- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part one)
- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part two)
- Vinay Gupta
- Alyce Santoro
- Mathis Wackernagel
- Tom Price
- Martha Marks
- Paul Hawken
- David Suzuki
- Wal-Mart's Green Gurus
- Alisa Smith and James Mackinnon, authors of Plenty
- Bob Perkowitz of ecoAmerica
- Ed Begley Jr.
- The Weather Channel's Dr. Heidi Cullen
Entries for June 8, 2008 - June 14, 2008
Total this week: 177
Artificial Reef to Rise Off of San Clemente to Help Re-Grow Kelp Forests
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.14.08
Image from debaird via flickr
One of the world's largest and most ambitious artificial reef projects, a 150-acre reef to be built from 125,000 tons of volcanic rock, is finally beginning to take shape off of San Clemente, California, after years of delay, reports LAT's Susannah Rosenblatt. The $40 million project, which is being funded by Southern California Edison, is meant to help counteract the environmental damage caused by the nearby San Onofre nuclear plant....
E-Waste Gets a New Pick-Me-Up in Mumbai
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 06.14.08
Although the largely informal e-waste disposal industry and corresponding environmental threat is nothing new in India, it may now be changing as one of India’s largest metropolises is now boasting its very own professional e-waste pick-up service.
Based in Mumbai, the privately owned and operated Eco Reco is the first of its kind in the state of Maharashtra and fourth in the country. Firms such as Eco Reco are taking advantage of a booming but hazardous industry, where e-waste is usually dismantled by workers with little protection in recycling plants that have even fewer safety and environmental contamination guidelines.
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China Gets Dubious Honor Of World's #1 CO2 Emitter
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 06.14.08
China's coal dependence and hot economy = CO2 emissions. Photo ninnet @ flickr
In a report released Friday by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, China has stepped into first place as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, edging ahead of the United States. China's supernova economy contributed to an eight percent rise in its domestic emissions, which in turn makes up two-thirds of the global growth of emissions last year. That trend is likely to continue due to China's massive use of coal-fired energy and its huge cement industry.
The U.S. still maintains the highest per person CO2 emissions (19.4 tons), followed by Russian (11.8 tons), and Western Europe (8.6 tons) compared to China's 5.2 tons per inhabitant. But China now releases 24% global GHG emissions compared to the US' 21%. What's unfortunate is that with one year to go until UN-sponsored talks in Copenhagen try to cobble together a Kyoto Protocol replacement treaty, the world's leaders aren't coming up with the kind of innovative ideas needed to creatively reduce everybody's emissions. As Yvo de Boer, executive secretary for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change puts it:
"With a little more than a year to go to Copenhagen, the challenge to come to that agreement remains daunting."Related link: China Open To Post-Kyoto Framework Via :: International Herald Tribune ...
Israeli New Urbanists: Density Will Make Our Cities Better Places to Live
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 06.14.08
A model of a revitalized city as envisioned by architecture students from an Israeli university.
No matter how you measure it, Israel is already one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and is expected to become much more crowded in the future. So it took a fair bit of chutzpah to host a conference whose title, translated literally, was “In Praise of Density” and whose message was: high urban density is good for our cities. But that is exactly what the Movement for Israeli Urbanism did last month, in an attempt to initiate a discourse about better urban planning in Israel’s cities.
The questions raised by the speakers at the conference were universal in an age of intensifying urbanization around the globe: If our cities are already so crowded, why the heck should we make them even more so? Doesn’t density so often create feelings of claustrophobia, crowding, chaos, noise and other unwanted stimuli for city residents? And, bottom line, if people want a detached house with a garage and a yard, why shouldn’t we planners just provide them with one?...
Farmers Market Comes to Brooklyn Waterfront in DUMBO
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 06.14.08
Local Farm Food Under the Brooklyn Bridge
Tomorrow Sunday, June 15th, the Dumbo Improvement District brings the Farm to DUMBO, Brooklyn! Buy farm-fresh foods at this brand new Farmers' Market at the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The DUMBO Farmers’ Market will operate on Sundays from 11:00AM – 5:00PM, rain or shine, through mid-November. For the inaugural DUMBO Farmers’ Market, the Improvement District recruited Community Markets from Ossining, New York to secure a diverse assortment of farms....
Working Out While Watching A Concert? Audience Pedaling and Powering The Concert in Yokohama on Free Bikes.
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 06.14.08
A “free” pedal powered concert was held in Yokohama, Japan last Saturday, June 7, by the music oriented NPO “ARCHSHIP” which focuses on bringing together music, people and community. The concert was titled “Yokohama Human Powered Concert: Power Saving Saves the Earth” and yes, the concert was in fact, “free”…..I would say “free of charge”, but that would be misleading. Actually charge was required from the concert attendees. It just wasn’t a financial charge. Rather, electric charge, generated using four specially refurbished old bicycles, was required from the audience. Bit confusing? OK, let me explain....
Power Of One: Gretchen C. Daily Accepts Sophie Prize
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 06.14.08
"American biologist and writer Gretchen C. Daily accepted Norway's $100,000 Sophie Prize on Thursday for her efforts to show the economic benefits of protecting the environment...A jury selected Daily for the prize in March, describing the Stanford University professor as "visionary and focused on finding practical solutions."
