- 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 August 3, 2008 - August 9, 2008
Total this week: 156
Climate Change Will Make North Atlantic Invasion by Pacific Shellfish Possible
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08. 9.08
Image from NASA
A mass migration that began almost 3.5 million years ago is set to resume over the coming years as the Arctic Ocean continues to warm. In a new study published in the latest issue of the journal Science, Geerat Vermeij of UC Davis and Peter Roopnarine of the California Academy of Sciences write that climate change is creating conditions in the Arctic similar to those found during the warm mid-Pliocene epoch, about 3.5 million years ago, when a number of favorable factors helped many North Pacific mollusk species invade the warming Arctic Ocean and, eventually, the North Atlantic....
How Does Organic Winemaking Work? PART I
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 9.08
Image courtesy of author.
This is the first of a two-part article looking at how the largest maker of organic wine in the US was able to make so much wine using biodynamic and organic methods.
I recently traveled to Bonterra, maker of the most “wine made from organic grapes” in the world, to find out that very question. Grapes, as you may know, are very sensitive to temperatures, locales, and especially to bugs, so just how does Bonterra manage to bring so many organic grapes to market? This is a question posed not just by commercial farmers, but by the backyard farmer as well - just how do you farm without chemicals. For Bonterra, it’s a mix of trial & error, and biodnamics. Bonterra, bottled by Fetzer, is currently the worlds larges seller of wine made from organic grapes and this year produced their second season of their first certified biodynamic wine – the McNabb.
According to Dave Coball, one of the wine-makers at Bonterra, “it makes it a lot of fun to be a farmer. You get to play with different plant materials, different locations, try out different theories and methods.” There are several “ranches” that make up Bonterra and each are slightly different in terms of elevation and thus temperature ranges, each needing slightly different tweaking. Its this larger swing in daily temperatures in each location that gives the grapes their darker color....
Local Eating, Getting Recession Ready and More
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 9.08
Eating Local or Not: It Depends The burning question: local vs. imported. When we want to make the best food decision what should we choose? Graham Hill
Product Service Systems: One You Already Know and One You Need to Know About I'm a huge fan of the "Product Service System," better known to some as PSS. Though the name is easy to trip over, the concept is brilliant: rather than buying everything you need outright, you can essentially "lease" or "rent" a product, deriving benefit from its service but not retaining ownership. Collin Dunn...
Cattails and Tules Perform Double Duty as Soil Rebuilders and Carbon Scrubbers
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08. 8.08
Image from Jeff Kubina
Remember this term: carbon-capture farming. While it may not yet have received much attention, this practice, which would consist of paying delta farmers to plant carbon-sequestering crops, could soon become a big business.
That's the conclusion reached by a team of researchers from the USGS and UC Davis, who just completed a 15-year study examining the potential of tules and cattails to help sequester greenhouse gases and rebuild sinking islands in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta....
Despite Government Efforts, Smog Hovers Over Beijing On First Olympic Day
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 08. 8.08
On Beijing's biggest day in recent history -- and arguably its most documented -- the city was plagued by another blanket of smog just hours before the opening ceremonies. Years of preparation, a ban on half the city's cars and an order to close down nearby factories -- not to mention experiments with cloud seeding, to control rain -- could not prevent the fine particles from settling in to the air yesterday and today. By evening, the skies seemed to have cleared in time for the big event, which featured impressive city-wide fireworks and fortunately, no athletes wearing masks.
The government and the IOC have been working hard to fix the smog problem--largely by pretending Try Prairie Organic Vodka In Your Next Screwdriver
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 8.08
Image: Notcot.com
Straight from Minnesota comes Prairie Organic Vodka, made from a coop of over 900 farmers “who share ownership of the brand.” Prairie describes their vodka as “beautifully smooth. With hints of melon and pear on the nose, creaminess on the palette, and a bright smooth finish…” ...
Save 26% on Energy Costs with Smart Metering
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 08. 8.08
Onzo made news a few months ago after they secured 2 milion pounds sterling in financing by cooperating with the UK's Scottish and Southern Energy. SSE plans to find a marketing advantage by giving their customers an Onzo, helping customers to benefit from real-time feedback on energy use, which studies show results in savings of up to 26%. This will also help the energy utility better manage its grid and rely on conservation rather than investment to optimize power infrastructures.
Now, Onzo introduces a redesigned website, fit to be the face of the stylish, modern and sustainably designed Onzo intelligent energy management products. So Onzo invites everyone to stop by and take a look:...
DIY Hair Conditioner, 6 Sustainable Summer Wines and Eco-Travel Planning
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08. 8.08
:: Smooth down your hair the sustainable way with these DIY conditioner options.
:: Consult our Green Summer Gourmet series to learn which 6 eco-friendly wines pair best with warm weather fare.
:: Keep a running list of all the green things you'd like to incorporate into your next vacation.
...
Planet Surfwear Combines Organic Surf Under One Roof
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 8.08
Image:Planet Surfwear
Most if not all surf companies now offer organic clothing lines – makes sense since this community is directly affected by the cleanliness of our oceans and often very active in terms of environmental protection. But actually finding those organic surf clothing lines can be another challenge. Planet Surfwear just made the process worlds (no pun intended) simpler by putting several of these organic lines under one roof. ...
Eco-Friendly Ice Cream, A Green Hospital Visionary and Rejiggered Junk Mail
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 08. 8.08
An earth-friendly, non-dairy ice cream company called Coconut Bliss opens for business.
Green Air Radio interviews Dr. Ted Schettler, the eco-hospital visionary.
10 creative ways to reuse junk mail are compiled.
A recent study reports that wind power isn't the best urban energy solution.
Oregon Tech gears up on full geothermal power.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Get Ready For More Flooding: Tropical Warming Statistically Linked to Increased Rainfall
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 8.08
photo by Carol Mitchell
It’s nearly conventional wisdom at this point that as global warming increases atmospheric temperatures there will be a corresponding rise in rainfall in some areas. Well that assumption just got some statistical data to support it.
The New York Times is reporting that a new study " Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes", finds a “strong statistical link between warmth and extreme tropical downpours”.
...
A123Systems Files S-1 Registration Papers for IPO
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 8.08
Coming Wave of Green IPOs?
Battery maker A123Systems wants to go public. After raising $123 million in venture funding, it now wants to raise $175 million more. Is it the start of a wave of green IPOs, or is the market too bad for that? A lot of green stuff is way more capital-intensive than the technology sector was in the late 1990s, so any parallel between the two should be taken with a grain of salt.
A123Systems Goals and Partners
"A123Systems is targeting three primary markets with its Li-ion technology: transportation, electric grid services (EGS), and portable power." They are already working with General Motors for the Chevy Volt and Think Global for the TH!NK city EV. The S1 papers also name a few other potential partners: MAGNA STEYR Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co. KG, Delphi Corporation, and Better Place. Via A123Systems Files S-1 for IPO, TechCrunch...
The TH Interview: Ariella Maron—The Greening of New York City
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 08. 8.08
Love it or hate it, New York’s 8.25 million people are some of the greenest citizens walking among us. Whether they know it or not, New Yorkers have significantly lighter footprints than the vast majority of Americans, and Mayor Bloomberg is trying to seal the deal by greening NYC’s buildings, yellow taxis, black limos, public transit, and introducing a climate protection act and congestion charging (although it failed, despite notable support). This is all in preparation for an influx of new New Yorkers in the next twenty years. Ariella Maron is Bloomberg’s Deputy Director of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, which means it’s her job to see that the city gets greened and that the journey is properly mapped. She spoke to us about the nitty gritty of PlaNYC 2030, and about New York’s potential on the world stage. ::TreeHugger Radio Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download. Special thanks goes to CraigMichaels, the organizer of the Sustainable Operations Summit, for arranging this interview. (Full text after the jump)...
Solar Power Loan Program Brings Clean Light to India
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 8.08
photo by Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia
The idea of providing loans specifically to install solar energy systems is one I find very enticing—especially in parts of the world where the cost of the panels (or lights as the case may be) is even more prohibitive than it is in the United States. When you’ve got a yearly income of $2000, spending $300 on solar lighting, really isn’t feasible without some sort of assistance. Enter the UNEP Solar Loan Programme.
Renewable Energy World has a good story about how the program is working to provide affordable loans to low income people so that they can access cleaner energy to replace kerosene. Here are some choice quotes:
...
Mitsubishi to Test i MiEV Electric Car in California
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 8.08
Fleet Testing of the i MiEV Electric Car in the US
After announcing that its i MiEV electric car would be sold globally and would come to market in Japan 1 year ahead of schedule, Mitsubishi is now announcing that it will partner with two utilities in California to do fleet testing.
Southern California Edison
With Southern California Edison (SCE), Mitsubishi wants to "gauge how electric vehicles will most effectively connect to the smart grid of the future and the next generation Edison SmartConnect advanced meters." SCE might have been chosen because of its EV Technical Center, a department within the company that helps test prototypes of electric cars, but also plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles....
San Francisco Puts Green Under One 'Ecothusiasm' Roof
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 8.08
Image: Green San Francisco
It seems like every day there is a new article on something innovative and GREEN that San Francisco is doing. Well the SF Convention and Visitors Bureau (SFCVB) is grouping all of those ideas together under one roof to encourage residents to know what is out there as well as publicize all of the green options to tourists. This new initiative they call “ecothusiasm.”...
Geothermal Energy Tapped to Power Oregon Institute of Technology
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 8.08
photo: OIT
Here’s a “world’s first” that’s worth mentioning: the Oregon Institute of Technology will be the world’s first university to be entirely powered from geothermal energy. The Klamath Falls school announced this week that it will be constructing a $7.6 million dollar geothermal power plant on campus which will not only provide energy to the school, but will also allow students to study and research geothermal energy technologies.
...
Car Ads Generate About 1/3 of Revenue for Local TV Stations
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 8.08
Transportation Coverage
According to the Wall Street Journal (via Streetsblog), advertising money from car companies represents about 27.6% of revenue for local TV stations and 18.1% for local newspapers, which is significantly more than for national newspapers or broadcast TV, with the Internet and cable TV coming last.
We can understand how people usually are looking for local dealerships to buy and ads in local media can be more effective at closing the deal than more general 'branding' ads, but we also wonder if the fact that such a large portion of revenue comes from a single industry affects coverage of things like public transit, biking, walkable neighborhoods, etc.
Car ads should total about $14 billion this year in the US, down from a peak of $24 billion in 2004, so there's a clear trend there. Will it mean diversification of revenue sources for local media, or simply more cuts in coverage?...
Treading Heavily on the Environment: China’s Growing Eco-Footprint Highlighted in New Report
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 8.08
photo by Sheila via flickr
We’ve written about the concept of Eco-Footprint a number of times—what it is, how to calculate it, and how to reduce yours—and with the Olympics upon us it comes as no surprise that China’s environmental footprint might come into the spotlight.
A new report by the Global Footprint Network, WWF, and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development does just that. While China is the obvious focus, really this report highlights how humanity as a whole is increasingly overshooting the biological capacity of the planet. It also includes recommended steps that China can take to address the issue of its increasingly heavy environmental impact....
Planet Green on Bathroom Design
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 8.08
Eichler Bathroom from the sixties- big and bright
Lets face it, our bathrooms are a disaster. They are small, dark, superficially sterile, poorly ventilated with a toxic atmosphere, that suck up water and energy in huge quantities and just throw it away, heat, water and useful resources, down a pipe for someone else to make it go away somewhere else. The modern American bathroom is a monument to poor design, rotten functionality and extravagant waste of resources squeezed into a miserable tiny little package.
But let me tell you what I really think over in our new How to Go Green: Bathroom Renovation at Planet Green....
Compartes Chocolatier Donates To Darfur With Every Purchase
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 8.08
Compartes Chocolatier is partnering with Relief Beads for Darfur to support the end to war and genocide in that country, as well as redevelopment of the country and people.
