Weekly Archive for November 11, 2007 : TreeHugger

Cara Smusiak is a journalist and regular contributor to NaturallySavvy.com's Naturally Green section. She grew up in a family that recycled just about everything, avoided harsh cleaners and heavily-scented products and often turned to natural medicines, and her efforts in environmentally friendly living continue to grow. She is also passionate about healthy and natural living, environmental awareness and policy, and holistic health care. Writing for NaturallySavvy.com is a perfect match for her interests, and she loves learning about new ways to become more eco-friendly in her daily life. www.NaturallySavvy.com is a website dedicated to educating people on the benefits of living a natural, organic and green lifestyle. Andrea Donsky, Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N.) and Randy Boyer are the co-founders of NaturallySavvy.com and are passionate about living a naturally healthy lifestyle. They walk the walk and talk the talk and are always looking to dispel the myth that natural and/or organic products don't work as well as their conventional counterparts. To reach Cara e-mail her at: cara@naturallysavvy.com. To reach Andrea and Randy, e-mail them at: andreaandrandy@naturallysavvy.com....

Last year, we wrote about how the US Naval Station on Guantanamo completed installation of a pair of wind turbines designed to meet a quarter of the base’s average power needs during the windy months. Following in these eco-savvy footsteps, the U.S. Navy has bought itself a biodiesel processor to clean used cooking oil from Guantanamo Base and mix it with diesel fuel to produce a biodiesel blend. Currently, the base produces about 1,500 gallons (5,680 litres) of used cooking oil a month in its galleys, restaurants and home kitchens. That oil was being poured directly into a landfill. Landfill space is tight on the base, which is rented from Cuba and completely cut off from the rest of the island because of chilly relations between the U.S. and Cuban governments. "Every gallon of cooking oil we put in the tank is another gallon of diesel oil we don't have to buy and ship down," said Navy Cmdr. Jeff Johnston, public works officer for the base. :: Via Planet Ark...

We often write about clever designs that address the problem of waste and energy inefficiency. But what about designs that solve other kinds of environmental problems, like biodiversity loss? According to WWF, nearly 250,000 endangered loggerhead, leatherback and other turtles, as well as thousands of sea birds, sharks and sea mammals, are accidentally caught every year by long-line fishermen trolling the seas using treacherous J-shaped hooks. WWF has been working with fishermen from Ecuador to Mexico to make the switch from J-hooks to circular hooks, which make better ecological sense. Recent data collected by WWF suggests that using circle hooks saves 70 percent to 90 percent of the turtles caught by long-line fishermen and has little effect on catch rates, Moises Mug, a senior official at WWF, told Reuters. The circular hook is wider and its tip protrudes less than the J-hook, increasing the change that it will lodge in the turtle's lip rather than the throat or stomach, which is fatal, according to WWF. The point of the hook actually curves into the hook shank. If the bait is swallowed, the hook will come right back up the throat without hooking the turtle. The circular hooks are also easier to remove from the mouths of turtles and prevents them from bleeding to death. :: Via Planet Ark...

A year ago in TreeHugger, we were celebrating America Recycles Day (and deploying some tips for taking action on the big day) and it was so much fun, we celebrated again this year. Recycling was a hot topic last year: in BUST magazine; in the construction of an entire cardboard car; with some nice outdoor furniture; with a nice DIY project for a business card holder; and a huge online resource for British recycling. This year, we noted Recycline's new kitchen gear, checked out Brazil's new recycled homewares and gawked at some nice recycled jewelry. Guess there's something to this recycling thing, after all...check out the rest of what was on our radar this week last year right here. ...

Photo: Tungabhadra River

Imagine my delight when I got to interview Bangalore-based designer Mohan Rao of Integrated Design (ID), whose small, multidisciplinary firm is now working on a sustainable restoration scheme of the reservoirs around the small but legendary town of Hampi, in the Indian state of Karnataka – a World Heritage site and certainly one of most magical places on the subcontinent and where the surrounding ruins mark the historical location of the fourteenth-century South Indian empire of the Vijayanagara. Firms such as Rao’s in India are interesting because they present alternative methodologies in an already-blossoming sustainability movement in India – synthesizing and building upon traditional/historical experiences with modern, holistic know-how to address problems of conservation and heritage preservation. In a nation where each new, big hydrological dam spawns more environmental and social problems than it solves, Rao is busy challenging large-scale methods of resource management and hydrological restoration with alternative, sustainable and small-scaled approaches of revitalization in Hampi. Rao also recently finished up some disaster management consulting on the Nicobar Islands and an urban habitat project in Morocco....

