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit, as long as your idea’s executable.

That is interesting enough, but what is really remarkable is the whopping prize put up by the Dutch Postcode Lottery: US$ 680,000 or €500,000. ...

MocoLoco interviews Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino and Karola Torkos about their Topoware, which "is a tableware collection that questions the landscape of dining. Taking inspiration from the recent popularity of geography as a media [sic] of communication (with Google maps) and more specifically with topographic maps, which define heights of a landscape two dimensionally, Topoware in turn, "outlines" the dining experience." Made up of cups, plates, bowls, placemats and a tablecloth, the collection explores the visual and social landscape of dining by using outlines and descriptions to describe, question and push our eating experience, making it really feel like a journey."...

'Save the birds and bats' has been a common PR cry of wind farm opponents, a tactic that works because of a commonly held eco-myth. Where transmission lines have to be expanded to feed wind power to customers -- this is going to be happening all over the country with increasing frequency -- a new wind power opposition tactic will become available: protest the transmission line expansions. Here's a big new expansion project proposal of the sort we're talking about. "Southern California Edison (SCE) has applied to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the U.S. Forest Service for authorization to construct Segments 4 through 11 of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, a series of new and upgraded high-voltage electric transmission lines to deliver electricity from proposed new wind farms in the Tehachapi Wind Resource Area to SCE customers and the California transmission grid...The project would cost approximately $1.8 billion and if completed in 2013 as proposed, would be capable of carrying 4500 MW of electricity, enough energy to supply nearly 3 million homes at peak output." While most of the construction typically takes place in existing utility corridors, there will no doubt be places where trees will have to be cut, and soil disturbed. A perfect tactical opportunity for opponents. Imagine what happens if an endangered species habitat listing would be transected by the proposed route. Might be enough to get ESA opponents to reconsider their strategy. Via:: Transmission and Distribution World Image credit:: Tehachapi Master Fact Sheet, Southern California Edison...

I've been thinking about the amount of time I spend in the kitchen. During the winter I'm there all the time making soups and stews and things that fill the house with the wonderful aromas of cooking. This time of the year I'd rather be outside so I make things with the least amount of preparation and cooking time that I can manage. To that end I'm going to give you two Thai inspired recipes that take about five to ten minutes each to make. Make them in the morning and let them cool in the refrigerator if you like. As a tip of the hat to Houston who commented on last week's recipe I have included a cucumber salad and the second is for mango. You can serve these as part of a summer buffet or try adding the Thai Lemongrass Rice Salad from the TreeHugger archives and you've got an easy, satisfying meal. I have made both of these salads many times and they are always a hit....

The Mongol Rally is a crazy event - 10,000 miles in a car with an engine size less than 1000cc. It's not a high-profile, high-budget event either - this is groups of people in second hand cars, crossing their fingers and hoping for the best. This quote from the official site should give you an idea of what it's all about, "Imagine yourself in the middle of the gargantuan Kazakh desert, your car slowly being shredded by the dirt track your map says is a motorway, completely lost hundreds of miles from civilisation with no back up crew to rescue you. Just you, your wits, your increasingly brown pants, a car that the laws of physics say shouldn't have got you past Peckham Rye and a slightly angry looking man with a gun." ...

One day a year Australians turn out in droves to pick up rubbish in waterways, tracks, parks and gardens, beaches and so forth. It’s an event known simply as Clean Up Australia. Years ago it spawned an international version, Clean Up The World, which we noted here. The other day Samuel Huber of Milwaukee appraised us of his own personal campaign along similar lines. Except with a twist. Labelling it Eco-Running, Samuel is hoping to encourage joggers and runners to ‘combine their passion with a purpose.’ Put simply while out running collect the rubbish, the garbage, the trash that you find along the pathways, roads and trails you run. On the surface it seems both a noble and a silly idea. It is a worthy thing to be removing pollutants from the wider environment sure, but why pick up other peoples trash, they’re just gonna thrown more, aren’t they? Well, oddly studies have shown that by cleaning up an area you remove the incentive to contribute to its mess. A council in Sydney works on this premise by not providing rubbish bins in public parks. If you generate the rubbish you should take some responsibility for it. And for the most part it works - the parks seem pretty clean. We trust Samuel has similar luck, with his campaign. PIck up his enthusiasm on his blog at ::Eco-Runner....

With all of the posts we have done about CFL's and the debate about the dangers of mercury in them, the fact is that everyone knows what to do about it: Collect and recycle them. IKEA does it; there is a bin in every store where you can take back your bulbs when you need a new one. The standard four foot fluorescent that is omnipresent in office buildings has five times as much mercury in each bulb as a CFL; responsible businesses have been keeping these out of the garbage for years. One innovative system is LampTracker, which provides "collection and safe recycling of fluorescent bulbs using integrated on-line tracking capability and a unique shipping container design....It is a total-care approach to storage, handling, transport and recycling of fluorescent lamps. WM LampTracker offers the exclusive Vapor lock foil bag that has been specially engineered and custom-manufactured to safely contain residual mercury vapors during the storage and transportation of fluorescent bulbs. " It is not an exciting business and it is hard to write an exciting post about it. But it exists and demonstrates that huge amounts of mercury are being kept out of the environment in the commercial sector, and the same techniques can be applied to the residential sector. ::Lamptracker ...

White Sierra, an outdoor apparel brand, released a men’s shirt last season that they called the Tecta. Shown here, it’s made of a blended fabric tagged Bam Bam Weave, seeing as it has a 55% bamboo content. The other 45% being polyester. They claim the bamboo is grown free of pesticides and provides antimicrobial and natural sun protection attributes. Anyhow, it must’ve been a bit of a hit because for the Spring of 2008 it will have have spread across another 3 styles including two for women. Plus they’re running with a recycled polyester blend (5 soda bottles per shirt), and some styles in linen (flax), a fabric which they suggest uses half the water required for the equivalent cotton. We take this increase in eco-fabric styles to indicate business confidence that customers will continue to embrace greener product alternatives. And why not, now that quality and performance have come a long way? ::White Sierra, via Outdoor Industry Assoc....

Marketing guru Seth Godin looks at how much gas would be saved if everyone drove a car as efficient as his Prius it would save sixty billion gallons of gasoline each year, solving greenhouse gases and energy independence in one shot. Yet if you look at a single driver, they might save only three hundred bucks and it is not worth it to them. Global warming is not in their headspace: "The closer an issue is to the purchaser, the easier it is to use it with impact. People care about a fire in their movie theatre, a lot less about one across the country. " And, of more interest to those of us saying that little steps are important: "the consumer will be more motivated by something that she can have a direct influence on. Sure, every little bit helps, but every little bit is really difficult to market." Its the "million times" problem- people don't think their little step will make a difference. And the way we try to convey the message doesn't work. ...

That orange beast above is the hugely desirable, but not very green, Mclaren F1, created by Gordon Murray. Interestingly, Murray is now turning his attention to green transportation and designing a green car. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when the guy who designed the world's fastest production car tries to make a little, cheap, green car. His company, Gordon Murray Design, has described it as, "a new class of vehicle. You won’t get in it, sit in it or put luggage in it like a normal car. This will not be just another small big car; it’s just different." They aim to get the first prototypes working within two years, and then license it to big manufacturers. Part of getting the cost down will be economies of scale which a small company just couldn't achieve. They believe that they can get running costs down to a quarter of that for the VW Golf, and that these savings will pay for the car within four years. Murray said, "this car will come with a bunch of incentives on things like tax and parking that mean that within four years you’ll pay off the purchase cost with the savings; it’s not just fuel. Basically, the car is free after four years, and if that’s not an incentive I don’t know what else to do. I’ll go back to racing!" ::Car Magazine...

The good folks over at SolarCentury have been busy. Only a few months ago they launched Solar4Schools, a program to provide part-funded solar energy systems to UK schools. Now we hear that, for some lucky schools at least, the installation will be completely free. This latest announcement is thanks to a generous donation from Barclaycard Breathe, a new credit card that will donate 50% of its profits to carbon reduction projects around the world as part of the Climate Group initiative. Jeremy Leggett, CEO of SolarCentury, and who we previously interviewed here, welcomed this additional support:

“We are delighted with this new impetus for the Solar4Schools programme. We have already had hundreds of enquiries for the funding available, however, the new support from Barclaycard Breathe will ensure that more schools are able to meet the fund requirements more quickly. Access to this silent, clean, sustainable energy is easy, meanwhile it is a crucial vehicle for educating young people on the benefits of solar PV-generated electricity.”

Barclaycard Breathe’s commitment to climate protection doesn’t end with solar powered schools. Read below the jump for more details of their carbon busting work. ...

Yotel is a hotel built with rooms described as a cross between Japanese capsule hotels and first-class airline cabins, but I think they are more boat-like. The first, at London's Gatwick Airport, is developed by UK sushi king Simon Woodroffe and designed by industrial designers Priestman Goode. Trend-watching Springwise calls it "no frills chic." According to the press release, "YO! Founder Simon Woodroffe conceived the innovative YOTEL cabins to provide a flexible and convenient ‘first class’ hotel experience at affordable prices. The next generation cabins come fully equipped with en-suite bathrooms, free Wifi and wired internet access and ‘techno wall’ entertainment systems." We think it shows that with good design one can squeeze a lot of living into a very small space. ...

Joining the ranks of the Leaf LED light and Mix LED light is another monosyllabic stunner: the Bend LED table lamp, by the Italian design firm MrSmith Studio. Employing 30 LEDs (at 0.5 Watts apiece), the bendy beauty features a slick dimmable switch (perfect for mood lighting...) and a second configuration, standing on its end (picture after the jump). If you can forgive the terrible joke in the title, take it as further proof that LEDs are getting really interesting in their march toward retail shelves for the home market (and perhaps world domination). Check out the tear sheet (PDF, in Italian) for more info, and hit the jump for a few more pics. ::MrSmith Studio via ::MoCo Loco ...

We mentioned recently that with the launch of the Climatecars the competition for green cab services in London was heating up nicely. Well it turns out to be hotter than we thought! The people over at the eco-executive car company Ecoigo were rather surprised not to be included in our list, with Green Tomato Cars and Radio Taxis, as being in the business of ferrying people around the UK capital in a rather more environmentally conscious way than your average mini cab firm. As well they might be since the Ecoigo fleet of hybrid cabs have been in service since last November. They too offer competitive prices, Belu water and a range of magazines, including the Ecologist and New Consumer with each journey, they even have Seventh Generation tissues! In a business where the cars are more or less the same, the competitive edge can be found in the number of eco-products on offer in the car. ...

Why is this Japanese boy making a face? Well, that may be simply because he’s realized how dependent Japan has become since the 1990s on non-traditional food supplies, particularly those out of season that take a tremendous amount of energy to reach that country and work their way into his diet. As you might expect, traditions have gone by the wayside in favor of a more Westernized diet, and that has lead to a decrease in traditions like regular meal times, nutritionally well-balanced diets, cooking methods that minimize leftovers and food waste, and happy family meals around the table. ...

There is the internet, the slower sneakernet, and now we have the turtlenet. Scientists from the University of Massachusetts were trying to figure out how to track snapping turtles and figure out how they are coping with loss of habitat and other factors. They developed the TurtleNet: Solar powered GPS and WiFi units that are glued to the backs of snapping turtles. According to Yahoo News: The idea behind the technology is to create a network of constantly moving devices that record and store information, transmit data from one device to another, then relay all the saved information to a central location while running on self-charging batteries. "A lot of the existing technology works great as long as you're not moving around and you have stable networks and people who could recharge batteries," said Jacob Sorber, a doctoral candidate in computer science who designed the network he calls TurtleNet, a project funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. ...

The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is being held in the rain this year and visitors are being warned to wear their wellies because the mud is muddy. The green, as in environmental, theme is prevalent in a surprising number of the display gardens with the emphasis on drought tolerant plantings. The big show stopper is the 1966 Bentley, standing on end and filled with plants. Created by the surprise winner at the Chelsea Flower Show in May, a 77 year old eccentric who had never been to a flower show, let alone make one, it is a statement about the environment: an honourable retirement for “a petrol-guzzling, fume-emitting dinosaur”. In a hopeful note for the future, children took the big awards this year. In the Learning Outside the Classroom garden (winner of the Tudor Rose Award), children from more than 30 schools grew plants and made scarecrows for the fruit and veg areas, mobiles stuffed with nesting materials and a giant spider sculpture. In the much smaller but equally inventive Learning to Look After Our World garden, (Best Small Garden) the children of Alton Infant School made mosaic stepping stones, used left over building materials for the path and filled wellington boots with flowers. It even includes live chickens, because they have them at the school. ...

Leaders do things that are new - they explore the unknown, turn the world on its head, break up old patterns and ways of doing things. For these reasons, leaders are going to catch shrapnel from all angles. In fact, if you want to locate the leader, it's pretty simple; just find the guy taking the most abuse. Like Apple and their poor iPhone. Oh the abuse! For starters, they are gouging the customer, selling a $220 item for hundreds more. It's been hacked to run on non-ATT networks, and the eWaste reports are already pouring out of the news-o-sphere. And the tiltable screen, where the picture automatically rotates when you turn it sideways, may already be copyrighted by Sony. We can assume they didn't use a mercury switch to implement that little feature, can't we? Boo hoo, poor little pome. But let's get down to the the green tacks - fact is, the iPhone will be the last phone you will ever buy. You will not trade it in 18 months. It is unlikely you will drop a $600 phone in the toilet. The iPhone and its kind are going to end the planned obsolescence cell phone cycle. That's why Apple is the leader, and that's why the iPhone is great. :: Gizmodo ...

