Weekly Archive for December 2, 2007 : TreeHugger

We are always a bit wary of the term "environmental refugee" because people's reasons for leaving their homes are often very complex and the amount of scientific research on the topic is still quite minimal. But there is a growing chorus, especially from the field of anthropology, of scholars concerned by the role the environment -- particularly climate change -- plays in forcing people out of their homelands. One of Mexico's most outspoken voices on the subject of environmental refugees is Úrsula Oswald Spring, who chairs the United Nations University's Institute for Environment and Human Security. In a recent presentation in Mexico City, Spring described how desertification, the lack of a good farming policy and the lack of motivation to combat global warming have accelerated the wave of environmental refugees in Mexico. Spring noted that at least half of the one million Mexicans that migrate to the big cities or the United States each year do so because of poverty and environmental factors. Erosion, salinization and low prices for agricultural products not only make them vulnerable in terms of food security, but also destroy what they have to subsist on, she said....

A UN proposal to set up a Middle East environmental training center focused on sustainable water solutions was shot down by the Arab League this past week during a meet in Cairo (see TreeHugger’s post on the event). Why? Because the majority of the 21 Arab nations in the league do not want Israel included in the center. This is despite the fact that Israel is a world leader by far in water reclamation, irrigation and water technology; and the Arab world is seeing levels of water scarcity and desertification like never before. ...

This table of top metro-areas for LEED certification is excerpted from a recently published study that evaluated, on a national basis, the rent and value differentials of energy-efficient (LEED certified or "green") buildings. A few of the valuation factors in the report looked a little fuzzy, like the average savings associated with health and productivity improvements derived from green designs, for example. But, such cost factors were a minor distraction from the fascinating, geographic rank tables found in the report. Have a look at which US states and municipalities have accumulated the most square feet in LEED-certified building space, as of the middle of 2007. Talk about counter-intuitive. The State of Texas (#2 slot among states), and one of it's cities, Houston (#2 slot among cities), which share oil-permeated, SUV-driving reputations, are LEEDers? The US capital of Washington DC has always had, and continues to live with, fossils taking campaign money from fossil fuel-reliant industries (regardless of which political party dominates). And...DC takes the number three slot among all US metro areas? Roses landing on flies. Or hope burying dismay. Which is it?...

Image courtesy of Don McPhee According to a new report ranking the world's cities in the order of which will be most vulnerable to coastal flooding by 2070, all but one of the 10 were found to be in developing countries in Asia. The combined effects of climate change, urbanization and population growth are expected to put cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai and Miami at great risk of flooding, potentially exposing close to a hundred million residents. The study, conducted by the University of Southampton, Risk Management Solutions, CIRED/Meteo-France and the OECD, found that 38% of the world's largest port cities were located in Asia and that 27% were located in deltaic settings, putting them at greater risk of being flooded. For more information about the study (and some gorgeous pictures), check out the full slideshow here. Via ::Guardian Unlimited: Global port cities under threat (news website) See also: ::Five Asian Nations To Study How To Cope With Floods, ::Floods, Monsoons, Heat Waves, Drought: Climate Change In Asia Now, ::What Will Mark The Beginning of The End Of Global Trade? - Climate Change....

Image courtesy of dsearis With all the sobering talk of rising greenhouse gas emissions and ocean acidification, it seems hard sometimes to recall that "greenhouse" and "carbon dioxide" weren't always so firmly wedded to the issue of global warming. Indeed, were it not for the greenhouse effect - through which carbon dioxide and other GHGs capture and trap the sun's heat in the atmosphere - life would not have flourished on Earth as it has. New geological data has shown that Earth came perilously close to being permanently plunged into subfreezing conditions several hundred million years ago - a shift in the planet's climate that was only averted through the presence of carbon. This has lent credence to the so-called the "snowball Earth hypothesis," which alleges that the planet required millions of years to fully recover from such freezes - and that it did so with the help of atmospheric carbon dioxide originating from volcanic eruptions....

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People stranded on rooftops. Floodwaters covering the interstate. Thousands without power, displaced from their homes. Sound like the scene from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina? Right now, it’s the reality for many communities in the Pacific Northwest. The region was recently hit by a major rain storm, which triggered massive flooding on rivers in Oregon and Washington. These floods are the latest wake-up call, showing us why we need to rethink our country’s flood protection strategies. In many cases our old approaches – levees, dams and flood walls – have exacerbated the very problems they were meant to fix. Despite spending more than $25 billion on federal levees and dams, national flood losses continue to rise....

One year ago in TH, we wanted a Tesla, and we wanted it bad, even though the fuzz was on to 'em. Electric cars, plug-ins and otherwise greener cars, some more quixotic than others, were all over our pages, from Europe to Saturn and back. We even found a way to stop waiting and get an electric car now. Fast forward to this year; the founder of Tesla Motors, Martin Eberhard, has stepped down as CEO of the company and has since left the company altogether...hmm. We haven't seen much from the other concepts, but there is a new version of the G-Wiz i (on the right, above). It's no Tesla, but you can just plug it in and go. See the rest of what was on TreeHugger's radar one year ago....