To highlight this partnership, Compartes developed two new, special gift packs with a new mix of flavors that ‘foodies’ will particularly enjoy. Dubbed the African Collection, these chocolate blends include, “cardamom + coconut, Grains of Paradise + African Mango, Caramelized Plantain, African Cacao Bean, and Organic Red Rooibos Tea.” These chocolates are each stamped with the continent of Africa on them, and come in either a 5 piece set ($20 USD) or 10 piece set ($30 USD). Each purchase provides enough money to send one child to school for two months or to feed one malnourished child for one week....
JUNK Raft Crosses Pacific to Raise Awareness of Plastics, Despite Challenges
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08. 8.08
While it’s hard to imagine floating across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii on a raft made of complete junk to raise awareness of all that plastic floating in the middle of the North Pacific Gyre, the truth is that the guys risking life and limb to make it happen are finding themselves running out of food with a crack in their mast and still over 800 miles left to go....
10 Ways to Reuse Junk Mail from ProQuo
by Chris Tackett, San Francisco on 08. 8.08
If you haven't taken our advice to get rid of junk mail, or you have, but still have some coming in and find yourself in a crafty mood, ProQuo has sent us a list of 10 ways to reuse junk mail.
They write, "Junk mail is renowned for cluttering mailboxes, increasing the risk of identity theft, and, of course, killing millions of trees every year. Not surprisingly, it elicits annoyance from most people. But, believe it or not, it also elicits creativity from others."
While a part of me loves suggestion #7 best - sending back junk or even bricks using the junk mail company's pre-paid postage slip, an act that would help milk their coffers of precious funds and ideally lead them to rethink their junk mailings - another part of me thinks I can't recommend that due to the negative environmental impact adding weight to the postal system would have. I'll have to debate with myself which would be a net positive, but in the meantime I'd have to say of their ten, that suggestion #6 - making new paper - is my favorite.
To read their tips on making paper and to see the rest of their list, head over to their Top 10 Creative Responses to Junk Mail. ...
Paris Hilton for President? Plus: Ben Harper Takes a Ride, Maggie Gyllenhall Protects the Climate, Amanda Beard Bares All, and More
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08. 8.08
Pimping your ride is so last year. Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper and Laura Dern are taking it to greener heights and “blading their ride” with super-ninja-weapon-sounding, the Blade. The car accessory attaches to the tailpipe to cut carbon emissions and pollution and increase fuel economy. To help spread buzz about the Blade and show support for clean, green driving solutions for L.A.—and the world--Crow, Harper, Dern and other eco-stars will take the spotlight at an event called Drive the Change L.A. in Venice Beach, CA on August 14.
See Paris Hilton run for pres and the U.S.' hottie Olympic swimmer bare all, after the jump!...
TH Interview: Colin Finlay, World Renowned Photographer and Environmental Activist
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08. 8.08
Copyright(c) Colin Finlay 2008
Colin Finlay, a former photocopy machine salesman turned world class photographer may represent the tip of the spear when it comes to the public consciousness of climate change. And he's done far more than his fair share to bring the impact of climate change to the masses. Finlay has the rare ability to capture images that sear an indelible mark on the soul of those who view them; his gift is a human face to the crisis at hand....
Phillipe Starck Uses His Super Powers For Good Instead of Evil
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 8.08
Image from Inhabitat
One could almost hear the collective rolling of eyes when Phillipe Starck said "I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary." Harry Wakefield of Mocoloco suggested " "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."
Well, it appears that he took Harry's advice; Alice Rawsthorn writes in the New York Times that Phillipe is developing relatively cheap, attractive, energy-saving products to “introduce everybody to ecology.” ...
China’s First Chicken Waste-Biogas Plant Turns Manure Into Electricity and Heat
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 8.08
Let’s remember that on a chicken farm containing 3 million birds, they probably never are let outside. Photo by Tim via flickr.
We recently heard about a report which estimates that 3% of US electrical demand could be met though utilizing cow manure to generate electricity. While for me it’s a bit of cold comfort to know that a byproduct of industrial agriculture could generate renewable electricity, at least a waste product is being put to better use. Along those lines, an industrial-scale chicken farm (3 million chickens!) in China has recently installed the nation’s first chicken manure-biogas plant.
Chicken Manure to Provide Electricity and Heat
The Beijing Deqingyuan Chicken Farm Waste Utilization plant, located about 50 kilometers north of Beijing will utilize the 220 tons of manure the farm’s chickens produce every day to generate energy. The waste will be fed into an anaerobic digester to produce biogas, which will fuel two GE Jenbacher gas engines.
...
Quote of the Day: Michele Bachmann on the Secret Green Agenda
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 8.08
Survey: Are Women Greener than Men?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 8.08
There were interesting comments to April's post about men using 20% more energy than women. April also noted that Swedish men were less aware of global warming and less worried about it than women. A commenter wondered "...if there was a comprehensive lifecycle analysis of men vs women. This would give a truer estimation of gender sustainability. I'm sure mens' heavy-footed driving consumes less energy than the growing of cotton for womens' mountains of clothes."...
Green Designers Strut Their Stuff on "Re-Use Runway" in Jerusalem
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 08. 8.08
(Lool82 turns milk crates into handy and hip little seats, perfect for the college dorm).
It’s old hat to New Yorkers by now –– but come this next Tuesday Israeli designers are going to have green fans ogling as they strut their stuff on the Re-Use Runway in Jerusalem. Opening the event will be a display of re-used fashion, accessories, painting, industrial designs, and sculptures, all available for purchase; and at 8:30pm, visitors will see eco-fashions designed by Bezalel School students on the “Re-Use Runway.”
Later in the evening, there will be a special auction of the different displays: “More importantly, this auction will be a statement and demonstration of how we do not need to go out and buy new clothes, but rather re-use creatively what is already at our disposal,” say designers.
...
UN Launches Zero Emission Community Power Center in Kenya
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 08. 8.08
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has sponsored a Community Power Center in the Kenyan village of Kibae on the slopes of Mount Kenya some 150 kilometers from Nairobi.
Only ten percent of Kenya’s rural population has access to electricity, and many communities like Kibae have begun to look at local hydro and solar resources as a means to develop a clean and low-cost form of power.
Through a partnership with the Kenyan Government and the community, UNIDO has built an energy kiosk, which uses micro hydropower and solar photovoltaics to produce approximately three kilowatts of electricity. The solar unit produces 500W and the Pico-hydro unit consists of two 1KW hydro turbines. Currently, the energy kiosk serves 300 households and is expected to serve 500 households within a few months....
Stop The Environmaniacs!
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08. 8.08
A WSJ op ed piece by Daniel Henniger has nailed us. We are messianic environmaniacs bent on seducing daughters and sons into bicycle worship. Beware oncoming legions of organic salad eaters, intent on decarbonizing the US economy to the level of Ye Olde Europe.
Two choice excerpts: Republicans shouldn't settle for making the world safe for SUVs. What's going on here is about more than $4 gasoline.
Instead of enviro-messianism, they should propose a drill-to-transition for whatever energy source can prove it works at a nonsacrificial price -- shale, coal gasification, nuclear, solar or some combination. (Windmill farms are a pox on the land.)Via::WSJ, Enviromania Notice how solar somehow crept into that mix?...
Icebreaker Launches Baacode Product Traceability for Merino Wool
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08. 8.08
Baacode is the very clever moniker that outdoor sports apparel company, Icebreaker, have given their superfine merino garment traceability program. Much touted over the past few months, Baacode was officially launched this week. For as of this month new garments will sport a barcode number on their labelling. Customers can type this code into a website search engine and it will take them on a tour of the New Zealand high country sheep station (ranch) where the merino wool came from.
As Icebreaker put it in their media release: “Customers will see the living conditions of the sheep, meet the high country farmers who run the sheep stations, and follow the production process that turns premium merino fibre into Icebreaker's exceptional, performance-driven garments.” Icebreaker founder and CEO says, "For us, sustainability is about transparency and being able to show the whole design for the business, which starts with the growers and continues through every step of the supply chain."...
Siemens' Solar, Leaf, and Stone Phones: Cool Green Vaporware
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08. 8.08
It's a little discouraging how long it has taken electronics' makers to truly go deep green with their products. Green vaporware is much more common than green alternatives. And so it is with these very cool Siemens concept phones - they'll never appear as you see them here.
OLED cordless phone looks a bit like a leaf
Munich-based Formwelt Industial design was asked by Siemens to come up with more environmentally-friendly concepts, and in that they suceeded admirably. Cordless Leaf, shown above at left, has the kind of organic shape that you really want to hold, somewhat reminiscent of Bang + Olufsen designs. Leaf features "liquid wood" a wood-derived polymer mixed with other plant-based fibers, as well as a highly efficient OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen.
Solar's embedded solar cells make it naturally rechargeable
The mobile Solar is even cooler. The dark-blue Solar is super thin and has an OLED as well as solar cells embedded underneath the touchscreen display so that the phone could recharge when you lay it face up on a surface with sun exposure. Solar is designed to be separated into plastic, glass and metal for easier recycling. Stone, Formwelt's third design, has no surface "decorations" at all, said designer Henrietta Lipinski. It's designed for a group of consumers called the "ecologic economics" that want very basic features and no frills. "It's stripped down, very Muji," Lipinski said. What may be coolest of all is Formwelt's idea that Siemens phones carry an "eco index" - a small label like a nutrition label that shows some of the environmentally friendly features (hit the jump for a photo). But designer Henrietta Lipinski said while Siemens will use ideas generated by Formwelt's designs, they won't look like they do above, and won't be appearing for about a year. Sigh. Siemens said there's a good reason....
Delta to Bring Wi-Fi to the Skies, Jet Blue to Charge for Blankets
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 08. 8.08
High fuel costs have sent the airlines scrambling to do anything to shave costs, raise rates wherever possible (e.g., charging for checked baggage) and still attract more passengers. This trend is continuing as Delta Airlines has announced that it will "offer broadband wireless Internet access on its entire domestic mainline fleet by the middle of next year." At the same time, Jet Blue has plans to "begin charging for pillow and blanket sets on flights of two hours or longer."
Generating Revenue for Struggling Airlines
Both plans will generate more revenue for struggling airlines. Delta will charge a flat fee of $9.95 on short flights (less than three hours) and $12.95 for longer flights; the fee will enable passengers "traveling with Wi-Fi enabled devices — like laptops, smartphones and hand-held devices — to access the Internet while in flight." Jet Blue will be selling the pillow and blanket sets for $7. ...
Urban Homesteading: Bringing Country Know-How to City Streets
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08. 8.08
Agitate, Educate, Pollinate! That's the battle cry for the new Institute of Urban Homesteading in Oakland California. It doesn't matter what you call it--urban homesteading, urban farming, or just plain growing your own vegetables--everyone wants to learn how to do it. The Institute's goal is to "preserve a slower, more intentional, more sustainable and more pleasurable way of life, rescue the lost arts of the garden, the kitchen and things done by hand and imbue everyday tasks with wonder and beauty." The Institute was set up by K.Ruby, a very California sounding woman who can do just about everything, along with a group of like-minded teachers. She calls it a "gathering place to research, ferment and learn together." It is a response to mass production and a way to get back to a small-scale personal relationship with our food and its means of production.
Old skills that used to be associated with farming and the rural countryside are being re-learned and re-adapted for urban environments. They are offering courses on subjects such as raising chickens in your backyard, beekeeping, canning, making yoghurt, producing fruit and honey wines and cheese making. Classes are small and are held in private kitchens and backyards in Oakland. As they say: "We intend to conserve both personal and global resources by staying home and tending the garden." :: Institute of Urban Homesteading
More on Growing Your Own Food
:: Eating Local Food
:: How to Green Your Meals
:: Preserving the Harvest
...
Olympics: Is The Air In Beijing Safe?
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 08. 8.08
With the Olympics starting today in China, everyone is anxiously watching the weather. Air pollution in Beijing is severe because of the many factories, coal plants and cars, but weather patterns make the situation even worse. Also, humidity can reduce visibility in a way that may seem unnatural, although it is not. Air pollution is a serious issue, causing long-term respiratory damage and severe allergies, but with good winds and perhaps some rain, the change could be rapid from terrible to lovely. It is one of those rare moments when some "rain on the parade" would actually be a good thing.
