- 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 September 30, 2007 - October 6, 2007
Total this week: 208
A Picture is Worth... Intricacies of a Small World
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 6.07
WIRED is currently featuring a stunning set of images as part of Nikon's yearly "Small World" competition held at New York's Explorer's Club. The above shot (of a diatom) by Charles Krebs of Issaquah, Washington, is but one of a dozen that capture what the magazine calls "something both strange and alien that could almost be sold as the first glimpses of extraterrestrial life." Neat.
Via ::WIRED: Nikon's Small World Contest: A Gallery of Beautiful Tiny Things (news website)
See also: ::A Picture is Worth...Implications of Global Warming, ::A Picture is Worth... Being Nice to Cyclists in Toronto...
Next Up in Ethanol Innovation: Orange Peels
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 10. 6.07
The price of ethanol is plummeting and corn-based ethanol skeptics are gaining increasing traction in casting a dark shadow over its potential. But the biofuel revolution continues to spur innovation and researchers around the world are uncovering alternatives to corn and sugarcane from which to produce ethanol. In Mexico, the newest discovery is ethanol derived from orange peel, which a group of students from the University of Guadalajara's science and engineering division happened upon while researching essential oils.
The study was presented at the 42nd annual Mexican Chemistry Congress this week and demonstrated the possibility of using the fermented sugars from orange peel to produce ethanol. According to the students, orange peel adds oxygen to fuel, which helps to neutralize the carbon monoxide emissions. So far it's unclear whether orange-based ethanol would drive up the price of the world's favorite citrus fruit, but at the least the Mexican government is likely to fund more research to find out. ::Via Reforma (Spanish link and subscription required)
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Quote of the Day: Phillipe Starck on the Role of Design
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 6.07
Designers should define their role broadly as agents of good in the world, and limit their work to 'legitimate' products: those that are needed, and those that can be made without damage to nature or -- through the unethical actions of manufacturers and investors -- damage to people.
-- Industrial designer Phillipe Starck, on the purpose of design...
London Greener Car Sales to Reach £1.2 Billion Next Year
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 6.07
We’ve certainly had plenty of coverage of the London congestion charge here on TreeHugger. We’ve covered protests by angry residents opposed to its geographical expansion, we’ve seen signs that other cities like New York and Manchester may follow London’s lead, and we’ve already seen how the levy is boosting the sales of hybrids, which are exempt from payment. Now we hear from the London Evening Standard that the capital is set to see a huge boom in sales of greener vehicles, as experts predict purchases of hybrids, electric cars and other environmentally friendly vehicles by Londoners to reach £1.2 billion (US$2.4 billion) next year. If this speculation turns out to be correct, that would make these cleaner machines more popular than SUVs, or the infamous Chelsea Tractors as they are known in the UK. ::London Evening Standard::via GoinGreen::...
Juicing Up Your Cell Phone with Microbial Fuel Cells
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 6.07
Given the sheer amount of toys and gizmos we use on a daily basis, it becomes very easy to take something like a cell phone or MP3 player charger for granted. In poor, developing countries like Uganda, however, even using a charger can be a struggle due to the difficulty inherent in accessing an electrical grid - by some estimates, more than 99% of rural households in the African nation are cut off from a reliable source of electricity.
In an effort to help resolve this long-standing problem, a group of MIT students has devised a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that runs entirely on plant waste. The students' BioVolt MFC prototypes use electrons released by cellulose-munching bacteria to generate electricity. Because the technology has already been around for a few years, the main challenge for the students was to develop a cheap, yet efficient, device - one they tackled in part by making use of a non-platinum catalyst, which allowed them to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum. ...
Biofuel Coop Creates CSA
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 6.07
Anyone who has been reading TreeHugger for a while will know that we love Piedmont Biofuels, the Pittsboro NC based biodiesel cooperative, and not just because they create locally brewed, sustainably sourced biodiesel. As we saw in our interview with co-founder Lyle Estill here, here and here, the organization is also painfully aware of the limitations of biofuels, stressing the need for massive conservation and localization before plant-based fuels can ever meet our energy needs. We were delighted then to see, when we checked in on their site today, that they have just announced the opening of their CSA, providing the community with locally grown crops from the Biofarm which sits next to their biofuel complex. We were going to say we look forward to the day when Exxon opens its own CSA, but on second thoughts… ::Piedmont Biofuels::via site visit::
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Saving Extra Wind Energy Underground for Later
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 6.07
Seemingly taking a page out of carbon sequestration's playbook, a coalition of local facilities in Iowa are working out a scheme to store surplus wind energy by placing it underground. The idea being to keep it safely locked up when demand is low so it can then be uncorked at a later date when demand - and, consequently, prices - are higher.
The utilities plan on building a system that will rely on a gigantic air compressor (as seen in the diagram) to pump air into porous layers of sandstone. In essence, the layers of sandstone will act as a giant balloon, allowing for wind energy to be stored until a later time when demand is high - at which point the flow will be reversed, unleashing a large amount of air into a natural gas-fired turbine. This 268-MW compressed air energy storage (CAES) system is on track to be completed by 2011....
Core77's Next One Hour Design Competition: Ban the Plastic Bag
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 6.07
The good folks over at Core77 have launched another of their One Hour Design Competitions (where you spend an hour conceiving, sketching and rendering a world-saving design concept -- we've mentioned them before) and this one's all about a subject close to TreeHugger's heart: ban the plastic bag.
