- 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 19, 2008 - October 25, 2008
Total this week: 211
Merrill Lynch & Citibank Reported Helping Sell US Coal Mines To India
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.25.08
You can't make up stuff this good. Mortgage derivatives are down the tubes, making easy money scarce. Not to worry. US and Canadian coal mines are a hot commodity for Indian buyers who might benefit from the guidance of skilled bankers and investment analysts. Faced with an imminent coal shortage of around 200 million tonnes by the end of the 11th Plan, International Coal Ventures Limited (ICVL) - the 5 PSU member SPV- is now scouting for coal assets, properties and mine takeovers in US, Canada and Indonesia. A delegation consisting of the Union minister of state for coal, Santosh Bagrodia and Coal India chairman, Partha S. Bhattacharya was recently in the US looking for such overseas ventures to meet future coal shortages in the country.Among the financial institutions reported to be assisting the prospective coal mine buyers from India are UBS, Merrill Lynch, and Citibank. "The focus was primarily on the swift identification of coal properties and assets...." Via:The Business Standard, ICVL scouting for takeovers in US, Canada, Indonesia They probably don't need anyone to tell them...but...mountain-top removal is the way to go. No need "bail out" the water that otherwise might flood the mine. Saves electricity and lowers the climate footprint, too! ...
One More Time with Feeling: Bush Administration Renews Efforts to Remove Gray Wolf from Protected List
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.25.08
Image from Thomas Roche
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," seems to be the Bush administration's running mantra -- especially as it relates to environmental issues. After seeing its previous attempt to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list thwarted by the last minute interjection of a Montanan federal judge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to push back by reopening for public comment its 2007 proposal to delist the species (never mind that the judge called the agency's first attempt "capricious" and "arbitrary"), according to the Washington Post's Joel Achenbach. ...
Husqvarna's Automower Solar Hybrid
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.25.08
"Daddy the cat is out...you didn't start the mower did you?" "Has anybody seen the automatic lawnmower?" Just one of many questions people will have about a solar powered lawnmower that toodles about the yard like an escaped Roomba vacuum. Husqvarna's website describes the product this way: Being the worlds first fully automatic, robotic lawn mower, the Auto Mower is the ultimate user friendly mower. You don’t have to lift a finger to get a perfect lawn.What they are forgetting is that lawn-mowing on the weekend is a male hominid ritual that will not easily change. Retired guys in the suburbs make sure they are seen cutting grass on Saturdays or that mowing is available as an excuse to miss church on Sunday (should it rain on Saturday). When it doesn't happen, friends call to see 'if everything is alright?' No need to worry about kitty, though, according to the sales literature: Many Automower owners have pets – and this isn’t a problem. The animals get used to the Automower and it becomes like a member of the family. ...
California to Vote on High-Speed Rail Nov. 4
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 10.25.08
The Happy Happy Plastic Stadium – Biggest Plastic Art Installation Ever?
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.25.08
Photo courtesy of Design Spotter
Last September, thousands of people all over Seoul collected 1.7 million pieces of discarded plastic in order to create the “Happy Happy” Plastic Stadium, possibly the world’s biggest plastic art installation. The eerily named Godsome, a Korean public art and design company, spearheaded the project to transform the gigantic Jamsil Sports Complex into an enormous eco art installation. The work was presented for the Seoul Design Olympiad 2008, which is actually being held at the Jamsil. But is the stadium-sized plastic art installation the biggest ever created? Only the compilers of the Guinness Book of World Records can say for certain....
Charleston City Paper is About to Get a Green Facelift
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 10.25.08
photo: Charleston City Paper
As a resident of South Carolina, I'm the first to admit that my state isn't leading the charge when it comes to the green movement, that's why the Charleston City Paper's upcoming green renovation project is such a big deal. Recently, the newspaper decided it was time to practice what they preach and hired Whitney Powers of Studio A Architecture in Charleston to head up a huge green makeover. Can the paper really call themselves green after these much needed renovations? You be the judge.
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Wind Helps Power Our Flagging Economy
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.25.08
Photo by Chris Lim
2008 a Record Year for the Wind Power Industry
Wind power is on a roll: the American Wind Energy Association released its 3rd Quarter Market Report earlier this week, and it showed that the US wind energy industry has installed 4,204 megawatts in 2008 so far. That figure puts the nationwide wind industry on track to surpass the record expansion of last year, in which the installation of wind turbines and farms reached a total 5,249 MW. The report spells out some good news for our struggling economy (which is dire need of some), and makes a firm, encouraging forecast of the future of alternative energy industries in the US.
...
Grade School Katrina Victims Design Their Own Donated Shoes
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.25.08
Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post
TOMS Shoes is an inspiring company in more than one way—its generous Buy One, Give One Away program has already helped children in need in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Argentina receive quality, well fitting shoes. This week, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie brought his shoe giving spirit to the US—he’s starting by giving shoes to kids in school districts hit by Katrina. And the real genius is in the way he’s doing it....
Smooth Jazz Sounds Green with Robin Avery
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.25.08
Who knew environmental activism could sound so . . . smooth? With all the noise made by green rock musicians like Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow and Cloud Cult, sometimes it’s easy to forget that there are other genres looking to contribute out there—genres that use way more sax. ...
Quote of the Day: David Frum on Gas Prices
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.25.08
What is happening to all of our Conservative thinkers? Yesterday Conrad Black called for a massive New Deal scale job creation intervention; Today former Bush speechwriter David Frum calls for a tax creating a floor on oil prices to keep them from falling too far.
"Politicians like to talk of reaching energy independence by inventing some sci-fi substitute for the internal combustion engine. Much more likely, however, is that the world will move off oil gradually, by investing in step-by-step improvements in automobile efficiency: hybrid cars first, more futuristic developments later. There is only one stimulus that can drive this kind of change: price.Today's lower prices, welcome though they are, threaten to halt the progress away from oil."
...
This Week in Huffington Post: Don't Give Up Now
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.25.08
Now is Not the Time to Back Down on Climate Change: Among environmentalists and green-minded thinkers, the angst is palpable. With a deep, protracted global recession all but certain, will politicians, leery of imposing additional costs on already beleaguered businesses, lose the will to tackle climate change? Jeremy Jacquot...
Istanbul Getting Old Computers Off the Streets
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 10.25.08
Photo: Life Smile Project
A country's newfound prosperity can often be a mixed blessing for the environment. When people have more money, they tend to consume more and create more--and different kinds of--trash. Although the percentage of Turkish households with access to a computer is still low--just over 10 percent. according to the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Factbook--cell phones and satellite dishes are nearly ubiquitous in Istanbul and all kinds of electronic gadgets are readily available. These things, of course, wear out eventually, and can leach all sorts of nasty chemicals into the environment, a particularly problematic possibility in a place where trash is still often dumped in the street.
...
Norwegian "Topi" Footstool Recycles Trashed Textiles
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10.25.08
Norwegian designer Elisabeth Nossen based her Topi Footstool upon a Salvation Army thrift shop purchase. Nossen's stool is a "50's style" reclaimed from a thrift store and redecorated by the designer with wool roses. Nossen is considered one of Norway's up and coming young furniture designers. The Topi Footstool was displayed as part of the 100% Norway exhibition, which had recycling and sustainable design as a theme.
...
Levels of Super Potent Greenhouse Gas NF3 Four Times Higher than Previously Thought
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.24.08
Image from Ray Weiss
When it comes to ranking anthropogenic greenhouse gases based on their warming potential, carbon dioxide actually falls pretty low on the list -- the problem is that there's just too damn much of it. Thankfully, the atmospheric concentrations of far more potent GHGs, such as nitrous oxide and methane, have not yet followed carbon dioxide's dramatic ascent over the last half-century (though there are some concerns methane levels could soon begin to spike if present trends continue).
Though their combined contribution to the global warming effect may still be low, scientists have been dismayed to learn that their estimates for current and future levels, once considered fairly reliable, have often fallen off the mark. A case in point is a new study led by a team of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography that has found that levels of nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), an extremely potent greenhouse gas (almost 17,000 times more potent than an equivalent mass of carbon dioxide on a 100-year time horizon), are at least four times higher than previously thought....
Vote the Environment & Common Roots T-shirts by Patagonia
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10.24.08
Photo credit: Patagonia
Wear your politics on your chest—as it were—with Patagonia's "Vote the Environment" T-shirt. Made with 100 percent organic cotton right here in the United States, the tee turns inside-out to present information about the League of Conservation Voters, an organization that promotes voter awareness and action on environmental issues.
Plus, $5 from the purchase of each $30 tee, which is available in men's and women's styles, goes to the League. The shirt is also recyclable through Patagonia's Common Threads recycling program....
More New Cars Than Babies This Year in Mexico City
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 10.24.08
For every birth in Mexico City, two new cars enter the city's vehicle fleet each year, according to the Center for Sustainable Transport, or CTS in its Spanish acronym. The non-profit think tank compared the city's birth records to vehicle sales and found that the number of annual births is some 160,000, while the number of new vehicles added to the city's fleet ranges between 200,000 and 300,000, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, or INEGI.
...
Readers Care If Their Magazines Are Green
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10.24.08
Photo credit: Getty Images
Are you willing to pay more for a greener magazine? A Heart Magazines survey found that 43 percent of respondents said they would pay more for a rag printed on recycled paper, while 39 percent said they would pay more for a magazine committed to eco-friendly practices.
Meanwhile, 43 percent of respondents said they would stop buying a product they regularly use if they learned that it was bad for the environment. ...
Presidential Candidates on Climate Change (Video)
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 10.24.08
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life Dept: Forbes on Global Warming's Winners
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.24.08
One never knows whether Forbes is serious or has its tongue planted in its cheek, after all Chris Buckley works there. When you read David Hirschman's Global Warming Winners you learn that we will be booking our winter vacations in Atlantic City, travelling by boat to the North Pole, and hitting the beaches of the North Sea. Somehow I don't think that there are a lot of winners in this. Virtually visit them all at Global Warming's Winners via Grist
It all reminds me of:
"CO2: We Call it Life" ads: We Call it Hysterical
...
Quote of the Day: Conrad Black on the New Deal
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.24.08
We have gone on about how we need a green new deal. FDR biographer Conrad Black writes from his Florida retreat about the scale of the FDR new deal; imagine if this much energy and effort was directed at insulating our buildings and rebuilding our transportation and energy systems.
"The government hired about 60 per cent of the unemployed in public works and conservation projects that planted a billion trees, saved the whooping crane, modernized rural America, and built such diverse projects as the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh, the Montana state capitol, much of the Chicago lakefront, New York's Lincoln Tunnel and Triborough Bridge complex, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Yorktown.
It also built or renovated 2,500 hospitals, 45,000 schools, 13,000 parks and playgrounds, 7,800 bridges, 700,000 miles of roads, and a thousand airfields. And it employed 50,000 teachers, rebuilt the country's entire rural school system, and hired 3,000 writers, musicians, sculptors and painters, including Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock." More in the Globe and Mail...
Book Review: Causewired - Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
Photo via Mooganic, and Causewired
You're here on TreeHugger, so you likely feel a connection between being online and being active in social change. That connection - using the internet as a means of doing good for the world - is quickly spreading thanks to the rise of social networking, free-to-use platforms for websites, and a broadening number of devices through which we can connect to the web.
Tom Watson has dubbed this as being "Causewired." In his new book by that title, Watson explores how this connection came to be, how it is currently being used, and how things are going to change to keep us linked up to the activism that is changing the world. ...
Frugal Green Living: Foraging for Free Fall Food
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.24.08
It is tough times all around right now, and people are loath to spend money on anything. However the Huffington Post has a roundup of fall activities that are fun for a family to do, cheap or free, and you come home with something to eat. They include Neighbourhood Delicacies, where they pick up TreeHugger Bonnie's post on rooting around the local lawns and parks for edible treats; Mushroom Hunting, but you better know what you are doing; Urban foraging for "public fruit", and Apple picking at local orchards. Tasty and free at the Huffington Post.
Forage among the Files of TreeHugger:
Food Foraging for the Faint-Hearted
Food Foraging: Gourmet Food Hunting
A Year in the Woods Eating Wild Food
Forbes Wild Foods...
900 Megawatts of Biomass Power to Be Built by UK’s Drax Group
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.24.08
photo: Drax Group
Drax Group, the owner of the eponymous 4,000 MW coal-eating behemoth power plant in North Yorkshire, England has announced that it will be partnering with Siemens to do something other than spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Wait, that was a bit harsh...
Drax Group and Siemens say that they will be building three 300 MW biomass power plants in the UK over the next couple of years. The plants will be powered by energy crops and agricultural waste from the UK, and are expected to supply about 15% of the UK’s renewable electricity by the time the all come online. That’s still a ways off though:...
LG Switches Plasma Panel Plant to Photovoltaic Production
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
Photo via LG
What better use for a decommissioned factory that once made energy-sucking plasma display screens than making energy-generating solar photovoltaic panels. Talk about an awesome 180.
LG is investing $168 million in retooling the plant, and work will start next month. Read on for more info on exactly what to expect from the factory. ...
Turkish Authorities Say: Let Sleeping Bats Lie
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 10.24.08
Photo via sirtrentalot at flickr
Hibernating bats in Havran, near Turkey's Aegean coast, can rest easy this winter, thanks to a decision by local authorities to hold off on pumping water into a nearby dam reservoir, an action that would have flooded their cave.
One cave near newly completed Havran Dam is thought to hold 15,000 to 20,000 bats of eight or nine different species, the second largest colony in Turkey. According to a 2005 paper in the journal Zoology in the Middle East, "the species richness and the colony sizes qualify the site as an Important Mammal Area and would qualify it as a Special Area for Conservation, according to the Habitats Directive of the European Union."
...
Greenpeace Says PCs May Have to Follow Apple's Footsteps
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
Photo via The Show Must Go On
In an odd twist, Greenpeace is giving the thumbs up to Apple for their ever-greener products, and thinks that PCs would be wise to follow suit.
Now, Apple usually doesn’t do much to make Greenpeace smile. In fact, the two have often thrown punches at one another, which has been well covered on TreeHugger. So for Greenpeace to give praise, they must really mean it. And it gives a bit of extra clout to Apple’s green claims.
But what is all this about PCs lagging behind? ...