Environmental officials from the 22 members of the Arab League met in Cairo this week to discuss the effects of climate change on the Middle East, and Arab countries' possible responses to it. The meeting signifies Arab countries' increasing awareness of the danger posed to them by climate change and resource depletion. Environmental issues affecting the Arab world include widespread desertification, water scarcities, soil degradation and declining land productivity. Despite the fact that environmental factors have already contributed to political unrest in places like Sudan, Arab countries lack coherent policies on climate change. A survey of 56 countries last year placed Saudi Arabia dead last in dealing with climate change. Secretary General Amr Moussa told the gathering in Cairo: ...

According to the BBC, the Brazillian government has just announced that the rate at which the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed slowed by as much as 20% between August 2006 and July 2007. Good news indeed for us TreeHuggers it would seem. And it’s not the first time we’ve heard the news that deforestation is slowing. We’ve even seen some reports that global forest cover is set for a resurgence. We, however, are not convinced that we’re out of the woods, so to speak, just yet given the continued destructive behavor of some well-known companies. It looks like the BBC is inclined to agree when they take a slightly closer look at the figures: ...

If you visit these pages often, you know that high heels are cycle chic, not an excuse to totter to your fossil-fuel powered footsaver and motor to your destination. Get ready to add another plus under the "bike with stilettos" column in your daily mobility decision: driving in heels is dangerous. So dangerous, that UK-based women's insurer Sheilas' Wheels developed the convertible heels pictured here. Below the fold, you can see that the heel on these striking leg-lengtheners tucks away to make a sensible flat shoe for walking. Hmmm, another alternative to doing the city-circle search for a parking place or adding to the asphalt explosion....

For Christmas this year, give someone you love a handwritten book of their favorite recipes Want to get your kids to eat vegetables? Start from the womb Green your move by hauling your worldly goods vai biofuel Adopt an animal and earn a cookie. Really. We've updated our Christmas tree post to include a note about San Diegans affected by the Cedar Fire Plan mass-transit routes in seven different cities with this indispensable online tool Commercial deicers can harm frolicking children and dogs. We offer some eco-friendlier alternatives Save money and landfill space by refilling your used printer cartridges. We show you how. This tip will save plenty of trees, and you barely have to move a muscle If you're braking your car for more than 10 seconds, turn off the ignition. Here are several reasons why, including a couple that involve your wallet ...

It is only the 7th and we are tired of Christmas references. Now Forest Ethics has released its "naughty and nice" list with Sears coming in dead last."In the nearly five years that we've been working to transform the environmental practices of the catalog industry, we have seen impressive results," said Ginger Cassady of ForestEthics, adding that "Leaders like LL Bean and Victoria's Secret prove that there is no reason why laggards like Sears cannot meet an environmentally sensible standard." ...

An old trick to protect your shiny new bike is to slap loud and ugly paint all over it. Much more subtle is Dominic Wilcox's temporary rust stickers, that are "designed to make your beautiful bike/car look rusted and scratched so that passing thieves assume it's not worth stealing due to its apparent shabbyness." The inventor notes that he put them on his new bike 13 days ago and it has not been stolen yet, which he considers "probably equates to 7 years of non-stealing in the friendly countryside." Only £3.99, a lot cheaper than my lock.... before and after pix below the fold.. ...

We wrote prior to its launch about Amazon's Kindle e-book; we noted that when it comes to elegant design it ain't no iPod, more like a Trash 80/100 from 1985. Others were harsher, suggesting that it "looks like a prop from Charlie’s Angels and has, are you ready, a whopping ONE typeface. For everything! Yay! To solve this problem Core77 is having a one hour design challenge, (closing Dec 11)....

Despite some concern that the biofuel gold rush is waning, it appears now is still a good time to jump on the corn-based ethanol bandwagon. There is the 51 cent per gallon ethanol producer tax credit, an energy bill in the Senate that, if passed, would provide fuel economy credits for Flex Fuel vehicles, and now a new study released by the American coalition for ethanol has found that "certain ethanol blends can provide better fuel economy than gasoline." While this is certainly good news for the ethanol industry, the environmental and social ramifications of corn-based ethanol production, which we've covered here, here here, and here, are far less certain. The study found that E20 and E30 (20%-30% ethanol, 70%-80% gasoline) blends of ethanol, provide modest increases in fuel economy of 1%-15% compared to gasoline, depending on the vehicle. ...

In the Dairy house shown recently, horizontal slots were filled with glass. In Ecuador, the climate is a bit different; it appears more important to have lots of natural ventilation. in the Casa Pentimento, the architects have developed a prefabricated concrete system that acts as wall, screen, support for landscaping and even holds up the furniture. ...

