- Emily Pilloton Discusses the Hippo Roller and other Designs for Humanity (Part One)
- Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design (Part Two)
- Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design (Part One)
- Andy Revkin - Climate in the Obama Age
- Fred Pearce - Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part Two)
- Fred Pearce - Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part One)
- Chris Goodall - Ten Techs to Save Our Butts (Part Two)
- Chris Goodall - Ten Techs to Save Our Butts (Part One)
Entries for March 30, 2008 - April 5, 2008
Total this week: 192
The Kitchen of the Future, 1967
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 5.08
The future sure isn't what it used to be. Back in 1967 we were promised computerized kitchens where all the food was prepared and frozen, then microwaved in two minutes to order. Dishes were disposable, everyone got what they wanted and our diets were carefully calibrated for nutrition. But hey, I still have those Thonet dining chairs! Three and a half minutes of what might have been via the wondrous ::Tales of Future Past...
Graphic Of The Day: Monthly Average Water Levels, Lake Lanier, Atlanta, Georgia
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 5.08
Our money is on the Tennessee whiskey level rising faster: Tennessee Mayor Offers A Drink To Atlanta For a broader persepective see: Drought Around The World: Atlanta In Perspective
Via::Atlanta Water Shortage, "Chart of Lanier’s Level compared to last year"...
Researchers Extract Permafrost-Locked Methane from Gas Hydrates, Potentially Paving Way for Large New Energy Source
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 5.08
Image courtesy of kaet44 via flickr
The "flip-side" of having large amounts of methane gas gradually escape the Arctic's thawing permafrost is that some of it could eventually be harnessed to generate electricity. The first, crucial step was met earlier this week when Canadian and Japanese researchers, working in the Mackenzie Delta, successfully extracted methane from frozen gas hydrates locked deep below hundreds of meters of permafrost, as reported by NNS' Brodie Thomas....
Pop Quiz: Where is all that corn going?
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 04. 5.08
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More Global Warming-Induced Ice Melting Could Yield "Explosive" Results
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 5.08
Image courtesy of guano via flickr
More volcanic activity could become the norm in future centuries as global warming-induced ice melting gathers apace. As reported in both the Times and New Scientist, a new study by the University of Leeds' Carolina Pagli has demonstrated that the increased melting of ice caps has accelerated the melting of magma as well. Vatnajökull, Iceland's largest ice cap, has been melting at a rate of 5 cubic km a year; as a result, the pressure on the underlying land has lessened, leading to more of the deep rock formations melting - by up to 10% over the past century....
Quick Test: Does State Farm Bike Ad Make You See Red?
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 04. 5.08
Chevy Malibu+ Lithium-Ion= Chevy Volt?
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 04. 5.08
The Chevy Volt, expected to debut in 2010, will quite possibly be the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) from any of the major automakers (of course, Toyota might have something to say about that). Regardless of when the Volt actually debuts, and whether or not it is the first PHEV to be mass produced, the fact of the matter is that the Volt will be a unique vehicle. Much like the Aptera Typ-1, the Volt will be a series hybrid, meaning that "power is fed directly to the motor, not the battery. It can be plugged into a household electric socket and charged fully within about six hours." And when the battery runs down, "the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder gas engine acts as a generator to charge the battery and provides enough power to for up to an additional 600 miles."
Understandably, then, the biggest obstacle to bringing the Volt to market has been the limitations of existing battery technology. So we're happy to learn that "The lithium-ion batteries to be used in General Motors' Chevrolet Volt electric car will soon be installed and tested in specially-equipped versions of the Chevrolet Malibu." This kind of testing will be essential for figuring out "how this battery will perform over the life of the vehicle. The challenge is predicting 10 years of battery life with just over two years of testing time." ...
UK Town Embraces Urban Farming on a Massive Scale
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04. 5.08
Image courtesy of David Barrie
With the UK’s chief scientist warming of a looming food crisis, and with consumers around the world changing their eating habits in the face of increasing prices, the need to find alternatives to our current food system becomes ever more pressing. TreeHugger is a big fan of urban food production and community gardening, so it’s unsurprising that we were excited to read about ambitious efforts in the UK town of Middlesborough to turn public space into productive land:...
SEED Film Screenings Today in DUMBO with TreeHuggerTV Premiere: Ben Harper & Graham Hill in Conversation
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 04. 5.08
How did New Yorkers become so disconnected from the bodies of water that surround them and how can they reclaim the relationship? Such is the question taken up by City of Water, a 30-minute documentary film about the significance, history, and future of the New York City metropolitan area waterfront. The film screens today as part of DUMBO's neighborhood sustainability initiative, SEED (Smart Environmental Efforts in DUMBO). Also on the docket are Renewal, a 90-minute documentary that attempts to capture the breadth and vitality of America's religious-environmental movement. The film follows people of faith in rural communities, suburbs and cities, who are driven by their spiritual and religious convictions to re-examine what it means to be human and how we live on this planet. Last but not least, a premiere screening of four short digital films featuring musician Ben Harper in conversation with TreeHugger founder Graham Hill....
Onzo Energy Meter Displays Carbon Footprint
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 04. 5.08
Onzo is coming. 2 million pounds sterling start-up funds for Onzo have been secured in a deal with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE). Can this device live up to the great design promises that are being made for it?
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Cube Style's Dining Table in a Cube
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 4.08
From necessity comes invention. Anyone who's ever lived in Japan knows that the small spaces require compact living, and at least one furniture designer is obliging with a smart piece that creates a compact dining area from a cube.
Sadly, it's only available in Japan for now, but would be a great complement to the amazing BEDUP and any other compact living solution. It's not quite a whole apartment in a box, or a whole apartment's worth of stuff in 43 square feet, but it's still a pretty slick, space-saving design. Hit the jump to see it "uncubed." ::Cube Style (in Japanese) via ::Apartment Therapy: Los Angeles
See also: ::Clevr: Hans Olsen's Compact Dining Set, ::Lover's Breakfast Table, for Two, with a Smile and ::Marta Antoszkiewic's Kitchenette, for Urban Living...
Today on Planet Green
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 04. 4.08
:: Kelly gets resourceful with rice in her egg and lemon soup.
:: Tire(d) of your old summer sandals? Spare the landfills some rubber and get crafty.
:: Fancy up your filtered water with these flavorful ideas.
:: Get a run for your money—and get kitty running too—with these easy, homemade cat toys.
:: Make green gorgeous with help from supermodel Cindy Crawford.
:: Experiencing delayed garden gratification? Encourage seed germination with this movable greenhouse from Instructables.
:: Getting hitched? Say goodbye to gravy boats and hello to this green wedding registry from Changing the Present....
Pablo Designs Brazo LED Task Light
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 4.08
Combining precise control with some pretty suave looks and the efficiency of LEDs, Pablo Designs' Brazo task lamp proves we can have our cake and eat it, too. The desk lamp has 18 fully dimmable LEDs in a tube that rotates 360 degrees, meaning you can have just as much light as you want, just about wherever you want it. The super-efficient LEDs -- the exact energy consumption isn't listed, oddly -- are rated for 25,000 hours of life.
Designed by Pablo Pardo, the futuristic-looking lamp carries an equally futuristic price tag of $400 -- ouch! Being an early adopter has a price -- but we like all the different options the dimming and twisting provide. And to help reduce the sticker shock just a bit, remember that you'd probably buy and burn out 25 or 30 incandescent light bulbs in those 25,000 hours (we know, small consolation). Get all the specs [PDF] on the slick lamp, join us in waiting for the price to come down, and hit the jump to get up close and personal. ::Pablo Designs via ::Organic Spa Magazine and check out a great hands-on review over at ::Jetson Green...
Weather Channel Launches Akita to Zebra Animal Challenge for Kids
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 04. 4.08
Building on their success with the Forecast Earth Summit last fall, and with both Earth Day just weeks away and spring in the air, The Weather Channel has teamed up with By Kids For Kids (BKFK) to create the A2Z Animal Challenge asking kids to submit their brightest ideas to help save animals; particularly endangered species.
Of course there’s always room for a prize to sweeten the deal, and this time they’re laying out $10K for the kid with an idea that’s bright enough to take the prize. Plus, they’re promising a chance for the winner to see their idea come to life, though there’s no details given on how they’ll work that out.
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Scotland Launches World's Biggest Prize for Marine Renewable Energy
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 4.08
Image courtesy of Mathieu B. via flickr
Move over, Richard Branson: Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, has just announced the Saltire Prize, a £10m (or $20m) award aimed at jump-starting research in marine renewable energy. Entries will need to be commercially viable and demonstrated in Scotland, whose seas are thought to have the capacity to produce 25% of Europe's tidal energy - and 10% of its wave energy....
A Different Kind of Hybrid Bicycle
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 4.08
If the walking bike wasn't your speed, check out the Jump Bike a custom job that's a different kind of hybrid bicycle. Instead of pedals, you power the bike by saddling up and walking (or running) along with it. When the desired speed is reached, the feet come up and you let 'er roll.
Looks effective, but sure is weird (and we just couldn't resist). Hit the jump for another pic and video of the bike in the action. ::Jump Bike via ::designboom
See also: ::Schwinns New Line of Electric Bikes, ::The Suitcase Bike: It's Real and ::The Cutting Edge: Bicycle Lawnmowing...
Most Huggable: Good Clean Fun, The Great Corn Debate, A Paper-Free Zine + More
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 04. 4.08
Score a bag of clean, green goodies.
Is corn-based ethanol better than this year’s half a trillion dollar oil addiction?
ReadyMade Magazine’s Green Issue gets down with digital.
A recent study finds that birds are country bumpkins.
Is energy savings the UK's cup of tea?
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
DIY Electric Kawasaki Motorcycle
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 4.08
"I bought an 8hp Briggs & Stratton ETEK motor used through Craigslist," said Benjamin Nelson. "Then I mounted the motor to the frame using the existing engine mounting holes and a piece of scrap aluminum plate. I found a sprocket and chain in the tractor repair isle of the farm store."
And Mr. Nelson even admits that he doesn't own any power tools other than a drill, doesn't know how to weld and only took one metal shop class in high school. But he loves to learn new things... Now that's the DIY ethic!...
Loft in Space by Hogarth Architects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Now that is most definitely the stair of the week.
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Supermarket as Hybrid SUV
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Christopher Hawthorne, architectural critic for the Los Angeles Times, makes some interesting points about a monster Whole Foods that opened in Pasadena. He acknowledges that it is big and has lots of selection,
"But the store is even more striking for what it says about the similar discontents plaguing the organic food and green architecture movements. The way they come together in this Whole Foods--a piece of green architecture designed to hold an organic food emporium--suggests that both may need to adjust their priorities. Or at least start acknowledging that they've become victims of their own success." ...
Unsold Homes Tie People Down; Michael Chertoff's Insult
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Unsold Homes Tie Down Would-Be Transplants: Dr. Michele Morgan migrated last fall from Detroit to Phoenix, taking a job as a psychiatrist. She expected her husband, Sam Kirkland, to soon join her, since he was accepting an early retirement package from his employer, General Motors. But he cannot move, he says, because he has not been able to sell the four-bedroom family home. ::New York Times Fodder for our discussion on Is Home Ownership a Good Thing? and The Next Slum.
Michael Chertoff’s Insult:To the long list of things the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to appease immigration hard-liners, you can now add dozens of important environmental laws and hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border. ::New York Times A strong editorial. Background at ::Michael Chertoff, Environmental Action Figure and ::Ecological Dangers of Border Wall
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Free "Hey Mr. Green" Book For Lucky Treehuggers
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 04. 4.08
Is there any reason to give your friends the stink-eye when they use a garbage disposal instead of composting? Should you act like you don't know your buddies (or offer them a lecture) when they start to burn their aluminum beer cans in the campfire instead of packing them out? And can you protect your outdoor patio furniture or seal the back deck without using a toxic substance?
For several years now, our own Mr. Green (aka Bob Schildgen) has been answering real-world questions like these in his Sierra magazine advice column. And I can tell you from my experience of hanging with Bob in the lunchroom or running into him in the hallways here at Sierra Club headquarters, the guy doesn't mince words--and, hey, he's smart! If you haven't read his column, check it out....
Greener Cruising to Alcatraz
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 04. 4.08
Sign warning that aiding in the escape of prisoners will result in imprisonment - approaching the Alcatraz dock coming from San Francisco.
I finally made it to San Francisco to ride the streetcars, to enjoy the breathless views of the coast, to do some hugging - I mean hiking amongst the sequoias at Muir Woods and of course, to see the infamous Alcatraz. We took the ferry boat over to see the island that is known for its scarfaced inmates. Of course, there in the lobby at the dock were signs advertising the greening efforts by Alcatraz Cruises under their corporate management plan called, Respect Our Planet. Some of the more obvious commercial items included the sale of reusable water bottles and posters printed on recycled paper. Their website also says that the coffee is organic and the pastries come from a local bakery that specializes in all-natural and whole grain ingredients (which could technically mean lots of things). We also noticed that they sold Terrapass Climate Change Chocolate right at the cash register. ...
Thank Your Lucky Bat for Shade-Grown Organic Coffee
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 4.08
Until now, birds got nearly all the credit for keeping organic coffee plantations where pesticides are banned insect-free, but a study from the University of Michigan has shown that during the summer wet season, bats eat more bugs than the birds at Finca Irlanda, a 740-acre organic coffee plantation in Chiapas, Mexico.
This is just one example of a great "ecological service" that went unnoticed until now. How many more do we benefit from without realizing it? Sadly, bat populations are declining worldwide, and the small flying mammals never got the love they deserve....
Andrew Maynard's Suburb-Eating Robots
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Andrew Maynard asks the question of how suburbanites will live without gas."Where will suburbanites live when there is no other means of circulation to their homes? What will we do with our abandoned and decaying suburbs? And most importantly, what will we do with the 50% of Australians that are over-weight due to car dependence and a sedentary lifestyle?"
His answer: the CVO8 robot. Myninja tells us that it's "like a late night infomercial on steroids: it slices, it dices, it consumes entire towns - and it even cleans up after itself. The satirical hexapod will descend upon the suburbs, gathering the abandoned homes and cars through it’s front legs, crushing everything in its path and packaging it neatly for recycling. The CV08 then releases new flora+fauna through the middle legs, immediately populating the newly reclaimed land.
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End of the Road for the Cul-de-sac
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Lucas Oleniuk, the Star
Peter Gorrie of the Star makes some interesting points about cul-de-sacs. Owners love them; Gorrie describes one family: "The Bennetts love their enclave. It's quiet and friendly;a safe place for not only road hockey but also learning to ride a bike or sled down a mound of snow in the centre of the turning circle. Their parents all know each other; visit while their kids play, watch each other's homes and sometimes sip wine together on a Friday evening."
He also teaches us the the derivation of the term: "Cul-de-sac began as an old French hunting term: It translates, literally, as "bottom of the bag "– where snared rabbits were shoved, face down, to keep in the dark and restrict their motion."
