- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part one)
- Vijay Vaitheeswaran (part two)
- Vinay Gupta
- Alyce Santoro
- Mathis Wackernagel
- Tom Price
- Martha Marks
- Paul Hawken
- David Suzuki
- Wal-Mart's Green Gurus
- Alisa Smith and James Mackinnon, authors of Plenty
- Bob Perkowitz of ecoAmerica
- Ed Begley Jr.
- The Weather Channel's Dr. Heidi Cullen
Entries for August 17, 2008 - August 23, 2008
Total this week: 179
Planting Trees to Kill Bad Odors and Reduce Emissions
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08.23.08
Image from the George W. Malone
You already know them as nature's lungs. But its deodorant, too? That is the conclusion of new research done by George Malone, a poultry specialist at the University of Delaware, who found that planting trees around poultry farms helped to significantly cut their emissions and odors.
Three rows of trees were enough to reduce emissions of dust and ammonia by 56% and 53%, respectively; they also helped kill 18% of the odors. These benefits also translated into lower energy bills for the farms, Malone said, by increasing shade and cooling during the summer and by lowering heating costs during the winter....
Which Is Greener, Wine Bottle or Box? Depends on the Box
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.23.08
TreeHugger spares no expense or our livers in our search to find the greenest packaging for wine. After reading Ruben Anderson's article in Tyee, where he said "Do you really want to try to look your children in the eye and explain that they have to eat jellyfish gumbo because you couldn't resist that lovely imported shiraz?" I started looking for a greener, local alternative.
Tyler Colman, aka Dr. Vino, recently wrote in the New York Times about the merits of wine in boxes; I just assumed he was talking about Tetra-paks, which I am not fond of. In fact, he was talking about bigger boxes, a packaging system known as bag-n-box that is growing in popularity almost everywhere but North America. It holds three liters of wine, the same as four standard bottles, and feels like it weighs about as much as one and a half.
...
Biking Across America with WE ADD UP - Day 14: Inflate
by Carson Poe and Eric Plosky, Boston, MA on 08.23.08
Get Ready For Winter Grasshopper: Fuel Oil; Natural Gas; Food; And Electricity Prices Set To Increase
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08.23.08
When it comes to seasonal preparation, cheap energy has allowed many citizens of developed nations to abandon the lessons of the Tale of the Ant and the Grasshopper. Addicted to a constant flow of cheap heating fuel, electricity, and even food from overseas, a cold hungry awakening awaits those mindlessly living the Grasshopper Lifestyle ( see earlier post on price impact of electricity deregulation for example of what is coming). To paraphrase the Tale: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.Via::Ned Martin's Amused; The Original Story of the Ant and the Grasshopper How can you live a more ant-like lifestyle?...
Get A Pressure Cooker And Eat Your Leftovers: USDA Projecting Biggest Food Price Increases Since 1990
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08.23.08
Reuters nails the pending food price increases in the USA with a single paragraph: U.S. consumers should brace for the biggest increase in food prices in nearly 20 years in 2008 and even more pain next year due to surging meat and produce prices, the Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.No surprise really, given the corn-to-ethanol incentives debacle, grain yield losses due to Mid-west flooding, and fuel price increases. One more reason to modify the Grasshopper Lifestyle and get ready for winter the old fashioned way. Those cheap cuts of meat Grandma used to make in the pressure cooker will be back in fashion. Victory Gardens all around; and, no more throwing out the leftovers please! Via::Reuters, UPDATE 1-US food prices to post biggest rise since '90:USDA...
This Week in the Hufffington Post: We're Hosed
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.23.08
Green Fatigue and The Global Hothouse...Are We Hosed? A couple of weeks ago, one of the chief scientists at the U.K.'s Department for Environment Food and Affairs (DEFRA), Robert Watson, said that due to the uncertainty of containing carbon emissions, his country should prepare for a 4C (7F) rise in global temperatures this century. To which Guardian newspaper commentator and author Oliver Tickell responded that if the globe is going to heat up by 4 degrees Celsius, all we can prepare for is human extinction. ::Graham Hill
Your Utility Bills are Going Up. What are You Going to Do About it? Earlier this week I received a very polite letter from my local natural gas utility. It's message: Your rates are going to increase by 35-40 percent this fall. Sorry 'bout that. While a bit unexpected, I can't say it's altogether unsurprising; energy rates are going up across the board. I doubt there's a person in this country who hasn't noticed that gasoline costs about $4 per gallon these days. ::Collin Dunn...
Study Finds Half of All Food Produced Worldwide is Wasted
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08.22.08
Image from sporkist
And you thought $20 billion worth of wasted food was a lot. According to a new policy brief issued by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Stockholm International Water Institute and the International Water Management Institute, huge amounts of food -- close to half of all food produced worldwide -- are wasted after production.