A big green wave and hello to graduate student Lauren Grochmal, the fifth and final subject of this week's Citizen Profile series that featured some folks who visited the TreeHugger booth at this year's Green Fest DC. Each won the opportunity to spend their green cents here on TreeHugger, and it's been an enjoyable, enlightening, thought-provoking series. Lauren, a grad student at New York's Columbia University, loves her vegan, fair trade double chocolate cake, takes pride in her vegan cat, and feels guilty about enjoying drinks served in disposable plastic cups when she goes out in the city (but she still drinks 'em). Learn more about Lauren's thoughts on making sustainable food choices, and for some great tips and resources for going green, grad-student style, beneath the fold....

The Gorebashers are having a field day noting how much carbon is being emitted just getting everyone to the Bali conference, and perhaps they have a point. As April notes, there is some pretty slick technology out there that lets you bore people to death with powerpoint slides without having to fly all over the world to do it. Certainly flying is no fun these days between the security and the crowds, yet videoconferencing, unlike those airplanes, has not taken off. Online Surveys | Free Poll | Email Marketing ...

Vinod "ethanol man" Khosla is speaking out to protect his portfolio. Talk like this will toss all the government policy cards in one cocked hat. Just what we need.

Electric cars are not the best way for society to green transportation, famed greentech venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said Wednesday. "Forget plug-ins," he said during a keynote address at ThinkEquity Partners' ThinkGreen conference in San Francisco. "They are nice toys. But they will not be material to climate change." In particular, he pointed to battery problems.

Pretty much the same shtick he was tossing out almost exactly a year ago today, per this coverage in Grist. And what's this ..."best way" stuff? It's not an either or proposition, with a wall between the toys and the "real man" ethanol machines. We'll need all the tools we can muster. Via::GreenTech Media, "Khosla Calls Plug-in Cars 'Toys'" Image credit::Chevrolet E85 Truck ...

Photo credit: gehat Despite all of their energy-saving charms, all compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are not created equal. As many converts to the energy-sipping bulb are aware, some are simply better than others; at warming up more quickly, providing good light quality, and lasting as long as advertised. Julie Scelfo, a reporter for The New York Times, is working on a piece about "people’s experiences with next-generation lighting -- compact fluorescents, LEDs, light pipes, etc. -- ranging from homeowners and business owners to interior designers, builders, and architects. She wants your help." So, if you're a dedicated convert to the CFL, a newbie just getting started, or even a tinkering experimenter with LEDs and other energy-saving, non-traditional lighting, she wants to hear from you. She asks that you email comments, anecdotes and any other pertinent info you might have to jscelfo(at)nytimes(dot)com. Which brands are best? What's your experience with newer dimmable and three-way bulbs? Spread the word and let your voice be heard. via ::Dot Earth...

Regular readers of the Recipe of the Week will know that I am always happy to substitute and otherwise change up a recipe. This week I left out a big component. This korma called for pineapple, which I decided to ignore. I love pineapple cold, but I'm not a big fan of it in hot dishes, but the real reason I left it out is that doesn't grow in Ontario and so it's on my "almost never buy" list. The recipe also called for cheddar cheese to garnish, which I also deleted. Cheddar cheese on a curry just seemed, well, weird. Having said all that, this was a really lovely dish. It's not a bold kind of curry, but rather a delicate sophisticated taste. Serve it over rice, or with an Indian bread and you have a nice break from all the rich, heavy Christmas foods around now. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you want. I'll leave it up to you about the pineapple....

Packing CFLs at the Salvation Army for the Energy GreenBox program. Richard Lautens Toronto Star Low income families in Ontario spend a disproportionate amount of their income on heating; cheap apartments often have cheap electric heating where the tenant pays the bill, about 14 cents out of every dollar. Not having a lot of disposable income, they are the least able to afford the stuff they need to reduce this cost. Friends of the Earth and Enbridge, the gas distributor, have put together 25,000 Greeboxes to be given out at food banks. "We wanted to do something with a population of people in Ontario who have an interest in climate change but might not have access." said Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth....

Despite the fact that representitives from Iran and the U.S. agree on virtually nothing else in the world, representatives from both countries at the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Bali are among those pointing out the need for increased environmental education, particularly in the face of global warming. As Valerie Davis of EnviroMedia Social Marketing points out, “Lip service or not, one thing was clear: Governments around the world are struggling to implement the educational requirements of Article 6 of the UNFCCC, which was adopted in 2002 and expires this month. Probably no one in the world is against education as a key to addressing climate change, but paying for the initiatives is another story, and countries around the world are turning to businesses for help.” ...