Owners may love them but planners and environmentalists don't; Gorrie writes:
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Adrift: Mod, Bamboo Mobiles
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 4.08
For the urban baby or swingin' adult, Adrift's modern mobiles are handcrafted by designer Brian Schmit in his workshop in San Francisco’s SOMA district. The designs bear evocative names such as "Samara," "Rift," "Riven," and "Camber."
With a minimalist, almost Zen-like aesthetic, each mobile can be purchased in amber bamboo, natural bamboo, or a bamboo mix, as well as in maple or walnut. Prices start at $144. ::Adrift Mobiles...
Lessons From The Midwest Floods
by Rebecca Wodder, American Rivers on 04. 4.08
Disastrous floods. We experienced them back in December in the Pacific Northwest. Now, more recently, devastating floodwaters submerged parts of the Midwest.
We know that these kinds of rain storms and flooding will become more frequent and severe with global warming. How can communities prepare? What lessons can we learn?
One thing is certain: while engineered solutions like levees are necessary in some places, for the most part they are costly and can create a false sense of security. Levees can encourage unwise floodplain development and increase flood damage costs, while also destroying some of the natural features that prevent downstream flooding, as well as river access and fish and wildlife habitat.
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Nobu Makes Rice with Fiji Water
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Groovy Green found an odd article on a branding and marketing website that carries an ode to the wonders of Fiji Water and its founder, and raves about its price (more than milk, beer or gas) saying "Such super-premium prices communicate exclusivity, amplify brand equity and deliver fat operating profits to boot."
Besides the extraordinary news that Nobu Matsuhisa, owner of the Japanese restaurant chain Nobu, uses Fiji Water to boil rice, we learn that "Celebrity supporters of Fiji Water include Tom Cruise, P Diddy, Jennifer Aniston and Elton John."
And we thought it was the poster child for bottled water stupidity. Clearly we don't travel in the right circles. ::Groovy Green
See also Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water , Lipstick On A Pig Dept.: Fiji Water Goes Green and London Food Reviewer says NO to Bottled Water ...
Quote of the Day: Ted Turner on Climate and Cannibalism
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Do they still call Ted Turner the "The Mouth of the South" since he bought a couple of States out west? In any case, he makes predictions on PBS that make Jim Kunstler look positively utopian. On not taking drastic action to correct global warming:
“Not doing it will be catastrophic. We’ll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable. The droughts will be so bad there’ll be no more corn grown. Not doing it is suicide.”No wonder he moved north. ::Ecorazzi, who thinks Ted should shut up....
SustainStyle: Get Green In Style, Pop-Up Placemats, Kate Hudson + More
by 1plus1 on 04. 4.08
Welcome to SustainStyle, a weekly digest from the writers at 1plus1, a blog dedicated to eco-friendly fashion. SustainStyle runs every Wednesday.
We buried our nose in a new guide to getting (and staying) green in style: "Green Chic" covers eco-friendly fashion, lifestyle and food and also fits in your purse!
We buried our nose in a new guide to getting (and staying) green in style: "Green Chic" covers eco-friendly fashion, lifestyle and food and also fits in your purse!
Kate Hudson partners up with a celebrity hairdresser to come out with an all natural hair care line.
Green by Nature keeps our lips glossy and our breath fresh with a two-in-one glaze. Nordstrom's Organic Style boutique took delivery of new styles of Edun high-waisted organic denim and men's organic T-shirts from Hurley and Quiksilver. We fell in love with Publique Livings charming pop-up placements made from recycled paper. We entered to win a new eco-friendly purse from Gretchen's Closet, one of our most resourceful fashion sites. Mad Imports introduced us to an amazing little rainbow clutch that is handwoven raffia. xo....
Pop Quiz: Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 04. 4.08
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Recipe of the Week: Lemon Pepper Pasta with Capers
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Image credit: Purestock/Getty Images
Whenever my husband is out for dinner and I'm cooking just for myself, I invariably make something involving lemons and capers. It a combination that I absolutely love and he just tolerates.
So I was pretty happy when I was cruising websites yesterday looking for something to make myself for dinner and I came across this recipe for Lemon Pepper Pasta with Capers. The recipe calls for lemon zest only, but I added a couple of squeezes of juice to give it more lemon flavour. Use a short pasta such as fusilli or pappardelle rather than spaghetti or linguine. It will hold the sauce better. If you've got any tender spring vegetables on hand then add those too.
If you feel like more lemon take a look at my Soup of the Week over at Planet Green.
via: The Kitchn...
How (Not) to Prevent the Next Hurricane Katrina
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 4.08
Image courtesy of Gary J. Wood via flickr
One of Louisiana's last remaining natural relics - the majestic cypress forest - is rapidly being whittled away, at the rate of 20,000 acres a year, despite presenting the state's best defense against future hurricanes. In a fascinating piece of environmental investigative journalism for the latest issue of Mother Jones, Michael Behar takes us on a tour of the Atchafalaya Basin, the state's (and nation's) largest swamp, whose rich wildlife and 100-foot tall giant cypress trees are being decimated at an alarming rate; as he elegantly lays out, the cypress' impressive height and extensive root system provide the state's best natural bulwark against hurricanes - much more so than any well-conceived levee system. ...
“Guide To The Guides” Aims To Save World’s Forests
by Danielle Carpenter Sprungli, WCSBD on 04. 4.08
Twenty-eight thousand square miles of forest the approximate size of Ireland were converted to other land uses each year between 2000 and 2005 (source: United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization). Fifty-four countries have lost 90% or more of their forest cover (source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment).
Encouragingly, forest area in Europe, North America and China has been growing in the past decade due to reforestation initiatives. However, rapid forest loss continues in the tropical regions of South America, Africa and Asia, where socio-economic and political problems run counter to forest conservation and sustainable management.
Statistics like these bring home the enormous sustainable development challenges facing the world today, challenges that business cannot address alone. There are many resources out there to help companies that use forest products in their processes or as commercial outputs, such as construction materials and paper, procure them sustainably. But their sheer numbers are so confusing for corporate buyers, much less the general public who uses the end product, that their uptake is slow.
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Taking Back the City, One Building at a Time
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
all pictures Stewart Cairns for New York Times
We do go on about the urban infrastructure that is being wasted in rustbelt cities on the Great Lakes or the Erie Canal, that have water, highways and wonderful buildings that can be repurposed. (see Richard Florida on Tor-Buf-Chester) Mark Robbins, Dean of Syracuse University School of Architecture gets it- according to the New York Times, "His ambition was to help revive, and even remake, the city."
Downtown Syracuse was cut off by a highway in the 60's; buildings were abandoned, and Dean Robbins told the Times “The big resource in Syracuse is basically surface parking lots and vacant buildings.”...
Survey: Do We Need Population Control?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Everyone calls it the untouchable subject, the elephant in the room, yet whenever we post on it the comment numbers go through the roof. It is controversial, with divergent opinions like Alan Wiesman of The World Without us- "we have to "limit every human female on Earth capable of bearing children to one." Pablo Paster calculates "any number of children that is fewer than 2.1 is simply a continuation of your genetic legacy." Jason Alexander said "if we do not begin to truly account for our numbers, we will surely create an ecological crisis that will only lead to anguish and despair." Penrhyn Jones thought she’d never have kids because she was worried about the “terrible things the world would do to them” but her husband George Monbiot notes that rich westerners consume far more per capita than those teeming masses and concludes "to suggest that population growth is largely responsible for the ecological crisis is to blame the poor for the excesses of the rich." What is a TreeHugger to do?
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Banner To Bags: A Great Way To Renovate
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 04. 4.08
Some eco-treats are just best (or only able to be) coveted from afar, and that's how it's been between me and the great recycled-sailcloth bags from Red Flag Design - based in Vancouver, B.C. Both Red Flag's original duffel bag and tote designs are unique, with rounded shaping, great attention to detail and excellent use of the sailcloth to make hand-stitched, individualized bags. But at $275 for the duffel and $175 for the tote, they have never fit my budget.
Now Red Flag is tempting my resolve with a new bag design called Postal that could easily fit a laptop and its accessories plus a lot of stray papers, making Postal look like their most versatile and useful shape yet. While the different available models of Postal on their web site are all classic, Red Flag has also made a vaguely Postal-style bag for the Grand Theatre in Calgary that comes in some very enticing patterns. When the Grand did a recent renovation and had a huge PVC plastic tarp hiding the building exterior, Red Flag was commissioned to remake the discarded construction banner into around 100 waterproof shoulder bags. The Postal's available at the Red Flag web site for CAN $215 - the Theatre bags from the theater itself for CAN $215. Via ::RedFlagDesign
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THINK! EV Reviewed on the Streets of London
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04. 4.08
More on Pedal-Power Victory
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Andrew Wallace, Toronto Star
More detail on the exoneration of Dean Baldwin for driving Michel De Broin's pedal powered Buick, previously covered on TreeHugger: Pedal-Powered Buick Driver Not Guilty and Driver of Flintstonemobile Charged, Gets Day in Court
Dean argued that the car was no different than a rickshaw or a bicycle; Police Constable Derek Walsh testified that he had never seen anything like the car in his five years of service, and issued a ticket for operating an unsafe vehicle because the Buick lacked a front braking system, proper seats and seatbelts. He also told the court that braking the car required co-ordination among the passengers and if done improperly, the car could "pivot" into oncoming traffic and cause an accident.
Justice of the Peace Patrick Marum said that the vehicle appeared to be more like a bike than a car, and that the likelihood that it would "pivot" was "remote to none" and threw the case out.
Dean Baldwin and Mercer Union director Dave Dyment immediately took the car out of storage and went for a ride. "We're going to definitely take it for some victory laps"
Score one for the bikes. ::National Post...
Un-treehugger: A Yacht That Thinks It's An Island
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 04. 4.08
Just when we thought the 80s and Miami Vice were behind us: Take a look at Wally Yachts', WallyIsland, a company that advertises: "Why buy just any luxury yacht when you can own an island?"
Our question exactly. We have to wonder, is this a joke from the makers of National Lampoon's Vacation?
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Tanvi Kant's Recycled Necklaces
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04. 4.08
More necklaces! Who can resist them--they always fit. Tanvi Kant makes her necklaces and bracelets from the threads of old Indian saris and scarves. The bright colours and metallic yarns come from unpicking discarded and unwanted Indian materials, starting with her mother's cast-offs. She then binds, whips, knots and sews the threads into loops until a form appears, adding porcelain rings as weights and contrast. Kant doesn't design the pieces beforehand, instead they are organic in development as she works with the bits of fabric. The end pieces are left unfinished so that the original fabric is visible.
Kant recycles and reclaims all the materials. She says that " by carefully shaping and transforming undervalued materials, tangling up yarns, memories and limbs, I hope to create unique pieces, each with its own history." A mixture of old and new to create a work of recycled art ( and jewellery). :: Tanvi Kant Via :: Crafts Council
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Soil Bacteria Thrive on Antibiotics: A Potential Reservoir of Antibiotic-Resistance
by Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts on 04. 3.08
Soil bacteria have thumbed their ‘nose’ at antibiotics this week. A surprising study in the journal Science shows that soil bacteria can thrive on antibiotics alone. The bacteria apparently have no problem using our most trusted weapons against them as food. What is worse, these close relatives to human pathogens might serve as a reservoir of resistance to the bacteria that plague humanity.
We are in an expensive arms race with bacteria. Developing new antibiotics that rapidly become useless, only to develop more. But the race with bacteria costs more than just money, it is a life and death situation, and one we are rapidly loosing. Antibiotics, from soap to feedlots are showing up in our water and soil, causing unknown environmental and human health issues in the process. It’s time to stop thinking of our relationship with bacteria as a war, and look for a different approach....
BYD Wants F6DM Plug-in Hybrid for Sale in Europe by 2010
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 3.08
Update December 2008: GM is Weeping: BYD F3DM Plug-in Hybrid Goes On Sale in China, 3 Years Before Volt
There's a lot of excitement about what might be the first plug-in hybrid car on the market, BYD's F6DM. With an all-electric range of 62 miles (100 km) before the small gas engine kicks in, it could mean almost zero gasoline use for most people who drive less than that on a normal day, and the innovative ferrous batteries are said to be safe and recyclable.
Until now, all we knew was that BYD planned to release the F6DM on the Chinese market in the second half of 2008, with an all-electric F6E version coming in 2009, but no word on other markets. Now we learn that BYD president, Wang Chuanfu, wants to release the plug-in hybrid in Europe in 2010 because "savings on running costs [in Europe] are higher than in China because of high European fuel prices" and "the emphasis in Europe is on the environment. So we will first bring our hybrid models to Europe." ...
Poll: Americans Prefer Energy Fix to Cancer Cure
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 04. 3.08
A nationwide survey of nearly 700 people suggests Americans would prefer that more money be invested in technology to solve our energy problems than to cure cancer or other diseases. In fact, roughly 37 percent of respondents said they would rank spending to raise energy efficiency and develop alternative fuel technology a top priority for future investment compared to just 30 percent who ranked more cash for breakthroughs on problems such as cancer as being most important. ...
Today on Planet Green
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 3.08
:: Imbibing red wine and tea may do wonders for balancing your blood sugar. Find out why.
:: Save 16 percent on your water bill, and 7,500 gallons per year, with this one-minute maneuver.
:: Make durable, corrosion-resistant plant-identification markers for next to nothing.
:: Does cooking with you microwave use less energy compared with your stove?...
Department of Energy Creates Energy Star Criteria for Water Heaters
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 3.08
Energy efficiency isn't considered sexy. Water heaters even less. But when you look at the numbers and realize that these energy-monsters that lurk in our basements are ranked third in energy consumption in U.S. houses (behind heating/cooling and kitchen appliances) and represent 17% of total demand, it's not hard to figure out that something needs to be done.
One step in the right direction is the inclusion of five categories of water heaters in the Energy Star program: high-performance gas storage, whole-home gas tankless, advanced drop-in or integrated heat pump, solar, and gas condensing. For more details on the requirements for each categories, you can see this Energy Star announcement.
GE hasn't wasted any time announcing two new models that will meet the new Energy Star criteria. The first one is a tankless (aka on-demand) gas water heater that should "save up to 25 percent annually on water heating costs compared to the operating costs of a standard 40-gallon gas tank water heater." The second model is more intriguing. It is a hybrid electric water heater (pictured below) that promises to use half as much energy as a traditional model yet use the same footprint and connections....
Pedal-Powered Buick Driver Not Guilty
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
Who can forget the moving story of Michel de Broin's pedal-powered Buick Regal, how the car was stopped while friends pedalled it to the Mercer Union Art Gallery in Toronto, and how he was charged with operating an unsafe vehicle in a tragic miscarriage of justice.
His lawyer took up the cause, telling the National Post: "Automobiles are inherently dangerous because of their big powerful motors," said Mr. Fox, manager of the legal advisory department in a branch of the Canadian Automobile Association. "This thing only went 15 km/h. I'd like to ask the officer how many people have been killed by a muscular powered vehicle."