The current food crisis we are facing is not one of production, the authors argue, but one of waste. These large quantities of wasted food translate into equally large amounts of wasted water (think "virtual water"); Charlotte de Fraiture, a researcher at IWMI, told ENS that almost half of the water consumed annually to grow food is lost or wasted. ...
A Better Vision for the Southwest's Energy Future
by Greg Haegele, Sierra Club on 08.22.08
We have a vision for the Southwest that involves solar panels and windmills -- a future of clean-energy generation and green jobs, not the smokestacks, pollution, and health problems that accompany a coal-fired power plant. However, that vision got a bit hazy recently when the U.S. EPA issued an air quality permit for construction of the Desert Rock Energy Facility, yet another massive coal-fired power plant on Navajo land in northwest New Mexico.
The Indigo Girls performed a fundraising concert for the Just Transition Coalition in Flagstaff last year. They're shown (front row, center) with members of the coalition, including Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth, standing at left in back, and the Sierra Club's Andy Bessler, standing at right....
Video Tips for Greener Gaming
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.22.08
Image source: ChannelFlip.com
There are several recent video games which teach kids to consider natural resource protection and promote planet-saving activities, but what about greening the act of gaming itself? Flip produced a 5 minute clip on several ways to green electronics and gaming habits. Narrated by Katharine Fletcher, one of the bloggers on Flip, who admits that while she is not saying that kids shouldn't game, she wants to incorporate her greenness into one of her favorite hobbies and share these tips with other fellow gamers.
Rechargeable batteries, using a bye-bye standby, and turning off screens while downloading large files are just a few of the tips offered. Fletcher is probably not much older than most gamers, the target audience, so she is easier for kids to listen to....
Monterrey, Mexico Taps Methane to Power Its Metro System
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 08.22.08
In Mexico, methane from landfills, a natural byproduct of decomposing organic matter known as landfill gas, or LFG, makes up 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Beginning in 2001, Monterrey, Mexico—a modern city of nearly four million people that disposes of over 4,500 tons of municipal solid waste a day in the Metropolitan Solid Waste Processing landfill— attempted to harvest methane from the landfill for electricity while reducing methane emissions. It's a solid ecological one-two punch: reduce gas emissions from solid waste while improving solid waste management.
The project was a joint venture between government and and the private sector and was funded in part by a $5 million grant from the Global Environmental Facility. A seven megawatt plan was built and today captures and converts 214 million cubic meters of LFG into electricity, which powers the light rail transit system, or Metro, by day and light city streets by night. Now Monterrey wants to expand the project to 25 MW facility to cover 80 percent of the municipal government’s electricity. ...
Humanity Ink Tees, Zucchini Basil Soup and Green Air Travel
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
:: Look hot in a tee from holistically thinking clothing brand, Humanity Ink.
:: Serve up a seasonal bowl of vegan Zucchini Basil Soup.
:: Learn about the innovations being made to help green our air travel....
A Special Peek Inside Nissan's Battery R&D Laboratory
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.22.08
This is Where the Magic Happens
When it comes to plug-in hybrids and electric cars, power storage is the key. It's the main puzzle that needs to be solved. How to store as much power as possible, as safely as possible, and as inexpensively as possible (fast recharge capability is a bonus).
Nissan's Future Might Come from that Lab
Nissan is very bullish on plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, but to pull it off, they need batteries. Here's a peak inside Nissan's battery lab. It's a bit cluttered, but you'll enjoy it. Read on for more......
Green Power Sports Tour 2008
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.22.08
Image source: author
One man. One veggie-oil powered car. Four months. 20,000 miles. Today Joe Connor, freelance sports-writer, leaves San Diego for his 3rd Annual Green Power Sports Tour, kicking off at a pre-season Raiders game in Bakersfield. Loaded down with a trunk, backseat and shotgun full of reserve veggie-oil, Connnor combines his two loves (sports and traveling), with promoting alternative-fuel vehicles.
For the next four months, Connor will just about attend a game a day, including college football, pro-baseball, pro-hockey and pro-basketball. "I've been to every single baseball stadium in the US," Connor said, and "and after this trip I'll have seen just about every stadium of the four major US sports."...
Can Aerial Reforestation Help Slow Climate Change? Discovery Project Earth Examines Re-Engineering the Planet’s Possibilities
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
photo: Discovery Channel
Here on TreeHugger reports about different geo-engineering projects to mitigate climate change come onto our radar relatively frequently. Some of them involved doing one thing or another to the oceans to change the way in which carbon is sequestered there, while others try to do things to the atmosphere to deflect incoming solar radiation.
Discovery Project Earth Premiere: Friday, August 22nd, 9 PM ET/PT
That said, the premier episode of Discovery Project Earth explores an interesting idea to help slow and possibly reverse deforestation, an increasing source of carbon emissions in many parts of the world. The idea: Reforest large swaths of land quickly via dropping seedlings from airplanes or helicopters.
I won’t give away all the goods on how the show proceeds but here’s the gist of it:...