This toy windmill is as good as it gets for budding TreeHuggers. Made out of steel in the good old USA. No poisonous, plastic parts from China (although we did not examine the small red hub pictured). And, it would look nice even on a balcony railing or in a flower pot on the deck. Small enough that the child would not have to live in the suburbs to enjoy its functioning. The only drawback is, this model isn't set up to add a mini-generator to drive a motor or pump. Lehman's online catalog lists it for US$17.95 and it was in stock at the time of this posting. Kids can assemble the Lehman turbine toy, but it looks as if adult involvement would be needed: a good time to engage in a "teachable moment." Green shopper caution: we considered including a photo of the KidWind project toy wind turbines in this post because that project offers a variety of toy wind turbine kits and spare parts. Unfortunately, most of the KidWind turbine and stanchion materials are apparently PVC, as shown in this link. Might be possible to add the ancillary generation parts from KidWind to the Lehman's turbine, and skip the potential for exposing kids to Chinese-made vinyl containing lead stabilizer compounds?

Note:Lehman's windmill "Takes about an hour to assemble and a tweezers is highly recommended (Many small screws.) # 16 ¾"H, 1 ft. to 1" scale."

Clarification:: This writer has no problem with PVC components of any kind being included in commercial wind turbines. Kids are not exposed to them. There's no problem, either, with kids being given age appropriate toys with rigid PVC parts if lead stabilizers are demonstrated not to be present. But, given this year's experience with Chinese made toys containing lead colorants and Chinese formulated vinyl commonly containing lead stabilizers, until it is demonstrated that the KidWind kits are lead-free, we can't in good conscience, suggest them as gifts. Summary: Made In The USA, and Lead Free are the qualities that make Lehmans a "Best Ever" unless someone points us to a better model, in which case we'll make a correction or addendum to this post....

This is wonderful. A bi-partisan political storm is brewing over New Hampshire because Al and Arnold have found a clever way to inject serious climate discussion into the coming US presidential primary season. Timing could not be better, with the IPCC about to 'drop the big one'- a 5-year update report that even talk show hosts can understand - and Al Gore about to receive White House recognition for his Nobel prize. Sadly, this will make it even harder for CNN to get debating candidates to take a pass on climate in favor of questions about grooming and appearance.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former vice president Al Gore are planning a bipartisan presidential forum on energy and climate change in New Hampshire in December, the governor's office confirmed Thursday. The forum, which is still in the planning stages, is being designed so presidential candidates from both parties will attend. Adam Mendelsohn, a spokesman for the governor, said the format was not completely developed, but the former vice president was handling the Democratic candidates, while Schwarzenegger would handle the Republicans. Schwarzenegger's office confirmed the forum after Sen. John McCain said at a Sacramento news conference Thursday that he had agreed to attend. The GOP presidential candidate said the climate change issue had not been discussed enough in the race, either by Republicans or Democrats.

Via::USA Today, "Gore, Schwarzenegger to plan presidential climate forum" Image credit::Jeff's Weather Blog, Thunder Storm Over New Hampshire...

Though we're likely still a long ways off that vaunted hydrogen economy, it's been encouraging to witness the string of breakthroughs in storage and production technology that have taken place over the last few months. Now a team of scientists from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, have created a new class of hydrogen storage materials that could make the development of high-performance fuel cells a possibility in the near future. Physicists Adam Phillips and Bellave Shivaram took up a proposal originally made by Taner Yildirim of the National Institute of Standards and Technology - who had calculated that a material made out titanium and ethylene, a small hydrocarbon, could form a stable complex that would bind 14% of its weight in hydrogen - and brought it to fruition. ...

Image courtesy of WaPo's Kevin Clark As devastating as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may have been, the amount of pain and destruction they inflicted on Louisiana and Mississippi may have just been a prelude to the larger ecological disaster they now pose. Though largely unreported until now, new satellite data from NASA has shown that the hurricanes may have struck down or severely damaged as many as 320 million trees in the two states. James Cummins, executive director of Wildlife Mississippi and a board member of the state's Forestry Commission, has described this as, "the worst environmental disaster in the United States since the Exxon Valdez accident ... and the greatest forest destruction in modern times." He was critical of the poor response this catastrophe had received so far, arguing that it needed to be both "really broad" and "aggressive."...

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Jeremy Leggett, who we interviewed here, will be appearing on CNN International’s Principal Voices program, tonight at 7.30pm GMT, 8.30pm CET. Each year, Principal Voices gathers together a series of the world's foremost thinkers in their respective areas. For 2007 the focus is on social entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, and alternative energy. For a short clip of what Jeremy Leggett has to say, follow this link. Other voices to be featured on the program include Juliet Davenport, CEO of UK company Good Energy, and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, an award- winning journalist and environmental commentator. For more thoughts on cleaner energy, check out our guide on How to Green Your Electricity.::Principal Voices::via Solarcentury:: ...

Michel Moynier, the mayor of Narbonne has vision. And his vision is becoming reality. The city recently celebrated the opening of a school that uses zero fossil fuels, relying on solar and geothermal as main sources of energy. Narbonne also boasts a biogas production facility for fueling city vehicles. Legislative commitments ensure city streets free of cars over 8 years old and free parking for clean burning or electric cars. But all this is merely a prelude. Narbonne's full plan is music for the ears. The city will build a 650 house subdivision with the goal to create a zero CO2 community. Cogeneration will fuel and heat the sustainable subdivision. The Narbonne 'du Theater' neighborhood will benefit from a silent waste collection system to manage three streams of separated wastes. This sustainable urban zone will mix small commercial concerns into a community of diverse social population relying on environmentally friendly modes of transportation....