Evidently he was persuasive in court today; a judge just found Michel de Broin not guilty of operating an unsafe vehicle. There is still justice in this world. Updates to follow. ::National Post...
Boeing Flies First Ever Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plane
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 3.08
It's very light, it didn't fly very fast or very far, but the plane in the photo above made aviation history by making the first manned flight powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The Boeing Research & Technology Europe team in Madrid, Spain, modified a two-seat Dimona motor-glider and installed a hybrid propulsion system based on a hydrogen fuel cell and lithium-ion batteries.
There were three test flights in February and March around the Ocaña airfield, south of Madrid....
Man Arrested for Stealing Grease to Make Biodiesel
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 3.08
David Richardson, a 49-year old man from Illinois, was arrested by the police in Morgan Hill, California. He was trying to steal used cooking grease from a Burger King restaurant and pump it into his tanker truck when he was caught greasy-handed.
Ok, can someone tell that guy that if you ask, many restaurants will be more than happy to have you take away their cooking grease since otherwise they have to pay someone to do it? We hope that none of our biodiesel/SVO-using readers are stealing grease. Please, always ask permission!
The good side of this story is that it's probably evidence of the rising popularity of biodiesel. But not all biodiesel is made equal, it depends on the feedstock: Waste cooking grease is green, virgin soybeans probably not, and algae is the future. If you want to learn more about it, check out: ::Green Basics: Biodiesel, ::Ethanol vs. Biodiesel: Just the Facts, ::Find Biodiesel With Your Cell Phone....
Taking the Top Down on Convertible Beds
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 3.08
These aren't your mother's convertible beds. The New York Times rounds up a nice selection of sleeper sofas, folding beds, transforming couches and other clever pieces that do double duty and save space, all without the uncomfortable metal bars in your back.
A few will be familiar to long-time TreeHugger readers, like the sofa-to-bunk-bed combo (which is now available in the US) but it's a pretty well-rounded round-up, whether you're in to futons, sofas or beds that just disappear into the wall. Hit the jump for pics of our favorites. via ::New York Times
See also: BEDUP: The Space-Saving Bed that Falls From the Ceiling and TreeHugger Picks: Sleeping Beauties...
HIK! Glasses from Reclaimed Beer Bottles
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 04. 3.08
The Finnish family business Lasistudio reclaims glass bottles and jars without crushing them in order to create new objects. All the products are hand-made in an old barn in Finland. By taking advantage of the original shapes of the waste packages, only 1/4 of the energy needed to shape new objects from melted glass is used, says Jan Torstensson Oy, glassworks specialized in manufacturing items from recycled packaging glass....
Quote of the Day: Jason Alexander on Overpopulation
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 3.08
One of the biggest green discussions we have in our home is about how we will never be able to really get control of the destruction of our planet's valuable resources until we realize that we have an enormous responsibility and obligation to control the size of the human population that is expanding at a rate never seen before in our history.
This planet was never intended to support the number of human beings we currently have residing on it. ...
Rainforest Alliance Finds Sustainably Certified Forests Have Fewer Wildfires
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 04. 3.08
We already knew that certifying forestry projects under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification standards was a good idea. Now a new study by the Rainforest Alliance in Guatemala tells us that forest concessions managed in compliance with FSC certification standards have seen fewer wildfires and less deforestation compared with protected and other areas within the Maya Biosphere Reserve, an area of tropical forest in Guatemala’s northern Petén region. Bonus!
According to the Alliance, in 2007, fires affected 0.1 percent of FSC-certified forest concessions in the reserve, down from 6.5 percent in 1998. During the same period, fires affected between 7 and 20 percent of the rest of the reserve. In addition, the average annual deforestation rate in FSC-certified forest concessions between 2002 and 2007 was 20 times lower than the deforestation rate within the protected areas where harvesting of wood and non-timber forest products is prohibited....
Design For A Better Bike Lock
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
Design site Core77 regularly runs "One Hour Design Challenge" competitions; I would love to see how many of these ideas were thought up and drawn in an hour. The winner in their latest, to design a better bike lock, is very clever. I use a heavy chain that weighs more than my bike and don't think that cable would stop a dedicated thief, but perhaps there are still parts of the world where this would work, or some new superstrength cable that would foil the boltcutter.
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Pop Quiz: Get Ready For Earth Day
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 04. 3.08
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The Green Scare and Civil Liberties
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
John Vidal of the Guardian looks at last month's torching of "green" McMansions and asks a lot of questions, like " The Earth Liberation Front was to blame. But was it? Does it even exist? And why is the Bush government intent on casting 'eco-terrorists' as public enemy number one?
He writes "According to the FBI, "eco-terrorism", or "ecotage", is now the number one domestic terrorism threat in the US, greater than that of rightwing extremists, anti-abortion groups and animal rights organisations, and on a par with al-Qaida. The US building industry, rightwing political groups and the mainstream media all leapt to condemn the ELF after the arson....."...
Fossil Fool Awards 2008: And the Winners are-
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
The Foolies are presented by the Energy Action Coalition, Co-op America and Rainforest Action Network, and go to "the individual who has made the most significant contribution over the past year to the development and dissemination of fossil fuel-related pollution."
This year's winner is Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, " for the global financial institution's massive support for dirty coal. Bank of America is the leading financial backer of mountaintop removal coal mining in the United States and a top funder of new coal-fired power plants."
Interestingly, his bank just adopted the Carbon Principles, which make it harder to finance coal fired plants in the US. Perhaps one of the runners-up (Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta, Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil and Bruce A. Williamson, CEO of Dynegy Corporation) might have been a better choice, although the vote was very close, with Stelmach only two hundred votes behind. ::Foolies...
Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
David Bach has written a lot of books with titles like "Automatic Millionaire" and "Start Late Finish Rich" that appeal to many (he has sold millions of them) but I admit to never having had much interest in the genre. However, TreeHugger has always promoted living with less, using fewer resources and having a smaller footprint, and over on Planet Green we often talk of frugality as a green virtue. David Bach takes those ideas to the bank in Go Green, Live Rich.
It is a simple theory: do all the little things we prattle on about, like improving your car's fuel economy (save $884 per year); sealing the leaks in your home and save a little on energy ($129); turning back your thermostat ($85) and brownbaggging your lunch. ($1,560). Take that $3,758 and invest it. What have you got in 30 years? $ 678,146.
Suddenly the genre and going green looks very, very interesting.
Bach writes well, in a breezy style; it is an easy read. However by putting a dollar value on 50 different green steps that you can easily take, he changes the whole message about going green, from doing something good for the environment over time (a hard sell to all but the most dedicated TreeHuggers) to doing something good for yourself and your bank account. Self-interest is a great motivator, and if the result is a dramatically smaller footprint, everybody wins. ...
Tapping the Power of the Mighty Mississippi: Thousands of Hydrokinetic Turbines Could Generate 1600 MW
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 3.08
Swing by the Mississippi River a few years from now, and you may be surprised to see hundreds of thousands of miniature electric turbines dotting the fast moving river's bed. All the electricity generated by this massive "in stream" hydrokinetic project - around 1,600-MW - would be enough to power up to 1.5 million homes, according to Daniel R. Irvin, the chief executive of Massachusetts startup Free Flow Power Corp.
The company's goal is to install several hundreds of thousands of turbines at 59 sites along the river; each turbine would be attached to pilings in the river bed and would be made of a lightweight composite material like carbon fiber. If all goes according to schedule, Irvin is confident his turbines will be ready to begin producing electricity by 2012. ...
Michigan, Ground Zero For Sustainability, Struggling To Develop Wind Power
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 3.08
In the late 1800's Michigan's forests were clearcut, Paul Bunyan style, and the bellwether Woodland Elk, an exemplary Mega-Fauna whose range was nearly centered on Michigan (pictured), was extirpated. Another species native to Michigan, MegaTruckis flacidus (sp) is living on borrowed time, the official jobless rate is hovering around 7%; and, they are struggling to scale up wind power because of an antiquated transmission grid. All this, while surrounded by water resources that are the envy of half the population of the US and many arid nations.
Developers are proposing more than 3,000 megawatts of wind power in Michigan, an amount - at more than 1,000 times larger than existing capacity - that could push the state's lagging transmission capacity to center stage. ...
Red, Yellow, Green: A Better Way To Eco-Shop?
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 04. 3.08
Coutesy Leufstedt via flickr
Recent PhD Gunne Grankvist has devoted eight years of his life to researching the psychology behind shoppers' habits and concluded that organic and other eco-labels work best to guide the already interested and initiated. For the bulk of consumers, well, they just aren't that effective, while a small group actively resists any eco-info.
That could be one reason the European Union announced today its backslide on the requirement to create a new ur-Euro organic label. The EU had tried to redesign the above label in anticipation its mandatory status in 2009, but met with protests both for the design and for the use of the word "bio" - which can connote organic in German but signals genetically modified organisms in the UK.
The EU Commission isn't totally giving up, and wants to run a contest for a new label that then might be introduced in 2010. According to Grankvist's research, a better approach would be to just label foods with some kind of simple colored marking system - green for go, yellow for average or red for no-good, as the Seafood Choice Alliance does for its fish list. Of course, producers would hate that negative labeling, and Grankvist admits it would take legislation similar to the EU ratings for appliances, but his research shows the majority of consumers actively avoid red-labeled products that way. Via Daily Post and Göteborgs Posten (Swedish)...
The TH Interview: Jarid Manos, the Ghetto Plainsman (Part One)
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 04. 3.08
Manos grew up as a "stray dog," without guidance and without boundaries in world where life is only slashed down, never nurtured. In Ghetto Plainsman he traces his wanderings through a world of drugs, crime, prostitution, and depression. But it was all part of a search for a better place, a place he found in the plains of Texas, a ravaged world he has sworn to revive. Jarid Manos is the founder and CEO of Great Plains Restoration Council, an ecological social movement he has crafted as “a living art project.” ::TreeHugger Radio Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download. Special thanks to Calabash Music for the soundtrack....
Bulgarian Bike Business Boom
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04. 3.08
Our last mention of Bulgaria on TreeHugger was to infer its rail system was superior to the US. Now it seems that the country has a foot in door of another significant transport mode—bicycle manufacture. Production is anticipated to increase by 40% this year.
Seems that Bulgaria is the “only EU member state where most bicycles are local production.” Of the 450,000 bikes made there last year, 100,000 were ridden by Bulgarians themselves, with the remainder mostly sold into Europe. An example of the increase in home-grown use of bikes, has the city council of the country’s capital, Sofia, allocating 5.3 million leva (~$4.2 Million USD) to the building of two new bicycle lanes in its 2008 budget.
Bulgaria’s six bike makers sound optimistic, expecting to make more bicycles in the future, citing an “increased focus on healthy living and environment in recent years.” Plus they reckon they have an advantage over bikes from China because they can ship anywhere in Europe within a week. Via the Sofia Echo
Images found at Cycling Bulgaria....
Reversible Destiny House by Arakawa and Gins
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
Eric Striffler for The New York Times
Architect Arakawa (no first name) and Madeline Gins believe that your house should keep you young by challenging you every step of the way. “It’s immoral that people have to die,” Ms. Gins explained. So they designed the Livespan Extending Villa, that "makes people use their bodies in unexpected ways to maintain equilibrium, and that will stimulate their immune systems."
“They ought to build hospitals like this,” she said....
Another Kind of Chicken Coop
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04. 3.08
Graphic Of The Day: Americans Driving Less
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 3.08
The last four months represent the first period since the 1980 gas crisis that there was a reduction in cumulative miles driven by US citizens.
The next one, the graphic we really want to see, is 'Americans Driving More Efficient Cars.' Although when you drive less, the car can last longer.
Via::Christian Science Monitor...
Survey: Do you Watch TV?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
We are excited about all the new shows coming down the pipe from Planet Green, and will tune up the rabbit ears to try and pull them in. But right now we have so many information and entertainment options, and TreeHugger readers probably know how to use all of them.
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"Recycling" Could Be Bad For National Security
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 3.08
T
The copper that the US Department of Defense contractors will need for Space War toy-building is getting super expensive. Not to mention what's happening to boots-on-the-ground budgets because of "heavy metal jacket" ammo price leaps. There's a civilian thread woven through this story.
The headline for one of our sources was "Some US homes worth less than their copper pipes." As you might have already guessed, thieves are breaking into foreclosed homes in the US and stripping them of non-ferrous metals, with a keen eye for copper, in particular. We're talking wire, piping and valves, decorative trim, downspouts, air conditioning equipment, and garbage disposal motors: anything that does not rust or has a motor, basically....
The copper that the US Department of Defense contractors will need for Space War toy-building is getting super expensive. Not to mention what's happening to boots-on-the-ground budgets because of "heavy metal jacket" ammo price leaps. There's a civilian thread woven through this story.
The headline for one of our sources was "Some US homes worth less than their copper pipes." As you might have already guessed, thieves are breaking into foreclosed homes in the US and stripping them of non-ferrous metals, with a keen eye for copper, in particular. We're talking wire, piping and valves, decorative trim, downspouts, air conditioning equipment, and garbage disposal motors: anything that does not rust or has a motor, basically....
This Looks Better Than Ivory
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04. 3.08
All the fashion mag's have written about LeJu jewellery, but somehow Treehugger hasn't yet.... So here they are: great looking necklaces, bracelets, and rings made from vegetable ivory. What's that, you say--it is a seed from a palm tree found in the Amazonian rain forest. After it has been naturally dried for a long time it is just as hard as ivory and then it can be carved. So it provides an alternative to cutting down rain forests, stimulates local economies and prevents elephants from being killed for their tusks. Sounds like a winning idea all around.
With the extra plus that the jewellery is colourful, well-designed and perfect for that casual look with tee-shirts or a summer dress. The splash of colour is from natural plant-based vegetable dyes and oils. Some of the pieces are paired with other Amazonian seeds, sterling silver and leather toggles. The turtle rings are made from an entire seed and come in a range of colours and are especially striking. As the designer says: "I try to create designs, which reflect its roots. Nature is full of wonderful colours and I use them to reflect it in people’s lives.” :: LeJu...
Today on Planet Green
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 2.08
:: Kelly recounts a hilarious story about a three-year-old who doesn't want her microwaved macaroni.
:: Download episodes of Sundance Channel's The Green for free.
:: If you're still working on your New Year's resolutions to quit smoking and lose weight, here's how to kill two birds with one stone.
:: Meet Lea Simpson of Unchained, an online guide to indie stores.
:: Earn money for your favorite charity by sending in your used yogurt containers, energy-bar wrappers, drink pouches, and bottles.
:: What's your eco-anxiety level?
:: Is there a big, bad corporation behind your favorite organic food brand?...
Most Huggable: Sustainable Burritos, Big Oil Bad Boys, Non-Leaching Nalgene + More
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 04. 2.08
Chipotle Mexican Grill beefs up their eco-cred with sustainably raised pork.
Plant a seed and a tree with Jenn Savedge’s book, The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly Living.
Are big oil companies April’s biggest fools?