Making things worse, as Beijing treehugger Alex has shown in a number of carefully argued posts here and here, China's government has been accused of covering up how bad the air really is. Also, they offer no data about ozone, and have recently lowered its standard for pollutants like sulphur dioxide.
(Images from BBC)...
Google PageRank Could Help Keep Ecosystems Running
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08. 7.08
Image from dannysullivan
As it turns out, Google's search engine is good for more than just looking up your nearest library or favorite local grocery store -- try helping ecosystems run. According to Stefano Allesina of UCSB's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Google's PageRank algorithm can be used by ecologists to figure out which species are most crucial for an ecosystem to function, reports Nature's Emma Marris.
Allesina, who makes his living studying food webs, the networks that describe the feeding relationships within an ecosystem, says that determining what the consequences of removing one prey or another would be is one of the toughest aspects of his job. ...
Quote of the Day: Not Everything Is About Global Warming
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 7.08
Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post points out that not everything can be blamed on global warming, that lousy farming practices, overpopulation and bad policies contribute. Morever, "Weather alarmism" gives ammunition to global-warming deniers. He notes:
"Last week, we saw reports of more wildfires in California. Sure as night follows day, people will lay some of the blame on climate change. But there's also the minor matter of people building homes in wildfire-susceptible forests, overgrown with vegetation due to decades of fire suppression. That's like pitching a tent on the railroad tracks.
The message that needs to be communicated to these people is: "Your problem is not global warming. Your problem is that you're nuts." ::Washington Post...
Renewable Fuel Standards Waiver Request by Texas Governor Denied by Feds
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 7.08
photo by Joe Lencioni
A few months ago, citing rising corn prices hurting his state’s livestock industry and which he linked to Federal ethanol-blending requirements, Texas governor Rick Perry filed a waiver request with the EPA to reduce the Renewable Fuel Standards requirement by half.
Next Years’ Biofuel Requirement Stays at 11.1 Billion Gallons
Today the EPA has announced that is has denied this request. The total volume of biofuels (both ethanol and biodiesel) which are mandated to be blended into the fuel supply will remain at 9 billion gallons in 2008 and 11.1 billion gallons in 2009.
...
Designing Radically Efficient and Profitable Data Centers
by Rocky Mountain Institute on 08. 7.08
Do you ever wonder what keeps our e-mail servers, search engines, and Web applications like Facebook and Flickr running?
Data centers around the world are responsible for storing and processing the "petabytes" of information that power modern computing.
But what's supporting data centers?
Vast amounts of power.
...Dubious Waste-to-Energy Incinerator Project to Put Delhi Waste Pickers Out of Business
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 7.08
photo by Al via flickr
Here’s one that shows that municipal waste-to-energy programs can sometimes be dirty business. Mother Jones is running an article about how, in Delhi, Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism is being twisted around to build a waste incinerator which not only likely cause more pollution, but will also put tens of thousands of people out of work.
...
Low Cost Housing in Elsinore By Tegnestuen Vandkunsten
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 7.08
There is more to Elsinore than Hamlet; it also has this interesting project by Architect Tegnestuen Vandkunsten that demonstrates a lot of the principles that we should adopt over here. Even though it is fairly low density and could be townhouses, each with a front and back yard that are private, it goes for communal spaces outside. On gets density but also lots of room for kids to play, for parents to garden. It was first prize in a competition in 2004. The architect writes:...
Dandelion Rubber Could Be Inexpensive, High Quality Alternative to Tree Rubber
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 7.08
photo by mgpenguin86 via flickr
Discovery News is highlighting an interesting development in the field of rubber. According to new research being done in Ohio, dandelion root sap could be made into a rubber of equal quality to traditional rubber from trees, at a lower cost.
The exact details concerning growing and harvesting the plants, such as how many inches apart and when they should be planted, are still being worked out, but the researchers expect that within a few years the processing plant in Ohio could produce about 20 million tons of rubber annually. By 2015 they hope to triple that amount, to more than 60 million tons, most of which will be used for research purposes....
TreeHugger Tip: Max Gladwell on Using Ustream
by Chris Tackett, San Francisco on 08. 7.08
If you're trying to live an eco-friendly life, you probably know it can be helpful to hear from others that are doing the same. (That's probably why you're reading this on TreeHugger right now.) Sharing the tricks and tips to cutting your waste and making green choices is a must. It saves you the trouble of trial and error and helps you get green even faster. That's one of the reasons we started our TreeHugger Tips series - to allow readers to share their tips for going green.
As technology advances, it will only become more easier to share ones tips and connect with experts to learn even more. In a previous TreeHugger Video Tip , Max Gladwell showed us how to use the "green stream" on the social network site Twitter to share what it is you're doing that's green. If you're new to Twitter or don't know about the #greenstream, be sure to check that video out. In this new video, Rob from Max Gladwell demonstrates how one can use a webcam and internet connection to produce their own green talk show.
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Being Green Isn't Cool Anymore. Was it Ever?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 7.08
Back in the day five years ago when Graham was dreaming up TreeHugger, the idea was to take the concept of "green" away from the hippie imagery and make it cool and mainstream. However, after crisis piled on after crisis, it quickly became apparent that it isn't about being cool, it is about survival. It also became obvious that there is no point going on about "oh my god we're all gonna die" if we want anyone to bother reading us, but that we have to be upbeat and positive about the things that we have to do and that individuals CAN do to move forward. So we talk a lot less about bamboo skivvies and a lot more about vegetable gardens.
Five years later, Alice Thomson of the London Times looks around and suggests that the green movement is dead, because Conservative leader David Cameron is no longer nailing a wind turbine to his roof, but "grows his own vegetables and holidays barefoot in Britain because it is less extravagant, not because he is trying to reduce his global footprint."...
An Eco-Fashion Party Alert, Inhabitots Launches, the Seattle Art Museum Gets Urban, and More
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 08. 7.08
3P Business Club: Eco Fashion Party at Club4Climate in London by Heather Wilkinson. "Check out and purchase some fabulous products from the hottest new brands in eco-fashion and bid for your favourite piece in the auction. Plus get some top tips from our personal stylists! 12th August 2008 at 6pm at the newly launched eco-bar Surya Bar - Club4Climate" ...
Prepare For 4 Degree Celsius Rise in Temperature, Top UK Government Scientist Warns
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 7.08
photo by dachalan via flickr
In a very much armchair-psychology survey, I'd like to present two quotes from a recent article in The Guardian on climate change and then ask for readers to respond. The quotes are about preparing for a 4 degree temperature rise due to global warming.
A Reminder: A 4 Degree Temperature Rise Will Be Globally Catastrophic
What will we have to prepare for? Coastal flooding will more greatly affect 7-300 million people annually. Water availability in Southern Africa and the Mediterranean would be 30-50% less than it currently is. African agricultural yields will decline 15-35%. Somewhere between 20-50% of animal and plant species could have extinction. The biggest impact in the UK would be from rising sea levels and increased inland flooding, with rainfall increasing in the winter and summers being drier.
Here are the quotes:
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"I think I've got something in my eye"
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 7.08
Nature is Beautiful
There are so many wonderful things all around us that we've never actually seen. Those who have seen the documentary series The Blue Planet and Planet Earth know what we're talking about. We could probably all make an effort to better appreciate these wonders, and a welcome side effect would probably be more eco-awareness....
European E-waste, Labeled 'Second-Hand,' Is Unloaded in Ghana
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 08. 7.08
Photo credit: Greenpeace/Kate Davison
We've covered the extensive electronic waste, or e-waste, problems in China, India and Mexico in the past. Now Africa is emerging as a new favorite dumping ground for our aged electronic products, and the implications for human health are disturbing.
Greenpeace is reporting that items like computer monitors, hard drives, television sets and printers from the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany and South Korea are ending up in Africa dumps like the one in Ghana's capital, Accra. Though in nearly all European countries it is illegal to dump e-waste because it often contains toxins like lead and chlorinated dioxins, increasingly aid groups are encouraging Europeans to send their old equipment to developing countries to be reused.
But Greenpeace learned that devious electronics traders are buying usable and obsolete machines in bulk and sending them to Africa falsely and incorrectly labeled as "second hand." Traders told Greenpeace that to get a shipping container with a few working computers they must accept broken junk like old screens in the same container from European exporters.
In Accra, the obsolete items end up in dumps and are picked apart and then burned, releasing noxious fumes and chemicals....
Kids on Dizzywood Plant 15,000 Virtual Trees to Green Planet Earth
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08. 7.08
Not so long ago kids on Club Penguin put together some pretty impressive cash to help protect the planet with a mega-Christmas gift to the WWF, and now those who choose to play in Dizzywood, another virtual world where kids ages 8-12 can find their alter ego in an avatar have teamed up to plant 15,000 trees in the real world while seeing the first hand effects of a similar effort in Dizzywood.
The challenge itself asked kids to replant the virtual trees of Wildwood Glen, which had been destroyed by Emperor Withering, Dizzywood’s arch-villain; a neat tactic to give the kids a reason to want to help rebuild their online space in an eco-friendly way.
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Small-Scale Wind Turbine Potential Great, Limited By Installation & Electricity Costs: New Report Finds
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 7.08
Size comparison of small-scale versus industrial scale wind turbine image: Carbon Trust
Most of the time when we talk about wind energy, the turbines referred to are of the couple-hundred feet tall behemoth variety. But it’s not just the big boys which can have a place in reducing our demand for fossil fuels. A new report from the Carbon Trust details the potential of small-scale wind turbines in the UK, how much power could be produced and how much carbon emissions could be avoided.
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Swedish Bachelors 20 Percent Higher Energy Users Compared To Bachelorettes
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08. 7.08
This news item caught my eye as a recent post regarding efforts to green up my household brought some muses from one commenter opining that women must have a much bigger carbon footprint than men. My reply was that in a very general way, while women may like to buy more stuff, men like to drive, and drive fast.
Men use 20 percent more energy than women
Now research from the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) confirms that Swedish single men (with no children) consume about 20 percent more overall energy than Swedish single women, mostly because of their vehicle driving habits. For men surveyed in the study, 40 percent of their overall energy use was for transport, while for women the figure was about 25 percent. Women on the other hand, tended to be involved in more "energy intensive" activities while at home (read: washing more dishes, washing more clothes, and washing themselves more and longer!).
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Patrón Ethanol? Cuervo Biofuels? Mexico Investigates Agave as Potential Biofuel Feedstock
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 7.08
photo by Ani Carrington
In the past few weeks stories about new potential ethanol feedstocks have come rolling in with a predictable regularity. As the realization that converting crop lands from food to fuel production probably isn’t such a good idea begins to sink in, more and more non-food crops are investigated. It’s interesting then that Mexico has begun small-scale testing of the viability of using Agave to produce ethanol.
Renewable Energy World reports that, according to preliminary estimates, Agave tequilana weber could yield up to 2,000 gallons of ethanol per acre per year. That figure could rise to 12,000-18,000 gallons per year if the plant’s cellulose were used.
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Monsanto Dumping Bovine Growth Hormone
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 7.08
Anti-Monsanto crop circle in the Philippines
Poor old Monsanto corporation just can't make any money on Posilac, or bovine growth hormone any more- nobody wants it in the milk. Starbucks, Kroger, Dean foods and Wal-Mart are now demanding milk from rBGH-free cows.
Monsanto has been fighting back, trying to make labelling of milk as "rGBH free" illegal. “This is really a great product,” a Monsanto spokeswoman, Danielle Jany, said. “The business has been strong. Sales have been strong.”
Right. That is why they have put the business up for sale, so they can "focus on the company’s key profit drivers of agricultural seeds and development of specific genetic traits for crops." ::New York Times
Get another shot of Posilac and Bovine Growth Hormones
Wal-Mart To Monsanto 'No Thanks For The Bovine Growth Hormone ...