The bald eagle has soared off the Endangered Species List with a with a little help and an 8-foot wingspan. Willie Nelson shares his recipe for DIY biodiesel brewing at home. The polls are closed, the votes have been counted and the winners of the British Environment and Media Awards 2007 are... The American Beverage Company (AmBev), the largest drink and bottling business in Latin America, recently opened a 1,500 square meter (that's over 16,000 square feet) recycling facility near Rio de Janiero. Gooaaallll!! Indoor air pollution is one of the top five threats to public health, but a simple solution can help: houseplants....

There may be something luxurious about slathering on sexual lubricant, but the cultural quandaries posed by the increasing use of these products are complex. ... Why would a woman who is neither on the Pill, breastfeeding or going through menopause have trouble producing her own lubrication? Most observers link this to a lack of decent foreplay in the rush to get to the ‘goal’ of penetrative sex. If this is the case, it would seem to link into reports of women’s increasing lack of satisfaction with sex in general. ... Those thorny questions aside, there are genuine reasons to rethink the use of personal lubricants. Sex should be a healthy act, but lubricants can contain a range of unhealthy ingredients. Yet in our research we found that some manufacturers of lubricant products (Durex Play, for example) do not even declare the product ingredients on the package, making safe comparative choices impossible....

Nothing goes down as smooth as a nice cool drink from TreeHugger Forums; here are some highlights...

1) Forums user tadowguy is crunching some numbers, and wondering about the relative greenness of synthetic versus dinosaur-derived motor oil. "I change my own motor oil in my car. 4 quarts (1 gallon) every 3,000 miles is the book's recommendation. That's about 25g of motor oil that I've used currently. It pales in comparison to the probably 3000 gallons of gas I've used, but used motor oil is nasty stuff. I switched to synthetic oil around 30k miles. The synthetic costs about 2x-3x the regular oil, but, I only change it about every 10-12k miles. Does anyone have any information on the impact of making synthetic oil versus refining motor oil?"

2) User shadygrove is new to the vegetarian lifestyle, and looking for some help. "I could use some advice, recipes, tips etc. about living a vegetarian lifestyle. I have no real interest in going strictly vegan, (i love cheese too much), but I am open to recipes that are vegan." A good "red sauce," to go with pasta and other starches, along with a handful of handy sites are suggested. In a slight tangent, one commenter suggests that the protein deficiency that can accompany vegetarianism is dangerous business...hmm.

3) Lastly, Forums user jcoffman has stumbled into a bit of a random question: "Ok, while wandering around the store the other day I found paper made from rocks.... I was initially skeptical, but still thought it was interesting. I looked up how this paper is actually made and I have to wonder, is it really better than traditional pulp paper? Obviously one could say its better because it doesn't require trees. Thats not the complete picture though. What about the manufacturing energy, and the biodegradability of this product?" Before you rush to click on over, there's already a few jokes about rock paper and scissors. Ha.

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....

How does sweet-potato-and-ginger soup sound for a Thanksgiving starter? Moving? Before you start hoarding boxes and bubble wrap, here's what you need to know Promote global literacy by buying used books Boost your healthy home IQ by by learning to pay attention What is the Meatrix? Uncover the top-ranking polluters in your neighborhood Living the good, car-free life is easier than it sounds Why waste money on waxed paper when you have a free alternative right in your kitchen cabinet?...

TreeHugger has covered the current wars between Edison and Tesla before, Edison did everything to defend his beloved DC, he even made a movie of an "execution" (you can watch it here) which he called being "Westinghoused." The rest is history and we thought DC was dead and gone. So imagine our surprise to find that in New York City they just shut off the DC supply today. There are still quite a few buildings that use it, primarily for elevators (big AC motors were very hard to build) but now most of them have rectifiers to convert AC to DC and Consolidated Edison is finally shutting it down, replacing it with giant elevator-sized wall-warts. Doesn't smell like progress to me. ::New York Times...

Ring the bells! Pop the (organic) champagne! TreeHugger’s 2007 Gift Guide is here!

We've made this guide the most comprehensive yet, with 180+ gift ideas in three shades of green, making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, we'll be adding organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient.

Go to Part II here and Part III here.

For more great ideas, don’t forget to visit our past guides from 2006 and 2005.