Consumer Electronics Report: Industry is Shrinking, Shrinking, Shrinking
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
Photo via MakeLessNoise
While gadgets that claim to be greener seem to be flying at us from left and right, how can we be sure exactly where companies stand in their overall switch to better practices?
The Consumer Electronics Association has put out a new report to help us out on that front. The Environmental Sustainability and Innovation in the Consumer Electronics Industry Report analyzed the 20 companies with the largest market shares that track and report environmental data. (The included companies make about half of the consumer electronics sold in the global market place.)
The industry as a whole, however, looks to be improving, mainly by shrinking energy consumption, shrinking product size and therefore the amount of materials used, and shrinking their overall carbon footprint. Read on for highlights from the report and where your favorite companies stand on green issues. ...
UK's Crown Estate Gets Into Offshore Wind Power: Fronts Half of Pre-Construction Development Costs
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.24.08
photo: erasmusa
In the same week that it was announced that the UK overtook Denmark to be the world’s foremost producer of electricity from offshore wind farms, the Crown Estate (which holds all of the Queen’s property, but is independent of the monarchy or government) has said that it will be making a significant investment in offshore wind power by promising to pay for up to half of all pre-construction development costs for offshore wind projects in areas under its control.
I admit that’s quite a mouthful, but this is what it practically means:...
Even My Dog Is Recycled
by Earthwatch Institute on 10.24.08
Italian Grayhound, At Earthwatch Tree Planting Project, "Roxbury", Boston, USA
By: Jeanine Pfeiffer*
We all have choices. As we fill our lives with things or creatures or experiences, we have an astonishing array of options. Bling or plain? Doberman or Chihuahua? Whale watching or poolside tanning? Paper or plastic or bring your own gosh-darn bag?
We consumers are demi-gods of the Universal Supermarket of Life, setting off a cascade of repercussions with our choices, all the way up and back down the production-consumption-disposal chain. Do we recognize our extraordinary collective power?
Picture each dollar (or euro) you spend as a vote. Each time we hand over a piece of currency, we’re deciding the fate of our farmlands, forests, rivers, oceans, and the air we breathe. Buy virgin white toilet paper, and listen to centuries-old trees going crash, thud, kaBOOM. Order swordfish for dinner now, and forget about ever serving that fish to your grandchildren. Don’t recycle your plastics, and you just might be contributing to a floating island of garbage (twice the size of the continental USA) circulating the Pacific....
Ways To Keep Your Halloween Décor From Sucking...Energy
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10.24.08
Is it just me or is Halloween on steroids this year? As I strolled the sleepy, autumn streets of Park Slope, Brooklyn it seemed as though my neighborhood’s infamous brownstones were way more jazzed up than ever with flashing, electronic pumpkins, cob-web adorned cast-iron gates, plastic window decals and inflated ghosts. Among these, I picked out my favorite, more sustainably decorated homes sporting real, carved pumpkins, homemade stuffed scarecrows and kid-crafted signs. My favorite: A simple white sheet of paper with this cryptic message scribbled in red crayon, “Dracula lives here.” I couldn’t help but notice that the more natural décor came off as way more creepy and crawly looking than say, the average inflated, plastic ghost hanging out on a front lawn. And spooky is the look we’re trying to achieve, isn’t it?
So here’s a tip for you Halloween décor whores who want to save the earth and some cash—but who don’t want to lose the scare-factor: go for organic materials! To make it easy, we’ve compiled energy-saving Halloween décor ideas in our newly dispatched TreeHugger Holiday Guides page. It offers a plethora of green tips for Halloween and festivities beyond!
Also be sure to check out more hair-raising Halloween how-to's on How Stuff Works....
Snow To Be Used to Replace 30% of Japanese Airport’s Cooling Energy Needs
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.24.08
Bikes in Sapporo under snow, photo: Daniel Cuthbert.
When your island gets 20-30 feet of snow in a year, I suppose coming up with interesting ways to put that snow to use. That’s just what Japan’s transport ministry plans on doing at the new New Chitose Airport terminal in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Japan Today is reporting that the ministry plans on introducing a system by 2010 which will use collected snow to provide 30% of the facility’s cooling energy. Here’s how it will work:...
Itron and Tendril Create Dialogue Between Smart Homes and Utilities
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
Tendril and Itron are pairing up to solve the issue of communication between smart meter-equipped homes and utility companies. Their new solution would allow for a two-way communication between smart meters and utilities without the need for a home to have a broadband connection. ...
No More Excuses for US, China: Google Funds Clean Energy Study
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
Photo via WhiteAfrican
As we know, Google is hard core about getting on target with a switch to renewable energies.
The US and China are big old guilty culprits in energy consumption and carbon emissions. Google is helping to get both on track by helping to fund the US National Academies’ participation in a joint study that will analyze how the two countries can clean up their acts. ...
Ausra Opens First US Solar Thermal Power Plant in Bakersfield, California
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.24.08
photo: Ausra
The Kimberlina solar thermal power plant, located near Bakersfield, California and the first solar thermal plant built in the state in some 20 years, opened yesterday. Although only 5 megawatts in size, its developer Ausra is understandably pleased to be operating its first solar thermal power plant in the United States. Regarding the plant opening, Ausra’s CEO Robert Fishman had this to say,
...
On Moving Toward Vegetarianism
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 10.24.08
It wasn't so long ago many people in North America thought vegetarians were weird, lived in hippie communes and lived off of tofu and brown rice. Our cultural ideas have shifted enough in the last decade that this concept has mostly fallen away. We realize that vegetarians live in all segments of society and it's a pretty regular thing. Now wonderful vegetarian options are readily available at restaurants, grocery stores and indeed, in people's homes.
...
Climate Change Activists Are Terrorists! At Least That’s What the Maryland State Police Thought
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.24.08
Thousands of Sea Turtles Dead in Baja
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 10.24.08
3,000 sea turtles have washed up dead on the shores of Baja, California in the last five years according to a report published by UC Santa Cruz last week. More below the fold....
Gas Prices Fall, Will Fuel Consumption? + Ford Stock Cheaper Than Gas VIDEOS
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 10.24.08
NYC's Transportation Commissioner on Streets for People
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.24.08
Local Food Rebuilds Small Town (And Inner-City) America
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 10.24.08
La Finquita Community Garden via Nuestras Raíces
Our uncertain times, both economic and environmental, have businesses, individuals and all levels of government scrambling for a positive way forward. On one end of the solution spectrum is the short-sighted U.S. financial bailout. On the other end are thousands of far-sighted individuals, community groups, neighborhoods, and towns, planting, growing, preserving, cooking, and eating food grown in their own (literal and figurative) backyards. All for the sake of self-sufficiency.
Towns and neighborhoods that have fallen on hard times - whether from the closing of the local mine or manufacturing plant or the long decline of neglected neighborhoods on the wrong side of the tracks or perhaps, say, a broken levee - are turning to simple agricultural acts as a cornerstone for rebuilding communities.
...
Project Better Place To Expand to Australia
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10.24.08
Project Better Place--Great Idea or Hot Air?
We've heard a lot about Project Better Place, Shai Agassi's plan to make electric cars sell like cell phones. The simple premise behind the model is that batteries--the most expensive part of an electric car--should be leased to users for a monthly fee. For longer trips, electric "fueling" stations will enable drivers to pull in, swap their depleted battery for a fully charged one, and continue on their way. Of course, pulling this off would require a lot of charging station infrastructure, a lot of political buy-in, and a lot of electric cars. That's why we've also discussed some of the problems with the idea (see our reasons here).
Currently, Shai Agassi has "has commitments in Israel and Denmark and a partnership with Renault-Nissan to build electric cars with exchangeable batteries," a possible partnership with Portugal, and some serious cash to back him. Now, he is announcing that "Better Place [has] partnered with AGL Energy, the largest power company in Australia, and the Macquarie Capital Group to raise $670 million to help deploy an electric vehicle network powered by renewable energy."...
Survey: What Size Car Do You Drive?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.24.08
After a major crash, a survivor writes in our post :"My tiny, gas-saving car saved my life""for everybody out there that’s using safety as an excuse to not go green, I must ask you to please take a look at that picture of my car and the wonder of how I walked away well enough to write this post the same day. Then try turning around and telling me that these upcoming small alternative cars aren’t safe simply because they’re small."
...
Hallowe'en's King of the Pumpkin World
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10.24.08
With Hallowe'en hysteria building, it's time for a brief ode to the pumpkin. First stop is the legendary Pumpkin Cottage in West Sussex where 87 year old Ralph Upton has been growing pumpkins, squashes and gourds in his six-acre plot for more than 40 years. He plants 15,000 to 20,000 seeds each spring to produce an organic harvest of more than 50 varieties including those with names like Atlantic Giant, Munchkin, Jack-be-Little, Hungarian Mammoth and Turk's Turban.
To add to the fun, every year he and fellow villagers create a giant pumpkin mural on the roof of his shed. As he says "I can't paint pictures, but I can paint with pumpkins." In the past themes have included the Universe, the Pyramids and the Rialto Bridge in Venice. This year it is the Loch Ness monster, complete with crabs and seahorses bobbing around in the lake. ...
Seoul To Construct More Bicycle-only Lanes
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10.23.08
(Photo from Korea Times)
Quote of the day: “Our goal is to make 30 percent of the total population use bicycles as public transportation.” - Oh Gwang-hyun, South Korean official.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea is taking measures against global warming and responding to the high prices of gas by constructing more bicycle-only lanes throughout the city. "A city cannot effectively cope with global warming issues and traffic congestion if people commute only by car,'' according to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. "We will develop Seoul into a city where citizens can commute by bicycle.''...
Liquavista Launches ColorBright, Viewers Go "Ooooh, Aahhhh"
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.23.08
Image via Liquavista
Recently we mentioned the money and research being poured into Liquavista’s electrowetting technology. It is a way of providing incredible displays that are ultra thin, flexible, and fast enough to display even video. The technology has the power to utterly transform the dying newspaper industry and many forms of display systems.
Well, they’ve just released their first round of new displays for smaller devices like watches and cell phones. ...
Solyndra Sells $250 Million of Its Thin-Film Rooftop Solar Power Modules to GeckoLogic
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.23.08
How to Go Green: Dinner Parties, Change Maker Marcus Hill and Kid-Friendly Field Trips
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10.23.08
:: Learn how to host the hottest, eco-haute dinner parties.
:: Meet the mastermind banking on earth-friendly alternatives to Styrofoam and other wasteful food containers.
:: Looking for a cheap and fun weekend activity for the kids? Take them on a local green adventure!...
Philips Light Blossom: Solar and Wind Powered Streetlight
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.23.08
Yes, it’s another solar-and-wind-powered street light. We’ve seen them before, some a little more crazy looking than others. But this one looked pretty darn cool, and has some extra efficient features, so we had to show you.
Read on for details and video footage. ...
Capegemini Releases an Industry First Green IT Report
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.23.08
The IT industry is greening up. We’ve seen that happening across the board. But while they tout all the wonderful things they’re doing to conserve energy, prevent e-waste, cut back on the use of hazardous materials and so on, Capegemini who works with the biggest companies on a daily basis had a hard time find third party reports to back up these claims. So, they decided to take on the task of analyzing what the industry is really doing.
Capegemini talked with Google, EMC2, HP, Intel, Sun Microsystems, and IBM to create a report illustration what has occurred in the past, what is happening now, and what to expect in the future. Capegemini’s Global Outsourcing Sustainability Advisor, Brian Doherty spoke with us about some of the major elements of the report and what it really means when the IT industry says, “We’re Going Green!”...
Rigoberta Menchú : The Time of No Time
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.23.08
1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú came to speak today at the local community college in my town. I jumped at the opportunity to hear such an incredible woman speak and was especially excited that her speech revolved around global environmental issues.
In light of our local celebration of Peace Week, she had a special take on how we can save the environment that tends to get second seat to quick fix ideas like shutting off the light switches and turning off the taps when we brush our teeth. Menchú focused on something different, and vital, to our struggle to reduce our impact on the Earth....
Did the State of California Kill This Woman's Cat?
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10.23.08
Photo credit: Alan Wong for the Daily Californian
Did living in California doom biophysical chemist Arlene Blum's cat, Midnight, to a premature death? Midnight's untimely demise was possibly due to toxic chemicals in her furniture, writes Blum in The Los Angeles Times. "In two years with hyperthyroid disease, Midnight went from a plump 14 pounds to a skeletal five," she adds. "A year ago, a veterinary epidemiologist found that Midnight's blood contained among the highest levels of PBDEs documented in animal research. That's when I learned that the chemicals in my cat came from my couch. And that my furniture is uniquely toxic because I live in California."
What are PBDEs?
PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are fire retardants that have been commonly added to furniture and electronics since the 1980s. Widely used in polyurethane foam and other plastics, PBDEs are kissing cousins to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have been banned for nearly 30 years because they can cause immune suppression, endocrine disruption, behavioral problems, and cancer....
Wired on Working From Home
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.23.08
I just love Mauricio Alejo's picture of a ,When This Happens To Humans It’s Called Genocide: West African Chimpanzee Population Shows Dramatic Declines
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.23.08
photo: owenbooth
To be fair, even when this sort of thing happens to humans its often not called genocide for political reasons, but that’s what it is nonetheless. The BBC is reporting the findings of researchers examining population declines of West African chimpanzees in the Ivory Coast over the past 20 years. The results are both startling, sickening and somehow to be expected:
...
GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid to use Batteries by LG Chem
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.23.08
The Race to Power the Chevy Volt
Many of us have been watching with interset the race between LG Chem and A123 Systems to become the supplier of the GM Volt's battery system. After all, energy storage is currently the most crucial puzzle left to solve to make battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids viable. We need batteries that store as much power as possible, in a package as light as possible, with a useful life that is as long as possible, and of course, all that as cheaply as possible. That's a tall order.
According to Reuters, GM has picked LG Chem to supply lithium-ion batteries for its Chevrolet Volt. Read on for more details....
Is Organic Farming Good For Africa or Not?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.23.08
A few weeks ago the Guardian went to town on genetically modified food, suggesting "their development has the potential to save lives" and lambasting Prince Charles as "a very modern Marie Antoinette" for his opinions about organic food and the dangers of GM Food and his claim that they are the biggest environmental disaster of all time.