The Sophie Prize website offers this. "Can efforts to save the environment also be economically profitable? Definitely, according to Daily. It is possible to use market forces in the fight against the loss of biological diversity and destruction of our ecosystems. The American biologist is visionary and focused on finding practical solutions; she is radical in her thinking and pragmatic in her approach. Her recommendations include action that can be taken on a local and international level." Looks like she knows how to party, too. Don't you wish you'd been there? Ahh life. Via::Los Angeles Times, Stanford biologist receives Sophie Prize Image credit::Sophie Prize Website,Excerpted from original photo by Elin Høyland...
Shrinking Container Sizes, Rising (Eco-) Costs
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 06.14.08
Are Producers Helping You to Stay on Budget?
USA Today recently headlined a shocking review of the big name food companies that are trying to beat rising costs by reducing package sizes. Granted, most of us could probably do with cutting our consumption of Edy's ice cream by 14% (1.75 quart containers have suddenly become 1.5 quarts), a little less Hellmann's mayo on the bread, or spreading Shedd's Country Crock a bit more thinly (32 ounce jar drops to 30, and 48 ounces shrinks to 45 ounces, respectively). But should manufacturers make this decision for us?
The food companies justify their actions with the claim that a package of their product must remain affordable. Of course, consumers are outraged at these tricks. We ask: is keeping the weekly tab down really helping the consumer?...
The French Rabbit Strike Again- TH Interviews Jean Charles Boisset about the wine industry
by Bonnie Hulkower, New York, New York on 06.13.08
TH did a story about the French Rabbit a few years ago, and now Jean Charles is back preaching his innovative wine packaging to oenophiles and the masses. He is fully aware that some people in the wine industry may think he is an extraterrestrial. Even some previous TH readers said "I'll pass and stick with glass". But, certainly not Tom who is opening a wine bar in New York City....
Fishing Ban Enacted for Bluefin Tuna in Eastern Atlantic & Mediterranean
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.13.08
photo by Mithril
A few months ago we wrote about how scientists were urging a ban on tuna fishing in the eastern Atlantic. For once politicians have whole heartedly listened to the scientists and acted.
Reuters is reporting that EU fisheries regulators have enacted a ban on trawling for bluefin tuna, to begin next week, in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean to prevent collapse of the species in these waters....
Wind Power Mogul Tulsi Tanti's Big Plans for India
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.13.08
It may not look like much in this photo, but Suzlon has ambitious plans for this site in western India
If you’re not Indian you may not know the names of wealthy industrialists Lakshmi Mittal or Ratan Tata. Well here’s another name to add to list of prominent Indians you don’t know but should be aware of: Tulsi Tanti.
Just why should you pay attention to this man? Because when his company, Suzlon Energy completes its windpark in Dhule, Maharashtra it will not only be the largest in Asia, but one of the largest in the world at 1,100 megawatts....
Business Week on Monsanto, Pickens
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
Monsanto on the Menu: How it has transformed itself from a money-losing pariah to a $ 5 Billion pariah, and how it is betting that the food crisis will create new markets for genetically modified products. "They are trying to exploit the food crisis as a means to win acceptance for their [patented, transgenic] products " ::Business Week
There Will Be Water T. Boone Pickens thinks water is the new oil—and he's betting $100 million that he's right. "As far as Pickens is concerned, he could be selling wind, water, natural gas, or uranium; it's all a matter of supply and demand. "There are people who will buy the water when they need it. And the people who have the water want to sell it. That's the blood, guts, and feathers of the thing," he says. ::Business Week
More goodness from Monsanto on TreeHugger:
Wal-Mart To Monsanto 'No Thanks For The Bovine Growth Hormone ...
Monsanto ’s Monopoly Challenged in Munich
They are Playing With Our Food Again
and on T. Boone Pickens:
T. Boone Pickens Rides the Wind
Why Wind? T. Boone Pickens Speaks
T. Boone Pickens Gets Into The Texas Wind: 4000 Mega-Watts Worth ...
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Netherlands to Get $1-Billion Biodiesel Plant
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.13.08
image courtesy of Neste Oil
The EU and the US may be mobilizing the troops, uh, lawyers for a good old fashioned trade war over biodiesel subsidies but Neste Oil musn't be fazed. The Finland-based company announced plans today to build a $1-billion, 800,000 tonne biodiesel refinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Construction is to start immediately and is expected to be completed by 2011.
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Today on Planet Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
Get Rid of That Vinyl Shower Curtain A new study shows that as many as 100 chemicals are released from vinyl shower curtains.
Cut Your Power Bill While Teaching a Life Lesson Two birds with one stone, without harming actual birds.
See The Difference Ever wonder how much it actually matters whether you recycle that can or swap out that light bulb? Counting it up in inches, hours, and gallons, or even in hippos, breakfasts, or Tolstoy, can help you see the difference you're making. Here are some fun, real ways to visualize the impact of your green choices.
Grow Your Own Veggies: The Sequel Now is the time to protect tender plants from those night invading bugs without using any pesticide....