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Designed to adapt to the requirements of the user, VerteDRAIN is a clever dish-draining system that's perfect for getting the most function from the least space. Featuring a handful of movable parts, the system can be reconfigured each time you do the dishes to match whatever you have drip-drying, from wine glasses and plates to pots and pans. We're especially fond of the green tower, which can hold a combination of plates, glasses, stemware, and, we assume, most anything you stick in there; like a good city, goes up rather than out to get the most from the smallest possible footprint. Verte also features a removable flatware dryer and a handful of pegs good for propping up bigger pots and helping the drainer elevate your dishes, to get optimum use from the surface area. Hit the jump to see what Verte looks like in real life. ::Sarah Brayshaw at Coroflot via ::Yanko Design...

We've expanded so much that we've had to add on!

Welcome to Part II of TreeHugger's 2007 Gift Guide! See Part I here and Part III here.

We've made this guide the most comprehensive yet, with 180+ gift ideas in three shades of green, making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, we'll be adding organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient.

For more great ideas, don’t forget to visit our past guides from 2006 and 2005. ...

Leaping right from from the possibilities of tree-free e-paper to the future uses of digital paper, here's Paper IV, a 'fourth generation' of interactive paper for use in packaging and displays. Paper IV is a layer of paperboard - which Sweden with its big forests produces abundantly - with digital information embedded in the honeycomb. A top layer of paper is printed with electronically conductive inks so that when it is touched, audio streams right out of the paper, from speakers also printed onto it (a separate power supply is currently needed). Apart from the display pictured, Paper IV could be used in applications such as music sampling stations - you know the ones currently in every major book and music store. Since the printed paper display would be relatively inexpensive according to project manager Mikael Gulliksson, it could be changed frequently, and the old display simply 'tossed into the recycling bin'. Cool concept, but is it truly treehuggable? Gulliksson says it is not totally clear how environmentally-friendly Paper IV can be -it's not in commercial production yet - though he said it has to beat graphic electronic advertising and interactive displays created with a lot of acrylic and/or other plastic materials. Gulliksson's team is now trying to master printing batteries on the paper to lose the separate power source. Perhaps spray-on solar cells for the power source could be next? Via ::Paper Four (English)...

Nobody is surprised when TreeHugger is appalled by wasting water, but when the Wall Street Journal starts complaining you know the issue has gone mainstream. Robert Frank writes in the Journal about Nelson Peltz and how: "He used about 21 million gallons over the past 12 months, which works out to an average of 57,000 gallons a day. Just to put that in perspective, the average single-family household in southern Florida consumes about 54,000 gallons PER YEAR. In other words, Mr. Peltz’s place uses more water in a day than most homes use in a year." Frank concludes in very un-WSJ tone: "I’m all for people spending money however they please. Mr. Peltz earned it, he has a right to buy a oceanfront big estate and run it as he pleases. But when he’s using more than a million gallons of water per month during one of the worst droughts in history, conspicuous consumption has gone too far." ::Wall Street Journal ...

I just love it for the name, Greenwash Soap, giving greenwashing a whole new meaning. It is the first of their palm-oil free soaps; Lush's director of ethics, Hilary Jones, was interviewed at Smartplanet News and says "we were very concerned about palm oil. The land is being sucked up by big multinationals that are clear-cut felling and planting palm oil, displacing the local people and the orangutans. The buyers said they could drive for a whole day and not come out of the palm plant plantations. It was the sheer scale of it -- we came back from Sumatra and decided we didn’t want anything to do with palm oil." Lush hopes to roll out its new formula for all its soaps, reducing palm oil use by 250 tonnes. ::Lush via ::Smartplanet More TreeHugger on ::Palm Oil...

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times The New York Times calls it a "Low-Guilt Potato Chip" because it comes from an "eco-friendly factory." And the California Frito-Lay factory certainly is; they are aiming for net-zero. It is almost off-grid, running on renewable fuels, using recycled water, and "Over the next several years, Frito-Lay plans to install high-tech filters that would recycle most of the water used to rinse and wash potatoes, as well as the corn used to make Doritos and other snacks, and then burn the leftover sludge to create methane gas to run the plant’s boiler. The company will also build at least 50 acres of solar concentrators behind the plant to generate solar power. A biomass generator, which will probably burn agricultural waste, is also planned to provide additional renewable fuel." They call it an environmentally benign potato chip. But isn't this much like a LEED rated parking garage, an oxymoron? When green also means healthy, can a potato chip be "low guilt" because of its carbon footprint? ::New York Times This needs a survey, coming Monday......

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times This is a recipe that is going to become part my repertoire. If you are looking for a great side dish for Thanksgiving, or maybe an antidote to turkey for the Friday after this is a good choice. It is also a good choice if you are just having some friends around for a casual dinner. The entire thing is made in advance and has to sit and rest for at least 4 hours and up to one day. Take half an hour in the morning to make it and get on with the rest of your day. Toss it in the oven an hour and a quarter before you plan to eat, add a green salad then sit back and bask in the compliments. That's it. The best part about serving this is when your guests arrive you can sit down and have a drink and a chat with them rather than racing around the kitchen at the last minute. And isn't that why we have dinner parties in the first place?...