The deadline is looming -- this Monday, October 8 -- but it only takes an hour, and you win a shiny new iPod nano (without a bag) for your efforts; submit your entries here. The challenge: "come up with innovative ways to get rid of the ubiquitous plastic bag. 60,000 of these things are used every 5 seconds in the U.S. alone (that totals, if you can believe it, to 43 million bags used during your one hour of design challenge. World-wide, the number of plastic bags used each year is a staggering 4,000,000,000,000). Better get to it." Hit the jump to see a few of the entries already received, and good luck! ::Core77 One Hour Design Competition: Ban the Plastic Bag...
Reconstituting Mona Lisa with... Recycled Train Tickets
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 6.07
How cool is this: employees at a department store in Osaka, Japan, built a 2.3 x 1.6 meters rendition of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting with nothing more than old train tickets - several hundred thousand of them. Close to 300 workers spent about 3 months to recreate these masterpieces - which also included Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre" and the "Birth of Venus" - by meticulously overlapping the eponymous black and white tickets.
Via ::Pink Tentacle: Mona Lisa from recycled train tickets (blog)
See also: ::ScrapEden: Recycled Public Art, ::Drap-Art International Creative Recycling Festival, ::PET Project: Recycled Plastic Art by Miwa Koizumi...
One Year Ago in TH: Water on the Brain
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 6.07
One year ago in TreeHugger, we had water on the brain. New York had some plans to go from renewable energy to renewable-er energy, with hydropower to hydrogen in a $21 project near Niagara Falls. Check out what San Francisco would look like underwater, should global warming melt ice caps as many climate models have suggested (hint: it's not pretty). A bit of good news in the world of water: a new (at the time) commercial project, called Advanced Coral Propagating Technology, that has successfully cultivated coral reefs in artificial pools.
We also took a look at some ways a TreeHugger can get a drink (but not water), pondered increased tax breaks for hybrid owners, did a little shopping for work at The Green Office and reviewed Swap-o-Rama-Rama in NYC.
Check out the rest of TreeHugger on October 6, 2006 here....
Ontario Election Update: Green Party Policies
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.07
Our coverage of this election has been a trifle one-sided; I keep writing about the Green Party. On the other hand, the mainstream media are, if not ignoring it, certainly not giving it the coverage it deserves. The NDP is working hard to staunch the loss of votes to the greens; a canvasser had me on the phone for half an hour explaining how the NDP could win this riding, how the Greens are not so green with economic policies that are almost libertarian, with, heaven forbid, a bias towards consumption taxes instead of income taxes! (Yes, I know they are disproportionately hard on the poor, but what do we talk about all day if not "live with less" and why not have a tax system that encourages it?) Furthermore, what TreeHugger would not support almost every single platform proposal listed below?
The Green Party deserves to be heard, and the mainstream media have failed it and all of us in their shoddy and sparse coverage. ...
Duke Power's Save-A-Watt Expansion Proposal
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10. 6.07
Duke Energy Corporation's CEO Jim Rogers wants to expand the firm's save-a-watt program -- an approach to energy efficiency that would allow the utility to make money by persuading customers to use less electricity.
"Under the save-a-watt model, utilities would pay for programs designed to help customers buy energy efficient appliances, weatherize their homes and install special circuit breakers to cycle appliances on and off depending on the time of day. The cost would be passed on to customers through higher rates. Duke would charge customers 90 percent of what it would have cost to provide the electricity that was saved. Duke says that's a 10 percent savings. The utility only gets paid if the programs work. The power savings would be tracked by a third party."
Jasmin previousl covered the Clinton Global Initiative commitment for the Save-A-Watt plan.
"...Customers' bills would fluctuate depending on how many efficiency programs they were using. Even with the added fee, a customer might end up saving up to 6 percent. If customers don't take ad antage of the program, their bill could increase by 4 percent, estimates Ted Schultz, Duke's vice president for energy efficiency."
For background, see also: this earlier coverage as well as this one. Download the Duke fact sheet on Save-A-Watt here.
Via::Trading Markets Stock News, Image credit:: Duke Energy Hanging Rock, Stellar Power...
Variety Comes Back to the Supermarket
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.07
In Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire, we learned how apples are propagated, and how the formerly Delicious apple came to have its absolutely uniform beauty and be absolutely devoid of flavour. Yet in most stores, that is all you can find, or perhaps a mackintosh. When I visited Toronto's Fiesta Farms I was amazed to see all kinds of varieties of apples grown right here in Ontario, so yesterday we had a lunch of apples. I am no Robert Parker or Alice Waters, but three of us tasted eight different varieties, including empire (mild, unexciting) Mackintosh (um, tasted like an apple, it is the standard) Gala, (sweet, nice texture, real sugar rush) Spy (astringent, dense) Crispin (boring) Russet (that's not an apple, it tastes like a pear) Honeycrisp (great crunch, earthy, undertones of cider) and Courtland (tart, weird texture, juicy).
Who knew one could have such fun in a supermarket. Try it!...
Ecological Debt Day, 6 October 2007
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10. 6.07
Experts at the Global Footprint Network calculate that 19 December 1987 was the first time that humanity used up a year's allotment of the earth's resources before a year finished. Each year, this date is moving earlier. Today we pass the threshold of the planet's capacity, equalling a need for 1.3 planets to sustainably support our current consumption....
TH Forums Highlights: Green Skepticism, Solar Laptops + More
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
Cruise into the weekend with TreeHugger Forums...