Its competitor the Independent tells a very different story, quoting the head of the United Nations' Environment program Achim Steiner, who says that a new UN report "indicates that the potential contribution of organic farming to feeding the world maybe far higher than many had supposed". It appears that organic practices are delivering "sharp increases in yields, improvements in the soil and a boost in the income of Africa's small farmers who remain the poorest people on earth."
...
12,100 Megawatts of Geothermal Power by 2025: Department of Interior Opens Up Lands For Leasing
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.23.08
photo: Óli Jón
Geothermal energy finally seems to be getting the attention it deserves. While it still is a small percentage of most nation’s energy mix (read: everybody but Iceland), the potential of geothermal in some places is enormous. Towards that end, Google and the US Department of Energy have both committed resources to bring more geothermal power online in the past few months; now, the US Department of the Interior has announced that it will be opening up a good sized swath of federal lands to geothermal power development:...
Used GM EV1 Electric Car Sold for $465k!?
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.23.08
We knew that people were nostalgic about the EV1 (exhibit A: The movie Who Killed the Electric Car?) and that there is a lot of demand for electric cars, but almost half a million for a 13 years old used EV1 that has been in storage for 4 years, that's a lot. Probably some wealthy collector who's speculating on one of the last remaining existing units of this historic vehicle... Read on for more details....
Satch & Sol Sustainable Clothing Works with Artists in Mongolia
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 10.23.08
Satch & Sol Kids' Booties. Image Source: Satch & Sol.
A beautifully, glowingly pregnant friend (there seem to be a lot right now) told us about Satch & Sol : an inspiring eco-friendly, mom-owned and operated business. These ladies are created children’s clothing that is handmade worldwide, fair trade and earth-friendly. They have partnered with artisan cooperatives worldwide to bring you their clothing for newborns to 10 year-olds.
Their most recent collection is from Mongolia “reflecting the country’s passion for color.” The collection includes slippers, boots, knits and more delightful items for your eco-tots made by artists in Mongolia. And as you probably know, Fair Trade ensures that the artists receive liveable wages that are appropriate for the art they create and to support their families and communities.
...
Book Review: Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 10.23.08
Image source: David Paul Morris/Getty Images
Studies show "it takes as little as 2.5 seconds to make a purchasing decision." Companies today know they have less than 2 seconds to catch your eye, lure you in and make you a customer - hook line and sinker. In Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, author and marketing guru Martin Lindstrom takes us on a behind the scenes look at what sells and why we are lambs to the slaughter when it comes to buying “stuff." Lindstrom dispels myths like how, for example, sex may grab our attention, but it doesn’t sell. Using one of the largest neuromarketing studies, Lindstrom attempts to look past what we say and figure out why we do what we do and how our brain responds to all of the incoming stimuli....
Renewable Energy Is A Local Issue: California, Colorado, Missouri State Ballot Initiatives in Brief
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.23.08
photo: KQED QUEST-some rights reserved
With a little less than two weeks until the presidential elections (thank god it’s almost over...) it’s worthwhile remembering that it’s not just presidential choices which can influence the future of energy policy in the United States. There are several state ballot initiatives around the country which are coming up for public approval. Even if these don’t apply directly to your state, check them out if only to see what other states are considering implementing.
Thanks to the New York Times for pointing them out, but here’s a bit more detail on measures in California, Colorado and Missouri from the state voting guides:...
OceansWatch Works with Yachters to Protect Ocean Life
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.23.08
Photo of yachts via Tiare Scott
There might seem to be a disparity between yacht clubs and marine biology researchers. However, OceansWatch says not so.
This group works with yachting and boating clubs, and diving communities to protect coastlines, marine life, and ocean health. And they do so with eco-friendly boats and an open invitation....
Apex Electric Motors: Making Efficiency Cool
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.23.08
Soon, your traditional "gear-heads" will deserve a nickname more fitting to their actual propulsion. In only a few years cars will have electric motors that make them super efficient and fast. How about we call them Electric Motor Heads - a.k.a. "EMOHs?"
Apex Drive Laboratories, Inc. (Apex) is an example of a firm positioned to take advantage of this predetermined trend, as it "offers patented electric motor and generator technology [pictured] suitable for transportation and renewable energy applications."...
Bioneers 2008: Using Google Earth for Environmental Activism
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.23.08
We’ve seen that with Google Earth you kind of hold the world in the palm of your hand. TreeHugger has posted on some really cool things the software can do, such as illustrate deforestation and our renewable energy potential. But there is more to it than just a few layers of mapping that illustrate our world.
After Hurricane Katrina hit, Google Earth was used to help rescue workers to save more than 4,000 people. A little later a scientist in Australia discovered a previously unknown fringing coral reef with Google Earth. At the same time, the Australian government was going to subject that region to a major environmental assessment for an oil and natural gas push. Of course, the discovery shifted things in the favor of the coral reef.
At this point, Google started to catch on that the Earth mapping holds some serious significance.
So, the world has this tool – what is the world doing with it? ...
Millions in Algae Biofuel Research Grants Made Available by UK’s Carbon Trust (UPDATED)
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.23.08
photo: Jaime Brown
Don’t just take it from me that algae is one of the few feedstocks under consideration for biofuel that can be produced in enough quantity to replace significant amounts of current liquid transport fuel demand: The Carbon Trust thinks so too.The UK-based climate change advocacy organization has just launched the Algae Biofuels Challenge to increase R&D funding for advancing algae-based biofuels to the commercial level.
The Carbon Trust had this to say about the potential of algae:...
Muu: Modifiable Furniture for Kids
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 10.23.08
Image source: Muu Kids
Muu, new to the world of children's furnishings, is launching its kids furniture line that is both customizable and modifiable - the Sam Collection. The pieces are beautifully built and sturdy. Best part - each of the pieces are designed to change as your child gets older to provide a new function and continued use. Then when you have your next child, simply convert the furniture to its original form and, voila, you're ready to go. No need for new furniture....
vel'oh! Luxembourg City Gets a Bike Sharing System
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 10.23.08
A new bike sharing system, vel'oh!, has been put into action, this time in Luxembourg city, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Europe. For a city that is quite hilly and has just under 85.000 inhabitants, over 600 long-term subscriptions and 300 short-term ones are not bad going considering it only launched in march this year. If we compare vel’oh! to Barcelona’s Bicing service, we find that in Luxembourg non-residents can also rent the bikes, and which, unlike in other places, are available 24 hours, 7 days a week....
Wal-Mart CEO Calls for Reduced Consumption?
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 10.23.08
The Big Question
Near the end of Wal-Mart's 2008 Sustainability Summit in Beijing, CEO Lee Scott addressed one of the greatest existential questions for the world's biggest retailer as it pursues its sustainability goals: Can true sustainability be reached without lowering -- lowering -- consumption, especially with the increasing growth of China's middle class?
Scott paused for a moment, and then:
Do we change how we purchase, how we consume, how we live? The answer to that I think is that to get to true sustainability, that does occur.Was the CEO of Wal-Mart suggesting that consumers alter their buying habits? Does he want people to come into Wal-Marts less frequently to pick up their sneakers and stereos and ice cream, their humidifiers? Just like, for instance, they're doing right now in the US, to the company's chagrin?...
Celebrate International Caps Lock Day (Better Late Than Never)
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.23.08
TreeHugger covers every little energy saving trick for computers, from Blackle to tweaking your sleep mode even as silly as deleting your old Gmail. But how about that other huge energy and time waster, the extra keys pressed and time spent correcting the coPY THAT WE HAVE TO ERASE BEcause we hit the damn caps lock key. Others have rallied to this cause, and even celebrate October 22 as International Caps Lock Day, which ranks up there with Talk Like a Pirate Day and Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month in our Pantheon of Important lifecycle events. Of course, we missed it.
...
Kids Konserve: A Pricey Lunchbox But A Priceless Concept
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10.23.08
There's no one in my group of extended family and friends that I can imagine buying this $40 reusable lunch box for their child (or for my child) or even as a nice gift for someone else's child!
School lunches = lots of waste
That said, there's about half a dozen reasons why the Kids Konserve lunch box is a really great idea that seems an obvious hit if you can take the financial hit. The first frightening statistic is that a child generates between 45 and 90 pounds of lunch box waste each year. This is not counting the untold "healthy" snacks that get tossed straight from the Spiderman lunch tote to the trash when the parents aren't looking, but oh well. The plastic wrap, paper and foil that is thrown away is one thing - almost more important is the fact that we're teaching kids at an early age to just throw without thinking. That's why Kids Konserve's reusable lunch "kit" is really quite nifty....
The Guardian Takes on Greenwashing
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.23.08
New Columng Targets False Sustainability Claims
From TreeHugger’s own “Greenwash Watch” posts that have discussed everything from inaccurate green claims about vinyl siding to GM’s advertising, through to MTV’s catchy ditty about Greenwashing, we’re certainly no strangers to the idea that green marketing claims can sometimes be over-exaggerated, or just plain lies. Now the UK’s Guardian newspaper looks set to start exploring these territories on a regular basis, with a new column focusing on the sins of Greenwash. Here’s a little excerpt from the first instalment:
...
Hybrid Buses a Bust in Toronto
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.23.08
It is a sad tale: Local bus manufacturer is bought by Daimler, manufactures hybrid bus design that sells well as far away as San Francisco and New York City. But in the home market of Toronto, they don't work well at all. The lead-acid batteries were supposed to last four years and are dying after 18 months, at a rate of 140 batteries per week. They are using only 10% less diesel fuel instead of the 20% to 30% saving that was promised. And they cost almost 50% more to purchase in the first place.
So what is the problem?
...
Survey: Do You Fix Your Shoes?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.23.08
A certain frugal presidential candidate wears his shoes until there are holes in the bottoms and then has them resoled. This surprised me, I did not think anyone did this anymore. Nor did I think that someone on a campaign trail would wear leather soles when they could get more shock absorbent alternatives. Image by Callie Shell in Time
...
Is This the Most Eco-Friendly Car Innovation Since the Hybrid?
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Los Angeles, California on 10.23.08
photo/Sabertec
Forget hydrogen. The most eco-friendly thing to happen to cars since the hybrid might just be an after-market device that attaches to your tail pipe and costs a mere $199....
UN Puts a Stamp on Climate Change
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 10.23.08
Image source: UN Stamps
Today the UN will is offering a set of 6 postage stamps on the theme of climate change. Each stamp is based on images from Gary Braasch's book Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World. The UN designated 2008 as the "Year of Planet Earth" and the stamps are part of a larger environmental educational campaign. Other stamps this year include the "We Can End Poverty" and "Sports for Peace" collections.
The stamps will be issued in US, Swiss, Frank and Euro denominations. You can find the UN Climate Change Stamps online, but the stamps can only be mailed from the UN Headquarters in New York for US denominations or the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland for Swiss denominations....
Sustainable Food Leaders Honored At Glynwood Harvest Awards
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 10.23.08
Fred Kirschenmann by Jason Bolton
Last week I highlighted Will Allen's MacArthur genius grant. This is surely the richest award given to a sustainable agriculture leader and is much deserved. (Another, just as worthy, sustainable food pioneer, Gary Nabhan was named a MacArthur Genius back in 1990, but he won it as an ethnobotanist and writer.)
On October 27, the not-for-profit Glynwood Center is throwing an awards event of their own at Beacon Restaurant in New York City. Their sixth annual Harvest Awards will be presented to "individuals and organizations from across the country that do an exceptional job of supporting local and regional agriculture and increases access to fresh, healthy food."
Glynwood is wise to keep the number of awards to an efficient five. And the winners are:...
Cold War Design on Sale
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10.23.08
The truth is that sometimes the gift shop at the end of the art exhibition is better than the show itself. There--we've said it. The latest show at the Victoria & Albert Museum is "Cold War Modern Design 1945-1970" and it is interesting. The cold war period spawned its own art, design and architecture that formed an integral part of the way we lived through that time or think about it now. Nixon and Khrushchev were fighting it out with Nixon's memorable quote: "Would it not be better to compete in the relative merits of washing machines than in the strength of rockets?" ( I bought the tea-towel).
But what was really great was this Save Our Planet carrier bag made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. It has a design by Buckminster Fuller which depicts his scheme to install a one mile high dome over Manhattan which would provide year round climate control. The bag itself is adapted from a poster produced by Olivetti in 1971. So much history packed into one little ecobag--Christmas shopping here we come....
Wetland Restoration: The Best Alternative to Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies?
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.22.08
Image from doortoriver
While widespread wetland destruction could unleash the mother of all "carbon bombs," scientists are discovering that the restoration of these vulnerable ecosystems could provide a valuable bulwark to climate change by creating a worldwide network of potent carbon sinks. A $12.3 million research project to capture and store carbon by growing tules and cattails in wetlands launched by the U.S. Geological Survey this summer has already shown some promising results, according to Environmental Science & Technology's Janet Pelley:
The USGS project has captured eye-popping amounts of carbon—an average of 3000 grams of carbon per square meter per year (g-C/m2/yr) over the past 5 years. For comparison, reforested agricultural land, eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, socks away carbon at a rate much less than 100 g-C/m2/yr, says Gail Chmura, a biogeochemist at McGill University (Canada)....
Solar Space Satellites, Ebay's Elephant Ivory Ban and FedEx's Eco-Endeavors
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 10.22.08
Are solar satellites the answer to our energy crisis?
Ebay bans the sale of elephant ivory.
FedEx announces their largest international solar energy facility.
Summer Rayne Oakes partners up with Payless Shoes to get them on board with green.
Doctors continue to disagree over the correct Vitamin D intake for children.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Begrudgingly Green CEOs
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10.22.08
Image credit: GETTY
This article might just surprise you. You are probably expecting to see a wet noodle taken to CEOs of the chemicals industry and some blows to Walmart. But the truth is much more complicated. In fact, the chemical industry CEOs have led some of the greatest advances in green. And although greed may have been one driving factor, many issues subtly play into putting the chemical industry in a leadership position. Greed? Your brain hits the pause button. What is greedy about green?
The chemical industry may have begrudgingly entered into waste minimization. But that was decades ago. Spurred by government programs like the toxic release inventory (TRI) reporting, which gave the public information on how many tons of waste were flooding the environment and which companies were the biggest polluters, the industry had to act. And guess what? Pretty soon waste reduction and minimization was being sold to boards everywhere as a cost-saving measure. Product that had been spilled into rivers or pumped underground was suddenly being sold for profit. And the industry survived. And thrived. Sustainability became a common word in board rooms, environmental planning became intrinsic in business planning.