Nalgene gets plastic surgery and re-enters the reusable bottle race.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Obama Says Climate Change Is Real, Will Hire Gore
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 04. 2.08
Obama is struggling to gain ground in Pennsylvania so aligning oneself with GW (Global Warming, not GW Bush but take your pick) might not seem like the best political maneuver in general nor certainly on the campaign trail. You see, the earth's changing climate is still a red-hot political potato for a number of reasons, some of which were most excellently demonstrated during last night's premiere of Sundance Channel's The Green in the feature documentary Garbage Warrior. The film recounts numerous twists and turns that its protagonist must negotiate in order to get legislation passed legalizing a testing site for the development of sustainable housing, namely his "earth ships." One hurdle takes the form of GW-denying state representatives, and allies advise the Garbage Warrior not to deploy the greenhouse gas card in the service of arguing his case. So we were quite glad to hear Illinois senator Obama's answer to today's town hall question "if elected president would he consider tapping Gore for his Cabinet to address global warming."...
Packaging the Sorapot
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
We have covered Joey Roth's reinvention of the teapot; its packaging is almost as interesting. He tells us:
"I designed the packaging's shape and chose materials with impermanence in mind. It's made from post-consumer recycled cardboard and molded pulp- exactly the same material as egg crates. Instead of hiding these materials behind a layer of glossy paper (as is often done with retail packaging), I tried to articulate the cardboard's natural beauty as much as possible, using its fluting and imperfections as central design elements. The package is fastened with natural jute rope, and avoids the use of tape and staples. The instructions are printed on a single scroll of recycled paper that comes wrapped around the teapot's glass tube."
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IKEA Bans Plastic Bags for Good
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 2.08
Almost two years ago, IKEA announced it was going to start charging for plastic bags in the UK; then we heard that IKEA US was following suit by charging five cents per plastic bag. Soon after, that news was followed by a plastic bag ban in their UK stores, so perhaps the latest from the Swedish flat-packers shouldn't be too surprising: in an effort to promote the use of reusable bags, IKEA will no longer offer plastic bags starting in October.
Judging by the numbers, this won't be a huge stretch for IKEA customers: last March, IKEA set a goal of reducing its US stores' plastic bag consumption by 50%; after crunching some numbers, a whopping 92% of IKEA customers went for the reusable bag over the pay-for-plastic option. That's a lot of big blue bags, and even more plastic bags kept out of landfills....
BrightSource to Build 500 Megawatts of Solar-Thermal Power in Mojave Desert
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 2.08
The press release (pdf) is dated April 1st, but this is no joke. Because of California law, PG&E needs to get 20% of its electricity from renewable sources (not including big hydro) by 2010, so it has contracted with Brightsource Energy for 3 new solar-thermal power plants in the Mojave desert, one of the best spots for solar power in the world.
"Solar thermal energy is an especially attractive renewable power source because it is available when needed most in California – during the peak mid-day summer period," said Fong Wan, vice president of energy procurement at PG&E. These first three plants will add up to 500 megawatts of capacity, but PG&E has also signed contracts for options on an additional 400 megawatts, which could bring the total to 900 megawatts. ...
Diet Sunglasses Reduce Your Appetite
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
Of course all TreeHugger readers eat like Michael Pollan and ride bikes to work, so they don't need these special diet sunglasses from Yumetai. Evidently the colour blue calms the brain's appetite center, and they also make the food look disgusting. They must work; as Steve says at Inventorspot, "if you think about it, there aren't many obese Japanese walking around outside the sumo dojo." ::Inventorspot via ::Andrew Sullivan
If they don't work, curb your cravings and get it off and keep it off at Planet Green....
Record Houses 2008
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
The Architectural Record selection of the best houses of the year has been kicking around for over 50 years, and they are often jazzy but very big. This year they took a new approach: "we looked for built, single-family dwellings that not only were aesthetically striking, but also employed innovative strategies for achieving environmental sustainability. In selecting this year’s nine winners, our jury evaluated criteria such as water efficiency, energy consumption, and indoor air quality.Our “green” focus resulted in two of the projects likely ranking as the smallest ever presented in a Record Houses issue." Many are familiar to TreeHugger readers, including Charlotte Skene Catling's Dairy House, and FAR frohn&rojas' Wall House; Others are new. Werner Sobek's H16 house shown above produces zero emissions and is purported to use zero energy, which surprises given the amount of glass. More at ::Architectural Record...
EDF Energies Nouvelles Invests $50M in Nanosolar
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 2.08
There are many thin-film solar startups, but few have moved from the lab to the factory as fast as Nanosolar. They shipped their first solar panels last December, and their $100 million factory has been selling its whole production of copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) cells ever since.
The latest good news for the company is that France's EDF Energies Nouvelles has invested $50 million in the company and secured part of Nanosolar's 2009 production for a competitive price. The money should help them increase production in a market that gets more competitive all the time (Sharp is building a $725 million, 480 MW thin-film solar plant). ::CNN
See also: ::Google Founders Invest in Nanosolar, ::Nanosolar: Printing Solar Film Like Paper, ::19.9%: New Thin Film Solar Efficiency Record...
Get the Best of Both Worlds with The Walking Bike
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 2.08
TreeHugger loves promoting walking and bicycling, so, of course, we love the Walking Bike. And if the human-powered transportation angle wasn't enough, there's some pretty serious shoe recycling going on here, too. As our pals at Gizmodo say, "it's quite possible the greatest invention ever."
Hit the jump to see someone riding (or should we say "walking") this thing. Hmm. Maybe we'll stick to just one or the other. ::Arkitip via ::Gizmodo
See also: ::World's Most Energy-Efficient Vehicle? A Bicycle and ::Ask the EcoGeek: Walking Worse than Driving? No....
2/4SIGHT: This Engine can Switch Between 2-Stroke and 4-Stroke, Fuel Savings of up to 27%
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 2.08
Researchers in the UK have developed a new kind of engine. It could be called a hybrid, but what it combines is not two power sources but rather two mode of operation: 2-stroke and 4-stroke. The goal is to be able to significantly downsize the engine and get the fuel economy benefits of smaller displacement, but to be able to switch seamlessly to 2-stroke mode when more power is required at high loads and low speeds.
The prototype (seen above) is a modified 2.1-liter V6. After tests at the University of Brighton, it has been found to produced performances similar to a 3 to 4-liter engine, with fuel savings of 27% and emissions reduced by about the same amount....
12 Cities Selected to Become New "Solar America Cities"
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 2.08
Image courtesy of Jimmy_Joe via flickr
Give credit where credit is due: the Bush administration DOE is moving forward with a plan to make available up to $2.4m to 12 so-called "Solar America Cities" (up to $200,000 for each) - cities that will receive funding and technical assistance to build a robust solar infrastructure. The 12 lucky winners include the California cities of San Jose, Santa Rosa and Sacramento; the Texas cities of Houston and San Antonio; the Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; Knoxville, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington....
American Taxpayers Pay in Biofuel "Splash and Dash" Scam
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
Greenpeace blockading a palm oil tanker last November
TreeHugger noted earlier that dumping of US made and subsidized biofuels was wrecking the UK refinining industry. It gets worse; it is in fact a scam called "splash and dash", taking advantage of the $1 per gallon biofuel subsidy.
1) Bring a tankerload of, say, Malaysian palm oil to the US.
2) add a splash of diesel oil, say 9,000 gallons to 9 million gallons of biofuel, or 0.1%.
3) Tag the whole batch as biofuel, collect nine million bucks, and ship it off to the UK because the US is awash in biodiesel because of the subsidy.
But nobody is doing anything about it because all the soybean growers love the subsidy, and some biodiesel producers are even importing palm oil for American distribution because of it. So much for "energy independence" and "free markets" ::Christian Science Monitor
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Second-Generation Smart Fortwo Selling Like Hotcakes
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 2.08
In a year, sales of the second-generation smart fortwo have gone up 80%, reaching 100,000 units in 37 countries. Italy and Germany represent the biggest chunk of new smart fortwo sold, with about 2/3 of combined sales during the past year.
But the question we really want to ask Daimler is, where are the diesel-hybrid and electric versions? A few years ago they showed concepts of these, and the diesel-hybrid apparently got fuel economy of 2.9 liters/100 km (81 mpg US), and the EV had a range of 110 kilometers (62 miles), which would work for a urban car. It was good of Daimler to make a start-stop version of the smart, making the car up to 20% more efficient in city driving, but there's an opportunity for real leadership here. Competition is coming (the Toyota IQ, for example). ::Sales of New smart fortwo Hit 100,000 in First Year, ::smart delivers 100,000th second-generation ForTwo...
Can Conspicuous Consumption Be Good for the Planet?
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 2.08
TreeHugger has encountered the notion of conspicuous consumption before, and what we consume as individuals and as a society can be a tricky topic. It isn't very green to buy stuff all the time, but we all need to eat, clothe ourselves and furnish our lives, so we want folks to know that there are green options available for lots of things we all buy. But what if everything each of us bought helped the planet?
That's the idea behind Carrotmob, a San Francisco-based organization that wants to use mobs of shoppers as the carrot for inspiring and driving greener business practices. They stage a "buying spree" at a particular local business, with the agreement that a percentage of the revenue from those couple hours of buying goes to energy efficiency upgrades and other greener business practices....
Quote Of The Day: From David Doniger
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 2.08
This quote comes from coverage of the ongoing meeting of the Kyoto Convention parties, being held in Bankok Thailand.
""To use short-term economics as an excuse not to tackle global warming is opportunism," said David Doniger, climate policy chief at the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council.
"The same people who opposed global warming legislation when the economy was doing well are now opposing it when the economy is doing poorly. They have only one constant and that is they oppose dealing with global warming," he said."
Via::TerraDaily, "Global economy woes cast shadow on climate talks" Image credit::UNEP, David Doniger, NRDC...
Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking'
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
So says Dr. Vini Khurana, an Australian neurosurgeon. His recent 15-month critical review of the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumors concludes that the phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, that people should avoid using them wherever possible, and that governments and the mobile phone industry must take "immediate steps" to reduce exposure to their radiation.
According to the Independent, Dr. Khurana says "there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours". He believes this will be "definitively proven" in the next decade. Read his advisory on a brain surgery website and Medical News Today.
Not surprisingly, the Australian Mobile Operators Association calls the study "a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual."
See TreeHugger on WiMax on the Brain: Is "WiFi on Steroids" Safe? and Planet Green on how to Reduce Your Risks From Cellphones, Microwaves, Wi-Fi
UPDATE: Reader Stef informs us of posts debunking this story, including one from the very respectable Denialism Blog...
Pop Quiz: Organic Revolution?
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 04. 2.08
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UPS Deploys 167 Compressed Natural Gas Trucks
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 2.08
UPS recently unleashed 168 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery vehicles onto the streets of Texas, Georgia, and California. The delivery company has been buffing up its environmental record these past few year: It shifted to dry washing its trucks in Georgia, spent $600 million on improving the efficiency of its operations, and outfitted some of their vehicles with a newfangled "hydraulic hybrid" propulsion system.
Of the 167 new CNG trucks, part of UPS's global alternative fuel fleet, 25 have been deployed in Dallas, 42 in Atlanta, and the remaining 100 in five California cities: 30 to Sacramento, 14 to Los Angeles, five to Ontario, 10 to San Ramon, and 41 to Fresno. ...
Ann Thorpe on Design as Activism
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
Ann Thorpe, author of the wonderful Designer's Atlas of Sustainability, is now studying "how designers have been engaging with social and environmental change over the last 20 years." She has started an interesting blog called Design Activism: reflections on the role of design as activism and has been collecting manifestos, noting that they often adopt "the language of politics–revolution, even– these texts urge designers to take more action for social and environmental good."
Classics like Bill McDonough's Hanover Principles are there, but also Mike Lin's Designer’s call to arms: We’ve screwed up. Now it’s time to redesign our future. in which he writes:
"We’ve been settling for second best for too long—too often do “ecological,” “green,” or “sustainable” products fall short in function and design. Despite good intentions, such token products as ineffective natural cleaners; dim compact-fluorescent light bulbs; and coarse hemp garments reinforce stereotypes of inferior quality and inconvenience. Mediocre products cause more harm than good; their disappointing functionality and lackluster design alienate the general public and fail to resonate with the broader audience needed to effect real, mainstream change." (PDF Here)
Interesting reading if like me, you are trying to figure out the meaning of sustainable design. ::Design Activism...
Wired Zaps Zap
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
Wired's April issue has a few nuggets of interest; in its business trends column, Gabriel Sherman notes that "while cutting energy use and rolling out earth-friendly products may attract a growing environmentally conscious customer base, corporate profits still come largely from doing business the old, dirty way," noting that while Toyota is the acknowledged innovator in fuel-efficient hybrids, it relies on conventional trucks like the Tundra for its profits. (We have got into trouble with readers saying the same thing here and here.) He also mentions that GE of Ecoimagination fame has put billions into the petroleum industry and invests in coal fired power plants.
Available online is their evisceration of ZAP for its vaporware electric cars. "If ZAP was in any other business, the company would have been dead long ago. But they keep taking advantage of how much environmentalists want to see electric cars come to market."
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China Celebrates Status As No. 1 Polluter, And Other Doublespeak
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 04. 2.08
Survey: Are You Tired of "Going Green"?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 2.08
TreeHugger Kara asks about "Going Green"- "is anyone else just so freakin' sick and tired of this phrase? The media really need to start using their creativity. maybe we can come up with a new one that will hit globally?" Those of us who write for, um, Planet Green recused ourselves, but others came up with some suggestions for alternatives. Please add yours in the comments.
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Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor on Exposing Blood Timber
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 04. 2.08
This is the third in a series of interviews with previous winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. Founded in 1990, the prize is given annually to six grassroots environmentalists working for change around the globe. This year's prize winners will be announced on April 14.
Not many environmentalists are willing to take warlords to task for their involvement in illegal logging activities. But Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor, a 37-year-old Liberian, is not your typical TreeHugger. The gutsy, intrepid activist, who won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006 for the Africa region, has shown extraordinary courage in the face of tremendous risks to his personal safety. His dedication has helped to make a major dent in the illegal trade in precious hardwoods that are critical to the viability of livelihoods, ecosystems, and biodiversity in his native Liberia.
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The Diesel Tree: Grow Your Own Oil
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04. 2.08
You’d have thought that with 20,000 stories in our archives we might’ve at least mentioned this in passing. But it seems not. Australian farmers in the wet tropical region of North Queensland have bought over 20,000 of these so-called diesel trees. The intention is that in 15 or so years they’ll have their very own oil mine growing on their farmland.
Because, the Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii, to use its botanical name, can be tapped not unlike a rubber tree, but instead of yielding rubbery latex it gives up a natural diesel. According to the nurseryman selling the trees, one hectare will yield about 12,000 litres annually. *...
Scientists Propose Feeding Concrete To Plants, Trapping More C02
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 2.08
UK researchers are amending soils with powdered calcium-silicate (concrete dust) to determine if a carbon fix-boost hypothesis is correct: that crops will be induced to bind extra carbon dioxide, reacting it with calcium taken from the concrete dust (in the soil matrix).
