- 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 October 5, 2008 - October 11, 2008
Total this week: 194
Poor Management Costing Fisheries Upwards of $50 Billion a Year
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.11.08
Image courtesy of Greenpeace
Given the gusto with which we've decimated the ocean's major fisheries stocks over the past half-century, it should hardly come as a surprise that we've been extremely wasteful in the process. According to a new U.N. report, entitled "The Sunken Billions: Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform," the world's fishing fleets are pissing away close to $50 billion a year through poor management and overfishing, reports BBC News' Richard Black.
The report concludes that half of the fleet could be removed without any change in catch. The two principal reasons for this waste -- poor regulation and depleted stocks (which makes catching the same amount of fish every year increasingly difficult) -- could thus be remedied: boosting the industry's profits and sharply reducing its pressure on the world's remaining fisheries stocks....
The Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.11.08
Image courtesy of Food Declaration
“We, the undersigned, believe that a healthy food system is necessary to meet the urgent challenges of our time.” So begins the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture, initiated by the Roots of Change, and endorsed by over 200 leaders in the sustainable food movement. The Declaration consists of 12 essential points its authors believe should frame agricultural policy in the 21st century....
Urban Go Green Tour Uses Hip Hop Marketing to Promote Green Jobs
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.11.08
Introducing the World’s Largest Solar Powered Winery
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.11.08
Image courtesy of Take Away Festival
The largest solar installation of any winery in the world is set to be built for Constellation Wines’ Gonzalez winery in Monterrey County, CA by Pacific Power Management. Mitsubishi solar panels will cover 170,000 square feet on the winery warehouse roof, and will generate 1,700,000 kilowatt hours a year—enough to power over 50 percent of the winery’s energy needs. ...
Sustainable Sushi?
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 10.11.08
Sustainable Sushi Guide to Be Released
Now green sushi lovers can finally figure out just how to eat their favorite rolls responsibly. Thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Blue Ocean Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund, starting October 22nd you can print out a sustainable sushi card to carry around in your wallet with your sustainable seafood card. Some sushi to avoid and more on the card below the fold....
Electoral College Of Energy Efficiency: Another Way To Consider Mccain v.s. Obama
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.11.08
Matt broke the ACEE state energy-efficiency scorecard story with: California Leads the Energy Efficiency Race: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Releases 2008 ScorecardIn their state-by-state analysis (2008 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard), the ACEEE found that California ranked first in “promoting energy independence with cost-effective energy efficiency instruments”. Oregon, Connecticut, Vermont, New York and Washington rounded out the top six places. Minnesota and Massachusetts tied for seventh place. Wisconsin and New Jersey were ranked ninth and tenth.Be sure to look at the latest US electoral college projections map, presented below, . Note: while TreeHugger is not partisan, we do want to point out the choices made in environmental policy....
Green Theater Initiative - A Call For Greener Theaters Worldwide
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.11.08
Photo courtesy of MoMa
Sure, theaters were getting greener on their own, thanks to the efforts of some progressive proprietors and forward thinking designers. But now there’s an entire initiative looking to sweep Broadway with unifying green policies. It’s the Green Theatre Initiative, and it just launched its comprehensive website last week. So what’s its impact?...
BMW's Mini Builds its own a Mini-Me for 2012
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 10.11.08
Photo by EdZa
When the BMW Mini crossover concept was first unveiled, we thought holly Toledo, that is certainly not much of a mini vehicle anymore, measuring some 6 inches wider and taller than the standard 2007 Mini Cooper.
The Crossover Mini looks like it should still continue to use the familiar gas sipping 1.6 liter 4 cylinder with BMW's Efficient Dynamics system, but what is happening to the Mini we have grown to love. Is BMW and the Mini Cooper heading in the direction of larger vehicles?
...
Ani Phyo on Liven' Raw and Green
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 10.11.08
photo: Ani Phyo
Liven' the raw life and liven' the green life can often go hand in hand. In order to eat raw you almost have to invest in the greenest foods around. Raw diets tend to include sustainable, locally grown goodness like fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. High quality foods are what make this diet palatable. Just ask raw food and eco-lover Ani Phyo. Find out how the Raw Food Diet is an excellent transition into an eco-friendly lifestyle....
GHG Foot Prints Falling: Chinese Steel Company, FerroChina, Shuts Down Under Financial Pressure
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.11.08
Benxi Steel Mills In China
After the Berlin wall "fell" two causal explanations were offered: Western foreign policies succeeded; or, over-investment in inefficient industries of defense destroyed the economy. Regardless of which argument is correct, an indirect environmental consequence was indisputable: the Soviet greenhouse gas "footprint" was much reduced for years following. Here is any early sign that the world financial crisis is having a similar environmental effect in China: the shuttering of a coal-intensive steel industry (even FerroChina's web site is completely down). Steel maker FerroChina Ltd. yesterday became one of the highest-profile Chinese victims yet of the global economic crisis, saying it was unable to service huge debts and was stopping production. It said it could not pay back part of its working capital loans worth 706 million yuan ($118.6-million), while warning even larger loans were due soon.Via::The Globe & Mail. ...
Iceland: Sigur Rós Nature Awareness Concert
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10.11.08
Sigur Rós is coming to Japan later this month, and his concerts are already sold out. Here in Tokyo, they will play one extra gig, that's how popular this band has become all over the world. Yet, as we all know, Iceland is a small country in big economic trouble. Sigur Rós and Björk tried to raise awareness earlier this summer, preparing for the crisis. Below the fold is a Youtube clip from their Náttúra Concert on June 28, 2008 in Reykjavik. ...
How GPS Can Save The Airline Industry Time and Fuel
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10.10.08
GPS--So Many Uses
We've already seen how GPS can be used to track global warming, make cycling more efficient and fun, document environmental destruction and even find lost pets. Now, the Associated Press is reporting that the current U.S. air traffic network--built during the second World War--"is costing U.S. airlines billions of dollars in wasted fuel while an upgrade to a satellite-based system has languished in the planning stages for more than a decade." The new system would cost $35 billion to implement, and would "replace the current radar system with the kind of GPS technology that has become commonplace in cars and cell phones. . .it would triple air traffic capacity, reduce delays by at least half, improve safety and curb greenhouse gas emissions."
How would it accomplish this? Quite simply, by allowing planes to fly in a straight line to their destination, rather than "zigzag from one beacon to the next, sometimes forcing cross-country flights to follow sweeping arcs and waste hundreds of gallons of fuel."...
Mountains of the Moon
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10.10.08
Photo credit: Mountains of the Moon
Designer Melissa Baswell was working with hemp and organic fabrics, and dyeing with low-impact dyes, long before "eco" became as buzzword and back when eco-fashion was saddled with the unsavory rep of being as fashion-forward as burlap.
Her Chicago-based Mountains of the Moon clothing line, with classic lines that rise above fashion trends and an emminent mix-and-matchability, will soon be your new old favorites. (Ours is a tossup between the fall-ready Larkin Dress, shown above left, made from 100 percent organic cotton, and the Audrey Dress, which comprises 55 percent hemp and 45 percent organic cotton.) ...
Nokia Wood Cellphone from Sustainably Harvested Wood? Not
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.10.08
Earthfirst titles a post " Nokia Cell Phone Made of Sustainably Harvested Wood", thinks it a lovely idea and quotes Cellphone Beat, which writes in Nokia goes green with wooden body phone " This Nokia eco-friendly concept flaunts a wooden body made from sustainable timber. The design features an 8-megapixel camera, bluetooth, speaker and a Symbian S60 Operating System." ...
Mammals Aren't Loners in Extinction Threat
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 10.10.08
HEAT Documentary Looks at Global Struggle to Reinvent Fossil Fuel Use
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 10.10.08
Last night we attended the preview of HEAT, a two-hour FRONTLINE investigation that will air Tuesday, October 21 EST on PBS. Produced by veteran FRONTLINE journalist Martin Smith, the investigation looks at what big business is and isn't doing, both in the United States and the other biggest polluting nations, to cut carbon emissions. It also explores the vast challenges that remain in developing a system to regulate those emissions and develop the technology to reduce them.
The documentary spends a fair amount of time laying out many of the basics of how we got ourselves into this climate change mess, which viewers who are already intimately familiar with the issue might find tiresome. On the other hand, with a crisis as serious as climate change, you probably can't be jarred into feeling afraid too many times; as one of climate experts in the the film says, putting the prospects of a dramatically warmer earth in no uncertain terms, "We are standing on the precipice of hell."...
Spintronics Discovery Could Lead to Magnetic Batteries
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.10.08
Photo via PhysOrg
Scientists have had spintronics in their sights for a little while now, aiming to uncover a way to use magnetism for battery power. Everyone wants better batteries, and magnetic batteries have the potential for using magnetic currents rather than electric currents. Now a breakthrough has been achieved that brings us closer to the possibility of using this phenomenon to run more efficient devices. ...
Denmark To Get Another Offshore Wind Farm: 207 Megawatts by 2010
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.10.08
photo: Morten Mitchell Larød
The US offshore wind market is finally ramping up: Though no projects have been completed yet, Oregon, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Delaware all have offshore wind farms in various stages of development. Meanwhile in Europe, offshore development continues strongly.
Denmark, a small country but one which knows a thing or too about transitioning away from fossil fuels, is getting another offshore wind farm. E.ON and Siemens have entered into an agreement to develop the new project, which when completed will be one of Europe's largest. Here’s some more details:...
Sumatra’s Remaining Forests Get Government Pledge of Protection
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.10.08
photo: Neil Franklin
We may be squandering our children’s natural inheritance, losing up to $5 trillion a year in natural capital, by chopping down the world’s forests, but the Indonesian government has finally done something to stop the destruction. Announced yesterday at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Indonesian politicians have signed onto to a plan which it is hoped with protect the remaining forests and critical ecosystems on the island of Sumatra: ...
Awesome Bicycle Kung Fu!
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.10.08
Navy Marine Corps Intranet Goes Green
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.10.08
Navy Marine Corps Intranet is Second Only to the Internet
The Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) has more than 660,000 active users, only the Internet is larger. It has around 50 classified and unclassified server farms, for a total of thousands of servers.
The U.S. Department of Defense, to comply with federal "green" computing mandates, has been trying to reduce the footprint of this intranet, and so far the results are promising. Read on for more details....
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: Renewable Ocean Power & Air Conditioning Research Receives Federal Funding
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.10.08
Unlike other ocean power technologies, which use the movement of water to generate power, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion uses differences in water temperature to create electricity. Napali Coast of Kauai, photo: Jean-Phillipe Rebuffet.
The US Department of Energy has just been doling out the money lately. The most recent announcement being that the DOE has awarded Lockheed Martin a cooperative agreement contract worth up to $1.2 million to “demonstrate innovative technologies to enable ocean thermal energy power generation.” The technology in question is Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), which uses differences in ocean temperature to drive a heat engine. Lockheed Martin has worked on the technology since the early 1970s but has yet to demonstrate a commercial version of the technology, they hope to soon change that:...
What Would You Do—Really Do—If You Meant All You Said About Saving The World?
by Earthwatch Institute on 10.10.08
By: Alan Fortescue *
So I found this cool internet music service. For a small monthly fee I can play just about any song I want—a very useful feature when trying to work at the office. No matter what my mood, or whatever my task, I can find a song through which I can focus.
For example, as I sat down to write this blog entry I could not quite put into words what I was thinking until I pulled up the Dave Matthews Band version of the Bob Dylan song, “All Along the Watchtower.” Fortunately for me (as is usually happens while listening to music) my ideas became unstuck. The “unsticking” happened when one particular line grabbed my heart and soul.
“Let us stop talking falsely now, the hour is getting late.” It got me thinking…...
"Dude, where's my dinner?"
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.10.08
And now, something completely different...
Okay, so it's Friday. We're getting ready for the weekend (our Canadian readers are getting ready for Thanksgiving). I think we can take a moment to smile a bit. The photo is from an unknown photographer (let us know in the comments if you know who took it). It's very hard not to anthropomorphize the bear because of its very human posture.
Speaking of bears, check out these slightly more serious posts: Starving Polar Bears Turning to Cannibalism and Bear vs. Bike: Cyclist Hits 300-Pound Black Bear...
Lexus Could Go Hybrid-Only, According to Toyota
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.10.08
More Hybrids for Lexus
Nikkei Business News reports that Toyota's managing officer Toshio Furutani said that he wants to accelerate Lexus' hybrid strategy and add hybrid models to the whole line-up as soon as possible, and that in the medium to long term, Toyota was "considering making the Lexus lineup hybrid-only."
The cause of this change of strategy is probably higher fuel costs (even if they went down a bit lately) and, especially, the fact that the global sales of Lexus fell 9% on the year to 310,000 in the January-August period....
ABC Blocks Ad Focusing on Renewable Energy Needs
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.10.08
In Green Inc., Christine MacDonald Explores Seamy Underside of Green Non-Profit World
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.10.08
Like all industries, the non-profit sector has its fair share of pockmarks and blemishes. Yet while it seems easy to take unflattering insider accounts from certain industries -- say, the energy and chemicals industries -- at face value, it is much more difficult to fully accept the criticisms made of environmental non-profits like The Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club, many of which some of us have either worked with or volunteered for in the past.