Battles over Bovine Growth Hormones
Astroturf Alert: Afact Fights Absence Labeling
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Nature Deficit Disorder Tackled at Camp Filled with Power Tools, Danger for Kids
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08. 7.08
While there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the lack of free time among children that’s leading to nature deficit disorder, there’s a summer camp called “Tinkering School” that aims to change all that by letting kids decide the direction the camp will take with power tools, motor cycles, zip lines, fire, spears, and boats of their own creation.
And it’s all for kids, even as young as 7 years old.
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5 Technologies that Make Internal Combustion Engines Better
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 7.08
5 Fuel-Saving Technologies
In the long run, the internal combustion engine (ICE) is on the way out and electric motors are on the way in, but ICEs have been around for so loooong that we should be careful about announcing their demise. They're going to stick around a while longer, and so it's very important to make them as efficient and clean as possible.
Car and Driver looks at 5 fuel-saving technologies that are keeping the ICE relevant (if far from ideal). As they say, they still work on basically the same principle as they ever did, but old 4-cylinder engines produced about 20 horsepower while modern ones can generate up to 250 hp while being cleaner and burning less gas. Read on for more details on the 5 fuel-saving technologies: Clean diesel, direct injection, cylinder deactivation, turbochargers, and variable valve timing and lift....
Japanese Website Releases uses Interactive Globe To Illustrate “Global Warming Divide”
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 08. 7.08
Friends of the Earth (FoE) Japan, a member of FoE international, has released a 3D interactive globe on their web site to increase awareness of the “Global Warming Divide”, as part of FoE’s campaign for climate and energy justice.
FoE Japan is using the term “Global Warming Divide” (it works especially well in Japanese, similar to “digital divide”) to represent the campaign, which works to encourage leading nations to take responsibility for the climate crisis and particularly the effect it is having on developing nations less able to cope with the consequences....
Perfect Gift For Climate Change Deniers by Nathan Martell
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 7.08
The next time you have to get a gift for friend or family who thinks climate change is a TreeHugger /world government /Al Gore plot, give them this vase designed by Nathan Martell. Source of its profile: ...
Survey: What Do You Think Will Happen In the Arctic?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 7.08
A new map shows all the possible areas of conflict in the Arctic; The US against Canada, Canada against the Danes, everyone against Russia, as what was previously covered with impenetrable ice becomes open sea over possibly 90 billion barrels of oil....
More Money for Yucca Mountain Makes It Hard to Get Behind Nuclear Option
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08. 7.08
The cost of complex engineering projects, in general, is rapidly going up with the higher cost of materials. Still, this upward revised estimate of the cost of long term rad waste management is particularly stunning, considering the talk about doubling nuclear generation capacity (presumably not accounted for in these numbers)! The U.S. Department of Energy says it has revised upward its cost estimate of the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository from its 1983 start to closure in 2133. Officials said the new system life cycle cost estimate includes money needed to research, construct and operate Yucca Mountain for 150 years. The new cost estimate of $79.3 billion, when updated to 2007 dollars totals $96.2 billion -- a 38-percent increase from the last published estimate in 2001 of $57.5 billion.Via::Political Gateway....
Coming a Commuter-Rail Station Near Your: More Cars From Far-Flung Suburbs
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08. 7.08
Did you think the competition for parking over at the train station was a local problem? The high cost of motor fuel rears its head in yet another place. Insufficient commuter-rail station parking has become a national problem: Station towns across the USA have now a decades-long game of catchup to play. From the Baltimore Sun:"Parking is a nightmare," said R.V. Scott, who commutes from Aberdeen to a job in Washington. "I sometimes park on the grass. I have gotten ticketed. I have missed the train several times while looking for a space, and then I am late for work. But what can I do? My alternative is to drive with all that traffic and the cost of gas."Train riders rail against parking. More commuters using MARC public transit means fewer spaces for vehicles. Ridership has gotten so high on some trains that passengers complain about bicycles aboard. Ouch....
London Congestion Charge Revisited
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08. 7.08
London's former mayor introduced the congestion charge in 2003 to great acclaim (it was lauded and copied around the world) and success: Congestion fell by 30% during the first three years. Now, five years later, there's a new mayor and new statistics. It seems that there are still fewer cars driving into the congestion charging zone (100,000 less), but it is taking them longer to drive through, so congestion has now only fallen by 8%. Result: The gridlock is just as bad as it was before the charge was introduced.
This is due to a dramatic increase in roadworks in the last few years. London's streets are narrow and definitely not organised on a grid system. So when gas and water main repairs take place they can jam up the system dramatically. Traffic-calming has been introduced on a number of side streets and roads narrowed; this has also squeezed driving space and slowed it down. It's not the end of the road for the charge though. Most agree that the congestion would be even worse without the charge. The new mayor, Boris Johnson, calls it a "blunt instrument" and has said that he will force the utility companies to apply for permits before starting roadworks and will cancel the proposed pedestrianisation of a central square. Motor bikes will be allowed in bus lanes. Traffic lights will be reprogrammed--longer green and red lights to let cars through. On the plus side--cycling has increased by 12% and the number of bus passengers by 6% and a bike rental system is being examined. :: Guardian
More on the Congestion Charge
Car Congestion Taxes
Congestion Charge and Cycling
Getting Around the Congestion Charge...
Effects of Global Warming Inspire Alterations to Famous Aalto Vase
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 08. 7.08
The vase designed and named after Finnish designer Alvar Aalto is an icon among the design-savvy. The now-classic piece was released in 1937 at the World Fair in Paris. Today, the vase is produced by Iittala, which has slightly changed the size and colours to please today’s market. The vase in the image above however, is called Droog Aalto. It is the work of Czech designer Jan Ctvrtnik who expresses the effects of global warming, based on the famous Aalto vase. More images after the jump....
Emirates Drops In-Flight Magazine To Save Fuel
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 08. 6.08
When Andrew reported on airlines shaving fuel costs any way they can, commenter J Walsh shared some astounding calculations with us regarding how much weight is represented by in-flight magazines (around 498,750 punds for one airline per day!). Kristin already noted that Jet Blue counts its lack of in-flight magazine as part of its green credentials, but it seems others are following suit. According to The Guardian, Emirates is ditching its magazine to save fuel, and others are at least slimming the page count:
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BMW X6 Hybrid SUV Caught on Spy Camera
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 08. 6.08
Old Ship Logbooks Provide Historical Climate Change Clues
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08. 6.08
Image from jaredw_1986
Climate scientists the world over are about to receive a treasure trove of valuable new weather data from an unlikely source: old Royal Navy logbooks. The thousands of logbooks kept by British captains, some dating back to the early 17th century, were discovered by a team of academics and Met Office scientists, reports Times Online's Jonathan Leake.
Old logbooks provide reams of climate data
Sam Willis, a maritime historian at Exeter University, believes the measurements recorded in the 6,000 logbooks, which include everything from air pressure and wind strength to sea temperature, will prove invaluable in helping scientists reconstitute past climate change and dating....
D.C.'s Eco-City Guide, Farmers' Market Mushrooms and A Snail Mail Blocker
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08. 6.08
:: Visit Washington, D.C. in eco-style.
:: Got your eyes on this season's exotic mushroom selection? Try some in this easy pasta recipe.
:: Cut off unwanted junk mail at the root with this easy, free way....
A Climate Change Inspired Carpet, Eco-Memoirs and Carbon Neutral Tube
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 08. 6.08
NEL Collective designs a rug to remind us of the polar bear's plight.
EcoLibris reviews Welcome to Shirley, a memoir about a toxic town in Long Island.
Go Green Tube allows you to cut your carbon footprint while you watch TV.
The Green Parent asks, is it tacky to request green gifts on your child's birthday?
ClimateCHECK recruits climate change experts.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Flatpack Portable Toilet with UnTreeHugger Name
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
Only yesterday our Queen of Tech asked "Any more downloadable designs coming in the near future?" That is the term we give to a lot of flatpack designs that could easily be transmitted by computer, and to many cardboard and paper designs. Sure enough, this came down the pipes right after her request- a downloadable design that you can download right into.
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Seven Slow Movements And Memes That Can Change Our Lives
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
It all started with slow food, a movement "that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world." Slow Food: Small, Simple, Sustainable
But is is a meme that has caught on, the idea that you take it slow, do it carefully, do it right and take the time to enjoy it. The idea can be applied to almost anything we do in life. ...
SustainStyle: Pandas, Pumps, Panties plus more
by 1plus1 on 08. 6.08
Welcome to SustainStyle, a weekly digest from the writers at 1plus1, a blog dedicated to eco-friendly fashion. SustainStyle runs every Wednesday.
A DRESS ME outfit that can be worn any time and any place.
Pandas invaded Paris!
Kristen Lee's organic cotton heels are not only good for the environment but also for your wardrobe.
A day in the life of an eco fashionista.
The top eco undies, pajamas and lingerie.
xo....
A DRESS ME outfit that can be worn any time and any place.
Pandas invaded Paris!
Kristen Lee's organic cotton heels are not only good for the environment but also for your wardrobe.
A day in the life of an eco fashionista.
The top eco undies, pajamas and lingerie.
xo....
Jargon Watch: Locatects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
Burton Street Tabernacle, Sydney, Australia: A good example of Locatecture
It is an idea we have toyed with on TreeHugger: Collin wrote about the 100 mile bathroom and we have looked at slow design. Now Elizabeth Farrely coins Locatect in the Sydney Morning Herald.
"The "loca-tect" (you see how the language is traduced?) should provide as strong a counterpoint to globalism as does the Locavore. She, or possibly he, would build not only from local skills and materials but in a way that responds to local climate, manifests local memes and embodies local stories."
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Is the IOC Helping Beijing Obscure Its Pollution?
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 08. 6.08
When US cyclists arrived in face masks yesterday, the International Olympic Committee chimed in again, echoing Beijing officials' insistence that there is nothing to fear when it comes to pollution.
"They were overly cautious," said a USOC spokesperson said of the cyclists, adding they regretted the action. The athletes wrote a letter of apology.
If fear, among other things, is in the air, it may have something to do with the way the foreign media has covered the pollution issue ad nauseum.
But the media coverage aside, and despite the serious measures to take cars off the roads and close factories, the air can be nauseating. When I was out on the pale white moonscape of the Olympic green on Monday, my throat had the particular tickle of particulates. It wasn't just the intense heat. And I wasn't even running the 10,000 meter.
Yesterday, Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC's medical commission, said, "The mist in the air that we see [around the Olympic green] ... is not a feature of pollution primarily but a feature of evaporation and humidity. We do have a communication problem here."
It seems we do have a communication problem here....
Number of the Day: 38 MPG
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 6.08
38 -- That's the number of miles per gallon (US gallons) that the average passenger car in the UK is getting according to the British Department of Transport.
22.4 -- That's how many miles per gallon (US gallons) the average passenger vehicle in the United States is getting according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
9200 -- How many miles the average UK driver travels in a year.
13000 -- Number of miles driven each year by the average US driver, 40% more than in the UK. ...
Design for the Single Man
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
I know quite a few people who could take advantage of some of the ideas that Industrial design students Valentin Engler, Marius Morger and Daniel Grolimund came up with for their final project. They note that "In urban Switzerland more than every fourth household is kept by a single living man. We studied these very interesting men and lifestyles, to find out their needs and problems. Based on this research we developed seven products which each perfectly fits in the single man's lifestyle."
Above is the Work and Leisure Table: "Checking e-mails and preparing the candlelight-dinner for the evening - both on one single table. When the guest finally visits, the derangement on the working place is cleaned simply by sliding one table top over the other."- but why is the end of the sliding top solid? It would have been cooler if the notebook could just slide under....
All the Benefits of Solar PV Without The Financial Risk: The Solar Power as Service Model
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 6.08
image: Recurrent Energy
As the solar power industry expands, more options for financing these systems have become available. A number of companies will now install, maintain and insure solar PV systems for your home, with you just paying for the power used. This is just a smaller version of what larger corporations and organizations are increasingly doing.