So how about Walmart? Whether driven by the heated breath of activists on their necks, experience gained from the field of employee relations or simply surfing a trend that consumers embrace, Walmart has begun to use their huge purchasing power and overwhelming infrastructure for green leadership. No, these two boogie-corporations are not on the list of begrudgingly green CEOs. So just who did make the list?...
Bioneers 2008: The San Diego Zoo Leads the Way in Biomimicry
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
Photo via Joe Gets a Camera
A major component of Bioneers is the field of biomimicry. Janine Benyus was a keynote speaker, there was a full-day intensive on the subject, and several workshops. And so it was necessary for the leaders in biomimicry to be present. They were.
The San Diego Zoo was represented at Bioneers and I was able to speak with Jon Prange, Venture Business Manager, about the zoo's role in biomimicry....
Hidden Reservoir: Why Water Efficiency Is The Best Solution For The Southeast
by Rebecca Wodder, American Rivers on 10.22.08
5 Ways to Green Your Halloween Candy Fix
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10.22.08
Embarrassing fact: Well before working at TreeHugger, I’d spend Halloween night secretly hoping trick or treat-ers wouldn’t come to my door so I could have more candy left over for moi. Mini-Twizzlers and Snickers ranked as my all time faves. Then I found out about the horror of high fructose corn syrup, the fright of un-fairly traded chocolate and other un-sustainable sugar scares. Halloween went from being a sweet personal indulgence to a depressingly, somber affair.
Whether your concern is your own personal health, the health of the planet, or that of your little goblin sugar-mongers—or all of the above—take a holistic approach this Halloween (and still bask in indulgent fun) by handing out organic, fair trade, and intelligently packaged candy. TreeHugger’s archive offers a bounty of green goodie ideas but to keep things simple, we’ve compiled five ways to green your Halloween candy fix in our newly dispatched TreeHugger Holiday Guides page. It offers a plethora of green tips for Halloween and festivities beyond!
Also be sure to check out more hair-raising Halloween how-to's on How Stuff Works....
Video of Endangered Beluga Whales Playing
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.22.08
15% of Iowa’s Carbon Emissions Come From Ethanol Plants, More Than Belching Cattle
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.22.08
photo: Steven Roemerman
OK, before anyone accuses me of a misleading headline: Coal-fired power plants in Iowa produce much more carbon emissions than do ethanol plants. Said. Done. Moving on: While it’s true that I believe that corn ethanol is probably one of the worst biofuels out there on many levels, I’m presenting this not to bash ethanol; instead I saw this in the context of “gee, whaddya know...”
7.6 Million Tonnes From Ethanol Plants
The results of the state’s new survey of major sources of greenhouse gas emissions from industry, business and power plants did find that ethanol plants produced 7.6 million tonnes (of a total 52 million tonnes) of carbon emissions. Perhaps more interesting than that however is the source of emissions at the plants:...
2009 Fuel Economy Guide: Toyota Prius First, Lamborghini Murciélago Last
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.22.08
2009 Fuel Economy Guide
The U.S. government's 2009 Fuel Economy Guide (pdf) is out and there hasn't been much movement at the top once again this year. Ever since the Honda Insight v1.0 (not to be confused with the upcoming all-new Honda Insight) has been terminated, the second-generation Toyota Prius has been king of the hill (you can see pics of the redesigned 2010 Prius here).
Read on for more details....
Report: Global Warming Disproportionately Affects African Americans, Low-Income Communities
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10.22.08
Image: EJCC websiteThough it may have struck you already, a recent report corroborates what some advocates and the Hurricane Katrina debacle are making painfully clear: that people of colour are disproportionately affected by climate change and related disasters. Titled A Climate of Change: African Americans, Global Warming, and a Just Climate Policy for the U.S. and co-authored by the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative and Redefining Progress, the report analyzes data such as per capita carbon emissions, vulnerability to natural disasters, energy price increases, share of war costs and housing inequalities. The report’s findings show that though global warming affects everyone, existing inequalities are consistently amplified through unjust climate policies and lack of representation. The report recommends five policies that will lead to environmental health and economic security, not just for African Americans, but for all people living in the U.S.:...
Crummy Economy No Biggie for Green IT
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
Photo via BinaryApe
Green IT companies are saying, “Economy Eschonomy” because everyone seems to be catching on that the way to save money is cleaning up their act in the IT department and saving loads of money on energy. We knew saving energy = saving money = saving the planet before the latest economic meltdown, but are just now starting to act thanks to an inherent panic mode.
European companies are savvy to this, as proven by the Storage Expo conference in London – an event dedicated to data storage, information and content management – where a survey of attendees was released that showed 70% of 513 respondents rated green IT projects a priority if they saved money. 4% said projects were worth it regardless of cost savings.
That massive drop in green thinking based on money, while sad, isn’t all that important in this case. That's because right now it’s pretty easy to save money by cutting down on energy consumption, despite the 10% of respondents that said they had to cut green initiatives because of budget constraints.
But does that mean green IT is inevitable?...
Poo Power To Provide 25% of US Forest Service’s Electricity
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.22.08
While we’ve covered both consumer green energy programs and the animal waste-to-electricity projects a number of times, this is the first combination of them that I’ve seen. And I can thank action by the US Forest Service for bringing it to my attention.
The Forest Service has announced that it will be offsetting 25% of its electricity usage through payments made to the Vermont-based CVPS Cow Power. Cow Power receives a $0.04 premium for each kilowatt-hour of electricity offset; which means that the Forest Service’s electric bill with be $2100 higher next year.
The Cow Power program works pretty much like any other consumer green energy program:...
These Boots Are Made For Walking: Timberland's Spring 2009 Earthkeepers Collection
by Emma Grady, New York, NY on 10.22.08
An attendee at the launch of the Spring 2009 Timberland collection enjoys a cocktail while checking out the footwear. Photo Credit: Porter Novelli
Timberland's Earthkeepers Spring 2009 footwear and apparel collections launched at 15R in Manhattan last Wednesday night, and we were there to "Chart New Waters" with them and check out the new collection. Playing along with that theme, there were fish swimming in fish bowls and floor-to-ceiling photographs of waves on the walls, while tunes from DJ Duane Harriott filled the air. The footwear collection adorned one wall and attendees were invited to sip on cocktails and explore the Timberland collection.
Read on for our favorites from the Earthkeepers collection!...
Solar Two Wins Holcim Gold Award
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
TreeHugger has discussed Solar One before, and George had posted a video of Solar Two
Now it appears that the proposed education facility has won the whacking big Holcim Award, $100,000 provided by one of the world's largest cement and aggregate companies to honour the best in sustainable construction, what some might call a bit of a contradiction but I will let that one pass. ...
Farming Fish in Central London
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
Students at London's Architectural Association School of Architecture were asked (architectspeak in italics) Can extremes of programmatic effectiveness blend with the fragility of human habitat? Can food production be integrated into the fabric of the City?
AA Student Benedetta Gargiulo writes: Aquaculture is an urban landscape that playfully explores and re-imagines industrial food production, inviting visitors to examine the complex interrelationships between the private consumption and mass production of fresh fish. People will be invited inside to see the production of fish....
A Cardboard Boombox As Your iPod's New Home
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
Image via SmartPlanet
Incase you are getting bored with your super sleek, minimalist iPod speaker set-up, or you miss the 80s, check out this new Boombox-style speaker dock.
It has one foot in eco-friendliness, and one foot out. Read on to decide if you think it gets to lay claim to a green image. ...
$92 Million Algae Biofuels Deal Signed Between GreenFuel Technologies & Aurantia
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.22.08
HP's Pavilion Has Gone Green - Or Has It?
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
HP fans have a greener option for computing, as this week the company announced a couple PCs and a display that have supposedly a lower environmental footprint. Yet these “special edition” products could be easily written off as just another in the long line of more efficient computers.
HP has come up with some pretty cool innovations in the past, including zero-packaging laptops. So how do these new products hold up against past innovations and the new wave of greener computers?...
Falling Gas Prices: Don't Get Too Comfortable
by Jeff Siegel, Green Chip Stocks on 10.22.08
I was riding my bike to the store last weekend when I saw a long line of cars waiting to fill up at the corner gas station. 87 Octane was going for $2.89, and it looked liked no one wanted to risk missing out on this “bargain” before prices shot back up. Though the reality is, gas prices will likely remain below $3.00 for just a little longer.
The fact is, a weakening economy has created fertile ground for falling gas prices. And this is not likely to ease up in the short-term. However, folks shouldn't get too comfortable. Because while economic downturns and recessionary times don't last forever – depleted fossil fuels do. And that's why these lower gas prices represent nothing more than a blip....
Despite Palin, Beluga Whales On The Endangered Species List
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
Photo Credit: National Geographic
Despite opposition from Governor Sarah Palin, last week the Bush Administration added Alaska's Cook Inlet beluga whales to the endangered species list. The population has decreased from around 1,300 in the 70s to the 375 or so present today. More below the fold....
Bioneers 2008: How to Use Digital Media for Environmental Activism - Advice from the Experts
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
Photo via Nick J Webb
A centerpiece of the Bioneers conference is how we use technology to further environmentalism. One panel I couldn't possibly pass up was "iTube, YouTube, WeAllTube: Digital Media and Distribution Innovators." The panelists were experts in media distribution and how to get a message across effectively with new avenues.
The panel consisted of:
Leila Conners, Tree Media Group founder, journalist and filmmaker, including co-directing the 11th Hour;
Richard Wolfe, technophile and former 20th century Fox technology chrief;
Richard Graves, Youth Voice/Youth Vote and Global Environment at Americans for Informed Democracy program director;
Mark Sommer, executive director of The Mainstream Media Project, author, independent journalist and internationally syndicated columnist
These four experts gave their advice on how to be effective activists through digital technology- what to do and what to avoid to get your message across. Compiled here are knowledge nuggets as well as do's and don'ts so you can be effective with getting your green message across to others. ...
Where Are All the Green Collar Workers?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
utt73
Mark Roper at Triple Pundit asks: With all the hype over green collar jobs, where are all the green collar workers? He was at a conference recently and learned that the photovoltaic industry is facing a shortage of workers.
"With increasing focus on clean, domestic energy generation and federal ITC support now in place, a lack of qualified technicians and installers presents a potentially serious bottleneck to industry growth. In California alone, if the state is to reach its 1 million solar roofs initiative in 10 years, it will require more than 10,000 additional certified installers. This year’s innovative products on the floor attempted to address the problem by reducing the time and complexity of the installation process."
...
Incandescent Light Bulb Banned by European Union
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 10.22.08
Wal-Mart Threatens Factories: Clean Up or Get Out!
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 10.22.08
CEO Lee Scott addresses the Beijing audience. Photo by Alex Pasternack
Blogging from the Summit
Perhaps the world's biggest, boldest convert to sustainability, and the company about which we're most ambivalent, Wal-Mart announced today its most ambitious green plan yet: to raise environmental and social standards at every factory along its supply chain, just as suppliers in China and elsewhere are already struggling to survive rising costs and lower demand.
Top executives who had come to Beijing for the company's annual sustainability summit told an audience of some 1,000 suppliers (and, to soften the blow, Cameron Diaz) that green practices could be achieved and costs could be reduced through simple initiatives, like reducing packaging and removing harmful chemicals. But the plan is much larger than that: Wal-Mart is insisting on keeping close track of every step of its supply chain, raising product safety and quality standards, and requiring that its top 200 suppliers in China reduce energy by 30 percent over the next two years.
And here's the clincher: By 2012, the big-box retailer, once the scourge of environmentalists, will require suppliers to draw 95 percent of their production from factories that receive the highest ratings in environmental and social responsibility audits.
But considering the economic climate, and notorious transparency problems in China, how will the world's penny-pinching behemoth make it work?...
Kyoto Protocol Lawsuit Dismissed: Canada Gets to Keep Dragging Feet on Climate Change Action
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.22.08
photo: Tavis Ford
Just a quick update to a story that broke back in June about a lawsuit against the Canadian government by Friend of the Earth Canada, in which FOE alleged that the nation had failed to comply with its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. The suit sought to force compliance.
A Court Order Could Not Be Enforced: Judge
Well, the suit has been dismissed. Reuters is reporting that the federal judge said that it was not up to the court to decide if the government was acting reasonable in failing to live up to its Kyoto Protocol agreements. The judge added that, furthermore, it would be difficult to enforce a court order.
Friends of the Earth was, as expected, nonplussed by the decision. In a written statement, Beatrice Olivastri, head of FOE Canada said,...
Folding Bamboo Houses by Ming Tang
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
Jorge at Inhabitat calls Ming Tang's temporary shelters "origami inspired"; They remind me more of the tensile structures of Frei Otto They were developed as temporary shelters for the homeless after last May's earthquake in Chian that left millions homeless and shown at the Urban Re:vision competition. ...
Rule Britannia: UK is Now World’s #1 Offshore Wind Power Producer
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.22.08
Wind turbine parts awaiting installation, photo: Mitch.
With the completion of a new 194 MW wind farm off the coast of Skegness, Lincolnshire the United Kingdom has overtaken Denmark to claim the offshore wind power capacity crown. The new installation brings the UK’s total offshore wind capacity to 590 MW, which is approximately enough electric generating capacity for 300,000 homes. Denmark currently has 423 MW of offshore wind power capacity.
Offshore wind power in the UK is set to keep growing however:
...
Wood Heat Rises Again
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
TreeHugger Laumer preparing for winter
It is interesting how even though the price of natural gas is about half of what it was six months ago, my gas company doesn't seem to have noticed yet. Perhaps it is better to rely on one's own resources, as TreeHugger John does with his four tons of firewood. But as so many commenters noted at his post, there is an environmental cost. The Christian Science Monitor picks up the story. ...
Green Economy's a Good Economy in California
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 10.22.08
Report Shows California's Investment in Green Boosts Economy
According to a study released by UC Berkeley this Monday, thinking green will work wonders for the state's economy despite global financial difficulties. ...
Transition Towns and Cities Emerge in the US Too
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.22.08
Transition City LA Just One of Many
It looks like it may have been almost a whole month since I last wrote about Transition Towns – covering the arrival of the Transition movement in Japan, and the incredible growth of Transition Towns in New Zealand. I make no secret about it, I’m a huge fan of this community-lead response to peak oil and climate change.
