- 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 September 7, 2008 - September 13, 2008
Total this week: 202
India's Mining Boom: Tribal Groups, Poor & Environment Losing Out
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 09.13.08
Photo: Women make up a majority of the menial labour force in the mining industry (CSE)Make no mistake, India has a lot of mineral wealth in the ground. Iron, bauxite, gold, lead, zinc, manganese, coal and copper are some of the dozens of minerals found in almost half of its landmass. However, despite the recent heavy foreign investment into its thriving mining sector, a recent report by an Indian environmental non-profit points out that most of these valuable resources lie in areas that are either ecologically precarious or heavily populated with indigenous peoples – a cause for concern in light of the government’s dismal record of neglect for its tribal communities. New Delhi’s Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released their sixth State of India’s Environment Report last month – titled “Rich Lands, Poor People – Is Sustainable Mining Possible?” – challenging the industry and government’s stance that mining is good for growth and creates jobs. The report presents the state-by-state impacts of mining, highlighting the vast array of socio-environmental issues that India is facing due to lack of regulation and sound policy in its mining industry (preview here)....
Permafrost Holds Twice as Much GHGs as Previously Thought: Over 1500 Billion Tons of CO2 and Methane
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 09.13.08
Image from jurvetson
Following on the heels of a recently published study in the journal Nature Geoscience, which estimated that Arctic permafrost could hold 60% more organic carbon than previously thought, a team of scientists from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has found that the planet's permafrost layers -- comprising an area that covers a fifth of Earth's land mass -- store twice as much methane and carbon dioxide as previously believed.
The results of their study, published in the journal Bioscience, state that permafrost layers located at high altitudes contain over 1500 billion tons of CO2 and methane, or twice the amount of GHG currently present in the atmosphere. ...
Lauren Bush Debuts Sustainable Fashion Line
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09.13.08
Lauren Bush announces sustainable fashion collection
First Niece Lauren Bush announced Wednesday that she was launching her first ready-to-wear collection, one that will be wholly produced in New York using sustainable and organic fabrics such as hemp silk, bamboo, and organic cotton.
Dubbed Lauren Pierce, a politically neutral combo of her first and middle names, the former model's line has been in the pipeline since the beginning of the year. “It’s less about, ‘I have to be an eco line,’” she points out to WWD. “But if I was going to make a line, it was important that it was about low-impact fabrics.”
...
Conflux Festival Hits NYC Streets this Weekend
by Bonnie Hulkower, New York, New York on 09.13.08
Helmet Piece in front of Center for Architecture
Conflux New York kicked off to an interesting start with a panel on Thursday that focused on the psychogeography of rivers. Conflux is a five year-old festival of panels and outdoor performance art, in which hundreds of artists turn New York City into an urban art laboratory, will run for the rest of the weekend. The Center for Architecture is hosting the event’s indoor activities. The outdoor activities include art installations, street art performances, botanical walking tours, scavenger hunts, public-transit expeditions, and solar powered Morse code workshops.
Thursday afternoon's panel, “Persuasive Ecologies”, was moderated by Mark Sheppard and hosted the architects David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang (The Living) and Professor Natalie Jeremijenko (xClinic) as panelists. I knew it would be interesting, as Benjamin, Yang, and Jeremijenko all had fascinating installations up at Eyebeam’s exhibit in the Spring. One of the areas they are all focusing on now is river ecology and water quality, subjects that are especially dear to my treehugging heart.
...
Eco-fying Art Sold Online To Benefit Environmental Causes
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09.13.08
"Liquid Azaleas" by Artist McKenzie
The Eco-fy store is an online art shop where all of the profits from the sold artwork go to environmental causes. The work appears to be done by a semi-mysterious artist referred to only as Artist McKenzie. According to the website, the artist uses sustainable wood frames, either tree-free or recycled paper, and uses eco-friendly inks on all of her works. ...
Co-op America to Become Green America
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09.13.08
Co-op America Goes Green(er?)
After 25 years, Co-Op America is making a pertinent moniker change for the greener. The non-profit organization, with 100,000 members in tow, has long been involved in encouraging the development of sustainable business and technologies. So it makes sense that, in a thrust to update and better advertise their mission, Co-op America will change its name to Green America next year. But why the change now, after a quarter century of pro-green practices?...
Watergoat Stormwater Debris Boom Eats Trash Out of Storm Drains
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09.13.08
Watergoat Trash Debris Boom
Much like its notoriously un-picky mammalian counterpart, the new storm system trash collector the Watergoat from First Earth Industries gathers any and all garbage that coasts through its path. The Watergoat is essentially a storm water debris boom made simple: it’s a nylon net that forms a floating barrier around a storm drain’s outlet, and it can collect up to hundreds of pounds of trash every rain cycle.
Any trash that gets sucked down a storm drain during a heavy rain naturally follows the path of the water current until it’s let out into a river, lake, ocean, or other body of water. Water debris booms like the Watergoat can prevent that trash from seeping out. Yet the Watergoat Island, an accompanying product from New Earth Industries, may actually be the more interesting of the new Watergoat products thanks to its ability to enrich and absorb harmful elements out of a trash-laden lake. Here's how it works. ...
Almond Growers Sue USDA
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 09.13.08
California Almond Growers Sue Over Controversial Raw Almond Treatment
Fifteen almond growers and nut handlers filed a suit against the USDA over a legally mandated treatment of California-grown raw almonds. They growers hope to repeal the mandate. A year ago, the USDA issued a requirement that raw almonds be steam treated or sprayed with propylene oxide (a carcinogen recognized by the EPA) before making their way onto the market. More on the health and market implications of the almond pasteurization requirement below the fold.
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Alaska Governor Palin Lobbied Against Air Quality Improvements At California Ports
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09.13.08
Palin's missive attacks Senate Bill 974, which has been approved by the state Legislature but needs Schwarzenegger's signature to become law...The bill would create a $60 fee for each 40-foot cargo container moving through the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, which together handle more than 40% of the nation's goods.Via LAT, Palin asks Schwarzenegger to veto fees aimed at cutting pollution at California ports Image credit::Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times "A container ship sits idle at the Port of Los Angeles."...
First Ever Skype Phone Made From Sustainable Wood
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09.13.08
The PAPPA* Phone
It’s likely that nobody asked Hulger to make a phone for use with Skype out of sustainable wood. But they did. And the result is an unlikely combo of Skype, a program that’s one of the most satisfyingly realized visions of the future (who’d have thought watching Star Trek 15 years ago that we’d be able to talk to other people’s video portraits from across the world?), and, well, a wooden phone. Something seem anachronistic here? You’d think so, but closer you look, the more the wooden VoIP phone seems to be a winner— the PAPPA* phone is a sleek, sustainable option that laughs in the face of so-called high tech chic. And laughs greenly. Here’s why.
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This Week in the Huffington Post
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.13.08
Large Hadron Collider is Either the Greenest or the Least Green Experiment Ever Made
Someone hit a switch today and began either the greenest or one of the most environmentally disastrous experiments in the world: The Large Hadron Collider. It carries a ridiculous price tag of $9 billion, and requires 14 trillion electron volts of energy. That's the energy equivalent to running all the households in Geneva. Mairi Beautyman
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New Gravity-Mapping, Climate Predicting Satellite Set to Launch from Russia
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 09.12.08
Despite the major improvements made in satellite technology and modeling over the past few years, predicting future climate change remains a tricky matter. Taking into account the often conflicting reams of data provided by researchers and monitoring technologies results in the creation of imperfect models that inevitably fail to accurately represent all aspects of the changing climate.
It is in the hope of tackling this vexing problem that scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) are preparing to launch the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), which will help improve measurements of the Earth's gravitational field and, in turn, improve predictions about climate change. The satellite will help climate scientists arrive at a more accurate picture of the ocean currents, The Guardian's James Randerson reports, by comparing their surface shape with the fluctuations in the planet's gravitational field....
Tinker Bell & Friends Want You to Save Energy
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09.12.08
FDA Discovers Lead in Women's, Children's Vitamins
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09.12.08
Photo credit: Getty Images
Lead, lead everywhere
Lead in cracked paint, candle wicks, lipstick, kids' toys, and vinyl lunchboxes have placed the pernicious heavy metal at the forefront of public consciousness of late. Don't blink now, though, because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has discovered another place where it's managed to rear its ugly head: over-the-counter women's and children's vitamins.
The agency's concern is not without merit, especially when kids are involved. Childhood lead poisoning continues to be a major environmental-health problem in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, resulting in nervous system and kidney damage, learning disabilities, speech and behavior problems, poor muscle coordination, decreased muscle and bone growth, and hearing damage. Fetuses are even more vulnerable, which makes the presence of lead in prenatal vitamins even more repugnant.
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California Coastal Cleanup Day - September 20
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.12.08
Image source: Clean Water Now
Come one, come all. Next Saturday is the annual California Coastal Beach Cleanup and you're invited! People all across California will be participating in restoring beaches all at the same time, next Saturday September 20, from 9am-12pm. Communities will hold beach cleanups but also pass out information on feel-good stuff like recycling, as well as host contests and beach-goers will be serenaded by musicians.
Last year, over 60,000 people participated in the event and removed 900,000 pounds of trash from beaches all over the state of California. The event is so large it has even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the "largest garbage collection." Since the program began in 1985, collectively over 12 MILLION pounds of garbage have been removed from beaches. Come out and see whether you can find the "weirdest" thing on the beach in your community - who knows what you'll find....
Win a Scholarship, Blow an Eco-Bubble, and How to Reuse a Shower Curtain
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 09.12.08
:: Do a little eco-activism on Facebook to enter the chance to win a $1,000 scholarship.
:: Chew gum the green way.
:: Re-shape your old shower curtain into an outdoors furniture cover or kite....
Virgin Music Festival Offers Greener Way to Get Your Groove On
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 09.12.08
Planet Green's Junior Producer, Rebecca Goodman rocks out at the Virgin Music Festival and brings back the eco-scoop.
At 10:30 a.m., on a recent Saturday morning, I began my journey to the Virgin Music Festival in Balitmore which has Pimlico Race Track rocking out the green way. Leaving from West Falls Church, VA, I elected to take public transportation to get myself to what would turn out to be a green-leaning and totally good time. ...
New Powertrain Increases Tesla Electric Roadster Range to 244 Miles and Boosts Torque
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.12.08
1 Gear is All You Need
Tesla Motors, makers of the much talked about Tesla Electric Roadster, has just announced that it has selected BorgWarner to produce the new Roadster 1-speed transmission (ratio of 8.2752:1, can go up to 14,000 RPM).
More Powerful and Efficient
The updated version 1.5 powertrain, which also includes a more powerful inverter and an enhanced motor design, will produce 30% more torque (to 280 foot-pounds) while also increasing the EPA rated range of the electric car by 10% to 244 miles (393 kilometers), up from 221 miles (255 klicks). The ¼ mile time for the car is now in the 12.9 second range.
But what happens to those lucky few who have Tesla Roadsters with the old powertrain?...
Watch Greenland Melting - on the Icecam
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 09.12.08
To raise awareness of global warming, one of the two main newspapers in Greenland, Sermitslaq, has set up an 'ice cam' located on one of the largest inland glaciers, Ilulissat, to show it melting - as you watch! Updated hourly. It seems a sad state that we can watch (it is a bit like watching paint dry) though not really do much.
Melting ice, rising seas
Greenland's inland ice covers 1.7 million square kilometers - about 80 percent of the country's total area, and is estimated to be about 110,000 years old. A NASA satellite shows that about 239 cubic kilometers of the ice cap is melting each year. The faster it melts, the faster the sea rises, the theory goes. Some of the effects of global warming, while they are happening faster in the Arctic, can be considered to be of benefit to Greenland's small human population. Tourism is increasing (though watch out for killer glacial waves), and the country's government is planning on bottling the melting water for boutiques in cities like New York and Tokyo as well as brewing beer from it. Via ::Sermitsiaq.gl
Read more
Greenland Wants to Bottle Iceberg Water
Global Warming Beer: Greenland Brews With Melting Ice Cap
The Upside of Global Warming?...
Idbids a Hot New Eco-Learning Toy for Kids
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 09.12.08
With the school year just beginning and Christmas not too far away there’s a great line of plush toys designed to help teach kids about the world around them that just may work well in the early elementary or PreK classroom or even as a stocking stuffer.
The toys, called Idbids, are a trio of colorful characters that each encourage kids to make “iddy biddy” steps to go green through various activities that work to simplify complex issues and make them easy for kids to understand.
Each character has green feet, it’s very own personality and is dedicated to a particular environmental element.
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The Better Pizza Box, The Stir Around Energy Star and Australia's Fishing Ban
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 09.12.08
Pizza's standard take-out box gets a mean, green makeover.
Has the Energy Star label lost its luster?
A fishing ban is proposed in Australia's Coral Sea.
Eco-Libris reviews the book, In Memory of Central Park by Queenelle Minet.
MTV takes action against greenwashing.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Chandelier from Banana Boxes by Anneke Jakobs
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.12.08
Some say that bananas are going extinct, in which case Anneke Jakobs' chandelier made from Chiquita cases might become quite a collectors item. She made it while she was in school (and is probably sick to death of bananas), but you can download the plans and make it yourself. ...
"Please, Global Warming, can I at least have this?"
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.12.08
Via Digg
Because nature is beautiful and most of us probably don't take enough time out of our day to admire it, we put more photos of polar bears below the fold.
See Also: Bear vs. Bike: Cyclist Hits 300-Pound Black Bear...
Russia Again Claims That More of the Arctic Should Be Its Domain
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.12.08
photo: Stewart Williams
As more and more Arctic sea ice melts and it really starts sinking in that exploration for all the oil and natural gas trapped under that ice may be getting a whole lot easier sooner than we imagined, it’s not too surprising that Russia would reiterate its claim to a large chunk of those resources. According to international treaties each nation is entitled to a 200-mile economic zone off their coastlines, but Russia isn’t having it:...
California Considers Legislation to Reward Driving Less
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.12.08
Image source: Getty Images
California State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is proposing legislation that would allow insurance companies to lower rates for drivers that cut back on drive time, which could come in effect as early as next year. Two kinks still need to be worked out. The first that drivers would have to prove that they are in fact driving less, either by supplying maintenance receipts or odometer readings. A GPS or other electronic device is not part of the program. The second: the program would be voluntary for insurance companies to adopt. Though some insurance companies already offer a similar program so it would be up to customers to encourage their provider to get on board.
Benefits include fewer cars on the road (obviously) so less traffic, fewer traffic accidents, less pollution and customers would save money both on gas and insurance. Environmental Defense Fund reports that if 1/3 of Californians join the program, it would save 55 million tons of CO2 by 2020, equal to removing 10 million cars from the road. In 2000, California had 23.4 million registered vehicles and drivers logged 280 billion miles annually. No word yet on whether this will be linked to improved public transit programs or other alternative driving campaigns. Poizner is a possible GOP candidate for the next California Governator in 2010....
Romantic & Green: Illinois Couple Buys Solar Power System Using Wedding Registry
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.12.08
I do... Want Solar Power
Our friends at the Daily Green have a nice heart-warming story about Sarah and Kiril Lozanov, a young couple who decided to use their wedding registry to go solar. They couldn't afford the 1.7kw solar system needed to power their 800 sq. ft. condo by themselves.
"As we curled up to create our gift registry, we talked about the kind of life we wished to lead,” recalled Sarah Lozanov, a renewable energy specialist at Solar Servicein Illinois. “We thought about the clean, healthy world we value, and concluded that the only thing really wanted was a solar system,” she said.
Read on to find out how they educated their families about solar power and what commitments they had to make to their homeowner’s association....