Solar Companies Want Your Rooftop
By using a third-party to install, maintain and operate your solar power system you take much of the initial financial burden off yourself and can get on your way to reaping the eventual cost savings, and carbon emission reductions, quickly. General Motors has done this with two facilities in California, as well as in a factory in Spain (the world’s current record holder for rooftop solar arrays). But you need not be as large as GM to take advantage of this sort of arrangement:
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Trading Places: America Goes Through "Demographic Inversion"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
Michigan Central Station by David Kohrman from Forgotten Detroit
For years, Europeans and Canadians have wondered what happened to American cities, why did their cores turn into dead zones and suburbs flourish while in Paris or Toronto, the cores were wealthy and vital while the suburbs became hotbeds of crime. Alan Ehrenhalt writes in the New Republic about how many American cities are beginning to become more like Vienna or Vancouver.
"In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests. A better description would be "demographic inversion....The people who live near the center--some of them black or Hispanic but most of them white--are those who can afford to do so."...
New Arctic Map Shows Just What Boundaries We’ll Be Fighting Over For Oil
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 6.08
map: IBRU
As global warming continues to heat our atmosphere and melt Arctic ice, boundary disputes in the region are likely to escalate as the nations bordering the region scramble to claim an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil which is currently inaccessible under the ice. A new map, unveiled today, by the UK’s International Boundaries Research Unit at Durham University, shows us just where the disagreements will be. ...
Dell Reaches Carbon Neutrality Goals, 5 Months Ahead of Schedule
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 6.08
Dell has set some pretty aggressive green goals for itself in the past few years, and we're happy to learn that it wasn't just talk.
How Dell Became Carbon Neutral
The big one is that they are now completely carbon neutral when it comes to their energy use, and 5 months ahead of schedule to boot! They even did things in the right order. First, they started with efficiency measures in their operations around the world, then they purchased green power (which can sometimes be limited by local supply, Dane Parker, Dell's director of global environmental health and safety programs, told us on the phone yesterday), and then purchased verified emission reductions and renewable energy certificates for the rest....
More and More ‘Stuff’: What Can You Do Without?
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 6.08
The folks over at Earth First are pointing out a cool chart showing just how much more stuff we have acquired, and increasingly consider to be a base standard of living, over the past century. The image is from Visualizing Economics and you’ll probably want to view a larger version to see it better. (There’s only so much one can see in a 468px width.)
“The Age of Consumption”
Earth First makes the eminently valid point that perhaps all of that consumer consumption isn’t so good for the planet. However, the thing I’d like people to think about isn’t the aggregate impact of all of this consumption (though that is the ultimate problem), but what you can do about it in your own life. Look at the chart: What items could you do without? What items could do double duty with others? What items could you share with relatives or neighbors? I'll go first:
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Weeds Season Three Goes Green: A DVD Review
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 08. 6.08
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
The third season of the laughter-laden series Weeds by Showtime®, about dealing wacky tabacky in the California suburbs is available on DVD. We were lucky enough to receive a copy for review and if you didn’t see it on the small screen when it first came out, now is the time to watch it. It’s packed with hilarious moments, lots of references to hybrid cars and an amazing cast which features Matthew Modine and Mary-Kate Olsen.
Apart from side-splitting laughter and edge of your seat action, one of the nicest touches of this DVD (or Blue Ray if you have it) set is that the packaging has been greenified. Can we say greenified? The trays are made of 100 percent recycled materials and each tray can be recycled. Additionally, the paper used for the DVD packaging is made from 100 percent recycled fibers and is recyclable and compostable.
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Theater Made From Recycled Pallets by Oudendijk and Korbes
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
Have we mentioned that we love pallets?...
Brazil May Restrict Ethanol Plants in One of the World’s ‘Most Spectacular’ Wetlands
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 6.08
Jaguars are among the many species which will have habitat protected under a new proposal to protect the Patanal region of Brazil from further sugar cane development. Photo: Getty Images.
Brazil seems to be increasingly getting its head in the right place when it comes to balancing economic expansion and environmental protection—the most recent previous example of which is the establishment of a fund to protect the Amazon rainforest.
Patanal to be Protected
Now, under a new proposal, sugar cane planting and new ethanol plants would be restricted in one of the world’s largest wetlands, The Patanal. Reuters provides the details:...
The World's 5 Most Wicked Green Wineries
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08. 6.08
There’s a Latin saying that goes, “It is well to remember that there are five reasons for drinking: the arrival of a friend; one's present or future thirst; the excellence of the wine; or any other reason.” My “any other reason” to drink wine? If it’s local, organic or made at an ecologically sensitive winery. There’s nothing better than taking a sweet swig knowing that the vino was brewed with eco-love by winemakers who give a damn. Come circle the globe as we take a peek at the five greenest wineries in the world....
Spirit Airlines Believes in Offshore Drilling And Lets Us Know It
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
Well you gotta give Spirit Airlines points for chutzpah, although we would love to know where in Florida one can go snorkelling with an oil derrick (their legs and structure attract fish, you know) between you and the beach.
They say "We believe in offshore drilling and other plans that will help keep fares low for you." -the link goes to good buddy T. Boone Pickens, who says "this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of" but whatever. Of course if you are selling your tickets for nine bucks you do probably have a problem these days. ::Spiritair thanks, tipster allison!
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Welcome Home Operation Purple Camp
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 6.08
Image Courtesy of Operation Purple Camp.
As Greg Haegle of the Sierra Club highlighted on Monday, the Sierra Club, in conjunction with the National Military Family Association, hosts Operation Purple Camp each summer, allowing 10,000 kids the change to get in touch with nature at over 60 different week-long camps across the country. This might seem like an odd partnership, but the Sierra Club’s motto is to explore, enjoy and protect the wild places on the planet, and, according to Brittany McKee, the Sierra Club’s National Military Representative, the Sierra Club wanted to get people out in nature and realized there is an entire group (the kids) that is having to serve and could use a chance to be kids. Being on hand for the welcome home of the Catalina Island camp, Treehugger got to see first hand the impact that a week in the outdoors can have on 120 kids....
Cellulosic Ethanol Gets A $90 Million Boost From BP
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 6.08
photo: Verenium
You may have read about cellulosic ethanol company Verenium opening up the first demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States two months or so ago. Well, now the Massachusetts-based firm has announced a partnership with BP which it hopes will accelerate the commercialization of the second-generation biofuel.
Verenium Gets Money, BP Gets Intellectual Property Rights
Announced today, BP and Verenium will form a strategic partnership which will pump $90 million into Verenium’s coffers over the next 18 months. BP will gain “rights to current and future technology held withing the partnership.” ...
Lack of Outdoor Play Leading to Sharp Increase in Myopia Among Children
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08. 6.08
In a piece of irony you couldn’t imagine if you tried, researchers in Australia have discovered that a lack of time spent playing in the great outdoors is leading to greater incidences of myopia among children, which means it's not just figuratively causing shortsightedness, but literally as well.
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Organic Miso, Tofu, Rice Coming Your Way
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 08. 6.08
Clearspring Ltd. is doing something remarkable - making traditional, organic Japanese foods available in Europe and other parts of the world. High quality rice, miso (fermented soybeans) and tofu are treasures that everyone who cares about the environment is probably already eating. But unless the foods are produced locally, without chemicals and no fossile fuel-guzzling fertilizers (and no Genetically Modified Organisms are currently grown in Japan), you may wonder what it is you are stuffing yourself with.
Clearspring has the details:
Japanese food experts John and Jan Belleme describe their first, memorable encounter with the Onozaki family, and detail the production methods that have remained unchanged for centuries. Hoping to learn the art of making traditional miso, in the autumn of 1979, we set out to find a miso master with a big heart and a willingness to teach. With the help of Akiyoshi Kazama, president of Mitoku Company, we found such a man - Takamichi Onozaki. From his family shop located in a small village in rural Japan, Onozaki produced over 100 tons of organic barley and brown rice miso each year. This was a sizable amount, considering the simplicity of his equipment and size of his labour force. Our eight-month stay with the Onozaki family had a profound, positive influence on our lifestyle, health, and appreciation for traditional Japanese food and culture....
Survey: What Do You Dislike About Taking The Bus?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 6.08
We talk a lot about public transit, and the ideas that could make it better, like the Nextbus system or new designs that give you privacy while you ride. While the ideal might be the Google Bus, fully wified with cellphone alerts and filled with nice rich young people who work for the same progressive company, the reality often feels more like India. ...
"Tree" Artwork Celebrates Darwin's 200th Birthday
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08. 6.08
It's the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, an event that calls for a big celebration if you are a natural history museum--and London's has risen to the occasion. They have commissioned a new Darwin-inspired artwork for one of the museum’s ceilings. Ten artists were asked to create a piece of art inspired by Charles Darwin’s ideas and what they mean to our understanding of nature and our place in society today. Only one would be chosen and the finished work will be unveiled in the gallery on the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth on 12 February 2009, 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species.
The winner was "TREE" by Tania Kovats. Kovats was last seen here when she created a moving meadow on a barge. The piece will be a stunning permanent addition to an already imposing Victorian structure. A cross-section of an entire 200 year old oak tree will be cut lengthways, including the roots, trunk and branches, and inserted into the ceiling of the mezzanine level gallery. The work will be 17 metres long. Her proposal was inspired by Darwin’s first diagram of an evolutionary tree in his notebooks, above which he wrote, ‘I think.' She said, "TREE came out of my time in South America, where Darwin has been an inspiring travelling companion… I think the tree is a really useful model of thought, and the cross-section is a way of understanding anything in the natural world." :: Natural History Museum
More on Tree Sculpture
:: Momento Mori
:: What is Environmental Art
:: RIP Cedar Tree...
Beyond the Supermarket: A Global Food Exploration
by Stephen Brooks, Punta Mona, Costa Rica on 08. 6.08
Have you ever wondered why the foods that you find in your grocery store have become so popular? Like, why are those foods, of all the tens of thousands of edible plants, so massed produced that they can now be found in supermarkets throughout the world? Sometimes they are fresh, sometimes in cans, sometimes frozen but what they all have in common is that they have been made popular enough and produced enough to grace market shelves everywhere. Lets go on a global journey and learn about some of those foods that are just waiting for their chance to shine....
Ventomobile, World's First Wind-Powered Race Car, Ready for Primetime
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08. 5.08
While electric cars and PHEVs may still be all the rage stateside, a team of German students has already moved on to the next latest and greatest: wind-powered vehicles. That's right: students from Stuttgart University's Team InVentus have built the Ventomobile, a three-wheeled "car" which features a 2 meter diameter two-bladed rotor mounted on top.
Despite its seeming unwieldiness, the Ventomobile has already proven itself as a potent racing contender -- performing impressively during early wind tunnel testing. The airy vehicle weighs in below 100 kg and has an engine power of 6 kW. See below the fold for a video of the construction process....
Eco-Bikinis, Summer Salad Recipes and Green Friends and Fam
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08. 5.08
:: Look hot in an itty bitty eco-bikini.
:: Keep cool and healthy with Green Summer Gourmet's mix of refreshing salad recipes.
:: Enlist the help of friends and family in your earth-friendly pursuits.
...
Enercon's E-Ship Uses "Sailing Rotors" To Cut Fuel Costs 30 Percent
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08. 5.08
Enercon is one of Europe's biggest wind turbine manufacturers, and these days, with turbine demand vastly outstripping supply (wind developers must line up two years in advance to order their turbines) Enercon is extremely busy. So the company is building its own turbine-delivery ship...with four huge Greek-looking pillars similar to the ones on this older schooner to assist the diesel engine and cut fuel use about 30 percent. While the 30 percent improvement is not earth-shaking, it's still a great step forward in an industry - transport shipping - that has far lagged behind in cleaning up its act, controlling CO2 and other polluting emissions.
Sailing rotors use wind to deliver wind turbines
Instead of a huge parasail like the Beluga Skysail, Enercon's E-Ship 1 currently being assembled in Germany will have four giant 27-meter-high, 4-meter-in-diameter cylindrical towers positioned two fore and two aft. These towers, called Flettner rotors, were named after a German inventor, Anton Flettner, who developed marine propulsion systems back in the '20s.