That’s odd, I thought. How come the shuttle bus from our hotel to the Bali International Conference Center isn’t full? How come I wasn’t waiting for ages in the baking heat to have my bag searched at the security check? How come I found a seat straight away in the computer café inside the conference center? “Ooh don’t you worry dear”, said Margaret, a seasoned veteran of climate conventions, “as from Monday you won’t now what’s hit you!!” This is my first time at a COP (convention of the parties - it seems everything here is referred to by initials) and as a member of the first-ever World Future Council delegation to a UNFCCC (see what I mean) COP, I was really intrigued what to expect. As it happens, the most forceful thing to “hit me” as the first week draws to a close, has been the feeling of walking into an oven when stepping out of the convention center's air-conditioned rooms. But there’s something brewing in Bali; and, unfortunately, it’s not a gentle breeze that would make walking even the shortest of distances bearable. No: as of next week we are about to be hit by the full gale-force of the world’s environment ministers. “That’s when things really hot up”, Margaret told me. Phew, not literally I hope - I didn’t pack my shorts! (please feel free to ignore lame gag!) The picture indicates just how hot are things going to get next week in Bali....

Image courtesy of travellingtamas Sure, it may sound silly (some might even say crass), but what we're talking about here is a serious push to slash greenhouse gas emissions - by taking advantage of the potency of kangaroo farts. Unlike cattle and sheep, whose flatulence is known to produce large amounts of methane, kangaroos are equipped with specialized stomachs containing bacteria that negate the noxious gas. As we've reported on before, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by cattle and sheep is no laughing matter: according to Athol Klieve, a scientist with Queensland's state government, they account for 14% of emissions from all Australian sources. It's even worse in New Zealand, whose economy depends much more on agriculture: estimates put the amount of emissions from cattle and sheep-derived methane at close to 50%....

You would be hard pressed to find a venture capital conference with more gold-rush excitement than Cleantech, which I visited this week in Beijing (well, some industries might be hotter). Grizzled Silicon Valley venture capitalists brushed shoulders and recycled-paper business cards with young Chinese upstarts and entrepreneurs, all angling to get in there, find the next big thing, and strike green. While the Bali summit talked about the Clean Development Mechanism (which is pumping lots of green money into China) green business, a fund for green tech in developing countries, Cleantech was all about proving that China's rise and the challenges of climate change don't have to be bad for Western investors (or for China). Wind is so old school. The obvious issues and technologies this time were clean coal, solar, pollution and water treatment. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," said James Boettcher, of Focus Ventures, a venerated venture capital firm. "Clean coal, coal-to-liquid, factory retrofits, SO2 and CO2 capture, and batteries--we're interested in it all." But as Boettcher and other green diggers told me at the conference, where they were on the lookout for the next big clean tech toy, something key is missing from the Chinese green tech companies itching to grow: new technologies. To stimulate innovation in green tech, they say, China will need to pour money into research and create more sticks and carrots (tax breaks are scarce and green tech often does not get classified as part of the coveted "high tech" industry). The government should also relax restrictions on foreign investors to stimulate more technology transfer. Nonetheless, total cleantech venture investment in China will reach approximately $600 million in 2007, and is expected to surpass $700 million in 2008 and $2 billion in 2010. Interestingly, another major limit to clean tech projects like clean coal is the country's severe water shortage -- a problem that is sure to draw its own clean tech investment....

We've both praised and bashed video- and webconferencing here at treehugger. The truth about how well it bridges the gap between a phone call and an in-person meeting is probably somewhere in-between. Either way, videoconferencing is enjoying a revival of sorts here in Scandinavia as bandwidth gets better, HD videoconferencing is emerging and companies are being forced to take a harder look at travel policies and carbon impacts. Telia, Sweden's now-privatized telephone company, said it saves 70 million crowns (more than US$10 million) a year by its "green" travel and meeting policy. And the Swedish Road Administration said it has made 50 percent of its major meetings videoconferences. The first step to a green travel policy is determining whether a meeting is actually even necessary - Telia's travel has dropped 30 percent since implementing its policy. (Did the folks in Bali think this over?) ...

An organization we highlighted in our Gift Guide this year, Oceana - an international organization whose modest objective it is to protect and preserve our oceans - has already accomplished a lot in its 6 years of existence. In the past, it led a campaign to prevent Congress from removing a provision in the Marine Mammal Protection Act that required commercial fisheries to minimize harm to marine mammals and spearheaded the Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination, convincing several major grocery chains to post the FDA's warning on mercury at their seafood counters. More recently, it has been involved with efforts to reduce emissions from aircraft and shipping vessels and released a report highlighting the difficulties faced by the world's sharks. Following is an interview we conducted with Andrew Sharpless, Oceana's CEO, and Mike Hirshfield, Senior Vice President & Chief Scientist for Oceana, at an event in November celebrating Al Gore's achievements: TreeHugger: Andrew - for those readers not familiar with Oceana's work, can you give us a brief breakdown of your organization's objectives and current initiatives? ...

Awww…we got all mushy when we saw this tiny tee ($22) broadcasting one big environmental message. The graphic is a polar bear on a melting block of ice, and the tag line says "start global cooling." Five other graphics--including a sea turtle with the message "live gently,"--are available from Bozeman, Montana-based Darwin Design Clothing Company. Tees for kids and adults can be purchased too, and 10 percent of the proceeds helps support non-profits fighting global warming, such as the Earth Island Institute. The firm was founded by Otto Pohl and his wife Anne Sherwood, both journalists, to spread a positive message about the environment. "There's so much negativity out there that we wanted to send out a more can-do message," says Pohl....