Fractal Table Can Only Be Made By Rapid Prototyping
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
I do go on about my fascination with downloadable designs, where ideas go from the designers computer to the production process without being shipped; where anyone, anywhere can order up a design and get it printed out at their local 3Dkinko or main street store like they do at London's Unto This Last.
You can also do things with these technologies that are impossible with conventional methods. Platform Wertel Oberfell and Matthias Bär designed this table "which derives from studies into fractal growth patterns. Treelike stems grow into smaller branches until they get very dense towards the top." They claim it could only have been built with rapid prototyping technology....
Reverse Grafitti in San Francisco: Dirty Art
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.13.08
Building a Greener Future
by Marian Hopkins, Business Roundtable on 06.13.08
Americans have come to expect environmentally conscious materials and processes in virtually every aspect of their lives. We now work “green” and vacation “green,” and who would have believed that driving a car could be done in an environmentally friendly way?
Business Roundtable members take their responsibility to “green” the world for their employees, customers and shareholders very seriously. And there are countless initiatives our members are implementing to support better business in a better world, such as developing and utilizing new technologies that use energy more efficiently, and improving the overall efficiency in the commercial and residential sector....
Gasoline is $8.62/Gallon in UK, Demand Fell 20% in Past 12 Months
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.13.08
High Gas Prices in UK
It seems like demand for gasoline (or petrol, as they say in the UK) isn't quite as inelastic as the pessimists feared. One liter of gasoline costs about 117p in the UK, which is about $8.62 per US gallon if you convert it. That's over twice as much as in the US, and at that level, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that demand for gasoline in Britain is down about 20% over the past 12 months.
Alternatives to Driving, Ways to Save on Gas
The IEA reports that motorists are increasingly taking public transit to save on fuel, but of course the context isn't quite the same in most of England as it is in the US, for example. A lot of cities were designed pre-automobile in the 'older' countries while much of the US was designed specifically so that you would need a car to do anything. That's not environmentally sustainable, or even cost effective....
Could Fixing the Ozone Layer's Hole Make Global Warming Worse?
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.13.08
Image from NASA
Talk about a lose-lose situation: On one hand, not taking any action to repair the hole would allow harmful UV radiation to percolate through; on the other hand, helping to accelerate its recovery could strengthen global warming by trapping more heat in the atmosphere and by disrupting wind patterns in the Southern Hemisphere -- causing warming in Antarctica.
So says a new study published in Science, in which a team of climatologists, led by Columbia University's Seok-Woo Son, found that as ozone depletion reverses in the Southern Hemisphere, the stratosphere will begin to rapidly warm up. ...
Biodiesel Dumping Accusations Could Spark US-EU Trade Row
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.13.08
photo by Jason Trommetter
Not too much concrete on this one yet, so file it in the something to watch category: European biodiesel producers are urging the European commission to levy punitive duties on imports of US biodiesel. The claim is that US subsidies are distorting the ability of European producers to compete. The US exported to the EU 7,000 tonnes of biodiesel in 2005, a figure which has risen to 1 million tonnes in 2007.
“We have a lower and lower use of capacity simply because we cannot compete with people who are flooding our market because of unfair subsidies,” European Biodiesel Board secretary general Raffaello Garofalo was quoted in The Guardian as saying.
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Toyota Yaris Wins Environmental Transport Association's Green Car of the year Award
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 06.13.08
The Toyota Yaris is one of the most efficient, inexpensive vehicles on the road, getting 34 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway, and it achieves this without a hybrid drivetrain. The Yaris has, understandably, become a popular compact car, not only thanks to its efficiency, but especially given it's affordability. Now, the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), which is currently running the 2008 Green Transport Week in the UK, has named the Yaris the 2008 Green Car of the Year. In order to name the winner, the ETA looked at the "power, emissions, fuel efficiency and even the amount of noise" from over 1,300 vehicles. The Yaris came out on top, and the Dodge SRT-10 sports car came in dead last.
What makes the Yaris really stand out is its cost. While the Prius is quieter, more efficient and cleaner burning, it sells for around $10,000 more than the Yaris. However, let's not forget that global sales of the Prius recently topped 1 million, so it isn't like the cost of the Prius has been too much of a problem, especially with $4/gallon gas. The ETA also picked winners in several categories, such as Small Family and Sports car. See who won those after the fold....
More Processing of Food Means Less Price Inflation
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
Great graphic from Brian Hughes of the Star: See the whole thing
Why have food prices risen less in North America than in other countries? Because junky processed food has more of its value in the processing and the packaging than in the raw materials. A new study shows that the actual grain in a box of cereal is only two percent of the value of the product.
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Oil Substitute Made From Pig Poop Smells Like You'd Expect It To
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 06.13.08
Bio-diesel powered vehicle drivers are not surprised when their exhaust smells of french fries. I bet the pig farmer who supplied the "raw material" to these government engineers is not one bit surprised that oil made from pig excrement smells like crap. And, I also bet employees in neighboring offices were not pleased with goings on in the experimental pig-poo-to-oil reactors. After a close examination of crude oil made from pig manure, chemists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are certain about a number of things. Most obviously, "This stuff smells worse than manure," says NIST chemist Tom Bruno.File this one with 30 years of press clippings that begin with 'Scientists Discover New Super Bugs To Destroy Toxic Waste.' Know anyone who became wealthy or famous for their success with PCB chompers? We are too cynical you are thinking. Then explain why it is that famous-for-making-PBCs Monsanto never went down that path? Via::Energy Daily, Chemists Get Scoop on Crude Oil From Pig Manure Image credite::Motorcycle Web, Pig-O-Cycle...