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School Bus Tricycle in India
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 5.08
Tricycle School Bus
In human history, poverty is the default state. Only in the recent past did the average person (and only in certain countries) emerge from what we would now consider 'abject poverty' (back then it was just normal). This tricycle 'school bus' from India is an example of 'getting by with what you've got'.
Leapfrogging Is Needed
We feature it because it's a striking image, but also a reminder that developing countries need clean and affordable technologies now to be able to improve their lives without putting too much strain on Earth's ecosystems. Via Neatorama. See also: The Circular Bike, a.k.a. "Vicious Cycle"...
McCain Blows Hot Air on Tire Inflation
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
“Planet of the Apes” Discovered in Republic of Congo
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
photo: WCS
The Wildlife Conservation Society has announced that it has discovered a veritable planet of the apes in the Republic of Congo. New census data shows that more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas are alive and well in at 18,000 square mile area in the north of the country. Previous estimates, done in the 1980s, showed less than 100,000 gorillas in the region, and it had been believed that the numbers had declined by half since then.
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Sri Lanka Boasts World's First Carbon-Neutral Underwear Factory
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08. 5.08
Green clothing is about far more than choice of fabric. Knowing that under garments are often made in developing economies, for example, the customer stereotype might well involve coal-fired incandescent lamps hung over rows of toiling women and children.
Set aside those bad lingerie thoughts: MAS Holdings of Sri Lanka has a hot green date with the global economy. Their factory is advertised as a world first for carbon neutrality. And it sounds as good as this model looks. There's no refrigerant-filled compressor for air conditioning. Instead it uses evaporative cooling, which leaves the workplace around four degrees hotter than air-conditioning would—but uses much less energy....
New Study: Kids Need the Adventure of "Risky" Play
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
Child rock-climbing by Baudesign
A new British study finds the obvious to any modern parent- we overprotect our kids. Half of all kids have stopped climbing trees, and 17 percent have been told that they can't play tag or chase. Even hide-and-seek has been deemed dangerous.
We have previously blamed computers and video games for the decline in outdoor play, but it may well be mom and dad. Adrian Voce of Play England says 'Children are not being allowed many of the freedoms that were taken for granted when we were children,' 'They are not enjoying the opportunities to play outside that most people would have thought of as normal when they were growing up.'
...
Lotus Wants Electric Cars and Hybrids to Make More Noise
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 5.08
Are Hybrids and Electric Cars too Quiet?
Most of the noise made by cars doesn't come from the engine & exhaust, but from the friction of the tires on the road. There are exceptions of course (your teenage neighbor with his 5-inch exhaust pipe and 12-inch subwoofers), but if you stand on the side of a road, you'll hear a lot more tire noise than engine noise.
Sound Simulation Technology by Lotus
Still, in some conditions vehicles that are moving in electrical mode can be a bit too silent for their own good. It's not a huge problem compared to other road safety issues, but it should be addressed, and that's what Lotus is trying to do with its new "Sound Simulation Technology." It created a prototype called 'Safe and Sound' using a Toyota Prius. More details below (including a reference to a TIE Fighter and a Sherman Tank)....
Indian National Biodiesel Promotion Plan Given a ‘Quiet Burial’
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
photo by mr.gears via flickr
Citing concerns about rising global grain prices, as well as potential land-grabs by large energy firms , a groups of Indian ministers has quietly shelved the National Mission on Biodiesel, The Economic Times reports. The program would have devoted 4 million hectares of land for cultivation of crops such as Jatropha, for the production of biodiesel, as well as investing $322 million.
...
Really Abrupt Climate Change Really Happened
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
Lets finally give Roland Emmerich some credit; climate chaos and change actually does happen in real time. In the autumn 12,679 years ago, the Younger Dryas cold period swept in during the space of a year.
According to Discovery News, a team from the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany, believes such a quick, profound change in climate could only have been brought about by a shift in winds across the northern hemisphere.
Michael Reilly writes: "Today prevailing winds in the northern hemisphere above the tropics tend to blow from the southwest to the northeast. Air that flows over Texas soon crosses the Atlantic and winds up over Norway.
As it travels the air passes over the Gulf Stream, a warm ribbon of water pouring northward from the tropics. The balmy air brings heat to Europe, which otherwise would be chilly. "...
Avoid Interaction With Other Humans in New Train Design
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
I really don't want to get into another flame war over the idea of Personal Rapid Transit; my ears are still burning from the abuse I received from my last post. But I still don't get the obsession that public transit is too , well, PUBLIC, and that so much time and energy is being spent on systems that cost more and carry fewer people, just so there is no chance of sitting next to someone NOKD.
Here is another proposal to give everyone their own personal space; Australian designer Hamit Kanuni Kuralkan proposes a train with little pop-up booths or capsules that give you your own personal space where you need not talk to anyone else. No chance of finding true love on public transit, either....
TreeHugger Tip: Missy Higgins on Green Transportation in LA
by Emma Grady, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
ECO Pedal by Nissan: Tactile Feedback in Gas Pedal to Help you Save Gas
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 08. 5.08
If you can measure it, you can improve it
Feedback is very important. If you don't know how you are doing, it's very hard to improve. That's why the big screen in the Toyota Prius helps you drive more efficiently, and that's why we should make electricity meters easy to read and put them inside houses.
ECO Pedal by Nissan: Coming in 2009
With the ECO Pedal, Nissan has come up with a new way to get fuel economy feedback while driving. The way it works is simple. When the system is on, "each time the driver steps on the accelerator, a counter push-back control mechanism is activated if the system detects excess pressure, helping to inform the driver that they could be using more fuel than required." After a while of this pavlovian regime, you can't help but learn which behaviors the car "approves" of and which you should avoid....
60% Worse Than We Thought: IPCC Wrongly Estimates Logging Impact on Climate Change
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
photo by Julian Robinson
One more example of how we’ve understimated climate change: New Scientist is reporting that researchers in Australia have found that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has wrongly estimated the carbon storage potential of pristine temperate forests. According to this data, intact forests store 60% more carbon than plantation forests.
Yup, Plantation Forests are Worse Than We Thought
From the original article:
[Brendan Mackey of the Australian National University] and colleagues used remote sensing and direct sampling to study eucalyptus trees at 240 sites across a 14.5-million hectare swathe of natural forest in south-east Australia....
Adspecs Eyeglasses Could Provide Sight for a Billion
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 08. 5.08
Should the challenges of the world be prioritized? Usually I think no, but then this story came across the blotter; The World Health Organization estimates that there are currently a billion people in need of eyeglasses to go about their daily lives. Many of these people are in developing nations; to afford the specs, it may take them three months’ wages , and about 10 percent of them are children (note to self: our future). Sight is a valuable tool to increase environmental awareness, and there is a solution.
...
Malaysia and Indonesia To Expand Domestic Palm Oil Biodiesel as Commodity Price Drops
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
photo by Geoff Leeming
I know I finger-wag at Indonesia and Malaysia quite frequently over the way in which palm oil is cultivated. Not only are the plantations such a severe threat to Orangutan habitat that the animals could be the first great ape (in modern times) to go extinct , but biodiesel made from palm oil can have carbon emissions greatly higher than that of petro diesel. To be fair, it’s not the palm oil itself that’s the problem, but rather the way in which it is grown. So, other than that reflexive slap at plantation agriculture, that’s as much palm oil criticism as this post gets.
Malaysia, Indonesia to Use Palm Oil Surplus for Biodiesel
In an effort to boost the price of palm oil, which at $871 per tonne is at the lowest level in 15 months, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to take 1.9 million tonnes off of the world market. This ‘surplus’ oil will be used instead to produce biodiesel for the domestic markets in the two Southeast Asian nations.
...
NextBus: Making Public Transit Less Miserable
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
Screen shot of display; see it in real time here
TreeHugger loves public transit; next to bikes, it is the low carbon way to get around. But it is not perfect by any means, and waiting for a bus can be boring or aggravating when you are on a tight schedule. With more traffic on the road, it is difficult for buses to keep to the exact schedule, and one never quite knows when to leave home or how long you have to wait.
We learned from Worldchanging about NextBus, a system where GPS equipped buses send a signal to their computers where they calculate the time until the bus arrives, and delivers the message to riders via computer, cell phone or text message, or can be posted on an electronic sign at the stop. (See also Planet Green here)...
Looking at War and the Environment on the Anniversary of the Hiroshima Bombing
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 08. 5.08
Image by Dan Smith, Wikipedia
Having lived in Japan for some 20 years, I find that August 6 is always a special day: In 1945, just after 8 a.m. in the morning, the first atomic bomb was dropped over the city of Hiroshima.
When I was a young boy, about 7 or 8, I went with my father, a high school history teacher, to a museum in my home town. The exhibition displayed photos and newspaper articles from this very day. I was devastated - I cried terribly later that night. One of the stories was about a blind girl in Japan, who had seen the blast of the atomic bomb. I could not fathom that: "How can a bomb be so terrible, that even a blind girl can see it?"...
Taking Back the Streets: Caravan by Kevin Van Braak
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
We do go on about how streets are for people, and love interventions like Rebar's Park(ing) that has become a global phenomenon. Designer Kevin Van Braak beat them by a couple of years with his 2004 instant park, carved out of a caravan, or camper trailer. He stripped an old trailer down to the metal, cut it up, hinged the pieces and and can simply tow it into place, park and unfold it. We need a fleet of these for Park(ing) day....
It’s Not You, It’s Me: 33% of China’s CO2 Emissions From Export Manufacturing
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
photo by Adam Lederer
I’d like to continue the conversation begun (most recently) by the Stockholm Environment Institute, when they claimed that the UK’s carbon emissions are 49% higher than claimed by government because so much manufacturing has been shipped to low-wage countries.
New research coming out of Carnegie Mellon University shows that the amount of China’s carbon emissions—which, in case you hadn’t heard are now the largest in the world—coming from export-led manufacturing is higher than previously thought. ...
Quote of the Day: Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo on Mountaintop Removal
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
“A lot of people look at mountain top removal as a negative, but I see it as a positive,” said Mongiardo. “We need to stop apologizing for coal. We don’t want to defend mountain top removal, but I want us to promote mountain top removal, because we need flat land. We can not have economic expansion without places to do things and part of mountain top removal is for places like hospitals, airports and different type of merchants." ::Appalachian News-Express via ::Grist
Learn more about Mountaintop Removal in TreeHugger
Majority of American Public Opposes Mountaintop Removal
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Friends of Coal Put Out the Word
Bush Admin Expands Mountaintop Coal Mining ...
Orlando, Florida Makes a Good Thing (Public Transportation) Even Better (With Biodiesel)
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 5.08
I’ll be honest. When I think of Orlando, Florida I don’t exactly have pleasant thoughts flooding into my head. Apologies to any Orlando residents reading this, but based on the time I’ve spent there, the city’s charms are entirely lost on me. So, when I heard about this next bit of news, I did a double take. Orlando? Yes, Orlando.
Orlando-Area Public Busses to be Converted to Biodiesel
Announced yesterday, LYNX Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority will become the first transit district in the United States to build its own biodiesel blending facility. All of the LYNX’s 290 busses, serving Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, will be converted to run on B-20 fuel (20% biodiesel, 80% petro diesel). A groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility will be held in October 2008, with construction and bus conversions completed by July 2009.
...
Everyday Trash Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 08. 5.08
This week is Carnival of the Green # 139 and it's being hosted by Everyday Trash, a blog that takes a closer look at the things that we throw away. So head on over to this week's Carnival and 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, please click here to link to our previous post.
PLEASE NOTE: Because the Carnival of the Green books so far in advance (thanks to all of you!), we are currently not accepting hosting requests. Please stay tuned - we'll open 2010 soon!...
Pizza Hut To Offer Healthier Pizza
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 5.08
Image courtesy of Getty Images.
Beginning in Tampa, FL and Dallas, TX Pizza Hut chains, the popular pie company will soon offer a pizza made with a multigrain crust, organic tomato sauce and preservative-free toppings.