An eco-city downtown, as envisioned by the Ecocity Builders organization. Is the eco-city becoming the new standard in city building? These days, it seems, more and more cities are being built from the ground up for sustainability. China is building a sustainable city for half a million called Dongtan off Shanghai, Abu Dhabi has plans for a zero-waste, zero-carbon walled city called Masdar, and even London has plans for a mini eco-city. Now Arizona plans to build a "solar city" in Phoenix. ...

Mountain Equipment Coop, which dominates Canada's outdoor retailing scene and which helped make the Nalgene bottle a fashion statement, has given them the boot, because of growing concern about the gender bender chemical Bisphenol A in the polycarbonate plastic. “The products have been pulled from the shelves and we're no longer selling them,” said Tim Southam, a spokesman for the retailer, which has 11 stores and annual sales of about $222-million. “We've been following this issue quite closely and it's one we've seen an increasing concern among some members.” ...

A trend that has already helped accelerate the spread of certain infectious diseases - the northward movement of tropical regions - could become much worse as global warming continues to intensify. In a recently published article in the journal Nature Geoscience, Dian Seidel of NOAA and her colleagues write about signs they observed in the stratosphere that indicate that tropical climate patterns may have expanded by up to 4.5° of latitude in the Northern hemisphere over the past 25 years. This movement is much more dramatic than the one predicted by prior climate models, which had suggested an expansion of 2° of latitude north and south - within the next century. To discover this worrying trend, Seidel and her fellow researchers studied five sets of data from 1979 to 2000 containing information about tropical climate pattern indicators, such as ozone concentrations and temperatures. Both were seen to increase, suggesting an expanding tropical belt....

It's a tradition, of sorts: every year in mid-November, C-list celebrities, always women, are enlisted to turn on the Christmas lights festooning major streets. Very tacky, and environmentally wasteful. So hurray for Carnaby Street, that funny little left-over from London's Swinging Sixties. This season they have covered the walking streets with festive paper chains in bright, irridescent colours. It's an inventive alternative to energy consuming lights, and they didn't even have a super-model to "turn them on". The paper chain design will make use of the store lights in the shops at night and will interact with the holographic finish of the Christmas decorations, therefore using no extra electricity for the display. By using a highly reflective material and extremely bright colours, the oversized ‘paper chains’ will react to sunlight too, so that removes the use of electricity during daylight hours altogether. A great-looking idea on all counts. :: Carnaby Street Via :: Hippyshopper...

PACT stands for Policy Action on Climate Toolkit and this TreeHugger was the perfect member of audience at last week's press conference in the UK Parliament where she learned this fact. Perfect? Well yes, because I have not been the best student of environmental politics, policy making and the implications surrounding renewable energy feed-in tariffs and the point of this PACT, this Climate Toolkit, is to make it easier for people get to grips with this complex subject. The World Future Council's founder Jakob von Uexkull, the UK MP Alan Simpson and the author of the PACT content Peter Roderick, together, launched this interactive online resource which is designed to help parlimentarians worldwide "to draft new climate laws based on the best policies already in existence, beginning with feed-in tariffs to promote the spread of renewable energies."...

Instead of buying more stuff for Christmas this year, what about giving someone a piece of family history, instead? Become a chef by New Year's with these five cookbooks Ken Rother, vice president of Planet Green Interactive, did one better than us by making a greener LED Hanukiyyah than we originally featured Plaster your photos, music, and videos on a variety of e-cards, digital scrapbooks, and slide shows, for free If you're running out of space, consider using your staircase for storage Make your own paint out of clay and starch We feature a fern that practically sucks up arsenic from contaminated soil around your home Collin shows us how to whip up some homemade yogurt in a flash Throw an eco-friendly baby shower, just like the one Sheryl Crow had Recycle your old magazines and catalogs into holiday decorations you can festoon around your house Get kissable lips by mixing up our easy-peasy bittersweet chocolate & orange lip balm You may have measured your own carbon footprint. But how large is your kid's?...

Last week, spurred by the announcement that China would be spending $27 billion on pollution clean-up, I wondered what it would actually cost to clean up China. Though the Green GDP project by the state environmental agency (SEPA) looks dead in the water, at least for now, Xinhua reminds us that the World Bank is still keeping score. In July, the World Bank (along with SEPA) released a report saying that pollution costs China US$100 billion a year, or 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product (that's about half of China's own first rough estimates). When it was released in China, however, Chinese officials had succeeded in stripping the report of a more sobering number: 750,000 -- the number of premature deaths in China per year due to air and water pollution. While the estimate (which, as John pointed out, is hard to really appreciate) remains unreported in the Chinese media, last week state news agency Xinhua ran another story on the report: "Air pollution, especially in large cities, is leading to higher incidence of lung diseases, including cancer, respiratory system problems and therefore higher levels of work and school absenteeism, [World Bank China chief David] Dollar said..." But why is this report receiving more press from the state-run media even when its heart has been cut out by the very same state?...