In Green, Inc., though, veteran journalist Christine MacDonald manages to craft a damning account of the green non-profit world that is both believable and even-handed. Having worked at one of the world's largest environmental groups, Conservation International, until fairly recently (in their public relations department, no less), MacDonald had a bird's-eye view of some of the industry's clubby practices and suspect dealings and minces no words in going after its shady corporate partnerships, lavish pay packages and other unsightly aspects. ...
Carbon Tax, Not More Financial Engineering, Best Way to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Jeffrey Sachs
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.10.08
Jeffrey Sachs speaking at University of North Carolina, photo: Kevin Tsui.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain think implementing a cap-and-trade system is the best way to decrease carbon emissions. On that one bit of policy, both candidates are in near perfect agreement, and many people tend to agree with the principle that a market-based solution is a better/more palatable method of reducing emissions than a direct carbon tax (particularly in the United States, a nation where the mere mention of the word ‘tax’ sends people into fits).
Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to the UN Secretary General and director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, doesn’t think so: ...
Move Over Dongtan - Tianjin "Eco-City" Breaks Ground
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10.10.08
Perhaps it won't be nearly as flashy as the sustainable city that oil wealth is building in the United Arab Emirates called Masdar or even the Shanghai satellite called Dongtan, but in breaking ground on Tianjin's Eco-city, China is hoping to find a model for the many cities it needs to build to accommodate massive rural-to-urban migration.
China partners with Singapore for wind and solar "prowess"
As with the term sustainability, the idea of an eco-city is pretty murky - nobody's making cities conform to strict principles in building or giving out an eco-city label, though WWF's One Planet Living is blessing projects that conform to their fairly robust 10 criteria. So China, which is partnering with Singapore to build Taijin Eco-City, can use what it calls the "three harmonies" principle to guide its creation of a new city 40 kilometers away from the existing city of Tianjin....
OLED TVs – Are They Ever Going to Get Here?
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.10.08
Sony's 11" OLED TVs on display. Photo via Ed Kohler
With so many people buying new TVs for the switch to digital, it’ll be awhile before a big chunk of the population really needs a new TV. That should provide us with a little patience when it comes to getting better TVs.
But in a flash of Generation Now spirit, we’re wondering where on Earth are our OLED TVs – the greener boob-tube option that seemed just over the horizon a year ago? Apparently there are a number of issues that stand in the way....
Dell’s Free Computer Recycling Expanded to Virginia, Wash D.C.
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.10.08
Photo via Sabotrax
Good news for folks living in Virginia and Washington .D.C. Metro: you can now get rid of your old computers for free through Reconnect.
Reconnect is a recycling program run through Dell and Goodwill, helping to reduce the occurrence of e-waste. The program hopes to divert 2.7 million pounds of used computer gear from area landfills over the next year.
The program is doing more than just recycling computers, though. It’s giving a boost to our economy in a couple great ways. ...
Largest Wind Farm in Sub-Saharan Africa Planned for Ethiopia
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.10.08
Drought is pushing Ethiopia to diversify its electric mix, adding wind power to hydro power. Photo: Andrew Heavens.
What do you do when you’re an African nation which relies nearly entirely on hydro power for your electricity, and you’re in the middle of a drought? If you’re Ethiopia you build a wind farm.
Though not often thought of in conjunction with renewable energy, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corp has announced that in order to diversify its electric generation portfolio, it will be building what will be the largest wind farm in sub-Saharan Africa. Here are the details:...
Beauty: New Designs For Chopsticks
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10.10.08
Increasingly, we notice that people all over the world nurture a deep wish to live simply, beautifully. A case in point is how we eat. Traditionally, here in Japan, people eat with wooden chopsticks.
The trend in the past few years is to design beautiful ohashi that users cherish and keep for a long time. These properly designed, award-winning wooden chopsticks feel wonderful in your hand, with a lovely balance. Perfect for just eating a little bite, little by little. If you like slow food, this is the only utensil you need....
Global Warming Has Nothing on Web Surfing with New Toolbar
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.10.08
Ahh, if only solving the climate crisis were as easy as wearing t-shirts, or clicking thumbs-up on StumbleUpon. Well, maybe even that tiny move can help a bit with the Environmental Defense Fund’s free “Fight Global Warming” toolbar. The downloadable widget can give the struggle to slow our impact on the Earth some extra oomph while you browse. ...
Planet’s Retirement Account Loses $2-5 Trillion Every Year: Natural Capital Loss ‘Dwarfs Bank Crisis’
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.10.08
photo: Zach Klein
As everyone looks in stunned awe and fear as their stock portfolio and retirement plan suddenly isn’t worth as much as it was two weeks ago, a new EU-commissioned report highlights the annual costs of depleting the planet’s natural capital. The loss of valuable ecosystem services caused by deforestation—absorption of carbon dioxide, changes in water patterns, etc.—is “not only greater [than the current financial crisis] but it’s also continuous; it’s been happening every year, year after year,” Deutsche Bank economist Pavan Sukhdev told the BBC. He went on to explain in further details the money lost through our wholesale squandering of natural capital:...
Only in Hamilton: Vote For Architectural Crime vs Heritage
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.10.08
I am constantly agog at the shenanigans that go on in Hamilton, Ontario with respect to its historic buildings. Hamilton has everything it needs to be a great small city except leadership and vision. It also has "one of the few intact examples of International Style Civic architecture in Canada", which they compare to the United Nations building. Right now, the UN is being renovated at great expense to bring it back to its former glory; in Hamilton, they are renovating the City Hall but want to it on the cheap and clad it in precast instead of the original marble. ...
San Francisco Mayor Challenges Business to Install Solar
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 10.10.08
This week, San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom challenged the city's commercial sector to install solar. He offered businesses membership into the Mayor's Solar Founders' Circle as an incentive. More below the fold....
Bike-Thru Banking: A Boulder Bank's Cycle-Friendly Teller Window
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.10.08
Survey: Bail Out the Banks or The Environment? Or Both?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.10.08
In the last Depression, Franklin Roosevelt put thousands to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps planting trees, fixing drains, digging canals. Over in Huffington Post, Van Jones proposes much the same thing, a Green Bailout, including a Clean Energy Corps to put people to work on solar panels, wind turbines, smart bio-fuels and a massive program to weatherize every building and home in America.
...
Discovery and 3M Announce America's Next Top Young Scientist!
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 10.10.08
When Melissa Ray of Chesterfield, Missouri took home the title this week of America’s Top Young Scientist at the 3M/Discovery Young Scientist Challenge along with her $50,000 prize she joined an elite group of middle school science enthusiasts over the past decade that have proven themselves worthy of the honor....
New Designs For Cork and Recycled Plastic
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10.10.08
Young designers are using new materials in innovative ways and the Royal College of Art show is a good place to check them out. Yemi Awosile is fascinated with cork, one of the great ecological materials--it is a natural material that can be renewably harvested from the bark of trees. She has done extensive research on its uses and spent time in Portugal, both in Lisbon and in the Alentejo where it is produced.
Now she has created a fabric out of it--a mixture of treated and stripped cork and elastic that she knits up on knitting machines. It is surprisingly soft and flexible. By giving it a metallic element she has created a different visual aesthetic with it. She has taken second hand old furniture and reupholstered a chair and footstool with her new wonder fabric. They look sensational. Since it has good heat insulating properties, it is useful in the home. She has also created bolts of fabric samples out of the same knitted cork. These experimental pieces have a modern, contemporary look to them and the colours are reminiscent of Portugal. ...
Amazing Dolphin Rescue Attempt Caught on Video
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10.10.08
More quotes by Michael Braungart: We are not too many, just stupid.
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 10.10.08
Yesterday we posted about the Global Eco-Forum, an event about responsibility, sustainability and eco-innovation, held this week in Barcelona, Spain, organised by the local group Eco-Union. The conference held interesting debates by Gunter Pauli from the Zeri Foundation, Francesco Tonucci from The City of Children project, sustainable architect Livia Tirone and many others you can read about in our article about the Global Eco-Forum. There was however one special guest who deserves a bit more mentioning. His name: Michael Braungart, scientist and co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle concept.
Here a few very amusing and interesting quotes....
MicroPlace: Getting Something Back from MicroFinance Loans
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 10. 9.08
Image source: MicroPlace
Interested in using your investments to directly help low-income folks develop sustainable income, possibly even in your local community? MicroPlace, launched in 2007, offers microfinance loans, but with a twist for investors. What makes MicroPlace different from other microfinance options? Investors get a return on their investment, which they can use to reinvest in future projects, thus making the money go further....
Ecopolis Plans Future Green Cities
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 10. 9.08
Image source: The Science Channel
What will future cities look like? How will we feed the estimated 75% of the global population that will be living in cities by 2050? How will we transport and house and clothe all of those people living in a finite space? Nobel-Prize winning Dr. Daniel Kammen, host of Ecopolis, thinks he might have a few answers....
Angels Fighting For The Details: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Gone Green
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10. 9.08
Last week Matt alerted us when the U.S. Renewable Energy Tax Incentive Extension was "signed Into law." In Brief, What’s Been Approved Wind power tax credits have been extended for one year; other types of renewable energy such as small-scale hydro or tidal power have been extended for two years. The bigger news is that solar tax credits for businesses and residential installations have been extended for eight years. The entire package amounts to $18 billion in tax credits and will be partially paid for by closing tax loopholes for the oil and gas industry.Interested in which angelic industries lobbied hard to save our earthly Paradise Almost-Lost from the Clean-Coal Devils and the Drill-Baby Demons? Look below the fold for details. See how many angels you can count dancing on the head of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) extension, as included in The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. (Note: devilishly hard to keep track of the nomenclature of rapidly written/amended bills. We speak of the same thing throughout, though.)...
Man Goes a Week Without Spending a Cent
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10. 9.08
Edun Pops Up in San Francisco, Los Angeles
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10. 9.08
Photo credit: Edun
Attention, Edun fans: The socially and environmentally conscious fashion label will be setting up temporary shop in San Francisco and Los Angeles to showcase its Fall/Winter 2008 collection, which we first featured on TreeHugger in February.
Edun, which was founded by U2's Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, will be partnering with Azalea in S.F. (6-19 October) and Ten Over Six in L.A. (4-16 November) to get its goods directly into your hot little hands. The best part? True to the company's philanthropic roots, 15 percent of total sales from the four-week cameo appearance will go to charities ONEXONE and the H2O Africa Foundation....
At A Clean Break: Interface Studio Architects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 9.08
We have previously mentioned the exhibition of modern prefab, A Clean Break opening in Philadelphia on October 16; in addition to the WeeHouse and MiniHome, there is also an exhibition, including work by Interface Studio Architects, who designed the 100K House, which is most definitely not a prefab in the traditional sense.
...
Kiss Penguins Goodbye if the Planet Warms 2 Degrees Celsius: WWF
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 9.08
photo: Martha de Jong-Lantink
Though the jury is still out on whether global warming had anything to do with large numbers of dead penguins washing ashore in Brazil back in July, according to a report from WWF if global warming increases temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius more than half of Antarctica's colonies of Emperor penguins could be wiped out.
WWF’s Antarctic Climate Change Coordinator, Juan Casavelos, described the problem as very serious, “Antarctica and the Arctic are the most threatened regions from climate change. In the Antarctic Peninsular, the temperature has risen 2.5°C in the past 50 years, which is five times faster than the global average.” Casavelos went on to describe how these temperature increases have impacted penguins:...
A Solar Refrigeration System, Carried by Camels
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 10. 9.08
Reaching the nomadic communities who roam the arid and hot Sahel of Africa with vaccines has always posed an exceptional challenge to health workers, particularly because vaccines need to be refrigerated. (See past posts on the Ice Battery.) National immunization programs to eliminate serious diseases like polio and measles rarely benefit pastoralist communities in Kenyan districts like Laikipia and Samburu, nor do those communities often get access other medications requiring refrigeration.
In the last two years, a team of designers, health workers, and development experts from Designmatters at the Art Center College of Design, Princeton’s Institute of Science and Technology of Materials, and the Mpala Community Trust has conceived and rolled out a clever mobile, refrigerated health clinic using solar energy and camels. ...
Smart Lighting Can Turn LED Lights into WiFi Hotspots
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 9.08
Images via Boston University
Everyone is a smarty pants. A research team at Boston University is developing a whole new way to use LEDs for more than just energy-efficient lighting. They’re creating Smart Lighting, which would enable wireless communication through visibile light. ...
Going to Greenbuild? Rise to the Occasion for greenGoat
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 9.08
As a non-profit , greenGoat is anything but trendy; it "boosts building efficiency through conservation measures that lower disposal costs, increase energy efficiency, manage storm water runoff, and improve building performance." It helps architects, contractors and people in the development industry to reuse building materials, save energy and water, and prepare LEED documents.
It is the kind of heavy lifting that someone has to do if we are going to solve the problems that buildings cause with their production of 48% of North America's greenhouse gases. And just because their work might not get your heart pumping, their fundraising party certainly will. If you are going to Greenbuild in Boston, you can party with them on November 19....
EPA Reforms Rule on Hazardous Waste, Boosts Recycling
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 9.08
Photo Via Montgomery City Division of Solid Waste Services
The EPA is under the gun since the Government Accountability Office uncovered their gross inefficiency at monitoring e-waste. And that makes the lastest news to come through a little bit hair raising.
The EPA, as part of their Regulatory Review and Reform initiative, has taken another look at just what “solid waste” means and tweaked the definition a bit. Apparently this is in the interest of recycling, so that more recyclable items are diverted from hazardous waste disposal sites and head to recycling plants instead.