Round-ups of the best conversations in TreeHugger Forums appear several times a week here at TreeHugger; register for free and login to become part of the conversation for a greener future today....
 | 1) Forums user jamesrocket isn't quite convinced that going green is a good thing to do. "How do you know that we need to do anything about the environment? Could it not just be the cycle of the earth? The science does support it but some people do present persuasive arguements to the contrary... So how do you know and what makes you act on your belief in the environmental issues?" Interesting question; what motivates you to green your life? |
 | 2) Let's talk solar laptops with user lotuseater, who has plans to pick up a new, green laptop, and wants to power it with the sun, if possible. "i'm wondering if anyone knows of a viable solar powered laptop on the market. or of a solar powered charger that will at least allow me to run my laptop on solar power. short of the above, does anyone have ideas about what kind of laptop is the most environmentally sound? which company has the best track record?" There are a surprising number of considerations here... |
 | 3) Lastly, Forums user dave87325is is wondering about how to figure out how much rain can be collected using permeable paving -- there's surely some math equation and number crunching that can be done, no? It seems to be a slightly different game than collecting rainwater from the roof, anybody know how to cash in on pouring water on permeable paving? Discuss... |
Ask TreeHugger: How Do I Test My Toys for Lead?
by Helen Suh MacIntosh, Cambridge, MA, USA on 10. 5.07
Question: I have three young children and they have many painted toys. I am worried that these toys have lead in them, especially because I don’t know where they were made. Is it dangerous to have my kids play with them? How do I test my kids’ toys for lead? Do the home testing kits work?
Answer:
The recent recalls of lead-containing toys have raised many concerns about the safety of our products. Although lead is a naturally occurring metal that can be found practically everywhere – in the earth’s crust, batteries, water pipes, pencils (okay, not pencils -- I meant crayons), and even food -- its levels are generally declining in our products and in our environment. Lead was used for decades in gasoline, paints, and other household products, with its use steadily phased out since the 1970s in the United States, Canada, Western Europe and elsewhere. This phase out is the direct result of lead’s health risks, which may be particularly large for babies and young children who are growing so quickly. These risks include blood and brain function damage and growth slowing, with these risks increasing with the amount of lead exposure. ...
Get FIT: Flat Packing "Friction in Tension" Table
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
A great companion to your new flat pack shelving, the FIT table fits together without screws, nails, hardware or tools. It's another great candidate for downloadable design, breaking down into six flat or nearly-flat pieces that can be easily customized with fun designs and patterns on the table top. The FIT table (that's Friction in Tension) starts as one solid piece of composite, so it uses a very minimal volume of materials, and is also easy to customize.
Prototypes can be had here, and there's more to learn at the designer's website. ::MAPractice via ::Design Milk...
Product Update: Juice Bags
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 10. 5.07
Remember, dear longtime readers, when we first brought you Juice Bags from Rewear a few years ago? We mentioned that they were similar to the Voltaic bags, in that you can charge your portable electronic devices via the built in solar panel. Well we just learned that Rewear is now making daypacks and messenger bags from recycled soda bottles as well and each bag keeps about eight soda bottles out of the landfill. The material is as rugged as nylon but apparently soft to the touch. Another added bonus – the solar panel is waterproof so you won’t have to worry when those west winds begin to blow. Via ::AMC Outdoors ::Reware...
World's Largest Windfarm Gets Approval
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 10. 5.07
A new wind farm, 90 square miles large, has been approved for construction off the coast of the UK. If built, it will become the largest offshore wind farm in the world, which should make all UK Tree Huggers proud.
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TreeHugger Radio: It’s Green Design Contest Season
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 10. 5.07
This week we recap the events of the Clinton Global Initiative, plus take a look at the plethora of green design competitions that are budding this fall. The city of New York is granting prizes for designers who can envision a hurricane escape plan. Metropolis Magazine’s Next Generation design competition is ramping up for its fifth year, focusing on water. Electrolux’s Design Lab contest is helping appliance users change their habits. And Google and Specialized are cranking out design submissions to their Innovate or Die contest. Listen to TreeHugger Radio on iTunes or listen/right click to download. ::TreeHugger Radio ...
Bend it Like Piegato: Flat Pack Shelving
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
Made from just a single sheet of laser-cut steel, and requiring just two screws to mount it on the wall, Piegato shelves are a great way to add storage using minimal space and materials. You get to decide how its configured -- the shelves can be packed flat as a piece of paper and shipped in a big envelope -- and thanks to some pretty thoughtful design (the bottom braces that keep the individual shelves from folding like a taco), the shelves can hold a surprising amount of weight; we're surprised to see lots of books on the shelves, but the designer swears it's true.
Because the shelf system is a single piece of steel, this baby is also highly recyclable, if/when you decide it's useful life is through; we could definitely see this in the downloadable design realm. Check out more at ::Piegato via ::MoCo Loco...
People Tree, Ecover + Ecotricity Get It Together
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 10. 5.07
At TreeHugger we're firm believers that several heads are better than one, just look at how many of us are bringing you green news everyday! So when we heard that three great pioneers of sustainability are starting to work together in the UK we just knew that progress was being made. The collaboration between People Tree - eco-friendly and ethical fashion, Ecover - eco-cleaning products, and Ecotricity - green electricity, shows some pretty smart and creative thinkers taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture of our wardrobe's life cycle.