Ways to Avoid Eco-Fatigue
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.22.08
Image source: Getty Images
We've touched on this idea of "eco-fatigue" in jest, but Advertising Age recently ran an article saying that consumers are beginning to burnout from all of the eco-advertising. It seems like the term 'going green' is everywhere these days and can be exhausting, not to mention confusing. With the threat of complete loss of polar bears and bees looming just over the horizon, how then do we keep on the green path without saying "screw it, I can't drive 55"?
The seven tips suggest that eco-companies provide a product that actually does something better, different than what is out there (surprise!), otherwise its just one more product on the market and consumers won't buy it. Also, make a product that is not only fun, but that you actually believe in it. While you might luck out and get rich, you also might not, so its better to love it and believe in it. Also, avoid the hype and just keep doing what you can do....
Common Pre-Term Labor Drug May Increase Fetal Risk from Common Pesticides
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 08.22.08
According to researchers at Duke University Medical Center there’s a significant chance that a drug commonly prescribed to halt pre-term labor and stave off premature birth might leave the brains of children susceptible to other chemicals widely present in the environment. And with 20% of all pregnancies in the U.S. encountering pre-term labor and 1 million of those being treated with terbutaline or related drugs to halt pre-term contractions and premature birth, there’s a real chance the child who may affected could be your own....
Smart Cars: One Owner's Story
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.22.08
Since the Smart Car was introduced in the USA in January, the reviews have generally been awful. Seth Stevenson of Slate test-drove one of the new Americanized, bigger and more powerful Smarts and was disappointed, and suggested that the main market will be those who crave attention. That's "what's driving the Fortwo's sales. Smart's press materials compare owning a Fortwo to owning an iPod or an iPhone, and it's easy to see why: All three are high-design, overpriced objects of shimmery desire."
In Canada, the Smart Car has been around for more than four years and nobody bothers to even look at them in the cities anymore. Out in the country they are a bit thinner on the ground; there isn't a problem squeezing into parking spaces in the woods. Margaret Casey is our District Councillor in Muskoka, a "playground of the rich" 200 miles north of Buffalo. She has driven a Smart Car for three years, year round in a hilly, rural part of Ontario that got seventeen feet of snow last winter. I asked her for her review and met her in Dorset....
Climate Change Not Just a Crisis of Sustainability, But a Moral Crisis: Carl Safina
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
photo: Leonardo Freitas
Every once in a while I come across a piece of writing that states something so perfectly that I really can’t imagine adding anything to it. What follows is by Carl Safina, co-founder and president of Blue Ocean Institute, and is from a recent post on the Orion Magazine website.
Please read the whole piece (it’s short...), but here’s the passage that really struck me. Safina is writing about the notion of having to make sacrifices for the betterment of the planet and for society:
Of all the psychopathology in the climate issue, the most counterproductive thought is that solving the problem will require sacrifice. As though our wastefulness of energy and money is not sacrifice. As though war built around oil is not sacrifice. As though losing polar bears, ice-dependent penguins, coral reefs, and thousands of other living companions is not sacrifice....
NOOO! Honda Fit Hybrid Not Coming to United States
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.22.08
No Hybrid Fit for You
The people at ABG had a chance to ask Honda spokesperson Sage Marie about when the Honda Fit hybrid would be available in the US. The disappointing answer was that it wouldn't be sold in the US, at least not for a while.
The Business Case
Honda probably has good business reasons for that: They have found out that North-Americans seem to prefer dedicated hybrid models like the Toyota Prius, and because of supply constraints (they are selling all the Fits they can make), it probably makes more sense to sell Fit hybrids in Japan where they will be better received, and possibly more profitable. American drivers will still get Honda's upcoming dedicated hybrid (2010, about $19,000) which is based on the FCX Clarity, and a sporty hybrid coupe based on the CR-Z concept, but those who want more choices of affordable high-mileage vehicles in North-America will still disappointed....
Quiksilver Makes First Recyclable Watch - "The Ray"
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.22.08
Image source: Quiksilver
A few ways to other ways to green your time-keeping: use your cell phone for a phone and a clock, don't wear a watch and just ask your friends for the time, make your own sun-dial. Or, if you just want a watch or enjoy accessories, Quicksilver, maker of surf products, now has a watch that is 86% recyclable. For the most part, taking your watch into be fixed is the most eco thing you can do with your watch, but if your watch gets run over and cannot be brought back from the dead, then its helpful to have a watch that can be deconstructed and recycled back into its individual parts.
Quicksilver designed this watch to be made with recyclable materials - ebony wood from sustainably managed forests, stainless steel, and mineral glass. The links are all solvent free and the watch uses automatic movement, which means it does not need a battery, thus extending the life to 10 years instead of 18 months for a battery-powered watch. The watch itself has a "chunky" look to it and is probably more of a man's watch, though it could certainly be worn by women. This chunky watch style is currently in fashion....