We featured plants that improve indoor air quality before but these modern looking objects, designed by Parisian designer Mathieu Lehanneur, take air-filtering a step further. Bel-Air is ‘a domestic spacecraft’ whose live plant absorb the toxic compounds in the air. Dirty air is sucked in, filtered by the plant and out comes purified air. ...

Plastic lumber is the ultimate in downcycling, Bill McDonough's term for materials coming back in their next life as a lower valued product than before. Some plastics are harder to recycle than others; toner cartridges are full of toxic toner powder. Most go into landfill or are incinerated; Waycam says "Land fill releases harmful toxins and chemicals into the land whilst also taking 1000’s of year to degrade, whilst incineration pollutes the environment by putting the toxins in to the Air as well as increasing the carbon emissions, as the cartridges are burnt."...

François Roche of French architecture firm R&Sie(n) (their invisible house here ) won the competition to build a new "museum of ice"- an art museum and alpine ice research station in Évolène, Switzerland. (We suppose like Joni Mitchell's Tree Museum, we are going to need Ice Museums). They are going to build it with a monster CNC machine in Lausanne, like stacking up a loaf of bread. ...

DH Love Life: Goods by Daryl Hannah. "We'd like 2 encourage you 2 try 2 find it locally, make things or forsake things first. But, in the spirit of making it easier 4 you 2 find stuff + make a wiser choice... DH Love Life is proud 2 bring 2 your attention the most fantabulous, fun + extraordinary solution based goods currently available!!!" EcoStreet: The Story of Stuff by Tracy Stokes "Have you ever wondered where all the stuff is now that you’ve received as Christmas presents over the years? From your childhood, through your teenage years and into adulthood? How about everything you’ve ever given anyone else for Christmas? I’ll bet you don’t have a clue where most of it is now, or how it ended up."...

If a living Christmas tree or otherwise green tree isn't for you, and you don't want to go with synthetic, then Australian design firm Buro North has something for you. For the modernist not tied to tradition, they've designed a reusable, flat-pack tree to decorate your home in the spirit of a greener holiday for years to come. The plywood "tree," which really consists of four identical CNC-routed planes that fold together when not in use (and for ultra-efficient shipping), may not be quite as festive (and green, in color at least) as a more traditional tree, but if green the lifestyle is more important to you than green the color, it certainly beats the plastic reusable tree (and might even be greener than a real tree, especially if you believe that Christmas trees contribute to global warming). If you're on the fence about it's green characteristics, Buro North did a life cycle assessment [PDF] of their tree vs. a more traditional pine tree; guess which tree came out on top? Hit the jump for more pics of one possible vision of the future of Christmas. ::Buro North via ::MoCo Loco and ::dezeen...

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Ever since copper prices peaked - something we called a function of Peak Copper - theft of scrap and even functioning copper items has become a serious national problem. Mark gave us a broad overview of the problem here. There are global environmental and design impacts as well economic and safety issues arising from the thefts. To prevent theft of copper wire from electrical substations, for example, Seattle Washington-area electrical engineers are changing designs by substituting steel clad copper wire for plain copper - which of course could mean that recyclability is reduced even for legitimate intermediaries. And, the new record keeping requirements needed to discourage 'theft-cycling' add overhead for recyclers already operating on slim margins.

By combining new deterrent technologies with increased law enforcement, PSE has decreased copper thefts from substations by 28 percent and more than doubled the number of arrests by law enforcement since January in the nine counties where the utility provides electric service.

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TreeHugger covered earlier the murder of environmental philanthropist Glen Davis, "a quiet, private multimillionaire who gave millions of dollars to the World wildlife Fund and the Sierra Club. He spent most of his time trekking in the wilderness and supporting environmental causes." The Toronto Police have turned to YouTube to get leads on two people caught on camera leaving the scene. Let's see if it helps find the murderer of "the greatest wilderness philanthropist in Canada." ::Reading Toronto...

Separately, they are Mercy Hernandez, Irma Gomez and Maria Paez-Garcia; together, they are "The Edge," an environmental education group in South Florida bringing the good green message to young TreeHuggers between the ages of 2 and 5. As we've learned from the other Citizen Profiles this week, there are many great actions everyone can take, and many pieces to an individual's green lifestyle puzzle. Beneath the fold, learn more about The Edge's favorite green pleasure -- "teaching young children how to save our beautiful planet!" -- and about their anti-green pleasure, which they were hesitant to reveal (hmm...) and stay tuned for the final Citizen Profile tomorrow....