You may remember that the wash and care of a t-shirt can account for 80% of its carbon footprint. So it makes sense for People Tree, who are working hard on sustainability at the start of the garment's life by using Fair Trade organic cotton, to team up with Ecover and Ecotricity, who can help us take care of the rest of our garment's life. While each of these companies individually are making advancements in the greening of their sectors, together they can take even bigger steps to create awareness. "They plan to work together on a long-term basis to educate consumers about their role in minimising the carbon footprint of their clothing."...
Survey: How Do You Phone?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
Cell Phones are expensive and create a huge amount of e-waste; according to photographer Chris Jordan, Last year Americans retired 130 million cellphones, many of which will wind up in landfills, where their toxic lead, mercury and cadmium components will leach into the ground. Yet some people don't even have good old dependable land lines any more and rely on their cell for all their oral communication.
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Harnessing Car Engines' Lost Energy for Electricity Production
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 5.07
The concept of waste-to-energy technology is certainly nothing new: we've covered it many times on TreeHugger over the past few years (see here and here for some examples) and continually see it be touted as one of the "next big things" in alternative energy production. And while the jury is still out (and will likely remain so) on that latter point, there is no denying that, when done right, there is a place for these technologies in a more sustainable, resource-conscious society - especially if it can be accomplished on the scale Clemson University physicist Terry Tritt is envisioning.
In an address to the NanoTX conference this year, Tritt argued that energy lost from hot engines - by some accounts more than 60% of the automotive combustion cycle's output - could be captured and converted into electricity with the help of thermoelectric devices. “Thermoelectric generators are currently used in NASA’s deep-space probes to convert the heat of radioactive elements to electrical energy, powering these systems for over 30 years,” he explained....
How To Reuse Your Old Electronics
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
Avi at Dark Roasted Blend somehow finds extraordinary pictures to make endless posts on ludicrous subjects, like this one. He says "Given the Moore's law that the power of computers doubles every 24 months, we end up with a lot of useless devices and obsolete hardware, that you sure can recycle in a normal way, but it's much more fun to recycle it in a wild and unusual ways! Let's see how to give a new life to the computing zombies of yesteryear." See much, much more at ::Dark Roasted Blend
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Scientist Wins IgNobel Extracting Vanillin From Cow Dung
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
The Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize was awarded on October 4 to Mayu Yamamoto, a former researcher at the International Medical Center of Japan, for her pioneering work in extracting a useful product, vanillin, from cow dung. According to Pink Tentacle, Yamamoto says that widespread adoption of her method could help the environment because companies would make greater use of cow dung, which arguably contributes to global warming.
As a bonus prize, Toscanini’s Ice Cream in Cambridge, Massachusetts has invented a new flavor — Yum-A-Moto Vanilla Twist — to honor Yamamoto, and is offering a free public tasting to its customers on October 5. Other winners below the fold ::Pink Tentacle
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The Pantry is Back
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
Kitchen cabinets are expensive, particularly if you buy them formaldehyde free with a green counter. Yet storage is at a premium if you plan on canning fruits and vegetables or laying in supplies of root vegetables for the winter. According to Paula Robinson of the Telegraph, "The pantry is definitely making a comeback as interest in healthy, organic eating grows. It is essential to making the most of your crop if you have a vegetable garden or an allotment." She continues "The location of your walk-in pantry is important. Tradition and practicality call for a dry, cool and dark place so, unfortunately, it can't do double duty as the utility room. Site it well away from the oven, fridge freezer, or washing machine, and ensure that it has a solid door that seals shut."
It doesn't have to be doilied up and made so cutesy-pie as the one shown- it is a closet for food rather than a cabinet. We no longer have armoires for our clothes but have put them in closets; why not do the same with food, so that we can store lots of it cheaply in a more controlled environment and can just walk in and see what we have? ::Telegraph
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Bookcase Into a Bed: A New Take on the Murphy Bed
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
Here's an interesting take on the folding Murphy bed idea: instead of folding into the wall, this concept jigsaw-puzzles together to become part of the wall. The bookcase/bed combination works together to help maximize space and give your walls a little extra pop of color; when it's bedtime, just take down your bookcase and you've got a bed.
We like that the bookcases remain on the wall, so you don't have to take stuff off the shelves when it's time to go to bed, but we see a few tricky spots in the day to day operation as well; you'd have to make the bed every night (unless it came with a puzzle-shaped fitted sheet) and it might be a little weird sleeping with a puzzle-shaped crease in the middle. Still, it's a great idea (if the implementation leaves a little to be desired) so we'll hope that some of the kinks will get worked out for Puzzle-Bed 2.0. via ::Yanko Design...
Kerala's Fisherwomen Challenge Coastal Tourism's Onslaught
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10. 5.07
September 27th marked World Tourism Day and a group of fisherwomen in the South Indian state of Kerala made their concerns known in front of the state secretariat by gagging themselves and wearing sloganed headbands. Kerala is a well-known tourist destination for foreigners and Indians alike and is famous for its lush green treescapes, villages and fishing boats on beautiful backwaters and beaches. Politically left-standing and culturally rich, tourism is one of the biggest sectors in Kerala, but in recent years has become more and more commercialized, much to the chagrin of locals who claim that it is harming their livelihoods and the environment. "Tourism in the state is increasingly challenging our livelihoods, environment and culture," said Magline Peter, a leader of the Coastal Women's Front that led the demonstration. Recently, they rallied with the Kerala Independent Fishworkers Federation against a government initiative to alter coastal environmental guidelines that would have allowed more resorts and industries to extend along the coast. ...