Photo credit: Gary Forsdick Forcing your PC to pull another pointless all-nighter isn't just polluting, it's also a waste of money. Make that a lot of money. Nearly half of all corporate computers in the United States don't get turned off at night, costing U.S. businesses $1.72 billion in annual energy costs and spewing 14.4 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year, according to a new report. Let's give those numbers some context: A midsize company with around 10,000 PCs wastes more than $165,000 per year in electricity costs for computers left on overnight, while contributing 1,381 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Giving those same computers a breather every night would have roughly the same effect as taking 2.58 million cars off the road, which is more than the number of autos zipping around the entire state of Maryland....

Instead of solar and wind power to supply to your own house - which are both weather dependent - has anyone thought about systems that might require some actual work, but provide a usable amount of power? I was thinking, what if each member of my family carried a 40lb bag up 3 floors an hung it on a hook that was connected to a generator; would an effort like that actually provide a significant amount of energy? Just a thought. Regards, Jens, London Oh Jens...you don't even know what you've done! Your question is totally a word problem from a physics exam. And as much as this will likely frighten most people reading this, I'm going to treat it as such....

TreeHugger knows that changing the way we think about stuff, and working to change the way that our stuff gets made can make a big difference in the world. By updating the philosophies, materials and manufacturing practices, we can spend less time worrying about the impact we make on day-to-day basis, and more on something like getting some Live Earth bands to play TreeHugger's next party. This philosophy has been immortalized on a t-shirt by Artefacture; unfortunately, they stop short of actually doing anything about saving the world with the shirt itself -- it's made from 100% cotton, with "organic" conspicuously missing (and remember, the cotton used to make this shirt used 1/3 of a pound of pesticides -- more fun facts in TreeHugger's How to Green Your Wardrobe Guide). So, to recap: idea, good; implementation, not so good. Hit the jump to see a new, neat graphical representation of the iconic recycling symbol, but we don't recommend shelling out $28 for the real deal. ::Artefacture via ::Design Milk...

Environmental Graffiti reports that in the UK, more than half of people count terrorism, crime, dog poo and (yes) graffiti more worrisome than climate change… LighterFootstep has tips on cooler summer cooking techniques for the kitchen… British climate scientists predicted 2007 to be the hottest year on record, but projections are now being tweaked… Market Watch drills adventure ecologist David de Rothschild on what’s wrong with the environmental discussion today… Green Options takes up the contentious argument over Mars’ warming and retreating glaciers… 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? ...

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If you thought the Bush administration was just going to let California move ahead with its pioneering greenhouse gas emissions capping legislation without a word or sign of obstruction, you had another thing coming. Newly released documents have revealed that the U.S. Department of Transportation was actively trying to squash the state's proposed cap by lobbying key congressmen to vote against it. The documents, consisting of over 70 pages of e-mails and memos, showed agency officials working in concert with the Auto Alliance - a trade group representing the interests of several big auto firms - to aggressively target legislators Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Missouri, Delaware and Tennessee most likely to oppose the cap. "Just hit the members/senators with the really big facilities. No need to call those with small distribution centers or anything," Simon Gros, deputy chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, told his staff in a June 7 e-mail....

A new, 130-megawatt wind power project is to be built in southeastern Turkey. It will more than double the country’s installed wind capacity. The wind park will feature 52 wind turbines built by GE, each rated at 2.5 megawatts. This will be the largest wind power project to date in Turkey. The project’s estimated annual electricity production of 500 million kilowatt-hours will be purchased by independent power consumers. Interest in wind-generated electricity has been increasing in Turkey. ...

We could just sit and stare at this Cube Cabinet, by designer Pieter Maes, all day long. The cubes give it such dynamic dimension, and there's a really nice balance to it. Unfortunately, we have to give it some tough love for its un-TreeHugger materials. Make this baby with some FSC-certified plywood or our old favorite bamboo, with VOC-free finishes, and we'd be falling over ourselves to give it the full TreeHugger endorsement; until then, we'll have to admire it from afar and dream of a version that puts the health of the planet and its user higher on the list. After the jump: two more stunning designs that don't quite make the TreeHugger grade. ::Pieter Maes via ::Design Milk...

This power adapter automatically shuts down gadgets left on standy. It lets you plug all your gadgets in to one outlet, but monitors power usage and displays it using a pattern of LEDs. When something is on standby, these lights come on to let you know that it's still using power. If you don't press that button within three minutes, then that device is turned off. This should stop people from leaving power-sucking devices on standby, but also let them turn them back on again when needed, simply by pressing the button again....

TreeHugger encourages car pools; you get social, save fuel and cut back on greenhouse gases all at once. They were part of the war effort in World War II when fuel saving was critical. Now its importance has hit home again; in his Fourth of July speech at Martinsburg, W.Va, President Bush discussed the “many ways” Americans can “say thanks to the men and women who wear the uniform and their families”:

You can send a care package. You can reach out to a military family in your neighborhood with a mom or dad on the front lines; you can ask somebody, “What can I do to help you? What do you need?” You can car pool. You can be on bended knee and pray for a soldier and their families.

::salon...

The demand for high tech gadgets is cancelling out attempts to lower carbon emissions, according to a fantastically named report - The Ampere Strikes Back, by the Energy Saving Trust. The report estimates that our demand for home entertainment goods will increase, and that by 2020 it will cost £4 billion a year to run all those gadgets. This alone would require 14 power stations, and a lot of that would be wasted power; £607 million of that figure is caused by standby wastage....

When John Doerr talks, people listen. As one of Silicon Valley's most prolific venture capitalists, having earned upwards of $1 billion betting on tech heavyweights like Amazon, Compaq and Google, investors and businessmen paid close attention when he recently began evangelizing against the threat of global warming and embraced clean technology, citing it as the "biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century," Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the firm in which he is a partner, has already invested $200 million in a group of startups working on new sources of alternative energy, waste remediation and other technologies to combat rising greenhouse gas emissions. Though we missed covering it the first time around, we wanted to bring to your attention a video of his recent appearance at TED, in which he made a moving, impassioned plea for change. ...

Beijing will ban one million cars—a third of its autos—for a two-week test of its smog-control measures in August, a year before it hosts the summer Olympics. The most polluted June in seven years--due largely, experts have said, to automobile exhaust and farmers burning crops outside the city--underscored the challenge facing the city ahead of the Games. Already Beijing has banned coal-burning furnaces, relocated power plants outside of downtown and spent billions to move a large steel mill to a man-made island off the shore of northern China's Hebei Province. By June, Beijing had registered three million vehicles, up from 2.88 million last year and only 1.34 million five years ago, a rise that has helped make the country the world's second-largest vehicle market by sales after the U.S. The 1,000 new cars that hit the streets every day are a sign not only of rising incomes but of the city’s weak public transportation network. As Shai Oster points out in the Wall Street Journal cars here "are crossing the line from a luxury of the rich to a commuting necessity for the middle class.” This isn't the first time Beijing has done this......

To piggyback off Lloyd's post on travel cutlery, here are some collapsible—and more important, reusable—chopsticks we really dig. And you don't have to restrict yourself to Asian eats with these purse- and pocket-size totables—you can play pickup sticks with just about any food that crosses your lips while you're dining out. From left: Travel Chopsticks ($12, Flight 001); Carry-on Chopsticks ($19.95, BackCountryGear.com); and TripStixx ($14.95, Tripstixx.com) Not pictured: Traveler's Chopsticks ($10, Japanese American Museum Store) See also: :: Bring Your Own Chopsticks Movement Gains Traction in Asia, :: China Imposes Consumption Tax on Chopsticks, and :: Historical Perspective on Deforestation... and Chopsticks...

If, everywhere, people stare, each and every day, and you can see them laugh at you, and you hear them say, "Hey, you've got to hide your bed away" then perhaps the LGM 007 hide away swivel wall bed unit is for you. Seriously, though, it's tough to beat the Murphy bed for super-efficient, space-saving, less-is-more bedroom design. So even if your name isn't John, Paul, George or Ringo (or even Eddie) and you want to live more (but have less), give 'em a peek. Hit the jump to get up close & personal with some more pics. ::Bonbon...

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GCS Radiant in Amherst New York State, USA, makes radiant floor heat panels that are designed to sharply reduce the cost of heating a home. The patented panels use recycled products, require less construction material to install than typical systems, and go in faster. Cost of installation reported to be under US$6/ft2. "Radiant heat systems work by running warm water through tubes beneath the floor. Typically the tubes run under a concrete slab which stores heat and then radiates it through the flooring laid on top of it. Makers of the systems market them as a more efficient way to heat a home." The modular panels by GCS consist of a top layer made of concrete, which speeds up the installation process. The bottom of the panels contain grooves for the tubes, protecting them from damage." Decorative flooring goes atop the system. TreeHugger strongly recommends reading the entire article in Buffalo News. Via: The Buffalo News, Business Today Image credits:: Buffalo News and GCS, respectively....

"East Kentucky Power Cooperative will pay a $750,000 fine and spend more than $650 million on pollution controls as part of a settlement announced yesterday to end a 2004 lawsuit by the federal government. The suit alleged that East Kentucky Power modified its Spurlock and Dale electric-generating plants without getting the proper permits or installing new technology. The result, the government said in the initial suit, was the emission of "massive amounts" of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides and particulate matter into the air. Those three types of pollutants are linked to smog, acid rain and lung problems, respectively. In settling the case, East Kentucky Power admits no wrongdoing and stated it was only doing so "solely to avoid the costs and uncertainties of litigation and to improve the environment," according to the settlement, which has been filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington. The settlement still has to be approved by the court, and there is a 30-day window for public comment." Plenty more where that came from. See the Environmental Integrity Project, for a list of the 50 dirtiest power plants in the USA. Via:: Knight Ridder Tribune Image credit: Spurlock Power Station, East Kentucky Power Cooperative...

It turns out the main obstacle to our switching over to a biofuel-based economy may not be its environmental impact or effect on global food prices: it may actually be our own greed and appetite for destruction. A recent global analysis of agricultural production has revealed that almost a quarter of the energy processed by plants is either harvested or lost due to anthropogenic activities. In addition, our actions have reduced the amount of energy available to the millions of other species by close to 10%. In a bit of an understatement, Snow Barlow, an agriculture professor at the University of Melbourne, wrily remarked: "Here we are, just one species on the earth, and we're grabbing a quarter of the renewable resources … we're probably being a bit greedy." Given these new findings, scientists are cautioning against the increased use of biofuels due to the likely potential for further pressure on species and ecosystems. ...

Elizabeth Alford teaches about prefabrication at the School of Architecture in Austin and runs the Prefab Lab; we met her at the Site:Offsite conference that she organized. She also practices architecture with Michael Young, and they have just built a studio for their practice and Michael's painting. They really wanted a loft like they had in New York, but these don't exist in Austin so they built their own, 2,600 square feet including three studios in a "gentrifying" part of Austin. They raised the existing roof and filled in between with polycarbonate sheets, creating clerestory windows. "We were interested in the identity and tactility of materials" so they experimented: The wall shown above is a sandwich of polycarbonate sheets with the voids filled with 1,000 pounds of coloured sand. "It insulates, and we like the look" Young says. In the courtyard with sustainable landscaping, a shade structure supports photovoltaic panels. Not yet online at ::Architectural Record...

In a recent study by the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas they’ve found that schools in the U.S. are becoming increasingly likely to be named after a natural feature like manatees in Florida or a cactus in Arizona than a current or former U.S. leader. In fact, of recent school names in Florida only five of them were named after George Washington while 11 were named after manatees. In Arizona, public schools built over the last 20 years were 50 times more likely to be named after a natural feature than a U.S. leader, a fact that might leave some of them turning in their graves. I guess the question is this… Is it a sign of growing environmental awareness or a sign of growing public polarization that our school names are taking on an environmental twist to them? Now while I’d certainly like to think that it’s a result of a growing environmental awareness, I’d bet there’s also a significant argument to be made that naming it after a local feature has far less potential for controversy than any political leader, particularly with the current degree of political polarization in U.S. But regardless of the reasons for doing so, I’m wondering whether this trend is actually sending an interesting but subconsciously positive message to kids when they go to school each day, because it seems to me that by naming schools after local features we’ve actually been giving kids the message that protecting the environment is important. After all, we tend to name things after people, places, or things that we value, and that’s a concept kids definitely pick up on… Maybe a new study on the effects of school names on kids is in order? via:: The Orlando Sentinel...

