"If you anthropomorphize a little bit, these trees are not dumb. They’ve been living here tens of millions of years. If you’re designing trees to live, make sure that they could survive. Make them take advantage of that sunlight," Saleska explained.

-- Use only woods certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and local area beetle-kill Lodgepole pine trees in building construction. A Vail Valley company is currently working with the U.S. Forest Service to establish a procedure for reclaiming the dying trees to be used in the project. Wherever possible, the Company will purchase and incorporate local and regional "green" materials for construction.

"People have an aversion to dealing with our own waste, but this type of toilet uses far less water and makes far fewer demands on our resources. There's work to be done educating people about how compost toilets work and the benefits, but there should be financial incentives and effort made to implement this concept."

“Anyone interested in today’s oil industry (or according to Mary Roach, anyone who drives a car), should read this book. It’s not an energy book. It’s more of a travel book, which starts in a California gas station, and circles the globe in a search for an explanation of where a gallon of gas comes from. Margonelli’s writing is magnetic. The reason this book took me so long to read is because I did not want to miss a word.”

With the plethora of newsprint and commentary about climate change in the last couple of years, reflecting its meteoric rise up the political and media agenda, it is perhaps little surprise that these green buzzwords have entered the lexicon. So next time someone looks at me blankly when I tell them their Chelsea tractor is increasing their carbon footprint, I can add "A large, four-wheel-drive vehicle used in urban areas" is causing a rise in "the amount of carbon dioxide emitted due to the activities, especially the consumption of fossil fuels, of a particular person"(i.e.you).

"(Green priorities) will absolutely soon be the norm because we can't carry on as a world without making some serious changes. That's not preachy, that's reality."

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.

From Miami to Munich, hundreds of urban planners and environmental activists plan today to set up tiny "parks" in metered parking spaces -- installing everything from lawn chairs and palm trees to beauty salons and self-service lemonade stands. It's an effort to raise awareness about the lack of open public space in urban areas, and to draw attention to the gas wasted and pollution created by drivers circling the block for low-cost curbside parking spaces. PARK(ing) Day organizers are bracing for angry merchants, frustrated drivers -- and in some cities, parking tickets.

Most Best Buys and [new] bank branches, are located in strip malls with seas of impervious parking lots that are accessible only by car. This phenomenon - where green buildings are located in unsustainable contexts - can be called "green sprawl. Green sprawl presents several problems: it justifies the continued development on the periphery, perpetuates reliance on overburdened infrastructures and misses the opportunity to build in a sustainable manner."

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai is a celebrated political activist, feminist, and environmentalist. She is the founder of the Green Belt Movement, an environmental group in Kenya that has restored indigenous forests and assisted rural women by paying them to plant trees in their communities. Since 1977, it has planted more than 30 million trees in Kenya and been replicated in dozens of other African countries. Maathai is currently Kenya's Deputy Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources and a Member of Parliament.

"I firmly believe that we can achieve sustainability in the built environment through adaptive reuse, recycling and construction efficiency, and in this way, we can improve the quality of life in our communities and provide affordable, healthy and inspired environments."

Traffic congestion continues to worsen in American cities of all sizes, creating a $78 billion annual drain on the U.S. economy in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel—that's 105 million weeks of vacation and 58 fully-loaded supertankers.

"Pennsylvania calls putting fly ash waste from coal-fired power plants into abandoned coal mines a "beneficial use," but a coalition of national environmental groups has issued a report showing the widespread practice does much more harm than good."

“They’re like Segways, but without all that silly safety stuff. I bought two cheap ones off eBay for about $40 each and tried them out. They were fun and worked well for getting around campus, so when I moved to Boston and got rid of my car, I bought a nice one from Exkate for $330 — the Raptor 3.0 model (I swear I didn’t pick it because of the name. They’re just everywhere!). It has a 10-mile range, travels pretty fast (10-15 mph), and recharges quickly. There are other longboard models with longer ranges and top speeds of 20 mph. Zero to twenty in four seconds. Yes.”