This reaction, whether directed by, or simply mediated by plants and/or soil organisms, would sequester more atmospheric carbon than is possible by production of plant tissue. Good for the climate.
Assuming their work validates plenty of extra sequestration, we think it makes complete sense if the source of calcium-silicate is demolition debris or "rubble". But, it would be idiocy to use commercial concrete that had not gone through a building-product life cycle.
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TH Blog Love - Our Favourite Greens Of The Week
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 04. 2.08
Conserve Plastic Bags: Carnival of The Green #121 by Michelle Verges
"As I read this week's posts, I really began to appreciate and admire all the good things folks are doing in their part of the world. It's great to take a break from the usual (and hectic!) routine to recognize these efforts. So without further adieu, please enjoy this week's posts!"
Ecorazzi: Sundance’s THE GREEN Returns For Season Two by Michael d'Estries
"Our favorite hosts Simran Sethi and Majora Carter are back and ready to introduce us to a new buffet of original green programming on everything from climate change, energy, design, fashion and architecture. I was fortunate enough to receive a few screeners of the documentaries and series coming over the next couple months and can’t say enough about the quality of the programming."...
The Real Toy Story
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04. 2.08
London has exhibitions saluting China and the Olympics all over town. But it's not all perfect as recent political events have shown. Michael Wolf's disturbing installation at Liberty (department store) is a comment on cheap mass-produced plastic toys. ‘The Real Toy Story' is an installation with over 20,000 toys which are attached to the wall, surrounding large sized photos of the workers who make them. The idea came to the photographer after he had collected bags of second hand toys for his child as a surprise and realised that all of them had been made in China. In fact, 75% of all the world's toys are made there. He then toured California and collected every toy he could find that had a face and was made in China.
This investigation prompted him to visit five toy factories in China and photograph the workers in the factory. All of them appear to be young men and women serious in their intent and beautifully observed. As part of the show at Liberty, there is also a group of photographs of Hong Kong, where he lives, with the endless high-rise towers and scenes of everyday life.
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Brompton Boosts its Web Presence and Product Line
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04. 2.08
Despite it being one of the most popular folding bikes in the world, and a regular sight on the streets of many cities, The Brompton folding bike doesn’t seem to have featured too heavily on TreeHugger. Sure, we posted about an interview with the inventor way back in 2005, we’ve featured video footage of a do-it-yourself electric assist kit, and the bike did feature fairly heavily in our post on favourite folders, from A to B. However, we’ve never really had a post purely dedicated to The Brompton, so the fact that the UK-based company has significantly revamped its online presence seems like a good enough excuse to us. The new Brompton website features the history and philosophy of the company, as well as details of how the bikes are made by hand in their London factory. ...
TreeHugger Picks: Won't Get Fooled Again
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 1.08
 | 1) The Green Life published its "Don’t Be Fooled: America’s Ten Worst Greenwashers" report, which contains their list of those trying to fool us about their green efforts, documenting the scope, content and impact of the nation’s most egregious cases of greenwash in marketing and public relations. Six companies, three trade associations and one government agency were selected for the report based on comparisons of their environmental rhetoric to the reality of their environmental performance. |
 | 2) Vespa's hybrid scooters started off as an April Fool's joke, but, in a strange twist of life imitating art, we found out that Vespa really was going to develop scooters with an electric boost. Like some hybrid cars, "electric-only" mode is available for low speeds, and the batteries charge themselves from the engine while you're scooting. |
 | 3) For those of you who want water with that special something (see all of our other posts about Strange Waters for more) but have been convinced by our arguments against bottled water, we offer the Jupiter pH Water System. This US$ 945 device is "the first Water Ionizer in the world that has BioStone/Tourmaline , which generates negative-ions as soon as it makes contact with water. It activates water to assist in support of our metabolism, and circulation of blood." Whoa...two picks that fooled us, after the jump... |
Today on Planet Green
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 1.08
:: Emeril and Michael Pollan are teaming up for an exciting new venture: The SuperSize Corn Dog.
:: Now that spring has officially sprung, make a stand against colorless urban sprawl by throwing a seed bomb or two.
:: Can you get green toys at Toys "R" Us of all places? The answer may surprise you.
:: Make your own puffy paint.
:: Polish your shoes, without inhaling toxic chemicals or spending too much coin, by using this kitchen multitasker.
:: Summer Rayne Oakes points out a good, green solution for eye bags and wrinkles.
:: Here's a roundup of bisphenol A-free water bottles available for tap-water lovers.
:: Rein in messy cable clutter by making these DIY cable spools....
Eco Fashion Steps Forward as Loomstate, Barneys & Sundance Partner Up
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 1.08
File this one under "walk the walk": just in time for the Season 2 launch of The GREEN on Sundance Channel, the network has partnered up with Barneys New York and Loomstate to start a nation-wide t-shirt recycling program to create some snazzy new eco fashion. Beginning April 13th, consumers will be encouraged to drop off old t-shirts at all Barneys’ locations nationwide; Loomstate will “re-fashion” the T-shirts (re-style, re-dye, re-print, etc.) to create a new, limited edition T-shirt collection to be sold exclusively at Barneys for Holiday 2008....
London Investors "Buy" Guyana Rainforest, Will Sell its Services
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 04. 1.08
The Iwokrama Reserve in Guyana.
While we have to be pleased at the fact that global markets are beginning to understand the value of the (free) services provided by the planet's ecosystems, we have to wonder about this one. This is not an April Fools' joke: first the first time ever, a private equity firm has signed a contract for "rights to the ecosystem services produced by a rainforest reserve."
These services are defined by London law firm Stevenson Harwood, who drew up the deal, as "the proven ability of rainforests to generate rainfall, cool the atmosphere, store carbon, moderate weather conditions and sustain biodiversity." The deal was announced late last week at a conference in New York on the "rapid-growth area of Biodiversity Finance."...
International Save the Woolly Mammoths Day
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 04. 1.08
You love to watch them in Hollywood blockbusters like Ice Age and 10,000 BC, but woolly mammoths -- those magnificent yet shy members of the pachyderm family -- need more than your entertainment dollars. They also need protection!
Did you know that April 1, 2008 is International Save the Woolly Mammoths Day?
Think about it:...
Red Stamp Introduces New Greeting Cards by Round Robin Press
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 04. 1.08
With a few special days ahead of us in the next month or so (Earth Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduation), we wanted to share an alternative to greeting cards. While e-cards are definitely the most eco-friendly, we love these from Red Stamp as well. Known for their hip and stylish greeting cards, Red Stamp has just introduced a new line of whimsically-designed cards made by Round Robin Press. Printed on handmade organic plant-able paper with soy-based inks, the cards are embedded with a variety of seeds such as wildflowers, basil and chives. All of them feature a modern design and are accompanied with instructions. Similar to Bloomin' Flower Cards, they are perfect for a green-thumb guru. ::Red Stamp ...
Ruth's Hemp Chia Goodness Cereal
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 1.08
Ruth's Hemp Chia Goodness Cereal is definitely an acquired taste, but once your palate gets over the unusual texture, however, this new raw cereal is a keeper, especially for folks with special dietary needs—and at least one nutritionally challenged writer who often forgets to eat. (Please don't tell my Mom.)
Although typically associated with grow-your-own "pets," the chia seed surprisingly packs a wallop of sustenance, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which notes that chia contains more than 4.4 times more calcium than milk, 16 percent of your recommended daily protein intake, and more omega-3 fatty acids than salmon. ...
Full Moon Sideboard Uses Green Paint to Glow in the Dark
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 1.08
Designed by Sotirios Papadopoulos, the Full Moon Sideboard is a limited edition piece with a neat trick and a green twist. Turn the lights down low, and the photo-realistic image of the moon’s surface lavishly printed on one of its sides produces a soft, pleasant glow that adds a celestial touch to any décor. And the best part? It comes from the moons' green materials.
Using special luminous and ecological paint called ELI ('eco light inside' -- ecological powder which is modified into a gelcoat thatcovers the furniture) that Papadopoulos created especially for the project, the sideboard is produced by Italian design company Ennerzero and will be on display at the SOHO gallery in Milan for the “dEMOsign” exhibition. Hit the jump to see what happens when the sun comes up. via ::Yanko Design and ::Freshome
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China Launches Green Building Council: An Interview with Kevin Hydes, World GBC Chair
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 04. 1.08
Let's do some math: China's government-mandated need to reduce pollution and energy consumption + the country's slowly rising environmental awareness + its thriving spirit of entrepreneurship + China's construction market, which builds nearly half the world's total new buildings every year, and by 2020 will account for 40 percent of the country's total energy consumption.
Yep, the answer is green buildings. At least in theory. Those four things can also add up to a lot of greenwashing too. Or they can simply add up to nothing at all.
Hoping for real results, yesterday Qiu Baoxing, China's vice minister of housing and urban-rural construction and the government's leading advocate for green building, announced the launch of the China Green Building Council at a big conference in Beijing. The public-private partnership will be responsible for, among other things, administering the country's new indigenous green building labeling system. The group would also be responsible for helping to police buildings (he had typically stern words for some local governments) and for drumming up public awareness, which Qiu said was key.
After the jump, more from Qiu, and an interview with World Green Building Council chair Kevin Hydes, who was in attendance....
April Fools Round the 'Verse
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
I was going to lay off the April Fools jokes but who could pass up this parody of our friends at ABEC. From the Natural Resources Defence Council.
Other great April Fools: The Polar Bear Conservancy
Google & Virgin planning a Mars colony
New Fruit On the Block: Self-Peeling Citrus
Bush approves Freedom Fans to fight global warming
The New Gehry Residence in Los Angeles
New Levels of LEED
Drain Great Lakes to fill Grand Canyon?
...state officials admitted that the plan will lower the lake levels dramatically. "But it won't be more than 200 feet, 300 at most," said Dr. Doan B. Leevit, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan's department of Business, Utilities, Labor and Legislation (BULL). "We can afford that because all the lakes are over 700 feet. OK, Erie is only 210 feet, but if we dig a real big ditch right down the middle, we could still get the ships through and we'd also have the world's biggest skateboard park."
And over at Planet Green, Watch for this Great New Food Item in Your Grocery
More to come...
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Affordable Green Housing in New York
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
It is a point of controversy and a question of degree, but green buildings cost more to build, even though they are cheaper to operate. So when one is built that is completely for low income residents and foster care graduates, one takes notice. David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens was built by Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI) and Jonathan Rose Companies, noted in TreeHugger earlier for their work restoring office buildings in Seattle. and designed by Dattner Architects. Features include:...
Pop Quiz: Coca CO(2)LA
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 04. 1.08
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Food Prices, Food Eaters Run Riot
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
Michael Pollan says we are all made of corn, and that means we are also all made of fossil fuels, that drive the tractors, that make the fertilizer, that bring it to market. As fuel prices go through the roof, food prices are following, and people around the world are not happy. Today in the news:
Food Prices Follow Fuel Through The Roof ...high gas and diesel fuel prices are hiking the cost of everything from growing food to transporting it, and consumers are paying the price. "Wheat commodity prices have almost doubled in the last six months," says USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag, "and there's been a big push for those products across the globe." Such demand pushes prices up.::CBS News
Clashes over food prices trouble political leaders: Anger over high food and fuel costs in recent months has spawned violent unrest across the world. Surging food prices due to global supply concerns and heady world futures markets have posed a particular risk to poor economies, especially in Africa, where food makes up a disproportionately large part of household spending and imports. ::Reuters
Food crisis being felt around world: Sharply rising prices have triggered food riots in recent weeks in Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Guinea, Mauritania and Yemen, and aid agencies around the world worry they may be unable to feed the poorest of the poor. ::National Post
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NYC Gets First BRT Line
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 04. 1.08
Mayor Bloomberg and the gang inaugurate the "salsarengue" bus.
Transit got a major boost in The City last week with a brand new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in the Bronx. Despite the fact that some city officials view the Bronx "as a border between Lower Manhattan and suburban car commuters," city planners decided to follow dozens of other cities worldwide in adopting BRT technology. Cheaper than a subway or a light rail, a BRT line functions "almost like a surface subway system," as DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan described it, and will likely bring a heap of economic and other benefits to the Bronx in its wake....
The New Air Force One Hybrid, 15-20% More Efficient
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 1.08
Our friends at HowStuffWorks had a look at the new presidential plane, Air Force One Hybrid. They break it down for you, from construction to operation.
It's particularly interesting to learn how the hybrid system works. "Air Force One Hybrid uses more than 2,000 lead-acid batteries in a parallel hybrid team with its four regular jet engines. That means that the plane's engines rely on a combination of fuel and battery power to turn, making them work more efficiently."
More details on fuel production after the jump....
Video: The Latest from Potenco's Pull-Cord Power Generator
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 1.08
When we first spied Potenco's pull-cord power generator it was a 3D rendering and not much more. Since then, we got to see one up close at chat with Colin Bulthaup, the startup's CEO, about where they were heading, and were glad to see they were making progress; the device had even been tapped to provide juice for the One Laptop Per Child project (now also known as the XO laptop). It's always a good thing when we see products go from the drawing board to real life existence.
Now, thanks to the guys at Wired, we can see they've made even more improvements. Perhaps most notably is the amount of energy generated by the device; before, it averaged between 12W and 15W, peaking at about 20W. Thanks to some engineering improvements, the average is up to about 25W, peaking at about 40W; with these numbers, one minute of pulling nets 20 minutes of cell phone talk time, one hour of LED flashlight use, or 3 hours of play time on an iPod Shuffle (that's about one pull per song). Hit the jump to see Wired's video of it in action....
How CDC bungled FEMA Formaldehyde
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
The biggest April Fools around today appear to be the Centers for Disease Control and FEMA; a new report describes how the formaldehyde issue got so bungled:
1) Toxicologist Chris De Rosa tells his superiors on Feb 27, 2007 that "the agency's reassuring findings about possible health problems related to formaldehyde exposure in trailers were flawed." Agency sends letter to FEMA on March 17.
2) FEMA official files the letter without sharing it.
3) FEMA continues to simply say "open the windows and air it out and it will be fine"
4) De Rosa continues sending emails "urging them to become more engaged, warning that there is no safe level of formaldehyde exposure. "
5) De Rosa receives an "unsatisfactory" job evaluation and is removed as Director of the Division of Toxicology after 16 years.
6) One year after the first emails, "the CDC found potentially sickening levels of formaldehyde in some trailers." ::New Orleans Times-Picayune
See also FEMA Formaldehyde Fiasco Festers; FEMA Ignored or Buried Formaldehyde Research and ::FEMA Trailers Optimizing Formaldehyde Exposure
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Truckers to Protest High Gas Prices?
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 04. 1.08
When diesel costs $4 a gallon in the United States, it does more than force truckers to slow down: it also makes them angry. So angry, in fact, that there has been talk of a nationwide strike today to protest the high price of diesel fuel. So far, protests have been sporadic, with around 100 truckers "rallying on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol asking lawmakers to cut state taxes on their fuel, and nationwide there are others calling for a day of boycott to emphasize their plight."