Solar Thermal Test Center Opened by BrightSource Energy in Israel
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.13.08
computer rendering of solar thermal test project, as viewed from central tower, by Luz II
Luz II, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oakland, California based BrightSource Energy has opened a new solar thermal test center in Israel’s Negev Desert—the results of which are destined for use by Pacific Gas & Electric. PG&E contracted with BrightSource in April to purchase up to 900 MW of solar thermal power (enough for 630,000 homes) over the next few years. According to BrightSource this new center will be the first of its kind in Israel....
FishNet Project Exhibition Ongoing in Toronto Harbourfront Centre
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 06.13.08
The FishNet Project exhibit at the York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario opened on May 2nd, 2008 and continues until June 22. FishNet is an ecological collaborative art project involving over 1,200 elementary Toronto District School Board students, artists and other participants learning about the fish of the Great Lakes and crafting full-scale textile versions of them.
Not only does this project look like just plain fun, kids are learning about different species in the Great Lakes Region and their environment. The project involved 13 schools, 30 classes, 727 students and many parents and volunteers. The students each created a full-scale replica of the fish they studied and they are all hanging out now at the York Quay Gallery. It looks like a cool exhibit. Given my current location, I will unfortunately not be able to attend. If you go, please let us know and post a comment here! ...
Terry Thomas Building By Weber Thompson
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
Courtyard
A year ago I wrote about this Seattle building under the title "Smart Architect Builds Dumb Building." I meant it as a compliment; we need more dumb buildings that work like buildings used to, with natural light and ventilation, and without what Donovan Rypkema calls "green thingies"- expensive new technologies when older, simpler methods are more appropriate.
Now it is done, and it looks terrific. Not only that, they seem to be happy with it, and have even blogged about it. Results so far: it is still a work in progress, but they say "From the first week that we occupied the building, we noticed how the Terry Thomas affected the culture of our firm. While we are still collecting objective information, the general mood is clearly elevated. We attribute this to having proper levels of natural daylight, the ability to open windows and the louvers that automatically open and close as CO2 levels and the temperature rise and fall."
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World's Largest Biomass Pellet Plant Opens in Florida
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.13.08
image courtesy of Green Circle Bio Energy
Jackson County, Florida can now claim a world record: that of having the world’s largest biomass pellet plant. Recently opened by Green Circle Bio Energy, the 225 acre plant will manufacture wood pellets from Southern Yellow Pine and ship them via train to Panama City, from where they will be shipped to the EU. The plant has a capacity of 560,000 tons per year and, according to the Green Circle’s website, uses “minimal fossil fuels” in production.
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Poraver Takes Garbage Glass and Turns It Into Useful Stuff
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
No, that's not a total eclipse; it's a tiny little ball of expanded glass cooking at 900 Degrees C. People in Ontario go to a lot of trouble to separate out their bottles for recycling, but most coloured glass can't be made into new products, and ends up in landfills or road beds. Poraver built a plant in Innisfil, Ontario that takes that glass and grinds it up to a powder, mixes it with water and expanding agents, and sticks it in a furnace. The result: tiny white lightweight balls that can be used in a wide range of construction products, from insulating boards, to mortar, plasters, and concrete blocks.
It has been around for a while in Europe, and has been used in precast panels, insulating blocks and some really cheesy monster houses....
Free Bikes for Governor's Island
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 06.13.08
Message Trumps Medium: Five Sort Of Green Billboards
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
Use Electricity Wisely
David Ogilvy, the founder of Ogilvy and Mather, wrote: "I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man is at his vilest when he erects a billboard." To an earlier post on billboards, commenter Todaystoptrend wrote: "There are no acceptable billboards! Please rethink your position!" There is a survey in this for another day, but one must admit that some of them are clever. As McLuhan might have said: Hate the medium, love the message....
Predict the Suit of the Future For a Chance to Win
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 06.13.08
Bagir recently announced the world’s first recycled suit made from PET bottles, to be sold this Father’s Day at Sears. We spoke with Moshe Godot from Bagir yesterday and he assures Americans that the special suit, as promised, will be ready for Father’s Day (but in the US only). It's called the EcoGir suit and will be sold under the Covington Label at Sears.
This is also your last chance to enter the contest for a Bagir wash and wear suit. We have two to give away and based on your location, there is a good chance you might be able to score one of the recycled suits, if you win. There are two days left.
How do you win one? For the past few weeks responses have been piling up. The contest question for a free suit is, “What would you do to green the men’s tailored clothing business?”
TreeHuggers who want to win a suit have been giving their opinions. Take note clothing manufacturers and entrepreneurs –– the comments section is filled with some bold and bright ideas. Some of our favorites appear after the fold.
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Survey: Do You Trust Green Labels?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.13.08
Green labelling can be confusing. Stephen Doig of the Rocky Mountain Institute said "I don't know what 'green' means." And, he added, there is the problem of weighing one environmental parameter against another. "Which is more important? That it be made within 500 miles of my house? That it have the lowest carbon content? First you have to decide, what is your goal?"