Hey, I’m really glad you switched to long-lasting compact fluorescent light bulbs in your house. But the growth in Doha and Dalian ate all your energy savings for breakfast. I’m glad you bought a hybrid car. But Doha and Dalian devoured that before noon. I am glad that the U.S. Congress is debating whether to bring U.S. auto mileage requirements up to European levels by 2020. Doha and Dalian will have those gains for lunch — maybe just the first course. I’m glad that solar and wind power are “soaring” toward 2 percent of U.S. energy generation, but Doha and Dalian will devour all those gains for dinner. I am thrilled that you are now doing the “20 green things” suggested by your favorite American magazine. Doha and Dalian will snack on them all, like popcorn before bedtime.

“With benzene and other VOCs high on the EPA priority pollutant list, it would be a major advantage to get a rapid reading of VOC concentrations directly in the field,” said Boris Mizaikoff, an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of its Applied Sensors Laboratory.

The proposal would require that all apartment buildings with more than eight units set aside one bicycle parking space for every four residential units. Commercial landlords would have to provide enough bicycle parking to match at least 10 percent of the number of available automobile spaces.

$1 in real gasoline prices would reduce obesity in the U.S. by 15% after five years, and that 13% of the rise in obesity between 1979 and 2004 can be attributed to falling real gas prices during this period. I also provide evidence that the effect occurs both by increasing exercise and by lowering the frequency with which people eat at restaurants.

I don't know why two guys need a big wide-bodied 767 jet to fly around, guzzling gas and polluting the planet and I don't know why NASA cut them a deal to land at Moffit Airbase, minutes away from Google headquarters but I do know that it hurts the brand image of the company they founded and run. Not good. Getting such a sweet deal in return for running scientific experiments for NASA makes it all the more stinky. Does NASA really need Larry Page and Sergey Brin to do experiments for them? Please. It rings so hollows that it is silly. We all make mistakes. Google has been strongly supporting green technology. It's building the largest solar complex in the US and it uses materials in its offices that don't have PVC's. But having a 767, which is three times the size of an "average" executive jet, that uses 7,000 gallons of gas to fly from San Francisco to New York and then get special permission to park it 10 minutes away on a NASA-managed run-way just speaks of corporate privilege, not responsibility. The biggest private jet? The inside deal with the government? The shortest commute from jet to the office? These are all games mainstream CEOs play. Yuck.

"There is no question that the GHG (greenhouse gas) regulations present great challenges to automakers. History suggests that the ingenuity of the industry, once put in gear, responds admirably to most technological challenges. In light of the public statements of industry representatives, (the) history of compliance with previous technological challenges, and the state of the record, the court remains unconvinced automakers cannot meet the challenges of Vermont and California's GHG regulations."

After months of negotiations, on September 14th, Bluewater Wind completed a critical phase of negotiations with Delmarva Power & Light. The result of these negotiations is expected to lead to the development of the nation’s first offshore wind park, and a 25 year supply of stable-priced, clean renewable energy for Delaware. The agreement represents an opportunity for Delaware to become the First State when it comes to developing and promoting clean, stable priced, and reliable energy.

Up walks a man who introduces himself as an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School. He says, "Noah, you have to stop. We've run the numbers and they don't add up. I agree that there may be a few days of rain, but if you really want to help future generations, don't build the ark. Grow the economy!"

“the energy consumed by all of the processes associated with the production of a building, from the acquisition of natural resources to product delivery. This includes the mining and manufacturing of materials and equipment, the transport of the materials and the administrative functions. Embodied energy is a significant component of the lifecycle impact of a home.”

Perhaps it’s time to rethink the decision to allow the unrestricted advertising and cartoon promotion of toy lines that has produced year-round marketing and piles of plastic toys, bought and soon discarded. After all, we ought to be just as concerned about the impact of character licensing and toy advertising on our children’s psyche as we are on protecting them from ingesting leaded paint and magnets.