Jacob told us last year about a movement in Asia to encourage people to bring their own chopsticks to reduce the waste caused by 45 billion pairs thrown out each year. Rider at Sustainable is Good notes that it would not be such a bad idea over here, where millions of sets of plastic cutlery go into the garbage every day. There is some really nice stuff out there as well; Snow Peak, a high end ultralight camping gear company, sells this titanium set that can last a lifetime. Only 1.8 oz, (52 grams) with a carrying pouch for thirty bucks. There are cheaper alternatives but none so light and so durable. Rider notes that there are lots of "products marketed towards a specific community that are virtually unknown to other segments of the marketplace but yet could be quite successful if they were." For example, the snow peak cutlery is "marketed toward hikers concerned about the overall weight of their packs" but could have "huge potential in the green marketplace." Can you think of any others like this? ...

Almost nothing raises the emotional debate around climate change like a discussion of personal carbon rationing. You only have to look in the comments section of our post on UK government plans for carbon credit swipe cards to see the widely differing views that this topic generates. While some inevitably see it as yet another example of big government and erosion of our ‘liberties’, others see it as a necessary feedback loop giving folks a fair and transparent way to understand their climate impact, and to take responsibility for their emissions without the need to ban any one activity or product (like patio heaters, for example). The UK has even seen an online petition submitted to the government from citizens who are calling for a personal carbon ration, so there is certainly some support out there. However, whatever your views on the rights and wrongs of personal carbon quotas, there is no doubt that any such system will be more popular if it is well designed, fair, and efficiently managed. This is where Carbon Limited comes in, a project of the UK-based RSA, or Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (who are also responsible for the youth-based Carbon Control program which we reported on earlier this week). Carbon Limited is essentially a project aimed at generating ideas for a personal carbon allowance, and how this can be implemented in the most effective, and fair, way possible. The focus of the scheme is broad ranging, looking at a wide range of questions, from the technological, to the socio-cultural and economic: “i.e. What information technology would be needed to do this? What would it cost? How might individuals react and interact with it? What could it mean for the economy?” Those who remain vehemently opposed to personal carbon trading are not likely to be comforted by Carbon Limited, given that the project seems to start out with the premise that personal rationing is necessary, possibly even inevitable, as this quote from the RSA website shows: ...

Bean Sprouts: Carnival of the Green #84 by Melanie Rimmer "Bean Sprouts is excited to be hosting its first Carnival of the Green. Let's kick off with Don, who writes in Evangelical Ecologist about a Bible vacation summer school with an environmental theme. Sounds like a good idea to me, but I sympathise with Don's observation that he learned more about both God and the environment from going camping with his parents than from Bible vacation camp." Freshtopia: Get Tough or Die Farms by Tanja Andrews and Oscar Grimm "We spent the weekend at the Get Tough or Die Farm. AKA: Tanja’s mother’s house. When neighborhood cats and children aren’t disappearing in the “Tomato Triangle,” they’re dodging the assault of the trained attack rabbits, and let’s not even mention the sunflowers. It was a most relaxing weekend, filled with fantastical danger, intrigue, permaculture, Melissa’s artwork, and the most gorgeous home-grown produce we’ve enjoyed in recent memory."...

We should all live as well as the students in London who get a Nido Pod. They are 144 square foot cubes: "A complete London apartment with private workspace, web access, a clever kitchenette and roomy storage to keep the whole chic look clutter free, and the ensuite [bathroom] helps make the early mornings and late nights a little bit easier." They are built at a factory outside Warsaw and shipped to former NatWest Bank tower blocks across from King's Cross Station and slotted in. Students also get "a range of campus-type facilities such as common rooms, study rooms and a free gymnasium" and " a personalised swipe card that will serve both as front-door key and chargecard, allowing them to pay for (or rather get their parents to pay for) things such cleaning, laundry and essential cups of cappuccino." A tiny, well-designed personal space with shared resources for those things that you need occasionally, in a converted office building that would otherwise probably be demolished, across the street from a subway in the heart of a great city. Where do I sign? ::Nido via ::Daily Telegraph ...

CNN Money is not being entirely fair to Whole Foods in this set of pointers for shopping; they will apply equally to any food store and are worth noting even if you have never set foot in a Whole Foods. Points include: -Produce has a carbon footprint: "Many contend that the real damage done to the earth by fruits and veggies is not how they are grown but how much fuel has to be burned to get them to you." -It's still junk food: "Whole Foods doesn't carry any food containing transfats or artificial coloring. But that's the extent of its nutritional screening.Whole Foods Golden Rounds crackers, for instance, have slightly more calories and fat per serving than the Ritz crackers they imitate." No calorie counting here: "The store diligently lists the ingredients that go into its meat loaf and macaroni and cheese, but it doesn't provide nutritional information on any of its in-store prepared foods. So while that vegan oatmeal scone tastes delicious and sounds healthy, you have no way of knowing whether it is better for you than the scallion cheddar one sitting next to it - or, for that matter, the cheese Danish from Dunkin' Donuts down the street." Read them all at ::CNN Money ...

It is not the prettiest house to ever grace the pages of the New York Times home section, but perhaps that is why it is so interesting, it is such a switch from the usual swish. Larry Weingarten designed it to be cheap to run and maintenance free: “Didn’t Thoreau question whether the man owned the lawn mower or the mower owned the man?” Mr. Weingarten said on a late-spring afternoon, paraphrasing slightly. Anyone can do the simple things (cladding is Hardishake, decking is Trex, handrails are galvanized pipe, size is a modest 1800 square feet) but it also has photovoltaics for lights and the computer, and a gravity fed solar hot water radiant heating system with a thousand gallon tank in the basement. If you get thirsty, he uses vodka as the antifreeze because it is more efficient and non-toxic. (compared to industrial antifreeze anyways.) What a pleasure to see such a modest and affordable off-grid home in the ::New York Times...

Simran Sethi will be moderating a conversation with Al Gore today at 1:30. In anticipation of this meeting of great green minds, EQ.tv, brings us insight into our colleague Simran's core concerns with this video from the annual conference of B.A.L.L.E., the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. She tells us that when she first saw the impact of big businesses, she determined that she wanted to give voice to the people who were being affected by companies but had no say in matters. So she set her sights on learning and developing language to talk about the good that business is doing as well as the opportunities big business has to do more. What emerges from this on-camera interview is a reminder that the relationship between business and others (be they consumers or citizens or animal species), is correlative to that of journalist and audience. The reporter is there to speak truth, therefore the participation of the audience itself as subject becomes critical:

The key is that everyone needs to realize that they have a story and their stories are important and compelling and that they have to speak up. We have that power within us to make those changes happen. Unless we speak our truth, unless we hold people accountable, unless we speak truth to power, nothing will change. So tell your stories.

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Been meaning to get to this for months, although the "currency" of the story has only ascended. Under the headline "US Manufacturers Say C02 Cap Would Mean Price Surge" Dow Jones Newswire (subscription only) carried this last May:- "Chemical manufacturers and other businesses dependent on natural gas are concerned that U.S. congressional efforts to curb global warming will only hurt industrial firms by dramatically boosting demand for natural gas. That said, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America and other business coalitions plan to launch a communications effort to warn U.S. lawmakers that the so-called cap and trade climate policies most favored on Capitol Hill could lead to gas prices that are double or triple what they are today." Cap and trade is a complex issue, but ultimately it's a government instituted permitting mechanism to limit the amount of CO2 that individual companies can emit. Those that exceed a "cap" pay no fine. Instead, they buy credits from permittees who got by emitting less: rewarding efficiency. By some accounts, the "cap" would vary by industry sector. Coal burning taking a hit of course. What do the new corporate vice presidents of sustainability have to say about this communications effort to "warn lawmakers" we wonder? Coal-based electricity being more carbon intensive than any other method, the argument offered to lawmakers is that a "cap" on coal emissions would shift future growth in electrical generating capacity to gas. And that's bad because it would lead to higher operating costs for those US industries already highly dependent on natural gas for feed stock and/or for processing energy: such as in the making of polyethylene and downstream products made from it. So.... petrochemical watches coal's back, and coal attacks green industries as "un-american" and also discredits environmentalists with the 'DDT banning killed innocent babies in poor nations' talking point that some Think Tank keeps selling to any one who'll buy it....

Well, almost nothing. I have loved Wired for years, but perhaps I have changed and it has not. They were always on top of trends, but they are missing the big green one. It is not that they are unaware of green issues and sustainability; they are building the Wired Home as a green prefab after all, although they are filling it with "the latest in gadgets, gear and appliances and a BMW Hydrogen 7" and it costs four million bucks. It is just that it has become a car mag for rich geeks: everything in it is expensive, excessive and/or loud. We need a green Wired: Long well written stories at the back, the ADD stuff at the front, with terrific ads that make you just want to run out and buy insulation and caulking, not Jennifer Anniston peddling a really silly bottled water. Wait- there are four electric lawn mowers. "Your noisy gas mower spews out as much pollution as 11 cars" so they say electric mowers will "impress your eco-fascist neighbors". Except all they do is shift the pollution to the coal fired plant making the electricity; the only green mower is a reel mower. I take back the "almost." ::Wired...

Oh no, not Waitrose! We love to bash Tesco, England's No. 1, but most hated supermarket. Now the knives are out for Waitrose, the upmarket, fashionable and oh so nice store, recently rated Britain's second favourite shop. It seems that in their efforts to be organic and eco-friendly, they are posing a serious threat to small local shops. They are selling similar organic and locally sourced food but due to their strong buying power, they can buy and sell it more cheaply. Part of the problem is the introduction of Whole Foods Markets into the UK market. In response to this new competition, Waitrose is planning a huge refurbishment of its 183 stores, making them more upmarket and specialized--catering to people who want to know more about their food's provenance. The first one has now opened in an area with lots of specialty shops and a great Sunday market. A quick visit reveals that the changes are superficial--the fresh fruit has been moved to the front and there is a cafeteria-style prepared foods area. They are offering a portable bar code scanner (and free canvas bags when you sign up for it); vacant check-out counters are identified by a number on a screen. Given the loyalty that Waitrose already engenders in its customers, they should just keep doing what they do best and forget about cosmetic copy-cat changes. :: Guardian...

Photo credit: zamario Does China have a softer, greener side, after all? The nation, straining under accusations of rampant industrial pollution and unchecked carbon emissions, last month unveiled a new conservation strategy for safeguarding its plant biodiversity. The plan: To allow 37 million acres (15 million hectares) of farmland to revert to forest over the next three years, in addition to extending nature reserves, protecting biodiversity hotspots, and creating a plant-monitoring system. China is home to 10 percent of all known plant species, with half of those unique to the country. Around 5,000 species are under threat. To complicate matters, the Ministry of Land and Resources in April reported that more than 10 percent of China's farmland is polluted, posting a "severe threat" to the nation's food production....

Sporting a curving beak that resembles an enigmatic smile, this rare and elusive recurve-billed bushbird was recently rediscovered by scientists in Colombia after a 40-year absence. In fact, this photograph, taken by a conservationist with the Colombia-based nonprofit Fundación ProAves, is the first ever taken of a live bushbird. Our feathered Mona Lisa had not been seen between 1965 and 2004 because of the bird's limited range and remote habitats. But researchers found the bird in a 250-acre (101-hectare) reserve next to the Torcoroma Holy Sanctuary near the Colombian town of Ocaña, where in 1709 locals claimed to have seen the image of the Virgin Mary in a tree root. ...

Boy, do we envy the bambinos who get to park their tuckuses on Lilipad Studio's chairs. The Idaho-based company works with local artists and artisans to craft its children's furniture from FSC-certified hardwood. Each table, chair, and step-stool is then painted by hand with non-toxic, VOC-free paints, before getting coated with non-toxic, low-VOC sealant for durability. "I grew up in Oregon, and have spent my adult life in the majestic mountains of Idaho," says Laura Higdon, owner and creator of Lilipad Studio, on the company's Web site. "I have learned the importance of environmental responsibility and need for a deep commitment to sustainability—with every choice, on every level." :: Lilipad Studio See also: :: How to Green Your Furniture and :: How to Green Your Kids' Toys...

Photo credit: Satish Somasundaram Climate change is causing the Himalayan source the Ganges, Hinduism's holiest river, to dry up. And because the 1,568-mile river holds deep religious and ritualistic significance to India's 800 million Hindus, its ultimate demise could throw into turmoil the intimate religious traditions of the nation's devotees. The Gangotri glacier, which provides up to 70 percent of the water of the Ganges during the dry summer months, is shrinking at a rate of 40 yards per year—nearly twice as fast as it was 20 years ago, according to scientists. In March, the World Wildlife Fund listed the Ganges among the world's most endangered rivers. "This may be the first place on earth where global warming could hurt our very religion. We are becoming an endangered species of Hindus," says Veer Bhadra Mishra, an engineer and director of the Varanasi-based Sankat Mochan Foundation, an organization that advocates for the preservation of the Ganges....

India’s city roads are best characterized by chaos: snarls of cars, trucks, buses, two-wheeler traffic, polluting three-wheeler auto-rickshaws, bicycles, bullock carts, crowds of pedestrians and the occasional cow. But is it about to get even crazier? Recently, India’s car industry has been abuzz with talk of cars marketed at the up-and-coming, wealthy middle class and a number of India’s automobile companies – most notably Indian auto giant Tata Motors – are surging ahead to launch models priced at a mere 100,000 rupes (approximately $3000), probably by early next year. Though there is great demand for an affordable, entry-level vehicle, the $3000 car also raises alarming questions about its environmental impact. Four years in the making, Tata Motor’s plans to produce a so-called “one-lakh car” (one lakh being the Indian term for 100,000) are aimed squarely at members of India’s 300-million-strong middle class. Dubbing it the “People’s Car,” Tata hopes to entice consumers with a four to five seater, four-door, rear-engine car with about 30 hp (horsepower)....