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Radiohead Pushes Festivals Like Daydream to Go Green
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 06.13.08
Images by Sergio Carratala
After Primavera Sound Festival got people dancing under the largest urban solar panel, the Barcelonians were lucky enough to attend the even greener festival Daydream (organised by Sinnamon), a tribute to no other than the band Radiohead. Barcelona was one of the cities Radiohead chose to visit with their ‘Carbon Neutral World Tour’. A fantastic concert visualised brilliantly with an amazing light show. And there is much more to the pretty lights than just dancing colours....
Swedes Conclude Beef Bigger Eco-Burden Than Ethanol
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 06.13.08
photo chefranden @ flickr
Sales of ethanol cars rise every month in Sweden. And the debate on ethanol's effect on food prices and shortages is ever present. In a series of articles in daily Svenska Dagbladet (Svd), the paper argues that beef production is a bigger threat to world food prices than ethanol production.
Ethanol eats one percent of land
According to SvD and research from Gothenburg's Chalmers University, just one percent of the world's arable acreage is planted in crops for ethanol, compared to a third of global arable acreage (500 million hectares) used for milk and meat production - though milk and meat make up just 15 percent of our total food basket. The claims about ethanol's effect (percentage-wise) on food prices range extremely widely from three to 65%. The International Food Policy Institute says 30%. Hard to say who is more accurate, but it doesn't look as if Swedes are going to give up their ethanol (or beef for that matter) any time soon. But they will be first to sell so-called "sustainable" ethanol....
Gardens On Barges For the Nautically Minded
by Bonnie Alter, London on 06.13.08
Make sure that you have your sea legs for this visit. As part of the London Open Squares Weekend, these private and secluded "gardens" are open to the public once a year. Garden Barge Square is a community of barge dwellers, moored right by historic Tower Bridge. They have created a floating garden square on the decks of many of the barges with walkways lined with flowers joining them up. It's a kind of hippy community because barge living is not the most salubrious. It is cold and damp and grey in winter, the cabins are cramped and you bump your head a lot.
It is in the summer that it all comes alive and alive is the operative word. With a million dollar view of the spectacular buildings along the Thames, including the Tower of London, this is a world onto itself. The gardens are planted in a series of steel trenches. The watering and drainage is from the river. In hot weather the plants need a daily dose of water. There is an assortment of blossoms, berries and evergreens and herbs grown. Some spots are left wild so that insects and butterflies can nest there. ...
Amazing Really Old Trees
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 06.13.08
Really old trees are really amazing! If I get a chance this weekend, I will go hiking somewhere nice with old-growth forest northwest of Tokyo. Could be tricky to find though, as much of what we see today is planted or restored forest areas, and you'll rarely see magnificent trees with huge trunks and foliage reaching for the clouds.
Near many shrines in Japan however, there are special, sacred trees decorated with hemp ropes and white paper ornaments. This garland is actually easy to make, and can be a fun thing for the kids to try. How to do it? Read on after the fold:...
Near many shrines in Japan however, there are special, sacred trees decorated with hemp ropes and white paper ornaments. This garland is actually easy to make, and can be a fun thing for the kids to try. How to do it? Read on after the fold:...
$100 Laptop Version Two: One New and Improved Laptop Per Child
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 06.12.08
This news makes me feel like a child again. As in: Waaaah, I want one, I want one. NOW. You might have seen the alien-looking, green-eared not-quite-$100-laptop in your community, under the hands of someone who had the foresight to jump on the buy two, get one deal intended to popularize the concept in the developed world while putting laptops in the hands of needy children. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has abandoned the cute and childish look in their next model, the XO-2. In fact, the XO-2 may represent the future of computers, making the Macbook Air and the Kindle so yesterday. ...
Kids Fight Global Warming, Deforestation with Disappearing Paper Margins
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 06.12.08
If you’re looking for kids making a positive difference to put a dent in our paper usage look no further than the 4th Graders from Attrium Grade School in Watertown, Massachusetts who took on a green paper project and made it their own. Asking local governments to join them in the fight against global warming by changing their margins to reduce paper consumption and help stop deforestation as well....
Gifts for the Outdoors Lover with Summer Rayne Oakes VIDEO 2 minutes WATCH >>
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 06.12.08
Father's Day is around the corner (hint check out the Father's Day Gift Guide) and if you're shopping for those dads who love the outdoors, this video should provide some inspiration. Eco-fashion model Summer Rayne Oakes tells us about her trip to Great Bear Rainforest decked-out in a fab water-proof NAU jacket (the same one I'm wearing here). We also hear tell of her attempt to snatch from the water a slippery, spawning salmon using only her bare hands -- bets any one, think she pull it off or not? Last but not least is her brush with five or six grizzly bears while kayaking (spoiler warning on this one) we're pretty sure she lived to tell the tale. We're also keeping a close watch on Great Bear Rainforest because the clock is ticking to implement ecosystem-based management programs which were agreed upon two years ago, but are as yet even to be funded by the provincial government of British Columbia....