When discussing Transition Towns here in the US, it’s fairly common to hear folks ask whether something that started from small towns in the UK and Ireland can really work in such an oil dependent culture as the United States, and especially the big cities. However, Transition is spreading fast over here too, and a new Transition USA website has been set up to network the various fledgling groups across the country, and to link them with what’s happening abroad. To provide a taster of the kind of ambitious, important work that has already started, Rob Hopkins recently posted a letter from Transition City LA on his blog, detailing their early efforts.
...
N55's Walking House Actually Walks!
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
Filmmakers Wanted to Showcase Water Problems at Istanbul Forum
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 10.22.08
With up to 2 billion of the world's people lacking adequate access to water and $500 billion changing hands annually in global water markets, it's no wonder that "water is the new oil" has become a popular buzz-phrase--almost to the point of cliché. But without a dramatic visual representation of the issues involved--a dried-up Aral Sea, violent protests in Bolivia--it's hard to get people focused on something we so often take for granted....
Survey: Why Not Bail Out the Enviroment Instead of the Banks?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.22.08
Stephen Brooks writes today in TreeHugger "I am honestly tired of hearing about the bailout of our financial system. Maybe the very best thing for the environment would be a complete collapse and restructuring of the way our government handles our tax dollars. All I hear these last couple of weeks is the great fear people are having for the loss they are seeing in their pensions and 401K’s. What about to the hundreds of species that go extinct every year and the human languages and cultures that are rapidly disappearing succumbing to modern ways? Does our society have its priorities straight?"
...
How Nau? Interview with Eco Activewear Purveyor - Part 2
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.22.08
The second part of our Interview with Ian Yolles, head of marketing head at the newly resuscitated Nau, a green outdoor clothing maker, which just re-opened it website. Yesterday, in the first part, we delved deeper in to the business side of matters at the new Nau. For this half our investigation looks more at the product itself.
TH: One of the criticisms leveled at Nau by commenters on blogs is that the product is expensive. The price is obviously the result of Nau being a highly designed, intensively detailed product using exclusive fabrics, but why has Nau chosen the low volume, high end approach over the lower priced, high sales volume model? Would not the latter option get the green message to a broader audience? Or can a niche player punch above its weight category?...
Five Outstanding Green Restaurants
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 10.22.08
Here at TreeHugger, we've covered the sustainable food movement for years, but have never pulled together our own list of the greenest restaurants. Wait no more: these five outstanding green restaurants -- in no particular order -- are sure to please your stomach and your conscience.
A little disclaimer: It turns out that four out of five of our top picks are in the United States, though we carefully weighed several options outside our borders. These chefs and restaurants distinguish themselves from the pack with a commitment to sustainable food that goes way beyond what they plate up. These chefs aren't just serving mind-blowing food: they're forging farmer-chef networks and building dynamic communities around sustainable food. Since sustainability requires the next generation of leaders to uphold high standards and find new ways to build a green food culture, we also highlight restaurants with training and mentoring programs. We're pleased to see these chefs preparing and coaching the food industry's sustainability champions of the future.
From a pure food standpoint, we looked for restaurants where the chefs are serious about sourcing their food from responsible producers and prioritizing quality of ingredients over technique. That means the food at all of these restaurants is as local and seasonal as possible, simple, and assuredly delicious....
Hazardous Companies Forced to get Environmental Insurance in Argentina
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 10.22.08
Photo: Argentinean officials announce the new regulation (credit: National Environmental Office).
Thanks to a set of regulations and norms established by the Argentinean Environmental Secretariat, companies that carry on hazardous activities will have to get insurance against environmental damage in the country.
According to the office, the law that establishes this was actually approved a while ago, but companies didn't comply with it because -ironically- there weren't regulations to define which activities were considered dangerous and there wasn't any insurance policy they could hire. Therefore, during the last year the office defined the hazardous activities, established a criteria for policies amounts, and created a division to follow the subject on environmental insurance, to announce last week that the law is coming into force.
Authorities say Argentina is the first country in the world to have this legislation and claim that at least 35,000 companies will fall under this new rule.
More in the extended....
A Future for Recycled Oil Drums
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10.22.08
Furniture made out of recycled materials is hardly new to TreeHugger. But here is a French designer's collection that includes tables, chairs, barbeques, shelves and lights--all made from recycled oil drums. Starting with your basic dented and rusted abandoned oil drum, the possibilities are endless. The first one was created from an industrial barrel and supermarket trolley wheels in 2003 and the creator, Francois Royer, then went on to develop new models and prototypes for furniture. The pieces combine aesthetics and respect for the environment in one useful and decorative object.
The basic Stanker is a one-off, unique table, using recycled materials. The name and model number corresponds to the size of the original barrel. The variations are endless and innovative--one model uses the lid of the barrel as a table surface and Louis XV style legs are added. Another barrel is made into a shelving unit and yet another is a chair. ...
An Environmental Bailout: Where is the Real Urgency?
by Stephen Brooks, Punta Mona, Costa Rica on 10.21.08
Indigenous Bribri man overlooking the vast rainforest
I am honestly tired of hearing about the bailout of our financial system. Maybe the very best thing for the environment would be a complete collapse and restructuring of the way our government handles our tax dollars. All I hear these last couple of weeks is the great fear people are having for the loss they are seeing in their pensions and 401K’s. What about to the hundreds of species that go extinct every year and the human languages and cultures that are rapidly disappearing succumbing to modern ways? Does our society have its priorities straight?...
Fuel Cell (Hydrogen-Powered) Wheelchairs
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10.21.08
With the Japanese population aging rapidly, the fuel-cell wheelchair and cart applications have a bright future. In fact, Japan already has the world's highest proportion of elderly people. More than 20% are over the age of 65 and this figure is expected to rise to about 40% by 2050. Considering this population trend, no doubt there will be an increasing demand for these wheelchairs and carts from Kurimoto Ltd. in the future. Promoted as "Eco" fuel-cell powered means turning the “silver market” into green. Of course they are for other treehugging wheelchair users as well!
...
Climate Matters Video Contest Winners Announced
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 10.21.08
Maggie Gyllenhaal and other illustrious judges have spoken
The winners of a user-generated video contest meant to inspire our next President to take bold action on climate change were announced this morning -- and inspiring they are. Displaying a high level of craft and imagination, key ingredients in the pursuit of socially effective and emotionally affecting creations, the winning videos are not only impressive, they are stirring. Each entry strikes a pitch-perfect note of balance between the leveraging of fear as catalyst to action, and gentle mnemonic for that which we fight to preserve. The winning submissions will be distributed to all presidential nominees and each member of Congress. Additionally, the videos will be broadcast to a potential audience of more than 50 million viewers around the nation and online. The top four winning entries (there was a tie for third place) take on the issue of climate change in a variety of ways. First and second place entries look at the problem through the eyes of children, while the third place entries employ stop-motion photography and animation to tell different stories. And the winner is......
From the Forums: Home Battery Inventory
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 10.21.08
How many devices at home do you have that use a battery? That was the question I pondered when I recently went into my battery drawer and found I was out of AA Alkalines. I thought to myself, before buying more of the same, what devices do I own where I could replace the Alkaline batteries with rechargeables?
Read More...
Bioneers 2008: Janine Benyus, Nature's Best 100 Solutions, and 16 Businesses Using Biomimicry
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.21.08
Photo provided by Bioneers
Think of Janine Benyus, and your brain will likely bounce right to biomimicry.
Benyus is someone we've talked about often before, but just to refresh you, she is the president of the Biomimicry Institute and spoke at last weekend's Bioneers conference.
During her speech, she outlined some of nature's best 100 solutions for our problems, as well as companies that are working to implement them.
Read on to find out more about which companies are using nature for inspiration for your products.
UPDATE: A video interview with Janine Benyus has just been released and we have it here for your viewing pleasure. Check it out after the jump. ...
The Green Halloween Edition
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10.21.08
:: Let your little goblins and monsters enjoy their Halloween sugar high--the all-natural way. Stock up on the tasty treats listed in our Buy Green: Halloween Candy guide.
:: Create a scary costume and still save some cash. Paper mache your own mask!
:: Enjoy the bloodcurdling benefits of DIY costume ideas, organic and fair trade candies, fresh-from-the-farm jack-o-lanterns and more found in our How to Go Green: Halloween guide.
:: Host an eco-fabulous Halloween party following these six simple steps.
:: Ladies, still undecided on a costume? How about dressing up as a good, green witch?
Also be sure to check out more hair-raising Halloween how-to's on How Stuff Works....
Bioneers 2008: High Tech High Students Creating Our Future
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.21.08
Most people complain of hating high school. But that might be because they didn't get to do cool stuff like make an electric car - or it is because they didn't go to High Tech High.
HTH started in 2000 as a single charter school, but it has grown by leaps and bounds since then, and the student body focuses on specific projects that teach them what they need to learn. The school has had a 100% graduation rate, which is practically unheard of, and the students leave as published authors, since each class contributes to a book.
Next year's book subject focus is a favorite of TreeHugger... ...
Google Energy Savings Calculator with Halloween Theme
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.21.08
Spooked by High Energy Costs?
Google has long been eco-conscious. From tips on how to save energy in data centers, to investments in plug-in cars and batteries and a fleet of PHEVs.
Its most recent initiative is an energy savings calculator with a Halloween theme. Read on for more details....
TreeHugger Deals: Have a Green Halloween with YummyEarth
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 10.21.08
Welcome to our new "TreeHugger Deals" column, which will run every Tuesday and is exclusively for TreeHugger readers. TreeHugger never receives any monetary compensation or proceeds through these promotions.
This week's TreeHugger Deals comes to you from YummyEarth, a company that is hoping to make your Halloween (and your trick-or-treaters') green and healthy. We love YummyEarth - their lollipops in 14 flavors are organic and use natural ingredients, like purple carrots and red cabbage, to simulate the blush of a berry or the pink flesh of a watermelon.
From now until October 31, 2008, TreeHugger readers will get 20% off their order of $25 or more, plus free shipping - just in time for Halloween! Coupon code: treehugger. YummyEarth...
Bioneers 2008: Teleosis Institute Gives Health Care a Green Rx
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.21.08
It's a short leap to get from the health of the world to the health of humans. The link is obvious. And yet, there is much the health care industry can do to green up.
Making waves on that front is the Teleosis Institute. They offer information and education on everything related to health, from greener doctors' offices to cleaner environments, from sustainable medicines to healthy health care workers.
But they don't just provide tools and classes - they want to change the way the health care system operates. ...
European, Japanese Boats Converge on Coral Triangle, Southeast Asian Tuna Too Faces Collapse
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.21.08
photo: lizardwisdom
The plight of world tuna fisheries continues. According to statements made by WWF, as the Mediterranean bluefin tuna gets places off limits so as to avoid total collapse of the fishery, more ships will be heading in the so-called Coral Triangle (the seas bounded by the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia). As this area is spawning and nursing grounds for 89% of the world’s tuna, unless collective action is taken in this area as well, tuna stocks there face collapse.
WWF researcher Lida Pet Soede:
...
Bioneers 2008: Food & Water Watch Takes Up with San Francisco Restuarants
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.21.08
Photo via ogimogi
Yesterday I talked about the high standard Bioneers has set for the conference, including ditching bottled water and serving water only at stations. So, appropriately enough, Food & Water Watch had information about Taking Back the Tap at their booth, which also mentioned some interesting information about the city of San Francisco's restaurants.
San Francisco tends to be on the leading edge of environmental initiatives - at least as much as an urban area can be. That means putting the lid on plastic bags and cutting city funds for bottled water. But the city has also latched on to the Take Back the Tap campaign from Food & Water Watch.
It affects more than 3,000 restaurants in the city, as well as every restaurant visitor. ...
Stair of the Week: "The Serendipity of Communication and Collaboration."
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
The point of going to an office to work is to communicate with others. But for too many years we have been building our offices so that the only way to get around is by elevator. At some offices an alarm goes off if you try to use the stairs, and every separate office ends up being in a world of its own. That doesn't encourage a whole lot of inter-office communication.
In Minneapolis, SmithGroup designed some jazzy offices for law firm Bowman and Brooke, and critical to the design was a jazzy stair. Penny Broda writes in GreenSource:
"Most of the airy feeling comes from the open-riser stair that acts as a connecting spine, linking the firm’s community spaces with reception and a conference center at the mid-level, a café at the lower level, and a resource library at the top. Generously sized and brightly colored, the stair anchors the space and serves as an icon for the firm’s culture. The serendipity of communication and collaboration it allows creates a level of energy that transfers horizontally as well as vertically."
...
36 Gallons of Water Per Mile: Corn Ethanol Uses More Water Than Any Other Biofuel
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.21.08
photo: Jenny
Another nail has been hammered into the corn ethanol coffin. According to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, the water requirements to produce corn ethanol are significantly higher than producing non-irrigated biofuels, hydrogen generated from renewable energy, or petroleum or diesel fuel.
The researchers compared the amount of water withdrawn (used and returned to the source) and the water consumed (water not returned to the source) per mile traveled in a typical car when powered by gasoline, diesel, corn ethanol, soy-derived biofuels, hydrogen and electricity and obtained the following results:...
On the Train to Tibet: Railroading the Roof of the World
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 10.21.08
An Illustrated Guide to the Highest Railway
Even after less than a handful of hours of sound sleep, I awoke with a start just before my alarm sounded. Suddenly, the vents began to emit a steady woosh—oxygen being piped in to assist our breathing at some 2700 meters above sea level. When I looked down from my bunk bleary-eyed, the T27 train from Beijing to Lhasa was still rolling through black night. I had awoken for the sunset, but then realized my mistake. Tibet, like all parts of China, was on Beijing time, but we were far from the capital -- and from everything, it seemed. As I lay awake waiting for a sunrise still hours away, I pondered the symbolism: out here, Beijing controlled even the clocks.
To many the world's most daring railway is a blessing for Tibet -- or for those who want to behold or perhaps control its remote landscape. But it is also a curse, some say, for the place it's meant to serve. As we barreled into the mysterious region, half a year after capital Lhasa was beset by deadly political turmoil, I wondered how the train was changing Tibet.
Photos by Alice Liu and Alex Pasternack
...