Apparently this is to benefit small businesses. Seems like a good idea….on the surface. ...
ASUS N Series Notebooks Finally Make EPEAT Gold
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 9.08
Ahh, getting a gold star feels warm and fuzzy. ASUS finally knows that feeling. While we've been somewhat underwhelmed in the past with the company's attempt at greener laptops, this incarnation looks promising.
Lenovo, Dell, HP and Toshiba have known it for awhile, scoring gold with their notebooks well before ASUS. But finally the bamboo-lovin’ computer company has broken into the club with an excellent score of 21 out of 27 optional points.
Read on for the score breakdown and a summary of this cool notebook. ...
Carbon Paper, Baby, Carbon Paper! Tom Friedman Weighs in on Energy Politics, Global Warming, and the Energy Technology Revolution
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 9.08
IBM selectric typewriter from 1961 photo by: jeremy.
Love him or hate him, the one thing we all can agree upon is that Thomas Friedman is verbose and a very good self-promoter. (The concept may be essentially true, but if I hear the phrase ‘hot, flat and crowded’ one more time I may become sick.) Elizabeth Kolbert, of the New Yorker and Field Notes From a Catastrophe fame, recently interviewed Friedman for Yale Environment 360 on the themes he’s been hammering home for some time now: the world needs an energy technology revolution, global warming is the most serious threat humanity has ever face, and the globalized economy. It’s a long interview (you can listen to it if you like), but here are the highlights:...
More Bad News About Bisphenol A: It Interferes with Chemotherapy Treatments
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 9.08
Breast Cancer Cell
We know, the Food and Drug Administration says Bisphenol A (BPA) is safe and the Government's role is to protect its citizens, not the chemical industry. Nevertheless, yet another study has just come out that shows the stuff lining our tin cans and polycarbonate bottles is a problem- it reduces the effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast cancer and possibly other kinds of cancer treatments.
BPA is structurally similar to estrogen; this creates the issue. The study's title says it all: "Bisphenol A at Low Nanomolar Doses Confers Chemoresistance in Estrogen Receptor Alpha Positive and Negative Breast Cancer Cells."
Our tipster Kate explains:...
Floating Wind Turbines Will Power Oregon’s First Offshore Wind Farm
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 9.08
After lagging behind Europe in developing its offshore wind power potential, the United States has finally entered the race in ernest: Delaware has an offshore wind farm in development; similar projects have been discussed for Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey. Now the West Coast is getting in on the act.
Principle Power has announced that it is in the process of raising $20 million dollars in a corporate equity round of funding, and is proceeding with plans to develop a wind farm offshore of Tillamook County, Oregon. As the permitting process has not even begun, there is no word on when the project is expected to come online, but here’s what’s known at this point:...
Ericsson Crosses Mobile Phone Tower With Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10. 9.08
The mainstream wind establishment has a hard time getting excited about vertical turbines - they've been around for too long without a major market breakthrough. But right now it's a bit of the big wind versus little wind question. Vertical wind turbines can have some noise-cutting, cost-cutting and reliability advantages over traditional spinning windmills and may be perfect for in-city wind electricity generation, as well as personal backyard installations. And Ericsson must think vertical has promise, too, as yesterday they announced they are going to try running their award-winning Tower Tube cell towers with Swedish-based Vertical Wind's four-bladed rotating turbine.
...
India’s Infrastructure Forcing Some Biodiesel Producers to Sell Fuel Abroad
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 9.08
Jatropha curcas field (a bit sparsely planted and not in India, sorry couldn’t find one...) photo by: orgadem.
India may be one of the world leaders in growing jatropha for use in biodiesel, but apparently some of the nation's biodiesel producers are encountering production bottlenecks. There isn't enough of the necessary infrastructure to blend the fuel in with conventional petroleum diesel. The result: Indian biodiesel producers are shipping their fuel to the United States and Europe. Here’s the scoop:
...
Apple's Mac Brick Rumors and the Environmental Impact
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 9.08
Supposed spy photo of Apple Brick via Engadget
If you’re a Mac-ophiliac or a gadget lover, you’ve likely heard the rumors circulating about a new manufacturing process Apple is keeping hush-hush. Well, the only thing anyone has right now is rumors and fairy dust, though some interesting conclusions are being drawn about this new process.
The Mac Brick Rumor Summed Up
Essentially, the “brick” rumor revolves around the notion that Apple is going to unveil a way to carve a Macbook out of a single brick of aluminum using “3D lasers and water jet cutting.” According to Engadget, the technique would eliminate the need to bend and fold parts, eliminate screws, and would mean faster prototype production.
Stepping In for Some Analysis
With the Steve Jobs heart attack fiasco aside, it can be equally tough to toss out a Mac rumor as to accept it – after all, they sometimes turn out to be true. But photos of the supposed prototype have been circulating, so we’ve decided to assume the rumor about a water jet cutting process is true in order to have a little fun researching what the new process might mean for the environment. ...
McKibben Sends a Special Invite, Winning Architects travel to Ecuador, Sustainablog Goes to the Carnival, and More
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 10. 9.08
350.org: Presidential Invite Campaign Launch by Jamie
"We've just launched a new campaign to send McCain and Obama thousands of invitations to the UN Climate Meetings this December in Poland. Get in on the action by watching the video below and visiting our special campaign page to send an invitation of your own:"
Designing for Humanity: One month to go... by Heather Worrell
"Teo and Heather are traveling to Ecuador to finish a design on a chocolate factory for Kallari, thanks to a grant from Architecture for Humanity and the support of RATIO Architects. In less than a month we will be packing our bags (as light as possible), and boarding the plane to head to Quito and Tena."...
It May Be Renewable But Is It Vegetarian? Dynamic Fuels to Make Jet Fuel From Animal Fat
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 9.08
photo: FarmSanctuary.org
Fellow TreeHugger Sami Grover covered the chicken fat-to-biodiesel controversy in North Carolina back in January. After hearing about this next announcement, I’m going to bring it up again: Is a fuel made from animal fats vegetarian or vegan? If it uses beef fat could it be used in good conscience by Hindus? Pork fat: Muslims or Jews? But I get ahead of myself...the news first.
Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture between Tyson Foods and Syntroleum Corp. has begun construction on a new fuel plant in Geismar, Louisiana which will be making biodiesel and jet fuel from “non-food grade animal fats such as beef tallow, pork lard, chicken fat and greases.”
Here are the details:...
Tokyo International Film Festival Going Green
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10. 9.08
Next weekend will see a green carpet rolled out for the first time at the opening day of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which is to commence October 18th. The green carpet is manufactured from recycled plastic bottles and aims to convey the message of “Ecology = Preservation of Earth’s Environment.” (Research and trials were conducted in order to ensure the safety and durability of the carpet.)
The Earth Grand Prix, a new award, will be given for the first time to the best new film dealing with nature, the environment and ecology. Sponsored by Toyota, Special Partner of the film festival, the award winning film will be given a specially designed trophy. There will also be some fun and easy-to-understand conferences and other events on the environment and ecology are also scheduled. Participation if free!
The official poster of the 21st TIFF features a green earth and the new motto of TIFF “Action! for Earth!” This is the newly launched slogan of TIFF to demonstrate its commitment to the environment....
Change Coming To Water Politics - Twelve US States Face Extended Drought Conditions
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10. 9.08
The US Climate Prediction Center projects large areas of drought "Persist" conditions (graphically indicated in solid brown) in Hawaii, Southern California and Nevada, in South-Central Texas, and in seven southern US states, including the Lake Lanier watershed, which currently supplies metro-Atlanta with potable water (pictured below). California's long-term water future, in particular does not look good: Public water agencies are only receiving 35% of their annual allocation from the State Water Project this year – the lowest level since the 1991 drought. And in coming years, deliveries will likely be less. According to the initial forecasts from the National Weather Service, the drought conditions in the state will likely to continue into next year.Man, that's dry. Good thing there's no Enron-like scheme to sell water on a futures market. Via::MaximsNews ...
Murata Helping Turn Laptop Heat into Power
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 9.08
Photo of burned laptop via Stewart, Murata prototype photo via PC Advisor
Have you ever been working away on your laptop and realize that the sucker is putting out some serious heat – enough for it to be not so cozy sitting on your lap? Well, that waste heat could be put to good use, and Murata Manufacturing is on to something with a new prototype demonstrated at CEATEC that could just solve those heat – and battery power – woes. ...
SMART 2020 Report: Smart Grids Can Cut CO2 Emissions by 15 Percent
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 9.08
Photo via takomabibelot
The main focus of smart meters and the smart grid is streamlining energy use. It is a more efficient way to help homes and businesses reduce their use, and for utilities to track and charge customers for their real time utility use. But there is another vital reason why smart metering and smart grid technology is so important.
CO2 emissions could be reduced by 15% globally if the world adopts the technology.
A new report published by The Climate Group entitled “SMART 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the information age” goes into detail about how implementing this rapidly growing technology could help cut a significant portion of emissions, and even further, save global businesses a whopping $685 billion annually. States like California, Texas, Idaho and Colorado are catching on, but is the rest of the world?...
Seven Ways to Green That Time of the Month
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10. 9.08
Image source: Getty images, altered by author
Well, here is a delicate subject. When is the last time you shared your thoughts at a dinner party about how you can avoid adding to landfill volume with your feminine hygiene products? And, if it comes up in mixed circles, is there probably some crank who will attempt to terminate the conversation by suggesting that the two best options are: (1) "Keep 'em preggers, all the time"; or (2) "Keep women in their separate tents until it is over"? Option 1: vetoed. Overpopulation is not greener. Option 2: Thank goodness we live in more enlightened times. Because there are options. Put those cranks in their place, and read on for the best ways to green your monthly visit from Aunt Flo....
A Field Guide to the New York City Bicyclist
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 9.08
You know cycling has become mainstream when the New York Times has not one but two photo essays in the Style section- one on bikes as the latest fashion accessory: "As bike lanes multiply around the city, cycling grows ever more popular and subcultures of riders coalesce around a style and a sensibility. A look at the two-wheeled traffic." ::New York Times
More usefully, they then show a collection of fashion accessories for the fashion accessory: a review of classy panniers and shopping bags. ...
Rob Hopkins on Solar Living: More Interesting, Connected and Satisfying
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 9.08
Solar Connects You to the Seasons
Earlier this week I shared my experiences of installing solar water heating, and included a quote from Transition Towns founder Rob Hopkins about the silliness of talking about payback times. Now Rob has written a follow up post about his own experiences with solar water heating in which he reveals that he is taking his solar exploits a little further, in that rather than setting the system up to provide top-up heat with fossil fuels automatically when there’s insufficient sun, Rob’s system is set up so he has to make an active choice to use backup heat. Besides obviously increasing his fuel savings, Rob reckons it also connects him with the seasons:
...
Survey: Are Carbon Offsets a Good Wedding Present?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 9.08
Graham Hill asked this in a post but we now put it into a survey: On his recent trip, Lori Majewski of dosomething.org discussed a quandary she had found herself in. A well to-do friend was to be married and owned a private jet. She needed to buy him a wedding gift and was considering carbon offsets for his plane.
...
Door to Door Darning: Michael Swaine
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10. 9.08
Michael Swaine has been travelling through London knocking on doors and offering to darn people's socks. He is asking them to fill out a "Door to Door Darning Survey" and at the same time he is using it as an entré to try to talk to them about clothes mending and if and how they do it. En route to The Knitting and Stitching Show, he has stopped off at Origin: The London Craft Fair and set up "shop". "Shop" is a small old suitcase that has shelves built into it and rows of colourful threads, scissors and needles. And he is starting gentle, quiet conversations with curious patrons about darning.
He calls it artistic mending, but says that mostly people are teaching him about old mending techniques that they have learned from their mothers and grandmothers. With an old wool sock in hand, a Finnish woman comes over to show him a circular method of mending and another from Scandinavia has her own, different way of doing it. Mainly he listens to people's stories about age and old things and the memories that the simple act of mending evokes. ...
Michael Braungart, Gunter Pauli, Francesco Tonucci and Livia Tirone at the Global Eco-Forum in Barcelona
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 10. 9.08
This week at the Global Eco-Forum in Barcelona, Spain, we had the pleasure to witness some interesting debates by Michael Braungart, co-father of the Cradle to Cradle concept, Gunter Pauli from the Zeri Foundation, Francesco Tonucci from The City of Children project, sustainable architect Livia Tirone and many others. This is the first of hopefully many more Global Eco-Forums, organised by Barcelona-based Eco-Union, who organise training days and activities around all aspects of development and sustainability of the environment. The aim of the conference and online network is to reflect, discuss and generate new ideas for a more sustainable and responsible society.
There were definitely some interesting debates started, when Michael Braungart (who just arrived and had to leave again straight after his speech to take another flight) suggested we should all go to the toilet before boarding the plane, which would save around 5 tones of kerosene due to the loss of weight. ...
Eel-Like Electric Cells Could Power Medical and Nanotech Devices
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 8.08
We may not be talking megawatts (let alone watts) of potential energy here, but a new artificial cell created by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Yale University could be used to power the next generation of medical and nano-based devices. In a paper published in the latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology, the engineers describe a type of cell that would not only mimic the electrical behavior of electrical eel cells, but actually improve on them -- by making them more powerful and efficient.