Corporate and Educational Cafeterias Build Sustainable Food Systems
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 09.12.08
Lunch at Google by Bret L. via flickr
Grocery stores and restaurants are responding to the consumer demand for more sustainable food choices. And while this increased demand has created more markets for organic, local, and small-scale farmers there's a whole other sector of the food services industry that is making local and sustainable food systems stronger.
Google's Cafe 150 received rave reviews when it opened in early 2006. The internet giant received lots of media attention for their efforts, but more in acknowledgment of the cafe as another in a long list of great perks for employees. But, Google's cafe is by no means the first or only corporate lunch room to approach sustainability....
Prince Charles Thinks Financial Ecosystems Markets Best Bet to Stop Deforestation
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.12.08
photo: Greenpeace Esperanza
The last time Prince Charles graced this site was when he was (cough) more than slightly critical of GM crops. In fact he called them potentially the “biggest environmental disaster of all time.” While statements like that are bound to cause controversy on a number of fronts, the Prince’s statements earlier this week that we need a sense of “wartime urgency” about rainforest conservation can probably be embraced with less hubbub. His suggested method may still cause a stir:...
Toyota and EDF Testing Plug-in Prius in UK
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.12.08
Plug-in Hybrid Trial
Toyota and EDF (Électricité de France) has had a partnership to test plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) for over a year now. It started in France, and it is now expanding to the UK. The plug-in hybrids are modified Toyota Prius hybrids. Extra NiMH battery packs extend their all-electric range, and they can be recharged from the grid (something the regular Prius can't do).
Plug-In Prius Hybrids in the UK
According to Toyota (pdf), "The UK partnership is designed to evaluate vehicle performance within an urban environment, vehicle infrastructure requirements, and driver behaviours and expectations." Read on for more on the UK trial....
Encinitas, CA - Latest City to Ban Plastic Bags
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.12.08
Image source: San Diego Coastkeeper
Last night, the Encinitas, CA City Council Natural Resources Committee voted to draft a ban on plastic bags, which may include a fee for customers use of any single-use plastic bags and paper bags as reported on KPBS. Next, its up to the City Attorney's office to develop language and guidelines for the program, which may be up for a vote this November.
The City of San Diego, the second largest city in California, is also considering a similar ban, as is the state of California. The California Ocean Protection Council is looking at not only banning plastic bags state-wide, but also requiring that all take-out container manufacturers take their products back and properly dispose of them. Countries around the world have already banned the bag. Coastal cities in the US - San Francisco, Annapolis, Manhattan Beach and now Encinitas - tend to be the first to enact similar bans....
Pimping My Pod
by Earthwatch Institute on 09.12.08
The gang's all here! From left to right, John (from Everything Under the Sun), Ray (from Ray’s and Sons) and Jeanine (the author of this blog in the vintage gown from the Patriot’s Ball, who's super happy to have finally gotten her Smart Car last week!).
My pod? The Jeanine corner of the Earthwatch world involves itty-bitty blinking blue lights, a jungle of plants, traditional weavings in screamin’ neon. Camel-hair Persian rug stretched out on the floor. Mirror ball hanging in one corner of the ceiling, gen-u-ine crystal in the other. Cheeky West African doll lounging in front of books with too-long titles. “Wag more, bark less;” and “be the change you wish to see in the world” (Gandhi) tacked onto the shelves. Plus more assorted bling.
Such are the decorative solutions of a displaced (Northern) California gal, who transported herself to the middle of a tiny New England mill town in the dead of winter. Sometimes, as I was picking my way down through the icy streets in my 4-inch heel boots, funkadelic stockings, and Pink blaring on the iPod, the cold, the piles of snow, and the dreary grey skies were so surreal I’d laugh out loud. But I did this willingly, folks! Earthwatch has that kind of pull....
Intel Launches Less-Toxic Halogen-Free Xeon CPUs
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.12.08
Halogen-Free CPUs
Chip-maker Intel has announced that is has started shipping four halogen-free Xeon processors (series 5200 and 5400). The chips are functionally the same as the previous versions, and they are drop-in compatible.
What's Wrong With Halogens?
Halogens might not sound that bad because we're familiar with the word (all those lamps), but the Halogen family includes fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine. "Halogens are highly reactive, and as such can be harmful or lethal to biological organisms in sufficient quantities." Now, we're not saying that your CPU is dangerous to you (don't try too eat it, though), but over the manufacturing of millions of them, it adds up to a lot of halogens. Removing them will no doubt make electronics recycling safer....
And the Winner Is...Ormat Buys Geothermal Exploration Rights on Alaskan Volcano
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.12.08
photo: USGS
Just a quick update to a post done back in July on the geothermal exploration rights on several Alaskan volcanoes being put on the auction block. Mount Spurr, a snowcapped 11,070 foot tall volcano about 75 miles west of Anchorage was the first one up and Ormat Technologies is the lucky winner.
The Reno, Nevada-based company paid $3.3 million for the right to investigate the geothermal power potential of 15 of the 16 tracts being offered for lease on Mt Spurr, Cleantech reports.
I just love the understatement used by Ormat in talking about their plans:...
Graphic Of The Day: US Federal Energy Subsidies And Support, Fiscal Year 2007
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09.12.08
Take the Lipstick Off the Renewables Subsidy Pig and it's a Different Animal.
To grasp the meaning of this bar chart, you have to know which line items are embodied in the big ticket items. For example: "Ethanol production received $3.0 billion in blender’s credits under the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, exceeding any conventional or renewable fuel." That's a three billion dollar pig feeding from the public trough, making food more expensive for humans and real pigs! Subtract that oinker and the renewables bar would drop down to fourth place (total of $1.9 billion for non-ethanol renewable energy support).
Wind subsidies come under the Electricity category: "The estimated value of production tax credits to wind producers in FY 2007 was $666 million." So, roughly half of the 2007 subsidies for electricity went to wind. If Congress actually renews that credit, which is looking doubtful for this year, look for that wind number to become a great deal larger in FY 2009. Story and graphic via::USEIA, How much does the Federal Government spend on energy-specific subsidies and support?...
Las Vegas Hummer Dealership Switches to SMART Cars and Vespa Scooters
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.12.08
Hummer Excessive Even for Bling City
Dan Towbin's Hummer dealership in Las Vegas is one of the biggest in the USA. It was even featured in the "King of Cars" documentary on A&E. But the time they are a-changin', and the Vegas Hummer dealership will soon shut down, making it at least the 8th Hummer dealership to close in the US.
Reborn from the Ashes, Smaller & Smarter
But Mr. Towbin has plans. ACcording to the WSJ, he wants to open a Smart car dealership, and he's already selling many other brands including Vespa scooters. From Hummers to Smarts and Vespas. Not bad....
Sarah Palin Shifting Position on Global Warming Cause? Stands Firm on ANWR
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.12.08
NY Fashion Week: Unique Designs Make a Splash at Eko-Laborative
by Blythe Copeland, Great Neck, New York on 09.12.08
Image Credit: Jordan Benaderet
Mass-produced, chemically dyed clothes do plenty of environmental damage, both here and abroad, but they also don’t do much for your personal style—there’s a good chance you’ll end up looking just like everyone else. But the handcrafted, sustainable pieces at this week’s Eko-Laborative exhibition, presented by Eko-Lab and Ekovaruhuset were anything but cookie cutter. Each was made of organic fibers—cotton, linen, hemp, wool—and colored with Earthues natural dyes. Crocheted jewelry, hand-mined gems, vintage charms, and striking headpieces finished the looks; read on for some of our favorites....
Can UK's Grid Support An All Electric Car Fleet?
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 09.12.08
Is the UK Grid Ready for Electric Vehicles?
Ecotricity’s Dale Vince has already been busy wondering what the gas station of the future will look like, and is clearly a proponent of the electric car. Now he’s been busy crunching the numbers as to whether the UK grid could take an all-electric car fleet, and the results are good. In the simplest sense, were the country to just add extra capacity to power all cars, it would need a 12% increase in power output – not insignificant, but certainly not impossible either. (Of course Vince is strongly advocating that that extra capacity come from wind turbines and other renewables!) But the story doesn’t end there either – he also points out that much vehicle charging would take place at night, when the grid has spare capacity, and could actually help to cancel out the peaks and troughs of generation often cited as a downfall of renewables:
...
Windbelt, Turbine-less Wind Power Device, Finalist For Curry Stone Design Prize
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.12.08
Windbelt (that device on the table...) charging a cell phone. Photo: Humdinger Wind.
It was nearly a year ago when TreeHugger first reported on the Windbelt , an innovative new wind energy technology which eschews turbines altogether. The technology was a Popular Mechanics 2007 Breakthrough Award winner but we hadn’t heard too much about it since then until now.
Shawne Frayne, president of Humdinger Wind Energy and the Windbelt’s inventor, is one of five finalists for the Curry Stone Design Prize. He’s up against some stiff competition—check out the other Curry Stone finalists— but if he comes out on top Frayne will claim a $100,000 prize. We’ll find out on September 25th when the winner is announced at the IdeaFestival in Louisville, Kentucky.
For those who missed it the first time around, here’s how the Windbelt works:
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Project Interchange's Green Movers and Shakers From Europe Experience Israel Through a Green Lens
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 09.12.08
Israel is a place, which is never not on the news. A Washington-based organization Project Interchange, is hoping that some of Europe’s “green” leaders will get in touch with a little more than the ongoing conflict that they see on the TV.
On September 20th to 27th, a delegation of European leaders will be in Israel. They include influential environmental journalists, policy makers from the World Bank and the EU parliament; energy and climate change specialists, as well as activism leaders. These rising leaders will meet with their Israeli counterparts (such as Gidon Bromberg) to learn firsthand some of Israel’s strides and setbacks, when it comes to the environment.
The 7-day whirlwind tour will include a tour of Hiria (Tel Aviv’s rehabilitating garbage dump); they will visit the very hot geothermal company Ormat (also working in biodiesel); they’ll see solar fields in action, will learn about the dying Dead Sea at the Dead Sea –– and much more. They will essentially experience different shades of “green” in Israel –– meeting the who’s who –– and get a chance to discuss and debate with their Israeli counterparts along the way. ...
Killing Rare Animals Funds Terror
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 09.12.08
Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty (National Geographic)
Though some feared the Rwandan genocide and decade-long civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had driven it to extinction, the rare Okapi still stalks World Heritage site Virunga National Park, according to the first ever photos of the animal in the wild, released yesterday.
A deer-like creature known for its zebra-like stripes, the okapi (pron. oh-cop-ee) is the closest living relative of the giraffe, with whom it shares a long blue tongue. It has a small bump in the corner of its head, a trait that once led to speculation that it was the inspiration for the unicorn. Okapi is so rare it itself was once thought to be mythical.
As a "blood" animal, the okapi is hardly alone. Though poaching and habitat loss are predominant threats, an untold number of vulnerable species have been effected by -- and effect -- war and politics.
Like global warming, the slaughter of animal species can no longer be simply seen as a long-term environmental issue, but as one that directly impacts security -- and leads to human atrocities. ...
EU Biofuels Target Dead, Long Live the Biofuels Target
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.12.08
photo: trasroid via flickr
With the idea that most first generation biofuels really aren’t all their cracked up to be sinking in more deeply—competition with food, increased tropical deforestation and possible species extinction, some having increased net carbon emissions when compared to fossil fuels——the news that biofuel targets coming under fire in the EU should come as any surprise.
Earlier in the summer the then-incoming EU president went so far as to say that setting specific quota levels was a mistake. The focus should be first on determining how much fuel could be produced sustainably and then assessing how much fuel could be produced. Apparently that idea went by the boards as a reassessment of EU biofuel targets has just concluded and the results aren’t all that much different than what was in place before. ...
Berkeley Tree-Sitters Forced To Climb Down
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 09.12.08
After 21 Months, Berkeley Tree-Sitters Surrender
Since December 2006, a community of UC Berkeley tree-sitters has been occupying a 1.5 acre grove on the university's Campus. This Wednesday, the last four remaining people climbed down. Pics of the tree people--and the fate of the trees--below the fold.
...
3Fold Desk From Formtank
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.12.08
The designers tell us that "Environmental Design is on Formtanks' agenda and we're looking towards a more sustainable approach to business. With this in mind the 2d3d Group attempts to produce "more from less" through a simple proposition; utilise a single sheet of steel in the most efficient way."
So they cut this intricate and stunning base out of a single sheet, which is then "then hand formed and immaculately finished by experienced engineers."...
NY Fashion Week: Fashion Brand Preen Goes Green Backstage and Beyond
by Emma Grady, New York, NY on 09.12.08
Supermodel Aline Weber sits in an Aveda Pedicab before the Preen show
Backstage at the Preen by Thornton Bregazzi Spring Summer 2009 fashion show we found Aveda’s four steps to a greener backstage in full swing. Aveda’s reusable liter-sized aluminum water bottles went quickly as models and hairstylists alike wrote their names on bottles and filled and re-filled them with New York City tap water. The organic food, catered by Citi Bakery, was plentiful and Aveda offered their 100% organic tea and coffee in compostable cups. Aveda’s buckets collecting bottle cups were empty which goes to show that people were using the aluminum bottles! Hopefully they will collect some caps as their buckets are now on the set of Gossip Girl, 90210 and Grey’s Anatomy.
Supermodel Aline Weber, while having her makeup applied by one M.A.C.’s makeup artists, thought the Aveda water bottles were a great addition to backstage where water bottles are normally put down and never used again. She explained that this is mainly due to the amount of people and busyness backstage before a show. ...
Cube Prefab by George Nelson
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.12.08
Full Disclosure: George Nelson is my favourite designer and I am sitting at a George Nelson desk. But besides doing wonderful furniture, in the sixties he tried his hand at modern prefab, and some of the ideas are relevant to today.
According to Science and Mechanics, "Nelson’s group threw out the old-fashioned and inefficient ideas inherent in many of today’s conventional houses. They concentrated their thinking on greatly improved performance, mass production materials, extreme flexibility and a minimum of building parts."...
Quote of the Day: Monique Cole on Big Green Exurban Houses
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.12.08
House in Boulder, NOT the house discussed in the article...
According to Rachel Levitt in Utne, The Boulder County Business Report called Ron Abramson's new net zero energy house, built using "cradle to cradle" principles, "The Greenest home in North America."
However in the High Country News, Monique Cole notes that a) it is 6,500 square feet, and b) it is 10 miles outside of Boulder. She writes:
"But how can size not matter when it comes to green building? The resources required to build and furnish a larger home need to be factored in, as well as the fuel expended and pollution created to transport those resources to the site. Big homes like the Abramsons' often are built far from urban centers. The rulers of these prairie castles must therefore burn fuel to get to work or an airport. Bigger homes also require more upkeep -- think of the landscapers, housekeepers, window cleaners and dog walkers who have to commute to service the home and its occupants. Adding solar panels and cork floors to one of these mansions is a nice touch, but is this going green, or is it green-washing?"
...
Survey: How Much Control Do You Have, The Sequel
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.12.08
Over a year ago, we did a survey about how we have all kinds of readers who don't have control over big things-"they may rent and can't change the furnace;often they can't even lower the thermostat. They may live miles from transit and have to drive; they may be on campus and don't have wide choices of what they can eat.They may have to wear polyester uniforms." It was our most popular ever, racking up 6812 votes.
When reading the post on Tiny Homes: The Next Little Thing I thought: "I am stuck in the house I have, I can't sell it right now, I can't make this kind of change." and I wondered how many of us are stuck in circumstance by job, family, the housing meltdown, that know what they have to do, what they should do, but just can't.