Working From Home Makes More Sense Than Ever
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
Home office of Mr. Universe in Serenity
In these difficult times a lot of people are working from home, whether they want to or not. A lot of others would like to, but employers have not been crazy about it, even though it can cut overhead as well as your company's carbon footprint. As Megan suggests at Planet Green, "Let your boss know that green telecommuting is a growing trend, that eco-smart bosses and workers everywhere are giving this carbon-footprint-shrinking solution a go, and that you'd like to hop on the emission-reduction wagon." (read more in How to Convince Your Boss You Can (and Should) Work From Home). And if you suddenly don' t have a boss to convince, check out How to Go Green: Job Searches and think about your new home office.
We offer herein our suggestions for keeping your office healthy, furnishing it, some tips and tricks and a tour of TreeHugger home offices around the world.
...
Wood Stoves From Rammed Earth
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
What a fabulous idea: wood stoves made from rammed earth....
FoundClothing a Shopping Alternative in a Saggy Economy
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10.21.08
It's not hard to see the increased appeal of vintage and clothing swaps in a (necessarily?) contracting economy. Some of us have been second-hand thrift shoppers before it was cool, though, because we were economically-challenged and/or liked the thrill of the free find.
Found clothing is the opposite of "fast fashion"
Chicago resident Lauri Apple has creatively taken the thrift idea a bit further by applyinghttp://foundclothing.typepad.com/ that venerable old past-time of dumpster diving and specifically applying it to fashion (she washes everything before she wears it). Apple is not only an expert at finding cool stuff on the streets of her city (she lists "clothes finding" on her resume). She has also actively been documenting her finds on her blog FoundClothing for the last 2.5 years - recent scores include a Coach bag and Prada sunglasses....
2.4 Gigawatts More Wind Power Being Developed in Inner Mongolia
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.21.08
photo: David Schroeter
China continues to tap the estimated 101 GW wind power potential of Inner Mongolia. A month ago it was announced that China Power would be developing up to 1000 MW of wind power in the region. Now comes word that two more projects, for a combined capacity of 2.4 GW, are proceeding. The details are as follows:...
New Apple Macbook & Macbook Pro has Greener Energy Saver Icon
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.21.08
A nice little touch in the EPEAT Gold certified Apple Macbook and Macbook Pros: The Energy Saver icon has changed.
It went from an incandescent bulb - aka a "heat bulb", since they're so much more efficient at producing heat than light - to a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL). The next step will probably be a move to a LED bulb in a couple years... For more on the environmental impact of the new Macbooks and Macbooks Pro, see our post on about it. Also check out our guide on how to green your lighting. Via TUAW...
Take the Z-Line: Fastest Way Across the Bay
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
A new zero-carbon transit system has been proposed for San Francisco by artists Steve Lampert and Packard Jennings. ...
"My tiny, gas-saving car saved my life"
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.21.08
Update: Toyota to Sell a Yaris-Based Hybrid for Around $15.7k in Late 2011
We're Glad You're Okay, Nick
Nick Chambers of Gas2 just had a big car accident, and we're glad to learned that he could just walk away with minor injuries. His Toyota Yaris hit a six-foot-high dirt embankment at highway speed and rolled over three times, but Nick "crawled out with no more than a bump on [his] head, seat belt burn, and a massively stiff neck."
In a post that he wrote today, the day of the accident, he had this to say about small car safety......
Dreaming New Mexico: The Road Map for One State's Energy Problems
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.21.08
On of the primary pieces of advice dolled out to us when it comes to goal setting is to visualize the end result. We have to know what we're working towards if we are to design and implement a strong path. The same goes for a sustainable future.
What would it look like if we did everything right?
This is the question posed by a group of forward-thinking individuals about the state of New Mexico. Headed up by Kenny Ausubel and Peter Warshall, the ">Dreaming New Mexico project visualized exactly what the state would be like in the year 2020 if everything were done right.
Their vision lets loose some amazing and transformational guesses for an ideal future. ...
Hawaii to Ban New Coal Plants, Expand Renewable Energy Usage to 70% by 2030
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.21.08
Wind turbines on Maui, photo: Alvin Smith.
Though Hawaii announced its goal of producing 70% of its total energy needs from renewable sources by 2030 back in January, the program got further support yesterday with the announcement that a “historic accord” has been reached between the current state government and the Hawaiian Electric Company.
Though the details of many of the agreements points have yet to be worked out, what is planned is certainly a step in the right direction. Here they are:
...
Creative Recycling: Fridgehenge
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
So many inefficient old fridges in America that need replacing, so much empty space that could be filled with monuments. We usually suggest recycling old fridges; artist Adam Jonas Horowitz and the Primordial Soup Company had another idea: Fridgehenge, built in 2003 near Santa Fe, New Mexico....
Greener Data Centers: Brian P. McCann, CMO of OnPATH Technologies Explains How The "Virtualized Infrastructure Layer" Can Save Resources
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.21.08
Data Center "Cable Mess" Al Carbonara
What a tangled web (of data cables) we wired ones have woven in the last 20 years, gratifying our virtual cravings with ever more power, plastic, copper, and greenhouse gas. Brian P. McCann, CMO of OnPATH Technologies spoke with TreeHugger about his company's novel approach to lessening the footprint. Don't be put off with the "virtualization layer" lingo. Brian gets to the heart of the matter in short order.
Until recently, demand for data center services was always met with more buildings, cables, equipment, and energy. You offer the alternative of smart growth. Does than mean your product would be extending the useful life physical "stuff" in data centers?
OnPATH Technologies’ solution is a physical layer switch (IT hardware) that enables data centers to initiate a "virtualized infrastructure layer" (VIL) using our software. So what does a VIL mean and how does it enable smart growth? ...
FedEx Absolutely Positively Building New Solar Facility, First Outside US
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.21.08
photo: FedEx
While big box-type buildings are far from the most attractive things in the world, at least they offer ample opportunity for rooftop solar installations. The latest company to take advantage of this is FedEx Express: The company has announced that at its new facility at the Cologne/Bonn airport in Germany it will be installing its largest solar array to date and the first outside the United States. Here are the details:
...
Bioneers 2008: Mark Sommer Creates Educasts for Mobile Learning
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.21.08
During a speech by Kenny Ausubel at Bioneers, the future of the conference was discussed, including ways to spread the word about environmental education.
Mentioned as one way forward for Bioneers is creating an educast, or a mobile way of getting educational lectures out to people who want to learn - from students at universities to participants in non-profit organizations.
Mark Sommer is the Executive Director of the Educasting project, and with his history in the media, including the Mainstream Media Project, I knew this quick mention about educasting was worth looking into.
Turns out, it is a very cool hybrid between a radio program and an educational lecture, that basically puts a class course on your iPod. But it doesn't stop at just talk. ...
Ugly Sneakers Generate Power While You Walk
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
There is nothing worse than running out of juice on your cellphone or iPod when you are out walking the streets. NTT appears to have solved this problem; water-filled soles are attached to a small turbine. With every squishy step you take, the water is pumped through the turbine which runs the generator which generates 1.2 watts of electricity, "“a level sufficient to run an iPod mobile music player forever, as long as the wearer keeps walking,” said spokesman Hideomi Tenma. Japan Probe via Tokyo MangoOther Human-powered ideas in TreeHugger:
The Ultimate Carnival Ride: A Human - Powered Ferris Wheel
Portland's Green Microgym Channels Human Exercise Power Into Electricity
Human Power Generator from Windstream Power
Treadmills Suck. (Kilowatts)...
The Good Human Hosts Carnival of the Green
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 10.21.08
This week is Carnival of the Green # 150 and it's being hosted by The Good Human, a website that encourages people to be better humans..whether through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues that mean a lot to you or just being more aware of your life and surroundings.
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!...
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 1 Natural Forms
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 10.21.08
This week I am reporting from Schumacher College in south west England. Here, I am taking part in a course called Biomimicry: New Directions in Sustainable Design lead by the architect Michael Pawlyn, he of the incredible Sahara Forest Project. This is my introduction to Biomimicry and in the excitement of learning something radically new I thought I should share the experience with you all.
Biomimicry is the study of natural forms, systems and processes in nature in order to find more effective and sustainable ways to design and engineer products, buildings and service systems. The first thing I learned yesterday was that Biomimicry is definitely not the same thing as Biomorphism......
Nest House by Gerard Moliné
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
The wind blew really hard here last night, the streets are covered in a carpet of leaves. It would be a good time to try out Gerard Moliné's Nest House, originally produced by Droog Design and designed for the 2005 Neo-rural exhibition....
45 New Nukes: How Much of a Difference Will They Make?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
Architecture 2030 is at it again with their great graphs, this one showing what a minimal impact the 45 nukes proposed by McCain will make, but it is a bit deceptive......
Survey: Should There Be More Oversight of Advertising in the US?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
When the We Can Solve it campaign tried to run an ad about the oil industry and the need for renewable energy, the ABC television network refused to run it. Yet when the Corn Refiners Association decides to run ads full of blatant distortions promoting high fructose corn syrup, nobody refuses to take their money.
There used to be rules for equal time for opposing views. There used to be public service announcements denouncing unhealthy lifestyles, instead of ads promoting them. In the UK or Canada there are advertising councils that are quite strict in what you can say, about even stretching the truth by calling a car green; in the States it seems to be a commercial free-for-all.
...
END's Eco Footwear Is Finally Out Of The Box
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.21.08
Last month we kinda roused on END Footwear for making their stripped down eco-focused trail running footwear, and not telling anyone about it. With the launch of their new website last week they’ve cleared that obstacle on the path.
Although Flash-based (boo hiss), the site does contain a bunch more info on their footwear, with its ‘bamboo infused’ linings, recycled polyester webbings and laces, recycled EVA and rubber sole combos and suchlike. You have to dig around a bit, but you’ll learn that by using the one mould across nine styles END reckon they’ve save 20 tons of steel (or 11 SUVs worth) from the manufacturing process. That’s because the moulds and die cutters for an average size run of of one model of shoes can use up to 5,000 lbs of steel. ...
Ten of the World's Most Beautiful Green Buildings
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.21.08
The UK's Guardian newspaper has caught our attention before with some stunning sustainability-oriented slideshows, including this challenge to Cute Overload. Their latest effort, in conjunction with TreeHugger favorites Inhabitat, is an impressive collection of some of the most dramatic and iconic images in sustainable architectue. Included are the Oakland Cathedral of Christ of Light which, appropriately enough, uses natural daylighting to maximum effect. Also featured are Dubai's Jumeira Gardens project (for a flipside of Dubai's construction boom, check out Lloyd's post on dubious Dubai) and something called Life Pods. Unsurprisingly, given the format, there's a strong bias towards dramatic concept buildings, over practical everyday architecture like Brad Pitt's New Orleans homes, but we are always happy to see folks taking sustainability to the cutting edge. For more beautiful pictures, click below the fold for a photo of the solar and wind powered Le Project Triangle in Paris, or click over to The Guardian to view the whole green architecture slideshow.
...
How Nau? Interview with Eco Activewear Purveyor - Part 1
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.21.08
Nau, the Eco outdoor apparel company, has had a rather tumultuous year. The year began with them continuing to garner praise from all quarters not only for their highly designed and detailed clothing made only from sustainable materials, but also for their bold environmental business practices, like 5% corporate philanthropy and innovative ‘webfront’ retail stores, where customers received a discount for having goods shipped rather taking them home! But in May the adventure drew to a sudden close when, in a foretaste of the now familiar credit crunch, their venture capital funding dried up. Yet, six weeks later, it was announced that Californian outdoor lifestyle apparel company, Horny Toad, was throwing them a financial lifeline.
Last week they opened up the website of a brand new Nau and their Fall 08 line to their newsletter customers. Today it will go live for everyone else. (And come November Nau will also be in 10 retail stores.)
The site is no longer that slow-as-treacle Flash based thingamee of the past, now its heaps nimbler. Diehard customers will find some of their old favourites have returned (yes, the Rider jacket is back) and a few new styles as well. The colour palette is likewise a mix of the old and new. With the same being true for the pricing, some are up, while others have remained static. We caught up with head of marketing at Nau, Ian Yolles, to find out more about the metamorphosis from Nau 1.0 to the new Nau. (as with past interviews he consulted with the other staff, like Mark Galbaith and Josie Norris on some of the questions.)...
Manto: Traditional weavings made modern, loom woven tire-bags
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 10.21.08
Photos: Courtesy of Manto.
Designer Diana Dai Chee Chaug and artist Clara de la Torre knew the weavers from northern Argentina in a trip to Salta and Jujuy in 2002 and fell in love with their culture. With a passion for aesthetics and the need to bond with that native tradition, they created Manto: a fashion label that brings traditional weaving back to life through modern patterns and designs.
For each collection, they determine the look and feel of the fabrics they are going to need and send the indications to weavers, who work from their homes and send the materials back. "We are creating a fertile social, cultural, artistic and commercial link between the weavers of the Andean culture and city dwellers all over the world. We contribute to the knowledge and spreading of unknown work methods and lifestyles, paying respect to their cycles and their connection with nature. And we design products that represent this feeling," the designers say in an interview with Luxe-Essentiel.
Many more looks and pictures in the extended....
Searching For A (Bipartisan) Solution
by Marian Hopkins, Business Roundtable on 10.21.08
At Business Roundtable, our member CEOs are deeply concerned about the effects of high energy prices on our competiveness in the international economy and the home economies of the millions of individuals that drive U.S. prosperity. In fact, energy costs were recently ranked among the top cost pressures facing our members. We believe America’s citizens, communities and companies need – and deserve – an energy policy that is bipartisan, immediate and long-term in order to enhance our energy security and ensure economic prosperity.
In our energy report, More Diverse, More Domestic, More Efficient, we emphasized the need for balanced, long-term energy strategies to achieve alignment between supply and demand while increasing our national energy security. Throughout the past few months, we’ve been encouraged by recent examples of bipartisan cooperation. One example was the Gang of 10 and its proposal to expand Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) exploration while increasing investments for alternative sources of energy. Another encouraging sign was House passage of legislation aimed at partially lifting the ban on tapping our offshore resources.
