- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part one)
- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part two)
- Vinay Gupta
- Alyce Santoro
- Mathis Wackernagel
- Tom Price
- Martha Marks
- Paul Hawken
- David Suzuki
- Wal-Mart's Green Gurus
- Alisa Smith and James Mackinnon, authors of Plenty
- Bob Perkowitz of ecoAmerica
- Ed Begley Jr.
- The Weather Channel's Dr. Heidi Cullen
Entries for July 1, 2007 - July 7, 2007
Total this week: 177
Enertia Electric Motorcycle To Hit Stores In Early 2008
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 07. 7.07
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....
How NOT to Build Green
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 7.07
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"). ...
Source Toothbrush
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 7.07
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...
Detroit Area Congressman Lofting Fake Trial Balloon For Carbon Tax
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07. 7.07
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....
Prioritizing Funding: AIDS or Global Warming?
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 7.07
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....
Book Review: Small Living
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 7.07
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...
Nanospheres to Revolutionize Biodiesel Production?
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 7.07
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. ...
Domus Design Collection's Alto Table Transforms with a Flip
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 07. 7.07
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...
This Month in Dwell: July/August
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 7.07
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...
Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance: The Good Guys Fight Back
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 07. 7.07
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: ...
Green Transport Specialist Bans Employees from Bikes
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 07. 7.07
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?...
This Month in Architectural Record: July
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 7.07
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...
Southern Style Icelandic Chinese Polluted FDA Embargoed Catfish
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07. 7.07
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."
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Thousand Year Bloom: At the Taipei Biennial
by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 07. 7.07
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....
Live Earth: We Love Hippies But... (NRDC Video with TreeHugger Founder Graham Hill)
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 07. 7.07
Prius + Al Gore III: You Can Get Arrested in this Town
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 07. 6.07
Going Solar in Space
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Join the online Zerofootprint Party During Live Earth
by Ron Dembo, Zerofootprint on 07. 6.07
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....
More Damming Evidence in India: Dams Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 07. 6.07
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 - The Movie
by Neil Chambers, New York City on 07. 6.07
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.
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Is Live Earth Rio On or Off?
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 07. 6.07
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...
Power from 'Ambient Vibes'
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 6.07
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."...
Endangered Species List is Itself Endangered
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 6.07
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." ...
Free Energy is a Myth
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 6.07
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."...
Greenwash Watch: Loblaws: Go Green and Mean It
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Human Electric Power Suit Needed
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 6.07
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....
Rockin' on with Rockwool!
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 07. 6.07
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...
Alé - Fewer Wheels, Fewer Fill-ups
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 6.07
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.
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The Live Earth From Israel?
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 07. 6.07
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....
Survey: Will Live Earth Hurt the Planet More than Help?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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.
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Picnic Green Challenge: It's Time To Act
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Topoware: Eating is a Journey
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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."...
Don't Touch Those Trees You TreeHuggers!
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07. 6.07
'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...
Recipe of the Week : Get out of the Kitchen! Two Quick and Easy Salads
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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....
Green Rallying, On The Cheap
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 6.07
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."
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Eco-Running: First Step of a Long Journey
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 07. 6.07
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....
Boring Post on Recycling Fluorescents
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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
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Bamboo Shirt Secures Eco Beachhead for White Sierra
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 07. 6.07
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....
Times a Million: Seth Godin on Getting the Message Out
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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.
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From £1 Million Racers to £5,000 Commuters
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 6.07
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...
Barclaycard Breathe: Credit Card Offers Free Solar for Schools
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Less Is More: Yotel'sTiny Hotel Rooms
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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.
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MrSmith Goes to Dimmable LED Lamp..ington
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 07. 6.07
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
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Ecoigo - Another Smooth Green Ride in London
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Food Education for Kids in Japan a Hot Topic
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Solar Powered WiFi Bionic Turtles Lurking in Swamp
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
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.
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Hampton Court Flower Show: Wet and Green
by Bonnie Alter, London on 07. 6.07
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. ...
Oh The iPhone, Oh The Abuse
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 07. 6.07
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
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All-Nighter PCs Cost U.S. Businesses $1.7 Billion
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 07. 6.07
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....
Ask the EcoGeek: Muscle Power
by EcoGeek.org on 07. 5.07
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....
Design Will Save the World (but This T-Shirt Will Not)
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 07. 5.07
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...
Most Huggable: Debating Mars’ Warming, Market Watch Grills de Rothschild, and Cooler Summer Kitchens
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 07. 5.07
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? ...
Department of Transportation Tried Blocking California's GHG Cap Legislation
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07. 5.07
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....
130 MegaWatt Wind Park For Turkey
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 07. 5.07
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.
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Tough Love: Cube Cabinet by Pieter Maes
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 07. 5.07
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...
Adapter Concept Saves Power, Looks Awesome
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 5.07
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....
George Bush on Car Pools
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 5.07
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 Ampere Strikes Back
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 07. 5.07
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 b