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association "says many of its members believe diesel prices at more than $4 a gallon is making it difficult for them to stay in business," and they are calling on President Bush to "stabilize fuel prices by using the nation's oil reserves." Granted, that would only temporarily ease the pain. In the long-term, cutting fuel taxes and using the nation's oil reserves won't change the fact that the U.S. fleet of trucks is inefficient. In the meantime, even if the strike does not materialize, consumers can expect to see the price of food, clothes and other consumer goods continue to rise.
Via: ::Wben.com and ::CBS4Denver
See Also: ::Is Clean Diesel The Way To Go?, ::Diesel-Hybrid Pickup Coming to U.S., ::Rising Oil Prices Make Plastic Recycling More Valuable, ::Will Rising Oil Prices Also Raise Fuel Efficiency Rates? and ::Hawaii Becomes First State to Cap Gas Prices...
2007 Global Language Monitor Word of the Year: "Hybrid"
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 1.08
The Global Language Monitor tracks how words are used in the English media.
In 2006, the top word of the year was "sustainable", and one of the top politically incorrect phrases was "Global Warming Denier". Now, for 2007, the top word appeared to be "surge" for most of the year, but at the last minute "hybrid" surged past it and was crowned Word of the Year (GM must be kicking itself). Also for 2007, "Climate change" is the top phrase and "Al Gore" is the top name, beating "George W. Bush" and "Bono".
The smiley for "pirate", ?-) , is the emoticon of the year thanks to a certain Hollywood series, but the most understood word on the planet is still "O.k.", so not everything is changing...
::Global Language Monitor, See also: :: 'Sustainable' Tops 2006 GLM Buzz-Word List...
Ev-eon Water Stores Carbon Dioxide
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
In the UK a lot of people are fighting to stop new coal burning power plants which promise Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). However it has not been figured out and even the Energy Minister says "“CCS is as yet unproven technology and we have to acknowledge there is some risk that safe and reliable CCS for power generation might not be proven or deployable at scale and at reasonable costs.”
Launched on April 1, Ev-eon water is a new CCS idea: capture the CO2 from coal plants and use it to carbonate bottled water. As long as you don't burb, the carbon dioxide is nicely sequestered. Unlike most April Fools gags, this one has a serious message. Great video at ::Ev-eon Water via ::Smartplanet News
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No Joke: Saab (Yeah, The Car Co.) Lauches Eco-Clothing Line
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 04. 1.08
You're not supposed to drive naked...might be one one of the possible explanations why Saab teamed up with designer Josefin Lassbo of Reflective Circle to launch a small collection of minimalist organic and Fair Trade clothing. Too much money overflowing the coffers from runaway sales of the Saab BioPower ethanol car at home in Sweden might be another - 80 percent of new sales registered at Saab are for BioPower models.
Whatever the reason, Saab launched the "Pure BioPower Eco Clothing Collection" in New York in mid-March, showing the Saab 9-X BioHyrbrid and the Saab 9-4X BioPower Concept car along with the clothes. Reflective's Lassbo said that there's a common sensibility in her clothes and Saab's auto designs. First out will be t-shirts and jerseys, a button-down shirt and a woman's dress - all manufactured in an "ethically certified" factory. Eventually the collection will includes caps, scarves, bags and other accessories, available for sale at saab.expression.com from the end of May. Via ::Newsdesk (Swedish)...
Arctic Could Contain 400 Billion Barrels of Oil
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 04. 1.08
It is still very early and we can't know yet if they are right, but Las Vegas-based Arctic Oil & Gas has announced that new geological data on the Arctic Ocean suggests the presence of 400 billion barrels of oil. To put that in perspective, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar, the biggest conventional oil field in the world, has been estimated to contain about 170 billion barrels of oil. So even if they are half right, that's a lot of oil.
"Arctic Oil & Gas cites recent scientific evidence that huge, floating mats of azolla - a prehistoric fern believed to have covered much of the Arctic Ocean during a planetary hothouse era about 55 million years ago - decomposed soon after the age of the dinosaurs and exist today as "vast hydrocarbon resources" trapped in layers of rock below the polar ice cap."...
Welcome to Eigg: The World's First Fully Self-Sufficient Island
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 04. 1.08
Image courtesy of monkeypuzzle via flickr
If you've been looking for the ideal travel location in which to truly indulge your newfound eco-ethos, then look no further than the beautiful Isle of Eigg - a small island located off the coast of Scotland. Yes, through a mix of ingenuity and sheer will, the island's residents have managed to go completely off-grid - relying on a £1.6m system that draws power from a mix of local wind, solar and hydroelectric energy sources. ...
Madonna to Grace Cover of Vanity Fair's 2008 Green Issue
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 04. 1.08
We really, really, really wish this was an April Fool's Day joke.
It isn't.
The Material Earth Mom will be clad in a leotard and knee-high boots for Vanity Fair's third annual Green issue—her 10th cover for the magazine—while holding up a custom-made globe. Watch out, global warming! ::Telegraph...
Survey: Do You Like April Fools Day?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
Some people take April Fools Day very seriously; at Google they have a half-dozen different April Fools scams going on; my favourite is the Australian gDay. See them all at ::techcrunch but meanwhile,
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The American Spaghetti Farmer Struggles to Survive
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
School of Week Leads Way During Great Copy Machine Epidemic of 2008
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 04. 1.08
With two new confirmed cases of a strange, contagious disease striking schools across America, it’s no surprise that this week’s Go Green School of the Week is none other than the Robert Moses Middle School in North Babylon, NY. They were the first school to recognize the apparently contagious disease that’s causing school photocopiers to chew up trees at an amazing rate, and leading to global warming through the release of CO2.
Now it seems the student physicians in North Babylon are working feverishly to diagnose their machine, which first began exhibiting symptoms several weeks ago. But so far they’ve been unable to discover just what disease it is, and they’re asking schools to help solve the crisis by joining them in a national day of action to stop global warming this April 17th , shutting down their photocopy machines and putting them under quarantine to put this disease to rest.
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Local and Seasonal Food: The Spaghetti Harvest
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
Product Service Systems: Puppy the World
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
TreeHugger adores product service systems; Though the name is easy to trip over, the concept is brilliant: that there are ways to rent products or services on-demand, and then just pass them on where you're done.
That is why we fell in love with the concept of Puppy the World, a store in Japan where you rent a dog by the hour or the day. It's called Doggurentaru; Tokyomango tells us that "You can choose small, medium, or large breeds and rent them for $19/hr, or $100 a night. They have everything from chihuahuas to labs to border collies to papillons." ::Puppy the world via ::Tokyomango
and ::Boingboing See also the existing American version at FlexPetz
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Pacific Trash Vortex Could Signify Future of Our Oceans
by Summer Rayne Oakes on 04. 1.08
The carcass of an albatross on the beach; birds and sea mammals mistake plastics for food then inevitably starve to death. This is the bird’s actual gut sample. Photo courtesy Algalita.org.
Traveling the open oceans is not for everyone—sea mist, salt spray, tossing rock-a-bye-baby waves, and Dramamine days. Some people, though, were born for it. Case in point: Captain Charles Moore, third-generation resident of Long Beach, California and founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Now just more than sixty years of age, the weathered seafarer is the principal researcher on the ocean studying the pelagic plastic phenomenon in the Pacific. I recently had the privilege to head out on one of their research trips on behalf of Planet Green to understand the issues that are at hand. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/great_pacific_garbage_patch.php...
Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Julio Cusurichi Palacios on Saving People and Land in the Peruvian Amazon
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 04. 1.08
All photos by Tom Dusenbery.
This is one in a series of interviews with previous winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. Founded in 1990, the prize is given annually to six grassroots environmentalists working for change around the globe.
Indigenous people’s rights just might be one of the hardest causes to embrace given the times we live in. But fighting for small, isolated communities' rights on their land, while searching for systems they can adopt to reach a sustainable use of natural resources--and in Latin America, to boot--well, that must be one of the toughest fights a man can choose.
But that’s the fight Julio Cusurichi Palacios chose. Of Shipibo indigenous origin, he has been key in drawing attention to the problems of small communities that remain isolated inside the Peruvian Amazon, who face threats from the mining, logging and oil drilling industries, and are extremely vulnerable to contacts with the outside world....
The Carbon Footprint of Carbon Footprint Calculators
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
Ben Boyd in Tech Support stoking the servers
The TreeHugger investigative team has uncovered a new major source of greenhouse gas emissions that will challenge our best minds. It appears that there are about 3,000 carbon footprint calculators on the internet, each with an approximate size of 200 meg, with some huge databases out there with hundreds of megs, possibly totalling 600,000 megs of data. Then Note To Great Lakes Governors: Las Vegas Doesn't Want Your Water
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 04. 1.08
Everyone can just knock off the paranoid ranting about drought starved states in the US West plotting to steal Great Lakes water. Attention starved professors, especially, can give it a rest.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority recently commissioned a 3/4 million-dollar study of a dozen river water augmentation alternatives; the final report is out, and a pipe to the Great Lakes didn't even make the list. Not that there weren't some screwy ideas considered.
When it comes to squeezing every drop from the shrinking sponge of the Colorado River, few options, it seems, are too complicated or expensive. A new report examines 12 ideas for augmenting the river's flow (pictured), and not even the most audacious of the plans -- importing icebergs, for example -- has been rejected out of hand....
Kylie Kwong Cooks Carbon Clean
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04. 1.08
Photo on left by: Jennifer Soo
Kylie Kwong is a well known Australian celebrity chef. What is probably less well known is her passion for the environment. A commitment well demonstrated via her Sydney chinese restaurant, Billy Kwong.
It prepares meals only with organic and biodynamic fruit and vegetables, poultry, meat and noodles, right down to the Xinjiang-style spiced biodynamic lamb fillets. All the soy sauces, sugar, vinegar and oils they flavour the food with are organic. The tea, coffee and chocolate are Fair Trade. ...
Permablitz: Near Instant Permaculture for the ‘Burbs
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04. 1.08
Permaculture is a tricky thing to define. (See our attempts here.) Kinda like trying to describe a forest. All that interdependency is just too complex to squeeze into a sound bite. But that doesn’t stop Permablitz from trying:
“As an integrated design science, however, food is just one part of the permaculture equation. Permaculture equally addresses and integrates water, energy, waste, shelter, community, local economy, governance and all other aspects of sustainable living. It's broad, it's exciting, and it's blindingly relevant to the challenges we all face.”
Permablitz’s core focus is “helping people sustainably grow food where they live, building healthy community in the process.” ‘Before’ pic above. ‘After’ pic in the fold....
Think Green: As Green as You Have to Be
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 1.08
With green in the news and increasingly in the spotlight every day, many businesses are trying to take advantage of this popularity by hopping on the green bandwagon. Too often, these are token efforts dismissed as greenwashing, but we know of one company who isn't taking the quick-'n-dirty, get-green-quick approach; instead, they're committed to taking steps to improve the environment while working hard to grow their business, too.
As a paper company, Dunder Mifflin has realized that promoting new tree growth is important for the planet, as well as for their business; that's why they plant a tree for each and every metric ton of paper that they ship. They look at it as an investment in the future because without trees, they have no paper and without paper, they have no business. This sensible transparency is succinctly laid out in their green slogan: As Green As We Have to Be....
The Glasshouse Brings Entrepreneurs + Investors Together in The Perfect Storm
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 04. 1.08
At The Glasshouse's first 'taster' event, on the power of Green Marketing, Londoners proved that they have a big appetite for sustainable business. The success of this event has encouraged these networkers par excellence to continue the Green Shoots series with a second gathering and they have invited TreeHugger along as a media sponsor. Under the auspicious shelter of the Royal Institute of British Architecture the city's valiant green entrepreneurs and interested investors will come together next Tuesday, April 8th, to hear a discussion between Solarcentury's Jeremy Leggett and The Guardian's Ashley Seager. Under the title of The Perfect Storm these two should spark a good debate about the possibilities of a sustainable economy....
Cycles Maximus: Zero Pollution Transport Sollutions
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04. 1.08
Cargo bikes, pedicabs and Sports Utility Bicycles are all great tools for kicking our oil habit. Anything that takes the humble human-powered vehicle and beefs it up to tackle more of the jobs otherwise carried out by cars and trucks can only be a good thing. We were impressed when we checked out the offerings of UK-based Cycles Maximus, makers of “zero pollution transport solutions”. Their vehicles don’t come cheap, but include pedicabs, cargotrikes, and even adbikes, which have a billboard mounted on the back. Models either come as pedal-only, or electric assist, and are in use by businesses around the world:
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R.I.P. Cedar Tree
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04. 1.08
What do you do if you are a Prince and your favourite tree dies? You have a memorial pavilion built around the stump to start with.... Prince Charles' 200 year old Cedar of Lebanon tree was 60 feet high and was a stunning focal point for his house and garden at his organic farm at Highgrove. Sadly, the tree developed a fungus and had to be felled. The answer to what to do was given to an environmental architect who specialises in ecological buildings. There was a young oak tree already growing by the stump so the architect, Mark Hoare, wanted to create a design that would surround the remnant of the trunk and allow the new oak to grow. The wood from the dead tree was full of knots and couldn't be recycled but he dismantled the tree carefully and furniture can be made of the old wood.
The new building is made from oak from the farm's woodland. The bottom part is covered with oak roof tiles and has a hole for the new tree to grow through and another one where the one remaining bough of the tree remains--temporarily. Apparently the Prince has a collection of oriental bird feeders and they will hang from it. The spire is 32 feet high and mirrors a neighbouring church spire. There are openings for birds to nest and alight. In time the bough will die and the oak tree will take its place. So the whole structure is organic in its own right. :: The Telegraph
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Cork Ladders for Hot Pots by Hetta
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 04. 1.08
Swedish design company Hetta’s favourite materials are cork, leather and wool. We particularly like the corky underlays for pots; one has the shape of a Ladder, and another one is Long and flexible for you to decorate the table in countless ways.
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Today on Planet Green
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 03.31.08
:: Hold the phone! Instead of ordering takeout, try making your own Vietnamese pho.
:: How do you bargain at a flea market?
:: Find out how you can reuse your disposable Brita filter at very little cost.
:: Become a wildlife watcher during National Wildlife Week.
:: Should you be eating in your car? Lloyd ruminates on some of the hidden dangers.
:: Plant some trees, simply by sipping tea.
:: Discover the No. 1 place in your home you frequently overlook when you're clearing the clutter.
:: Learn how to grow the ultimate veggie garden...
Most Huggable: Kicking the Oil Habit, Fertilizing the Ocean, Reaching Peak Oil + More
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 03.31.08
Doug Fine writes about his attempts to kick his oil habit while still living like an American on a small farm in New Mexico in the book Farewell, My Subaru.
Even if you aren't a student, universities can help you found and fund your green business.
Can fertilizing the ocean with plankton solve global warming?
Sink your teeth into the Great American Meatout, which encourages you to cut meat out of your diet for a day (or more).