While this is not the Jared-diet, the pizza--dubbed "The Natural"--does allow customers to blend healthier options into their pizza. The crust is made from a blend of honey, olive oil and five different whole grains. The sauce blends organic tomatoes and natural (made without preservatives, artificial colors or flavors) cheese. The pizza comes in two versions - The Natural and the Natural Rustica, which contains sausage, tomatoes and red peppers....
Sustrans Celebrates Growth in Car-Free Journeys
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 08. 5.08
UK National Cycle Network Sees increase in Ridership
Warren was embarrassed way back in 2006 that we hadn’t mentioned Sustrans – the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity - before. But we’ve since made up for it with coverage of their win in the People’s Millions competition and their “Change Your World” campaign. This wonderful charity’s constantly growing profile and influence is undoubtedly having an effect - an effect that becomes increasingly important in the face of rising gas prices. According to their latest figures, which were recently announced, the number of trips taken on the national cycle network (Sustrans’ flagship project) increased to 354 million in 2007 – that’s a 4.7% growth on 2006. But this isn't just about breathable air or liveable streets - Sustrans had this to say about the economic and social importance of these numbers:
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Winners Announced in Youth Venture Lorax Challenge
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08. 5.08
In a collaborative effort between Youth Venture, Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the Earth Island Institute, student teams composed of pioneering young people ages 13 to 20 recently won $1,000 prizes to help see their dreams for a more eco-friendly world come true.
The challenge was designed to help put cash behind some of their brightest ideas, and supported teams who addressed a wide range of topics, from developing a sustainable water supply to installing energy efficient software on school computers.
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Green Living Project Documents Sustainability in Africa
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 5.08
Want a dream job? How about one where you travel to far off places, documenting all of the successful, sustainable projects that different community groups are not only trying but also excelling in? One where you meet people around the world, see ‘the big 5,’ taste exotic food, and stay in eco-resorts that most people will never see. If this sounds good, then you may be interested in working with the Green Living Project. This amazing group travels the world, and is currently documenting successful sustainability projects across Africa and North America. ...
Survey: In Politics, Is Compromise a Bad Thing?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 5.08
It is no longer so simple as saying that McCain supports offshore drilling and Obama does not; now Obama has introduced what some would call a "nuanced" position on the issue that others would call a "sellout"- he would support a compromise deal that Matthew notes would provide tax credits for renewable energy but would allow offshore oil supporters to "pump dry every single last drop of oil in the continental United States. "...
The Rug Company Signs Up To Ethical Production With RugMark
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 08. 5.08
Paul Smith's "Swirl" design for The Rug Company.
Earlier this summer The Rug Company, known for it's very glamorous designer rugs, announced that it has joined up with the ethical trading label RugMark. The Rug Company, based in London, New York and Los Angeles, is well known for it's collaborations with high profile fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood, Diane Von Furstenburg and Paul Smith (pictured above). Owners Christopher and Suzanne Sharp have been successfully marketing the concept of rugs as key interior design features, rather than just floor coverings, for many years now and we're very happy to see that whilst continuing to push design boundaries they are also concerned about how, where and by whom their rugs are produced. ...
Why Cycling Is to Transportation What Efficiency Is to Energy
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 08. 5.08
The author, on his 2005 cross-country bicycle trip, proving that cycling can be sexy!
Until the recent spike in gas prices, much of the discussion about solving our transportation problems--namely, emissions from cars and dependence on foreign oil--centered on increasing the efficiency of the vehicles we drive through higher CAFE standards and new designs. Lately, the discussion has expanded to include the importance of public transportation, walkable cities and, to a lesser extent, cycling. However, even as alternatives to driving have become more prominent in public discourse, the fact of the matter is that people get far more excited about the Chevy Volt and the Tesla Roadster than they do about hybrid-electric buses and bicycle lanes.
Shiny Cars and Solar Panels Get More Attention
In much the same way, when it comes to solving our energy crisis there is always more enthusiasm for renewable energy technologies, like wind and solar, than there is for energy efficiency. When it comes down to it, fancy cars and shiny solar panels are just sexier than riding a bicycle and installing triple-glazed windows. At the same time, cycling--which is the most efficient form of transportation--and energy efficiency, are by far the cheapest means of addressing a wide range of issues, from climate change, to congestion to high energy prices....
REVA Electric Car Arrives in Chile as Alternative to Pollution, High Petrol Prices
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 08. 5.08
Photo: Infobae.
The electric company Cam (a branch of Spanish Endesa) has just launched the Indian electric car REVA in Santiago de Chile. We've told you about this small car before, when back in 2005 we talked about a video blogger who was sharing his experience owning a REVA.
The car is a two-door model that works totally on electric energy, gets 80 kilometers of autonomy in one charge, reaches a maximum speed of 80 kilometers an hour, and can accommodate two adults and two minors or up to 230 kilograms of total weight. According to information published by EFE news agency, in Chile it will be sold at six million local pesos, which is about 12,000 US dollars.
More on the car and why Santiago needs to cut on emissions in the extended.
Infobae via El Blog Verde....
Nigel's Green Web Awards Laud TreeHugger, Others
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08. 5.08
Nigel's Eco Store is a nice online eco-store for eco-friendly products. This year Nigel held his first Green Web Awards and the results are a good source of new (to some) green sites. TreeHugger was a judge, and we were in good company with fellow judges from the Timesonline EcoWorrier, HippyShopper, EcoStreet, Digg and SmartPlanet. We are proud to announce that Treehugger won in the "Eco-blogs and News Sites" category. No conflict here--we couldn't vote for our own. Quoth the judges: "It's no surprise that the judges voted Treehugger as No. 1 in this category - it has firmly established itself as the "Green CNN" online: a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information."
Other categories and winners included Responsible Travel for eco-tourism (The Man in Seat 61 came second) and Green People under ethical health. On-line campaigns: green thing came first, with the Nag second. Green living advice: ideal bite and freecycle for best online community. Green energy sites: Green Energy. Ethical Clothing: People Tree and best climate change site: Act on CO2, with the BBC second. The greenest company was method, with Ecover running second. Always a source of amusement, the Wooden Spoon Award for the Worst Greenwash: Barbie BCause from Mattel and then Shell's flower chimneys ad and thirdly ExxonMobil Desmog Blog. :: Nigel's Eco-store
More on the Green Web Award Winners
:: The Man in Seat 61
:: The Nag
:: People Tree
:: Ecover...
Recycling Firms More Valuable as Oil Prices Climb
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 4.08
Image: Flickr
The Independent reported over the weekend that recycling firms are seeing a huge boost in the value of reused materials as the cost of oil and virgin resources continue to rise.
One Massachusetts area firm noted prices of "$900 a bale for aluminum, $150 a bale for tin cans, $300 for #2 plastic, $70 for cardboard and $40 for mixed paper." Due to the spike in metal prices, recycling firms can see an increase of an extra $100 a ton for metals. These numbers are compounded when recycling firms cart away huge pallets loaded down with piles and piles of recyclables. ...
Toyota Developing Rival to Segway
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 08. 4.08
Biking Across America: Day 5, Pain
by Carson Poe and Eric Plosky, Boston, MA on 08. 4.08
Another Way To Profit From Alternative Energy
by Jeff Siegel, Green Chip Stocks on 08. 4.08
photo credit: Arctic-Images/Getty Images
There’s no doubt that investors can make a lot of money by investing in the right alternative energy stocks.
And of course, there’s the added bonus that these investments are backing those companies that can enable a safer, cleaner energy infrastructure. One that is not reliant upon fossil fuels.
It really is a win-win situation.
The trick however, is finding those alternative energy stocks that have what it takes to deliver over the long-haul. We’re talking about…
• Solar manufacturers that boast high efficiencies and low-cost operations
• Wind farm developers that are actively expanding their operations, but also generate revenue
• Geothermal firms with multiple, long-term power purchase agreements locked in for the next 10 to 20 years.
...
Green Interior Designers Offer Tips on Washington Post.com
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 4.08
Image courtesy of Getty Images.
Jeanie Pyun, editor of Sprig and Kelly LaPlante, an eco interior-designer with over 10 years experience hosted a Discussion on Washington Post.com last Thursday to offer tips to help you green your style.
The hosts offered plenty of tips on finding healthy food, finding healthier products and also answered FAQ's like "What is a green roof?" and "What does VOC mean?". Since the discussion was hosted online, the ladies could post web-links directly to the chat to give readers easy, direct access to the tips under discussion. Other questions included, "why is it still so difficult to find healthy products and why are they not cheaper?", as well as "what is a single mom hoping to green, but with a limited budget, to do?"...
TreeHugger Tip: Ben Harper on Turning Off the Lights, Brushing your Teeth and Watering the Grass
by Emma Grady, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
The FEED Bag, Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup and Positive Eco-Influence
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08. 4.08
:: Support a good cause and buy a FEED bag--just don't forget to bring it with you when you go to the market!
:: Mix spicy with sweet in this summer-ey Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup.
:: Remember that your eco-ways (whether big or small) are influencing others for the better.
:: Download The Organic Center's list of conventionally grown fruits and veggies to avoid....
4 Ways to Earn Cash From Recycling
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 4.08
Image from Washington State University Campus Recycling.
US News and World Report notes this week that while recycling is important, and we all know how to do it, few of us are actually doing it because, quite frankly, it takes effort and we don't really see direct returns. This week they round up four recycling options that will put cash in your pocket....
Population Growth, Resource Over-Consumption at Center of ‘Looming Catastrophe’, Stanford Biologists Claim
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
photo by Michael McDonough
This next post is about something which I’ve found many environmentalists, and even more people who don’t consider themselves environmentalists, find very hard to discuss: Overpopulation and the corresponding Overconsumption of natural resources which we now face on this planet.
Yale Environment 360 is currently running a piece by Stanford biologists Paul and Anne Ehrlich which discusses what they see as the central environmental crisis which we face: “Too Many People, Too Much Consumption.” It’s an important topic and a thought provoking piece, so I encourage you to read it in its entirety, but here are some choice bits to get you going:
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The Amazon Fund, Consumer Reports and Green(ish) Banking
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 08. 4.08
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announces a new international fund that will raise money to protect the Amazon Rainforest.
A survey reveals what U.S. consumers deem the most important issue in the upcoming elections.
TriplePundit scrutinizes Bank of America's green initiatives.
Ex-cons are given a second chance at Sweet Beginnings, a socially responsible, high-end honey company.
Students learning English and taking preparatory exams such as the TOEIC and TOEFL find that the environment is a hot test topic.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Two on Tuna: Japan Suspends Fishing, Indian Ocean Catch Drops
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
photo by Takeshi Igarashi
Over-consumption of natural resources is at the heart of nearly every global environmental problem we face. Too many people collectively consuming too many resources, the cruel irony of which is that nevertheless there are countless numbers of people without basic survival necessities, let alone a new iPod. On that tack, here are two examples of fish stock depletion:
Indian Ocean Tuna Catch Declines
Reuters is reporting that tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean have “declined sharply” in the past two years.
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Debunking ‘Some Common Myths About Alternative Fuels’: GMNext Video Series
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
Green Eyes On: Wanting the Prius 2010
by Sara Snow on 08. 4.08
Photo: Via Popular Mechanics
Have you checked out the new third generation Toyota Prius 2010? Maybe 80, 90 miles to the gallon, solar panels on the roof…come on! I need that. So my husband and I are having serious green car envy and wondering if and how we can justify turning in our two-year-old Prius for the newer version when it comes out next January. Assuming we can even get our hands on one. Those little guys fly off the lots like pop tarts from a toaster....
Offshore Oil Drilling Will Still Not Lower Gasoline Prices: Barack Obama and Legislative Compromise
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
Barack Obama photo by Michael S.
A few weeks ago I wrote about a TV ad which the McCain campaign was running which, in short, said that 1) drilling for oil in offshore areas which are currently off limits is the solution to reducing high gasoline costs in the United States, and 2) that Barack Obama is the sole reason these areas are off limits. At the time Obama had stated opposition to drilling in these areas, though to insinuate that the Illinois senator was even remotely personal responsible for bans on offshore is entirely ludicrous, even if he Flow The Film Opening in September
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 08. 4.08
Image Courtesy of Flow the Film.