Eels are able to produce potentials of up to 600 volts by combining the output of several thousands of specialized cells known as electrocytes. These cells resemble nerve cells in the way they function: They transmit an electric pulse through the cell by moving sodium and potassium ions into and out of highly selective channels along the membrane, producing an ionic gradient. ...
5 Green Coffee Break Tips, Win a Toyota Prius and Cheesecake with Praline Sauce
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10. 8.08
:: Make your coffee break as eco-conscientious as possible.
:: Get in the running for a 2008 Toyota Prius by entering Tom's of Main's 'River Stories' contest.
:: Indulge in Emeril's Rustic Cheesecake with Praline Sauce....
Carbon Offsets for Your Private Jet Flying Pal?
by Graham Hill, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
Image credit: RecoilRick
The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. Packed in snugly on a science research boat with over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars, Graham recounts his journey and the unforgettable moments that made it so meaningful.
On my trip to the Arctic, we spent many a night leisurely dining over good conversation--just one of the perks of being stuck on a boat with a crew of dynamic personalities.
One night, Lori Majewski of dosomething.org discussed a quandary she had found herself in. A well to-do friend was to be married and owned a private jet. She needed to buy him a wedding gift and was considering carbon offsets for his plane. However, she was originally leaning towards not giving the offsets as she thought that that would be effectively giving him permission to keep flying his private jet.
So, dear reader, we pose the following question to you......
Pee Filter Runs on Poo: Dean Kamen Offers Solution to Water Needs
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 8.08
Photo via Red Ferret
How I didn’t hear about this sooner, I’ll never know. Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, went into water filtration awhile back.
Apparently this year he has unveiled the Slingshot, a filtration system for turning any water-containing liquid, including pee, into drinkable water. Not only that, but it can be run on cow poo.
Sound too good to be true? Maybe it is, or maybe Kamen doesn’t want it to take a giant belly flop like the Segway.
Read on for some interesting details about this product, and watch a video of Kamen on the Colbert Report....
Raw Foodists Charged with Smuggling Chocolate
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10. 8.08
Image: Raw chocolate or gasp - hashish? (Garry Choo on Flickr)Absurd but true – Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis, two owners of the Toronto-based raw food and beauty care company Living Libations were arrested last month at the US-Canadian border on their way to Arizona, after drug-sniffing dogs found their 2.5 pounds cache of raw, unrefined chocolate – which officials mistook as hashish. After hours of intimidating interrogation tactics and threats of “life in jail” by Canadian enforcement authorities, a drug test returned a false positive, identifying the raw chocolate as hashish. According to Natural News:...
100 Megawatts of Wind Turbines Planned for British Canals
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
photo: Poncho Ferguson
British organisation Partnership for Renewables has announced a plan, to be done in conjunction with British Waterways, that aims to turn canal and riverside locations across the UK into renewable energy power stations. The plan is claimed to save in excess of 100,000 tonnes to CO2 annually. All income from the project will be reinvested into preserving the historic canals and waterways of the UK. Here are the details:
...
No Recession for Bicycle Makers
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 8.08
Cars Down, Bikes Up
While high oil prices and an economic recession are hitting carmakers hard, bicycle makers are selling more than ever. "Giant Manufacturing, the world’s largest bicycle-maker, sold a record 460,000 units last month and is heading for its best year ever."
Demand is so high in certain places that there are even shortages. For example, it happened it New York City earlier this year, and in Taiwan, people pay deposits before the bikes are even off the assembly line. Read on for more details on why bikes are so hot....
Biofuel Potential of Another Invasive Species Investigated: Eurasian Milfoil
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
Eurasian milfoil weeding machine being used in Wisconsin. Photo: Ed Luschei.
A few months back the idea of using kudzu for biofuel was receiving a good deal of attention, with one entrepreneur attempting to market ‘kudzunol’. Now another invasive species in the US Northwest is being investigated for use as a biofuel: Eurasian Milfoil. The water plant has been infesting rivers and lakes for three decades now, and a good deal of money is spent removing it every year. What if that plant could be put to better use? That’s the question that was asked by a couple from northeast Washington asked:...
Sacramento Hospital Goes 50% Solar with 736-Kilowatt Array
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 8.08
Solar Powered Hospital: Healthy & Clean
Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital in Sacramento, California, is part of the Sutter Health organization, a not-for-profit group of hospitals and other health care service providers, has decided to go solar. Or at least, half-solar. 50% of its electricity needs will be provided by a 736-kilowatt solar array installed over the employee parking lot (probably shading the cars, reducing the need for air conditioning) and with a ground-mounted tracking system on the adjacent property.
Read on for more details....
California Leads the Energy Efficiency Race: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Releases 2008 Scorecard
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
photo: Ricardo Ferreira
So you think you’re doing everything you can to improve your home’s energy efficiency. And if you haven’t done everything you can do personally, both TreeHugger and Planet Green have plenty of tips on how you can get up to speed on saving energy. But the bigger question is how is your state doing as a whole?
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy calls efficiency improvements the “first fuel” of energy independence and has just released its 2008 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. From the title you know that California comes out on top, but this is how the other states compare:...
Observer House for Next-Gene 20 by MVRDV
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
20 architects designed houses for the Gene 20 Architecture International Project. MVRDV "designed a house which maintained gigantic window scene, within this window scene there consist various elements of spatial topics, each spatial topic, according to residential demand, is able to reformat, to reach the maximum desired living atmosphere."
huh?...
Toshiba Just Months Away From First Fuel Cell Device
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 8.08
Photo of Toshiba's prototype fuel cell-powered cell phone via TechOn
We heard last year that Toshiba planned to launch a fuel cell-powered portable media player by late ’08. Well, we’re getting on to late ’08 and we finally have heard news that the company’s first device will be launched sometime between now and the end of March ’09. The breath-holding part is just what that device will be....
Thinking of Buying a Pellet Stove? We Can Help!
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 8.08
Modern Wood Burning Pellet Stoves
With high energy prices and constant talks of economic recession, wood stoves are back in vogue in many parts of the world where wood can be had cheaply. But they have downsides, especially if we're talking about old and inefficient wood stoves that can create a lot of air pollution.
Which Pellet Stove to Buy?
Pellet stoves can be a greener alternative to traditional wood stoves and fireplaces: "Pellet stoves pollute so little that they don't require certification from the EPA, they create no creosote (chimney fire fodder), and fall well within clean air standards. And the pellets? Most are made from compressed sawdust and other wood waste, though some stoves can also take wood, recycled paper waste, and biomass pellets." Read on for more information on pellet stoves....
Quote of the Day: Prince Charles on Modern "Green" Architecture
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
24 years ago HRH got in trouble for calling an addition to the National Gallery a "monstrous carbuncle". He is at it again, complaining about glass buildings with green gizmos on top.
"It would seem, however, that the emergent climate-change agenda seems to have offered licence to another generation of architects and designers bent on further divorcing us - through random and untested building shapes and types - from our deeply-rooted connection with Nature's ordering systems which remain true to the rule of climate and season.
"Why, I must ask, does being 'green' mean building with glass and steel and concrete and then adding wind turbines, solar panels, water heaters, glass atria - all the paraphernalia of a new "green building industry" - to offset buildings that are inefficient in the first place?
...
US Navy First: Moving Cargo By Kite-Powered Ship
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10. 8.08
image source: SkySails
In January of this year, the 132 meter (400 foot) Multi Purpose Heavy Lift Carrier MV Beluga SkySails set off on its maiden kite-powered trans-atlantic journey. Tugged along by 160 m2 of kite hovering 100 m (100 yards) over the ship's bow, the SkySails ship successfully completed its voyage in March. Now the MV Beluga SkySails is bound for the new world again: this time with U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force cargo loaded at three European ports. But is the military motivated by green, greenbacks or greenwashing?...
Biofuel Sustainability Embraced by US Department of Energy: National Biofuels Action Plan Unveiled
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
photo: Phil
While much of the thinking on first generation biofuels of late hasn’t been entirely encouraging, the US Department of Energy still has a soft spot for biofuels in general and the agency has just announced a National Biofuels Action Plan which hopes to encourage the development of sustainable biofuels. Developed in response to President Bush’s “Twenty in Ten” plan to reduce gasoline consumption by 20% over the next ten years, the plan was development by the DOE in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture.
Although the plan doesn’t aim to establish hard sustainability criteria like those proposed by several third party programs, it is encouraging to see that the DOE at least is thinking about sustainability and biofuels. The details of the NBAP are as follows:...
AlertMe Smart Plugs Help Automate Home Energy Use
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 8.08
The idea of controlling your home’s energy use remotely is growing in popularity, evidenced by the cool devices coming out that make doing just that easier and easier. While there are many plug-in devices that help stop vampire power, there aren’t as many that can be used to turn outlets on and off via mobile devices or the web.
There are, however, Ploggs, and now Europeans have AlertMe’s Smart Plug. It is much like other plug-in devices but has some great upgrades that make putting your home on remote control simple. ...
A Clean Break: Modern Prefab Comes to Philadelphia
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
Geoff Warner's Wee House and Altius/ Andy Thomson's miniHome, now in new fire-engine red cladding, are on the move to Philadelphia for A Clean Break, a show of modern prefab at the Minima Gallery
"Promoting 'clean' development — aesthetically and ecologically — the exhibition features innovative design solutions from international architects and designers, addressing issues of urban infill, 21st century development and sustainability."...
Waste To Energy
by Marian Hopkins, Business Roundtable on 10. 8.08
According to the Energy Information Administration, the average American throws away about 4.5 pounds of trash daily, and nearly 1,600 pounds per year. Finding smart, innovative ways to deal with this waste is one of many major environmental challenges facing our society. Surprisingly, the garbage we throw away may actually be part of the solution to diversifying our nation’s energy mix.
Waste, it turns out, is one of our leading energy alternatives.
Our garbage, called municipal solid waste, or MSW, is recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as a renewable fuel. In fact, trash has been a source of alternative energy for at least a century. In 1898, New York City began recovering energy from its garbage through incineration techniques. Today, with our nation burning 14 percent of its solid waste, incineration is the most common form of waste-to-energy (WtE) processing.
...The Toxic Trailer Legacy
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 10. 8.08
Formaldehyde sensor in FEMA trailer, photo by Jim Fortenberry
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) already had a poor legacy after Hurricane Katrina - one that was worsened by the agency's lack of action over the formaldehyde-fuming travel trailers given to residents to live in until their homes were rebuilt. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is also receiving heavy criticism for not protecting these citizens. In the past week, both agencies again received a black eye for their handling of the toxic trailers after Hurricane Katrina.
Yesterday a House Committee found that the CDC and its sister agency failed to protect the public's health :
"The agency's incomplete and inadequate handling of their public health assessment, the failure to quickly and effectively correct their scientific mistakes and their reluctance to take appropriate corrective actions was all marked by notable inattention and inaction on the part of ATSDR's ( Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ) senior leadership. As a result, tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina and Rita families living in trailers with elevated levels of formaldehyde were kept in harm's way for at least one year longer than necessary."...
Beauty: Nano-Steam Perm To Avoid Toxic Chemicals
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10. 8.08
A Tokyo hair salon claims to be the first to use "nano-steam" perm as a way to avoid the harmful chemicals commonly used in beauty salons. Insolite also carbon offsets its CO2 emissions (another first for a Tokyo hair salon) and works with Aveda to provide safe, pleasant hair care to its customers. Using ultra-fine steam with a water droplet diameter of 1.5 nanometers (one billionth of a meter) or less, they clean the hair, washing away any impurities, to get natural curls. Well? Have a look at their stylists. If it works, I bet it will be making ladies (and men) more beautiful and happy, not only in Tokyo, but all over....
How Many Gallons Do You Earn Per Hour?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
It is always interesting to look at different forms of measurement. Gas has dropped a lot recently so this guy got a raise. This is from a registration drive from the Obama campaign, which is closed now so we cannot be accused of bias. ::Thunderblog...
Tata Nano, the $2000 Indian ‘People’s Car', Finds Factory a New Home in Gujarat
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
photo: Anugrah Adams
Just a quick update on the battle of the proposed and protested Tata Nano manufacturing facility in West Bengal, India. In the past month construction on the site was halted by Tata due to protests by local farmers who claimed that the land for the factory was expropriated from them without proper compensation. Latter in September, the government of West Bengal made some concessions to the protesters, giving some land back to them from both inside the project area of from land the government held outside of the proposed site. This halted the protests, but Tata still reserved the right to move the manufacturing of the Nano to another state in India.
Tata has come to a conclusion on a new location for building the Rs100,000 ($2,050) ‘people’s car’. And the lucky winner is...the western Indian state of Gujarat. Read on for more:...
Forbes List of Most Coveted Cars: Tesla Roadster, Fisker Karma, and Smart ForTwo
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 8.08
You Thought Prius Waiting Lists Were Bad?
A sign of the times, surely. Forbes Auto's list of Most Coveted Cars not only includes Ferraris and Rolls-Royces, but there are also a few green(er) vehicles.
At the top of the list with 27 months of waiting to get your hands on the wheel are the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé and Fisker Karma plug-in electric car. At 12 months is the Tesla Electric Roadster, and at 9 to 13 months is the least expensive vehicle on Forbes' list by far: The Smart ForTwo. Read on for our thoughts on Tesla and Fisker's strategy....
Save Paper, Save Money: 5 Free Software Downloads That Spare Your Printer
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 8.08
Photo via lotyloty
Printing out pages and pages of emails, websites and the like is getting more and more pointless, expensive, and, thankfully, taboo both at home and in the business world. However, there are still times when printing is necessary or simply too convenient to pass up.