Today On Planet Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Urban Heat Islands An urban heat island is an area of a city or an entire city that is much warmer than it should be. The sun beats down upon the hapless metropolis. The surface areas of the looming skyscrapers and the gaping asphalt roofs absorb the sun's heat like greedy sponges, and the temperature significantly rises.
Change the Way You Work Every morning across seven continents, 402 million people rise ahead of the Sun to drag themselves into that smog-filled, oil-fuelled nightmare called the morning commute. Why?
Acquainting Yourself with Your Local Farmers Next time you visit your local farmers' market, ask questions, lots of them. You'll be amazed to learn about what goes into growing the crops that end up on your dinner table.
Drive-Through Alternatives Drive-through lines are the product of cheap gasoline, sprawl, and just plain laziness. ...
A Picture is Worth... UNEP's Atlas of Our Changing Environment
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.12.08
Brought to you by the magic of Google Earth/Maps and the UN: the United Nations Environmental Program's (UNEP) stunning world atlas of the changing environment. The interactive atlas allows you to toggle through a dizzying array of satellite images and ground photos showing the impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on the global environment over the last 3 decades.
The Google Maps interface is very intuitive and lets you zero in on specific cities, countries, natural monuments and geological formations (among others). The two above pictures, for example, show how Gabon's forest cover changed from March 1988 to March 2000....
Africans’ Modest Eco-footprint Still Has Negative Impacts in Some Countries
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.12.08
photo by the World Resources Institute
We reported recently about Africa’s changing environment due to climate change. Well, here’s another way in which Africa is changing: Natural Resource Consumption.
According to a report presented at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment this week, even though the average African has an Ecological Footprint of about 1.1 hectares. For comparison the global average is 2.2 hectares and the US average is about 9.7 hectares. ...
Toyota Prius vs Jeep Patriot Comparison is Deeply Flawed
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.12.08
The Old Hybrid vs. Diesel Debate
It's very hard to be completely scientific when doing real-world car tests. There are lots of variables to keep track of, and gathering enough data can take a while (just one drive leaves a big margin of error). But still, if taken with a grain of salt, these tests are generally useful.
But once in a while, you find such a test that has gotten something very wrong, enough to put the whole conclusion in doubt. It's the case with "Toyota Prius vs Jeep Patriot: the great MPG test by Claire Edwards and Jay Nagley" by Clean Green Cars. What were their conclusions and why do we think they're wrong? Read on....
Billboard Made of Lettuce Grows On You
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Dare we say that we actually like something from McDonalds? It's a billboard that was set up in Chicago last fall to promote their "health conscious" menu, and just won a Gold Award for Leo Burnett at the Innovative Advertising Awards.
Fast Food News (a prime TreeHugger source of breaking news) says "the creative team worked closely with a horticulturalist to create a billboard that could start with 1½-inch spouts and grow into lush leaves. The garden appears to be safe from being plucked apart by birds because there is no place for them to perch and peck."
Video of it growing (in fast motion) below the fold....
Green Product Labeling: Is It Valid and Does It Matter?
by Rocky Mountain Institute on 06.12.08
You might think The Footprint Chronicles trace someone's journey through foreign lands or a hike in the forest. But these Chronicles refer to the ecological footprints of ten items made by outdoor clothing manufacturer Patagonia.
As TreeHugger has reported, Patagonia is not alone in trying to convey to customers the environmental impact of its products. Timberland, PepsiCo and others are getting in the game. Regardless of their motives, the question is whether these calculations -- assuming they are scientifically valid -- actually influence consumer behavior and help to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing consumer goods....
Online Film Festival: Progressive Mash-Ups
by Greg Haegele, Sierra Club on 06.12.08
I want to make sure you know about a great online documentary film festival
that's inspired me, made me laugh -- and got me thinking.
It's a collaboration of revolutionary filmmaker Robert Greenwald's Brave New Foundation and The Nation magazine, the result of which is This Brave Nation, and it includes five dynamic dialogues involving remarkable champions of the progressive movement. I'm proud to say that the first episode features Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope in conversation with green jobs advocate Van Jones....
Severn Tidal Barrage Should Not Be Built, New Report Claims
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.12.08
photo by Tim Britton
A new report released today by Frontier Economics has found that the Severn Barrage is “expensive compared to other renewables and that the government could use cheaper green technologies in its attempt to meet its renewables targets.”
Tidal Power More Expensive Than Other Renewables
The study, commissioned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust and WWF-UK, found that the £15 billion (US$29 billion) project would be far better spent on more proven technologies such as wind, hydro or solar. “Even using the most conservative estimates of costs, the barrage is one of the most expensive options for clean energy there is,” report author Matthew Bell told Reuters....
Another Reason to Drive 55: You Take Better Pictures
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Man rolling along (and whistling audibly) on U.S. Route 101 at approximately 55 mph on a summer day in 1989
Photographer Andrew Bush attached a camera to the passenger door of his car and drove around Los Angeles at 60MPH, taking pictures while driving alongside his subjects. He probably had to then cut them off to get them to sign releases and caused a number of heart attacks. They are tagged with speed and location; too bad they didn't have google maps between 1989 and 1997 when the pictures were taken.