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Let's Make a Deal: Swapping Chocolate for a Bed
by Bonnie Alter, London on 09.12.08
In these crazy credit crunch times, bartering and swapping have become more and more popular as a way to exchange goods for services without laying out any cash. There is food swapping at markets (you take my zuccini and I'll take your chutney) and now in Lewes they have printed their own money--the Lewes pound--and will be using it as currency in 30 shops in the small town in East Sussex. When you shop in supermarkets 80% of the money leaves the local economy. When you shop locally you are strengthening the whole community.
But Petra Barran has taken the bartering philosophy to the extreme. She has been travelling around Britain in a former ice cream truck called Choc Star and offering homemade chocolate desserts in return for an evening meal and a place to sleep at night.
...
Introducing: The Mamachari Bicycle
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 09.11.08
Head Lice: The Latest Superbug to Become Resistant to Pesticides
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.11.08
Image source: Westchester.gov
While drug companies continue to say its not happening, school nurses around the country are saying more and more parents are at a loss for solutions, reports MSNBC. One nurse even reported a parent, whose child has been battling head lice all summer, was extremely frustrated and unsure what to do next. So why are common medications like Nix, Rid, Ovide and Kwell still prescribed? Simply because they do work on some cases, some of the time.
In response to these superbugs, new salons are popping up all over the US that solely de-louse hair, like Hair Fairies in Chicago. Salons catering to head lice victims first rinse the hair to remove eggs, and then get to work nitting the hair one strand at the time. Kids can play video games, watch tv, read, anything to relax them during the procedure, reports ABC News. Though the procedures can be costly and usually take several visits, though some patients can partially cover the treatment through insurance....
An Eco-Conscious Cookbook, Green Classroom Tips and How to Get Crafty with Scrabble
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 09.11.08
:: Calling all foodies and locavores! Delight in the cookbook Roast Chicken and Other Stories.
:: Forward this green classroom tip to your child's school teacher.
:: Don't let an old Scrabble board collect dust. Turn it into unique wall art....
A Picture Is Worth...Best Shop Sign Ever
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
Honda and Yamaha to Make Electric Motorcycles in 2010-2011
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.11.08
Heavy Metal Thunder No More: Wind of Change
All eyes are currently on hybrids (such as Honda's upcoming all-new Insight) and electric cars, but electric motorcycles also deserve some attention (if only because they are less noisy). We've featured a few DIY models, like the Voltzilla and the electric Kawasaki, but so far few big players have made them, which has allowed newcomers like Vectrix to get a toehold. But that's about to change.
Honda and Yamaha to Make Electric Motorcycles
According to Nikkei, "Both firms hope to bring to market electric motorcycles that perform on a par with bikes with 50 cc engine displacements. The vehicles will be powered by high-performance lithium ion batteries."...
Global Warming to Cause More... Kidney Stones
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.11.08
Kidney Stones More Frequent Because of Global Warming
According to a study published in the July 15 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA (and reported in the September issue of Scientific American), Kidney Stones will be more frequent during the 21st century.
It's not exactly making headlines, but according to the researchers, there could be an extra 1.6 to 2.2 million cases of kidney stones by 2050, a 7 to 10% increase on the current numbers. This could cost about 1.3 billion of medical costs, and of course cause a lot of pain.
Why Will Kidney Stones Become More Frequent?
The minerals that are dissolved in urine can crystalize under certain condition, and one of the contributing factors is dehydration. Read on for more details about geographical risk factors....
Fifth US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 09.11.08
Collective Responses to Peak Oil and Climate Change Gain Traction
We already know that there’s a peak oil doom-and-gloom survivalist in many of us, but fortunately it seems like community-focused responses to the end of oil are gaining traction around the world. From the recent arrival of Transition Towns in Japan, through Portland’s Peak Oil Task Force to the continued popularity of Peak Moment TV’s dispatches on peak oil solutions, many of us are not yet ready to lay down and declare the end of civilization as we know it. Organizers of The Fifth US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions will be hoping that this trend translates into high attendance numbers for their event being held in Rochester, Michigan on Halloween weekend – where delgates can attend workshops on everything from community food security to home energy retrofits. Crucially, the conference is seeking to connect the dots between individual efforts and community-wide responses:
...
To Get Over the No-Wheat Hump, Locavores Turn to Local Grains
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 09.11.08
ideonexos via flickr
For eaters in North America living outside of the grain growing regions of the U.S. mid-west and the Canadian prairie provinces one of the big gaps in eating a wholly local diet is the absence of wheat. No bread! No cookies! No beer!
Almost everywhere that has been settled across the continent originally had grain growing in close proximity at some time in the past 150 years. But efficient shipping via trans-continental railways from the bread belt helped push regional local grain to the fringes, and in many places it disappeared. The emerging industrial model of agriculture dictated that a few varieties of high yielding wheat would be grown in the specific locations suited to grow it. To counter this consolidation individuals and communities are rediscovering their local grain chain....
NY Fashion Week: Doucette Duvall's Spring Line Goes Eco-Chic
by Blythe Copeland, Great Neck, New York on 09.11.08
Image source: Wire Image
New York City-based label Doucette Duvall premiered its spring 2009 line—which uses reclaimed fabric and trim for about 50 percent of its materials—with an Americana-themed cocktail party, where voter registration cards and Obama pins made it clear who’s getting the designers’ votes in November. But when it comes to fashion, we’ll throw our support behind the duo’s flirty, fun pieces that mix vintage prints and modern shapes....
Celebs Surf and Bare Feet for Oceans
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.11.08
Image Source: Barefoot WIne
Barefoot Wine is really working hard to push this clean up the oceans thing this summer. First, they partner with Tristan Prettyman to host concerts and beach cleanups. Now they're partnering with hunky celebs to get them to take their shoes and their tops off to raise money for Surfrider. Last weekend Jason Mraz, Flea, Noodles, Chad Lowe, Sal Masekela, Richard Burgi, Peter DiStefano, Brandon Cruz, and David Chokachi all paddled out last saturday for the Barefoot Wine Surfrider Foundation Celebrity Expression Session.
The event was free and open to the public, and cheers went up for every wave caught because that was another $50 donation by Barefoot. In total, over $4,000 USD was raised for the Surfrider Foundation. Almost 2,000 people attended the event, hung out on the beach in Malibu, watched the celebs and caught a few waves themselves. The event was also sponsored by Project Blue. Barefoot Wine has already donated over $125,000 to Surfrider this year. Who knows where Barefoot Wine and their ocean conservation crew will show up next? ...
Kona Donates AfricaBikes to Africa
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.11.08
Image source: Kona Bikes
Kona not only sells good bikes, sponsors riders to jump off things taller than our heads, and promotes recreational and functional biking, but it also is putting those bikes to work all over Africa. Their AfricaBikes program not only helps HIV/AIDS workers deliver medicine, but now the bikes are also being used to ensure that over 6 million people have access to water. The bikes also allow healthcare workers to move from seeing 1-2 patients a day by foot to over 6 a day.
This September, Kona Bikes will donate 100 Africabikes to the World Wildlife Fund for water projects in Tanzania, Africa. The Ruaha River, which supports over 6.35 million people, often runs dry for several months each year. This is not because of climate change, but because of poor river management. In 2005 the Water Users Association was developed to help monitor and maintain the river. Thanks to the bike program, last year was the first time in five years that the river has flown throughout the year. ...
Good Guide Helps You Shop For the Safest, Healthiest Products
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
The website tells us that "One summer a few years ago, Dara O’Rourke was doing what he’d done dozens of times before: putting sunscreen on his five-year old daughter Minju before she went outside to play in the summer sun. The thought occurred to Dara, "I wonder what’s really in this stuff?" So being a Professor at the University of California-Berkeley, Dara researched the sunscreen. What he found was surprising and disturbing: the sunscreen he’d been putting on Minju for years had a toxic ingredient."
So he set up a new venture to provide "the most comprehensive, credible, and useful information in the world, on products and companies delivered whenever and wherever you need it."...
Six New Solar Power Plant Plans Pulverize Old Records
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.11.08
Back in the beginning of the summer we heard about plans to develop what at the time would have been world’s largest thin-film solar PV plant, a 10 megawatt facility outside of Las Vegas. Around the same time a 25 megawatt solar PV plant in Florida (using regular solar panels) was announced. While technically records, both really wouldn’t provide that much power in the grand scheme of things.
Well, oh what a difference a couple of months can make. In the past month alone the scale of some of the new solar power plants being planned has increased such that you really should sit up at take notice. Granted, all of these are either in the planning stages or in the very first phases of construction—it wouldn’t surprise if some of these plans get revised—but still, solar power plants that rival fossil fuel power plants in size is a huge boost for renewable energy. So check ‘em out:
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New Software Compares Food Miles, Shipping Costs, and Time in Transit
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.11.08
Imported tropical fruit in Barcelona. Photo: Marta Piqueras.
The concept of food miles comes up fairly regularly here on TreeHugger and public awareness of how far much of the food we eat travels from farm to plate is increasing. While I’m a hearty supporter of relocalizing as much agriculture as is feasible, I accept the fact that since time immemorial and into the future a certain amount of food in any location will be imported.
As an aid to determining the best method to ship food based on cost, time in transit and environmental impact researchers in Germany have developed a new piece of software that allows you to calculate whether road, rail or water (no mention of air) is the optimum method.
Joachim Kochsiek of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML describes how the software works:
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Reduce Global Fuel Consumption by 75% Tomorrow By Cutting Speed in Half
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
That's what Kris De Decker over at Low-tech Magazine claims. He writes:
If we cut the average speed of all vehicles by half, fuel consumption would decrease by a whopping 75 percent. We quote:
"Breaking speed records was an almost daily happening throughout the 20th century. Cars, ships, planes and trains became faster and faster, year after year. Because the power needed to push an object through air increases with the cube of velocity, this race to ever higher velocities raises energy consumption exponentially."
...
Is Quitting Coal Harder Than Quitting Cigarettes?
by Daniel Kessler, Greenpeace on 09.11.08
When President Bush said that we're addicted to oil should he have included coal as a vice on par with the "black gold?" Yep. After all, we do get roughly half our electricity from coal. But does the coal industry have their own Joe Camel to help us get even more hooked? Not yet, but they do have the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), an organization as good at spin as Philip Morris--and as well-financed. Last week, Greenpeace launched the "Quit Coal, Save the Climate" campaign to draw attention to the dangers of burning coal and to the PR machine trying to keep us from stopping our dependence on it....
100% Wind Power Coming to University of Oklahoma Sooner Rather Than Later
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.11.08
photo: Daniel Jeffries
A month ago the Oregon Institute of Technology announced that it was going to be the world’s first university to be powered entirely by geothermal energy. Now the University of Oklahoma has picked up the use-only-renewable-energy gauntlet and has announced that the school’s main campus will be entirely powered by wind by 2013.
In publicizing the plan, the school’s president said:...
The German Pavilion Tells a Water Cycle Fairytale at Expo Zaragoza
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 09.11.08
At the end of this week, Expo Zaragoza in Spain, an international, 3 months-long exhibition about water and sustainability, is closing its doors. It will leave behind some interesting architecture such as Zaha Hadid’s Bridge Pavilion over the river Ebro, nicely designed river banks, the 76 meter high Water Tower and a green-roofed Business Centre. The latter houses the pavilions of the various participating countries from all over the world. The German Pavilion called ‘Wunderbar’ (meaning ‘wonderful’ in German) was the one we liked most as it has information for both layman and experts on water and the latest innovation technologies. Images after the jump....
Kansas’ Kickapoo Nation Embraces Renewable Energy, Sets Sights on Energy Independence
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.11.08
photo: Jeff Turner
Most people in the US probably have a stereotype of Native Americans having, historically at least, a greater enviro-awareness than some other ethnic groups out there. Last month that stereotype was reinforced with the announcement that the KILI radio station on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota (the “voice of the Lakota people” for those who don’t know it) had erected a wind turbine which is completely powering the station. Now the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas has signaled that it too will be embracing renewable energy:
...
Floating Homes Made From Coffee Cups with Green Walls
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
Since 2000, about thirty floating homes have been built out RexWall, a composite fiberglass panel; we have shown a few of them on TreeHugger. Now Michel Kreuger of Amsterdam's Studio Noach has put together a team with Kohler Prize winning architect Anne Holtrop and Le Mur Vegetal inventor Patrick Blanc to build the ultimate floating home that is green in so many ways. The clincher: the Rexwall panel is made of recycled polystyrene hamburger clamshells, coffee cups and packing material. Kreuger calls it "the sustainable solution to packaging pollution."...
Who's Afraid of a Car-Free Day? The Competitive Enterprise Institute, Apparently
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 09.11.08
Transformers: Flipp Table by Daniel So
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
While flipping through the always wonderful Australian Dyson Student Design Awards, we find the Flipp table by Daniel So of the University of Technology in Sydney. There are lots of extending and leaf tables about, and the description is a little over the top:
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The 'Internet for Energy' to be Developed at NC State FREEDM Center
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.11.08
image: FREEDM Systems Center
The move to modernize the United States’ power transmission grid so that renewable energy can more easily deliver on its potential is one which gained some steam in the past week: The National Science Foundation announced that North Carolina State University will host the NSF’s Engineering Research Center for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems or more briefly: the FREEDM Systems Center. (Surely they could’ve gotten an ‘O’ in there somehow.)
The NSF will be supporting the center with an initial grant of $18.5 million, plus $10 million in “institutional support and industry membership fees”. Exactly how will this new center be delivering us our (cringe) freedm?
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Balin, Dwalin, and Palin - It's Freakin' Khazad-dûm All Over Again
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 09.11.08
Remember that massive mining complex from the Lord of the Rings called Moria (aka the Dwarrowdelf, aka Khazad-dûm?) Neither did I - over the last few years, my recollection of All Things Tolkien had been slipping into shadow (heh heh heh), but this little refresher from Wikipedia piqued my interest. As it turns out, our Once And Future Dwarf Kings have a lot in common with a certain timely enviro-political situation....
LiveRoof at the Canadian Green Building Festival
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
Jargon Watch: GeoExchange
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
When I previously wrote a post on Jargon Watch: Geothermal vs Ground Source Heat Pump, suggesting that the use of the word geothermal to describe ground source heat pumps was inappropriate, it caused some controversy in comments, including my favourite, (later recanted) "This strikes me as uninformed drive-by "journalism".
It seems that in Canada at least, others agree; the industry here is promoting the term GeoExchange as a better term. Sophie Martin of the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition told me that the ground source heat pump industry was looking for a better description and came up with this, but Google shows earlier uses in the States. They call the installations GX Systems, which sounds a whole lot cooler than GSHP. Wherever it came from, I like it.
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Inhabitots Meet the Maker, Regeneration Talks to Marc Gunther, WorldChanging Retrospective, and More
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 09.11.08
Fake Plastic Fish: Affluence: Sustaining the flow by Beth Terry
"Having affluence means that the good things in life flow toward you. But if affluence is flow, then do those of us lucky enough to have been born into great (relative) wealth have a responsibility to keep the waters moving, to sustain (our word from last month) the flow? Or is it our right to dam it up and stop it, thinking we can keep all the goodies for ourselves?"
Inhabitots: MEET THE MAKER: Kristen Angelo of Boopalina & Bebe by Desmond Williams. "Boopalina & Bebe is a playful, independent children’s eco-lifestyle brand with an offbeat, alternative design edge. Today we’d like to share our interview with Boopalina & Bebe founder Kristen Angelo. This interview is the first of our ‘Meet the Maker’ series where Inhabitots writers go behind the scenes to chat with designers about what inspired them to ‘go green’ and push forward on the frontier of sustainable design for families."...