Green Festival in Washington DC
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
It's the Green Festival travelling road show-"party with a purpose" and "a celebration of what’s working in our communities– for people, for businesses and for the environment." It starts in Washington DC at the Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6&7. TreeHugger is there- in the Planet Green booth, and on the podium, with our own Graham Hill on the very first panel- (can he get up that early?) discussing the "Media’s Impact on the Green Lifestyle Movement." Other heavyweights who have appeared in TreeHugger include Bill McKibben, Francis Moore Lappe and Bill McDonough.
The lecture titles are fascinating: What's the Economy for, Anyway?, The Walmart-ing of America, The Clean Energy Vision, or Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots. ::Greenfestival Washington
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Offscreen Expedition Helps Youth Educate, Inspire Via Art
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 10. 5.07
With miscommunication between inhabitants of the Western and Arab world’s one of the biggest problems we face on the planet, it stands to reason that 9 British students heading off on an expedition to help translate across the cultural divide might make a difference. In fact, they got a chance to relate a bit about the environment in the Middle East as well. Visiting Dubai and Oman to demonstrate how humans there have adapted in various ways to the harsh desert conditions.
It’s all part of the Offscreen Education Programme, using the creative power of art to educate and inspire youth via the web. Just one of the places they visited that fascinated me was the vacant Bedouin homes, built by the government to house that part of their local population. While spacious and apparently well built, they double as a monument to classic miscommunication between cultures, as the Bedouin were unwilling to actually move into them. That decision was based on the lack of distance between them and apparently difficult access to water supplies as well.
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Recipe of the Week: Roasted Vegetable Salad with Garlic Dressing
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
It's Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend, and for us that means heading to the cottage for the final weekend of the year. A number of years ago our cottage neighbours generously invited us to their family Thanksgiving at the last minute after hearing that we were going to sit down to a bowl of pasta. It has turned into a bit of a tradition now, one that I look forward to for months. Last year the weather was so warm a table for 20 was laid on the dock. We ate by candlelight as the autumn leaves gently fell onto the glass-like surface of the lake. It was one of those magical dinners that you always remember. So it's perhaps a bit disingenuous to offer up a Thanksgiving recipe when I don't have to cook the dinner myself, but it's a good recipe anyway.
I really wanted to have a dinner that included pumpkin. Of course, traditionally pumpkin would appear on the Thanksgiving menu in the form of pie, but that doesn't preclude having it in a savoury dish first. This is a great side dish because it is just about as easy as it gets, and that's a plus if you are feeding a crowd and have a lot to do. Take the list of vegetables as a guideline, any root vegetables will do. I used mini blue potatoes rather than sweet potatoes and beets rather than fennel bulbs, just because that was what I had. Carrots or other winter squash would also work as well. The recipe says to bake for 35 minutes, but I found it was closer to 45 minutes....
Get a Green Job: GreenCareers by MonsterTRAK
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
According to a recent study by MonsterTRAK, the division of job-hunting megasite Monster for college students and recent graduates, 80 percent of young professionals are interested in securing a job that impacts the environment in a positive way, and 92 percent give preference to working for a company that is environmentally friendly. If you find yourself at the green jobs crossroads, and you've exhausted your search over at TreeHugger's Job Board, then MonsterTRAK has something for you: yesterday, MonsterTRAK, in alliance with ecoAmerica (full disclosure: Bob Perkowitz, President of ecoAmerica, is a member of TreeHugger's Board of Advisors), announced GreenCareers by MonsterTRAK, the first environmentally responsible recruitment service for college students and recent graduates....
Make Your Own Keyboard
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 10. 5.07
File this one under the Keatsian department of "a thing of beauty is a joy forever." Much like these wondrous Russian computer cases, Hacoa is now soon-to-be-offering a do-it-yourself keyboard kit to the masses. The kit allows the purchaser to cut the keys from a plank of wood and assemble the pieces themselves; it's $300.
Till now, Hacoa has typically crafted each keyboard by hand, churning out the sum total of one keyboard per day. But in an effort to lighten the company’s labor load, boost production, and probably increase profits, they are going to let the purchaser do some of the cutting and assembling at home. The kits come in maple or walnut, and include a USB keyboard base, a wooden plank with the beginnings of keys hard-carved into it, connectors for attaching the finished keys to the keyboard base, a saw, sandpaper and other tools.
Available online around October 18. Much like the bamboo mice and monitors, we are talking statement here; get it, build it, and pop it in your place of business, along with (of course) a framed plaque detailing the process: Pink Tentacle...
Strange Waters: From Under the Sea and Out of the Amazonian Rainforest
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
It has been a while since we looked at some of the strange bottled waters that people are peddling; one would think that with all of the controversy over bottled water that businesspeople would look askance at investing in such ventures. Clearly, however, suckers are still being born every minute because here are two new candidates:
Equa: Bottled Water from the Amazonian Rainforest
Florida businessman Jeff Moats tells Business Week that the rainforest is "probably the last place on Earth that holds boundless mystery and mystique." While working on another failed Brazilian business venture 10 years ago, he "he stumbled on a spring near the equator that is now Equa's source. Moats found the water so pure he claims, "Science will be rewritten based on the natural purity of this artesian spring."
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IDeAs New Zero Energy, Zero Carbon Headquarters
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 5.07
It's nice to see firms practice what they preach; Electrical and lighting engineering firm IDeAs believes "that we change the world through our sustainable designs, one building at a time" and today are opening their conversion of a dead sixties era bank branch into a net zero energy, zero carbon emission headquarters for the firm. It has a "fully integrated, grid-tied, net-metering, photovoltaic system sized to provide 100% of the net energy requirements, allowing it to make zero contribution to global warming." They call it Z-squared.