See all 66 pix at ::Vector Portraits; You won't see the likes of a lot of these cars again. Also published recently in a book: ::Drive via ::Swiss Miss...
Los Angeles Approves Plan to Seed Clouds for Rain with Silver Iodide
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.12.08
Image from Unobtanium via flickr
How bad has the drought gotten in Los Angeles? Bad enough that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $800,000 cloud seeding proposal last week to elicit more rainfall for the drought-stricken Southland, reports the Pasadena Star-News' Jennifer McLain. This unorthodox practice has already been used several times over the last 5 decades to varying degrees of success (emphasis on "varying" here).
Particularly revealing were the comments made by the manager of a local municipal water district: "There are no assurances or guarantees that it will produce anything. But it doesn't hurt to try." This comes in the wake of Governor Schwarzenegger's declaration of a statewide drought. ...
Transport By Barge on the Erie Canal Uses a Tenth of The Fuel of a Truck
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Two years ago we wrote in TreeHugger: "One hundred years ago, things were busy in upstate New York. Although the railway was the main means of transport, the Erie canal was still a cheap, energy efficient way of moving goods, as this picture taken in Medina NY in 1906 shows. Fisher Price made toys here; Heinz processed vegetables, all using the transportation network to move goods to the Northeast market. Things have changed- the industry is gone, the farms are fallow."
But the infrastructure didn't go away, and now traffic appears to be coming back. According to the Syracuse Post-standard:
Rising fuel prices are pushing shippers to take a new look at an old way to deliver their goods - the Erie Canal. "Our inquiries are definitely up," said Capt. Rob Goldman, of New York State Marine Highway Transportation Co., the largest shipper on the state's 524-mile canal system.
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Wind Farms in Texas Expand, Will Transmission Capacity Be There?
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.12.08
photo by Jason Kaechler
We’ve been frequently reporting on how much wind power capacity has been growing in Texas, with T. Boone Pickens doing his part to single-handedly uphold the bigger-is-better state motto. All this increase in installed capacity will do little good if there isn’t adequate transmission capacity to bring it to power consumers. Debate on exactly how many more power lines to build is now underway.
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Corn Ethanol Worsens Gulf of Mexico 'Dead Zone'
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.12.08
photo by tlindenbaum
It’s almost considered conventional wisdom at this point that corn ethanol probably isn’t the best biofuel out there. It may not be the primary cause of global food shortages, but corn-based ethanol has nevertheless has gotten a bad rap lately. Here’s something that won’t change that tarnished reputation:
Ethanol Expansion Contributes to Increase Runoff
According to Louisiana State University professor R. Eugene Turner growth in the Midwest corn-based biofuel industry may be the cause of a record-breaking “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this summer.
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A Million Koreans Protest American Hamburgers
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Colin Beavan, aka the No Impact Man, writes " This is a photo of 100,000 [since updated to a million by some papers] South Koreans demonstrating in the streets of Seoul on Tuesday. What is so important to them that they turn out in such vast numbers? Impending war? No. Massive unemployment? No. Rising energy prices? Not even.
They demonstrated over the safety of their hamburgers.
After a scare over mad cow disease in American beef imports, they are concerned that insufficient measures have been taken to ensure that future imports will be safe. I know this may be painful for the American beef industry, but my point here is that the protesters' numbers are so large and their will so strong that Korean President Lee's entire cabinet has offered to resign."
He then raises the question about what it will take to get us off our collective butts to do something about the problems that face all of us. That perhaps we should be like people in the rest of the world and stand up to make ourselves heard.
" We need to figure out how to ensure that the cost of climate change measures will not fall on those who can least afford it, how to get more press attention for the issue, and how to show our Government that we care about the future of our habitat at least as much, say, as the South Koreans care about their hamburgers." ::No Impact Man...
Combo Tennis Court and "Disaster Management Park Beans Dome"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Yes, that is really what it is called, just makes you want to come and play a game of tennis, doesn't it? But that is what it is used for most of the time. Tennis domes can be pretty ugly; Japanese architect Shuhei Endo solves the problem by covering much of it with green walls. The 16,168 square meter structure is in Miki City on the Hyogo Prefecture, about 30 kilometers west of Kobe. and was completed in 2007. It is actually a combination tennis court and disaster center, built in response to the big Kobe earthquake in 1995. ...
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for the Whippy Light
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
And everyone says compact fluorescents are ugly; designers Nahoko Koyama and Alex Garnett have whipped up the Whippy light fixture from glazed earthenware and electrical fittings. They should give these out at the Dairy Queen.
At ::Mixko in the Art and Creative section of their flashy site....
TH Radio Special: Inside Tesla Motors (With Pics)
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 06.12.08
Like Angelina Jolie, the Tesla Roadster looks smaller in person. Notwithstanding all the hype and speed-geek obsession around the electric car, it is a stunning thing to behold; truly elegant. Tesla’s San Carlos engineering facility is where the masterpiece is crafted, and TreeHugger Radio got a nice deep look inside. VP of Marketing Darryl Siry gave us the latest on the delivery of the Roadster, the star-studded waiting list, and even let us snag some exclusive shots (below the jump). ::TreeHugger Radio
Listen to this podcast via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download.
Special thanks to Calabash Music for the soundtrack....