Human (And Probably Environmental) Cost Of Drilling Tracks Oil's Upward Price Trend
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09.11.08
The fatality rate for oil and gas workers in the U.S. between 2002 and 2007 was more than 29 deaths per 100,000 workers, or about seven times the average for all occupations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.From a preceding period, a reported baseline industry average fatality rate was 21/100,000 full time workers: almost 30% lower. (See CDC citation below if interested in details.) Kill here, kill now, seemingly the unstated the mantra of oil drilling in this decade. There's really no good excuse. Solutions are known. Via::SignOnSanDiego, U.S. oilfield deaths rise sharply. Image credit::USEPA, Oil Drilling Rig...
1000 Megawatt (or Maybe Less...) Wind Power Project Planned for Inner Mongolia, China
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.11.08
China, but not Inner Mongolia... Photo: Leo Kan
Massive new expansions in wind power seem to be waiting in the wings of the public stage. Search the TreeHugger wind power archives and you’ll find announcements for several 500-1000 MW projects, at least one in the 2000 MW range, and of course T. Boone Pickens planned 4000 MW project in Texas. These are all planned for Europe or the United States, but based on the latest announcement from China, it isn’t interested in just understudying the role of big-time wind farm developer.
Though there seems to be some ambiguity about the final size of China Power’s latest plans, if it ends up being at the top end of the range this will certainly be a milestone for China and for wind power in Asia in general. So this is the deal:
...
The TH Interview: TOMS Shoes (Part One)
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 09.11.08
If you have an entrepreneurial itch, a love of shoes, or a distaste for poverty, Blake Mycoskie, the creator of TOMS, is someone you should know about. In an odd twist, Blake took the favored footwear of Argentine peasants and sparked a hipster shoe meme, transmitted by word of mouth. In our interview, Blake tells us about how TOMS got started, what comes next, and what it takes to hand-place thousands of shoes on children’s feet. ::TreeHugger Radio Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download. The music you hear is Bajofondo, from Argentina. For part two of this interview, click here. (Full text below)...
Tiny Homes: The Next Little Thing
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
Steven Kurutz of The New York Times gives good exposure to the small house movement, "whose adherents believe in minimizing one’s footprint — structural as well as carbon — by living in spaces that are smaller than 1,000 square feet and, in some cases, smaller than 100. Tiny houses have been a fringe curiosity for a decade or more, but devotees believe the concept’s time has finally arrived.
“It’s a very exciting moment,” said Shay Salomon, a green builder in Tucson, Ariz., and the author of “Little House on a Small Planet” (Lyons Press, 2006), “because it feels like a chapter of American history might be ending, the chapter called ‘Bigger is Better.’
...
Survey: Do You Offset?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
In his post Confused Which Carbon Offset Service to Use? EDF Lists Eleven They Trust, Matthew wrote that "The issue of carbon offsets is a contentious one: Some people panning them as doing little good or being distracting from the true environmental consequences of our lifestyle choices; other people praise them for providing a method to make a positive difference in the fight against global warming."
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The Net-Zero Energy Now House is Really Boring.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.11.08
I mean, really. Except for the metal roof, the Now House looks just like every other sixty year old postwar veteran's house on the street in suburban Toronto. Everybody knows that a zero-energy house has to look all heliotropy and be covered in green gizmos.
And everybody knows that these old 2x4 houses are not worth renovating. They're sieves, they're heat sinks. As Ruben said in an earlier post: Most old buildings merely slow the wind down. They are abysmally hard to heat, as any reading of period novels will tell you. Even though there are millions of them across North America, everybody knows they are just knockdowns. Net zero energy? Impossible.
And the size? 1350 Square feet! nobody has lived in that since 1960. This has to be replaced or boxtopped (second floor added on) or it is uninhabitable. Everyone knows that a North American house has to be 2500 square feet. I mean, really....
Green Walking Tours of London's Eco-Highlights
by Bonnie Alter, London on 09.11.08
Here's a walking tour that shows a green and sustainable side of London that most Londoners don't even know about. Insider London's Green Tours offer three hours of hard walking and bussing around the town, focussing on the most pioneering, sustainable-design goings-on in the city. The tour takes in the buildings, shops and architecture that make visitors see the city with new eyes. The "Cutting Edge Green" tour stops at brand new buildings which have been built according to sustainable principles; complete with green roof and solar panels. It visits retro-fitted developments and floating barge communities. It also includes organic shops, a fair trade chocolate boutique and a chi-chi hotel. They even ride on a hydrogen bio-diesel eco-bus (who knew!). And for the food and drink stop: a favourite vegan restaurant--Root Master, housed in a decommissioned Route Master double decker bus, parked in a funky part of the east end (pictured).
...
Green Drinks Tokyo: How To Build Treehouses
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 09.11.08
Tonight we are hosting our monthly Green Drinks Tokyo (every second Thursday of the month) in trendy Harajuku. Starting in August, greenz.jp has teamed up with Cafe Omamori and created Lounge Greenz in a three story building where people can come and chill out, just north of OmoteSando.
Last time, we had people lining up outside, waiting to get in, and from the balcony on the third floor we enjoyed a huge fireworks display sponsored by the city. The food is organic and vegetarian dishes are available. Special treat tonight: a talk by treehouse pioneer Takashi Kobayashi (photo).
If your computer is ok with Flash graphics, I recommend the beautifully designed Japan Treehouse Network website.
Treehouse.jp thinks this is a "road to freedom".
Lots of photos at Treehouse Creator
About Green Drinks (now active in 402 cities worldwide!)
Written by Martin Frid at greenz.jp...
How to Save the Climate with a Click
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 09.10.08
A clever German campaign at Click-and-Care shares gorgeous nature photos. But it gets better: sponsors will donate 10 cents (presumably euro cents, so about 15 US cents) for every photo downloaded -- to help green causes. The picture of the day tomorrow will be by Florian Moellers, formerly introduced on TreeHugger in association with Wild Wonders of Europe....
Akeena Solar Upgrades the Only Integrated Solar Panel - the Andalay
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.10.08
Image source: Akeena Solar
When Akeena Solar debuted their Andalay panels last year, it was already a break from the mold by offering the only solar panel that includes an integrated racking, wiring and grounding system. Most conventional systems have to be constructed on the roof and then panels are attached to the racking.
This year, Akeena kicked solar installation up a notch by moving past the panel and upgrading the rest of the racking and wiring. The system now comes with a prefabricated combiner box, which is what combines the wires from the inverter downstream with the wires from the panels upstream. This might seem small, but in the field techs create the combiner box and MC wire runs from lots of different pieces. If there is a problem with the system, this is often one of the first places to check. ...
Congress Readying to Slash Farm Bill Funds Aimed at Protecting Water Quality and Wildlife
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 09.10.08
Image from iLoveButter
I may not agree with him on much, but I do believe President Bush had it right when he chastised Congress for larding up the farm bill with unnecessary subsidy payments aimed squarely at a small, select group of wealthy individual farmers. A hodgepodge of bad policies and pork-laden provisions, there was very little to cheer about the 2008 farm bill. The only redeeming feature, I thought at the time, was a guarantee by the Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to include a number of "historic new investments" in a variety of environmental and conservation programs.
Boy, was I a sucker for being taken in by that empty promise. According to a new report published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the Democratic-led Congress may be on the verge of cutting out those very programs, while otherwise leaving the subsidy programs intact, in a blatant game of bait-and-switch. ...
Beauty Lab: Pharmacopia Lavender Hand Cream
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09.10.08
Moisturizing without being overly greasy, Pharmacopia's delectable-smelling lavender hand cream ($10.25 for 2.7 ounces; 15.50 for 8.9 ounces) dries smoothly without making you feel like you've dipped your hands into an oil slick.
Made with certified-organic lavender extract and aloe vera, along with French lavender and Roman chamomile essential oils, vitamins A, D, and E, comfrey extract, and organic and fair-trade shea butter, this vegan-friendly cream is free from cancer-causing parabens. One ingredient raises eyebrows, however: phenoxyethanol, a preservative and irritant that has been labeled a "moderate hazard" by the Environmental Working Group for its potential toxicity at moderate to high doses. ::Pharmacopia
More Beauty Lab
Perfect Organics All-Natural Orange Ginger Shea Butter
Origins Youthtopia Eye-Firming Cream
Badger Classic Lip Balms Now Certified Organic
Erbaviva Organic Deodorant
BeeCeuticals Organics Bee-Hair-Now
Cup O' Joe...
Logging, Palm Oil and Human Rights in Borneo: Malaysian Government Pushes Ahead By Ousting Indigenous Leaders
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 09.10.08
Image: Assembly of Upper Baram River headmen in 2006 (top left corner: the late Kelesa Naan, former headman of Long Kerong; top right corner: Bilong Oyoi, the deposed headman of Long Sait). Photo: The Bruno Manser FundIn a move to seize control of land belonging to indigenous peoples who oppose logging in the Borneo rainforests, the government of Malaysia is replacing locally-elected community leaders with timber company associates. According to The Bruno Manser Fund, a Swiss NGO that works with the indigenous forest people of the Sarawak in Borneo, the leaders of at least three Penan villages who opposed logging in the region have lost the government’s official endorsement over the past year, along with one headman's mysterious death and the disappearance of one Swiss activist back in 2001. The Penan are one of the world’s last nomadic peoples still inhabiting the primeval forests. Now, the government plans to install puppet representatives who will support the cutting of the rainforest, with the intention of setting up lucrative oil palm plantations. The affected villages now face a pending land rights dispute over the ground upon which they sit....
Slimy, Green Jet Fuel, DIY Upcycling and a Little Ball of Energy
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 09.10.08
Solazyme produces the world's first algae-based jet fuel.
Sustainablog offers six fun DIY upcycling projects.
Will the Energy Ball bring wind energy to the masses?
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
CommonThreadz Donates a Uniform to an Orphan for Every Purchase
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.10.08
Image source: Common Threadz
Common Threadz, not to be confused with Patagonia's recycling program, has a buy-one-give-one type program meaning that for every item you purchase, the store will donate one school uniform to an orphan in Africa. Once Common Threadz pays for the uniform with profits from your purchase, any money left over is then donated directly to the nonprofit associated with the tshirts' design. The current non-profit is the Coalition for Educational and Scientific Literacy Assistance or CESLA, which provides the uniforms to school children, among other things.
Why is this program so important? No school uniform = no school for many children in South Africa. This program is doubly important as the uniforms are going to children who don't have a family to purchase uniforms for them. Each of the designs is created by a famous artist or celebrity, so there isn't one distinct look for the tshirts, though most of the themes deal with nature or people in some manner. The t-shirts are limited edition (only 250 printed), and most are 100% organic - they will all be printed on 100% organic tees by next year - and they use water based inks. Common Threadz is also working towards a zero carbon footprint for all of its operations....
A Greener Mexico City, Green Bean Salad and 5 Reuses for: Orange Peels
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 09.10.08
:: Travel green in one of the world's most polluted cities: Mexico City.
:: Make a scrumptious and seasonal Green Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seed Dressing.
:: Instead of tossing your orange peels, put 'em to good use!...
The Alter Eco Touch Lands on $3.5 Million Sustainable Home in Los Feliz
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Los Angeles, California on 09.10.08
Photo: courtesy Richard Byrd
Got three million and change? Get in line. The hottest eco-friendly home on the market is a $3.5 million, LEED Platinum, 1920s Spanish stunner recently renovated by Adrian Grenier’s go-to green expert Richard Byrd of “Alter Eco” fame. The guy may be brand new in the eco-development department, but in this, his first sustainable home, he hits all the marks. Think reclaimed materials like 300-year-old Spanish roof tile, CFL bulbs, solar trees, low-flow sinks and toilets, and a carpet made entirely from post-consumer waste recycled plastic water bottles. (Check out more pics after the jump!) And that's not all...
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NY Fashion Week: Bjork Would Love Hessnatur by Miguel Adrover
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 09.10.08
A fashion blast from the past!
Bjork, the musician who donned that crazy swan dress years ago, would love the German-born, sustainable clothing company, Hessnatur (which we’ve covered before both here and on Planet Green).
It might sound confusing since Hessnatur is better known for being more like a sustainable J.Crew or Gap—think wardrobe staples like basic tees and cardigan sets—and not your everyday swan apparel.
So why might she like the low-key line, you might ask? Here’s the scoop from NY Fashion Week and juicy tell-all photos from the show:...
Better Biofuels Through Bacteria, Part Two: Compost Heap Bacteria Basis for Cheaper Cellulosic Ethanol
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.10.08
photo: Joi Ito
Sorry for the somewhat cryptic title, but with the recent announcement that researchers from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire have genetically engineered a bacteria that could aid in cellulosic ethanol production , and now this following announcement from the UK, it some seemed appropriate. Don’t know if there was any mental cross-pollination here, but the two discoveries share the same principle: By using thermophilic bacteria in the cellulosic ethanol production process, the whole thing can be made more energy efficient. Here are the details:
...
Confused Which Carbon Offset Service to Use? EDF Lists Eleven They Trust
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.10.08
The issue of carbon offsets is a contentious one: Some people panning them as doing little good or being distracting from the true environmental consequences of our lifestyle choices; other people praise them for providing a method to make a positive difference in the fight against global warming. If you’re in the latter camp there still remains the problem of determining which offset service to use. If that’s the question that’s been bugging you, Environmental Defense Fund has the answer:...
New Genetically Engineered Bacteria Could Make Cellulosic Ethanol Cheaper
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.10.08
photo: Andreas via flickr
It’s been a pretty long road to making cellulosic ethanol commercially viable. As it stands there is one demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States, and the the first commercial-scale biorefinery recently received approval back in July. Suffice it to say, cellulosic ethanol holds promise but is a work in progress.
Now comes word that researchers have engineered a bacteria which they say will make manufacturing the biofuel less expensive. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science but Reuters gives the details for those of us who aren’t subscribers:
...
Sunset Junction Zero Waste Initiative
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.10.08
Image source: Beautiful Silverlake
Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce - Green Committee (SLCC-GC) was working overtime at this year's Sunset Junction Street Festival to help both vendors and attendees "Think Before You Toss." As part of their Zero Waste Initiative, the SLCC-GC encouraged the over 25,000 attendees to not only sort their recycling but also to compost.
Attendees could pick up biodegradable containers and silverware as they sampled from over 20 vendors. Kids got a visit from the Bag Monster, who handed out hugs and advice on recycling. Each recycling bin had a Bin Angel to monitor it, and who was allowed to carry away the loot, as California pays for bottles. Several of the vendors made agreements to convert to biodegradable containers, cups, cutlery and bags after attending the event. ...
Energy Policy Crosses Party Lines
by Marian Hopkins, Business Roundtable on 09.10.08
If we’ve learned anything from watching the Democratic and Republican conventions over the past few weeks, it’s that energy policy is at the forefront, both in our policy debates and in the minds of our citizens. Republicans and Democrats alike understand the challenges posed by surging energy prices to our nation’s growth and prosperity.
Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, America’s leading CEOs consider these surging energy prices a serious threat demanding immediate attention by our nation’s policymakers. In fact, our members recently ranked energy prices, along with health care, as their top cost pressure.
At Business Roundtable, we believe in long-term, bipartisan solutions that explore all available energy sources. We need to improve efficiency, invest in renewable energy and promote a diverse fuel mix to meet our nation’s growing energy demands. This mix should explore every possible energy avenue, including wind, solar and geothermal. It should tap the potential of biofuels and nuclear, while exploring cleaner and more efficient ways to put our nation’s abundant natural resources – including natural gas, clean coal and petroleum – to work for the American people.