They have put together an interactive website for the project where one can look at each of the technologies and interventions in detail- there is a lot of stuff to see under that low-key exterior....
Quote of the Day: Akkiko Busch on Consumption
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
So as substance abusers in the most literal sense, we seem to do what most other addicts do when faced with the obvious: We go into denial. We spin. Often, that spin involves redefining excess as less. And for all the dangers implicit in the cycle of consumption and waste, I would venture to say that the cycle of indulgence and denial is even more dangerous, because it involves a level of self-deception, along with convoluted arguments of justification that allow us to do whatever we want."
And the money quote: "Make less, buy less, use less, throw away less."
::Business Week via ::Core77...
Hope that Corals Will Withstand Global Warming's Impact
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 5.07
Could coral reefs stand a fighting chance against the onslaught of global warming after all? While most previous reports had painted a bleak (or even bleaker) picture of their future outlook, a new study from researchers at the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of Paleobiology has intimated that they may in fact be able to adapt in time. Jaroslaw Stolarski and his colleagues found that ancient corals were able to alter the way they built their aragonite skeletons to adjust to their increasingly acidic surroundings - opening the door to the possibility that modern corals could do the same under similar conditions.
The fossilized corals they studied - belonging to the genus Coelosmilia, which were commonly found during the Cretaceous period - had calcite skeletons, a form of calcium carbonate less susceptible to the corrosive effects of a lower pH (as opposed to aragonite). "We now have many different arguments to prove that these corals were actually made originally out of calcite—and not just aragonite that was transformed after the coral died and become fossilized ... There was great biological variability among the corals, and some of them adjusted perfectly to the prevailing geochemical situation," said Stolarski....
Love to Knit
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10. 5.07
We discovered Bronwyn Lowenthal's hand-knit berets and scarves at London Fashion Week. Made out of UK low carbon alpaca, they are cozy, warm and feminine--a good combo for a winter's day. As she says: ‘We spent a lot of time sourcing quality yarn from UK reared animals which is spun here and will be hand-knitted here. I am committing to delivering all London orders by bicycle from our Brixton studio in the spirit of the range.’ Knitting is her first love and now she has written a book on knitting--it has 25 products to make and wear, including bow gloves, lacy socks, streetsmart beanies, retro leg warmers and chunky scarfs. They offer a modern and stylish take on traditional accessories and are purposely made easy enough for beginners and novices to understand.
She has just begun to design dresses made of organic cotton, some with crotcheted sleeves, and matching crocheted beret, and scarf. The organic cotton range is made on knitting machines and is a mixture of very traditional designs and some pretty outrageous stuff too. There is a hot pink strapless dress that yearns to see the night life. Making use of colourful silk vintage scarves, she recycles them as bags and belts that would enliven any outfit. :: ilovelowie Via :: London Fashion Week...
CI Desk: Mini Transformer Laptop Workstation
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 5.07
For any of you who don't think you have room for a home office, the folks at Creative Industrial Objects beg to differ. The CI Desk expands and unfolds, adjusting and adapting to make maximum use of minimal materials and space. "A multi-functional home office on wheels, in its handy size and elegant shape, adapting to the flexible working habits of the individual at home or in the office. Through a 180-degree turn of its top, it unfolds into a small workstation for laptop users."
If you're tired of sweaty legs, and don't have a bamboo laptop yet (and who does?), something like this lil' mini desk might make your home office life much more bearable. It's mini, transforms for better functionality and rolls away when you don't need it. We like. ::Creative Industrial Objects via ::Apartment Therapy...
Wrap Yourself Around Transformer-Like Organic Cottons from Israel
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 10. 5.07
In the meantime if you are interested in perusing their online catalogue, you’ll have to have a good grasp of Hebrew – otherwise meander through the website of Cotton, one of Israel’s first organic clothing designers. Much of their wear looks like the transformer designs Jasmin has been reporting on lately (here & here) – handy for the intensity that comes with living in Israel. Israelis like to work, party and play hard and it looks like clothes from Cotton could fit the bill. Israelis also tend to dress down rather than up – don’t be surprised to find them wearing jeans to a wedding or flip-flops in a business meeting.
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Nulethics EcoVerse
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10. 5.07
Now it’s somewhat akin to ‘the pot to be calling the kettle black’ for me, of all people, to be pointing out spelling mistakes and typos (after all, my indiscretions in this regard are legendary), but the Nulethics’ website prose is rife with them. Putting that aside we find another sports company taking to the environmental high road. Their claim to have the “industry's first high performance eco-friendly sportswear line” could be hotly contested, but as we are often saying, the more on board this bandwagon the merrier.
Their compact little range employs a fabrication the company terms ‘EcoVerse.’ It takes renewable, fast growing bamboo, well, a heated, pulverised version of it and bonds it to polyester fibres, 46% of which is derived from recycled drink bottles and the like. Nulethics suggest that their recycled polyester “uses 80% less energy and chemicals during the dye process.” This is not your usual bamboo fabric, rather nano sized bamboo particles that have been said to improve absorption of moisture and body odour. Not unlike how charcoal carbon is used in water filters to collect the nasties.