We love green roofs but can't afford a full size one right now; that's why this "mansion planter" designed by Japan's Nobuhiro Sato is so cool. it is only 5 inches high, and solidly made of mortar, glass and brass. According to shopping site Mollaspace, Sato founded Pull+Push products in 2002 "to pull and push new ideas in and out. Every item is personally handmade. Every product is Nobuhiro Sato’s style to convert things we take for granted into inspiring new ideas." ::Pull+Push (japanese) via ::Mollaspace via ::Roadside scholar...

Between its materials and multi-functional design, die fabrik's Chair777 is not your normal chair. It's made from cardboard, a material that has proven time and again that it's not just for boxes anymore, and might go quite nicely with the designers' table 433, made from recycled Venetian blinds. The lightweight chair can handle a variety of seating "modes," so take a load off and sit, lounge and relax in this curvy beauty. We like how this and other cardboard chairs is helping to re-brand the easy-to-recycle material as more than just a handy-but-disposable material used for shipping and packaging and then tossed aside. Maybe Frank Gehry was really on to something....::die fabrik via ::Design Spotter...

Yurts are almost a no-go zone on TreeHugger along with Birkenstocks and ponchos, but when I learned that David Masters of the Luna Project lived in one just a few minutes away from Cambridge, Ontario, I had to check it out. He actually has two of them made by Oregon's Pacific Yurts, a 30' diameter 706 square foot classroom, and a 24' diameter home unit. ...

The message on the lips of every major auto executive at the LA Auto Show this year essentially seemed to boil down to: "Trust us, we're green." And, truth be told, most companies did make some effort to stress their green credentials by featuring an interesting array of upcoming/concept clean vehicles. Too bad their efforts - for the most part - fell flat on their faces. As many commentators have noted, there seems to be somewhat of a disconnect when companies that are out trumpeting their green message to consumers are also furiously lobbying the government against imposing higher fuel efficiency standards. That's not to say none of the models on display didn't catch our eyes (peep VW's space up! blue above, for instance)....

Lloyd posted the other day on Camelbak’s intention to be the first company to offer consumers an bisphenol A free plastic alternative to durable polycarbonate bottles. And while their outdoor sports customers are looking forward to those rugged bottles being available in February 2008, another customer niche, that is equally as demanding of their product, already has an alternative. Green to Grow produce baby bottles from Polyethersulfone (PES), BPA-free plastic that is stable of a wide range of temperatures and is said to be able to withstand repeated sterilization. It approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe for repeated use in contact with food. (Mind you, the FDA do give their stamp to some strange practices.) Green to Grow also spot test their line to ensure their remain free of phthalates (as found in PVC) and lead, providing further transparency by publishing those test results as PDFs on their site....

Okay, Peace Love Earth's seven wishes bracelet isn't exactly backed by the scientific method, but a little positive thinking never hurt anyone. Designer Anna Mkhitarian has expanded her line of recycled-silver jewelry by looping delicate charms—you get your choice of the peace symbol, a heart, our planet in miniature, or a flower—on surplus string. Tie a knot for each of your seven wishes on the string; according to Armenian tradition, when the bracelet falls off, your wishes will manifest. Handmade in Los Angeles, each bracelet will set you back $30. ::Peace Love Earth and ::The Green Loop ...

The newsboys aren't on streetcorners anymore; there are so many ways to get information now. However we were surprised to learn from April's post that the old fashioned dead tree edition can in fact have less environmental impact than reading it on the computer (if it gets passed around a bit). Newspapers around the world are losing circulation, but where is it going? UPDATE: I am so sorry about forgetting public radio like NPR, CBC and BBC. I cannot change a poll once it is up without losing all the votes.

View MicroPollSurvey SoftwareFree Online PollEmail Marketing Software

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Image courtesy of Kango Traveler If you believe Washington's political chattering classes, Al Gore's decision to remove himself from consideration for the upcoming presidential election is essentially a fait accompli. Indeed, his recent move to join KPCB's high-powered team seemed to dash any remaining hope that he would stage a late entry in the 2008 campaign. Or did it? Gore told the Financial Times a few days ago that he had not yet made "a Sherman statement" - conventionally seen in politics as signifying a putative candidate's definitive lack of interest in pursuing an elected position. Whether or not he does eventually decide to enter the race (or clarify his position) - we can at least take comfort in knowing that he is advising candidates from both parties on their environmental plans. ...

George Monbiot, everyone's favourite controversial climate commentator, launched the Be The Change conference with a bang here in London yesterday. He leaped off the starting blocks with the statement that not only is it imperative that we reduce Co2 emissions by 100%, but that it's perfectly possible to do so. This makes the UK government's promise of a 60% reduction by 2050 look frankly wimpy. How can we reach this lofty target you ask? Monbiot's argument rests on two clear points: diversification of renewable energy sources and the use of current transmission services. He is confident that we have the technology that would allow countries like the UK to make use of Iceland's geothermal or Africa's solar energies through direct current cables....