Portia Munson's work Green Piece: Lawn is a colourful display of consumer waste products. She collects and catalogues man made plastic garbage to create a tension between the artificial and natural within our consumerist leisure obsessed society. She says "we as a culture are defined by the objects we mass-produce, consume, and throw away. ...[this current work] “Lawn” is made up of found green plastic objects laid out in patches of greens resembling a suburban lawn. ... We think of the lawn as a natural phenomenon, but really, it is a man-made thing. It is said that the lawn is the biggest agricultural crop in the country." Portia Munson, Green, was as P.P.O.W gallery Jan 5 - Feb 3 2007. Check these other recent TreeHugger stories on art with a environmental message: Recycled Public Art, the tree museum, and the pet project. ::Portia Munson...

Project Greenhouse, which we covered at Sundance a few month ago, has opened up shop in the Hamptons, New York's home for vacation homes. Designed by architect Edvin Karl Stromsten to accent a secluded stretch of forest he already owned, the house was light, geometric, and nonthreatening; definitely within the realm of “friendly modernism” that characterizes many new houses built in summer colonies. The green engineering that informed much of the design, and the sponsorship it attracted, was far from standard however. ...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) predictably set off a furor a little while ago when it announced new ozone pollution standards that fell far short of those unanimously recommended by its own scientific panel of advisers. It called for a modest improvement over the current standard of 0.08 ppm/8-hours, revising it downwards to a value in the range of 0.075 ppm/8-hours to 0.070 ppm/8-hours. Health advocacy groups and members of the scientific community had been pushing for a revised standard of 0.060 ppm/8-hours. "In issuing the standard today, EPA is ignoring the advice of their own staff, the advice of EPA advisory committees, the opinion of the medical and scientific community," says Dr. Ingbar, the president of the American Thoracic Society. "More importantly, EPA is ignoring the all the kids who will be spending part of their summer in the hospital emergency room from asthma attacks caused by ozone pollution." In an effort to raise public awareness and put pressure on the federal government, Earthjustice, a non-profit public interest law firm, has just launched a new virtual campaign called "Adopt the Sky."...

Its not the perchlorates, its the heat. Burbank:, they are doing a laser show. "From a fire standpoint and a safety standpoint, it was an easy call," Burbank Fire Chief Tracy Pansini says. He recommended calling off fireworks at the Starlight Bowl because they're launched from a mountainside covered with vegetation that's "all dead." Alabama: Alabaster, Ala., canceled its public fireworks and Fire Chief Frank Matherson might propose at a City Council meeting Monday that all fireworks be prohibited."Most people will comply because they see how dry it is," he says. Water restrictions, including a ban on watering lawns, make fireworks even more risky, he says. Kentucky: A 120-day ban on fireworks in Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest took effect Tuesday, says fire management officer Mitch Gandy. The 700,000-acre forest is popular with families with their own fireworks. It's the first ban since 1999. "We've had 70 fires so far this year," Gandy says. "Fireworks land in the leaves and set fires, which is potentially very dangerous." The fine for possessing or igniting fireworks: $75. ::USA Today via ::Drudge Report ...

Some interesting new topics are being breached over at the TreeHugger Forums, while an older debate -- that of climate skepticism -- rages on. Register here (it's free) and chime in as we help push sustainability ever further into the mainstream. Here are some highlights...

	1) Forum user orange says that CRAGs, or carbon rationing action groups, are gaining momentum in the UK. "Over-polluters pay a given rate (usually 5p i.e. $0.10) per kilo of extra CO2 produced and under-emitters receive that money to spend however they see fit. The first US branch has just been founded in Maryland and is recruiting." Despite some mindless negativism and the persistence of some trolls (c'mon folks, let's play nice. We aren't in elementary school any more), there is a mixed reaction to the idea, thus far.
	2) User lee says there is a kit that will "automatically turn your car into a hybrid and the manufacturer says will give you 30% efficiency. it's called EMIS (the electric motor interface system) and it comes with an electric motor and computer, and batteries included ...and it's available right now!" Who wants one?
	3) User Weldelml is a student designer working on a new chair for an assignment, and is looking for an alternative to fiberglass, saying, "I really do not want to use fiberglass because of the dangers it poses for not only the environment, but for my health as well..." Can anyone help? More good discussion after the jump...

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Notwithstanding Jeremy's post, TreeHugger usually doesn't like bottled water no matter how is is wrapped. (see it all in How to Green Your Water.) Now Charles Fishman, author of The Wal-Mart Effect, looks at bottled water in the July issue of Fast Company. There is little here that has not been on TreeHugger before, but he is such a good writer and puts it all together so coherently.

A chilled plastic bottle of water in the convenience-store cooler is the perfect symbol of this moment in American commerce and culture. It acknowledges our demand for instant gratification, our vanity, our token concern for health. Its packaging and transport depend entirely on cheap fossil fuel. Yes, it's just a bottle of water--modest compared with the indulgence of driving a Hummer. But when a whole industry grows up around supplying us with something we don't need--when a whole industry is built on the packaging and the presentation--it's worth asking how that happened, and what the impact is.

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Putting "the fun in function and the core in décor", designer Paul Loebach mixes new manufacturing techniques with traditional, "old" (as in, reclaimed) materials to create modern, decorative, occasionally ornate design. Paul says his work "explores the role of design as a tool for subverting expectations and questioning social values," which is a philosophy we don't encounter much, and is a pretty interesting approach to the stuff that dwells in our world. Says the designer, "I’m through with editing down the world. My work represents a new process of design for the basic purpose of trying to understand the emotive complexity of people, the meaning of our manufactured environment, and its material consequences”. Hmm. To better understand what he's talking about, gaze upon "Mirror, Mirror", a CNC waterjet cut with a beautifully decorative edge, made from reclaimed walnut. By using one cutting operation to produce multiple objects with zero waste, this product is a "playful exploration of how efficient manufacturing processes can provide sustainable design solutions." ::Paul Loebach...

We've made no secret of our disaffection towards bottled water at TreeHugger. The costs in terms of fuel usage and recycling are enormous. So it was with a great deal of enthusiasm that we first read about Sidel's innovative NoBottle, which the company is pitching as a "water skin." Unlike traditional PET (polyethylene terephthalate) half-liter water bottles which weigh in around 13 to 16 grams, Sidel's NoBottle comes in at just under 10 grams. Though perhaps not very impressive in itself, when added up (160 billion liters of bottled water were consumed last year) the savings in terms of waste reduction become quite significant. So, no, we're not talking about losing the plastic entirely here (we wish), but this is still a big step forward for the beverage industry. ...

Emily at Inhabitat does a terrific post that we should have thought of and called "how to green your holiday," suggesting: -chose your food wisely; (avoid foods produced or raised on factory farms) -use eco-friendly picnicware; (or we might suggest renting real plates and silverware) -find alternatives to fireworks; (colorful decorations like ribbon streamers) -use a greener grill with sustainably produced charcoal; -when it is all over, recycle the garbage. Not too many people thought that fireworks are history in our last poll, but perhaps Treehuggers somewhere are celebrating a green July 4:

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When you're in a band, touring can be tough, from booking gigs and planning other logistics to finding reliable transportation and then actually driving from city to city, sometimes to the tune of 10,000 miles a month. On top of that, there's the actual "work" part of it, playing shows every night. Between that and finding a gas station in the middle of the night in the middle of Kansas, there isn't always a lot of time to think about your carbon footprint, but van rental agency Bandago (say it with us: Band-Ah-Go) is here to help. Specializing in serving the music industry (but also available to us wannabes and the rest of the general public), they offer 15 passenger vans and Dodge Sprinters, with enough space for a touring bands' gear and even tricked out for a little fun. Offering Sprinters (the diesel-powered, Mercedes-Benz engines get about 27 miles to the gallon) is a pretty neat feature -- though we'd recommend bands and citizens alike fuel 'em up with biodiesel -- but the real attraction for TreeHuggers is that they've partnered up with DriveNeutral (we interviewed CEO Jason Smith here) to make the entire operation carbon neutral. While its true that reduction and increased efficiency is the first (and perhaps most important step) to cutting back on the climate crisis, if your band isn't Pearl Jam, BareNaked Ladies or Gomez, and you haven't had the time or money to create your own Carbon Portfolio Strategy, offsets are a step in the right direction. ...

Here is yet another post on the Farm Bill, because it doesn't get nearly the interest that the energy bill did yet it is probably as important to us all. The New York Times provides a very good overview of the issues, noting that in the 2002 bill, $67.6 billion was spent to subsidize the growers of five commodities: soybeans, corn, rice, wheat and cotton. Fruit and vegetable farmers do not get subsidies. The result: fresh fruits and vegetables have increased in price by 40% in fifteen years while soda pop, made from high fructose corn syrup, has declined by 25% adjusted for inflation. The system is completely biased to the big- one giant cotton farm collected $2.95 million in subsidies, nearly as much money as the federal government spent on its primary research program for organic agriculture last year — $3 million. There are all kinds of neat ideas for what should be in the farm bill to promote better and local food; according to the Times: ...

We just couldn't come up as clever a title as Katie did at Worldchanging: i’m in ur Xbox savin ur planet, about the Photoshop Phriday collection at Something Awful. They "decided to do their part to pretend to help the environment, this time by making some eco-friendly progressive video games. Looking at them will be a pleasant distraction from the all-consuming Global Warming-powered death due any minute now." We love the reviews: "The most realistic bus riding simulator to date!" or for Super Safeway 3: (A hurricane is coming, store as much food as you can)- "It feels like I was really there!" -Mike Brown, (formerly) FEMA. Play them all at ::Something Awful...

Perhaps all those real environmentalists are right; the polls show that even those most obvious environmental consumers, the Prius drivers, are buying them for the wrong reasons, not to save the world but to make a statement. According to the New York Times: “I really want people to know that I care about the environment,” said Joy Feasley of Philadelphia, owner of a green 2006 Prius. “I like that people stop and ask me how I like my car.” Mary Gatch of Charleston, S.C., chose the car over a hybrid version of the Toyota Camry after trading in a Lexus sedan. “I felt like the Camry Hybrid was too subtle for the message I wanted to put out there,” Ms. Gatch said. “I wanted to have the biggest impact that I could, and the Prius puts out a clearer message.” Competitors have had little luck matching the cache of the Prius with Civic hybrids or Ford Escapes; even Toyota is having trouble with the hybrid Camry. Evidently when it comes to hybrids, "if you've got it, flaunt it." ::New York Times...

What with social networking sites like Facebook all the rage right now and more attention than ever being focused on the issues of global warming and climate change, the moment certainly seems propitious for the unveiling of MakeMeSustainable, a website that draws from both trends. Yet far from being a gimmicky rip-off trying to capitalize on the latest fads, MakeMeSustainable, which has been in the works since 2004, is an innovative and full-featured website that promises to help its users take control over their environmental behavior and set green goals. Behind its seemingly innocuous facade lies an easy-to-use yet extremely potent toolset (dubbed the Carbon and Energy Portfolio Manager) that allows users to evaluate various facets of their energy consumption and take the necessary steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Upon accessing the site (which is in public beta, unlike most internet start-ups), you create a basic profile by entering a little information about your car usage and home. What's new here is that you can also create a profile as a business so those corporate citizens with an eye on keeping their firms sustainable can join in on the fun. ...

Interesting statistics compiled by Andrea Dickson of Wisebread: Number of hotdogs to be consumed on July 4th: 150 million Amount of chicken purchased in the week leading up to July 4th: 700 million pounds Amount of red meat/pork purchased in the week leading up to July 4th: 190 million pounds Percentage of American households with outdoor grills: 87 Amount of fireworks sold to individuals for personal celebrations in 2006: 252 million pounds Amount of fireworks sold to cities and municipalities for public celebrations last year: 25 million pounds Amount of fireworks sold to individuals for personal celebrations in 2000: 102 million pounds Total dollar amount spent on fireworks in 2007: 900 million dollars Total dollar amount spent on fireworks in 2000: 350 million dollars Percentage of fireworks sales that take place in late June and early July: 80 Number of people injured by fireworks in 2006: 9,200 Dollar amount of fireworks imported to the US from China in 2006: 212 million Dollar amount of American flags imported into the US from China in 2006: 5 million ...

If the Bilby isn’t one of the cutest bundles of marsupial fur on the planet, then we don’t know what is. Previously mentioned here when it’s chocolate brethren went on sales as part of Australia's Easter fundraising campaign. This time we wish to alert you to a video of the inspirational story of two guys, known as the Bilby Brothers, who set out to rescue this species from its endangered fate. Originally broadcast on ABC TV the vid is live online until the end of July 07. Another reminder of what amazing results the determination of individual people can achieve. That we might get lucky and be able to reweave some of the ecological threads that humankind has unwittingly unravelled. Worth a few minutes of your time, especially if other world news is getting you down, and you’d welcome a pick-me-up. ::ABC’s Bilby Bros. ...