Yet, people who like to print out info from websites and emails often have to spend a lot of time reformatting and deleting data items to make the printout efficient. Or, more likely, printing website info or email means a lot of wasted ink and pages because no one wants to take the time to reformat all that wasted space, delete the superfluous ads, and so on.
If there is no “Printer Friendly Version” button to click, then free downloadable software that does the reformatting for you is a great solution. We've gathered five great free software options to save paper, ink, time, and green face. ...
A Cool Way to Meet in the Middle and Cut Driving
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 8.08
Meeting half way is an old concept for cutting down the distance two people have to travel to get to one another. With everyone warily eyeballing gas prices and taking up bikes or a good pair of shoes as a preferable mode of transportation, shortening the travel distance and meeting half way seems even more appealing.
But how do you pick where to meet, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the area? There’s a cool website that does the work for you and makes meeting in the middle more of an adventure. ...
Konarka Opens World's Largest Roll-To-Roll, Solar Photovoltaic, Thin-Film Production Plant
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10. 8.08
Konarka is calling their flexible, thin-film solar material, to be made in New Bedford MA, Power Plastic. There are several layers of good news to the announcement. One is that former employees of a closed Polaroid plant are getting jobs with Konarka, putting their roll printing expertise to use. In addition to acquiring the fully automated roll-to-roll manufacturing line, the company has also hired the leading technology and process engineering teams from Polaroid, with plans to hire over 100 additional employees as production increases toward capacity over the next two to three years. Via::Konarka press release.Lights, Cameras, Action! Who'd have thought that instant photography and roll-to-roll printing would lead to better solar energy capture technology on a commercial scale? Konarka apparently. We often publish posts on alternative energy break-through research findings or "bench scale" prototypes. And then never hear of them again. It's a rare treat when a promising one graduates to the commercial level. Even better when graduation leverages what would otherwise be an orphaned manufacturing process once operated by a down-scaling business. Other wow factors: support of both public and private sector investments over a 7 year period, and the talents of a Nobel prize winning chemist....
Transformer Furniture: Distendido by Guillem Ferran
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
We love transformer furniture that changes to adapt to different functions. It is often complicated with moving parts and hinges, and often expensive to make; sometimes it also sacrifices comfort for utility. Guillem Ferran designed the Distendido for "Habitat Valencia", where young designers presented work that "questioned how we utilize and create personal space, presenting some tangible solutions for those living in tight spaces."
Guillem's chair looks like it might be a bit hard on the tush, but it does a neat trick:
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Two on Poo Power: Netherlands and Greece Do Wonders With Waste
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 8.08
photo: Martin Bingisser
It’s safe to say that TreeHugger loves poo power. Not just because of the nice alliteration and an excrement reference that draws your eye, but because it completes a waste cycle, creating energy from substances that would otherwise simply well, um, go to waste. In that vein, here are two more ways that poo power is being utilized, one from the Netherlands and one from Greece. Read on:
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Vote Early and Often for the Peoples Design Awards
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
The standard drill for a design competition is for a fancy jury to evaluate jazzy submissions from designers who pay a fee to enter. Then there is the Peoples Design Award run by the Cooper Hewitt, where anyone can nominate anything by anybody, and then everyone can vote on it. They say "Whether it's handmade or mass produced, high end or low brow, if it's an example of good design, we want to know about it!" Our friends at Inhabitat are in position 7 right now with their clean, attractive website design; my beloved Strida is in 3, and the Magno wooden radio by Singgih Kartono is up there too. It is a great opportunity to promote good green design.
Other TreeHugger subjects in the running right now:...
Slow Inspiration in Amsterdam
by Carolyn F. Strauss on 10. 8.08
What's on at the Slow Loket: Julia Mandle Chalk Shoes
During the coming weekend (11-12 October) in Amsterdam, slowLab will unveil the first ‘Slow Loket,’ a pop-up resource center for Slow Design information and inspiration, featuring live talks, films, workshops, and an exhibition of Slow Design provocations by members of our network....
Monarch Counters Upset with New San Francisco Museum
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 10. 8.08
Academy of Sciences' Celebratory Butterfly Release Raises Controversy
When San Francisco's new Academy of Sciences opened at the end of last month, they celebrated their opening in a beautiful new green space with a ceremonial release of a flock of monarchs. What seemed like an innocent release of a few beautiful butterflies has sparked tensions between the academy and conservationists. More on the controversial move below the fold....
Stop Talking About the Environment!
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
Trend Watch: Multi-Modal Commuting with Folding Bikes
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
In many cities, including Toronto and San Francisco, regular bikes are not allowed on the subways in rush hour. Also in many cities, the subway might be too far to walk but the bus service is sparse or erratic. Now, more and more people are using folding bikes for multi-modal transport: cycling to and from the subway station and avoiding the feeder bus.
Eve Mitchell writes about a woman who used to drive her pickup truck to work, but now uses a folding bike. "I like it because it packs up into a little package. I like it because I can ride on BART any time," said Ellen Babcock, who rides her bike to a San Francisco BART station. After getting off at the Rockridge station, Babcock pedals to her job of teaching sculpture at the Oakland campus of the California College of the Arts. "It's just so much more pleasant than being in a car," she said....
Frugal Green Living: Preserving the Harvest
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
One of the best ways to save money is to make your own food, and this is the best time of year to do it, as the farmers markets overflow with the bounty of fall. At Planet Green, food writer Kelly Rossiter has been canning and bottling everything in sight, laying in supplies for the winter. She previously showed us how to find our dinner at the farmers market; Now she shows us what do to with it. Unless noted otherwise, all pictures by Kelly Rossiter.
Preserving the Harvest: Four Ways to Make Homemade Preserves
When I first thought about preserving food, making jams and pickles seemed like a delightful prospect. Now that I've been reading about it, it seems more like a daunting prospect. I've been reading Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard which is apparently the book to use. I especially liked the "small batch" part of title. I just can't see myself purchasing bushels of produce to put up like my Italian and Portaguese neighbours do. In August my whole neighbourhood is redolent with the aroma of cooking tomato sauce and roasting peppers. Some of these people have turned their garages into canning kitchens. I'm thinking that making a couple of jars of this and that is more my speed, just until I see if I can do this successfully. After all, if you wreck a couple of small jars of something, you can shrug your shoulders and move on, if you wreck twenty or thirty jars of something, it would make you cry. So, in the midst of reading about spores and botulism, I am cautiously moving forward, toward the day I actually put my hand to this task. ::More at Planet Green ...
Wind Power Enters Argentinean Energy Grid
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 10. 8.08
So far mainly fed by fossil fuels, hydroelectric, and nuclear power, the Argentinean energy grid is now incorporating clean energy from the Antonio Moran wind park, located in the southern province of Chubut. The park was born in 1994 with only two windmills to feed a small town, and has grown up to become the largest in South America so far. It has a total of 26 windmills and an annual production of 60.9 million kWh.
Although Argentina has not been a champion in pushing wind power generation, this news and the fact that the country is producing large wind turbines might be showing a new trend. The country certainly needs to find new generation sources to face the energy crisis and Patagonia has massive wind frequency and speed, which make wind the obvious choice.
More on the energy crisis and the Antonio Moran park in the extended....
In Canada, All Politics is Local
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
Davenport Candidates Mario Silva, Peter Ferreira, and Wayne Scott
Tip O'Neill should have been a Canadian, because his quote about all politics being local applies a lot more here than it did in Boston. We have the old British First-past-the-post parliamentary system where we don't vote for the leader but for the local candidate, and whichever party gets the most seats forms the government. As Judy Rebick noted in the Globe," If Canada had a democratic electoral system and the polls are right, next week we'd have a majority government that supports strong action on climate change."
Instead, there are four opposition parties with varying degrees of green cred splitting the environmental vote against the incumbent Conservative government. The Vote for the Environment people may be right when they say that we should vote strategically to get a strong environmentally aware government. As an example of the difficulties we face, I will look at the contradictions in my own Davenport riding in Toronto, where I started this post as an undecided voter and finished it committed.
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Survey: Buy Bulk or Buy Daily?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 8.08
Michelle Kaufmann suggests that a green frugal choice is to buy bulk, "buy foods from the bulk bins at the store. You can find everything from cereals to nuts to candy in the bins. Lots of veggies can be purchased that way, too." Donald Chong is another architect with another idea; he says "small fridges make good cities," that you shouldn't a lot of bulk purchases but instead should respond to the marketplace, the baker, vegetable store and neighbourhood vendor.
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The London Craft Fair: Origin: Week One
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10. 8.08
Origin: The London Craft Fair is the annual juried craft fair where the best of Britain, and the rest of the world, exhibit original contemporary craft. In each of the two weeks 140 craft makers from all fields including ceramics, glass, textiles and jewellery display their works. This year they are also holding workshops, talks and events to give patrons a chance to learn more about craft. There is even a Pom Pom International Project; making pom-poms for world peace.
We have sought out some of the quirkiest and most eco for your delight... Winner of the quirkiest has to be Postal Jewellery. Made out of thick white cardboard, it is flat-pack jewellery that can be sent through the mail, like a postcard and assembled. There are twelve birth flower "rings"--one for each month. Each one folds into a flower-shaped ring. October's flower is the cosmos, by the way....
The Go Green Initiative’s School of the Week: Old Settlers Elementary in Flower Mound, TX!
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 10. 7.08
While the grammatically inclined may be wondering where the apostrophe went in the name of the Go Green Initiative's school of the week way back when it was founded, but the simple truth is that they’re doing amazing things to help educate kids about the environment while making an impact on our world today at the same time. And with fall upon us, they've got a program running that's right on target for the season....
Wikis Take Manhattan: Scavenger Hunt Documents Urban Environment
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 7.08
Please Fill Out Survey for Greenbuild Panel
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
I am on a panel discussing “Blogging the Built Environment” at Greenbuild in Boston next month, along with writers from Jetson Green, Building Green TV, GreenBuildingsNYC and the Green Workplace.
Before the panel we are trying to find out readers' attitudes toward green building and blogging. There will be a prize for a lucky surveyee: a copy of the brand new Encyclopedia of Earth which I am reviewing soon, graciously donated by the University of California Press.
Thanking you in advance for filling out the survey here.
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US Army Goes Solar: 500 MW Solar Thermal Power Plant to be Built at Fort Irwin
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 7.08
photo: azsustainably
Most people probably don’t think of the US Army as being on the forefront of the green movement, and while some military vehicles do guzzle gas more quickly than a new recruit learns to say ‘sir, yes, sir’, the Army is taking steps to reduce its energy usage. In fact in a press release outlining several new initiatives, Army goes so far to say that it wants to be a “model for the military and the nation” in terms of energy efficiency. Here are some of the Army’s latest green plans:...
Ovetto Differenziato Eggs You Into Recycling
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
Since we have not had any silly examples of rampant green consumerism of late, we offer the £139.99 Ovetto differenziato, or recycling egg.
...
Green iGoogle, Healthy Baked Fries and How to Ace Job Interviews
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10. 7.08
:: Embrace being an eco-geek and maximize your iGoogle application.
:: Enjoy the salty goodness of Emeril's easy-to-make Healthy Baked Fries.
:: Ace job interviews by flaunting your mean, green skills....
Toeing the Green Line: McCain v. Obama on Other Environmental Issues
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 7.08
photo: Luke Robinson
With less than a month to go in the US Presidential Election, one debate between John McCain and Barack Obama done and another scheduled for tonight, and the only debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin completed, less than 18% of US voters consider themselves undecided.
If you’re one of these people and care about energy policy and the environment I hope comparing side-by-side the rhetoric of both major party candidates has proven useful. In past posts we’ve covered renewable energy, offshore oil drilling, nuclear power, clean coal, and global warming.
This final installment will touch upon some of the other environmental issues that the next president of the United States has spoken out about: Water, Fuel Efficiency, Electric Vehicles, Building Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Communities. Here there are again, head-to-head on other green issues:...
Google Setting the Bar on Data Center Efficiency
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 7.08
Graph via Google
We’ve seen some amazing ideas about data centers coming out of Google that may be off in the future a ways. But Google’s Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Operations, has lifted the veil just slightly on the company’s current data server efficiency, showing off a little of the way their world works when it comes to greening up the IT industry.
They’ve designed their servers to use five times less energy than typical data centers. That’s great for Google, but even better for everyone else because it shows exactly what is attainable, and sets a standard to be beat.
That’s not the only exciting news from Google about greener data centers. They have more awesome initiatives up their sleeve. ...
Bailout Bill has Hidden Tax Break for Cyclists
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
Xavier Snelgrove, Wikipedia commons
Some of the hidden pork in the Bailout Bill have been written about for their silliness, like the Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children, others are not very green, like the Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility , which costs a cool hundred mil to give a fast tax break to the motor sports industry. However there is one particular one that TreeHuggers should love: Sec. 211. Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters
it allows for a "qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement" for "reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment"- your bike expenses, up to 20 bucks a month, can be covered by your boss as a benefit tax free. Full copy below fold. via ::Spacing Wire...
Memo To US Government: Five Ways To Fix The Housing Industry
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
MEMO: You own the Housing industry now, Here is what you should do with it.
Now that the United States Government owns all the mortgages, the guarantors of the mortgages, and the reinsurer of all the insurers, and possibly pretty soon $700 billion worth of foreclosed houses, what should you do with it?