It appears that we may have maligned Mukesh Ambani and Perkins+Will in an earlier post; we called his 60 storey house a new Versailles and a garish display of excess. Ralph Johnson of Perkins + Will tell Architectural Record that “There’s been a lot of crazy things floating around,but there’s actually a lot of positive things to talk about because it’s an interesting building.” Evidently the family is only occupying 35,000 square feet, positively modest by American billionaire standards, and it is clad in "vertical gardens" to help shade the building and reduce the urban heat island effect. “You can use the whole wall almost like a tree and increase the green area of the site by five or 10 times over what it would be if you just did a green roof,” Johnson observers. “It’s a prototype for buildings of the future.” We stand so corrected. ::Architectural Record...

Earth is a spectacular new documentary made by the BBC that follows the lives of three wild animals over a year. Filmed over a 5 year period, it tracks polar bears in the Arctic, elephants in the Kalahari and a humpback whale, through the trials and tribulations of 4 seasons in their lives. Narrated by Patrick Stewart, with his sexy smoky voice, the high-definition photography is revelatory and a delight. The baby polar bears stick their little noses out of their cave into the light and tumble down hills of snow. Forests bloom from snow drops to blue bells to daffodils in an instant. Shot in 200 locations worldwide, the details of wildlife in their habitat are fascinating. Magnificently plumed birds of Paradise do a mating dance in the rain forest of New Guinea and three million caribou flee for their lives with killer wolves in hot pursuit. The message is veiled. The narration talks about changes happening and the world changing and makes reference to the rain forests drying up as weather patterns change. But the big issue--climate change--is never strongly articulated. This could be because the BBC has recently been accused of liberal bias in its coverage of political issues or it could be that the producers wanted to reach as wide an audience as possible. Or maybe it's just so obvious that one doesn't need to say it. Even with these quibbles, the film conveys the fragility of our world and how we are all at the mercy of the environment. Opening today, November 16 at a cinema near you. :: Earth ...

We've written about Intel's Penryn chip before: it is fast, sleek, small and now green. According to 21c, Intel released the new chipset last Saturday and Israeli labs in Haifa helped fashion its micro-architecture to make the chip feasible at a commercial scale. Is the Penryn now the greenest computer chip in the world? ...

Pioneer Carbon, the project origination and sourcing arm of UK-based offset company Climate Care (who only recently announced they had offset over 1 million tonnes of CO2 since they were founded), has just launched a partnership with Camco International to undergo a trial installation of 400 Chinese cooking stoves that could save up to 8 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each per year. If the trial proves successful, the organizations are hoping to roll out funding for over a million stoves. They claim the accumulated emissions savings could be as high 28 million tonnes in the first five years of the project. This from their press release: ...

Epson proudly announced that it has won a 2007 Ecohitech Award for the Epson Stylus Pro 3800 printer. The award is Italy's most prestigious recognition of environmental achievement by a technology company, and covers hi-tech processes, products, systems and services. The jury appraisal of Epson's award, given in the "Energy Saving and CO2 Reduction" category, says, "The Epson Stylus Pro 3800 is a compact printer developed and produced in accordance with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In comparison with the previous models, the estimated CO2 emissions during the whole product life are reduced by 44% and the amount of the resources used during the production is reduced by 55%. The printer is Ecoleaf certified." The Ecoleaf is a Japanese eco-label that recognizes that an LCA has been carried out on a product, which is probably where they calculated the emissions reductions. Surprisingly on the Epson website for this printer there is no mention of the eco-label or award. Via: Design Taxi. Image credit: Techfresh....

When I recently opened my inbox I saw that I’d received an invitation from the Green Charter Schools Network to get involved with what they’re doing and being the curious creature I am I took the opportunity to check them out. Turns out there’s a growing movement of charter schools focused exclusively on educating kids by utilizing the environment as a tool to foster their knowledge of the world around them, and I certainly believe that’s a positive thing. And while I certainly don't know whether or not you'll find an owl in one of them, the reality is that most children will never attend a charter school in their lifetime. Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that our public school system is the one that we, as a public, inevitably own. And undoubtedly the future that we and the owls share is inextricably linked with the future of that system. ...

It's green to be lazy. Really Turn used makeup compacts into solid-perfume carriers Build a modern, stylish bird feeder for less than a buck Clear the clutter in your wardrobe by hosting a swap party Save carbon-dioxide emissions, as well as some cash, by installing a water-efficient showerhead Managing a carpool schedule for your kids is a snap with this free, new online service Is the thought of giving up your car making you shudder? Baby steps, people Looking for a gift with a little more bite? Give a crocodile ...

BeeCeuticals Organics puts the "tea" in TLC for your stressed tresses. Both the Bee-Hair-Now Hydrating Honey Shampoo and the matching Bee-Hair-Now Hair Repair Conditioner ($9.95 for each 12 fl. oz. bottle) are primed to resuscitate your 'do from a don't. An antioxidant-packed blend of organic- and fair-trade-certified roobois and green tea suds it up with honey, bee pollen, and royal jelly, as well as fortifying organic-certified ingredients such as calendula, grapeseed oil, chamomile, white grapefruit, and sage leaf. Free from parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, and synthetic fragrances—and never tested on animals—this luster-boosting duo is out to save the bees, as well, with a portion of their profits going to research and conservation efforts. ::BeeCeuticals Organics...