We're not sure what led them to do it, but for kids from Robin Hood Primary and Nursery School in Mansfield Woodhouse, England, staring out the window finally paid off. It all started as they were fascinated by a new development of affordable homes being built next to their school, and now they're getting the chance to design their own in conjunction with help from Bellway East Midlands and Meden Valley Making Places (MVMP), a non-profit group dedicated to helping develop affordable properties and better environmental integration of those communities. The idea is for pupils to learn about incorporating green spaces and the like into communities by planning, designing and making models of their ideal homes that can give them an understanding of regeneration and environmental issues surrounding new housing communities. And as we've pointed out before with posts on innovative ideas like salad bars in schools, an urban farm floating in the Hudson River of NY, and even kids creating shoes of hope in the fight against climate change, the more kids can get involved in understanding and protecting the planet the better off their future will be. via:: 24dash.com...

We beg your forgiveness, we’ve had this post garnering cobwebs in the ‘must-do’ tray, until the equally eclectic DIY propeller trike spurred us to elevate its status to ‘done’. What looks like your average 15 person, people-powered Buscycle, is in reality a 1989 Dodge cargo van, albeit after an extreme makeover. Bed frames, office chairs, bicycles were thrown into the mix as well, not forgetting the hockey arena plexiglass shield either. Apparently this transformation still allows for the option of going in reverse. “As a work of art, this attention getting, human powered people mover shows that a glorious phoenix can truly arise from the ashes of a scrap heap. As a subliminal message it celebrates the fact that we can use the bicycle to heal the planet of many of the woes the automobile has caused it to suffer. As a harbinger of joy, its benefits are many. [...] Everyone who has pedaled it in the regular demonstration rides we give, takes with them an internalized understanding of the power of community.” Gives the expression ‘way to go’ a fresh new complexion. ::Buscycle, via Bike Route....

We’ve covered plenty of funky design houses specialising in reworking existing garments before, many of which appear to originate from London. Take, for example, our post on Junky Styling and TRAID, or the ever-popular footwear and bags of Worn Again. Now we find yet another London-based designer bringing new life to old garments. Enienay (apparently pronounced N.I.N.A.) is the creation of Nina Dewey, winner of the Clothes Show Young Designer of the Year 2003-2004. Nina creates unique, one-off designs from vintage garments by pinching, twisting and reshaping them into contemporary styles, often combining two or three garments into one. One of Nina’s specialities is creating bespoke bridalwear. As she explained in a recent press article featured on her website, this often involves incorporating personal items of particular significance to the customer: ...

The excitement is building in anticipation of this weekend's Live Earth concerts. Now there will be shows in Hamburg as well as Sydney, Tokyo, Rio, London, New York, Shanghai and Jo'burg. The star-studded list of celebs is growing, with lots of local acts being included in each city. Al Gore was in town, urging people to sign a seven-point pledge calling on governments to agree, within two years, to an international treaty that cuts global warming pollution by 90 per cent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide. Live Earth has an extensive Green Policy for the concerts. They have set up a team of “world class sustainability experts”, led by John Picard, a former member of Clinton’s Green White House task force, so that “waste streams will be designed out prior to its negative environmental impact” (what?). Sir Bob Geldof says it is a "waste of time" but some of the steps being planned include: electricity from renewable sources. Concessionaires will be encouraged to use biodegradable plastics and recycle. Production lighting will include LED lights, and signage will be recycled. Some tickets will be integrated with public transport. Of course they will offset their travel through carbon credits. Sceptics have also pointed to the amount of electricity used to power the speakers and lights, and the fuel spent on ferrying musicians and their equipment to the venues by plane and truck. However they are "trying to minimise the carbon as much as possible. Most artists are coming from nearby areas. Madonna, for example, lives in London and will be performing at Wembley." This treehugger will be there, with an 8:30 a.m. (EST) start for the London concert so stay tuned for an on the spot review. :: Live Earth...

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The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) estimates that, after installing over 2,400 megawatts (MW) in 2006, the industry will install over 3,000 MW in 2007. About 31 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) will be generated by wind power in the U.S. in 2007, enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 3 million average homes. As wind power grows at a rate of 25%-30% per year, it creates employment. In 2006 alone, leading wind turbine manufacturers opened facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, and Pennsylvania. AWEA also asks, in their annual report, Our Electricity Supply Was Built up in Successive Waves: Will Wind Be Next? (Refering to picture above, titled:- Annual U.S. Generating Capacity Installations by Source)...

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The long awaited UK anti-smoking laws have taken effect, and it's now illegal to smoke in any public enclosed space, including bars. The law is intended to keep the air clear for those that don't want to breathe second hand smoke, but may actually contribute to pollution outside. A lot of bar managers have been investing in outdoor patio heaters to allow smokers a bit of comfort as they puff away near the front door. These 40,000 new gas heaters could contribute up to 320,000 tonnes of CO2 per year - as much as a small city. "It's pretty sad that keeping warm while you have a cigarette is more important than tackling climate change, especially in a country familiar with simpler remedies to chilly evenings such as the woolly jumper," said Ben Tuxworth, of the environmental charity Forum for the Future. (Read Sami's earlier post about patio heaters in the UK, here) Ironically, the law to clean the air inside will create dirtier, warmer air outside. Personally I often enjoy the smell of second hand smoke, but I realise that others don't. However, to play devil's advocate for a second, maybe some bars could be allowed to apply for smoking licences - why penalise people because of their addiction? ::Daily Mail...

An Australian invention could make cheap micro-generation via wind power far easier. Graeme Attey has designed a modular wind turbine small enough for the roof of house, and with fully enclosed blades. It seems that without large blades, more of these could fit onto a particular surface. The West Australian Government is funding some trials in the hope that he can get an efficient model working. If it's developed into a consumer product, which is the plan for later next year, then they also plan to offer rebates to residents who install the device. The article is rather devoid of details, but the device looks quite attractive in an industrial way, and I would be quite happy about having a spine of these along the apex of my roof. ::ABC See also ::New Turbine To Make Wind Power Cheaper and Easier To Install ::Wind Power Becoming Cheaper Than Conventional Power...

‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho it’s off to work we go,’ tonight with Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet . In this, the penultimate episode of motivating series, the producers ask; wouldn’t it be great to know exactly what the ecological footprint of your workplace was, so you could set about improving it? Mathis Wackernagel (co-creator of the ecological footprint concept) shows just how it’s done. Or maybe you like to work at the New Belgium Brewing Company—they’re striving to be zero waste and will give you a free bike after a years service. Or how about working in an office, like David Hertz’s with a green roof, bamboo ceiling, recycled tiles, energy efficient lighting and solar power?. As you’ll observe when you click through that link (or the one below, this is just one of myriad happenings as part of Sundance’s The Green website. Sneak peek clips. podcasts, green living guides, blogs, Simran Sethi’s Second Life virtual seminars, an ‘eco-mmunity help round out this significant offering. And there is bucketloads more too. Be sure to visit — ::Big Ideas for a Small Planet....

Google, google, google, google - what don't they have a green pinky in these days? The coolio-video above 'strates how they design the custom, super efficient power supplies for their server farms. Google builds its own machines (and has for some time) using a team of hardware engineers expressly dedicated to the task. With the goal of efficiency foremost in mind, it's no surprise they are leading the pack in this area as well; can you leave some for the rest of us please? ::Ubergizmo...

Just because I love the actual world doesn't mean I'm not a pretty big fan of virtual worlds as well. Some have said that actively seeking out fake worlds to explore and enjoy is be a symptom of alienation from or even disdain for the environment. But I can't help but feel that's absolute crap. And today I've got someone who very likely agrees with me, and he happens to be one of the biggest gamers in the world. Scott Cronce is the Chief Technology Officer of Electronic Arts. Scott's worked on dozens of video games over the last two decades and when I noticed his name pop up on the EcoGeek mailing list (don't you want to join too) I had to get in touch with him. I was excited to learn that he's an even bigger EcoGeek than I am, and was happy to oblige us with an interview. EcoGeek: CTO of Electronic Arts eh? That sounds a lot like "Head of Video Games for the Entire World" what are your responsibilities with EA?...

Nothing sets congressmen's mouths ajawing faster than a good ol' fashioned debate about fuel consumption standards. As you've probably heard by now, the Senate just passed an energy bill that would raise CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards by an average of 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. While not much of an achievement in itself (other countries in Europe and Asia already handily beat these standards with Japan boasting an average of 45 mpg), the energy bill must also be ratified by the House, which only supports upping standards to 32 mpg by 2022, before it is sent on to the president's desk for his final approval. Let's say, however, that the energy bill was approved by the House at the higher 35 mpg average and then enacted by the president. Would there then be reason to celebrate? Not really: there are still plenty of compromises and loopholes that could render the bill's provisions moot even by the low standards that it has set (even Bush came out in favor of stronger ones in his State of the Union address)....

Kim Stanley Robinson is a science fiction author, whose trilogy on the danger of climate change was completed in April with the release of Sixty Days and Counting. It, and previous installments; Forty ~~Days~~ Signs of Rain and Fifty Degrees Below, feature a future Earth ravaged by the effects of climate change. Wired has an interesting interview with him where he talks about the difference between the Earth at present and his novels, and what he believes needs to happen to ensure we have a long future on this planet. Wired News: You use the analogy of falling from a cliff when discussing humanity and climate change. Do you think coming changes will be so abrupt? Kim Stanley Robinson: It's not the best analogy. But when I'm in the Sierras, because of the way the glaciers carved the landscape, you come to points where it's a difficult down-climb off a promontory to a better situation. That's probably what history in the 21st century is going to be like. Many of the technologies we've invented are necessary to keep 6.5 billion people alive. We can't go back from that, so we need to decarbonize really rapidly. ::Wired...

Now we don't mean to come off as cynics here at TreeHugger, but given the EPA's "commendable" record in the past few years, we couldn't exactly let this little nugget slide: "The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to provide adequate information for the public to discern whether conflicts of interest exist for more than half of its recently unveiled short list of 55 experts for a special panel that will reevaluate the health risks of particulate matter air pollution."...

Get ready for seashells by the seashore with these 100 percent linen totables from Hable Construction. Handprinted and assembled in New England, these bags make us restless for sun, surf, and sand. Linen is produced from the flax plant, a sustainable fiber similar to hemp, but without the latter's cultural baggage. Flax is easily cultivated and has little need for pesticides, fertilizers, or water, compared with its conventional-cotton counterpart, which is one of the most chemical-doused crops on the planet. (Linen also happens to be two to three times stronger than cotton.) Now, which way to the beach? :: Hable Construction See also: :: How to Green Your Accessories...

The Union of Concerned Scientists has kicked off voting for its second annual "Science Idol" editorial cartoon contest. You can view all 12 finalists and cast your vote for the winner. Everyone who votes will have the chance to win limited edition T-shirts plus copies of the 2008 UCS scientific integrity calendar. The cartoon contest highlights the continuing problem of political interference in federal science regarding everything from global warming to public health. 2007 UCS Science Idol winner James McLeod, along with Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles and Speed Bump artist Dave Coverly, helped choose the finalists, whose drawings will appear in the 2008 UCS scientific integrity calendar. ...

Even after the devastation of the 2004 tsunami has left its mark, environmental degradation and short-sighted development projects are still now adversely affecting the fish populations of coastal areas along the Indian Ocean, placing the balance of complex marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of fishermen at risk. Changes in the sea level and temperature due to climate change have already had a negative impact on the coral reefs, particularly in places such as the Gulf of Mannar, located in the southeast of India and known as the most biologically rich coastal region in the country. ...

Here in India, the ubiquitous cows supposedly eat anything and they really do – from paper to banana peels. And in the stomach of one deceased cow, it was discovered that it had ingested about 35 kg (77 lbs.) of plastic. Controlling plastic pollution has become a challenge in a country where previously, garbage was usually of an organic nature and decomposed on its own and things that could be reused were put aside. There is a “waste nothing” attitude that still prevails, but is at odds with the “modern” attitude of excessive consumerism – and the scads of discarded plastic in the city and rural areas are plaintive evidence of a lack of awareness and infrastructure to manage it. However, in districts such as Nilgiris, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, anti-plastic initiatives to raise awareness among the locals and tourists have made some progress. For instance, a five-year-long ban on plastics in the district asked that shopkeepers and customers avoid using plastic bags, in addition to providing future provisions for alternatives. But there remains a long way to go to transform the indifference of people....

There is no doubt that kids are going to feel the worst impacts of climate change. As John pointed out on his post about a conversation with his son, this poses a very real challenge to parents and educators on how to engage young people in the issue without completely freaking them out. We at TreeHugger tend to believe that the most positive thing you can do is encourage them to find solutions. Of course our very own Kenny Luna has some good experience on this front, enrolling kids in his Bright Idea campaign for Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs). Now we’ve come across Carbon Control, a UK competition run by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA) and giant food retailer Tesco which aims to encourage children’s creativity in the fight to reduce carbon emissions. So far, ideas have been submitted on all aspects of environmental impact, from cleaner transportation to waste reduction. Read below the jump for one idea from ‘Freddie’ on reusing waste water to grow food in schools: ...