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Moira & Obbie - Clothes with a Longer Life
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 10. 5.07
Today we bring you some life cycle “extenders”: Moira & Obbie. In what looks like Indiana, one designer is extending the life of old clothes by making them into new ones. The work that Vanessa creates is from 95% reclaimed fibers which she deconstructs to “then rebuild into something new taking inspiration from the story or use the item may have previously had to inform what it will become.” She uses everything from men’s business shirts, sweaters, t-shirts and old kitchen curtains to make her handcrafted, one of a kind designs. Vanessa’s work is inspired by her grandparents, not coincidentally named, Moira and Obbie. The history tab on the site explains that they were the first people she knew who recycled:...
Transition Towns Reach Australia: Another Community Prepares for Peak Oil
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 5.07
It was only yesterday that we were posting on oil executives’ warnings about the consequences of peak oil, and looking at the solutions that are out there. Today we hear that Transition Towns, already strong in the UK, have spread to the other side of the world with the launch of the first official Australian Transition Town in Sunshine Coast. This initiative, which is part of the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre, is the first official Transition Town to be recognized outside the UK or Ireland and marks a major milestone on the road towards a cleaner energy future. Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition Towns concept (who we interviewed here) , publishes a more detailed description of the inspiration behind the Sunshine Coast project from Sonya Wallace, one of the organizers, here:
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Alternative Economy Needed for Biodiversity?
by Tim McGee, Helena, MT, USA on 10. 5.07
Biodiversity is the term used to describe the variation of life within a given ecosystem. It is often used as a measure of environmental health. Research has shown that a diverse range of organisms results in an ecosystem that is resilient to change. As our environment changes, an ecosystems ability to continue to provide ecosystem functions becomes increasingly important. Perhaps one of the most vulnerable, yet important ecosystems on earth is the Amazon. Marina Silva, Brazil's environment minister, believes that wealthy countries should help pay the burden of maintaining Amazonian biodiversity....
San Francisco Moves Towards Bike-Sharing
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 10. 4.07
Although a few cities are scaling down bike-sharing programs, many cities are exploring the option for their citizens. Copenhagen, for example has 2,000 bikes at 110 stations through the city. Paris? Ten times that many bikes and slightly more than ten times the stations. And, with many of the advantages of car-sharing, such as not needing a personal vehicle, and the eco-cred of zipping around the city with human power, it's no wonder. So who's next to jump on the bike-sharing bandwagon? It looks like it could be San Francisco. The best part might be the cost to the city - close to nothing. Take that budget cuts! ...
Paris Pledges Emissions Cuts by 2020
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 10. 4.07
Image: Flickr - markhillary
While many cities around the world are plagued by infighting when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, Parisians from all ends of the spectrum are coming together to create a green plan for the city. The city's new plan calls for a 30 percent reduction in energy usage and emissions from public buildings by the year 2020. In conjunction, Paris is taking steps to cut emissions in other city services.
Paris city authorities have already taken steps to reduce their environmental impact, using "clean" vehicles and recycled paper, and ensuring that all new public housing answers to high environmental standards....
Pemex to Cut Carbon Emissions Via Clean Development Mechanism
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 10. 4.07
Mexico's state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has identified 21 opportunities to cut greenhouse gas emissions and get paid for it under the Clean Development Mechanism, a pollutant trading system mandated under the Kyoto Protocol.
The system, which is administered by the United Nations, has inspired companies around the world to invest in environmentally friendly projects in the developing world in exchange for carbon credits. Businesses in the developed world looking to meet pollution reduction targets buy those credits, and the intermediaries, like EcoSecurities, help implement pollution-control technologies and renewable energy projects in the developing world where they are cheaper.
Pemex's 21 CDM projects in its production and exploration, gas, refining and petrochemical divisions could reduce Mexico's carbon dioxide emissions by 2.6 million metric tons. As many as 12 projects are expected to begin operation in 2008 but the rest require funds that have not been approved as part Pemex's budget, according to the company.
There are now more than 600 CDM projects around the world, and about 40% are in Latin America. :: Via Reforma (Spanish link and subscription required)...
Greenwash Watch: Loblaws: Something Can Must Be Done
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 4.07
Canada's biggest grocery chain has been struggling of late, and has been trying to paint itself green with its shopping bags and its tag line "something must be done". When Galen Weston Jr. took over he promised local food; we visited in July and were disappointed, as we noted here. We visited the Christie and Dupont store after our shop at Fiesta farms to check out progress. As promised, there was a stand in the store with a flag over saying "Ontario Grown-picked at its peak." In front of the stand: a few laquered ornamental pumpkins. Filling the stand: cranberries, which I thought were a late harvest product so I looked more closely:
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TreeHugger Picks: Baseball Getting Greener
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 4.07
America's favorite pastime has entered its second season after making some big green strides during the past year. Here are some of the ways that going green on the diamond is becoming more synonymous with apple pie.
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 | 1) The Cincinatti Reds started the season off on a green foot, making their season opener against the Chicago Cubs carbon neutral. They picked up 96 tons worth of carbon offsets that will help fund wind and solar power including the financing of an 11 MW wind farm in India. |
 | 2) This season's All-Star game earned some green cred by giving All-Star MVP Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners the keys to a 2008 hybrid Chevy Tahoe for his performance, rather than the appropriately huge sounding Chevy Avalanche given to last year's MVP. |
 | 3) The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies both put up pretty good-sized solar arrays, which makes a lot of sense: you play baseball in the summer, when the sun shines a lot, right? Could that be the reason the Rockies made the playoffs? Can't hurt. Two more picks, after the jump... |
India To Add More Ethanol From Sugarcane By 2008
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10. 4.07
After meeting with state government officials on Wednesday, India’s farm minister Sharad Pawar has announced that an agreement has been reached where by October 2008, there will be a mandatory 10 percent blending of ethanol with petrol. The state governments are also in support of moving towards deregulating Indian sugar mills and allowing them to directly produce the ethanol from sugarcane juice.