In the second part of our in-depth interview with The Home Depot's green point man, Ron Jarvis speaks about sustainable forestry, transportation's deep footprint, and the evolution of the big box. Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or listen/right-click to download. Check out part 1 of the Ron Jarvis interview here. TreeHugger: So, there's obviously a strong impetus here to move toward a more ecologically sensitive way of doing business. Is there a clear picture of what a truly sustainable business of your sort would look like? What would be an archetypal business that could be truly sustainable in the sense that it's not liquidating the assets that future generations will be relying on? Ron Jarvis: There are two ways that I look at that. There's the utopian dream, where products are manufactured at a very local level from very low impact products and shipped a very short distance to the homeowner. That is the most sustainable market that we can ever find. But today there are a lot of tradeoffs that have to take place....

Laundry is in the news this week in Sweden: the government announced that it is banning the use of phosphates in all new laundry detergents starting in March 2008 - old supplies must be cleared from store shelves by next August. That's good news for the Baltic Sea, which is fighting eutrophication mainly caused by the phosphates coming from detergents and fertilizers. Sweden already filters out phosphates from outgoing city water, but more than 700,000 homes aren't connected to municipal supplies. Also the country said it needs to set a good example for other Baltic nations where filtering is less or non-existent. But just as in the U.S., phosphate rules don't yet extend to dishwasher soaps, another important source of phosphates. In the meantime, appliance behemoth Electrolux announced that switching out home appliances older than 10 years old could save the EU nations 18 million tons of CO2 emissions, and asked governments to somehow subsidize consumers' purchase of more energy-efficient models. That seems a dubious approach - how about Electrolux instead going back to the old idea of "pay-per-wash" services, or even manufacturing a really innovative idea like the compact E-wash designed by Hungarian Levente Szab to skip the detergent altogether and optimize use soap nuts to clean clothes. There's always more than one way to green wash. Via ::Newsdesk.se (Swedish)...

corral%20fire%20in%20malibu%20california.jpg

There's no great mystery as to why lead and arsenic have been found in such great abundance amongst the ashes spread by California wildfires. Until just a few years ago, pressure treated wood sold for use in decks, railings, fences, wooden playground structures, and foundation sills was highly impregnated with "CCA" - the common term for a wicked brew of Chrome, Copper, and Arsenic salts. If large volumes of CCA-treated wood burned up, it easily accounts for much of the culturally introduced arsenic amongst the ashes....

We are not certain about the benefits of wearing this new ski suit on the hills, but sure would love it for our bicycle. Fashion designer Willy Bogner has "ventured a brief look into the future: state-of-the-art lighting technology providing the winter sports outfits of tomorrow with a conspicuous, yet sartorially elegant design."...

According to Tracy Rossi, 7th grade Science Teacher at Farmwell Middle School, our motto is "Everyone can make a difference.” And having recently started the first environmental club at their school along with 40 students, they’ve all begun to realize just how much that can mean... Experiencing first-hand the reality that schools consume vast quantities of paper, their first and primary focus was recycling the tons of paper that was being simply thrown away. To do it, blue bins were distributed to classrooms that didn't have them, signs (laminated for long time use) were printed up, and announcements were made to get everyone in the school behind their mission. Meeting every other week, teams of students go around the school collecting the recyclables from the blue bins. Then the students deposit the material into the huge recycling dumpster out back. During the past two months alone they’ve recycled over 4,400 pounds of paper! ...

Given the level of systematic abuse coral reefs have sustained over the last few decades, helping to rehabilitate them by administering - in essence - a form of shock treatment hardly seems like a good idea. Yet that is the technique Thomas Goreau, a scientist and one of the originators of the "Bio-Rock" project, has been using to help restore the once lush coral reefs off Bali in Indonesia. The brainchild of Goreau and Wolf Hilbertz, the late architect, the "Bio-Rock" project consists of setting up dozens of metal structures fed by cables bringing low-voltage electricity around coral reefs. Zapping the reefs has helped restore and, in some cases, spur their growth, Goreau claims. Before Hilbertz passed away, the duo had managed to set up similar projects in close to 20 countries around the world. ...

What we learned today: way back in 1973 architects and community groups were building solar homes, using recycled materials and creating wind generators. What? They weren't just developed in response to the recent energy crisis? NO! There was a crisis in 1973 when OPEC decreased oil production by 5% and doubled the price per barrel. This caused huge panic in Europe and the US and in response all kinds of groups sprung up and developed housing projects. This is the subject of a fascinating exhibit, 1973: Sorry, Out of Gas at Montreal's Canadian Centre for Architecture (we had read about it in treehugger first, of course). The show features pictures of dozens of houses built by concerned citizens all over Canada and the US and contrary to public belief, they weren't all done by hippies. The projects included the Ercol house in Montreal, the Ouroboros solar house in Minnesota, the Farallones Institute in San Francisco, and of course domes in New Mexico. Windworks was even offering wind generators by mail order. Leave it to the market--board games were developed to take advantage of the situation. Some were about oil as a source of power and wealth (pictured), others about war and oil and some even about managing the crisis. Mad magazine had the environment as its cover story ( what me worry?). ...