The Met Office has dropped the severe weather warning in the UK, and so it looks as though the torrential rain that has been causing havoc is over. However, the effects of that rain aren't. There are still severe flood warnings from the Environment Agency, many people are displaced from their homes, there have been 6 deaths and a billion pounds worth of damage has been caused. There are massive efforts to drain the affected regions at the moment. According to Doncaster's mayor, Martin Winter, the pumps currently installed in Toll Bar are the biggest concentration of their type so far deployed in Britain, and are sucking up the equivalent of a large swimming pool every quarter of an hour. This has seen flood levels at last falling. The floods have worried politicians, and thankfully flood defence budgets are set to rise. The environment secretary, Hilary Benn, told the House of Commons that a budget of £800m for flood defences had been agreed for 2010-11. This is a rise, after previous cuts to the Environment Agency budget. ...

(Video: A very funny TV commercial to encourage energy savings. It is in Spanish, read about the idea and some references below) Usually, crises lead to solutions. This is especially applicable to Argentina: it happened with the economic crisis in 2001, when local design bloomed; and it seems to be happening now, with an energy crisis that has encouraged companies and citizens to embrace measures they would not have other way. On one hand, a presidential resolution forces big companies to cut down 45% of their energy consumption from 4pm to 12am. On the other, the national energy supplier Edenor has carried away a campaign to raise awareness in the citizens. The first measure has created energy saving plans in some of the biggest companies in the country. Automobile company Fiat, for example, has made its employees enter an hour before and leave the building by 4pm, when the energy restrictions begin... Via Clarin...

Though TreeHugger's pro-design, (mostly) pro-product perspective has been misinterpreted by some, we still think it's really important to highlight as much good industrial and product design as we can. Why? Aside from looking really cool, it showcases that there is a better way to do things. Better materials, better manufacturing processes and better designs built to last all add up to a lighter footprint, and that's why we like to train the spotlight on companies like InModern: because they do it better than conventional alternatives. Using FSC-certified birch plywood (finished with non-toxic lacquers) that doesn't employ hardware (bolts, screws, nuts, or even glue) or tools to assemble, it's all manufactured here in the US. They have the beginnings of four different collections so far; the Linear collection (coffee table w/magazine storage is pictured) is the most complete, and they have some good looking stuff in the "coming soon" section of the others ("rekindle", "surfin" and "intown" -- more pics after the jump). We don't recommend that you go out and buy it all right now, or that you put solar panels on your McMansion and call that "green enough", but you should know about InModern and their better, greener way of designing and building furniture. ::InModern via tipster Zach...

Two years ago we reported on Lyon’s city bike hire program. A user pays version of the garishly coloured schemes of similar ilk that have been available in Northern Europe for years. Then we observed London, Paris and Barcelona had rolled out similar programs. (Petz did a recap here). Toronto didn’t want to be outdone, so had the Community Bicycle Network, which ran it’s Yellow Bikes, until operations were suspended this year, though we think the University of Calgary might still have their U-bike program to help Canada save face. Anyhow, New York is itching to get a piece of the action, so this month the Forum For Urban Design, in concert with Storefront for Art and Architecture have organised a “splashy exhibition of European bike-share programs, running a free-bike-rental experiment, and hosting a design charette.” What’s the attraction you might ask. Well, the organising team reckon with the city owning up “that subways are at or above capacity” people might be interested in a scheme that can deliver quick, health-inducing transport that costs less than 50 cents per trip and can be managed via mobile phone calls. Get the the good chain lube beginning Sat 7th through to 11th of July 2007. Just a few days before Paris will apparently launched their new scheme, now with 10,000 bikes at 750 stations. Outplayed by the French? Come on NYers, head along to this important event, and up the ante. ::NY Bike Share. ...

TreeHugger has seen some pretty creative, artful designs that prove that cardboard isn't just for boxes and packing any more; the otto chair, Davidgraas furniture, Light Sleeper and even Bond's Aston Martin DB8 are just a few examples. Add to that list Miss Julia, a Marseille-based graphic artist and designer, who has spent the past few years exploring the multitude of possibilities offered by recycled, recyclable paper product. Using the pliable, lightweight, versatile material, she's created some very fresh, fun designs that have a playful aesthetic without compromising on functionality; being equally interested in graphic design, she's not afraid to give her designs a pop of color or pattern. After the jump: a great bookcase, desk, and a piece inspired by sugar cubes. ::Miss Julia via ::Truc Design and ::MoCo Loco...

According to John's post, coal exec Robert Murray is stomping his little feet and won't play with his Caterpillar monster trucks and is calling anybody who wants to limit coal production "UnAmerican." On the other hand, David Roberts of Grist calls coal "the enemy of the human race" and invites Robert Murray to kiss his ass. On the third hand, GE's dancing lumps sing "I'm clean! I'm clean!"

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Summer time, and the living is easy. Here's an arty and eco-friendly chair to add a cool and sophisticated touch to the patio... The canvas seating has been designed by famous celebrities, of course. The most famous is Damien Hirst of the diamond skull fame, but sorry folks, his is already sold out. Other designers include a chef, a pop group and a t.v. personality. Even though it's unclear what many of them have to do with art and design, the results are quite pleasing. The chair frames are made of sustainable wood and best of all, the proceeds go to the Royal Parks: "buy a deckchair, help a tree". They need the money because "with hotter, drier summers and increasingly unpredictable winters, it is proving harder to establish young trees and to care for existing trees... trees work hard to help clean up the city atmosphere, they provide homes for wildlife and just looking at them makes us all feel better." :: Deckchair Dreams...

It has always been a shining example of silliness that the Hummer and Escalade get a US$25,000 tax break because they are over six thousand pounds and therefore are considered suitable for the farm or construction work. "We're allowing people to buy a huge expensive gas guzzler and get a benefit that was never intended for them," [Rep. Earl] Blumenauer told ABCNEWS.com. So he has proposed legislation to close the loophole. "The purpose initially was to help farmers but the problems grew in how it was being exploited," said Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Tax credits are steroids. If you get a $25,000 tax credit for anything, you can get people to listen to Journey again." Of course, the auto makers and the dealers are opposed. "It's an unwarranted tax increase on small businesses," said Bailey Wood, spokesperson for the National Automobile Dealers Association. Right. I see so many Escalades on farms and construction sites. ::ABC News ...

Dirk Dieter is a multi-talented guy. Not only does he live large in a 250 square-foot house of his own design, but engages in some pretty mean industrial and product design as well. Take his coffee table (pictured above) for example; like many of his designs, it has a small footprint (for smaller spaces) and is made from a flexible recycled paper core that's held in place -- seemingly frozen in time, in the picture -- by a thin lamination. Like many of his pieces, its flexible, versatile and designed to last, and longevity seems to be his calling card when it comes to a design philosophy; as he notes on the site, "a product can be very environmentally conscious, even when it isn't made from natural materials, if it lasts forever because it is useful and durable." After the jump: more pics and details about his work; his towers of power and custom storage work is also worth a peek. ::verb2...

While kids and parents across much of the U.S. are deciding how they can get the most out of summer vacation, there’s a boatload of parents in Paramus, New Jersey who are having their children's blood tested for exposure to dangerous pesticides at West Brook Middle School. And that’s not all, because nearly the entire teaching staff has hired an attorney, blaming autoimmune diseases and other illnesses on the contamination. As one parent put it, "It kind of creeps me out because we just don't know for sure if our kids are safe''. It turns out that she and other parents fear their kid's seizures, aching joints and frequent colds could be linked to soil tainted with pesticides at the school. And while the community is on edge, science isn't providing many answers. It turns out that researchers haven't studied the effects of pesticides on humans, only on animals, and there’s a huge gap in the understanding of the safety of thousands of chemicals we live with every day according to experts. As Dr. Gina Solomon, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council put it, "It's a shocking state of affairs when even the best-tested chemicals out there haven't been tested in a way that we can tell a community what this kind of exposure can do." ...

Mexico's President, Felipe Calderon, declared that his country would plant 250 million trees and the Mexican government launched the Pro Árbol (Pro Tree) Campaign, sponsored by the Chemistry Nobel Prize winner, Mario Molina. The Mexican government will invest more than six billion pesos in 2007 with funds assigned to support nearly 400,000 inhabitants in ejidos and communities. The Pro-Árbol Program will be used to recover deforested areas amd recharge the aquifers. It will focus on four objectives: conservation and restoration, planning and forest organization, production and productivity, and the development of infrastructure, communication and other things required to contribute to sustainable forestry. President Calderón explained that his government had signed an agreement with the United Nations, included in the Millennium Development Goals, pledging to incorporate the principles of sustainable development into national policies and programs and to reduce the loss of environmental resources. Via:: Planeta.com...

"Beijing engineered the removal of nearly a third of a World Bank report on pollution in China because of concerns that findings on premature deaths could provoke “social unrest”. The report, produced in co-operation with Chinese government ministries over several years, found about 750,000 people die prematurely in China each year, mainly from air pollution in large cities. China’s State Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and health ministry asked the World Bank to cut the calculations of premature deaths from the report when a draft was finished last year, according to Bank advisers and Chinese officials." See some of the "lost" details of mortality figures, by category, below the fold....

Alabama is in a drought, and Gov. Bob Riley knows how to solve the problem. Not cloud seeding, and not irrigation, but the power of prayer. He has encouraged people to pray for the following week, in attempt to bring rainfall. "Throughout our history, Alabamians have turned in prayer to God to humbly ask for his blessings and to hold us steady during times of difficulty. This drought is without question a time of great difficulty." The solution is likely to work, or at least appear to, as weather forecasters have said that rain is likely at the weekend anyway. Roger McNeil, of the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said scattered showers are probable on Saturday and Sunday, but that it wouldn't be heavy enough to irrigate the land. It can't hurt, so it's logically a good move. However, it is a little politically incorrect to focus on only one belief system, so I suggest that the Governor also encourage people to perform rain dances. ::AL See also ::Solar Pope ::Bishop of London: Contributing to Climate Change is a Sin...

For the month of July, "SUV-driving, multipack-smoking and big-meat-eating blogger" Josh May, 32, will shelve his non-green lifestyle and shack up in an all-green East Hampton house, as part of an initiative dubbed Project GreenHouse Hamptons. May is the mind behind Plum Hamptons, which offers local information on the region, ranging from grilling tips to traffic reports. "I'm terrified," says May. "I'm nervous about quitting smoking and not having any cheeseburgers and having to bike myself to the store and thinking about what can I get at the store." As part of the project, May will be punished for straying from his new eco path--for each fall off the wagon (one puff of a cigarette, for example) he must dig a hole and plant a tree. Owned and designed by architect Edvin Karl Stromsten, the house is 90-percent sustainable and filled to the brim with eco-friendly furnishings. via ::Newsday ::Plum Hamptons More information on eco living: ::Interview with Danny Seo: Eco-Living Consultant to the Stars ::Eco-Living in NYC at The Solaire ::Lifegate: Eco-Living Italian Style Image courtesy of Newsday....

Because ‘the global market for sustainable technologies is set to grow to $700 billion by 2010’ and ‘Walmart, Tesco and Marks & Spencer are implementing high profile eco-innovation programmes’, the Centre for Sustainable Design have set up the eco-i net. It’s a UK-based network for eco-innovation directed by professor Martin Charter. Their mission is to ‘support the creation, research, development and commercialisation of existing and new eco-innovative products, services and technologies working across the full innovation cycle’. To get started, you can find extensive information on burning subjects like Cleantech, low carbon technologies and sustainable building technologies on their web site. Plus you can sign up for free to their e-group here, to share and receive emails with all the other members (already 230 in 6 weeks). If you’d like to get deeper involved, eco-I net have a ‘unique back-office called the Green Think!Lab, a place for all those innovative eco ideas from inventors, researchers, entrepreneurs, designers and companies. We certainly keep watching this space. ::eco-i net...

We mentioned Louis Palmer a couple of weeks ago. He's the Swiss teacher who aims to drive around the world in a solar taxi he has built himself. Today he's setting off on his epic journey, which will take him 50,000 km through 50 countries. Again, if you are willing to help, then get in touch with the group. They're looking to arrange visits on their travels. "Organise our visit in your town! We are looking for organisors and people who help us when we arrive. Give us a place to stay, organise the media, organise a school in your neighbourhood that we can visit or come to one of our events! Send us your idea before you start doing anything. We are looking forward to hearing from you!" The video above is in Swiss-German, but it gives you a really good look at the car. We'll keep you up to date with progress as the project continues, and wish them the very best of luck. ::AutoBlogGreen...

Unbelievably low-rate leasing on cars, unlimited mileage, extra cell-phones, new laptops and free electricity for the entire family. If you work at a high-tech company in Israel, or for the electric company, these are just a few of the perks you might be offered. This got us thinking, how much do job perks sway a person away from making green choices? Many high-tech companies in Israel want to be positioned close to the country’s economic heart in Tel Aviv, but with skyrocketing rents, most move outside the city to the suburbs. The way companies lure in prospective workers, who might otherwise rely on public transportation, is by offering them good deals on cars. ...