From the Forums: New Furnace, AC, and a Roof!
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 06.12.08
souvenir:
I am new here, after learning our roof needs replacing due to failed shingles. Also, our 16-year-old air cond/furnace need replacing. I am trying to find information on getting the most energy-efficient/green unit. If anyone has advice I would be grateful. Our monthly kwh is over 2000 (i know. Holy Mother of Pearl!) for our family of five. Our house is about 2300 sq. feet. We have an energy auditor coming today. We live in a 1940 farm house. And I am SO over being a "consumer." I would like to go back to being a "citizen."Have any advice?...
Hybrid Solar Thermal-Biomass Power for California
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 06.12.08
photo by Alejandro Flores via flickr
One oft-heard, if rather feeble, critique of solar power goes something like, “what happens when the sun isn’t shining? You’ve got to have some other power source available to come online to take up the slack.” Fair enough. Even in the sunniest places there still is night, there still can be rain or dust storms which cause the panels to become so dirty that capacity is reduced. Pacific Gas & Electric is addressing this concern with two new solar thermal-biomass hybrid power plants.
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Algenol Enters The Algae Biofuel Race With Process Economics Advantage
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 06.12.08
The USA-based firm Algenol has struck a deal with Mexico-based BioFields to grow and process algae in a manner that cost effectively produces ethanol - directly from the culture. This is quite different from the usual algal biofuel processes that use algae to produce biological oil which, after extraction from the algal cells, is used as feedstock for liquid fuel production: often biodiesel. If, as claimed by Algenol, ethanol can be extracted directly from the algal culture media, we suppose that the process may be drastically less capital and energy intensive than competitive algal biofuel processes. No need to pull out biomass, squeeze it dry on a belt press, and extract the oils in still a third processing step. Algenol plans to make 100 million gallons of ethanol, about the average annual capacity of one traditional US distillery, in Mexico's Sonoran Desert by the end of the 2009. By the end of 2012, it plans to increase that to 1 billion gallons -- more than 10 percent of current ethanol capacity in the United States, the world's top ethanol producer....
Eurostar Is Cheaper If You Shop Around
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 06.12.08
Eurostar Competing with Airlines
In these times of record oil prices and global warming fears, train-operator Eurostar seems to be becoming an increasingly popular choice for folks wanting to travel between mainland Europe and the UK. With studies claiming as much as 90% lower carbon footprint per journey than an equivalent flight, efforts to cut that footprint even further and offset the rest, and now Eurostar’s positive and accomodating response to bicycle protests, the company seems to be well aware of the green market for their service. However, when we reported on the favourable journey times and pricing compared to airlines, commenter Steve pointed out that this doesn't necessarily hold true if you're not starting from, or traveling to, London. It would have cost him UK£432 (approx. US$864) for two tickets from Newport in Wales to Paris. Instead he opted to fly from nearby Bristol airport for about half the price. This author thought he was in a similar predicament when he recently tried to book a journey from Bristol to Amsterdam, but it turns out that if you shop around, things ain’t so bad.
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Is There Climate-Friendly Ice Cream? Inquiring Swedes Want To Know
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 06.12.08
Only Sia Glass makes most ice cream bars in Sweden (poster ca. 1988).
Swedes (14 liters each) don't eat as much ice cream as Americans (22 liters each). But they are the biggest ice cream eaters in Europe, by far (if you guessed Italians, they pack away only 7 liters annually). On the first sunny days in Scandinavia you'll see lots of Swedes enjoying cones and cups, as well as lots of funky flavors of ice cream bars (licorice is making a big comeback this year). In fact, it's front page news when ice cream vendors release the new ice cream bar and popsicle flavors each spring.
Ice cream bars not climate friendly
This year it's also news that nearly none of the so-called Swedish frozen-confection favorites are locally produced anymore - instead they are trucked around Europe (from as far away as Portugal) in huge refrigerated vehicles. But due to heightened consumer awareness of climate-friendly (and organic) foods, ice cream distributors in Sweden are now starting to talk about finding a way to transport more ice cream by train. The first climate-marked Swedish foods due this year, won't include any frozen treats, however. Surprisingly, the most climate-friendly choice in Sweden is...Ben & Jerry's (owned by giant Unilever). Ben & Jerry's is produced in the Netherlands, and last year all European flavors became climate-neutral, which they say means they have improved logistics, reduced methane from their cows, gone to green energy at the factory and purchased any other needed offsets, from "cow to cone". Now why don't they do that in the U.S.? Via ::Metro (Swedish)...
What's On Planet Green: Stuff Happens
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 06.12.08
Last week, our parent company, Discovery Communications, launched Planet Green, the first ever 24-7 TV channel dedicated to green living. With more than 200 hours of original green lifestyle programming, Planet Green is a fresh conversation about what it means to be environmental. We've been bringing you clips from the new shows and encourage you to use our channel finder so you can watch Planet Green in your home.
We've featured Wa$ted, Mean Green Machines, Hollywood Green, Renovation Nation, Supper Club, and G Word. Today we're bringing you the scoop on Stuff Happens. For those of you that watched the Planet Green premier last week, you probably saw one of our TreeHugger faves Bill Nye dish out unlock the secret lives of everyday things before and after we consume them....