Used Coffins Find Afterlife as Couches
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.22.08
Goths and vampire fetishists will go gaga over Coffin Couches, a company that turns caskets that mortuaries ordinarily toss into the dumpster—thanks to cosmetic defects or the fact that they were used for display—into macabre conversation pieces you can rest your tuckus on for significantly less than an eternity.
Because coffins that once cradled an actual dead person are considered biohazards (who knew?), the six cast-iron legs of each couch are embossed with the universal biohazard symbol—something which could either be a deal-breaker or send you racing for your wallet. We wish the upholstery was greener though: So far, your only options are conventionally tanned leather or...bleargh...vinyl. The finest in recycled funereal chic could be yours for $3,500. ::Coffin Couches
[Via ::Sierra]
More on eco-friendly coffins
Ecopod: Green Coffins—Bling Optional
Jute in Time for a Green Funeral Revival
The Green Goodbye
EcoffinsUSA: Biodegradable Caskets
Update on Organic Burials
...
Intel's Next CPU To Include Dedicated 'Power Control Unit' to Save Power
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.22.08
Making more Power-Efficient Computer Processors
Efficiency and power management are all the rage these days in the IT world. Novel ways of cooling data centers, virtualization and consolidation, etc. The hardware itself has also gotten better in the past few years (for example, desktop and server CPUs now have many of the features that used to be found only in laptop CPUs).
Nehalem's PCU, 1 Million Transistors
Intel has announced at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) that i7 a.k.a. Nehalem, its next generation CPU, will include a Power Control Unti (PCU) dedicated to making the chip more efficient. About 1 million transistors, as much as a 486 CPU used, will be used for the sole purpose of managing power using temperature sensor data and software feedback (OS requests, etc)....
Blightster Lamp Is Its Own Packaging
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.22.08
We previously showed David Gardener's lamp made out of its own packaging; now we learn from Josh Spear about Chilean designer Rodrigo Alonso Scharamm. He uses thermoforming, the technology that makes the blister packaging that we cut our hands on and throw away, and uses it to make a lamp. Mix blister with light and you get Blightster....
Pizza Oven + Inkjet Printer + Nail Polish = Solar Cell?!
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.22.08
Solar Power for Developing Countries
Nicole Kuepper, a 23 years old PhD student and lecturer in the school of photovoltaic and renewable energy engineering at the University of NSW, might have just found a way to make the world a better place. Her patented technology isn't quite as simple as the title of this post would lead you to believe, but it should nonetheless reduce the cost and technical requirements of making solar cells.
Electricity for the World's Poorest 2 Billion People
The processes she developed for the iJET solar cell don't require the very expensive clean rooms and high-temperature ovens of traditional solar panel manufacturing plants, but rather pizza ovens, nail polish and inkjet printers, making them accessible to developing countries. ...
Dublin's Emission Free Taxi, Speedo's Green Goggles and San Fran's Recycled Stage
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 08.22.08
A Dublin based green taxi company offers free, emission free transportation.
Speedo launches a new range of eco-friendly packaging for its goggles and headwear collection.
San Francisco's Panhandle Park opens an amphitheatre made entirely out of reclaimed and repurposed materials.
Schwarzenegger vetoes a climate change curriculum in California.
The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance asks for public input on the first draft of their Principles and Baseline Practices for Sustainability report....
China's Powerful New Emission-Killing Trains
by Alex Pasternack, Beijing, China on 08.22.08
They won't look much different, but the first of 300 fuel-efficient locomotives are about to hit China. Using a lighter weight design, the China Mainline Evolution Series locomotive by GE achieves a peak output of 6,250-horsepower, which is 40% more power than the top-of-the-line Evolution locomotives currently being used in North America. At the same time, the 16-cylinder diesel-electric engine generates 84% fewer emissions and increases fuel efficiency by 3% to 5%. So impressive, it even makes the guys in Erie who manufacture it break into renditions of that song from Top Gun (see video below).
Though freight trains are generally a greener way of transportation than an equivalent number of trucks, the amount of emissions they produce and fuel they use makes them good candidates for clean upgrades. According to GE, during the course of one year a 207-ton locomotive uses enough power to run 160 Western households. The cleaner train should receive a warm welcome in China, where households are clamoring for increasingly more power -- and much less pollution. ...
4000 Megawatts of US Geothermal Power in Development, Sector Has Grown by 20% This Year
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
photo: Calpine
There’s been a good deal of geothermal energy news in the past few weeks—less than solar and wind perhaps, but that’s more a function of publicity and popularity rather than the potential of the resource—and the latest US Geothermal Power Production and Development Update from the Geothermal Energy Association shows just how much geothermal power has grown so far this year.
New Developments Will Nearly Double Current Capacity
According to the new report, geothermal power has grown by 20% since January of this year, with 103 project currently underway in 13 states for a combined capacity of nearly 4,000 megawatts. The GEA says when completed these projects will be able to meet the electric needs of about 4 million homes. ...