India now allows a five percent mixing of molasses-derived ethanol with petrol and the new agreement will double this figure. In addition, Pawar said that any obstacles to the free movement of denatured ethanol and local taxes should be eliminated.
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FishPhone: Get Your Sustainable Seafood Report On the Go
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 4.07
So let's say you're out for a night on the town, getting ready to order dinner, but aren't sure if you should eat the shrimp or not. You check your wallet, but the handy Monterey Bay Acquarium Seafood Watch isn't there; oh no! What to do? Now you don't have to worry, as the guide is available as a text-messaging service aptly named FishPhone.
Just text 30644 on your cell phone with the message "FISH" and the fish you want to know about; a matter of seconds later, you'll have an answer about the relative sustainability of your potential meal. If mobile web-browsing is more your game, FishPhone has you covered, as does the Monterey Bay Acquarium. Now you just have to figure out how much fish it's okay to eat. ::FishPhone and ::Monterey Bay Acquarium Mobile Seafood Guide via ::Gristmill...
Trevor O'Neil's Salvaged Sustainable Designs
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10. 4.07
Designer Trevor O'Neil took advantage of a building being gutted next door to salvage a bunch of materials into a pretty interesting collection of furniture. Not least of these is this funky, ultra-modern couch made from salvaged cork; we love that it's a sustainable material, and we love that it's already have a previous life as something else. O'Neil is no one trick pony; in addition to his furniture (more pics after the jump), he makes jewelry out of salvaged wood scraps, along with sculptures and paintings. ::Trevor O'Neil via ::Apartment Therapy: Chicago...
Most Huggable: Paris’ Accords, More NASA Swiftboating, ‘The New Black,’ and More
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 10. 4.07
Paris adopts a climate plan to slash greenhouse emissions 30% by the year 2020… NASA scientist James Hansen finds himself swept up in another episode of Swiftboating… Irish researchers are putting a bacterium to work digesting Styrofoam waste into biodegradable plastics… Massive ice sheets in northern Canada are splitting far faster than expected, one of them going more than 60 miles in a week… Tasmin Blanchard speaks with Eco-Libris about her new book, Green is the New Black… Hugg is now image activated! Check out all the new functions on Hugg 2.0. Happy happy joy joy! Why not submit your own green news? ...
Tainted Meat? USDA Will Tell You. Some Day.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 4.07
One more reason to look your butcher in the face: nobody is out there protecting you from tainted meat.
On September 25, the UD Department of Agriculture recalled 331,000 pounds of hamburger from the Topps Meat Company; last week they expanded the recall to 21.7 million pounds, because of contamination of E coli bacteria, which can cause kidney failure and death. First victim? July 5. Next? August 17. Link to Topps meat: September 7. First time the USDA gets together to discuss? September 25, 18 days later. Nothing like jumping into action to protect America's food supply.
"We gather information from various sources, including our public health partners in the states," said David Goldman, assistant administrator of the Office of Public Health at USDA's inspection service. "Once we have enough information that we have a basis for taking action, then we convene a group of people here in the agency to consider taking that action—in this case, take it to the company and request a recall. "There are many steps along the way to get to that point."
Except, according to the Chicago Tribune, all of those steps were taken weeks earlier. ...
Oil Execs to World - We Must Cut Consumption
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 4.07
Image borrowed from Raise the Hammer - Image credit Trevor Shaw
Peak Oil, or the inevitable peaking and then decline of global oil supply, has become such a topic of conversation in environmental circles that it almost rivals climate change. As Lester Brown noted on TreeHugger, there is no doubt that it is coming, and that it will be a “seismic economic event”. It is amazing then, that we do not hear more in the mainstream media or business world about how to prepare for the coming challenges. All that, however, may be starting to change. As David Strahan notes over at The Guardian, even leading oil executives are starting to acknowledge the problem. Some are actually talking about the need for reduced consumption:
For many years, the idea that global oil production will soon start to fall, with potentially catastrophic economic consequences, has languished on the fringes of the environmental debate, with nothing like the recognition of climate change, and shunned by the industry itself. But when the history is written, 2007 is likely to go down as the year the issue of peak oil production went mainstream. In Cork, the former US energy secretary, James Schlesinger, used his keynote speech to tell delegates that they were no longer a tiny minority crying in the wilderness: "You can declare victory . . . and prepare to take yes for an answer."...
Book Review: The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10. 4.07
Anyone with even the most passing interest in what goes on your platter needs to seize hold of Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food: Notes lessons, and Recipes From a Delicious Revolution (2007, Clarkson Potter), the first book the famed chef and slow-food champion has written for the home cook.
Filled with 19 lessons for learning core culinary principles—including cutting techniques, if you can't tell your mince from your julienne—as well as more than 200 recipes running the full gamut of sauces, pastas, breads and grains, vegetables, seafood, poultry, and desserts. ...
Local Food: The New Competitive Edge
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 4.07
It sure doesn't look like much from the outside, and although we have lived in the neighbourhood for over 20 years we had never set foot in Fiesta Farms, usually going to the local Loblaws instead. Then w