Has peak oil been reached? Does it even matter for the environment?
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
ReadyMade Mag Launches Digital Edition
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.31.08
Our pals at ReadyMade Magazine, one of our favorite dead-tree mags, have taken the "dead tree" part out of the equation and launched a digital edition of their DIY-inspired, design-focused publication. Starting with the current issue -- fittingly, the "Green Design" issue -- it's available in a slick paperless format, featuring all the same content as the paper version without all the paper; it even has some extra bells and whistles that its paper counterpart can't deliver, like direct links to online exclusives and a clickable table of contents.
Perhaps the best part, though: the first virtual installment is completely free. Click on over and check it out. ::ReadyMade Magazine digital edition via ::ReadyMade Blog
See also: ::ReadyMade: How to Make [Almost] Everything, ::New Stylish & Green Notecards by ReadyMade and ::Recycle Old Lightbulbs into Salt & Pepper Shakers...
Tommy Lee, Ludacris to Star in Planet Green's Battleground Earth
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.31.08
With a few notable exceptions, the hard-living, party-hearty, carbon-pumping world of rock 'n roll excess doesn't earn many green points. But that's going to change, thanks to Tommy Lee and Ludacris and a new show on Planet Green called Battleground Earth. Yep, rock and rap are going head to head in a battle against the toxic forces destroying the planet as the two travel across the country on a 10-episode tour.
The show premieres in August and follows the duo's attempts to keep their high-wattage tours on a greener path while participating in different challenges highlighting various green issues.
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Wholemato Organic Agave Ketchup
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 03.31.08
Wholemato is a whole new way of looking at ketchup. Sweetened with plant-derived agave nectar, rather than the typical corn syrup, the certified-organic condiment also has a glycemic index of 7, meaning that you won't experience sudden spikes in your blood sugar. In fact, the ketchup is certified low glycemic by the Glycemic Research Institute of Washingon D.C., making it suitable for diabetics.
In our taste tests, we found the ketchup to be the perfect marriage of sweet and tangy spices, and one reviewer commented that it wasn't as oily or salty as most of the ketchups he's dipped into in the past. You can find Wholemato products sold at Whole Foods Markets and other retailers across the United States, with each 13-ounce bottle retailing for around $4.99.
Coming soon for the grilling season: Wholemato Spicy Organic Agave Ketchup. ::Wholemato
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Prefab Pioneer Ralph Rapson 1914-2008
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
photo via Dwell
Architect Ralph Rapson was a pioneer of prefab, did a classic case study house, and was still designing 'till the day he died, on March 29.
His son described him to the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal as a "Forrest Gump" of architecture, explaining that his father was born with a birth defect that eventually resulted in the loss of his right arm. However, his disability did not prevent Rapson, who was artistically inclined from a young age, from pursuing a love for drawing. "He was really captivated by post-war ideas of new construction, using new materials, and new building techniques, and rethinking ideas of how space is used were his passions."
"He always joked that he would be carried out on his drafting board," Toby Rapson said, adding that his father was in the office Friday, writing and designing. ::Carissa Wyant, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal...
Conserve Plastic Bags Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 03.31.08
This week is Carnival of the Green # 121 and it's being hosted by Michelle Verges at Conserve Plastic Bags. So head on over to the site to check out a round up of green news and events from the past week, submitted by other bloggers and green sites.
To learn more about Carnival of the Green, where it will be and how to host (we are now accepting hosts for the second half of 2009!), please click here to link to our previous post....
Turn off the Large Hadron Collider to Save the World
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
We are thrilled to report that we need no longer worry about global warming or peak oil; we will all have been eaten by a black hole long before that. It is like Arthur C. Clarke's short story The Nine Billion Names of God; science going "oops" (there is always time to say oops) as the world comes to an end. Or before Almagordo, when Oppenheimer and everyone at Los Alamos was trying to calculate if setting off the A-bomb might actually set the entire atmosphere on fire. A group scientists are afraid that firing up the new $ 8 billion Large Hadron Collider at CERN might create a tiny black hole that can eat up the earth. Or, the New York Times writes that it could spit out something called a “strangelet” that would convert our planet to a shrunken dense dead lump of something called “strange matter.”
Others think the claim frivolous but note that anything can happen in quantum physics. There is some minuscule probability, said one physicist, that “the Large Hadron Collider might make dragons that might eat us up.” ::New York Times...
Project H Delivering Water in Africa with Hippo Rollers
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.31.08
About 15 million people in Africa are without adequate access to drinking water, and Emily Pilloton is doing something about it. As the founder of Project H Design (and Managing Editor of Inhabitat), she's been busy proving that design can make a difference with the Hippo Roller project. We first spied the project back in 2006; since then, we noted Emily's campaign to sponsor Rollers for use in South Africa and just received word that the first 75 were successfully delivered (including the one that TreeHugger Lloyd sponsored) this past weekend. Hit the jump for a quick account of the delivery from Emily and a story through pictures of the event....
USA Today on Planet Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
I thought for a second that our founder Graham had grown a beard and gone back to the land, but no, it is Adrian Grenier, who will produce and appear in The Green Life, which aims "to inspire on an emotional level his own brand of environmentalism." It is all on Planet Green, the Discovery Network's new channel airing all green, all the time. (Treehugger writers contribute to its gestating website)
USA Today covers the new network, interviewing Discovery Network CEO David Zazlav. "It used to be that green was granola and left," he says. But with interest in environmentalism broadening beyond the hard-core planet-in-peril preachers, Discovery is eyeing a mainstream audience for its brand of advocacy.
"We're not going to be 'The ice is melting,' " he says; the audience already gets that message. "We want to engage people in a fun way and in the spirit of what we can all do together."
They have developed a lineup including Greensburg , produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, which chronicles the rebuilding and "greening" of the Kansas town leveled by a tornado last May.( Planet Green here); Wa$ted , a contest adapted from a New Zealand format that offers cash to homeowners who cut out their "eco-horrors." and Renovation Nation , a green-focused home-refurbishing show hosted by Steve Thomas (This Old House). ::USA Today
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Report on Business Reports on Water
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
We don't usually find much of interest for TreeHugger readers in the Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine, and their content is usually behind a stupid subscription fence. However this month they have three important articles on water, declaring it "The Decade's most important business Issue."
John Lorinc (known to TreeHuggers for The New City) writes The Battle of the Bottle - "Critics decry water bottlers' use of a public good for private profit. The industry would just like to offer a new flavour to you. And to your child. And to your dog" He describes some of the battles over local water and continues "The water critics accuse the big bottlers of siphoning off natural resources, as at [local source] Aberfoyle. But the rap sheet also includes the various ways that bottled water turns the natural into the unnatural, adding packaging waste (about half of all sales are in single-serving bottles); greenhouse gas emissions (for instance, from shipping millions of bottles of "natural artesian" water from Fiji to the United States); and health risks." ::ROB Magazine...
State of the Planet Conference Puts Nuclear on the Table
by Summer Rayne Oakes on 03.31.08
Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, chairman of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority at the State of the Planet Conference in New York City.
The State of the Planet Conference convened at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York City this past Thursday and Friday. Man, have special interests grabbed the environmental movement like a bulldog by the throat, or what? Perhaps I’m getting increasingly hypersensitive as we continue to slog on, but panelists seemed more divided by the issues this year than in 2006. In short, we all agree that we must do something, but none of us can agree on what that should be.
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Videos of Beluga Skysails Kite-Powered Cargo Ship
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 03.31.08
Quote of the Day: Chris Hume on Earth Hour
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
even delerious Dubai turned out the lights. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Chris Hume is the Toronto Star's architecture critic, and writes about the impact of Earth Hour, speaking of Canada but the message is universal:
"Across Canada, power use was down 5 per cent. That's good, but far from spectacular. And if the message is that we must treat every hour as Earth Hour, it seems we still haven't worked up the sense of urgency necessary for the big changes ahead....
But it's crucial not to confuse the gesture with the thing itself, the symbol for the reality. Even if Earth Hour had seen every light in Toronto dimmed, the fact remains it's not a solution to the environmental problems we face, not by a long shot.
What will be so hard for Canadians to accept is the realization that technology can't save us this time. Instead, we will have to come to terms with our vehicular dependency, our oil addiction and all the rest. What will happen when the power goes off next time, not just for lights, but refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces, or TVs?" ::The Star...
Al Gore Announces Big Climate Change Ad Campaign
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 03.31.08
No Recession for Wind Power Industry
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 03.31.08
Many industries are currently worried about their short to medium-term prospects. Not the wind power industry, apparently. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) forecasts a 155% growth, with installed capacity reaching 240 gigawatts by 2012.
Part of the optimism is due to the fact that both the U.S. and Chinese markets for wind power are growing faster than was expected only a year ago, and the growing Chinese manufacturing capacity for wind turbines is also helping. Things are changing so fast, maybe even these new forecasts will later turn out not to have been optimist enough....
Hybrid Merri-Go-Round Water Pump Saves Lives in Africa
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 03.31.08
Tell a kid to do some work, like clean their room or take out the garbage, and they roll their eyes and run in the other direction. If you’re living in a rural village in Africa, Mom might ask you to walk 2 miles for a bucket of water. What do you do?
Why go to play of course! ...
Book Review: World Made By Hand by Jim Kunstler
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
Take a Dive In a Virtual Dumpster
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.31.08
TreeHugger knows there's an art and a science to dumpster diving, and, even though one person's garbage can often be someone else's treasure, the idea of rooting through the trash isn't everyone's (free) cup of tea, even when there are things like million dollar paintings lurking beneath aging banana peels and chicken bones.
Enter Virtual Dumpsters, a Freecycle-esque online stuff swap that employs the vast power of the internet to help find new homes for old stuff, all for free....
Increased Knowledge About Global Warming = Apathy?
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 03.31.08
Knowledge may be power, but when it comes to global warming, it seems that the more you know, the less you care, at least according to one recent study published in the journal Risk Analysis.
After polling 1,093 Americans over the phone, researchers found that high levels of confidence in scientists resulted in a decreased sense of responsibility for global warming.
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Clever WWF Posters from Around the World
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 03.31.08
Here are some WWF posters from around the world. Most have to do with endangered species, poaching, deforestation, global warming and pollution.
More after the jump....
Download a Chapter of the TreeHugger Book
by Meaghan O'Neill, Newport, R.I. on 03.31.08
We've blogged and we’ve blogged. Now, we're taking it offline. The TreeHugger book, Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living will hit store shelves in May. But our pal David Bach at Finish Rich just couldn’t wait another minute for a preview of our work. So he asked us to make a chapter of the book available by download, and we were happy to oblige.
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New Mercedes-Benz A-Class Unveiled: 50 MPG, But Not For-Sale in U.S.
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 03.31.08
Why is it that so many automakers keep their greener cars out of North-America? Is it that their more efficient models tend to run on diesel, an issue in America both because of strict clean-air requirements and preconceived notions about diesel as a dirty, noisy alternative to gasoline? Or is it simply because gasoline is so much more expensive in Europe than it is in America? Whatever the reason, Mercedes-Benz, which is already working to produce a hybrid that makes use of a lithium-ion battery, has "just presented to Europe its new A-class three- and five-door hatchbacks, with revised front- and rear-end styling and a sharper, more upscale interior." But alas, like so many other efficient vehicles, this one will not be for sale in America.
Too bad, because the new A-class will sport some impressive features....
New Wind Power Record in Spain: 40.8% of Total Demand!
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 03.31.08
Last year we wrote about Spain's wind power production record, which was 27% at the time. That seemed like a lot, but a week ago, Spain's wind turbines produced 40.8% of total demand, or 9,862 megawatts of power.
There's a catch, though. The previous record was 10,032 megawatts, but that was 28% of total consumption because it happened during a week day and demand was higher. So this new record is a relative record, while the previous one stands as the absolute best in electricity produced. Still, it's impressive and we hope that others will pay attention and realize that it can be done....
Green Eyes on: Green Funerals
by Sara Snow on 03.31.08
Sara Snow helps move a woven-bamboo casket at Fernwood Cemetery in California.
I attended a funeral earlier this week and it got me thinking. A short while back, I did a segment for an episode of Get Fresh with Sara Snow on green funerals. First off, I never thought it would fly as a segment. I thought for sure my producers would put the kibosh on it, calling it too dark or dreary for an eco-lifestyle show. But I had recently had a personal experience with a rather green burial, and I wanted to share about it. And I wanted to find out what else was out there for people looking to lay their loved ones to rest without chemicals and without taking up precious pieces of land.
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On the Stands: Innovative Home, Spring Issue
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
Innovative Homes started with such promise and ambitions, proceeded to be completely confused and unfocused, and then last issue started getting interesting. The Spring issue sharpens its focus still more, with a solid issue on green design and smaller projects. Built works include a very interesting Dallas condo project called Buzz Lofts, nice cubes by Steven Dynia and the Alexander Residences by Pb Elemental, an interesting design/build firm out of Seattle. There is a good article on green flooring, some neat picks in the "science of small" and Alison Rich wrote an excellent article on understanding "shades of green." It is the best effort yet.
Useless empty website at ::innovative home and still grossly overpriced; Last issue I complained that the Canadian price should not be three dollars higher than the American when the dollars were at par; this month they simply removed the American price from the magazine and left the Canadian price at $12.95, which I think is a nasty trick....
On the Stands: Good Magazine on Meat
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
Vegan alert: it is the Food issue of Good Magazine, and the lead article is about happy meat. "It's not enough anymore to glance at the “antibiotic-free” sticker and dig in. People want to know that their dinner roamed free in a shady pasture, slept on a pillowy bed of hay, lived a happy life, and died a noble death. And then they want to eat." Also What We Eat- "a glossy look at what we eat—from the battlefield to the high school cafeteria." More on meat: Let’s Harvest the Organs of Death-Row Inmates. Unlike most magazines, this is almost entirely available online at ::Good...
Cord-o-clip Reinvents the Clothesline
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
We go on about clotheslines and about how great they are for the environment. The technology of them is pretty basic and one wouldn't think there would be much room for improvement, but in fact one loses clothes-pins, and it can be a lot of work putting out the clothes. Now a Canadian inventor has reinvented the clothesline with a system that makes loading a clothesline 60% faster and removing the clothes 90% faster, and you never lose a clothespin again. We saw it in action at the Cottage Life Show and were impressed, that such a basic thing as a clothesline could be improved so much....
California Farmers To Forgo Planting: Sell Water To Thirsty Cities Instead
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.31.08
In Georgia, we noted, some folks like to "borrow" water for free instead of offering to pay the neighbors. Quite a different political culture than Southern California.
Thirsty Southern California cities are turning to water-rich farmers on the eastern edge of Riverside County for additional supplies to make up for the ongoing drought and other restrictions on the life-sustaining resource. Starting this summer, farmers in the Palo Verde Valley along the Colorado River will forgo planting crops on nearly 26,000 acres, the most land yet under a little-known fallowing agreement with Metropolitan Water District. The pact will double the amount now being sent to MWD and its 18 million urban customers. In exchange, MWD will pay the farmers $16.8 million each year for 115,000 acre-feet of water -- almost 37.5 billion gallons....