...New Algae-Based Aviation Fuel Passes Key ASTM Tests for Jet Fuel
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.10.08
photo: Dr Wendy T.L. via flickr
There are a number of companies trying to produce a biofuel alternative to petroleum-based aviation fuels, and a number of airlines have made biofuel test flights using various mixtures of biofuels, but none are yet available in commercial quantities. Another milemarker has been passed on the road to greener aviation (and for the moment let’s overlook the bigger question of whether aviation could ever really be green) Algae-innovator Solazyme has announced that its bio-kerosene has passed the ASTM’s requirements for “Aviation Turbine Fuel”. ...
Lighter Roofs Could Save $1Billion USD Annually
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09.10.08
Image Source: Cool Roof Contractor
In much the same way that more ice/snow reflects UV rays instead of absorbing the heat the way the oceans do (think: feedback loop that results from melting polar ice caps), cities are now giving white roofs a second look as a way to cool cities and fight climate change. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Climate Change Research Conference, held this week, advised that if buildings and road surfaces in 100 of the largest cities in the US were covered with lighter and heat-reflective surfaces the savings could be massive. Roofs account for 25% and pavement account for 35% of surface area in cities.
California has required white roofs on commercial buildings since 2005, but starting next year, all "new and retrofitted residential and commercial buildings [in California], with both flat and sloped roofs, will have to install heat-reflecting roofing." Painting flat roofs white is fairly easy but sloped roofs are more difficult which is why they will be allowed to just install "lighter" roof surfaces. Lighter or metal roofs also help to lower electricity costs by reducing cooling needs. Authors of the study, published in the journal Climatic Change, also report that cooling a city will also reduce smog and offset carbon emissions. Lighter roofs themselves do not directly emit fewer emissions, but they do directly affect other things which emit carbon like the energy needed to cool your home under that dark roof....
Coming Clean -- Free Books For First 25 Treehuggers
by Greg Haegele, Sierra Club on 09.10.08
Friends have told me they're haunted by that "Drill, Baby, Drill" chant and are worried about good enviros they know who seem to be getting soft on the image of more offshore oil rigs. I tell the friend that if they want to bone up on the facts and hear some sound arguments against a continued dependence on fossil fuels -- extracted from our backyard or someone else's -- they should read a new book by Rainforest Action Network Executive Director Michael Brune.
Brune's book, Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal (published by Sierra Club Books), provides a sensible map down the path to energy independence, showing how we, as motivated citizens, can promote real solutions and collectively pressure government and corporations to change their energy priorities.
Brune's been on the front lines of this issue, and he's got a bird's eye view of solutions that are on the ground already, as well as what's around the corner that can hit the market sooner than later. Coming Clean tracks the myriad ways our thirst for dwindling supplies of oil and coal corrupts national policy and international finance, harms poor communities worldwide, and wreaks havoc on the climate. Brune describes the most promising developments in renewables, biofuels, and efficient design, and outlines an inspiring vision of the clean energy future within our reach....
Bottled Water Scourge Countered by Manly Council’s Free Filtered Water
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09.10.08
Photo by Peter Morris, from The Age
Australia’s Manly Council is striving to wean its residents and tourist visitors off bottled water. After Bondi Beach, Manly is possibly Australia’s most well known beach suburb and thus attracts a plethora of visitors who often cross Sydney Harbour by ferry to get there. However being such a drawcard has its downsides, like the sheer volume of single-use, bottled water containers.
So the local municipal council have installed six free filtered-water fountains to “combat climate change and decrease our impact on the environment by reducing the purchase of bottled water and associated waste.” And impact there is. The Age newspaper commenting on the story gleaned figures which suggest that Australians slurped $431 million AUD of bottled water last year.
Thirsty folk are encouraged to either drink direct from the water fountains, (known Down Under as ‘bubblers’) and to fill up their own reusable bottles, instead of buying bottled water....
Graphic of the Day: Shill, Baby, Shill
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
Since this election appears to be coming down to who's got the biggest drill, it is interesting to see from this graph what an impact it will have. Graph from ::Architecture 2030; great title from JCWinnie at ::After Gutenberg...
Hybrid Taxis in New York City Get Challenged on Safety Concerns
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.10.08
photo: Dino Abatzidis
Recently we heard that Boston has mandated that by 2015 its entire taxi fleet convert to hybrid vehicles. At the time I framed that in the context of New York City beginning to do the same thing and the rather predictable protests from taxi owners on the grounds of cost, both when the NYC program began and now in Boston.
Well, in New York the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade has made another attempt to halt the hybrid roll-out, filing a lawsuit to do so, this time on the grounds that hybrids aren’t as safe as the widely used Crown Victorias. In a press release the MTBOT said that the report which it commissioned to look into the safety of hybrid taxis reached the following conclusion:...
Brad Pitt's New Orleans Houses Under Construction
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
Last year we showed the designs for Brad Pitt's Make it Right houses for New Orleans, where he commissioned 13 of the world's top architects to design green, sustainable houses and is building 150 of them. Now they are are under construction.
Above is the Garden Prototype from Kieran Timberlake, "a flexible, integrated system designed to accommodate a range of customizable options from interior program to environmental systems to aesthetics. The proposed design anticipates a transition from stick-built construction in the first generation to local off-site fabricated subassemblies in later generations. "...
Transition Towns Reach Japan: Community Response to Peak Oil Spreads
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 09.10.08
Photo Credit: Green Gables – a Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
Transition Town Fujino Launched
It must be fairly obvious by now that I am a fan of the Transition Towns movement – the speed at which this community-based response to peak oil and climate change has spread across the UK, and more recently across the world, is truly astounding. But when I wrote about Transition Town Totnes’ nut tree project, commenter Sirerdrick lamented that a similar project probably couldn’t happen in Japan. Now it looks like Sirerdrick may be proved wrong, as the official launch of Japan’s first Transition Town has just taken place in Fujino, a progressive community on the outskirts of Tokyo. As always, Rob Hopkins’ excellent Transition Culture blog gives us the scoop on this exciting development:
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Transformers: Extremis Gargantua
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
With a name like Extremis Gargantua, it sounds like it could be in a Transformer movie rather than a piece of transformer furniture, but that's what they call this table designed in 1994 by Dick Wynants. The benches clip onto the sloping legs at a height of your choice, so that it can act as a conventional height bench, a high chair for kids, or if right up at the top, they increase the size of the table so that it can sit twelve. (But you then have to find chairs)
...
Tiny Choices Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 09.10.08
This week is Carnival of the Green # 144 and it's being hosted by Tiny Choices, a blog that about the small choices we all make in the world for the environment, and what kind of impact we want to (or don’t want to) have on it. 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!...
Friggebod by Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
A friggebod is a Swedish garden shed, a way of getting a little more space and a little more privacy. Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter have designed a lovely little 100 square foot cabin/ office/ guest room prefab that is lovely to look at....
Automobile Farming: Making Cars From Soybeans
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
Henry Ford once said "I foresee the time when industry shall no longer denude the forests which require generations to mature, nor use up the mines which were ages in the making, but shall draw its raw material largely from the annual products of the fields"
Science and Mechanics explained how in 1936: ...
California Combats Oil Spills: New Bills Make Their Way Onto The Governator's Desk
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 09.10.08
Sweeping Oil Spill Reforms Pass California Legislature
Almost a year after a huge container ship collided with the Bay Bridge, spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco bay, a sweeping set of bills have found their way onto Governor Schwarzenegger's desk. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the bills are the most sweeping oil spill reforms in California since the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.
Thirteen bills were introduced into the Californian legislature, eleven of which were passed by their August 31 deadline. Check below the fold for more on the California oil spill bills....
The Triplex Outlet: Why Didn't Someone Think of This Before?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
Justin at Materialicious asks "How cool is this?" BoingBoing asks "Why didn't somebody think of this before?! Was there some engineering issue that had to be overcome to allow such an elegant, ingenious and obvious design?"
I can think of a couple of reasons:
1) Nobody needed it when outlets weren't grounded or we didn't have wall-warts;
2) It probably still isn't legal in kitchens where outlets are "split"- two circuits to each plug;
3) Because it is made by one manufacturer and is different than the universal standard, it probably costs five times as much;
4) It probably took five years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get all those approval labels stamped into it;
5) I notice it only has one screw on the side, so it probably is only legal if it has its own breaker.
That is the problem with so much of design- you can have the great idea but the system, the codes and the "way we always did it" grinds innovation to a halt. Designers don't just need an idea and talent, they need guts, persistence and money. Or be named Starck. ::Materialicious via::BoingBoing ...
Survey: Are Dead Tree Newspapers Dead Meat?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.10.08
They thought radio would kill newspapers. They thought TV would kill them. They even thought fax machines might replace them. None did, but there is no question they are on the ropes, with declining circulation, less advertising and higher costs. Now they are grasping at the idea of digital paper, but is the actual concept of having a single source of information like a newspaper dead in this age of a million websites?
...
Virgin Atlantic Recycle Seat Covers into Worn Again Bags
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 09.10.08
Just in advance of London Fashion Week next week Worn Again have launched their second collection of bags made from recycled materials. In the past we have been amazed at the variety of materials the Worn Again team have managed to reuse in their designs, from coffee sacks to fireman's trousers and now airline seat covers! Yes, for the first time Worn Again have teamed up with a huge corporate brand to source reusable fabric. And we like it!
The Worn Again and Virgin Atlantic collaboration is a great example of how big business can work with small innovative brands to create funky sustainable products. The Worn Again Virgin range includes four styles: the Romero and Lydia ladies bags, the Sherman messenger bag and the Ollie washbag, all in various Virgin Atlantic seat fabrics that have been saved from going into landfill. Click over the page to see a close up of the Sherman messenger bag....
Green Theme At International Manga Summit In Kyoto, Japan
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 09.10.08
In Kyoto, Japan, the 9th International Manga Summit was held on September 6-8, 2008 and the main theme for this convention was "Environmental Innovation". Those in charge of the summit note:
Kyoto was the site of the United Nation's Convention on Climate Change. We envision a convention that will boost awareness of sub-themes such as "global warming prevention", "dietary education", and "The 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)", while advocating the passing of the torch of a promising culture to the children and young people responsible for the next generation.In fact, comic arts in Japan has a long tradition of using the screen or manga book to convey environmental messages as important parts of the plot. One of the pioneers, Tezuka Osamu, was way ahead of the times with his early trailblazing works from the 1940s and 1950s, often set in a future filled with robots and high-tech gadgets - and Astroboy as the hero helping the underdogs against unfair destructive development, as in the classic episode of Red Cat from 1980 that you can watch below the fold!...
Stamp Your Letters With Endangered Species
by Bonnie Alter, London on 09.10.08
A new series of stamps from the Royal Mail has been issued to commemorate ten endangered species in Britain. The almost-gone insects range from the stag beetle to the Adonis blue butterfly. They include the red-barbed ant and the hazel pot beetle. Then there is the noble chafer, the southern damselfly, the barberry carpet moth and the purbeck mason wasp. All of them vulnerable or endangered. They are part of the "Action for Species" series which highlights endangered species and were photographed from specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London. It has a comprehensive collection of 28 million specimens.
...
eBook Review: Simple Solar Homesteading (or How to Build a Solar Home For $2000)
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 9.08
Image Source: Simple Solar Homesteader ebook
LaMar Alexander, is one eco-friendly-building-machine and he's ready to share a few things he's learned along the way in his new ebook, Simple Solar Homesteading. This book is not for just anybody, as the house is small, the appliances are few and while you can get creative in the interior design and layout, there isn't much room for furnishings. Still, for those of you looking to build a vacation home or who don't need a ton of "house," then this guide is a great start in helping you visualize what it would take to build your off-grid dream home in the woods.
At least 12 different projects are included in the book, complete with pictures, step by step instructions, a resource/materials list and costs. Lamar did each of these projects himself on the cheap and if he can do it, you can do it. DIY'ers beware: while all of these projects sound quaint, there is a lot of work to install them and even more involved in maintenance once they are up and running. Even if you aren't planning on building a new home, the tips on building a rainwater catchment system or a solar oven are helpful and could be constructed without building permits or major construction....
2008 Go Green Earth Summit Ready to Inspire, Educate
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 09. 9.08
If you’re looking for the place where committed teachers, parents, administrators government officials and a whole host of other school related and not-so-school related personnel get together to compare best practices and stimulate their nerve endings when it comes to environmental issues and our schools there’s no better event than the Go Green Earth Summit, and the conference this year is next month in Syracuse, NY.
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Edible Journey: The roots of my love for food
by Stephen Brooks, Punta Mona, Costa Rica on 09. 9.08
How to Dry Fruit, Green Your Dorm Room and Tying the Eco-Knot
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 09. 9.08
:: Are you a dried fruit fiend? Invest in a fruit dryer to save money, packaging and waste.
:: Impress your study group with your eco-luxe dorm room--inspired by our How to Go Green: Dorm Rooms guide, of course!
:: Tie the knot the eco-way with these tips for greening your bridesmaids....
Recycled Reee Chair Resurrects Old Playstations
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 09. 9.08
Recycled Chair from Used Games Consoles
We’re all about finding new life for old goods here at TreeHugger. From jet planes becoming hostels to Worn Again recycled shoes made from parachutes, thrift-store cast offs and even prison blankets, recycling really comes into its own when you can use the story behind the source material to your advantage – it’s kind of neat to know that the product you just bought had a previous life. Hats off then to UK-based Pli Design who should gain the interest of ardent gaming fans with their new Reee Chair, created from plastic recycled from used computer games console casings. What’s even better for sustainability geeks like myself is that the chair is designed for future repair, or further recycling:
...
Seven Rotating Houses and Towers That Turn Our Crank
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Roof of Rolf Disch's Heliotrop House.
Passive solar through windows or active solar though hot water or photovoltaics work best when perpendicular to the sun. So cue up Paul McCartney's "I'll follow the sun" and see seven houses and towers that are designed to do exactly that. ...
Georgian Residents Aren't Buying Green Power Plans
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 9.08
Image source: Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
Many cities and states have a green energy option on their electric bills where consumers can pay a few more dollars and know that their money is going to support renewable energy applications. Residents in Georgia (US) aren't buying it, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. In fact, less than 1% of the state is participating in Georgia Power's Green Energy Program, thats 1/10 of the national average for similar programs. Most feel that the additional $4.50 they would have to pay is too much compared with what they actually receive. Georgia Power only gets 1% of its electricity from renewable sources, most of which comes from landfills.
In a survey conducted in 2003, before the start of the program, 35% of respondents said they would pay up to $5 more for green energy. So why the poor results? One reason: the Georgia program is one of the most expensive in the nation, particularly on top of already rising energy costs. Oddly enough, most of the renewable energy comes from the cheapest sources. Another problem: Most people don't know the problem exists. Third reason: The recent dismantling of Florida's Sunshine Energy after investigations determined that 3/4 of the money was used for salaries and marketing materials left neighboring states skeptical. Most of the toughest critics are environmentalists who see the program as not much more than greenwashing. So what can be done?...
Concentrator-Solar Photovoltaic Power at a Quarter the Cost: Morgan Solar Sun Simba HCPV
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 9.08
I was going to wait until Morgan Solar actually opened its demonstration project at the Earth Rangers Center in Ontario sometime later this month, but after seeing some more info on their new concentrating-solar technology in Greentech Media I couldn't wait.
The payoff first: Morgan Solar claims that its new technology will cost one-quarter as much as traditional concentrating-solar. Quite a claim, but how will Morgan Solar's system, which they've dubbed the Sun Simba HCPV (High Concentating Photovoltaic), actually work?...
Cattle Ranchers Want Goats
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 9.08
Image source: Getty Images
Cattle ranchers in Nebraska are increasingly turning to goats to get rid of their weed problems. Referred to as "walking weed eaters", the North Platte Telegram reported this morning that cattle will bypass the weeds for the grass, but the goats will go straight for the weeds - eating, trampling and fertilizing the entire pasture. This is important for farmers in a state where it is legally mandated to keep invasive weeds down.