Inflatable solar? It’s not the first time we’ve come across the idea. But according to Coolearth Solar, they’ve patented a design for inflatable solar collectors that are supposedly a cheaper way to concentrate sunlight onto photovoltaic cells. The makers claim their design is up to 400 times cheaper than polished aluminum mirrors which, if true, would certainly improve the economics of concentrated photovoltaics. Maybe they can team up with the makers of the inflatable car. ::Coolearth Solar::via YouTube:: ...

It's Hanukkah! Make some potato latkes with an old family recipe Our new mantra: "If you don't set it out, weed it out" Streamline operations and slash garbage-disposal costs by conducting an office waste audit In a new flick from Free Range Studios, Annie Leonard of GAIA talks about, well, stuff Collin reviews another book your green library can't do without Trick yourself into eating less—no hypnosis required If you're feeling stressed out, try this 15-minute relaxation exercise to lower your blood pressure How do you part with something that has a great deal of emotional significance? Whether you spray it or plug it in, your air freshener may be more poisonous than you realize Organic, Fair Trade, Green Seal, Leaping Bunny: What do all these labels mean? ...

1 cup green + 1 cup discussion + a pinch of keyboard (for spice) is the perfect recipe for TreeHugger Forums. Here are some of the highlights...

1) In a popular topic we've visited several times, Forums user moseph is "wondering, big or small, what is the most recent action you've taken to try and lower your environmental impact? Did you find out about it on the site? Can you tell me how to do it?" Recycling, composting, changing to CFLs, green cleaning, cutting out the junk mail, voting for green...the list goes on, and proves that there is something everyone can do to put a greener face on the planet. What's on your list?

2) User wookie notes, "The Fur Council of Canada has launched a new campaign claiming that fur is the ultimate eco-fashion because it is a renewable resource and biodegradable. Also, the new campaign says that fur is like 'fair trade' because it supports the people off the land." Another user in the thread observes that the only thing that's "green" about fur is that it's the color of Oscar the Grouch's pelt, but another notes that many synthetic alternatives are petroleum-based. So, greenwashing or lesser of two evils? It all depends on what "green" means to you...

3) Lastly, Forums user Hecateus wants to talk science and energy: "I read here on treehugger not too long ago that the production of 2500 watts of power via coal uses 4.5 gallons of water (~17 Liters), or about 556 watts per gallon (147W/L). Nuclear power consumes 2.2 gallons per Kilowatt generated. so NUke Power uses about 20% more water per Kilowatt than Coal." So, which form of energy consumes the least amount of water per kilowatt? Geothermal and solar thermal are way up there...

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....

It's only fitting that the new multi-platform hybrid vehicle out of Mexico's National Autonomous University was inspired by the university's beloved mascot, the puma. We hope the hydrogen and fuel cell-powered vehicle will inspire the same fanaticism that the soccer-playing Pumas ignite. The car was developed by students in the industrial design graduate program, headed by Óscar Salinas. The car fits into Salinas's Ecovía project, launched in 2005 to develop ecological solutions to transportation problems. Ecovía says the vehicle will have an average speed of 70-80 km/h (about 50-55 mph) and will be able to run for 300 km (190 miles) before refueling. The most innovative feature is that the car can be adapted for different uses: ambulance, surveillance, postal service, plastic waste recycling and telecommunications and culture promotion, hence its "multi-platform" description. The vehicle is still in development, but this fall, three test vehicles hit the university's streets, serving as transport for students, staff and patients at the university's hospital. And the UNAM plans to substitute 150 security vehicles and 30 ambulances with the new Ecovía model.::Via CNNExpansion.com (Spanish link) and Hybrid Car News...

TreeHugger goes on and on (and on) about why design matters; here, legendary designer Philippe Stark gives us his own captivating take on the topic at TED in March 2007. It's not the first excellent presentation we've seen from TED (nor the second) and certainly won't be the last. Read up on this year's TED winners, and watch ::Philippe Starck at TED via ::Core77...

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Entries for December 2, 2007 - December 8, 2007

Total this week: 149

by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 12. 8.07

by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 12. 8.07

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 8.07

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 8.07

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 8.07

by Rebecca Wodder, American Rivers on 12. 8.07

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 8.07

by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 12. 8.07

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12. 8.07

by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 12. 8.07

by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 7.07

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 7.07

by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 12. 7.07

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 7.07

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 7.07

by Alex Pasternack, Beijing, China on 12. 7.07

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12. 7.07

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 7.07

by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 12. 7.07

by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 12. 7.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 7.07

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 7.07

by Bonnie Alter, London on 12. 7.07

by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 12. 7.07

by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 12. 6.07

by Alex Pasternack, Beijing, China on 12. 6.07

by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 12. 6.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 6.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 6.07

by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 12. 6.07

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 6.07

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 6.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 6.07

by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 12. 6.07

by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 12. 6.07

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12. 6.07

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 6.07

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 6.07

by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 12. 6.07

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 6.07

by Bonnie Alter, London on 12. 6.07

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12. 6.07

by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 12. 5.07

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 5.07

by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 12. 5.07

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 5.07