...Bike Share Programs Becoming Increasingly Popular on College Campuses
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10.21.08
Bike Sharing Has Gone Global
Bike Sharing--programs that enable multiple users to rent bikes and return them at stations scattered around a city or campus--has truly gone global. We've seen programs in Seville, Paris, Mexico City, Montreal and Barcelona, to name a few. In the U.S., Washington, D.C. recently launched a program of its own, and Portland, New York City and other cities and campuses are looking into the idea. Now, in an effort to reduce the amount of cars--and parking lots--on college campuses, "colleges are setting up free bike sharing or rental programs, and some universities are partnering with bike shops to offer discounts on purchases."...
Sewing Manual for Beginners
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10.21.08
We have followed Ruth Singer's career since she first started creating pillows out of organic, ecological and recycled fabrics. A sweet pink one made out of an old cashmere sweater, with a red rose was a favourite. Then she moved on to scarves and pillows made of hemp and vintage fabrics. This year at Origin she was showing framed wall panels with vintage fabrics.
She was also selling advance copies of her new book: Sew It Up. It is a general sewing manual which will teach all the basics to novices as well as more advanced techniques for better sewers. It has both practical and decorative information in it. This is important because more and more we are realising that it is very helpful to know how to sew on a button properly or hem a skirt or trouser bottoms. It saves money (those dry cleaners charge a fortune to do it) and makes you appreciate your own skills. ...
SnagFilms Environmental Film Festival
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10.20.08
The American Diet, Sexy, Reused Skateboards and Buyer Beware
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 10.20.08
GreenHomeHuddler charts the average American diet and shares some green foodie tips.
Skateboards transform into sleek and sexy watches, chairs, shoes and more.
EcoSalon takes a stab at the USDA for halting the Agriculture Chemical Usage Program.
What's the buzz behind "peak coffee?" Find out!
Simon and Schuster launch their new line of eco-friendly children's books, Little Green Books.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
Thinking of Generating Your Own Renewable Power? Get a "MicroPower Audit"
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10.20.08
Image: MicroPower websiteInteractive energy audit websites which allow you to reduce home energy costs (such as the free one offered by the U.S. Department) are now commonplace, but today Friends of the Earth Scotland launched what they call a “unique online service to blow away the myths and uncertainties surrounding generating renewable energy at home” – in other words, microgeneration or micropower. Homeowners can go to their Micropower Audit website and answer a series of simple questions about their property. The website will then produce a report recommending the appropriate technologies to use (solar panels, solar water heater, micro wind turbine, etc.). With the possibility of feed-in tariffs being introduced in Florida, generating renewable power at home is gaining ground in the US, though in Europe it's been done in countries like Germany and the United Kingdom. A recent report showed that the microgeneration industry has plenty of growth potential – and if expanded, could generate as much energy as five nuclear power plants. But that’s not all – the UK government is also taking action....
Organic Groceries - You're Buying Quality, Not Service.
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 10.20.08
Here's a little mystery to solve - a tub of sour cream purchased at Whole Foods yesterday. Right, it's a week past the expiration date, this being in addition to to getting credited with a double-counting of packaged walnuts at the checkout. Granted, it's nothing that an hour in a car back-and-forth to the claims counter won't solve for full money back, no questions asked, and of course I'll always have the memories. Somehow though, it drew a great want and the issue needed to be resolved - whyzizzit that supermarkets sell expired food, fail to bag, or ring up the purchases incorrectly? Here's why.
...
Car Care Tips, Organic Chai Tea and How to Trash Prescription Drugs
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 10.20.08
:: Keep your car clean and well-tuned to lower your carbon footprint.
:: Whip up a warm and frothy Organic Chai Tea Latte.
:: Prevent poisoning our water supply by disposing meds properly....
A Picture is Worth... Girls Swimming with Tigers
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.20.08
Frugal Tips for New Homeowners also Happen to be Green
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.20.08
Green as Side-Effect of Saving Money, and Vice-Versa
So I was reading The Simple Dollar, a personal finance blog, and stumbled on an article about 18 Things a New Homeowner Should Do Immediately to Save Money.
It just so happens that the very same tips that can help someone save money are also very green. In fact, out of the 18 tips, 16 are directly green, and the last 2 could be considered green indirectly. Maybe there are some you haven't done yet. See the list below....
Electric Porsche 911 by RUF: "Emotions without emissions"
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.20.08
Electric Porsche 911
Ruf Automobile GmbH, a German automotive company that has been tuning Porsches for a long time, will make an electric version of the Porsche 911 called the eRUF Model A.
Under the hood, a 150kW (201hp) brushless three phase A/C electric motor that can generate an impressive 480 lb.-ft. of torque and a lithium-ion iron-phosphate battery pack made of 96 160Ah Axeon cells and a sophisticated monitoring system to make sure it doesn't overheat. Read on for more details and photos....
Prefab? High Concept? Green?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.20.08
Whitney Sander's House on left; Charles Eames on right
That is what the New York Times calls Whitney Sander's house new house for Thomas Small and Joanna Brody. Michael Webb writes that "Inspired by the house that Charles and Ray Eames created in 1949 from a prefabricated steel frame and doors, windows and the like ordered from a catalog, the architects took the project on the condition that they could pursue a novel strategy." The clients instructions were: “We want the greenest house you’ve ever designed, but we have almost no money.” ...
The Greenest Way to Make a Business Card
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
It's really easy to gather up stacks and stacks of paper at a conference, most of which you end up not needing or wanting, and so tossing into a recycling bin. I try to avoid paper at conferences for this reason, opting to write down pertinent info in a note pad, or grabbing the good old-fashioned business card which gives the info needed on the smallest amount of paper.
However, there are ways to green up even tiny business cards....
Bioneers 2008: David Orr, Greg Watson and Paul Stamets
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
Bioneers offered many outstanding speeches by leaders in all areas of the green movement. Covering politics, inventions, renewable energy, biomimicry, women's rights, indigenous peoples' rights, social activism, and many other areas, the talks provided conference goers inspiration and motivation.
Gathered here are just a few of the favorites. ...
Photos of New 2010 Prius Hybrid Leaked, Confirmed by Toyota
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 10.20.08
Update: See our article on the official launch of the new 2010 Toyota Prius!
Finally, Redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius
A member of the PriusChat forums has posted 5 shots of the new redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius, and Toyota has confirmed on its official blog that it was the real deal, though without any other details.
More photos below the fold....
We Need a New Green Politics! James Gustave Speth on The Change Needed in the Environmental Movement
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.20.08
photo: Katie
While the environmental movement can claim some genuine successes, the methods used so far are ultimately limiting the scope of the type of change that it can, and must, create if we are going to leave our children a planet that is capable of supporting human life in anything near the capacity it has previously done. That’s the broad-stroke view of Yale University’s James Gustave Speth. In a recent article for Yale Environment 360, Speth argues that a reassessment of the boundaries, methods and goals of the environmental movement is needed. Nothing short of a new politics will work:
...
Bill McDonough Gets Trashed in Fast Company
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.20.08
TreeHugger loves Bill McDonough; We have probably written more posts about him and his cradle-to-cradle certification than any other individual. He is the king of the green one-liner, a brilliant and entertaining speaker, and a pretty good architect. He is a successful green entrepreneur and gets to hang out with Richard Branson, Larry Page, Daryl Hannah and Elon Musk. He speaks at TED and at the Democratic Convention.
Which is why my jaw dropped to the floor when I read Danielle Sacks' demolition job in Fast Company....
Bioneers 2008: AskNature.org Outlines What Nature Has to Offer for Biomimicry
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
Announced at Bioneers 2008, the Biomimicry Institute is launching later next month an incredible website that will serve to spark imagination and innovation in the field of biomimicry - AskNature.org.
And you can be part of its creation. Read on to find out how. ...
Bioneers 2008: Reincarnated Clothes Get a Second Chance at Cuteness
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
One of the cool things about going to Bioneers was seeing all the clothing on display. There was organic cotton shirts, hemp clothes, clothes from recycled materials. But some of the cutest pieces on display were from Multiple Treads, which sported a line of "reincarnated clothing."
Check out some of the cool clothing reinvented by this company. ...
Solar-Powered Electric Cycle Rickshaw Debuts in Delhi
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.20.08
Solar-powered rickshaw photo: Cleantech
While it is easily possible to argue about the human rights aspect of pedal-powered rickshaws (there’s certainly a bit of difference in the type of people involved in the biz in India compared to their limited use in the United States...), there’s no denying that from an environmental perspective they’re a better form of transport than burning fossil fuels.
Enter, the Soleckshaw: A cycle rickshaw with an electric assist, charged at solar-powered charging stations, which it is hoped will both reduce the physical burden on its driver (still called a ‘puller’, after the old rickshaw simply pulled by a man) as well as the environmental burden of burning more fossil fuels if cycle rickshaws were eliminated altogether. Here are the details:
...
Bioneers 2008: Solar-Powered Water Fountain a Great DIY Project
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
This cool water fountain was at the center of the outdoor conference tents. Made of some unexpected reclaimed materials, it provided a nice place to sit and talk, as well as a DIY inspiration for a back-yard project.
Read on to see if it is something you might want to throw together in your own yard....
Carbon Neutral Olive Oil: Italian Farm Will Cut Its Carbon Emissions 100% in One Year
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.20.08
photo: Maury Landsman
While I’m not sure that the claims by the owners of Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio olive oil farm that they will be the first farm anywhere to reduce their net carbon emissions to zero, without using offsite carbon offsetting projects, are be entirely true—I’d be surprised that some small farm hasn’t tried to do the same thing, just not publicized it as well—the efforts by the owners of this Umbrian farm are pretty interesting: ...
Making Stuff Cool, Making Stuff Uncool: Why Cultural Change is Key
by Graham Hill, New York, NY on 10.20.08
James Dean makes smoking look cool.
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. In a science research boat, he traveled alongside over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars.
Humans are driven by incentives. For the most part, we do things because there's something in it for us. This may be money, food, entertainment or even the feeling of having helped someone. In terms of the incentives that drive people to go green, some of the main ones that we hear about are ones such as saving money, maintaining your health and improving national security.
There's one incentive that doesn't get talked about as much but that I believe is very powerful......
Naturhus Wraps A House In Its Own Private Greenhouse
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10.20.08
The house-in-a-greenhouse probably wouldn't play very well in say, Arizona, where enclosing your house in glass shell would be folly. But Bengt Warne, a Swedish architect, starting designing what he called the Naturhus (Nature House) in 1976 to work with Scandinavian nature. Warne put up his own Naturhus before he died in 2006, but two other Swedish families have now designed their own versions of an enclosed house.
Greenhouse on the outside, energy-efficiency on the inside
Here in Sweden, where the dark drear of winter drives many of us to depression or worse, a clear greenhouse on the outside of your wooden house as insulation promises two months more of growing season on the porch and indoor gardens (fed by the houses' grey water, compost, and black water systems) and keeps your heating bills low. Plus an extra feature dear to Swedes' hearts, Naturhus lets you start using the decks in your house a lot earlier each spring....
Bioneers 2008: Familiar Faces – Interface Carpets, WiserEarth, Nepalese Paper and More
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
Photo via Bioneers
Many TreeHugger favorites made their way to Bioneers 2008. From carpets to paper, from solar to social networking websites, many TH friends permeated the exhibit hall.
Check out the huggable companies who made it out to the conference to show off their greener sides. ...
Don’t Eat High Fructose Corn Syrup? You’re Both Snobby and a Racist
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.20.08
Zoos Warn Mad Max Landscapes are Probability: Caused By Climate Change
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.20.08
The president of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) says the type of barren landscapes shown in Australia's famous Mad Max movies could become a common reality because of global warming. This is according to a news report on the annual meeting of the WAZA, which is underway now at the Adelaide Zoo in South Australia. Professor McGregor Reid, also CEO of Chester Zoo in Northern England, went on to say “These films are kind of prescient, they give us some kind of glimpse of one horrible future that we don't certainly want to be heading towards and it's the job of the entire world conservation community - including zoos and aquarium - to help address these issues."...
Bioneers 2008: Opening Speech by Kenny Ausubel
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
Photo via Bioneers
The opening speeches of Bioneers set the tone for the entire conference.
We’ve been acting like a rock star trashing a hotel room, and it’s the morning after.Kenny Ausubel reminded us with this opening line that we have some serious reckoning to do, but, luckily, we can do it with a sense of humor, hope, and fun. Read on for highlights of the speech....
5 Strategies for Getting the Most from Your Farmers' Market
by Blythe Copeland, Great Neck, New York on 10.20.08
Photo credit: NatalieMaynor @ flickr
We’ve devoted plenty of space to the benefits -- both health and environmental -- of eating locally: buying food produced near your home lowers your carbon footprint; decreases the energy used to transport and package the food; provides you with juicier fruits, crisper produce, and more mouthwatering cheeses; and supports your local economy. But, we know, your first trip can be a little intimidating, especially this time of year, when the season is about to end. Where to start? What to buy? Whether you’re a market newbie or an already-devoted locavore, follow these guidelines to get the most out of your next trip....
Wrapped to Go, Please: Research Hopes to Improve Banana Leaf Food Wrappers in Sri Lanka
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.20.08
photo: Nattu
The bane of over-packaging, especially with materials which are not biodegradable and renewable isn’t just something which is confined to wealthy nations. Though banana leaves have been traditionally used to wrap food, or to eat off of, in South Asia for millennia, as has happened elsewhere non-biodegradable synthetic materials have gained in popularity in the region without much though to the environmental consequences.
Though there’s not much on the actual technique involved, new research coming out of Sri Lanka hopes to reinvigorate the use of banana leaves and supplant the use of plastic for food wrapping:
...
Recycling Broken Skateboard Decks into Furniture
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.20.08
We have shown Le Corbusier recliners and staircases made from skateboard decks, but they have been made from new decks repurposed rather than recycled broken decks. Philadelphia industrial designer Jason Podlaski's brother kept breaking them and Jason was "inspired by the consistent way they were broken, about 75% of them were broken at the truck and 25% were broken in half. The longer, more abundant "broken at the truck" decks seemed to be natural legs for the design and the smaller, less plentiful "broken in half" decks looked like they would make a good seat."...
Bioneers 2008: A Green Conference Standard
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.20.08
Bioneers is a pretty huge conference, and we know what kind of carbon footprint conferences can make, what with energy use, waste, water use and so on.
But the instant I arrived at Bioneers, it was clear that the organizers walk the walk of sustainability, taking measures to ensure that there is a far bigger intellectual footprint made than a carbon one. ...