Reclaimed-Wood Furniture by Carlos Motta
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 03.31.08
A former surfer, Brazilian designer Carlos Motta began creating furniture with pieces of wood the ocean brought to the shore at Southern Sao Paulo in the 70s. After receiving an Architecture degree in 1976, he moved to California, where he continued his studies on woodwork. Back in Sao Paulo in 1978, he opened his atelier.
From the beginning, states the designer, the goal was to make furniture "with the lesser environmental impact," so he decided to work with recycled wood, demolition residues, pieces coming from shores and rivers and FSC certified wood. He now has eleven collections of furniture that include benches, chairs, chaise longue, tables, easychairs, sofas, and special projects done by request.
He sells in different States of Brazil, New York, Los Angeles, Utrecht (Netherlands), and Paris.
More pictures and links in the extended!
Via Casa Claudia...
Survey: Should Canada End the Seal Hunt?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
That great Canadian tradition, the seal hunt, has started; 325,000 will die in the next few weeks. Many are against it; the Prime Minister says Canada was victim of an "international propaganda campaign," and insisted the cull would be carried out humanely. UPDATE: Due to a technical problem the survey was accidentally reset to zero. We apologise to those whose votes were lost.
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Pop Quiz: Shower Power
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 03.31.08
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Ballenford Books 1979-2008
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.31.08
Specialty bookstores are a labour of love, a dying breed, a money pit, a host of clichés. I know; a group of Toronto`s best architects, engineers, landscape architects and me bought Ballenford Books out of bankruptcy during the real estate crash in the early '90s. Andrea Kristof and I designed this store (updated since, shown here for the launch of Concrete Toronto) ; I have always thought those steel stud shelves were the best thing I ever did.
But we couldn't make it work either. Susan Delean thought she could, and took it over in 1996. It became a bright, cheerful, welcoming hub of the design community, full of great books, great shows, and great staff. Every book on green design I reviewed on TreeHugger was purchased there. Now she has succumbed too, writing:
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Product Review: Garments from the Nau Spring Line
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.31.08
Thanks to the mild climate of Sydney I luckily spend three quarters of the year wearing shorts. And I try to cycle commute. This results in embarrassing wear points developing where buttocks meet bike seat. I patch my shorts for as long as is feasible (see pic after fold), but sooner or later new shorts are required. So when Nau launched their spring line, including the Confidant Shorts with a reinforced seat the shout went up. Hallelujah! Clothing for the real world. A review of these and other Spring garments after the fold....
Clothing Libraries: Another Product Service System
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.31.08
We love libraries here at TreeHugger. They’re a perfect example of a Product Service System (PSS) where you get the service of an item without having to own it and all the cost and upkeep time that requires. In the past we’ve discussed Toy Libraries and Tool Libraries. But it seems we’ve forgotten to mention Clothing Libraries.
The ones I’m familiar with are like the Belmont Clothes Library in Western Australia. A volunteer run organisation with over 1,500 fashion garments on its books it loans out, for free, male and female apparel to unemployed people, so they can look smart for crucial job interviews. We were reminded of this when reader Joe F. left a message on our Q&A post on Green Business Suits. Joe is offering his collection of pre-loved business suits to a worthy organisation, like Belmont. Anyone know of something similar in the USA that Joe can donate his suits to?
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First Commercial Algae-to-Biofuels Facility Goes Online
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 03.31.08
PetroSun's saltwater pools in Rio Hondo, Texas (image courtesy of maps.google.com).
Energy company PetroSun's algae-to-biofuel facility in Rio Hondo, Texas is expected to begin functioning tomorrow, April 1. The farm consists of 1,100 acres of saltwater ponds, of which all but 20 acres will be dedicated to producing biofuel from algae. The other 20 acres will be used to develop an experimental jet fuel. The facility is expected to produce some 4.4 million gallons of algal oil, plus 110 million pounds of biomass a year....
Denmark's DONG Bets Big On EVs
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 03.31.08
DONG's director Anders Eldrup estimates half a million EVs in Denmark by 2020
TreeHugger fav Shai Agassi announced his Project Better Place has teamed with car-maker Renault and Denmark's unfortunately named DONG utility to build an electric vehicle infrastructure, first in Copenhagen and then the rest of the country, modeled loosely on the EV plans now underway in Israel, by 2011.
DONG (Dansk Olie og NaturGas) has over 600 MW of installed onshore and offshore wind around Europe, and CEO Anders Eldrup emphasized that excess wind capacity (produced largely at night) is a natural fit with a network of electric cars charging up at owners' homes and offices. DONG promised 100 EVs would zip around Copenhagen's thoroughfares by 2009, and estimated that by 2020 20 percent of the market (half a million cars) would be EVs. The partners said they'd invest US$42 million in the projects (read more after the fold)....
Not Your Average Loser
by Bonnie Alter, London on 03.31.08
The winners of the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year awards have been announced but the so-called "losers" are pretty fabulous too. The award was created this year by Brit Insurance, with the London Design Museum--one hundred projects were chosen worldwide by a panel of design and architecture experts. The Chocolate Museum in Mexico City is a simple pavilion designed for Nestle. Designed to be built and installed as quickly as possible, it took 10 weeks and is made of folded plates that make it look like an origami creation.
The fascinating documentary film "Helvetica" is a discussion of typography and graphic design, within the context of the creation of the Helvetica typeface. Another typeface, Nassim, was created for Arabic and Latin script, by an Australian. Used as a newspaper typeface it was designed for typesetting in english and arabic scripts.
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The TH Interview: Sigrid Ekran, Iditarod Competitor and Environmental Activist
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 03.31.08
When I heard that one of the member’s of Will Steger’s team heading out across the Arctic to raise awareness of global warming was a woman who practices subsistence living I was bound and determined to interview her. I mean really, How many people do you know who practice a subsistence lifestyle by choice today? And so it was that I wound up interviewing a fascinating human being named Sigrid Ekran. She’s been the Iditarod’s rookie of the year, practices subsistence living enthusiastically in 2008, and is one of the nicest people you could ask to meet. Her observations on the both the physical effects of global warming and her experience landing for the first time in the middle of NYC are fascinating to read.
TreeHugger: What makes a person decide to move to Alaska and pursue a subsistence lifestyle?...
BBC Radio Soap Covers Transition Towns
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.31.08
The Archers takes some explaining to those who have never heard it. One of the longest running soaps, it’s been playing on BBC radio since the 1950s, has aired over 15000 episodes, and still has a surprisingly huge following. Set in the fictional UK village of Ambridge, the show was originally conceived as an educational tool to reach farmers, and it still intersperses personal drama with relevant agricultural storylines. It’s already hit the pages of TreeHugger once for featuring discussion about carbon offsets, and now it looks like Ambridge might be joining the mushrooming Transition Towns movement that has been taking the UK by storm. Click below the fold for a sample from the shows script, courtesy of Rob Hopkins at Transition Culture:
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The Rise of Disc Golf: A Greener Alternative to 'Ball Golf'
by Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts on 03.31.08
Golf as an American sport is in decline. According to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association the number of people who play 'ball' golf has gone down from 30 million to about 26 million in the past 8 years. A New York Times article this year points to time as a critical factor. Walter Hurney, a real estate developer and golf aficionado said:
“There just isn’t enough time. Men won’t spend a whole day away from their family anymore.”Disc Golf however has been on the rise. Named the fastest growing sport in America, in the past 30 years an estimated 12 million people have played the game. The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) has around 12,000 members, and disc golf courses are popping up in every state. ...
Wild Gift: Application Deadline For 2008 Coming Up
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.30.08
Last year, we featured Wild Gift -- an organization that supports people who inspire others to live in harmony with each other and with nature. And the application deadline for 2008 is coming up on April 1st! Each year, five lucky applicants are given the opportunity to realize their project ideas. The recipients of the Wild Gift get a package which includes leadership training, deep wilderness trekking, and cool cash to help turn their ideas into action.
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Ant Farm on Exhibition in Seville
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.08
Ant farm was a group of artists and architects that, along with Archigram, was hugely influential among architecture students in the seventies, particularly if you were into mobile architecture, alternative technologies and dovetail joints. Many know about their Cadillac Ranch, which remains an iconic statement about the end of oil as it was in the last oil crisis; few, including Regine at Worldchanging know about their other work. However she does now, after seeing an exhibition of their work at the The Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo in Seville. ...
Scientists Name Top 25 Environmental Threats of the Future
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 03.30.08
Image courtesy of Clinton Steeds via flickr
More forecasting and critical evaluation, less dawdling on existing, well studied issues: that, in a nutshell, is the main recommendation made by a broad coalition of 35 scientists, environmentalists, journalists and policymakers, who were asked to put their collective brainpower together to draw up a list of the 25 future environmental threats that might arise in the U.K. up to 2050 (but could just as well apply to most countries around the world). The overriding message of their report, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology (sub. required), is that policymakers and researchers need to rely more on horizon scanning (i.e. forecasting) to identify the gaps in knowledge and policy that could predispose the country's biodiversity to future risks. ...
Chicago Police Considering a Switch to the Chevy Tahoe
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 03.30.08
Rising gas prices and carbon emissions are fueling a move towards more efficient vehicles, particularly for municipalities, agencies and other entities with large fleets. For instance, we've seen the Hampshire Police in the UK switch to the Lexus GS 450h hybrid sedan for policing duties, and hybrid taxis have begun appearing in New York, to name but two examples. Now, the new Superintendent of the Chicago Police, Jody Weis, would like to replace the department's current "horrible" fleet of Ford Crown Victorias with. . .the Chevy Tahoe.
One question comes to mind. Namely, why would police want to drive large, lumbering and inefficient SUVs?...
Western U.S. Heating Up Almost Twice as Fast as Rest of the World
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 03.30.08
Image courtesy of Olaf via flickr
We've been banging the drums about the looming water crisis in the western U.S. for a while now. A series of record-setting heat waves and droughts over the last few summers only presages what are likely to become more frequent, intractable water shortages in coming decades. Perhaps fittingly, a new report funded by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), called "Warming West," has confirmed some of these concerns, finding that the U.S. West has been heating up much more rapidly than the rest of the world....
Primavera Silenciosa In The Produce Aisle: Translating A Carbon- To A Pesticide-Footprint
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.30.08
Our readers will be familiar with the ongoing debate over "food mile" labeling - mainly a European concern, but coming to US produce aisles - which turns on a trade-off: providing jobs for poor farmworkers in developing nations versus shopping preferentially for locally grown, possibly organic, produce and meats. (The argument is framed as if food shopping is a form of humanitarian aid.)
Simplistically favoring low food-mile products to reduce the carbon footprint of one's diet does not hold up to analysis, say the critics and pundits. Add this thought, and it might....
Eero Koivisto's Recycle-Ready Rainforest Tables
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 03.30.08
DesignBoost Finnish designer Eero Koivisto is the creator of these brightly playful end tables, made out a single material (laquered steel) that Koivisto says makes them not only built to last but also fully recyclable. Koivisto came up with the idea for the tables after his first Amazon rainforest fly-over, and the five obliquely positioned legs of the tables are meant to represent the every-which-way growth pattern of trees in a dense forest canopy.
Those legs give the tables a vulnerable, almost coltish look, but they are actually sturdy and easily arranged in a cluster (they can slightly overlap). The Amazonas tables are sold in sets of three, and in three slightly different shades of green. For each set of tables sold, about 10 Euros goes to the Swedish NGO Children's Rainforest. Made by Offect (Sweden) and available through Architonic....
Quote of the Day: Harry Wakefield on Philippe Starck
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.08
Philippe Starck, who has designed the half of all the stuff in the world that Karim Rashid didn't, is feeling guilty about it. He told Die Zeit: “I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary. I will definitely give up in two years’ time."
Harry Wakefield of MocoLoco has better advice:
"Why don't you devote that substantial talent and media savvy of yours to making stuff that's smarter, more sustainable, and dare we say it, cool, in that gotta have it, materialistic way you know so well. Or is this really about clients who aren't quite ready to make the big changes required to create the smarter, more sustainable, cool design? Greenwashing got you down? It's not going to be easy. The world's top two most populous countries are now getting a taste for said stuff, so we're gonna make a lot more of it, most of it instantly disposable. You of all people could make a difference. Step up to the profession that served you so well, montre nous l'amour pour la planète Philippe." ::Mocoloco
See Treehugger: Phillipe Starck on the Role of Design , Philippe Starck on "Why Design?" at TED and Icon Chair by Philipe Starck...
Good Design Goes Viral, Dyson Disclaimer
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 03.30.08
Dyson is currently clarifying that a wind and solar clothing rack concept stems from a Dyson-branded design competition and is not a Dyson product protoype. Darn. But given how quickly the internet community embraced this design, that may just change. Websites and bloggers have been singing the praises of the clever "Air-line", submitted by Mr. Daniel Fitzgerald of Swinburn University. Will Dyson take the bait and take advantage of the creativity it has sponsored?...
Earth Hour 2008 from Toronto, Canada
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.08
wwf flickr photostream
If it didn't exactly go nutso, Toronto took Earth Hour seriously; Ten thousand people turned up in Nathan Phillips Square to hear Nelly Furtado and others perform. Lights dimmed across the city; in our neighbourhood only one house still had lights blazing.
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Coolaworld: Shopping Can't Save Us
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.30.08
Having written only yesterday about how we hoped the green living show LondonAware08 would be more than just another chance to consume ‘ethically’, we thought we’d check out some of the exhibitors. Unfortunately the first one we came across, Coolaworld, doesn’t exactly fill us with excitement. Breathlessly exclaiming that users can “shop and save the planet”, Coolaworld is basically an online shopping service that allows you to build credits that are donated to cool projects.
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Earth Hour 2008 From Sydney, Australia
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.30.08
Last year, for the very first Earth Hour, we bundled ourselves up a picnic supper and drove off to the parking nightmare that is the north shore of Sydney Harbour. Sitting in the gloaming of a nature reserve, with hundreds of other Earth Hour devotees. This was a people-filled event, just like New Years Eve fireworks. Yet instead of the city being lit by an orgy of pastel coloured exploding light, it was about to wink out. We munched and supped as the iconic Harbour Bridge lights disappeared. And many of the business district skyscrapers dimmed also. But the distinct Opera House retained it's under-lit spotlights. Someone must've gone to the toilet at the crucial moment, or had a flat battery in their watch because it was nearly a half hour later before these lights were also eventually snuffed out. A Sydney skyline of mostly dark silhouettes reminded me of the final scene in the movie 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome', where the children gather in its shadows to envision a fresh future.
This year, conscious that driving even a fuel efficient compact car to a harbourside venue was no doubt much more deleterious than turning off a few lights at home, we stayed put. Out went the few compact fluoros and appliances we had running, and we ate our dinner by the warm gold flicker of a half dozen candles, followed by a candle lit game of human-powered backgammon, instead of watching the teev. ...
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Here are a few recommended websites.