Goat farmers who make cheese and milk are finding that customers are increasingly calling not just for the dairy but for the goats themselves to come clear out their fields. This is great for dairy farmers who get free food, fat/shiny goats and can help keep herbicides out of area land and waterways. The idea is being promoted by the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition as an alternative to using chemicals and pesticides to control weeds. The Nebraska Natural Resources Conservation Service is also getting on board by helping pay area farmers to use goats instead of chemicals....
Amex Cardholders, Time To Vote on the Finalists at Members Project
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Eve Blossom of Lulan
We asked you once already to Vote for Architecture for Humanity and Lulan at Amex Members Project. It is a great project, run by Eve Blossom, where "we currently support over 650 weavers,spinners,dyers and finishers using a holistic approach to produce eco-fabrics in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and India. Our goal is to increase the number of artisans to over 6,000, thus expanding our reach to more weaving families and communities."
Now we learn that enough of you did vote for Architecture for Humanity's submission got into the top 25, with a good chance of being one of the 5 that gets funding. It's time for the vote-off.
But there is a catch- first time around anyone could vote; the final round is only open to cardholders. I don't know how many TreeHuggers carry American Express cards, but if you do, go to membersproject to vote. If you don't but know anyone who does, get them to vote. That prize money will be put to very good use. ...
Photos of Production GM Volt Accidentally Leaked!
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09. 9.08
Oops, Photos of Production Volt Leaked
Finally, a look at the production version of the GM Volt plug-in hybrid. These are from a media site (explaining the guys in suits standing around - they are engineers who worked on the Volt), and according to the Detroit News, the leak was accidental.
Less Edgy, More Mainstream
As you can see above (and many more photos below), the production Volt is a lot less angular than the concept Volt. It looks a lot more like a normal car, taller and less sporty, but more practical. While some car nuts will mourn the loss of some of the distinctive traits of the concept volt, we're pretty sure that this new look, which is closer to the Mazda 3, will attract more buyers. Read on for more photos.
Update: GM Releases 2011 Chevy Volt Photos & Specifications! (Tons of Photos)...
Cool Animated Video: Humans As Virus
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 09. 9.08
Digital Newspapers Coming Soon- Does Anyone Care?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Many of us have become quite comfortable reading our newspaper at breakfast on a laptop screen, albeit with the occasional butter on the touchpad. But the newspaper companies are still dreaming about the electronic substitute that would end their struggle with rising production and delivery costs.It would also be far greener, saving thousands of trees and tons of fossil fuels.
Eric Taub writes in New E-Newspaper Reader Echoes Look of the Paper in the New York Times, that "Plastic Logic will introduce publicly on Monday its version of an electronic newspaper reader: a lightweight plastic screen that mimics the look — but not the feel — of a printed newspaper."
Richard Archuleta, the chief executive of Plastic Logic, said the display was big enough to provide a newspaperlike layout. “Even though we have positioned this for business documents, newspapers is what everyone asks for,” Mr. Archuleta said."...
With Divine Blends, the Art of Tea Lives up to Its Name
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 9.08
Image source: Planet Tea
Actually that's their name, Art of Tea, and they create hand-crafted, organic, fair trade teas. I sampled the "Tropical Pineapple" blend tea and was surprised from the first taste with all of the flavor. You could actually taste the pineapple and mango in the tea as there were chunks of it floating among the loose tea leaves. Some sweet teas make you feel like you've just drunk a mouth full of potpourri, but this tea was just nice and refreshing.
The vision behind Art of Tea began in 1996 when CEO Steve Schwartz studied at the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico and since then has traveled the world looking for the best tea leaves and also supporting local farmers. Art of Tea also includes other eco-friendly practices like refillable tea mugs made from corn and biodegradable tea bags. If you're interested in customizing a tea blend, they can help you out with that as well. ...
Steve Jobs: New Apple Nano iPods to be Greener
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09. 9.08
New iPod Nanos 4G: Taller & Greener
Our friends at Gizmodo are covering Apple's media event today, and Jason Chen wrote on Gizmodo's Live Coverage Site:
"He’s now talking about the environmental concerns that Apple’s thinking about. These new nanos are using arsenic-free glass, BFR-free, mercury free, PVC-free and highly recyclable. Jobs says it’s the “cleanest” most “toxic free” iPods they’ve ever made."
Sounds like a step in the right direction! We hope that Apple will keep going and take leadership in the field of green consumer electronics. They already do some efforts on recycling: Apple Recycles iPods, Computers, All Brands of Cell Phones, but more is needed in product design (f.ex. Make products easier to de-assemble for recycling, use only recyclable materials, allow batteries to be changed, use even fewer toxic materials, etc)....
Business Card Holder From Old Yellow Pages
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Don't have much use for Yellow Pages anymore; I scan and pitch business cards so don't have much use for them either. Nonetheless, London-based designer Afroditi Krassa has designed a simple tube to contain about 394 yellow pages in this clever idea. Somewhere on her un-navigable website Core77 found:
"This card holder design re-uses last year's YellowPages directory as its main material. The directory needs to be trimmed to the right diameter (approx. 394pages), rolled up and inserted into a metal tube. The size and exact use of the object is up to the maker, from photos to notes, business cards to envelopes. The product can be stored either vertically or horizontally."...
Honda Resurrects Insight Hybrid, Pricing Expected to be Way Lower than Prius
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09. 9.08
Honda Insight Hybrid, Take Two
It seems like the rumors were true. Honda's all new dedicated hybrid is going to be called 'Insight', and a concept version (shown above) will be introduced at the Paris Auto Show in October, with a final version going to market in the US during the Spring 2009. Because there isn't much time between the unveiling of the concept and the final version, we can safely guess that there won't be too many changes made to it (it will probably lose the fancy wheels and blue LEDs). In any case, it hasn't changed much since the spy shots we published a couple months ago.
Update: Honda's All-New Honda Insight Hybrid: Fuel Economy Similar to Civic Hybrid
What We Know About the New Honda Insight Hybrid
According to the official Honda release, "the all-new purpose-built Insight will come to market at a price significantly below hybrids available today." Word on the street on pricing hovers around $18,500-19,000, which would make it significantly cheaper than its main rival, the Toyota Prius....
60% of US Wind Turbines Behind on Maintenance, Not Enough Technicians to Do the Work
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 9.08
photo: conceptworker via flickr
I suppose it's an unintended consequence of the booming wind industry in the United States: a new survey by Frontier Pro Services, reported on at Renewable Energy World, says that 60% of US wind turbines may be behind on maintenance. Apparently, there simply aren’t enough qualified technicians to do the work.
According to the findings, many wind farm operations and maintenance teams are so resource constrained that they are barely able to keep up with the unscheduled maintenance repairs their wind turbines require to continue generating electricity....
Be EcoChic Campaign Goes Glam for New York Fashion Week
by Blythe Copeland, Great Neck, New York on 09. 9.08
The fashion industry isn’t known for its commitment to the environment, and consumption-fueled Fashion Weeks are no exception. But this year’s fall shows kicked off with one very earth-friendly runway lineup: that of the Be EcoChic campaign, where a crowd that included Chevy Chase and Steve Martin gathered at the Museum of Natural History in New York City to see a host of celebrities—model/actress Lauren Hutton, supermodel Angela Lindvall, Alter Eco hosts Darren Moore and Boise Thomas, and 27 Dresses actress Malin Ackerman, among others— who all walked the show in fashion-forward, eco-aware ensembles. ...
For Bicylists, There is Safety in Numbers
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Sacramento Bike Commute
It may seem counter-intuitive, but the more bicyclists there are on the road, the lower the rate of accidents. If you double the number of cyclists, the accident rate per cyclist will drop by a third.
"It's a virtuous cycle," says Dr Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from UNSW who address a cycling safety seminar in Sydney, Australia, on September 5 and quoted in Science Daily. "The likelihood that an individual cyclist will be struck by a motorist falls with increasing rate of bicycling in a community. And the safer cycling is perceived to be, the more people are prepared to cycle."
...
Old-Growth Forests in New York State Protected Under New Legislation
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 9.08
Somewhere beyond that forest clearing in the Adirondacks could be some old growth forest. Photo: Stacy Lynn Baum.
When most people think of old growth forests in North America, and I include myself in this, they think of some majestic stand of timber in California, the Pacific Northwest or in British Columbia. Well, that’s only part of the picture: Though obviously not contiguous, New York has nearly 350,000 acres of old growth forest. The good news is that under a new law the portion of these forests on public land will be protected from from development. ...
Reusable Bagging It, Envirosax-Style
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 09. 9.08
There are quite a collection of cloth bags hanging in my kitchen closet - some washed so many times in the last half-dozen years the different advertising images are faded and barely legible. So perhaps it's not surprising that the bins full of designy shopping bags (mostly from Envirosax) at the Dansk Design Center store were a lot like colorful candy to me on the day I visited.
Reusable bags - how much would you pay?
But the prices were an obstacle. Never mind that everything in Copenhagen is just a little bit cooler and more expensive than it is in my home town. It just seemed that almost $20 for a reusable bag was outside my comfort level. Pretty far outside. (I later also realized the mark-up was outrageous...buy on the web.) But Envirosax' new Mikado prints were pretty cool - and the organic hemp, bamboo, and linen bags were just gorgeous (but are way past the comfort level at U.S.$24.95). So what did I do? The same thing I always do when I really love something - and this is 9 times out of 10 an eco-item that I think is too expensive......
New York's Got A Glass Stampede, But Is It Green?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
New York isn't Shanghai, but it also is changing at a phenomenal rate. New York Magazine notes that "In the past fifteen fat years, more than 76,000 new buildings have gone up, more than 44,000 were razed, another 83,000 were radically renovated—a rate of change that evokes those time-lapse nature films in which flowers spring up and wither in a matter of seconds."
Justin Davidson, in The Glass Stampede, gives us an extraordinary series of before-and-after images (check them out after the jump) of all the new, mostly floor-to-ceiling glass buildings, evaluating what was lost and what replaced them. He asks " Does the new see-through city look better or worse than the one it replaced?" and in the case of the one shown above, the answer is no. ...
The Inalienable Right to Speed
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Kent Sepkowitz makes a very interesting point in his New York Times op-ed No Need For Speed about car design: They are all designed to go faster than the law permits.
"Most cars can travel over 100 miles an hour — an illegal speed in every state. Our continued, deliberate production of potentially law-breaking devices has no real precedent. We regulate all sorts of items to decrease danger to the public, from baby cribs to bicycle helmets. Yet we continue to produce fast cars despite the lives lost, the tens of billions spent treating accident victims, and a good deal of gasoline wasted. (Speeding, after all, substantially reduces fuel efficiency due to the sheering force of wind.)"
...
“Economic Colonialism” Rears Its Ugly Head in African Biofuel Market
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 9.08
Land near the Rufiji River in Tanzania has been expropriated from local people for sugar cane cultivation by a Swedish company. Photo: Malangali via flickr.
This is one for those people who don’t believe labor and social justice issues are intimately tied to green corporate efforts and environmentalism as a movement. As the developed world pulls out all the stops in an effort to simultaneously reduce ever-growing carbon emissions and replace increasingly dear fossil fuels with greener alternatives, Africa is becoming sketchy land-grab central.
Or at least that’s what an article from Spiegel Online, reprinted in Business Week asserts. It even goes so far to use the phrase “economic colonialism” to describe what’s happening. As its a well-written, descriptive article I encourage you to read the whole thing. However, here’s a teaser: ...
International Cyclists Tour Japan To Promote Environmental Awareness
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 09. 9.08
In a previous post, we talked about BEE Japan (Bicycle for Everyone’s Earth), an initiative that started here in Japan 1997. Now in its 11th year BEE Japan is going strong, using Flickr to show their progress. Every year they are attracting cyclists committed to the green cause despite the hardship of the journey. Cycling across Japan sounds cool, doesn’t it, but what does it mean on a daily basis? How do they promote environmental awareness and green living in Japan?...
Gorgeous Textiles and Rugs Made From Recycled Materials by Brazilian Designer Claudia Araujo
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 09. 9.08
Brazilian designers and sisters Claudia and Monica Araujo use traditional weaving techniques and natural and recycled materials to build these versatile fabrics that serve as rugs or as textiles.
Among their creations there's the Cabeludo and Broinha rugs, produced with scraps from the textile industry; and the TaPET line of fabrics, produced with 100% recycled PET and also in variations with a mixture of cotton or even recovered PVC. All of their creations are produced in team with a group of weavers in the state of Minas Gerais under fair trade conditions.
More gorgeous pictures in the extended! ...
Vancouver Office Building Goes "Off-Pipe"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
When I last wrote about composting toilets, I suggested that " if we are truly going to develop a zero waste society and protect our water resources, we are going to have to start thinking about dealing with all of our wastes and not keep flushing some of them down the pipe." Commenters didn't believe it: "No one will want this inside their house. I know this, because I still have a few teeth in my head and a few friends in town." and "Composting toilets are NEVER going to make it into the main stream market. Debating it is silly."
I wish I had known then about the C.K Choi building in Vancouver, British Columbia; it is a 34,000 square foot office building by Eva Matsusaki that is completely off-pipe, using Clivus Multrum composting toilets, since 1996....
Quote of the Day: Wayne Roberts on Food Safety
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Photo credit: chronos_tachyon @ flickr
We have written previously about the massive recall of meat in Canada in the face of a fatal outbreak of Listeria. Maple Leaf Foods President Michael McCain has accepted blame; Now Magazine writer Wayne Roberts says that it isn't the company, it is the system that has become too centralized, and where the equipment runs too fast.
"The system known as HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, or, as critics call it, Have Another Cup of Coffee and Pray – has been the norm since mass-production factories with poorly paid and non-union workers became part of the recipe for cheap meat. Several leading food safety analysts – and a number of disease outbreaks – confirm that the HACCP system is inadequate.
But a better inspection system can only work in a more expensive, slower, decentralized production system."
...
Get Ready for the Resurgence of Political Greenwashing
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09. 9.08
Survey: Are Your Adventures Self-Propelled?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Image credit Trento
Warren raises a very good point in his post about how "there remains that eco-conundrum of how do we get ourselves from our mostly urban existence to those deserts, mountains, rivers, coasts and forests with their many lessons to learn."
...
Farmers Win Land Back From Tata Nano Factory Site
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 9.08
That’s my virtually configured Nano, image: Tata Motors
You may have read how the future of construction on Indian car-maker Tata’s factory which would manufacture the Rs100,000 ($2,243) Nano had been suspended due to ongoing protests that land for the factory had been taken from local residents by the government of West Bengal without adequate compensation.
Well, there’s an update to the situation: Construction is still on hold, but land has been given back to the protestors. Further protests have been called off as a result of the land give-back, the BBC reports....
From Garage to Great Outdoors, These Eco-Warriors Promote Self-Propelled Adventures
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09. 9.08
Photo by Karl Manzer, via Momentum magazine
Many people will agree that spending time in the natural environment helps us better appreciate the wonders of our unique little planet. The understanding thus gained often leads to positive action to clean up our own mess. But there remains that eco-conundrum of how do we get ourselves from our mostly urban existence to those deserts, mountains, rivers, coasts and forests with their many lessons to learn. Flying and driving can seem somewhat counterproductive to the greener future we strive for.
Well, there is a small but growing band of people who have decided to enjoy their outdoor experiences without toting along any climate change baggage. They cycle, walk or paddle to the trailhead from the nearest bus stop or train station. And the really keen even forgo the public transit and simply set off from home. Like Goran Kropp, who in 1996, rode a bike, laden with mountaineering gear, from his home in Sweden all the way down to Nepal, then climbed to the summit of Everest -- before mounting his trusty steed and riding home again! ...