Compost Warming Party - A Fertile Way to Celebrate
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.20.08
Compost with a Little Help from our Friends
It seems my composting obsession is far from going away. Having moved my compost when moving house, and then composted my move, my wife and I still find ourselves short on compost for our planned veggie garden. So we hatched a perfect plan to acquire masses of good organic matter, and have fun while doing it. We morphed our house warming party into a compost warming, and boy was it fun. Invites were issued and the word was spread that we needed rotting matter, and lots of it. And we were not disappointed.
...
The Ancient Hula Hoop Buildings of China
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.20.08
Jerome Melan
That's what Environmental Graffiti calls them. They are more accurately known as Fujian Tulou, and were built starting in the 12th century as the ultimate gated community....
Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Owners Struggle to Find Places to Charge Up
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10.20.08
Plug-In Hybrids and Electric Vehicles--Lots of Talk, Little Action
For all the talk and excitement about plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs), it is still extremely rare to come across one of these cars on the highways. Despite the fact that "every auto company in the world is developing all-electric or plug-in hybrids," only a handful of models are actually available for purchase. These include the Tesla Roadster and the ZENN, as well as a number of individuals who have paid to have their current cars converted to PHEVs or EVs. These early adopters are clearly ushering in a future transportation system that is primarily electric, but for now they face a dilemma: many of their vehicles have limited battery range, and there are very few places where one can re-charge an electric car. ...
Why Do Speedometers Go To 160MPH?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.20.08
A great way to get all the testosterone soaked hard core engineers who hate whining environmentalists wound up is to say something nice about Jimmy Carter, but here is another eminently sensible thing he did: He capped the maximum speed on speedometers in cars at 85 MPH.
Tom Vanderbilt thinks it affects the way we drive. "even knowing that these numbers bear little relationship to reality, we’re affected by the visual display. No matter how fast we drive, the needle is always less than halfway up the dial, indicating there’s still plenty of room for acceleration. That remaining space may even goad us into testing the limits by going faster."...
"Eco" Design From Japan
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 10.20.08
Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization is a venerable old institution that has slowly realized the value of "eco" in design. Their Good Design Award has developed into a comprehensive design evaluation system that centers on industrial products but includes products in a wide variety of fields such as the environment. I liked this years' winner: the A-Wall, made by Awagami Factory in Tokushima: a wallpaper made based on paper-making techniques and traditions that are at least 1300 years old....
Survey: Do Plants Have Rights?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.20.08
We have noted before that plants appear to have intelligence and can even communicate. In Switzerland they issued a Bill of Rights for plants and are now considering their feelings before conducting experiments. Opinions in comments to these posts have been mixed.
...
21 Small Wheel Bicycles - The Zippy Revolution
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.20.08
Bicycles and Bikes.
When those words are uttered most brains no doubt trot off to the memory to retrieve images of diamond framed vehicles with two large wheels of about 26 inch diameter. While that might be prevailing view of bicycles, it is not the complete picture. As we shown on TreeHugger many times, bikes come in all shapes and sizes.
Smaller wheels tend to make a bike much zippier to manoeuvre, stronger (shorter spokes) more compact for storage and they turn heads. The gearing is adjusted to compensate for the wheel size. They do however, find potholes faster and don't 'track' as well on loose surfaces. Overall, however, they are hugely fun to ride and isn't that how cycling should be?
Collected here, after the fold, and in no particular order, are twenty one (21) of those bicycles with smaller than standard spinning bits. (Stay tuned for a companion round-up on trikes and quad bikes.) ...
The Go Green Initiative School of the Week: Ladera Elementary in California!
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 10.20.08
It’s charming to go green at Ladera Elementary School, and that’s because the teachers and staff have put together a smart group of incentives to encourage students to live greener lives.
As just our first great example, the Southern California school uses small walker-shaped charms to encourage students to take part in Walk to School Wednesdays. The plastic charms have turned out to be a huge hit.
...
National Sustainable Agriculture Standards Debated
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 10.20.08
Animal Welfare Institute
The Leonardo Academy has announced the first meeting of the stakeholder group that will develop "a national consensus standard for sustainable agriculture in the United States". Scientific Certification Systems, who developed standards for the floral industry called Veriflora, initiated the development of standards for sustainable agriculture before turning over the process to the Leonardo Academy to use the non-proprietary ANSI process to involve as diverse a development stakeholder group as possible.
In the push "beyond organic" it was inevitable that someone would eventually try to establish a sustainable agriculture standard. But it is questionable whether there is a need for the standard and whether consumers will accept, or care about, yet another type of food label. ...
Let the Doers of the World Inspire You
by Bonnie Alter, London on 10.20.08
The Do Lectures were held this year for the first time. Started by a couple who live in Wales who "wanted to know what to Do about the things they cared about." They had an idea that "the Doers of the world can inspire the rest of us to go Do something." So they came up with a list of 22 inspirational speakers from a wide range of backgrounds: business, science, politicians, environmentalists, authors, bloggers and beekeepers. They got a grant from howies, (a Welsh company) and held a sort of lottery for 60 people to attend . Applicants had to send in a hand-written letter explaining what they wanted to DO. The whole event, complete with workshops, music and lectures was held at a near-by farm in Wales.
The rest of us will have to listen to the speakers on the net. But since they were asked to "give the talk of their lives" that isn't a problem. In addition, each speaker has their own page on the site where they have a biography and a section where they let you know what they are into, who they read and respect. It alone is a fascinating guide to many new directions in reading and thinking.
...
Oceana Honors Bill Clinton, Trudie Styler and Sting for Their Environmental Work
by Josh Peterson, Los Angeles, California on 10.20.08
photo by Dahlhouse Productions/Oceana
Oceana is an organization that works to protect and conserve the world’s oceans. On October 18, 2008, they held an awards ceremony in Pacific Palisades, California to honor Bill Clinton, Trudie Styler and Sting. Treehugger was there to catch all the action. We even spoke to Ted Danson. ...
Canada’s $100M Pledge Brings Climate Change Fight to Poorer Nations
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 10.20.08
ReMake Its! New DIY Recycle Kits from RePlayground
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.19.08
Fifteen European Union Countries Are on Track to Meet Kyoto Targets
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.19.08
Image from stevecadman
Before somebody points it out in the comments, yes, I do realize that being "on target" doesn't necessarily mean that these countries will actually meet the emission caps set under the Kyoto Protocol. However, given all of the backtracking and inertia that have characterized recent climate dealings, it is a sign of progress — however slight. (The 15 EU countries pledged to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by a very modest 8 percent by 2012.)
The three failing countries — or, as the report calls them: "off the Kyoto track" — are Denmark, Italy and Spain. Britain, Germany and Sweden, on the other hand, are likely to turn in an "outstanding performance" — which will help make up for the others' poor showing. The 12 countries that joined the EU after 1997 were not required to help meet the original bloc's Kyoto targets. ...
New Policy Promoted by the Bush Administration Opens Millions of Acres to Logging, Mining and Road Construction in Idaho
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.19.08
Photo of Idaho's Scotchman Peaks by D Taylor
A new state policy that recently went into effect has removed nearly all protection to over 400,000 acres of national forest, and has opened millions of acres of roadless forests to construction, logging and mining across Idaho. The policy has been denounced by the Wilderness Society, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and other regional and national conservation groups. The policy leaves a vital national forest vulnerable to a host of environmentally damaging activities....
Financial And Environmental De-Regulation: Two Crashes In The Making
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.19.08
Why You Get Worse Gas Mileage in Winter and What to do about it
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 10.19.08
Photo by Boezak
Cold weather can be a nuisance, it is cold for one, uncomfortable at times, hard to drive in (when it is snowing), and puts added strain on your vehicle. There is no mystery really as to why your gas mileage is not quite as good in the winter time, but there are a few things that you can do about it.
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Beginners Can Bike Smarter in Portland
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.19.08
Image courtesy of BikeSmart
With bicycling still on the rise in Portland, a city recognized for its bike friendliness, the folks at BikeSmart sagely (and potentially profitably) recognized a need for instructional classes for enthusiastic beginners. The classes focus on biking in Portland specifically, and will cover terminology, equipment, and road rules, in addition to helping foster the cycling community of Portland....
Rickshaw's New ‘Zero Waste’ Messenger Bag
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.19.08
This Week in Huffington Post: Money
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.19.08
Counteract That Sinking Feeling With Green Banking: Anybody whose 401K didn't have a sinking spell last week is a very lucky person. The rest of us took our lumps and got over it. Well, maybe not all of us. More from Graham Hill
4 Reasons Why Recession is BAD for the Environment: When squeezed, companies will reduce their investments into research & development and green programs. These are usually not short-term profit centers, so that is what's axed first. Some progress has been made in the past few years, it would be sad to lose ground now. More from Michael Graham Richard...
Carbon Capture Make Renewables Look Better, Suggests Swedish Report
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 10.19.08
Norway has lots of reasons to back CCS - it already sequesters 1 million tons annually.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) seems to give the power industry a warm, fuzzy feeling. Vattenfall, Sweden's state-owned power utility has embraced the technology and has opened a pilot plant in Germany, where it runs a number of coal-fired plants - 64 percent of its generation is from brown coal in Germany, just one percent from renewables (and it has zero coal-fired plants in Sweden). But now a Swedish Air Pollution & Climate secretariat has released two reports that suggest that as the premise of CCS sounds too good to be true - just collect carbon at big sources and force it back into the earth! - it probably is, for a number of reasons.
"Capture ready" an excuse for new coal plants
The authors of the report are not necessarily against carbon capture technology per se; what they do have a problem with is the industry using the concept as a way to continue with business as usual. To that end, the idea of "capture ready" coal plants is nonsense - instead all new coal plants should be required to have "real, working" CCS from the start, the report says. Of course, that poses some problems. Read on for CCS' downsides.
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Indigenous Rights Crucial To Reducing Carbon Emissions from Deforestation
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10.19.08
Photo: Indigenous activists protesting lack of representation in UNFCCC at last year's climate talks in Bali (AP/Ed Wray)On an intuitive level, we all know that the change has effective staying power only when all the parties involved are included in the discussion. That’s definitely the case with recent plans to use forest conservation as a way to mitigate carbon emissions. For policy makers, environmental organizations and indigenous groups in Oslo attending this week’s conference on financial schemes to reward forest-conserving, carbon-cutting countries, the fear is that these proposals will fail unless they are able to address the rights of indigenous forest communities as well. Unveiled at Bali’s talks last year, the planned mechanisms for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) would financially reward countries for reducing emissions caused by deforestation – which altogether total one fifth of global emissions. But even though it may look good on paper, indigenous communities say from experience that such schemes could prompt more land grabbing and evictions by outside parties who would profit most from such carbon payments. ...
Denim Deadly for Some Turkish Workers
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 10.19.08
Photo via Tony Hisgett at flickr
In the fashion parade that is İstiklal Caddesi, the massively popular pedestrian shopping street running through Istanbul's Beyoğlu district, denim is the undisputed king. And you don't see too many plain pairs of Levi's here, either--more often, jeans are artfully ripped, thick with embroidery, covered with pockets, dyed, distressed, or bedazzled to death. While some of the craziest styles risk making fashion victims of their wearers, the trend for manually sandblasted jeans is taking real victims in manufacturing facilities.
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Fiat Ecodrive New Tool for Low-Stress Hypermiling
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10.19.08
One of life’s many dilemmas: You want to hypermile but aren’t ready to drive barefoot, tape your grill, wear an ice vest or endure the demonstrated hostility of your fellow travelers as you ‘pulse and glide’ down the road at minimal speed. Or worse, how long do you have to idle before its better to turn off the motor? What gear should I use going uphill? Is it better to brake or shift down in a curve? And does everything I learn about driving for miles in my old beetle still apply to my Toyota? 1.) Dad told me 30 seconds. 2.) No clue. 3.) Shifting down in the curves seems like more fun. 4.) A car’s a car, right? Air, fuel, combustion. I don’t need no stinking journalist to tell me how to get the most out of my car....
St. Lawrence Shrimp Fishery Certified Sustainable
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 10.19.08
Gulf of St. Lawrence Shrimp Boat by Else49
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has certified 75% of the Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) trawl fishery as sustainable and well-managed. The 27,000 metric tons from this fishery joins the 68,000 tons from the neighboring Canada northern prawn fishery that MSC certified sustainable in early August.
Shrimp is one of the most highly demanded seafood products in the world, and ensuring shrimp fisheries are sustainably managed is critical to the health of our oceans," said Brad Ack, regional director for MSC's Americas region. "Marine Stewardship Council applauds the Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp trawl fishery for meeting the MSC standard for well-managed and sustainable fisheries. We are already hearing commercial partners ask for MSC-certified shrimp products from this fishery....
A Four-Cylinder Cadillac Sedan: Fuel Efficiency Meets Luxury Muscle
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 10.19.08
Photo by Rosa Say
Okay, so it's not a done deal yet, but Cadillac is certainly considering it. The green communities calls for more efficient vehicles are being heard on all fronts today. But the question we have, is do you think that the general American is ready for a 4-cylinder caddy?
The 'yet to be named' rear wheel drive caddy four-banger is coming to us, like so many others, as a response to peoples heightened awareness of gas efficiency, economy, and environmental responsibility. This would look to be a good opportunity to begin to alter a common American belief that bigger is better, more power is preferred, and luxury means excess in everything.
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Eco-Chic Furniture Designer Mark Wilkinson Opens a Showroom in New York
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 10.19.08
photo: Mark Wilkinson
With killer furniture designs and an eye toward fashion forward, Mark Wilkinson also makes sustainability part of his message. Think modern meets Nantucket cottage, in a good way and that's what you'll find in Wilkinson's new showroom in New York. But how sustainable is he really? Read on to find out....
Update on BMW's Electric Mini
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 10.19.08
Update on BMW's Plans
Back in July we reported on BMW's plans to make 500 electric Mini Coopers available in the California market. At the time, we were thinking that while it's great to see BMW planing to make available what was once an unofficial concept, it's also possible that BMW is simply rolling out 500 Mini-Coopers because "California has a mandate for automakers to make 7,500 zero-emissions cars by 2014." Thus we were excited about the news, but cautious about what it would mean for a larger scale introduction of electric vehicles.
Now we have some more details about the rollout of these cars....
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.