Lost Baby Whale Mistakes Yacht for Its Mother, Later Put Down
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.22.08
Photo credit: Getty Images
This is the most heartbreaking story we've read all week, and if the idea of a baby whale trailing after a yacht and trying to suckle from it doesn't make you go "awww," then that lump of muscle you call your ticker has been replaced by sheet rock. (And you should really get that checked out.)
The 1- to 2-month-old humpback whale calf, which Australians dubbed "Colin," was first spotted last week in waters off north Sydney clinging next to a yacht it had apparently mistaken for its mom. After rescuers towed the yacht out to sea, the calf—described by rescuers as being "exhausted"—finally detached from the boat but remained close by.
...
15 Photovoltaics Solar Power Innovations You Must See
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.22.08
Looking Back at Recent PV Innovations
Energy. The lifeblood of modern civilization. Finding clean sources of it is very high on the green movement's priority list, and one very promising field is solar photovoltaics (PV). We, at TreeHugger, have been covering the field for a while now, and we think it's time to look in the rearview mirror at some of the top PV solar innovations from our archives.
Thin Film Solar Record: 19.9% Efficiency
A shortage of silicon in the past few years and the demand for thin and flexible panels has helped increase the focus on thin film solar recently, and a lot of progress is being made. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created thin film solar panels that are very close to competing with their more traditional silicon-based cousins. "The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency in testing at the lab, setting a new world record."...Shipping Waste 10,000 Miles For Recycling Still Better Than Landfilling
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
photo: Lisa via flickr
Here’s a quick one via The Guardian which at first certainly counter-intuitive but upon examination isn’t and really shows how important recycling is.
A new report from the Waste Resources Action Programme says that shipping newspapers and plastic bottles the 10,000 miles from the UK to China actually prevents more carbon emissions that landfilling the waste in Britain and manufacturing new products.
...
FDA Allows Nuked Spinach
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.22.08
The Food and Drug Administration is on a roll this week; first it declared Bisphenol A to be safe for babies, and now it is allowing food producers to irradiate spinach and iceberg lettuce. Irradiation has been around for years, and can be used on beef, egges, poultry and spices, but it all has to be labelled and people are afraid of it. “People think the product is radioactive,” said Harlan Clemmons, president of Sadex, a food irradiation company based in Sioux City, Iowa in the New York Times. So naturally, the FDA is also considering proposals to weaken or change the labelling requirement. The industry is also looking at euphemisms that sound happier, like "cold pasteurization."
Radiation effectively kills bacteria, so lettuce tainted carrying e-coli would not hurt you. But as Dr. Samuel Epstein told the CBC a few years ago: "You could have fecal material in that and if it had been irradiated, it wouldn't harm you. But do you want to have fecal material in your food? Of course you don't."- it could be used as a substitute for hygienic practices and proper washing....
New Seismic Fault Discovered One Mile From Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
photo: Mike Evans
When the subject of earthquakes is brought up here on TreeHugger, most of the time it takes the form of the intersection of green building and earthquake resistant housing or in the case of the recent quake in China, the environmental damage caused afterwards. This one’s about earthquakes yet to come.
A new study, reported on in Science Daily and appearing in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, shows that not only is New York City at a greater risk for earthquakes than previously thought, but the Indian Point nuclear power plant 24 miles north of the city sits nearly on top of a previously unknown active seismic zone.
...
Fish Story: Students Discover Widespread Mislabelling
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.22.08
Red Sea Sturgeonfish, photo J.E. Randall, Fishbase
Here is another of those stories about how technology is changing so fast, and how it can empower us. John Schwartz writes in the New York Times about how high school student Kate Stoeckle was talking over a sushi dinner with her dad, a scientist working in DNA bar coding, a much simpler and cheaper way of identifying species. She asked “Could you bar code sushi?” Dad answered “Yeah, I think you could — and if you did that, I think you’d be the first ones.”
So she and a friend went to work, eating sushi. As dad said, “It involved shopping and eating, in which they were already fluent.” They sent the samples to the University of Guelph, where graduate student Eugene Wong did the analysis, and found that half of the restaurants and six out of ten grocery stores sold mislabelled fish.
...
If an Environmentalist Makes a Confession in the Forest, Does It Make Him Less Green?
by Earthwatch Institute on 08.22.08
The author plants saplings in Boston.
After more than ten years of working in the environmental field, I thought I'd kick off my posts here from Earthwatch by coming out of the green closet:
I hate camping in the woods. Admitting this to greenies feels deliberately transgressive. But I have my reasons: Not enough air conditioning, too many bugs. Not enough friendly wait staff, too much cold water of questionable potability. Not enough cushy microfiber furniture, too much taking a shit over a muddy patch of leaves.
...