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish! Hadron Collider Turns on Tomorrow
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
Fannie, Freddie and the Future of Housing, Innovation and Green Design
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 9.08
"lend them money and you get a rabble instead of a thrifty working class"
The Federal National Mortgage Association, previously known affectionately as Fannie Mae, was founded in 1938 by Franklin Roosevelt as part of the New Deal, to provide liquidity to the mortgage market so that working Americans could buy houses. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) was founded in 1968 to do much the same thing after Fannie Mae was privatized.
No doubt older Roosevelt-hating Free Market types are thrilled that this last vestige of the New Deal and government intervention has been re-nationalized and eviscerated; John McCain calls it "an example of cronyism, special interest, lobbyists,” adding that the companies needed “more regulation, more oversight, more transparency, more of everything, and frankly, a dramatic reduction in what they do.”
Unfortunately, Mr. McCain, what they did was make money available for banks to lend to people who can't pay cash for real estate. What they did was what the government wanted them to do- make it possible for builders to build houses and for people to pay for them. This included apartments and resales, all kinds of mortgages, and did not include the sub-prime loans that started this crisis.
While their structure was problematic since President Johnson privatized them to pay for the Vietnam war, they had higher standards than the private lenders and didn't cause the credit meltdown but were victims of it. Now the government is the only mortgage lender left standing, and it will make Mr. Potter look like George Bailey's uncle on a bender.
While the stock market is up and everyone is pasting on smiles, I am deeply pessimistic. Here's why.
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Let's Make A Deal: Food Swapping Becomes Trendy in London
by Bonnie Alter, London on 09. 9.08
What to do with the extra green beans that can never be eaten... Food swapping: we all do it informally, passing on extra vegetables, sometimes in return for a jar of homemade jam or chutney. But in England, it's becoming much more organized. There are good reasons; with the poor economy affecting everyone, it is an easy way to get a little bit extra for free. For example, take it to the pub. One pub has a sign up on the wall saying "If you breed, grow, shoot or steal anything you feel may be at home on our menu, ask at the bar. Let's do a deal." So far, pints of beer have been swapped for potatoes, mackerel and a kilo of fresh fruit.
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Schumacher College Connects Sustainability and Business Leadership
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 09. 9.08
Schumacher College in the UK is known to many as an environmental science college, but recently the institution has seen the potential of opening a channel of communication with big business. Forging connections between the business world and the contemporary environmental movement is one of the key challenges of moving sustainability into the mainstream.
TreeHugger has actively encouraged business leaders to contribute to, comment on and become involved with the green community, in an effort to help them feel engaged with the key sustainability issues of our times. In the same spirit of inclusion this autumn Schumacher College is offering a series of short courses designed for leaders in business. Click over the page to find out which course is for you....
My Little Pakora: South Asian Organic Baby Garb
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09. 8.08
Organic baby apparel finds its ultra-niche in My Little Pakora, a clothing line that parlays its Indian heritage into a series of South Asian-inspired onesies, tees, bibs, pants, and blankets made from 100 percent certified-organic cotton and low-impact, AZO-free dyes.
Besides yoga-themed apparel that comes emblazoned with phrases like "BuddhaBaby," "OmBaby," and "MendhiBaby," you can also dress your own little vegetable fritter in togs that say "Bandar" (Hindi for "monkey"), "Hathi" (elephant), "Mor" (peacock), and "Sher" (lion). Sustainable style has never been so bilingual. Prices start at $12. ::My Little Pakora
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Book Review: Do It Green! Minnesota
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 8.08
Image source: Do It Green! Minnesota
For those living in Minnesota and wanting to go green, look no further than the Do It Green! Minnesota Magazine, (formerly the Twin Cities Green Guide). Now in its second year, the magazine offers over 100 articles on becoming more environmentally conscious around your home and neighborhood.
The magazine is not a "buy green guide," though there are some business resources on the last few pages, but rather a huge resource on how to get your hands dirty saving the planet. Each page includes a new article on a green topic, as well as additional business and reading resources, to provide you with more information. Some of the more interesting articles include: "Sue's Starters for Global Warming Action," "The Connection Between Recycling and Global Warming" "Who is Teaching Your Child?" "Good Neighbor Agreements" and "Eco by Stealth." "The How to Get Your Representatives to Listen" is written by Minnesota House of Representatives Elected Official Paul Gardner....
NY Fashion Week: Aveda Kicks the Cap Out of the Oceans
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09. 8.08
A display at the launch of Aveda's Kick the Cap Out of Oceans cap-recycling program
Attention recyclers: Bottle caps are not recycled
Aveda threw a shindig in New York City on Thursday to kick off Fashion Week, as well as formally announce the launch of its cap-recycling program, the first of its kind in the United States. The beauty company discovered that most plastic caps do not get recycled because they're made from polypropylene (more commonly known as #5 plastic). For the virtuous recyclers among us, this came as a rude shock, one that even the appearance of Project Runway's Christian Siriano couldn't trump.
When we spoke to John Delfausse, vice president of global package development at Estee Lauder Corporate Packaging, who spearheaded the project, he told us that most recycling plants have machines that slice off the tops of polyethylene terephthalate (PET; #1) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE; #2) bottles and then discard the offending caps. Alternatively, he said, the recycler would grind up the plastic altogether and then skim the lighter (and more commercially valuable) PET and HDPE plastic away from the heavier polypropylene, which is then consigned to Ye Olde Landfill. ...
DIY Solar Car Shade Oven, Emeril's Fudgy Brownies and Why to Kick Your Cigarette Habit
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 09. 8.08
:: Prepare a frozen pizza in a DIY solar car shade oven.
:: Make a homemade gift that they won't resist--Emeril's Fudgy Brownies.
:: Kick your cigarette habit in the butt!...
The Other Not-So-Green Meat, A Rocker's Eco-Ride and 6 South American Stories
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 09. 8.08
Sustainablog ponders the life cycle of pig.
Rockers roll up in a Smart car at MTV's Video Music Awards.
Eco Worldy rounds up six intriguingly green news stories from South America.
We're reminded by our addiction to oil with eight common products.
A recent poll asks; do you believe gas and oil prices are being manipulated for the upcoming Presidential election?
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Brook There Clothing
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 8.08
Image source: Brook There
The Fall 2008 collection of Brook There by Brook De Lorme was designed around the theme of tangled and includes twisty fabric detailing around waist and hemlines. Owner and designer Brook De Lorme has been creating pieces for 8 years using recycled and sustainable fabrics and is focusing on the latter for the relaunch of Brook There. Breezy skirts and loose cowlnecks give the clothing a very comfortable feel.
Intimates are also part of the collection, which is hard to find in sustainable materials, but these don't come with underwires, so they're only good for smaller sizes. The clothing has a very urban, working girl look to it, but the cuts tend to be a little smaller so some of the dresses are harder for a girl with curves to wear. All of the pieces in the Brook There collection are sewn and designed near Portland, Maine with organic and sustainable materials and are sweatshop-free....
New Cow Diet Reduces Methane Emissions...and No, It's Not M&Ms
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 8.08
Image source: Getty Images
While farmers in the US are trying to save money by feeding their cows junk food, the London Times reported today that scientists have found a diet that just might cut down on the belching coming from cows. By feeding cows chopped hay and straw, only 6-7cm in length, farmers can cut down on emissions by 20%. While cows don't really prefer the straw/hay combo, they will learn to eat it by adding silage, wheat, maize, soya or sugar beet, "just as children are encouraged to take their medicine by cloaking it in a syrup" because they can't pick around it.
Farms across the UK are already trying out the new regimen and noticing good results. First, the chopped hay/straw helps to settle the stomach of the cow and produce fewer burps. Second, farmers are noticing an increase in milk yield and scientists say that this is because the hay/straw are adding extra fiber to the diet, which makes the cows chew more, creating more saliva and fermentation and increasing milk yields. Farmers also report that their cows are healthier and there are less incidence of lamess. Who wants lame cows anyways?...
Amazon Deforestation Slows Last Year, but 8,147 Square Kilometers Still Chopped Down
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 8.08
photo: Leonardo F. Freitas
Though Brazil has made a number of moves towards monitoring and slowing rates of Amazon deforestation of late which seem to be beginning to work, the Amazon's future still does not look so good, Worldwatch Institute reports.
The bad news is that between August 2007 and July 2008, 8,147 square kilometers of forest were cleared, with 84% of that occurring between August 2007-April 2008. The good news is that this amount is the lowest increase since deforestation first was monitored in the 1970s, and only a 69% increase from last year.
So, what’s Brazil doing to address the situation? He’s a (very) brief rundown:...
What Green Words Are Obama and McCain Really Saying? Ask SpeechWars
by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv on 09. 8.08
This one’s fun for the whole family –– who’s talking the green talk? Obama or McCain? And since when? SpeechWars, a nifty research tool developed by Jerusalemite Ben Reis, can help you find out what green words presidential candidates are really using in their speeches, and since when.
Just visit the site, type in your word, hit go and compare. The analyses are based on over 125 speeches downloaded for each candidate from their respective campaign and senatorial websites. And it’s such an interesting tool that the US States Library of Congress has selected SpeechWars for inclusion in its official historic collection of Internet materials related to 2008’s election.
Before we get to the green stuff, some of the terms that McCain mentions more often than Obama include freedom, values, peace, democracy, human, international, security, leader. Click through for the vocab that dominates Obama's tongue, and to see how our hopefuls fare with “greener” words, like solar, climate, or energy.
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SimCity, the Green Energy Edition: Website Unveils Alternative Energy Educational Video Game
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 8.08
image: AlternativeEnergy.com
Other than a brief addiction a few years back to some Tom Clancy video games which shall remain nameless, I’m not really much of a video gaming person. That said, using video games to teach kids about renewable energy and raise awareness about green ideas is really a pretty cool idea. And that’s just what the folks over at AlternativeEnergy.com have done.
GreenCity is a new 10-lesson online “enrichment program” (which I suppose makes it more palatable to educators than ‘video game’) aimed at students in grades 6-12. Based on Electronic Arts’ SimCity Societies each of the lessons has two parts, a game play section and a part on real world applications:
...
Asian Air Pollution Could Cause Hotter Summers in the United States: NOAA
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 8.08
Suzhou, China photo: damnblast via flickr
We knew that mercury from Chinese power plants was finding its way into US rivers, but this adds a new twist to the issue:
Scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last Thursday, that although it stays in the atmosphere for only days or weeks, the warming effect of particulate pollution such as soot from fires and sulfate particles from power plants can last for decades. What that means is that as Asian air pollution drifts around the globe it could lead to the American Midwest and Mediterranean having hotter and drier summers.
What's more, these particles will have a greater influence on climate over the next century than we realized....
Battleground Earth Lightbulb Game
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 09. 8.08
Image source: Planet Green
Sitting at your desk bored at work? Scanning TH for the 15th time today while waiting for your TPS report to print out? Heres something you and the whole office gang can get into - the Battleground Earth Lightbulb Game. Its just you and a fleet of lightbulbs - think Atari's Asteroids game- and its your mission to rid the world of those nasty lightbulbs. A word to the wise, shoot ahead of where the bulb is going if you want even a "shot" at hitting them. How to hit the green/red ones? Now that takes skill and I've got no clue. The smashing lightbulb sound effects are really addicting, almost as much as this game is.
There are even secret effects loaded in like "rapid-fire" gun where basically you have a machine gun set on automatic and can really take down some lightbulbs. If you have a mouse you can really do some damage - it takes a little more skill if you're working with a mousepad. Top scores are posted at the end of each game. Shooting lightbulbs in the desert? Not eco-friendly. Shooting virtual lightbulbs in the desert? You're on! You can check out the real Battleground Earth and find out a few more eco-friendly tips at Planet Green....
9 Tonnes of CO2 Per Hour: Germany Carbon Capture Pilot Project Set to Begin
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 8.08
Though it certainly has a number of technical kinks to work out, and there are overarching political and ecological questions which must be addressed, carbon capture and storage (or sequestration, depending on how you want to translate the ‘S’ in the CSS acronym) is the ace in the hole which an increasing number of people hope will allow society to keep burning coal without emitting tons and tons of carbon emissions every year.
In an effort to further test and demonstrate the technology a new CCS pilot project will begin operation tomorrow, September 9, in Germany at the Schwarze Pumpe power plant. The developer of the pilot project, Swedish-firm Vattenfall, is calling it an “important milestone” on the road to developing a future demonstration-scale CCS project by 2015. Here are the details:...
Palin (Illegally?) Endorses Short-Term Mining Gain Over Long-Term Food Supply
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 09. 8.08
AP Photo/Al Grillo
We've been covering the struggle in Alaska's Bristol Bay between salmon fishers and mining interests for a while. The story took an interesting turn when Alaska Governor, and Vice-Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin offered her personal thoughts on the proposed Clean Water Initiative (Ballot Measure 4) that would restrict pollutants that new mines would be able to release into the state's waterways.
Writing in Gourmet, Barry Eastabrook sums up the problem with Palin's statement,
The law in Alaska forbids a governor from officially lobbying for or against a ballot initiative such as Ballot Measure 4. To get around the law, Palin exercised what she called “personal privilege” when she said to reporters, “Let me take my governor’s hat off for just a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop 4—I vote no on that.”See for yourself after the jump. ...
Dutch Biomass Plant to Use Chicken Manure to Power 90,000 Homes
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 09. 8.08
Image: Paul de Lhama on flickrIn the latest development of large-scale biomass energy production, the Netherlands is now home to the world’s largest biomass power plant running only on – yep, you got it – chicken manure. Though biomass energy schemes are hardly anything new, (see these "power to the people" projects in California, China, India and Uganda) it’s a matter of scale and the plant’s dual objective to provide an alternative source of energy, while tackling a serious problem: namely, the high environmental impact of an excess stream of chicken droppings. ...
Update: Robot Bike Storage in Tokyo
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
Transformers: Private Dining by James Plant
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
We love transformer furniture that goes away when you don't need it, freeing up space for other uses. James Plant has created "a complete dining room experience in just 17 cm [6.69 inches] depth. Inspired from pop-up books the unsuspecting doors draw open to entirely transform the environment and provide a strong sturdy table and chairs."...
How to Go Green: Dorm Rooms
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 09. 8.08
Photo credit: Getty Images / James Woodson
Every year, intrepid young men and women set out for college. Even more exciting than this, is that for many of them, it's their first chance to live away from home. But, with the excitement and fun of furnishing a new dorm room comes a price. Every year, college students (and their parents) generate thousands of tons of garbage, because of the choices they make in buying furniture and accessories. Luckily, getting your dorm room to be green has never been easier. All it takes is a little effort, a little creativity, and a few tips and tricks. Click through for the best ways to make it happen. ...
Downloadable Designs: Turn Your Phone into a Scanner
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
A few years ago, after my laptop was stolen, I tried to see if I could do everything that I previously used a computer for in my Palm Treo. I bought a folding keyboard, good headphones, word processing software and more so that my office could fit in my pocket, trying to reduce the cost and quantity of hardware I needed to do my job. (I wrote more about the experiment here)
Industrial design student Kyle A. Koch is trying to do the same thing with his iPhone. ...
Bottled Water Market Begins to Stagnate in the United States
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 8.08
photo: Liz via flickr
The very un-TreeHugger nature of the bottled water industry has graced this site numerous times, but there is some good news:
In the world’s largest market for bottled water, the United States, more people seem to be getting the message that bottled water is not only a waste of resources, but also money. According to the Worldwatch Institute, growth in the US bottled water market is starting to slow down after years of increases.