Made from two flat-pack pieces, the 2pac (get it?) chair is made from FSC-certified birch plywood by UK-based designers rawstudio. Brilliantly simple, with only two shapes and four pieces, it requires no hardware for assembly -- just snap it together -- and is even suitable for outdoor use. Sustainable materials, thoughtful, resource-minimizing design and easy assembly/disassembly all adds up to a slick TreeHugging chair. Available in the UK at Greenhaus. ::rawstudio via ::swissmiss2...

The Gaby dress, available at Modify With her Toggery collection, 26-year-old designer Kate D'Arcy melds sleek vintage-inspired silhouettes with a relaxed versatility that makes her pieces look novel yet timeless. Dressed up or dressed down, they are, in a word, yummy. Made in Pennsylvania from 100 percent organic cotton and bamboo fibers, Toggery comes with flat, bold colors that provide subdued, unfussy backdrops for more-intricate accessories or experiments in layering. Pricing is remarkably affordable, too—expect these togs to range from $30 to $100. ::Toggery by Kate D'Arcy...

As airlines and airplane manufacturers continue to concentrate on increasing capacity, the European Union (EU) took an important step in regulating greenhouse gas emissions from the civil aviation sector. Earlier this week, the European Parliament approved a plan that would require EU-registered airlines to apply for emissions permits beginning in 2011. Similar to other polluting industries within the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, airlines will be required to reduce their emissions or offset excess emissions by purchasing additional credits or investing in international climate protection projects. This announcement is of particular importance as emissions from aviation have doubled since 1991, and were expected to increase by an additional 50% by 2012. Under the new plan, each airline would be allowed to emit 90% of its average emissions for a 2004-2006 reference period. The aviation plan is part of the EU's effort to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by the year 2020. See also ::Boeing's Zero-Emission Plane Set To Take OffSite and ::Virgin Atlantic testing Bio-fuel on Jumbo Jet ...

What did you toss into the trash today? New Yorkers discard almost 62,000 tons of trash every day, according to the New York City Department of Sanitation—enough to fill the Empire State Building. Meanwhile, the city spends more than a billion dollars a year to spirit away the detritus of daily living. In The Garbage Game, produced by The Gotham Gazette, you get to make personal choices about the fate of your trash, whether you decide to compost your kitchen waste, give up bottled water, or choose cloth diapers over disposable ones. Then, you take on the role of a sanitation commissioner and help the Big Apple decide where its trash should go for processing: a landfill, another state—or even another continent. ::The Garbage Game...

This took awhile; but, Atlanta's suburbs at last seem headed in the right direction, considering, for example, ordinances that favor more water efficient toilets. Unfortunately, local officials seem not to have discovered, yet, the nearby presence of the worlds largest potty (pictured). One thing at at time.

Dekalb County Commissioners will take up CEO Vernon Jones' desire to require homes built before 1993 to install low-flow bathroom fixtures before they can be resold. Jones also wants stricter penalties for outdoor water violators: a written warning for the first offense, followed by a $250 fine on the second, $500 on the third and service cutoff following a fourth violation. Gwinnett County Commissioners will consider tougher fines, including up to a $1,000 penalty for repeat offenders and doubling the water rate for large users who don't reduce consumption by 10 percent. They'll also discuss a rebate of up to $100 per toilet for customers who replace older models with low-flow commodes. The new measures would also ban commercial pressure washing and car washing that doesn't use recycled water as well as reduce the time landscapers will be allowed to water new lawns.

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We've written about e-paper here and while the idea seems nifty, it's hard not to think that improving online readers might be the best option rather than adding another electronic gadget to the overladen waste stream. But in a new study from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, impact depends on number of readers and length of time a 'paper' gets read. The researchers tried their best to set up an accurate comparison - what they called a 'screening' LCA (life-cycle analysis) between a printed newspaper, a web-based newspaper and an e-paper newspaper - using Sundsvall Tidning which ran an e-paper pilot employing the iRex ILiad tablet....

According to researchers at the University of Michigan, organic farms can produce more than enough food to support the world’s population without converting any additional land to crop production. Cooks David Crooker and Daran Poulin have been sustainably feeding a much smaller population of 1,700 college students at Bowdoin College in Maine for years. They’re profiled, along with Arnold Luce of Luce’s Meats in UCS’s latest installment of Green Cuisine, an ongoing feature that follows food from sustainable farms to the kitchens of leading chefs. Check out Crooker and Poulin’s environmentally-friendly recipe for braised beef and root vegetables with blueberry wine....