Saving Kids and Precious Resources, One Set of Dentures At A Time
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 08.22.08
Did you know that there are over 3,600,000 sets of dentures produced around the world every year? And did you know that each set contains around roughly US$25 of precious metals? But, around half of all the dentures produced simply end up being thrown onto the trash heap. That’s more than a mouthful of wasted money and precious resources. Well, now the Japan Denture Recycling Association (JDRA) has decided to sink its teeth into this problem and take a bite out of the massive waste occurring, while at the same time helping kids in developing countries around the world. ...
Six Amazing Hypermiling Videos
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 08.22.08
'Bicycle Ballerina' Shows Why Cycling is Art in Motion
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 08.22.08
Survey: What's Cheap?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.22.08
I am not what John McCain would consider rich (+$5,000,000 income) or even what Obama considers rich (+$200,000) and spend my dollars carefully, but I do like good design and I do spend a bit more to get quality. I was really excited to see a transformer desk that cost $500 and called it cheap; I am used to an extra zero on things like that. Yet a commenter wrote : "And 500 dollars is cheap in which virtual universe?... unless solutions (and green ones especially) can be 'walmarted' (or more appropriately 'ikead', we are sunk. Its depressing but true." I found that depressing.
...
Ideal Bite Announces Best in Green Awards
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 08.22.08
Ideal Bite has announced its call for nominees for the first-ever Best in Green (B.I.G.) Awards. The program will recognize companies, products and services that are true leaders and innovators in the green space. Winners of the 2008 B.I.G Awards will be announced at Ideal Bite's B.I.G. Awards Party in November 2008 in New York City.
B.I.G. Award Categories:
The B.I.G. Awards consist of seven categories including: Home, Health & Beauty, Style, Food, Fun, Everyday/Living and Next in Green. Nominees will be selected from the thousands of products, companies and services that make up Ideal Bite's database of expert tips.
...
Green Your Mosque, Learn Imams in Israel
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 08.22.08
(Image credit marantzer)
Gurus in India are doing it. So are evangelical Christians in America. Jewish rabbis have been doing it for some time now, all over the world. Thanks to an initiative of an Israeli Arab activist Mohammad Rabah Aghbarieh and the Israeli government, imams (Muslim spiritual leaders) in Israel are going green. New educational materials in Arabic are expected to arrive soon at a mosque near you.
Earlier this month in a groundbreaking event, fifty Muslim clerics gathered in Umm el-Fahm, Israel for a conference to raise awareness of environmental issues among imams, NY-based blogger Karen Chernick reports: “The first of its kind, the conference was an important stepping stone in improving the quality of the environment in Israeli-Arab towns,” she writes.
...
Queen Elizabeth Makes Balmoral Home All Green
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08.22.08
Balmoral is the Queen's Scottish summer retreat and her favourite place to go for R and R. Now HRH has taken steps to make her cottage completely self-sufficient, energy wise. She has installed a small hydro-electric plant developed on a rushing stream in the estate forest. It generates enough to supply electricity to the 1,000 residents in the area with the excess sold to the national grid. The Queen has registered all the woodlands with the Forestry Stewardship Council which supports sustainable forestry worldwide. All farming practices are registered with the Soil Association, which promotes organic food and farming.
Taking a page from her son's book, all the organic waste on the estate is recycled, with 50 tons of it being turned into compost each year. Her security staff are patrolling the place on black mountain bikes and have been ordered to ditch the Range Rovers whenever possible. Machinery on the estate is powered by bio-diesel and biodegradable lubricants and oils. The main castle's boilers have been converted to run on wood chips to save oil. Apparently the Queen goes around switching off the lights in the house. The royal cars were all converted to green fuel years ago, and the Prince travels in a green fuel taxi around town. :: The Telegraph
More on Royal Residences
:: Windsor Castle Goes Green
:: Queen Buys Wind Turbine
:: Eco-Palace Fit for a King...
Copenhagen Chooses Low-Rise Over Skyskrapers in City Expansion
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08.22.08
Photo chad_k @ flickr
It only takes five minutes in the city of Copenhagen (especially when arriving by train) to wonder why all cities aren't developing in this same mold - plenty of open streets with wide pedestrian and bike lanes, bikes to easily rent at a number of venues, and a wealth of organic food at the corner stores.
Density defying?
But there's definitely another element that makes Copenhagen so user-friendly. It's the feeling of human scale. There are some of those personality-free square office buildings, to be sure, but the preponderance of low-rise buildings in different styles and of different eras, many with cheerful terracotta tile roofs, give a sensation not of sprawl, but of livability.
High-rise free inner core
Now the city council has decided against the mayor's bid to allow some high rises into the inner core. Mostly, TreeHugger is a proponent of building up, not out, but protecting the existing character of inner cities is also vital to keeping them, well, vital. The city council voted on a ban on high-rise development in the center, extending from the famous Tivoli amusement park out to the cities four corners.