Usually when a government nationalizes an industry, they have a plan for what they want to do with it. Now that the American government owns it, here are a few ideas that might help build a greener, healthier and more energy efficient nation. We have seen how when people are given the freedom to chose what they want instead of what is good for them, they pick granite counters instead of extra insulation. Now that you own all the lenders and guarantors and insurers, you can tell the people of this nation what is good for them and if they want a mortgage or insurance, that is what they get. Isn't nationalization wonderful? ...
Sharp Tries Taking TV Off Grid with Solar Powered 52-inch LCD Screen
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 7.08
Photo via Aving
It doesn’t look promising – at least not right away.
Back in July of this year, Sharp showed off a 26” solar powered TV, which utilizes a similar sized solar panel to be placed outdoors. At that time, a larger version was in the works. They’ve now shown off their newest solar-powered display – a 52-incher with a behemoth solar panel traipsing along beside it. ...
350 Presidential Election UN Climate Talks Invite Campaign Launches Today
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 10. 7.08
Regrets Only: 350 Campaign Invites Next POTUS to United Nations Climate Talks in Poznań, Poland.
Just in time for the second presidential debate tonight, 350.org is launching a new campaign to send candidates Obama and McCain thousands of invitations to the UN Climate Meetings in Poland in December 2008. Yesterday evening, the 350 campaign organizers invited reporters and bloggers to join Bill McKibben on a conference call to discuss the goals of the new effort which centers on sending both Barack Obama and John McCain thousands of invitations to the UN Climate Meetings taking place this December in Poznań, Poland. Says co-coordinator of 350.org, Jamie Henn:
Over the past 8 years, the U.S. presence at these meetings has been destructive at best, and we think one way to get things going in the right direction, is for the next U.S. President to attend the meeting and commit the U.S. to meaningful action. And there's a chance he'll go: advisers for both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama have said that the candidates would consider attending the meeting if elected....
Book Review: The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10. 7.08
Van Jones is one busy man. Based in Oakland, CA, the civil rights and environmental activist has been working tirelessly for the last decade and a half – first as the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, then Color of Change – two social justice organizations striving to give positive alternatives and a political voice to vulnerable communities. Most recently, Jones is the founder of Green For All, a national initiative committed to creating “green pathways out of poverty” and advocating “green-collar jobs for all.”
His latest book, The Green Collar Economy, comes out today and discusses the social, economic and political implications of the “green-collar job” (a term that’s being bandied around a lot nowadays). Jones defines a green-collar job as a “family-supporting, career-track job that directly contributes to preserving or enhancing environmental quality,” but is also part of what he calls the “one solution [to] fix our two biggest problems” – namely, poverty and our environmental crisis. You may ask: what does environmentalism have to do with alleviating poverty? ...
Beijing To Force 800,000 Cars Off the Road Daily
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 10. 7.08
Getty Images
Anyone wondering if Beijing's azure blue skies would last after the "green" Olympics left town (hello) can breathe a small sigh of relief. It took a few weeks, but in an effort to keep the skies and roads relatively clear, the Beijing government is putting its big, authoritarian foot down on the brakes and launching a car ban like the one it used during the Olympic Games.
Starting October 11, roughly a fifth of the city's cars will be kept from the roads on weekdays. Cars whose number plates end with 1 or 6 will be taken off roads on Monday, while those ending with 2 or 7 will be banned on Tuesday, and so on. The government has also hiked gas prices, and said it will limit the registration of new license plates to 100,000 (400,000 are registered every year at current rates), raise the price of parking downtown, and continue developing public transit. Will it work?...
Pork Or Progress? Congress Wallows In The Tar Sands, While Passing Renewable Energy Credits
by Jeff Siegel, Green Chip Stocks on 10. 7.08
Last week we got word that renewable energy tax incentives would be included in the financial bailout bill. Knowing full well that the bill would make it through the House this time around (thanks primarily to an avalanche of pork that continues to feed the bureaucratic machine), solar and wind supporters began to cheer.
After a long year of begging for crumbs so we can strengthen our energy infrastructure and employ 4.2 million hard-working folks in the renewable energy sector, the lifeline was finally offered.
In the bill, investment tax credits for commercial and residential solar projects were extended through 2016, and the $2,000 cap on credits for residential solar projects was removed. Also extended was the production tax credit for wind through 2009, and biomass through 2010....
London Fashion Week: Ciel SS09 is Bold with Beautiful Prints
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 10. 7.08
All images by Ben Gold courtesy of Ciel
Oh the cruelty of the fashion industry! Showing us all these beautiful Spring/Summer clothes when we are sliding inexorably into winter...brrrrr! Still, even just the sight of Ciel's SS09 collection at London Fashion Week was enough to bring a sunny smile to our faces. Bright, crisp and beautifully patterned, it would be fair to say that Sarah Ratty has pulled a gorgeous mix out of her magical eco-fashion bag once again. So we must pull on our socks and hats now and wait patiently for the hot summer days next year when we will be able to enjoy wearing this collection. Click over the page to see more stunning shots of Ciel SS09....
Increasing Biofuel Use Will Continue to Increase Food Prices, Drive People into Poverty: United Nations
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 7.08
photo: Kevin Lim
Oxfam said biofuels were pushing millions of people into poverty; a World Bank report said increase in biofuel use was the one of the prime causes of increasing food prices. Adding more weight to the anti-biofuel side of the food versus fuel balance is a new report for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In comparing decreasing oil usage or increasing food prices, biofuels will have a greater effect on the latter:...
Green Computer Smackdown: Dell Studio Hybrid Versus Advent Eco PC
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 7.08
A cool thing about competition is that is creates a whole lot of options from which consumers can choose, especially in the realm of electronics.
It seems the Dell Studio Hybrid has a bit of competition. PC World has announced the Advent Eco PC. This little PC does just thaaaaat much more than the Studio Hybrid, breeding some interesting competition and irresistible comparison. ...
One Small Step Away from Extinction: Polar Bears to be Granted ‘Critical Habitat’ by Department of the Interior
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 7.08
photo: Amanda Graham
Though polar bears were granted “threatened” status by the Federal government back in May, no specific habitat refuge was created for their protection. As part of legal settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council that will change. The Secretary of the Interior now has a deadline of March 31, 2010 to designate “critical habitat” for the polar bear, as well as to issue guidelines on non-lethal strategies to deal with bears which pose threats to humans.
Protecting Habitat Critically Important
The NRDC commented on the ruling:...
Market Carnage Killing Solar And Everything Else That's Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
Last week the Renewable Energy Tax Incentive was signed into Law and Matthew predicted that the renewable energy industry would come out ahead. He quoted the VP of Sharp Solar: "The solar industry is now scaling up to bring down manufacturing and installation costs, build its infrastructure, grow public awareness, and attract customers."
The Wall Street Journal is not so sure. Keith Johnson in the Journal notes that last week, for the solar power industry, champagne was the order of the day. Now its hangover time. He writes:...
[re]drive External Hard Drive – Adding to Bamboo-Covered Computer Gear
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 7.08
If you’re looking for a green way to back up your computer, you have a pretty cool option with the [re]drive external hard drive from SimpleTech.
We were just talking about bamboo-covered computer gear, but the cover for the [re]drive really sets a standard. The bamboo casing is grown at the manufacturing facility and steam pressed, with no chemicals or wood varnish used. The case also uses 100% recycled aluminum. And while the device uses bamboo, the instruction manual is printed on the box to reduce the need for extra wood-based products.
But as we mentioned earlier, it takes more than just a sustainable exterior to make a device eco-friendly. We wanted to know just what the [re]drive does to live up to a greener standard....
A New Shape For Solar Power? Modular Rooftop Thin-Film Solar PV Panels Could Revolutionize Market (UPDATED)
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 7.08
Building on couple of topics which are perennial TreeHugger favorites (cool roofs and thin-film solar photovoltaics)... Fremont, California-based Solyndra has announced the launch of a new type of rooftop solar array which the company says could revolutionize the market for commercial rooftop solar arrays. This is what it’s all about:...
Methane Burps and "Chimneys" From Quickly Warming Arctic
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10. 7.08
Photo Vinay Deep @ flickr.
Global warming is happening at an accelerated pace and may have reached its tipping point in the Arctic. That has some scientists worried that powerful emissions of methane from permafrost peatlands as well as from the warming Arctic ocean bottom are already upon us.
Methane bubbles and peat bog belches
Swedish researchers have been in Lappland last month drilling holes in peat bogs and at higher points on what are called "peat plateaus" - up to 700 meters above sea level - to test the permafrost's temperature at various depths. What surprised them was that even deep down the temperature was hovering near or around zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), which leads then to believe that the permafrost defrost is seriously underway. "We could see bubbles on the lakes [in the bogs] and a lot of that bubbling is methane," said researcher Britta Sannel. That's important for a couple of reasons. ...
Bamboo Encased Computers: A Help or Hindrance to Greener Electronics?
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 7.08
As part of the eco-friendlienss factor that computer manufacturers are implementing in their designs is bamboo and wood-cased computers. Feeling the pressure both from consumers and from each other, the greenness of a computer plays in to the current acceptance level of a manufacturers new products…well, at least in part.
But we are curious about what it means to use a resource like wood for products that have become nearly disposable. Does it help or hinder the lifetime of the product, and the life cycle of forests?...
McKinsey Study Shows Small Steps Do Matter, After All
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
Certain websites suggest that small steps are useless; that while "we have a moral responsibility to do what we can as individuals, we just don't have enough time to win this battle one household at a time, street by painstaking street, from coast to coast." Others say " between greenwashing and green fatigue, emphasizing little behavioral changes may actually be hurting."
Well, it turns out that small steps and individual actions DO make a difference. New statistics prepared by McKinsey and Co. show that U.S. consumers have direct or indirect control over 65% of the country's greenhouse-gas emissions, and how we live, drive or shop makes a big difference. "We in the U.S. have a much greater ability to influence this issue than perhaps people recognize," says Jon Creyts, a McKinsey principal who assembled the numbers....
Do Babies Exposed to Phthalates Have Smaller Penises?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
all images from PVC: The Poison Plastic
Phthalates, the plasticizer used to make vinyl soft, have been known to be a gender-bender that has been shown to affect the masculinity of rats. Even the Bush Administration, not renowned for its defence of the public against the chemical companies, has banned it from childrens' toys.
Now new research has found new evidence of "phthalate syndrome"- smaller penises, and undescended or incompletely descended testicles- in humans. Shanna Swan, director of the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology at the University of Rochester's school of medicine, who led the research, says phthalates are ""probably reproductive toxins and should be eliminated from products gradually because we don't need them." ...
Survey: Are You Getting Frugal Yet?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 7.08
Last week we asked if you had flipped out yet; it seems we were just getting started. Collin recently made some recommendations for frugal green living, including riding or walking on trips under two miles, hanging your laundry, lowering your thermostat and eating less meat. Lots of us have made changes in our lifestyles in the last few years, but have the events of the last week caused you to change your ways more rapidly and radically?
...
'They'll Have To Get Their Hands Dirty Now'
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10. 7.08
That's what an Icelandic celebrity chef has remarked about Iceland's economy in melt-down mode - deicing like an Exxon-Mobilated glacier. Eco-aware, earnest but pampered, they drift from organic café to bar, listening to the music of Björk and Sigur Rós, islanders who have made it big abroad. 'They will have to get their hands dirty now,' says chef Siggi Hall, Iceland's answer to Gordon Ramsay, with an effusive vocabulary to match.Via::The Guardian, The party's over for Iceland, the island that tried to buy the world. Dirty hands in the USA, too, may soon be a better indication of a person's prospects than the Holy Grail MBA that two-decades worth of the 'best and brightest' have genuflected to. Next up: recycling; re-using; reclaiming; re-purposing, & living smaller....
Colorado Tries to Prevent RoadKill With New Technology
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10. 7.08
Using Technology to Alert Drivers to Animals on the Road
We recently covered the top five roadkill sites in America, as well as a dire IUCN report stating that "25% of all the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction." What's the connection? Well, while most of the extinctions are occurring because of habitat loss and encroachment, as well as poaching, a significant number of wild animals--not necessarily mammals--are killed every year due to collisions with vehicles (although we also saw an incident where a cyclist crashed into a black bear. . .). These collisions are dangerous for drivers and animals alike, so the state of Colorado has begun testing a system "that involves a cable buried parallel to the highway. The cable emits an electromagnetic field that is calibrated to detect large animals" such as Deer and Elk. If the system detects an animal nearing the road, an alarm will alert drivers. ...
Nobel Prize In Physics For (Beautiful) Symmetry Breaking Discoveries
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10. 7.08
(Photo from MSNBC by Kenneth Libbrecht)
Today, the Nobel Prize in Physics was announced for important discoveries in the field of quantum physics. Yoichiro Nambu at Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, US, shares the prize with Makoto Kobayashi at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba, Japan, and Toshihide Masukawa at the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP), Kyoto University, Japan. Together, their discoveries about "symmetry breaking" and quarks, lead to a deeper understanding of our universe.
What is symmetry breaking? One useful example is the snowflake. How does the oxygen and hydrogen of water form such a wide variety of (beautiful) patterns when forming the simple snowflake? To understand this, we need very complex mathematical models, derived from the years of study of elementary particles and quantum physics....
Plug and Live System: 18 Boxes from Brazil to Argentina, from Waste to Art
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 10. 7.08
Photos: Courtesy of A77 architects.