Inniskillin was one of the first decent Niagara wineries, starting as a small independent in 1975 and making fine wine when all they made up here was Baby Duck. They also make an award winning bottle of that vile cough syrup known as ice wine. Now they are teaming up with StormFisher Biogas to use grape pomace, the seeds and skins that used to go to the landfill, to make electricity. About 1,000 to 2,000 tonnes of it will be processed in an anaerobic digester produce methane gas which will run generators. According to the press release, "StormFisher produces renewable energy from food and beverage processing by-products when it is digested in industrial tanks and either used to generate electricity or processed as natural gas. Much of Europe’s food and beverage processing by-products are used to generate biogas, and the process is rapidly gaining favour in North America." ::StormFisher, ::Inniskillin, ::Globe and Mail See other posts in TreeHugger tagged Biogas....

When he started The Simple Leaf, Nikhil Roychowdhury wanted to sell tea, not save the planet. A few months into business though, and he saw just how aligned these two goals were. Four months ago, he partnered with Carbonfund.org to offset all parts of his business, and was bitten by the green bug- he's been working to make his business even more sustainable since then. We spoke with him about tea's connection with climate, childhood inspirations, and going carbon-neutral. TreeHugger: Did you originally intent for The Simple Leaf to be a carbon-free business? Nikhil Roychowdhury: When I started The Simple Leaf, I knew that I wanted to build a socially responsible company, but eliminating our carbon footprint wasn't at the top of my list at the time. Then I found Carbonfund, and their mission immediately struck a chord....

Of course, every TreeHugger knows that it is America Recycles Day, (for TreeHuggers every day is a recycling day) started ten years ago to increase awareness of the importance of recycling. There are activities across the country, that you can attend, or you can "Make an Effort to Make a Difference. As our slogan says, it all comes back to you. Even a small shift in your attitudes and actions, multiplied many times over by others accepting this challenge, can change the world." But it is not catching on. Founders Kevin Tuerff and Valerie Davis are commemorating the initiative’s anniversary today by camping out in a landfill in Texas to express their dismay at the country’s lack of recycling progress. ...

This news item from USA Today clarifies what might happen to the people of Atlanta, Georgia, should a worst-case drought condition last another year. Sure, a few businesses might plan to relocate across the State line in the interim; but, once the decision is open, nearby Chattanooga Tennessee is only one of many possible destinations. Economic development bravado aside, folks won't be moving all the way to Detroit should there be a severe water crisis. Plenty of drinking water is about an hour's drive or so away. You could bike it if you had to. And all this talk of taking up arms against pipelines from the Great Lakes and drought-driven diaspora is just nuts.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — First, the mayor wants it known that his water-rich city 118 miles north of drought-stricken Atlanta isn't bragging. Second, though, he wants businesses considering locating in the Southeast to know that his city has an abundance of water, thanks to the Tennessee River.

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We have not been kind to Innovative Home's past issues, but they seem to be finding a new footing. The editorial promises "a new tagline and a fresh face" and "with each issue forward, will delve deeper into the green aspects of the home...as our focus continues to sharpen." The first house shown fills the bill- Duke University's "Home Depot Smart Home" is interesting, followed by Rocio Romero's LV. in an article with the title "Some Assembly Required" which we have heard before.. The houses in the Innovative Homes section revert to type, being huge, unaffordable and not particularly green or innovative, but then there are some decent urban renovations and additions,and a good article titled "Sprawl no more" on urban neighborhoods....

Maybe Wisconsin should pay for its CO2 sequestered in Illinois by lowering the toll fees on SUVs from Chicago-area tourists driving to Wisconsin? Just joking. Here's a real question: if the FutureGen carbon sequestration project goes to Texas instead of nearby Illinois, what's Wisconsin Governor Doyle's climate management strategy? An all the eggs in one unproven technology basket could well lead to a "we better make it happen" project with high budget over runs and missed deadlines. And who would pay for the heavy-duty pipelines headed south to Illinois, carrying C02 at supercritical pressures? Dream on.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle on Tuesday signed on as a supporter of the nation's first ultra-clean coal-fired power plant sought for Illinois. A critical component of the project, known as FutureGen, involves storing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas released by coal-fired power plants into the atmosphere, deep underground. The coal would be converted into a gas and then into hydrogen, for potential use in powering fuel cells. Illinois and Texas are vying to host the $1.5 billion FutureGen project, a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Energy and a consortium of coal producers and electric utilities. The project's goal is to test and show that next-generation coal technology will be ready to help coal-fired power plants curb their contribution to global warming.

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2.2 -- the percent of worldwide power generated by renewable energy in 2005. Compare that to... 15.2 -- the percent generated by nuclear power, up from 3.3% in 1973. And the biggest energy producer on the list? 40.3 -- the percent of the world's energy that comes from coal, which stands to stomp on the little steps we take to go green, and costs us, big time, in more ways than one. ::International Energy Agency via ::The Economist...

Instead of Governor Sonny Perdue

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Entries for November 11, 2007 - November 17, 2007

Total this week: 161

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