However, a portion of the city on the harbor remains open to high-rises, though plans in the past have faced fierce local resident opposition. Perhaps Denmark's relatively low population gives them a privilege to choose to go low that more crowded cities can't afford. However, restricting just a section of town to skyscrapers is an interesting thought. Copenhagen's tallest building is currently the bell tower of the Town Hall at just 106 meters (347 feet).Via ::Copenhagen Post
Skyscraper or Low-Rise? Read more
Tall Cities = Green Cities?
Ecocities of Tomorrow: An Interview with Richard Register
Wayback Machine 1932: How Long Will Our Cities Last?
My Phallic Symbol is Bigger Than Yours
U2 Has Architectural Problems ...
Satellite Images Reveal Two of Greenland's Biggest Glaciers Are Losing More Ice
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 08.21.08
Although researchers may still largely be dealing in uncertainties when it comes to predicting Greenland's exact fate, the data and observations that continue to trickle in suggest a "greener" (see: ice-free) future for the island nation. According to scientists from Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center, there is new evidence to suggest some of Greenland's biggest glaciers are breaking up under the strain of climate change.
Jason Box, a professor of geography at OSU, and his colleagues found that the Petermann and Jakobshavn glaciers, two of Greenland's largest, lost a significant amount of ice over the past month. ...
Deregulation Party Is Over: Get Ready For A Shock, Political Outrage...And Unexpected Benefits
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08.21.08
It's been a matter of faith in many US States that the free market is good - especially good in the matter of deregulation of power distribution and generation - because 'it will bring low prices and high reliability'. Being highly principled is less fun, now, that the opposite outcome is on the horizon for several states. And this, before any carbon cap and trade or carbon tax has even been applied!...
A Renewable Raffia Clutch, Vegetarian Kung Pao and Green Mending Materials
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 08.21.08
:: Sport a cute clutch made out of renewable raffia.
:: Give dinner some kick with Vegetarian Kung Pao.
:: Repair Junior's tattered teddy with green mending materials....
Green Boroughs Teaches Sustainability in NYC
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.21.08
Image source: Getty Images
This October, Green Boroughs will be offering a 4-part sustainability course led by Les Judd. The course will include a green walking tour around Manhattan, presentations by green business leaders, as well as tips on how you too can live sustainability in the big apple.
The course is only $39 per participant and is being offered through the Borough of Manhattan Community College Continuing Education Department. The classes will be held October 7, 12, 19 and conclude on the 21st with two-hour long panel presentations by area green business owners....
PETA to Buy Sea World
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.21.08
Image source: Getty Images
No we're not kidding. The San Diego Union Tribune reported this morning that as Anheuser-Busch, owner of SeaWorld, is about to be gobbled up by Belgian brewer InBev, they are looking to rid themselves of their theme parks and just focus on the beer. PETA has put in a proposal for at least one of the available parks - Orlando, San Antonio or San Diego - to be funded by an anonymous donor.
InBev is hoping to sell the parks as a package, though it says it may sell them individually - PETA is only proposal to purchase one park. PETA does not plan on closing the park, but instead would put the animals in marine sanctuaries, possibly set some free in the future, and setup a virtual reality theme-park at the current location. InBev calls the proposal a "publicity stunt" and the Alaska SeaLife Center says that release is nearly impossible and that a marine sanctuary would still be hard on the animals, "because the animals would still need the care of humans."...
The End of Aviation: What Will Happen When We Can't Afford To Fly?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.21.08
Flying prop isn't so bad.
Bradford Plumer writes in the New Republic about the most radical transition that we may have to make in the post-carbon world: the end of cheap commercial flight. Airlines aren't very profitable with expensive fuel, and 25 have gone belly up this year already. Canadian transportation experts Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl suggest that oil prices will reduce domestic flying by 40% by 2025, even with a 50% increase in fuel efficiency. The US might go from 400 major airports to 50, and "instead of dozens of flights each day between New York and San Francisco carrying 200 people apiece, there might be only a handful carrying 800 or more in new extra-jumbo jets."
It might be like the 50s again- "flying was a special event: You could hardly find a ticket from New York to Europe for less than $5,000;[probably $50K in today's dollars] men put on suits, women wore hats and heels, and some of the luxury planes, like Pan Am's Clipper, had bridal suites, dining salons, and beds."...
Home Detox Improves "Real Age"
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.21.08
Image source: Getty Images
Here's a fun, little game: Wanna find out what your years of late-night clubbing and social-smoking have done to your health? Yikes, on second thought... Well, the RealAge.com will take you through a series of questions on genetic health risks, exercise and even how happy you are with your s.e.x life - each of which affects what they term your "real age." Your real age is not your birthdate but the idea that how you treat your body may shorten or lengthen your timeline.
Interestingly enough, one of the suggestions they give to improve your "real age" is to detox your home. The list includes roughly 3-5 tips to improve every room in your house, including don't microwave food in plastic containers, use cedar-chips instead of mothballs and use deodorant instead of antiperspirant. Clearly these are things that we have touched on at TreeHugger, but its interesting to note that not only are these things important for the environment, but also that they are recommended to "put years back on your life." Age is so just a number....