McDonald's, in an ongoing push to change their environmental image (see previous posts and TreeHugger TV episodes), is beginning to use its cooking oil for biodiesel in the UK. Their fleet of diesel delivery trucks will go from a 95/5 mixture of diesel to biodiesel to a 85/15 blend of biodiesel to rapeseed oil. All in all, 115 of the company's delivery trucks will use the new biodiesel blend, with approximately 6 million liters of biodiesel replacing traditional diesel fuel. Although we have seen individual franchisees take on cooking oil as biodiesel, we are very glad to see the parent corporations taking notice as well. Via:: Financial Times ...

While not necessarily the most glamorous-sounding research topic, the expedition that Queen's University graduate student Bryson Robertson is getting ready to embark on should provide some much-needed information about the health of coral reefs and the extent to which our oceans are being littered with trash. Yes, you heard that correctly: Bryson left yesterday, July 1, with some friends to begin a three-year journey during which he will mostly be documenting the presence of garbage both in the sea and washed up on beaches. Conducted through the Queen's Center for Water and the Environment (CWE), the OceanGybe Global Research and Outreach Expedition will, in addition to measuring marine pollution, use modeling to study the effects of bathymetry (ocean topography) on the breaking characteristics of swells. Through his trip, Robertson hopes to help raise awareness about the deteriorating conditions of the world's oceans and to encourage global action to work towards a more environmentally friendly, sustainable future....

As we've already mentioned several times before on this site, though we think carbon offsetting can be a positive first step in working to reduce one's carbon footprint, by no means do we consider it an end-all solution. This also seems to be the conclusion drawn by Katherine Ellison in a thoughtful Salon piece in which she describes her own personal journey into the carbon offsetting industry. Though her article centers primarily around her investigation of the unregulated "voluntary carbon credit market" and, in particular, her dissatisfaction with a plan offered by PG&E (full disclosure: they have been a TreeHugger sponsor in the past), her local utility (according to her, the money wasn't being put to good use), she spends some time describing several other interesting new initiatives. ...

Although Nissan has been lagging behind Honda and Toyota in the hybrid-tech race, an all-electric Nissan car by 2010 may not be completely far-fetched. Carlos Ghosn, the company's CEO, told reporters last week that Nissan was hard at work developing the next generation of smaller, lighter auto batteries, which bodes well for hybrids and electric cars alike....

The beat goes on in The TreeHugger Forums, with a small explosion over the Vegan-Hummer vs. Omnivore-Hybrid debate we covered last week (let's keep it civilized, folks. We're all playing for the same team here). Aside from that, there's lots of worthwhile discussion and important issues being discussed; remember, you can register (it's free!), log in and add your thoughts to any and all topics. Some highlights from the past few days are below...

	1) User gizzigoo is looking for some clarification when it comes to genetically-modified foods and organisms. "I thought I had a reasonable understanding of this topic, I have followed it through from the controversial beginning till now and as far as I know I have avoided GM foods. This was the statement that made me stop and think about this: 'We have to remeber [sic] that GM's were the start of the green revolution...'" Hmm. Thoughts?
	2) User Collin McConville puts the forum polls to work, asking, "Should the American Government increase minimium [sic] fuel efficency [sic]?" While the majority of poll voters seem to be coming down on one side (guess which one...), there's lots to talk about when it comes to the international geopolitics of selling cars and whether or not CAFE standards will ever really make a difference in the US. Discuss...
	3) JiltedCitizen wonders "Why do vegetarians feel the need to fake meat? If they don't eat meat why fake eating it? Why all the veggie burgers, fake hot dogs, etc etc etc. There has to be a better way to prepare the same ingredients. Is it a social thing? Don't want to be different?" Anyone of the vegetarian persuasion care to weigh in? More good discussion after the jump...

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Java jacket, sleeve, hot holder: call 'em what you will, but those things are everywhere. While we'd prefer that everyone used a travel mug all of the time, TreeHugger acknowledges that there are circumstances under which carrying a mug around is just not very plausible. For those moments, we'd love to see something like “Change” by Chun-Chia Hsu. Embracing the duality of drinking, the corrugated shape of the sleeve allows the inner circumference to collapse in on itself, essentially becoming a flat surface and the perfect coaster for a cold drink (or for when your coffee cools down a bit). As if the dual functionality wasn't enough, Hsu does it all with 100% recycled (and recyclable) cardboard. Hit the jump for another pic, via ::Yanko Design...

Always on the lookout for cool things, Treehugger offers this alternative to air conditioning your bedroom: Kuchofuku' air conditioned bed. Using extremely quiet dual-fans at the foot of the bed, cool air is pulled in from behind your head and circulated through the soft membrane which also acts as an air-cushion to support you. It is "extremely ecological"- using less than $ 0.24 worth of power per month. ...

Greg Kolodziejzyk is pretty hardcore. Not content with one record, after pedaling 650 miles in 24 hours about this time last year in his "bullet on wheels" recumbent bicycle, he went after the same record for a human-powered boat. After 24 hours over this last weekend, chugging away on the converted kayak, he set a new record of 173 kilometers (about 107 miles, eclipsing the old mark of 168 km). He survived some pretty severe physical stress, a badly upset stomach and a series of bat attacks to churn out an average of between eight and nine km/hour and about 150 watts of power...amazing! Next on his list: a multi-day family camping trip (by boat) to Vancouver Island. Congratulations and good luck, Greg! Check out more pics and stats after the jump; read the blow-by-blow account at ::Adventures of Greg....

GM has created four short movies to highlight what they are doing to green their operations. They’re on various topics, and some are more interesting than others, but it’s nice to see them making an effort. Perhaps they should stick to making cars, and leave films to someone else. One video shows how they have achieved LEED gold certification on one of their new factories, the Delta Lansing Township Assembly Plant. Things like good insulation, solar panels and natural light have been used to cut the power demands of the facility. However, in the same video where they are proudly talking about saving water by installing new toilet cisterns, there are hundreds of SUVs rolling off the production line. The company may be doing what they can with green architecture, but you must remember the purpose of that building. Nevertheless, it’s an impressive sight – GM has one plant that has its own 1 megawatt solar power plant....

This Saturday, the world will be watching the Live Earth concerts. Many of us will watch the event on television, but five entrants in MSN and Treehugger's "Green Theatre" contest will be watching a live show. Our panel of judges have cast their votes, and we're pleased to announce the five winners of tickets, travel, accommodations and spending money for Live Earth. The envelope, please...

Video: Reel Mowers Cut Down Pollution

Colin M's "Reel Mowers Cut Down Pollution" was the judges' overall favorite. Colin's eight-year-old son Garrick explains why reel lawn mowers are the climate-friendly choice for cutting the grass.

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This week is Carnival of the Green # 84 and it's being hosted by Bean Sprouts, a family's search for the good life. So, head on over to this week's Carnival to check out a round up of last week's green news and events, submitted by other bloggers and green sites. To learn more about Carnival of the Green, where it will be and how to host (hurry, we're now booking into 2008!), please click here to link to our previous post....

185,000 gallons of alcohol were confiscated at the Swedish border last year, and authorities have an interesting use for it. They turned most of it into fuel for the public transport network. This may sound very clever, until you hear what they used to do with it, "We used to just pour it down the drain, but because of the increased volumes we had to look around for new solutions," said customs spokeswoman, Ingrid Jerlebrink. As clever as the new solution is, you have to question the intelligence of an organisation that would annually destroy 185,000 gallons of booze, especially in a country where you have to take out a bank loan to buy a beer....

Lifehacker is full of tips for making your life easier, usually related to computers. One recent post we loved lists ten do-it-yourself projects to "reduce clutter and organize the cables, gadgets and office supplies in your workspace." Some of them are so minimalist and clever, like the wine cork laptop stand or the binder clip cable catcher. Others demonstrate mad skilz in organization like the pegboard gadget mount; Some are clunky and ugly but just do the job, like the PVC pipe monitor riser. Learn how to use less to do more at ::Lifehacker ...

When we were kids there was this playground taunt...when one kid called another a "name," the response was he who says it, is it...that came to mind on reading of the name calling that surfaced at a recent coal industry conference. But the future of the earth is no school yard game. And infighting based on environmental principles, is something that until now seemed to have been restrained to we greens. So, something big must be happening with US industry. "...Robert Murray, chairman and chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., warned the coal industry could collapse with the loss of 3 million to 4 million jobs if carbon dioxide emission controls are introduced. He has even put his money where his mouth is by refusing to do business with Caterpillar Inc. -- a manufacturer of the very mining equipment his company needs. "There are a number of companies that are promoting constraints on coal use to achieve greater profits and/or competitive advantages," Murray said at the coal conference. He branded more than 20 major corporations that make up the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) "un-American" for allying with environmental groups he calls "enemies of coal." Via: Reuters UK, Top Coal Companies Label Other U.S. Industries "Un-American" Image credit:: Cinergy See also:-Obama Refines His Position on Coal...

The Live Earth countdown is in its final days (the concerts are this Saturday, July 7), but before Madonna performs her new song or Spinal Tap and the rest of the headliners inspire headbanging and other consciousness-raising behavior on all seven continents, Al Gore wants to talk global warming with you. In an exclusive webcast at 1:30 pm Eastern time on July 5 (that's this Thursday!) moderated by TreeHugger's green media maven, Simran Sethi, Gore will answer reader-submitted questions about the climate crisis. "Whether you have questions on how to make your home more green or how to make small, yet effective, changes to your daily routine, Gore will offer simple tips and tricks you can start using immediately." Go to liveearth.msn.com to learn more, including how to submit your burning questions, and stay tuned for the results on Thursday. ::Live Earth on MSN...

In the Royal College of Art show Bonnie covered here, graduate Greetje van Helmond "deals with issues of durability and resource consumption, deliberately using a basic material to create precious, but extremely fragile, objects." She notes: "In present day life we can say that we consume a lot. Durable materials are often used for the production of goods that are typically replaced or thrown away quickly. Contrary to this I use everyday, basic materials to create products that appear valuable and sustainable. Because of the materials I use, the products won’t last long, but long enough to stay “new”. In one project, I create jewellery out of sugar. Sugar has the quality of growing into crystals under special circumstances. By controlling the process I allow crystals to grow around strings to form accessories."...

The CTC, the UK's national cyclists' organisation, has made the above short film to promote cycling. Watch an attractive siren slip into some lycra and lure a group of Londoners up a mountain in the middle of nowhere. It's an odd pied piper type scenario, but with bikes. Hey, if it encourages more cyclists though, then fair play. The good news is that the CTC are giving away a £1500 ($3000) bike to the winner of a short film competition. £1500 is a lot of bike....

I remember the jingle on the radio when I was a kid: "Live better electrically!" promoting the cleanliness and safety of the all-electric home. The wonderful all-electric world never quite worked out as the costs of electricity went through the roof; it is inherently inefficient to burn fuel for heat to make electricity, transport it long distances and then convert it back to heat. However In Japan, homeowners are rushing for the convenience of the all-electric home as the population ages. "Electricity is safe, comfortable and clean," said Ken Hasegawa, manager at commodities futures broker Himawari CX. "Driving to gas stations to buy kerosene and returning home is not easy if you're over 60." A combination of more efficient cars, shrinking population and increasing use of electricity is leading to a significant reduction in oil imports. The flip side, of course, is an increase in electricity demand; coal consumption has doubled in the last five years to meet it. But you can't burn coal at home; it has to be centralized. Will "live better electrically" jingles be heard again over here as energy security trumps global warming? ::Reuters...

TreeHugger generally doesn't like to promote individual passenger car use, since there are so many other forms of transportation that are so much more efficient. However, we do try to embrace relativism and remain realistic about our current habits as humans (as relatively dirty and "so 20th century" as they may be). When it comes to one of these habits -- piloting our own cars -- we encourage folks to reduce as much as possible, and want to help make the rest of your use as green as possible. To this end, we have some help (in the UK, at least), from LowCVP. After challenging marketing agencies and educational organizations to develop an effective marketing campaign or execution based on "real world" low carbon issues, LowCVP, the UK-based Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (we've mentioned them before), announced the winners of their "Cars NOT Carbon" marketing competition last week....

Usually an ear-splitting noise anounces the movement of any cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In this video though, the Tesla Roadster shows the only downside to driving an electric car; you may get instant pick-up and bags of torque, but people can't hear you coming. Knowing this, the desginers should have fitted a slightly less embarassing horn....

The new Facebook applications feature allows people to add all sorts of functions to the website. One interesting one that we've seen is the Carpooling add-on. Users can post their journeys, where they become searchable. People can then get in contact and arrange car-shares. Rodney Rumford from FaceReviews, said, "I spoke with the developers tonight and they informed me that the application works not only in the US, but in Canada and England as well. Smart! It also ties into your myspace account as an option. There are even more enhancements on the board that will be released in the near future. If you are into carpooling, this is application right up your alley, so give it a try." ...

TreeHugger thinks the notion that design can leverage positive change is a really important one. We want the world to be less reactive and more proactive; if we can help them think about how to incorporate Cradle-to-Cradle-esque design components, source greener materials, and reduce the impact of manufacturing, we'll be making progress toward a solutions-focused, greener world; this is something we've touched on before, with design challenges here and here. Ah, but the great designer's dilemma: each new design means more stuff and (usually) more waste, something which none of us want. In an attempt to address and curb the vicious cycle of disposability and waste, the folks at frog design, in their latest DesignMind newsletter, announce a "Kyoto Treaty of Design", a "call to arms for the creative community around environmental stewardship". Why? ...