Flow the Film documents the global water crisis, from how a few corporations took control of global water supplies, to how we are quickly running out of water, ultimately asking the question "Can Anyone Really Own Water?". The documentary contains interviews with scientists and community activists, as well as beautifully captures the role that water plays in each of our lives.Directed by Irena Salina, produced by Steven Starr and distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories, Flow was also a 2008 Official Selection for the Sundance Film Festival and Wired Magazine called it "the scariest film in the festival." At the Vail International Film Festival, Flow won Best Documentary, and won Best Human Interest Film at the Flagstaff Film Festival.
The movie not only points fingers at corporations, but also looks at the issue of water quality in general and the lack of access to clean water sources that half the planet deals with every single day. Looking at the surface of the planet, it may seem ridiculous to suggest that there is a water shortage given that 70% of the planet is covered in water, but when you note that only 3% of this is freshwater and only 1% of this is suitable for humans, now it becomes way more difficult to stretch those resources among the more than 6 billion people that inhabit this planet. Animals, people, plants and even many of the products that we make today all need water, which is why many say that there is no longer a shortage, but rather a crisis....
New Potential Ethanol Feedstock Pursued by Retired Florida Minister With the ‘Zeal of a Missionary’
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
photo: Paul Johnson/The Ledger
TreeHugger has highlighted recently a number of projects in the United States which are attempting to develop feedstocks for ethanol from non-food crops: Kudzu, Cattails, Miscanthus. Now comes word, via The Ledger, about one man who believes a hybrid grass of his own creation could be a successful applicant for the ‘non-food crop ethanol source to save us all’ position.
To be fair, he doesn’t actually say it will save us all, but that’s often the impression I get from renewable energy researchers. I digress...Here are the details:...
No Child Left Inside
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 08. 4.08
Summertime conjures all sorts of images, from picnics, to long days at the beach, to sending kids off to summer camp. I'd like to highlight a different kind of summer camp - a free week of summer fun for military kids with parents who have been, are currently, or will be . The Sierra Club Foundation and our Military Family Outdoor Initiative supports these camps, which are part of a program called Operation Purple and run by the National Military Families Association....
Carbon Capture And Sequestration (CCS) Update: Capture Methods Highlighted By USDOE Grant
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08. 4.08
Seeing Red: New Solar Energy Material Can Utilize Infrared Spectrum
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08. 4.08
EM Spectrum chart via Wikipedia
As I’m sure the vast majority of TreeHugger readers know, the garden variety, conventional solar cell works by absorbing energy from solar radiation as it falls on the earth. However, what you may not have ever given a second thought to is the fact that the solar energy that actually is usable by the solar cell comes from the visible spectrum. The ultraviolet and infrared portions of the spectrum mean nothing in terms of energy production.
63% : New Material’s Theoretical Efficiency Limit
A Spanish team of researchers has designed a new solar material which can theoretically harness 63% of the sun’s rays. New Scientist explains:...
Giant Dutch Kites Generate 10 Kilowatts Of Power...Enough For 10 Homes
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08. 4.08
We've written with great fanfare about Beluga Skysails, the cargo ship that has successfully used a large kite to generate energy for operations during windy periods at sea. The billowing kite cut energy around 20 percent during a trip from Venezuela to Germany and up to Norway earlier in 2008.
Flying kites higher than standard wind turbines
Now Dutch researchers and inventor-astronaut Wubbo Ockels are demonstrating that loops of high-flying kites can get at the stiffer jet stream wind that is circulating higher than the highest wind turbines (which are erected at between 80 and 150 meters) and use it to generate power at a possible cost of around five cents per kilowatt hour. LadderMill, as the Dutch kite configuration is called, harvested enough wind for ten homes in its most recent pilot experiments, according to the Guardian, and plans are moving ahead to try a 50 kW version of the looped and laddered kites.
Kite power and kite plants in our future?
Unlike turbines, which generate energy by the turning of the blades, kites on a cable loop act a bit like wings - generating power during upward lift, while the wings on the other (downward) side of the loop give a lift just sufficient to support their weight and the cable weight. The result, as Wubbo Ockels' web site describes it, "...is a large difference in force between the two ends at the ground. When the cable loop is guided around a wheel the force difference will drive the wheel. By connecting the wheel to a generator electricity will be produced."...
Survey: Should You Get the Day Off Today?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 4.08
It is a holiday in much of the English speaking world on the first Monday in August; it is a day off in the Caribbean to the south of America and Canada to the north. It is not in honour of anything in particular; it is just that somebody decided that we all deserved a three day weekend at the height of summer. But not in America; it's nose to the grindstone as usual.
Walter Kim, writing in the New York Times, called America "a nation of remarkably productive, often well-paid workers who are becoming increasingly reluctant to pause from their labors and refresh their souls -- a nation whose cash-drenched corporate employers typically don't pay for much time off (less than two weeks annually, on average), a nation whose globe-gripping federal government is the only one in the whole industrialized world not to legally require generous periods of paid kick-back-and-hang time -- is a nation that's socially screwed up, particularly in comparison with European countries like France, which orders its citizens outside to play for the entire month of August and a few other weeks spread through the year."...
Manhattan's "Summer Streets" PSA - 6.9 Miles of Car-Free Fun
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 08. 4.08
Can We Make Termite Resistant Houses of Chicken Feathers?
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08. 4.08
A termite resistant building board made from a composite of chicken feathers and compressed cement. This is the dream of Dr. Menandro N. Acda from the Dept. of Forest Products and Paper Science, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Banos.
Professor Acda is quoted as saying his composite boards, which he hopes to have perfected by the end of the year, would be "resistant to insect infestation such as termites because the feathers are inedible," as well as suggesting they’d be less flammable and combustible when compared to conventional cement and wood-fibre composite boards....
Jerry Still Loves Ice Cream
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08. 4.08
Ben & Jerry's story is green history: the two fat kids who started an ice cream business in 1978, learning it by mail order correspondence--a "happily chaotic experience". It was pure and yummy and they donated to good causes and everyone loved them. Then they sold the business to Unilever in 2000 amidst calls that they had sold-out to a multi-national . Jerry (Greenfield) is interviewed by the Guardian and firstly says that his favourite flavour is vanilla toffee crunch.
He says that the sale was difficult for both of them but it was a public company and the shareholders demanded that they do it. As he says " we didn't feel great about it from the start and throughout. It was nothing about Unilever; we didn't want to get bought by anybody." He dismisses the idea that the ice cream is responsible for the obesity epidemic ( "We do not consider a pint or a tub of ice-cream to be a single serving") although he knows that he should cut back himself. As for people mistaking them for Unilever; he says that if you believe in their principles then you should support the company. He still has a healthy cynicism about big business: " The reality is that most companies are not about any values at all - they are about making money. It is extremely rare for a business to stand for anything because most businesses don't want to alienate potential customers, and if you believe in anything you are going to alienate someone." He ends with a quote from Ben which we could heartily endorse: " it's better to stand for something" :: Guardian
More on Ben & Jerry
:: When is a Sell-out a Sell-out
:: Climate Change College
:: Free Ice Cream
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Counting On Climate Change Tipping Point to Appear Within 100 Months
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 08. 4.08
While we do our best to avoid fear mongering on TreeHugger, we do believe that climate change is real and that humanity has to step up to the plate to fix it. If we don’t, echo scientists, life on this planet will change as we know it. With the emerging economy of China, the eastern superpower is now producing more greenhouse gases than America.
For every coal plant America shuts down, China opens 20 more. In light of some of our imminent problems, Andrew Simms from the New Economics Foundation wrote an eye-opening opinion piece on the Guardian on the New Green Deal, a UK plan-of-action released last month to counteract climate change.
Simms, the policy director and head of the climate change program at the New Economics Foundation (NEF) –– a “think and do tank” –– says it’s now time to scream “FIRE!” We have 100 months (about 8 years) he warns to make radical changes to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
He proposes a plan for the UK. It will create a sound economic future for the country, set an example for other nations, and could help avert a potentially catastrophic end for humanity. Simms emulates President Franklin Roosevelt, who during the Dust Bowl and depression of the 30s, proposed a New Deal –– a 100 day program to reform America’s economy.
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Free Hybrid Electric Buses at Tokyo's Haneda Airport
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 08. 4.08
What is there not to like about the new shuttle buses at Tokyo's Haneda Airport - the hybrid electric buses save energy and have less air pollution. They are more quiet and the ride is smooth as silk. Plus they are free. Hino has supplied one while Mitsubishi Fuso supplied three: these cool vehicles now link Haneda's first, second and international terminals, covering a distance of about 4.2 kilometers, and in one day, they may each travel up to 300 km.
Eike Böhm, Vice President of Product Engineering for Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, notes:
The challenge to reduce CO2 emissions already exists. Technologies for reducing consumption, such as hybrid drive, are now gaining significance; and customer demand is changing to the same extent. We want to have mature hybrid solutions ready for application....
A Picture is Worth... Global Geological Map
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08. 3.08
Images from OneGeology
The result of a collaboration between 100 organizations spanning over 70 countries, OneGeology marks the first international effort to strip the Earth to its core to unveil its underlying geological features. The series of maps available on the website allows users to identify the different types of rocks by color.
Maps and geological data are available for 29 countries so far, with more to come in the near future. According to Nature's Katrina Charles, one aim of the project is to help make mineral extraction opportunities easier to find -- a hook that made several countries, including Brazil, Australia and Canada, eager to take part. ...
Ready, Set, Green: My Eight Week Journey To A Greener, Guilt-Free Me
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08. 3.08
I'm in week six of an eight-week journey to try to get greener and face my secret environmental foibles.
Well, one of my biggest downfalls continues to be cheap clothing. In Graham Hill and Meaghan O'Neill's eco-living primer "Ready, Set, Green," Week Six is devoted to clothing and personal care. Since I'm not much of a shopper, I thought I'd do very well in already having conquered many of the tips that come at the back of each chapter of the book. And in some ways, I did. I wash in cold water with eco-friendly detergents and get away without the dryer about 75% of the time. I long ago gave up dry cleaning. My pairs of shoes still easily fit on my small closet floor, and I LOVE to buy vintage.
And in the personal care section, I think I've made some good changes - I finally gave up hair highlighting and toe-nail painting, and I've slimmed the skin care routine down to two bottled items - Ballard Organics liquid soap (lasts forever) and moisture lotion with sunscreen. I use baking soda for skin scrub, occasional tooth polishing and deodorant. Hair care is down to two items - solid shampoo bars from Lush and liquid conditioner used very sparingly....
Great Allegheny Passage Bike Path Bringing Economic Growth
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 08. 3.08
Cycling/Hiking Path Brings Economic Growth
We've seen that cycling can reap tremendous economic rewards, for instance by by saving Australia $200 million a yearin health care costs. Well, it turns out that even in car-loving, bike-averse America, the same holds true. As a case in point, The Great Allegheny Passage--"a 150-mile system of biking and hiking trails that will connect Cumberland, MD and Pittsburgh, PA when completed"--aside from being an excellent source of recreation and sightseeing, is also "generating $12.5 million in revenue and pouring more than $3 million in wages into trail-side communities."
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Grantham Prize Seminar Free to Public
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 08. 3.08
Register now to get one of the limited seats free to the public for the Grantham Prize Seminar, to be held in Washington D.C. on 8th September 2008. The agenda offers a presentation by each of the winners of the Grantham Prize and Awards of Special Merit. You can hear how the best environmental journalists of 2008 developed their award-winning stories and the impacts those stories are having to bring about constructive change. This year's seminar also promises a "lively panel discussion about efforts to develop a national strategy to address one of the most complex policy issues of our time: climate change." Details on time, place and registration are below....
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.
- Ecotality Blog
- Ecostore
- Accidental Environmentalist Jolly Green Girl Confidential
- GreenShopper.com - Environmentally Friendly and Green Shopping Community
- Eco Investment Club
- Runaway Now
- Our Greener Life
- Sustainable is Good
- Variety Presents Green Hollywood
- Switchboard
- Architype Review
- Green Fertility
- The Blue Marble Blog