Argentinean architects Gustavo Dieguez and Lucas Gilardi took 18 wood boxes that were waste from the Brazilian automobile industry and transformed them into the Plug and Live System: a collection of modules to build transitory habitats and experiment with different ideas of housing.
As the project moves on to team up with companies and NGOs to recover more waste and build cultural spaces, the original 18 boxes arrive in Brazil for the second exhibit that shows them turned into art, Moradias Transitorias.
Read on to follow the story of the boxes and see more pictures....
Luisa Cevese Eco Carry-On Bags
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10. 7.08
Here is a good-looking carry-on bag that is environmental and stylish. It comes in two sizes and can swing over your shoulder for easy schlepping. It is made by Luisa Cevese, an Italian textile designer who has been creating beautiful bags out of recycled plastic since 1994.
She started out working in research in a silk mill and became aware of the vast quantity of waste created in textile production. Cevese was inspired by this industrial by-product and founded Riedizioni, which uses plastic and industrial remnants such as selvedges, damaged yarns, cuts from garments etc and textile scraps to create a new material. She searches out the textile remnants all over the world; from private family homes, antique collections and industrial facilities (who call them "waste").
...
How To Build a House from Straw Bale and Mud
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10. 7.08
Image source: KLTV
Warning! If you do not want to live in a straw bale house with a living roof and solar panels to power your satellite internet connectivity, DO NOT watch the video over the fold!
Because when you see this video of Nick Moser's straw bale house project, you will not be able to resist making your own natural house. The gorgeous timber framing which sets a spiral patterned layout inspires the craftsperson in you. The video of Nick merrily pitching clay onto the bale walls looks like so much fun, you will want to build a house just so you can vent your frustrations about the whole housing market collapse thing. Nick crawls over his green roof model, and only one hesitation remains: how will this house stand up against the weather? The news that the walls withstood Hurricane Ike closes the deal. Let's learn how to build a straw bale house!...
Help your Business become more Efficient from Cradle to Grave
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
Photo by Alex Osterwalder
IBM Consulting reminds us that a business is only as efficient as their entire process allows it to be. Every successful business should know how to process their product or service from “cradle to grave” with the best possible efficiency. This is referring to the actual design, production process, packaging, distribution, customer response, refurbishing, and final recycling.
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Pet Topic: Jax and Bones
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10. 6.08
Photo credit: Jax and Bones
Jax and Bones may not be completely eco-friendly, but it's still taking significant strides to ensuring a more sustainable future for us and our four-legged pals, which in our opinion, is plenty to bark about.
It's entire bedding collection, for instance, is made in-house in the United States. The beds themselves are filled with post-consumer fiber made from recycled plastic bottles, and we'd love to see hemp or organic cotton covers as a next step. ...
Copenhagen Cyclists Take Over Main City Thoroughfare
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10. 6.08
photo Photocapy @ flickr.
More cyclists. That's the unscientific conclusion of some quick on-the-spot reporting by Denmark's iByen newspaper after the city of Copenhagen decided on a three-month experiment starting October 1 to shut out car traffic on a main city thoroughfare called Nørrebrogade.
Green wave growing
Copenhagen's municipal government wanted to give cyclists more space for morning and evening commutes and lower the number of cars on the road even further - though in the last year biking commuters have gotten nearly even in percentage (36 percent get to work by bike) with car-driving commuters. That would have to be due at least partly to the government's ongoing efforts to make cycling safer and easier - by, for example, timing lights to give cyclists the ability to keep a steadier pace, called the 'green wave'. But how do car owners feel?...
Amtrak Finally Gets A Boost in Funding
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10. 6.08
Amtrak Finally Gets More Funding
The heavens are finally smiling on Amtrak, as a perfect storm of high gas prices, a slowing economy, concern over rail safety after the recent Los Angeles crash, soaring ridership and even Joe Biden's love of and support for Amtrak have helped push through the Senate a 5 year, $13 billion funding package. According to the Wall Street Journal, the bill passed the Senate by a veto-proof margin, and assuming the House approves and President Bush signs it, Amtrak will now have enough money to pay off some of its debt; cover operating expenses and the cost of buying new rail cars and expanding service; encourage states to invest in rail programs; and improve safety. In addition, the bill "contains provisions designed to make Amtrak's management more accountable, such as financial reporting standards."...
Bioneers 2008: Nature and Technology Joining Forces
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 6.08
Coming up very quickly is an exciting conference called Bioneers, where over 10,000 people converge to hear from leading innovators about solutions to our environmental problems, and to talk with one another about how we can look to nature for the answers on how to save our planet.
I’ll be there to cover some of the very cool technological and social advances discussed, and our very own Ken Rother will be there as well to discuss online social activism and engagement (yes, indeed, he’ll be there to brag about all you TreeHuggers!).
My enthusiasm for the conference has reached a boiling point, thanks to a conversation I had earlier today with Kenny Ausubel, founder of Bioneers. He shared with me some of the amazing things happening at the conference and in our world, and I wanted to turn right around and share it with you. ...
Sustainablog Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 10. 6.08
This week is Carnival of the Green # 148 and it's being hosted by our good friend (and former TreeHugger correspondent) Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and his blog Sustainablog, which has been providing information on environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics which way back in 2003. So head on over to this week's Carnival to find 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!...
StreetFilms Visits Boulder's Contraflow Bike Lane
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10. 6.08
No One Loves the Earth Like Oil Companies: Stephen Colbert on Offshore Oil Drilling
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
Enhanced Geothermal Systems Research Awarded $43.1 Million by US Department of Energy
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
photo: Jennifer Boyer.
Back in June the US Department of Energy announced that it would be investing $90 million into research advancing Enhanced Geothermal Systems— a geothermal power technology which could expand the already considerable geothermal power potential of the United States. Well the DOE has announced the lucky winners. There are 21 awardees who will be receiving a total of $43.1 million over the next four years; with the cost-sharing provisions of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, the total awards amount to $78 million. Presumably there will be another announcement for the rest of the previously announced funding. Here’s who’s receiving some federal cash and what they’re working on:...
12 Ways to Green Your Home for Winter: What Gives You the Most Bang for the Buck
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
Heating, cooling and lighting our houses belches out a third of our carbon dioxide and sucks a lot of money out of our wallets in the process. There are so many guides and websites that tell you what to do fix this from insulating your walls to changing your windows. But if you are into frugal green living, what should you do first? What is the most effective thing to do? What gives the most bang for your buck?
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Caviar Green Hard Drive Offeres More Energy Savings for PCs
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 6.08
For those of you who like building your own PCs and are always on the lookout for ways to make it greener and more energy efficient, Western Digital has an improved version of its hard drive, called Caviar Green, to help you out. The company states that the new hard drive uses 20% less energy and performs even better than the previous iteration.
It can get pretty aggravating when companies push hard that their product is eco-friendly and green just because it consumes less energy. WD is nudging close to the greenwashing line in the way they angle this product. Nevertheless, energy conservation is indeed a big part of being eco-conscious, and so we’ll have a closer look at this new hard drive. ...
Apple's Greener MacBook, Celebrating Green Holidays, and Recycled Halloween Costumes
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 10. 6.08
Apple has greened its MacBook, much to Greenpeace's delight. Is the iPod next?
How bad is formaldehyde, really? Get the facts before bringing any more into your home.
With the holiday season looming, the time is right for "Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions for the Whole Family", by Corey Colwell-Lipson & Lynn Colwell.
Ripon College in Wisconsin offers freshmen a brand-new Trek 820 mountain bike plus accessories (including an expensive lock) for free if they won’t bring their car to college.
Check out the 16 best recycled Halloween costumes around.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Greenpeace Launches New Earth Balloon
by Daniel Kessler, Greenpeace on 10. 6.08
In typical Greenpeace fashion, we crashed this past weekend's Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with our new Earth-shaped hot air balloon.
Greenpeace used the balloon all weekend to deliver a strong message on global warming to participants in New Mexico’s most recognized event, the Balloon Fiesta. Our message, which was reinforced by activists on the ground, is that people across the country are aware of how serious global warming is and are taking action to combat it while our leaders have been woefully slow to act. It’s high time that Congress did their part by passing science-based legislation to tackle the enormity of the global climate crisis we are facing....
Earth From Above: Amazing Photos by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 6.08
Earth From Above by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand will bring his Earth From Above exhibit to New York City next Spring, and there's a strong environmental angle to it. Here are a few of the photos that you'll be able to see (a cool high-tech extra: Each photo includes coordinates that you can plug into Google Maps. For example, the pic above was taken here).
Worker resting on bales of cotton
Taken in Thonakaha, Korhogo, Ivory Coast. "Cotton crops occupy approximately 335,000 square klilometers worldwide, and use nearly one quarter of all pesticides sold. Read on for more photos."...
Anklelite Offers Solar-Powered Visibility for Cyclists
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 6.08
Images via Pedalite
A few years ago we got all excited about Pedalite’s self-charging bike light as a cool way to be seen without having to use batteries. Well they’re putting out another cool product – the solar-powered Anklelite. ...
Buy Green: Backpacks under $100
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 10. 6.08
The backpack is the workhorse of the bag community: versatile, sturdy, and affordable. Over at Planet Green, we've rounded up our favorites -- for adults kids alike -- that cost under $100. Naturally, all of our picks are also eco-friendly. From bags that use recycled and organic materials to companies that support ethical labor practices and customer-wide recycling programs, this guide offers the best packs to fit your green style and your budget. Read on for a sneak peek at our latest buying guide....
Honda Launches Insight Hybrid Blog with New Photos and Videos
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 6.08
Honda Insight Hybrid 2.0
The all new Honda Insight hybrid version 2.0, still officially a concept car but probably very close to what the production model will look like, has been generating a lot of buzz lately. Finally some competition for the Toyota Prius from a dedicated hybrid model, and it's going to be cheaper to boot (around $18.5k).
New Honda Insight Blog
Honda has just launched a new Insight Hybrid blog called Latest Insight with a few new pictures and videos. Still no confirmation on specs (MPG, emissions, etc) for the production model, though. Read on for pics & videos of the Honda Insight version 2.0....
The Guardian on Genetically Modified Food
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
The Guardian's normally intelligent and balanced Sunday Observer spilled a lot of ink over genetically modified food. But unlike North America, at least they have a debate, we just get served. Here are a few links:
The war over GM is back. Is the truth any clearer?Genetically modified foods were sidelined in Britain 10 years ago amid a furious assault on 'Frankenstein foods'. Now climate change and world hunger have placed them back on the agenda. The ferocious debate is again splitting the science, political and environmental communities. But, asks Observer food expert Jay Rayner, what's the real truth about GM? ::More
Scare stories have drowned out the good that GM could do Acres of newsprint and hours of television have been devoted to the GM crop controversy - quite an achievement for a foodstuff that is grown in no significant quantities in this country, or for that matter in this continent. Britain, like the rest of Europe, was long ago frightened away from producing and eating GM food by a media campaign that has been based mainly on hearsay and only marginally on science. ::more...
Expansion of One Mammal Species Leading to Extinction of 1000 Others: IUCN Releases 2008 Red List of Threatened Animal Species
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
The European Lynx is among the species most threatened, with less than 150 individuals left alive in the wild. Photo: Erlon Jequié.
I hate to bring you depressing environmental news on a day when distressing financially news seems to be pouring in from all sides, but a new report assessing the state of the world’s mammal species has been released and the outlook is grim. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List at least 25% of all the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction. The primary suspect? If you guessed homo sapiens you’re right:...
Quote of the Day: Paul Kedrosky on Frugality is the New Black
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
Well, actually it is Paul Kedrosky quoting David Rosenberg from Merrill Lynch who is probably out of a job now, but it's on Kedrosky's blog:
[people are going to start paying down debt.] That means that the savings rate is going to be forced higher. This, again, is going to be very, very disinflationary. It means that fashions are going to change. It means frugality is going to set in. We're going to be living in smaller houses, driving smaller cars and living more frugally. It's not going to be the end of the world; it's going to be a necessary process to truly embark on getting the balance sheets down to more comfortable levels so that we can actually embark on the next cycle....
National Grid Wants Your Roof! Utility Looking to Install Solar Panels on Customer’s Homes & Businesses
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
photo: Daniel Figueroa
This one’s a twist on decentralized solar power generation, the solar-as-service model of energy development, and traditional utility-owned power. National Grid has announced that is has filed preliminary paperwork to develop up to 50 MW of solar power in Massachusetts under the state’s Green Communities Act. Big deal, right? Fifty megawatts may be a drop in the energy demand bucket, but the interesting thing is in one of the ways which National Grid hopes to use up their 50 megawatts:...
New Jersey Approves Deep Water Wind Farm: See What Offshore Wind Turbines Look Like at Various Distances
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10. 6.08
New Jersey Offshore Wind Farm
New Jersey has approved a new huge offshore wind farm (346 megawatts). The 96 turbines will be installed in a grid pattern between 16 and 20 miles from land. The project, which would be in deeper water than most other offshore wind farms, would cost more than $1 billion and wouldn't start producing electricity until 2013. The state has set itself a goal of 20% renewable energy by 2020.
NIMBY or No Big Deal?
As you can see from the image above, turbines that are between 15 and 20 miles away are very hard to see. This should help with the Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) factor. Read on for more details....