One of the biggest problems with offsetting is ensuring 'additionality' – proving that the offsets that you are buying in order to counterbalance your carbon emissions would not have happened without yours and other similar contributions. Often the projects sound intrinsically worthwhile – protecting threatened original forest, supporting conversion to renewable energy, installing low energy light bulbs, etc. - and sometimes it is hard not to have a sneaking suspicion that they would have been done irrespective of the offset schemes. And if that is the case, someone is profiting from your good intentions, and it isn't Mother Earth....

We often talk about the benefits of density, the efficiency of cities, where you can do more while using less energy. Fast Company magazine says "For all the challenges cities face--congestion, crime, crumbling infrastructure, environmental decay, plus occasional issues with basic civility--they are still where jobs and youth gather, where energy begets even greater energy, where talent masses and collides."In a world where we can now work anywhere, we're tending to concentrate in fewer and fewer places," says Carol Colletta, president of CEOs for Cities, an advocacy group. "Smart people are choosing to live near smart people." The four green leaders are Chicago (Second to whom? Mayor Richard Daley has overseen a downtown renaissance and the planting of 500,000 new trees), Stockholm (Home to almost 2,500 green-sector companies and powered by the research output of its Karolinska, Beijer, and IVL institutes, Stockholm is the fuel cell under the hood of a country that aims to be oil-free by 2010.), Portland, Oregon (Three decades ago, Portland became a case study on how to stuff sprawl when it enacted strict limits on urban growth.) and Vancouver, Canada.(The dual goal: to build sustainable neighborhoods with the scale to make green energy technologies affordable and to preserve surrounding forest and mountain ecosystems.) ::Fast Company...

Etsy and Instructables have partnered for their 'Sew Useful' contest. Etsy is a marketplace for independent artists and craftspeople and Instructables is a web community of makers who share their how-to's, visiting both sites are an excellent way to get into the handmade craze, either by doing or buying others creations ... Entering this contest is a great way to live the handmade lifestyle and sharpen your competitive edge. Contest closing date is July 16, 2007 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, there are prizes for the winner and Etsy will donate $1 per entry to the One Laptop Per Child project read more about the $100 laptop project here, here and here. ::Etsy ::Instructables ::Via Whipup ::Contest page...

The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Sao Paulo University (IEA) and the Brazilian Sciences Academy will try to gather the private, academic and civil society actors “in the search to better understand and establish synergies and associations to obtain scientific, technological, commercially sustainable and socially correct solutions” to the global climate changes that are taking place in the world. The ambitious goal will be targeted during the III Regional Conference on Global Change: South America, which will take place next November 4th to 8th in the Blue Tree Convention Center located in the Ibirapuera area in Sao Paulo, Brazil (still open for papers submission, see in the extended). Some themes to be discussed will be: ...

Gordon Brown, the new British Prime Minister who replaced Tony Blair last week, has made some significant green moves in his previous role as chancellor. Nevertheless, he has also faced the wrath of green groups a number of times, most notably for not doing enough to tackle the growth in aviation. So environmentalists will be watching carefully how the new Prime Minister tackles the growing challenges of climate change and energy security. Dale Vince, one of the UK’s leading developers of renewable energy (who we interviewed here) , took the opportunity last week to lay down the gauntlet for Mr Brown, taking out a full page advert in the Guardian on the day Tony Blair stepped down. The ad featured a green Union Jack flag which Dale called on the nation to adopt as a national symbol of positive change:

“The New Green Union Jack symbolises that change; a change in attitude, a positive new green energy ambition, and a new unity. Britain can come together if we focus on our common cause, it's called climate change. We love the old Jack, this is more about activism, it's about refocusing ourselves on the future and taking positive action to make sure we have one."

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Ever wondered how challenging the world of operating a school district can legally get? Well I’m pretty sure it can be tough to do, but this certainly looks like a positive development to me… Led by Representative Leach, the Pennsylvania House of Reps. recently passed legislation that would give school incentives that can help them construct cleaner and more efficient LEED buildings by forgoing some state-imposed cost restrictions when building environmentally friendly school buildings. What’s the issue? Well, consider the case of a school board in that state who wants to build to LEED standards but currently runs up against a Pennsylvania law, Act 34, which is commonly referred to as the “Taj Mahal Act”. Intended to stop outlandish building projects, it requires local school boards to receive voter approval before building excessively expensive schools. It only applies when a school district attempts to receive partial reimbursement from the state for construction costs, but a referendum is triggered if they’re spending more than allowed under a state formula, which takes into consideration the number of students and the proposed size of the school. It sounds logical, but the real-world implication for school districts, however, is that referendums cost a ton of cash to hold, so in practice they never actually hold one, and just choose to build smaller buildings instead. And that effectively caps school spending on building projects in the process. ...

Companies have often gone to great lengths to exploit widely held consumer beliefs, however misguided, and translate them into higher profit margins. In recent years, we have seen efforts by firms operating in a variety of industries, ranging from the food industry (see latest non-fat/vitamin enriched/sugar-free/etc fad) to the cookware industry (see a recent post on the Teflon pan/PFOA exposure myth here), to capitalize on some of these misperceptions by airing and marketing them. One such misperception that has managed to persist in the public domain over the last few years is the perceived carcinogenic risk posed by sodium lauryl sulfate, a chemical commonly found in beauty care products. Despite strong evidence to the contrary, including an article published by the American Cancer Society definitively positing no link between SLS and cancer, this urban legend remains ingrained in many consumers' minds. We decided to go on our own little fact-finding expedition to get to the bottom of this widely-held myth....

The long term result of extreme drought is desert. When arid land, once productive for grazing or agriculture, becomes desert, rural people move on. They might go to the city, as some have to Nouakchott, Capital of Mauritania and one of the larger cities at the edge of the Sahara (pictured in satellite image) . Climate-driven dislocations stem from, and symbolize, risks of a more rapidly changing climate. All that is left to discuss is the role of humans in driving that change. Whether accomplished locally, by logging, overgrazing or excessive groundwater withdrawals, globally by C02 emissions, or universally by solar cycles, or all of the above, we'll set that debate aside for the experts....

Here's another choice for gardeners without gardens: living salad. Fresh salad greens taste so, well, fresh and tasty and are full of vitamins. These little trays contain baby salad leaves that will grow on the windowsill. You can cut them off for dinner, and they will grow again. Each pack contains a very exotic selection: red chard, rocket, pak choi and chinese cabbage. They last ten days and seem to be organic. There are no pesticides and you definitely know how old they are. Plus no more plastic bags of lettuce, and not so many food miles. Just don't plan on using them for a large dinner party. :: Living Salads ...

In a recent post we noted that fireworks "are often propelled by gunpowder, and the accelerants and heavy metals used for coloration can leave traces in the air and water for days or even weeks after the party is over." and "fireworks heavily contribute to perchlorate contamination of surrounding water bodies." The commenters suggested that we "Lighten up, killjoys - it's just once a year" and "'Greens' are always accused of wanting to go back to the dark ages" In an earlier post Jilted said "Once again treehuggers show how incredibly boring they are." Matthew has noted that some companies are trying to make greener fireworks. Is that another option?

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"The president of OPEC said Wednesday that repeated calls by industrialized countries to reduce dependence on oil could lead to a reduction in supplies from the cartel. ‘‘Today’s policy announcements could translate into scarcity of supplies in the future,’’ Mohamed Al Hamli, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said at an energy conference. He noted that OPEC is made up of developing nations with limited resources, and it would be a ‘‘waste of badly needed funds’’ to invest heavily in oil production if demand is unclear." What a clever man. He's figured out the general idea behind OPEC customers seeking more efficient vehicles and increased reliance on renewable power. Must be why they made him OPEC President. ...

Industrial designer Dirk Dieter lives in a 250 square foot house that probably was originally a warming shed for local fishermen. "This house has an interesting history of people who lived here, trying to live very humbly and inexpensively," Dieter, 47, said as he guided an understandably short tour of the property. He has opened it up inside, added all of 20 square feet plus a garage. He lists a number of tricks for designing for small spaces: ...

It's a commonly accepted fact in evolutionary biology that more genetically diverse populations will have a better chance of adapting to and thriving under varying climate regimes than will inbred, genetically poor ones. With global warming likely to become an increasing threat to the livelihoods of many species, scientists believe the best way to help them survive is by giving them the means to move around, breed and multiply with ease. This is in essence the purpose of "biological" or "wildlife corridors," which are tracts of wilderness connecting geographically distinct areas that are designed to facilitate the movement of wildlife from one ecosystem to another as the climate changes. A species suffering under the combined pressures of changes brought about by global warming could more easily move to a more accommodating region where it would presumably have a better chance of breeding and reproducing, thus ensuring its survival. ...

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. ...

Jerry Stifelman is founder and creative director of The Change, a good-for-the-world brand strategy and design agency. Between 1993 and 2004, Jerry worked as a brand strategist, creative director and writer for leading brands, including MTV, Banana Republic, DKNY, Mountain Dew, Sprite, Chrysler, Jeep, Sun Microsystems, Puma and Reebok. After a decade in this traditional advertising biz, Jerry, convinced that the truth is your best tool, took his talents and skills to the more sustainable and greener side of marketing where he could work with good-for-the-world brands as well as justice-seeking, environmental and world-changing organizations. When he's not writing, he spends his time mingling and speaking at Green festivals and conferences and can often be seen around Chapel Hill, North Carolina in his utilikilt....

A second home, complete with solar panels and constructed with salvaged lumber, in Edgartown, Mass.; Rick Friedman for The New York Times The New York Times parodies the eco-lifestyle: "Roll out from under the sumptuous hemp-fiber sheets on your bed in the morning and pull on a pair of $245 organic cotton Levi’s and an Armani biodegradable knit shirt. Stroll from the bedroom in your eco-McMansion, with its photovoltaic solar panels, into the kitchen remodeled with reclaimed lumber. Enter the three-car garage lighted by energy-sipping fluorescent bulbs and slip behind the wheel of your $104,000 Lexus hybrid." It continues from there to criticize those who buy green products as being deluded and doing nothing for the environment. “There is a very common mind-set right now which holds that all that we’re going to need to do to avert the large-scale planetary catastrophes upon us is make slightly different shopping decisions,” said Alex Steffen of Worldchanging. ...

A strange, previously unknown breed of cloud, dubbed "night-shining" or "noctilucent" because of its glowing appearance, was observed in late May for the first time in the polar regions by a new NASA satellite, the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere satellite. The clouds appear to be moving, but scientists so far know little about their origin and significance. "It is clear that these clouds are changing, a sign that a part of our atmosphere is changing and we do not understand how, why or what it means," said atmospheric scientist James Russell III of Hampton University. "These observations suggest a connection with global change in the lower atmosphere and could represent an early warning that our Earth environment is being changed." ...

Many of us have heard the grumbling about "Inconvenient Truth," that it well outlines the problem with Climate Change in highly consumable style, but proposes nothing in the way of a solution. Mr Gore has just published an extensive op. ed. piece in the New York Times. In the last half, he outlines the 'only approach that will work.' Highlights of the solution, from Moving Beyond Kyoto, are below the fold....

Reggie Willits is now the leadoff hitter for the Los Angeles Angels, but three years ago he was a poor minor leaguer trying to build a house for his family. He built a shed for a batting cage first and to save money, they moved right in. From the outside, it looks like a warehouse, 60 feet long and 32 feet wide. But inside, it has everything a baseball family would ever need: a place to eat, sleep and hit. When he wants to bat, he just pushes aside the sofas, gets his wife and kid to feed the balls into the machine and whacks away. According to the New York Times, he credits his emergence, at least in part, to the cage he calls home. While other players travel long distances to workout centers in the off-season, Willits merely has to roll out of bed and start taking his hacks. So kids, live/work not only saves energy and resources, its your ticket to the show. ::New York Times ...

Car sharing clubs are taking off big time. They offer a convenient, flexible and economical alternative to car ownership, and can significantly reduce the number of cars on the road, as well as miles travelled. We’ve previously covered our pick of car sharing services here. Now we read in the UK’s Independent newspaper a report that Streetcar, one of the country’s leading car sharing clubs (which we also featured here), has signed a deal with Network Rail, the company that operates the UK’s railway infrastructure. The collaboration should provide even more options for sustainable mobility to Streetcar’s 15,000 members. Andrew Valentine, managing director of Streetcar, explained that they believe “combining car clubs with the public transport network is the key to getting more cars off the roads at peak travel times." ::via The Independent:: ...

Two years ago, the Berlin Senate decided that bikes should make up 15% of city traffic by the year 2010. Results released from the newest traffic study of the Berlin Development Administration show that the goal could be reached early: the number of bicyclists has more than doubled in the last decade to 400,000 riders daily, accounting for 12% of total traffic. Some attribute the gain to habits formed after measures that encouraged bicycling during the 2006 Football (soccer) World Cup. High gas prices undoubtedly also play a part. But a clever investment strategy in biking infrastructure is more likely the primary facilitator of the migration to human powered vehicles. ...

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