Water: The Hidden Cost of Your Food and Drink
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.21.08
Yet more wonderful photographs in the Guardian, in a photo essay showing how much water is used for everything from pigs to tea. It is part of a series on water, including an excellent article on water footprints and an editorial that concludes that "All of us need to apply as much rigour to reducing our water footprint as we have begun belatedly to apply to the reduction of our carbon one." ::Guardian
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Here's One More (Super Fast) Way To Power A Vehicle With Wind
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08.21.08
Last week, in the post "Six (Or 7) Ways To Power A Vehicle With Wind" I left out a super-fast land yacht now waiting for perfect weather in Perth to try to set a world record in wind-powered land-yacht speed (didn't even know there was one of those, did you?)
Ride Like The Wind, Greenbird
Engineer Richard Jenkins has built the Jetson's/Forumula 1 version of those wind-powered vehicles right now racing the beaches at Race Aeolus 2008 in the Netherlands. Jenkins' craft, named Greenbird, now has a sponsorship deal with U.K.-based Ecotricity and sports its logo, and Ecotricity's managing director will ride along when the wind and the weather gets good enough near Perth for the record-breaking attempt (the previous 1999 record is 116.7 miles per hour).
Vertical sailing wing, rather than a turbine
Instead of a turbine, either vertical or horitzontal, Jenkins' craft has a rigid vertical wing like an aircraft's wing, which theoretically allows it to travel at six times the speed of the wind. Jenkins told the Guardian:"Top speed is actually quite scary. The structure and tyre grip is all at the limit, so keeping it in a straight line under full control takes full concentration."Jenkins has a quest to become the fastest naturally-propelled human, which may not help those of us just wanting a reliable vehicle that uses a sustainable, renewable source of power, but it is still a bit thrilling. Jenkins will also pursue a naturally-propelled ice speed record in Montana this winter. Via ::The Greenbird Project Read more on Wind Powered Vehicles Ventomobile, World's First Wind-Powered Race Car, Ready For Primetime The Volitan: The Solar/Wind Powered Concept Sail Vessel...
Monkey-wrenching Bike Plans in San Fran
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.21.08
Image source: SFCitizen
The San Diego Union Tribune reports this morning that, while most cities are seeing a huge growth in bicycle-ridership, San Francisco has a bit of a cog in the wheel. 65-year old Rob Anderson thinks bikes might actually be more harmful for the environment and has demanded an environmental impact assessment from the city, ultimately halting the city's massive pro-bike plan rollout.
New bike lanes, bike racks and even a possible bike sharing program with an aim to increase ridership 10% by 2010 are all on halt until the city can quantify the environmental impact such a change might have. Bike riders, on the other hand, are furious, but nothing has worked, from protesting outside of City Hall to threatening to bring the issue to local voters....
Environmental Photographer of the Year Award
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.21.08
Natural world, runner up: Green steps, Ly Hoang Long, Vietnam. Terraced paddy fields for rice require large quantities of water and have an adverse environmental impact because of the amount of methane gas growing rice generates. World methane production due to paddy fields is thought to be between 50m and 100m tonnes a year.
CIWEM, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, sponsors an Environmental Photographer of the Year Exhibition. "Over 1,400 pictures were entered into the competition, examining issues such as poverty, climate change, human rights, leisure, culture, biodiversity and natural beauty. The categories were Changing Climates; A World of Difference; Quality of Life; The Natural World; and a special Under 21 category which had no thematic boundaries."
I liked the photograph above the best, but hey, I am an architect and a sucker for contour maps.
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Solazyme: Millions of Gallons of Algae Biodiesel Within 3 Years
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 08.21.08
The Great Green Goey Hope
While many types of biofuels are far from ideal, there is one that shows more promise than the others: Algae. One of the companies working on algae-based biodiesel is Solazyme (we already wrote about their algae-B100 test-drive), and the latest news is that they are planning to build a new production plant in the next two years with a goal of producing "millions of gallons" of algae oil and biodiesel competitively with fossil fuels within 3 years....
Beauty Lab: Perfect Organics All-Natural Orange Ginger Shea Butter
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.21.08
Biking Across America with WE ADD UP - Day 10: Lights Off
by Carson Poe and Eric Plosky, Boston, MA on 08.21.08
The TH Interview: News Corp.'s Carbon Neutral Empire (Part 2)
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 08.21.08
We all know how green Hollywood wants to appear. We also know how ungreen the entertainment economy can truly be. In the second portion of our conversation with News Corporation’s Director of Energy Initiatives, Rachel Webber grapples with this schizophrenia as she delves deeper into how Murdoch’s media empire plans to both calculate and neutralize its own global footprint. She also serves up some tasty details, like how it took shooting in a submarine for the producers of 24 to discover the power of LED set lights, and how the American Idol finale brought solar power to the Nokia Center. ::TreeHugger Radio Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download. Check