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Cows Can Be Transported For 52 Hours Without Food or Water
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
There are myriad reasons to eat less meat or at least eat local and "happy meat" that has been raised on grass and treated properly. Here is another that I didn't know:
Current regulations allow cattle to be transported for up to 52 hours without water, food or rest. Pigs, horses or poultry can be without water, food or rest for 36 hours. Transport trucks don't have heating or cooling, so imagine a trip from Alberta to Texas in winter.
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World Bank and Andean Countries Will Spend $32 Million To Study Glacial Retreat and Create Adaptation Plan
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 09. 8.08
The glacier in Huaraz, part of the Andes white mountain range in Peru. Photo via sdpuckett.
The Andean Community, an organization that gathers Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to treat common interests, announced recently a project to help three of its member nations to monitor and adapt to the retreat of its glaciers.
The project will last four years and will have an investment of 32 million US dollars, financed by the World Bank (10 million) and the Andean countries themselves....
Things I Learned at Toronto's Vegetarian Food Fair
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
Locally-Sourced Waste Grease Biodiesel: The New San Francisco Treat?
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09. 8.08
photo: Trey Ratcliff
What is a city to do for it 1500 vehicle strong diesel-powered transportation fleet after already converting them all to run on biodiesel? Reduce the distance that biodiesel travels from point of manufacture to the filling station, obviously.
Though San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has only just announced the project and it still needs to go through additional approval steps, the city of San Francisco and Darling International have indicated that they hope to build a biodiesel processing facility near Pier 92 on the city’s waterfront.
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UN Expert Says Eat Less Red Meat To Reduce CO2 Emissions
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
Plan59
Warren recently described what a difference in greenhouse gases it would make if we all ate 10% less red meat; we surveyed our readers and are proud to report that 58% of our respondents have and 27% have gone vegetarian.
Now Dr Rajendra Pachauri the chair of the IPCC, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) throws in some more food for thought. Noting that 18% of greenhouse gases come from animal production, he told the Observer:
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It Slices and Dices: Trends in Green Fridges
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
While we continue to stress that small fridges make good cities, there are some trends in big fridges that are worth looking at. So much food is wasted because it turns into compost in the vegetable drawer; much of this is due to the fact that many fruits naturally give off ethylene gas during their ripening process, affecting other fruits and vegetables in the fridge.
Subzero has added a filter "developed by NASA" that uses that miracle material titanium dioxide and ultraviolet light to scrub the air in the fridge every twenty minutes, removing odors and bacteria as well as the ethylene gas. It also uses two compressors to keep the temperatures in a tight range with +/-1°F accuracy.
No word on the spec sheet on its energy consumption, but they don't appear to be promoting it as energy star. ::Appliancist and ::Gizmodo
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Former Chief UK Scientist Calls for Complete Removal of Fossil Fuel Dependence
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 09. 8.08
Particle Physics, Mars Landings, or the Future of Civilization?
The former Chief UK Scientist, Sir David King, has made the pages of TreeHugger before with his predictions that plans to stabilize atmospheric CO2 emissions under 450 parts per million would seem “unfeasible”. Now, according to the BBC, he is hitting headlines once again by using his presidential address at the BA Science Festival to question the focus of mainstream science, asking why so much funding and effort goes to landing a craft on Mars, or particle physics, while more pressing concerns like climate change or over-population receive less attention. His remarks come as British scientists celebrate the country’s participation in the Large Hadron Collider (pictured above), the world's biggest physics experiment, to the tune of £500m (US$1bn). While Sir David doesn’t directly question the validity of such experiments, he does point to the need for at least similar levels of engagement with finding ambitious, pollution-free ways to power the world:
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Campaigns Are Helping To Save Tasmania's Forests
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 09. 8.08
(Photo by TTaylor)
Woodchip exports from Australia to Japan have fallen by 30 per cent in the past few years. The reason? The campaigns by environmentalists to convince Japanese paper companies to stop buying woodchips from Tasmania's old growth forests, according to Australian media reports. Rainforest Alliance has a small office in Tokyo (I have participate in one of their protests outside the Australian embassy in Japan). RAN also published detailed reports about the clearcutting (The logging industry said, "the report was full of inaccuracies, baseless claims and untruths and represented just another attack on Tasmania by radical conservationists").
David Lee from the Rainforest Action Network has lobbied paper companies in Japan to think about where Tasmanian woodchips are coming from.
DAVID LEE: I've never seen forests like this before as I saw in Tasmania. They were just the most magnificent forests ever, they looked like they were out of Lord of the Rings they … you know, as tall as redwoods and as large as the sequoias, and it just … it seems such a tragedy that you know, people would be cutting these down to make disposable products.
When Australia recently released an initial US$2 million in aid for Asia-Pacific nations to help protect forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, critics were quick to point out that Australian companies continue large scale industrial logging and clearing of their important ecosystems, with massive release of carbon and drying of water resources. In Tasmania, ancient forests are clearfelled to make disposable paper products, tropical rainforests are cleared for agriculture in Queensland, and logging of rare jarrah continues in the southwest's precious Gondwana forest remnants, according to Candobetter.org. Activists are also up in arms about Wielangta Forest - which is now about to be logged to make paper in Japan...
Written by Martin Frid at greenz.jp...
Water Tower House by Jo Crepain
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
image used with permission of Office for Word and Image
Woning Moereels, Van Watertoren Tot Vuurtoren, Brasschaat, Belgium. Built: 1991-1996.
We love the idea of recycling old industrial structures into housing.
"For a long time the owner was in love with an old water tower and the little park around it, outside of Antwerp. Although it was by no means possible to live in the old tower, since it was just a skeleton, with a huge barrel on top, he started dreaming of building it into a house. And six years later, together with his architect, he made a dream come through." ::Jo Crepain; more pictures at ::Office for Word and Image
Other Water Tower Houses On TreeHugger:...
Quote of the Day: Tom Friedman on "Invent, Invent, Invent!"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
Stair of the Week: stairCASE, by Danny Kuo
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog or a short person, but I am. That's why I love Danny Kuo's stairCASE. The designer writes:
"In the future space becomes more desirable, because the big apartment buildings are taking over the normal 1, 2 or 3 level houses. It's more efficient because you will need less square meters to house people. therefore the focus for the future is on height and not in width. But current storage furniture is designed for average humans with a length of approx. 1.8 meters so everything is reachable. So to be efficient also our furniture needs to grow in height in stead of width. This StairCASE is the result of these facts." ::Danny Kuo via ::Materialicious
More stairs and books on TreeHugger
Bigger Better Bookcase Stair
Stairs as Storage
Less is More: Stairs as Storage
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Survey: Are You "Hostile to Diesel"?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.08
According to Business Week via our earlier post, one of the reasons that The Ford Motor Company is not bringing the 63 MPG Diesel Fiesta is that "US Consumers are hostile to diesel."
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Earth Weave Craft Carpets of Wool and Hemp
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09. 8.08
I wasn't sure if we’d covered Earth Weave’s wool and hemp carpets, but I was wrong. Years ago, Kara had mentioned them in a nice little primer on Finding Solutions to Toxic Carpeting. What makes Earth Weave noteworthy is that they claim their Bio-Floor to be different to any other North American produced carpet.
Mostly because they are 100% biodegradable, meaning they are derived only of natural materials. The face fibre is naturally pigmented or coloured wool (no added dyes, fixatives or mordants), without any additional moth-proof or stain-guard treatments applied. The wool is tufted onto a backing crafted from hemp and cotton. This, in turn, is bound to the final backing sheet (jute) with a natural rubber adhesive. ...
Ginger Ninjas Band Launch Pedal-Powered World Tour
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09. 8.08
TH Interview: Kevin Hagen on Corporate Responsibility at REI
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09. 8.08
REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc) have been the subject of many posts here at TreeHugger. This membership-based co-op has been selling affordable product for adventure sports since 1938. Yet in those seventy years it’s really only been in the past few that REI have consciously focused of the sustainability aspects of their operations. You’ll find a list of past posts, including reference to their 2007 Stewardship Report at the end of the interview. But for now we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to Kevin Hagen, REI’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program Manager. Some months ago now Kevin shared with us just how this ‘greening’ is playing out, for an co-operative enterprise of more than 3 million ‘members’, over 80 stores and 8,000+ employees, with sales in excess of $1.3 billion USD. (Apologies to Kevin that this took so long to get posted, and for any misquotes.)...
Inner City Student Finds Fighting Air Pollution A Cause That Hits Home
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 09. 8.08
Despite the fact that there’s often so many things stacked against kids growing up in the inner-city, there’s one young eco-hero that’s defying the odds and making an incredible difference while helping to shed a bit of light on how successful students can be at affecting change in their own neighborhoods.
Because when Juan Hernandez recently moved to West Oakland from Bakersfield, California and found his asthma flaring up to the point where he could no longer engage in his favorite sport, running, he decided to step up and do something about it.
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Washington Hides From Oil's Demise
by Jeff Siegel, Green Chip Stocks on 09. 8.08
When I was in the seventh grade, I brought home my first bad report card. Needless to say, my father was not happy. He asked me why I was getting a “D” in History. I had a long list of reasons:
* The teacher didn't like me.
* It was first period and I was tired.
* The kid next to me kept distracting me.
* Maybe the teacher made a mistake.
* It's too hard.
The list went on and on. But my father wasn't having it. He told me that I needed to stop looking for excuses, and start making some progress. Otherwise, I'd be grounded.
Too bad we can't do the same with our elected officials!
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Seasonal Restaurants are a New Gourmet Trend
by Bonnie Alter, London on 09. 8.08
Seasonal restaurants are all the rage, and they should be at this time of the year. With fresh from the field vegetables and fruits available on an hourly basis, chefs are featuring recipes on their menus that take advantage of these ingredients. All great chefs have done it forever, but now it has a name (seasonal restaurant) and it is trendy. That's great news for restaurant goers. Some chefs are also starting to grow-their-own. What a pleasure to be able to pluck a fresh sprig of parsley from outside your back door, or make pesto out of your own basil. But it takes up a lot of space, which most restaurants in downtown locations don't have....
Swedish Garbage Bags Grow Instant Vertical Gardens
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 09. 8.08
The most ingenious idea at an organic market over the weekend at Gothenburg's Gunnebo "castle" was in the Future Gardens exhibit - designer Topher Delaney used construction debris bags with poked holes for lettuce and other garden veggies to peek out of - a great way to build a garden up instead of out - and a lot less weeding! A low-tech version of vertical farming.
Big Bags a recycling standard
The orange and yellow Big Bags used in Gunnebo's gardens are familiar to any large town or city dweller in Sweden - these polypropelene bags (which are recyclable) fill the streets near construction sites yet are less intrusive and more easily picked up for transport of construction debris to recycling facilities than the trash containers used in other countries.
More pictures after the jump. ...
RailRoad Folk Tour by Train
by Trevor Reichman on 09. 7.08
Two of us folk singers are ditching our station wagons to tour the country by train instead.
The music and the mechanism that will propel us around the country has become appropriately named Railroad Folk. Here is the story of how we sewed together our tour by train. ...
Do High Diesel Prices, Or Consumer "Hostilities," Keep 65 Mile-Per-Gallon Sedans Off The US Market?
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09. 7.08
Mike reported to us, earlier, that Ford will not be selling its 5-seat, 65mpg Fiesta diesel sedan model in the USA. See Ford Introduces 63.6 MPG ECOnetic Diesel Fiesta... Only in Europe ... for technical details on the vehicle.
Business Week offers interesting explanations for why Ford Motor Co. is instead making a gasoline version for the US market, cutting the vehicle's efficiency back significantly. As the 65 mpg diesel version currently is made and offered in Europe only, the devalued US dollar figures into the decision not to import them to the USA. That is certainly understandable.
But, some of the other cited reasons for Ford not building or selling the diesel version in the USA seem like hooey: like the claim that US consumers are 'hostile to diesel.' Via::Business Week, The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have. ...
A Picture is Worth... Algae-Dyed Polar Bears
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 09. 7.08
Image from Shuzo Shikano/Kyodo News
Before you start getting worried, let me reassure you that this is not a case of a genetic engineering experiment gone terribly wrong. No, apparently it's just your typical case of polar bears swimming in a particularly algae-rich pond, as the AP reports:
Three normally white polar bears at Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in central Japan changed their color in July after swimming in a pond with an overgrowth of algae. High temperatures in July and August and less-frequent water changes because of the zoo's conservation efforts caused an algae growth in the bear pond and safety moat, Kurobe said....
Canadian Election Called for October 14
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 7.08
The party leaders by LeDaro
They do it fast up here; 36 days from the announcement until the election. But then unlike the States, all the leaders are in place and well known, all of the policies and platforms ready to go, as the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper tries to get a majority government. Stephane Dion's Liberals used to be known as the Natural Governing Party, having been in power for most of the 20th century, but the center/ left is now split among four parties- the Liberals, the New Democrats with Jack Layton as leader, the Greens with Elizabeth May, and the Quebec Separatist Bloc Quebecois.
It used to be an easy decision for environmentalists, but it certainly isn't now; everyone claims to be green.
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What is in Your Cookies?
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 09. 7.08
You probably have faced the dilemma of how to find out which products are Good and which products are Bad, never mind sorting out when Bad companies make Good products, or vice versa. A lot of consumers turn to the internet, to bloggers and reviews. But who can you trust? Who is the judge when a reputable company is accused of unsuitable practices? And what can you expect from a vendor of premium quality products?
Almost Vegetarian sent TreeHugger a tip linking their article about New Moon Kitchen cookies, asking us to spread the word to our readers. The accusations are sensational. But....are they true?...
The TH Interview: Cassatt's Energy Efficient Software for Data Centers
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 09. 7.08
Utility Computing has been with us for a while, in fact since 1961. The idea is to sell 'cycles as a service'; just strap a meter onto a server and then the user pays for whatever computer time they use. It is much like any other utility such as gas, electric, cable, etc.But is it green? Cassatt, a leading provider of management software for these types of installations, thinks we are headed in this direction... had a chance to blab with Ken Oestreich, director of product marketing, to discuss their product lines for intelligently controlling the power usage of servers in the data center. Such solutions have been proven to cut server power and cooling costs by 50 percent without requiring any changes to existing infrastructure. Here we go. ...
Book Review: The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 09. 7.08
The global food system is complex. Wayne Roberts' new book, The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food, is an accessible overview of how the system works - and how it can be fixed.
The problems we experience can often be linked to an invisible food system that is 'hidden in plain sight'. When we become aware of this food system, new ways of understanding food controversies and smarter ways of solving food problems start to become clear....
The TH Interview: Gidon Bromberg, Friends of the Earth - Middle East (Part Two)
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 09. 7.08
Gidon Bromberg is the Israeli Director of Friends of the Earth - Middle East, a trilateral NGO working to promote peace and sustainability in the Middle East.
In part one of this interview, Gidon discussed FoEME's work in promoting cross-border cooperation on water issues and how it relates to the Middle East water crisis and the controversial topic of desalination.
In part two, he talks about food security in the Middle East, the role of agriculture in semi-arid countries and, of course, the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal and the new proposals to turn the Israeli-Jordanian Arava desert into a Dubai-style real estate paradise....
New EPA Antipollution Rules Target Lawn Mowers, Boat Engines and Weed Trimmers
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09. 7.08
Greener Lawn Mowers, Boat Engines
The Environmental Protection Agency, has declared that in the next two or three years, stricter regulations will be imposed on inboard and outboard motors on recreational boats, lawnmower engines, and all lawn and garden equipment running at 25 horsepower or less.
Lawn equipment, like mowers and weed whackers may initially become more expensive due to the new "surf and turf" standards, but the public health benefits of reduced smog and cleaner air will more than compensate for temporarily increased costs.
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