Pile-up Housing by Hans Zwimpfer: Can You Patent Architecture?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
The New York Times covers 78 year old Hans Zwimpfer's Pile up housing. They call it a solution to sprawl, describing it as follows: "Take single-family houses, whose benefits — space, privacy, light, a yard — suburbanites are loath to give up. Then simply stack the houses, one on top of another. Voilà: The comforts of suburban living, with the convenience and ecological benefits of urban density."
But Sally Crane does not go into the most unusual and controversial part of Zwimpfer's work- he patented it.
...
Toshiba Makes e-Cycling Easier with Expanded Recycling Program
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 6.08
Photo via Jason Bain
Toshiba is catching on to what a lot of other electronics manufacturers already know: free recycling programs of electronics are a good thing for the company, the consumer, and the environment.
They’ve given the concept a nod by expanding their free recycling program beyond just laptops, and it now includes many consumer electronics, regardless of the brand. Not only that, they're offering cash for usable gadgets. ...
10% of Australian Wave Power Potential Could Provide One-Third of Nation’s Energy Needs
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
photo: Jurek Durczack
It may not be nearly the ridiculously large potential claimed by geothermal power in Australia, but a new report commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation indicates that one-third of Australia's power needs could be met through wave power installation. Oh, did I mention that Carnegie Corp manufactures wave power-cum-desalination technology? I only say that in the spirit of full disclosure, not to necessarily cast doubt on the report findings. Carnegie says that even using “conservative” estimates yields an enormous underutilized power resource. Just how much power could be be pulled from the waves? Read on:...
MMA Architects Wins Big Prize For House Made of Sandbags
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
We wrote earlier about Luyanda Mpahlwa and his Sandbag Houses by MMA Architects; it was one of the entries in a competition teaming South African architects with international designers to pioneer new affordable housing systems. MMA went it alone, and built an affordable structure that "requires no tools or advanced construction knowledge and can be built for slightly more than $6,000." Now they have won the Curry Stone Award of $100,000, which honours "innovative achievements in humanitarian architecture and design."
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A Picture is Worth: Michaelangelo's David After a Stay in America
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
Solar Widget by RoofRay Offers Solar Savings Estimates
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 6.08
RoofRay has put out an embeddable widget that lets users view rooftops in their area via satellite imagery, draw out a solar array on a certain rooftop, and get an estimate for installation of that array. Basically, it’s their website in an embeddable format. It’s a pretty cool way to make getting an estimate quick and easy. But it can also go into depth about what the drawn array will be able to do.
Check out the widget and give it a try after the jump....
1973: Toyota Station Wagon Turns into RV
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
With more and more Americans having to sleep in their cars, it is too bad that Toyota never put this into production. ...
321 Gigawatts of Wind Power Awaits Exploitation Off Michigan’s Shores
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10. 6.08
Phil Hollmann
Normally when grand statements are made about a nation’s offshore wind power potential the mind naturally conjures up briny images. In the US however, thanks to the Great Lakes though, another area of potential offshore wind development exists sans saltwater. A new report from Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute says that, in Michigan alone, offshore wind power developments could generate 10 times more power than the state currently generates from fossil fuel sources: That’s 321,000 megawatts of electricity. There’s a catch though:
...
Samsung Sending Out Two Energy-Sipping PCs
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10. 6.08
Photo: Samsung Press Image
And it’s no exaggeration when we say “sipping.” The MV100 Tower and the MZ100 Slim Tower both use just 60 W while operating in power-save mode, and just 1 W when in stand-by mode – that’s less than many energy-sparing LCD monitors. ...
Why Can't We Build an Affordable House?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
Witold Rybczynski asks in the Wilson Quarterly: "Why Can't We Build an Affordable House?" He notes that "ne of the reasons we are in this mess is that people bought houses they couldn’t really afford" and that when the market returns, people will want smaller houses, closer to the designs of Levittown with their thousand square feet instead of the average of 2,469 SF before the crash. ...
The Old Urbanism: It's A Wonderful Block
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
We often write in TreeHugger about the importance of cities and of neighborhoods, about new urbanist designs that work like cities used to; Mark Oppenheimer writes in the New York Times' real estate magazine a wonderful article entitled "It's a wonderful block"- His own West Rock Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut....
Survey: Do You Support Genetically Modified Food?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 6.08
In Japan, they say no to Genetically modified foods. In India last week, Prince Charles once again " plunged straight into the most controversial and emotive of all the debates over GM crops and foods by highlighting the suicides of small farmers." This weekend the Guardian did a series on it and concluded that "genetic modification offers some promise for our overcrowded, overheated planet and for the nine billion people who will be living on it in 2050. ....Drought-resistant wheat as well as rice modified to generate high yields of vitamins will aid the fight against famine, while crops modified to make vaccines against infections such as hepatitis B will help doctors combat disease."
...
Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing World
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10. 6.08
Artists from around the world have gone to Greenland to respond to climate change and now another group is going to eight different UNESCO World Heritage sites around the globe to record their responses. Why artists? Answers one: "...Art changes the world by changing the way you see." Another said he wanted to "open people's minds" and another "when you hear a poem you can feel it." For this art exhibition, called "Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing World", two art museums and Rare, a global conservation organisation came up with the idea to send them to exotic locales under threat. More works below the fold...
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Sign The Petition For The White House Organic Farm Project!
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10. 6.08
Photo: The Who Farm
Japan's Imperial Household is the institution that takes care of the Emperor and his responsibilities as head of state; they also run seven organic farms around Japan. Young Japanese organic farmers are blogging about the Imperial farms, and participating in organic conferences together with his royal highness' very down-to-earth, mud-under-your-fingernails farmers.
In a similar vein, it makes sense to mention Prince Charles' two decades of supporting the no-pesticide, no-GMO way of farming in the United Kingdom. So I was encouraged to learn about the White House Organic Farm Project: a good idea always sounds silly first, and then it suddenly becomes reality. Why should the president of the United States not be encouraging sustainable food production? Do have a look at TheWhoFarm website and blog, and why not sign their petition!...
Fundamentally "Flawed" CDC Report Failed to Mention Formaldehyde Can Cause Cancer
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10. 5.08
Image from factoryseashell
A (dismal) chapter of American history most of us would gladly like to put behind us -- Hurricane Katrina and the government's pathetic response -- seems to be rearing its ugly head again. The latest revelation, according to a new story written by ProPublica's Joaquin Sapien: A study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2007 was based on a "fundamental scientific error" and failed to explicitly state that formaldehyde, even at low levels, could cause cancer.
The FEMA trailer formaldehyde contamination issue isn't exactly a new one, as Lloyd has already written about to some length. The extent of FEMA's and the CDC's bungling of the post-Katrina rescue efforts, which we've noted in several instances, is clearly laid out by Sapien and his colleagues, who spent months gathering and reviewing CDC documents and interviewing former officials to reconstruct how the government (mis)handled the formaldehyde problem. ...
The Green Stampede Hits College Football – Greening the Gridiron
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10. 5.08
Photo courtesy of CU Buffs
The University of Colorado, home of the Big 12 team the Buffaloes, has launched the “Green Stampede”—an initiative designed to limit the environmental impact of their home stadium and road games. The Stampede is presented by Colorado based WhiteWave Foods Company, and will improve the sustainability of nearly every aspect of the gridiron. ...
Perf Go Green Biodegradable Plastics - UPDATE: Not So Biodegradable After All
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10. 5.08
Natural, Gluten-Free Eats from Glutenfreeda Foods
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10. 5.08
Largest Biodiesel Company in Country was Hit by Hurricane Ike
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10. 5.08
AP photo by Eric Gray
The widespread environmental devastation caused by Hurricane Ike has been pretty well documented—the oil spills (about a half a million gallons worth), a missing drill rig, and destroyed pipelines and infrastructure were all bad enough to register as environmentally catastrophic. But there’s yet another unfortunate victim to the storm’s wrath—the largest biodiesel refinery in the US....
Adventures With All-Natural Soap Nuts for Dishes, Clothes, Hair
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10. 5.08
Photo luce_beaulieu @ flickr.
We're addicted to suds. That was one of my conclusions over the last few months after trying to move to more natural forms of shampoo, body wash, dishwashing soap (non-machine) and especially, effective but gentle washing machine soap.
Looking for an all-in-one eco detergent
Previously I have been using four or five different cleaners - Ecover for the washing machine, Lush products for shampoo, and Dr. Bronner's for body wash, hand soap and general clean up. My goal was to get further away from lots of the stuff in mainstream shampoos especially sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), the 'sudser' that's in nearly every shampoo, and possibly dioxane or other problem chemicals in Ecover. Soap nuts rose on the list of things to try simply because SLS-free Dr. Bronner's failed miserably as shampoo - my hair was lank planks of hideousness after Dr. B's. What I loved about soap nuts is their simplicity - what has always kept me back is the price....
Honda's 4th Annual North American Environmental Report
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 10. 5.08
Photo by TransWorldHonda
Honda Corporation has released their fourth annual environmental report, so we thought it was rather appropriate to grade them on their progress and see how one of the more successful manufacturers did this year is in terms of greening their ways.
...
One Man's Paper is Another Man's Palace at Eve's Garden, a Papercrete Bed and Breakfast
by Trevor Reichman on 10. 5.08
In a small town in Far West Texas, Clyde Curry has been busy refining and perfecting his papercrete mixture. Papercrete is mostly recycled paper and his new formula even gives an afterlife to styrofoam as well. Clyde mixes this waste into paste and then makes bricks. Lots of them! What looks like large, heavy concrete bricks are actually light and slightly spongy, but also ultra strong, fire resistant, and highly insulative. Clyde then stacks the bricks into non-traditional shapes until…POOF! He has a Palace unlike no other.
It sounds like magic, which is appropriate, because the Bed And Breakfast he and his wife Kate have built from the ground up…paper… is a magical place.
What could have been the contents of a landfill, is now Eve’s Garden.
Read on for an exclusive interview with Clyde Curry:...
The Diva Cup: Feel Like a Goddess
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10. 5.08
A search for the Diva Cup in TreeHugger archives reveals that TreeHugger readers rave about this product, most recently in a post on how to make your own pad, but it has not been given fair time with its own review. We have mentioned the Mooncup and The Keeper, two similar products. So to rectify the oversight, please meet the Diva Cup....
How Much Wood Would A Tree Hugger Burn, If A Tree Hugger Would Burn Wood?
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10. 5.08
What you are looking at in the picture is roughly the minimum amount of fire wood (2.2 cords, roughly 4 imperial tons) it takes to "casually" heat a 1,900 ft2 home in Southeastern Pennsylvania, starting with occasional cold nights in October, becoming a daily routine by the end of November, and scaling back to cold nights sometime in mid-March. "Casual" heating means that the traditional oil furnace is available for backup on lazy weekend mornings, when away for work, or for errands. (Full time wood heating means at least another cord, maybe two more, are needed.)
As the photo makes clear, full time wood burning is not for city-folk. Stored fuel wood must be kept off the ground and covered, to keep water, insects, and animals away. Best to keep it well away from the foundation to avoid attracting termites to the sawdust and bark that falls off the pile.
Pellet stove heating, obviously, is far more practical for people living in densely settled areas....
Ted Turner's Green Restaurant Revolution—His Top Ten Ways to Green The Restaurant Industry
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 10. 5.08
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Click on image to view Ted Turner's podcast.
photo: Ted's Montana Grill
It seems that whatever Ted Turner puts his little paws on turns to gold, in this case, green. With the Green Restaurant Revolution, he has now taken to traveling the country with green restaurateurs to turn the green movement into more than a passing fad. Check out his suggestions for greening an industry that uses more than five times as much water as any other retail industry. Restaurants can go green and save tons of money at the same time....
Bike Rack Bonanza: NY Picks Top 10 Finalists for City Bike Rack Designs
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10. 5.08
Winning bike rack design via City Racks Design Competition.
Bike racks are a very cool form of public art. So hopefully New York will be able to artistically combine form and function when it picks from 10 intriguing international bike rack designs to start gracing New York's city streets. Last week 9 prototypes were installed for use at the city's Astor Place.
Part of PlaNYC's focus on sustainable transport
The City Racks Design Competition combed through around 200 entries and whittled down to these 10 (seven above, three after the jump). Criteria for the racks included durable materials, safety, the possibility for a two-point connection (bike secured to the rack at two separate points), and of course - though not mentioned - aesthetics. City Racks is choosing a standard for outdoor sidewalk racks but also wanted to find new concepts for inside commercial and public buildings....
Gas Shortage in Southeast Easing At Last
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 10. 5.08
Photo by Robert LZ
We here at TreeHugger have not covered much on the gas shortage situation occurring over on the southeast end of the US, in particular the Atlanta area, Nashville, Carolinas, and parts of Alabama (Anniston). The actual shortage itself occurred around two weeks after Hurricane Gustov terrorized the gulf coast on September 1st, 2008. Just as Gustav finished up his huffing and puffing, Hurricane Ike stepped in, forcing another shut down of oil rigs.
...
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Here are a few recommended websites.
- BTC Elements Blog
- Celsias
- Clean Edge - The Clean-Tech Market Authority
- Cleantech Investing
- SRB Marketing | CONSCIOUS CLICKS - The Blog
- Daily Green, the Blog of GreenForGood.com
- Endogenous preferences
- Environmental and Urban Economics
- Environmental Economics
- EQUITY GREEN
- gDiapers: the early years...
- Gil Friend
- The Green Giraffe
