- 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 December 7, 2008 - December 13, 2008
Total this week: 182
Cheetahs on the Brink of Extinction, UN Report Finds
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12.13.08
Image from Martin Pettitt
Cheetahs are fast, but can they outrun extinction? According to a new report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the speedy feline, which can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, or 75 mph (making it the world's fastest land animal), is at risk of becoming the latest extinct species, The Independent's Ian Johnston reports. The report blames the cheetah's downfall on the usual suspects: habitat loss and degradation, urban development and hunting. Current populations levels stand at 10 percent of their historic highs. ...
Chinese City To Chop Off Tops of Buildings For Heritage Status
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 12.13.08
Hangzhou officials demolished a building at Zhejiang University last year
Downsizing
Unesco World Heritage status, that coveted prize of global cultural tourism, has become a popular pursuit for Chinese officials. So too, of course, is the compulsion to build tall buildings, in an attempt to one-up other municipalities in China and around the world. But in Hangzhou, China's "most beautiful city" (a title claimed by a few cities in China), the two impulses are clashing. To achieve heritage status, the local government intends to lop off the tops of a few skyscrapers. From the BBC: The top floors of several high-rises in the Chinese city of Hangzhou are to be lobbed off to help the city's bid for world heritage status, officials say. Two exclusive hotels, a TV tower and a number of other buildings around the beautiful West Lake area will all be made shorter, the developer said.... "We have hired foreign firms to draft detailed plans of how to reduce the height of the Shangri-La, whose owners will be compensated," Mr Wang was quoted by the China Daily newspaper as saying. He went on to say that the main tower of the Huabei hotel and a television tower were also among the buildings that needed to be made shorter....
Re:Visioning Urbanism: Sustainable City Block to Rise out of Parking Lot Behind Dallas City Hall
by Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel on 12.13.08
Could the first fully sustainable city block in America rise out of a nondescript parking lot in downtown Dallas, Texas?
After a full year of design competitions aimed at stimulating discussion about the nature of sustainability in cities, San Francisco-based Urban Re:Vision is about to transform theory into reality in Dallas. The land is available, the city is on board and there appear to be no serious obstacles to the development of a city block that would radically redefine sustainability in the urban context.
“The goal is to create the first fully sustainable block downtown,” said Brent Brown, Dallas architect and founder of the building community WORKSHOP. “And by sustainable, we mean a place that is socially, economically and environmentally healthy." Some of the unusual features to be included in the 2.5 acre block include enough garden space to feed around 300 inhabitants, 40% affordable housing, an educational element that serves all of the residents and fully renewable, off-the-grid energy. ...
From Gak to Green? Nickelodeon Helps Kids Save the Earth in Online Videogame
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12.13.08
SpongeBob SquarePants runs across a grassy Japanese garden, mowing down 'smog monsters' and other gas guzzling foes with some sort of green gun as he goes. Every so often, he hurls a glowing green orb at a dead-looking tree and makes it sprout leaves.
Whatever it is that's going on, exactly, certainly looks fun enough for kids to get into—it's the trailer for Nickelodeon's new online videogame, The Big Green Help Global Challenge, which launches tomorrow. The title's not quite as catchy as "Double Dare," sure, but if Nick can successfully engross kids into their brand of online gaming—population multimillions—they've got a shot at broadcasting a clear green message heard by youth around the world.
...
Wrap Your Wrists in Rock Stars' Used Guitar Strings
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12.13.08
Photo courtesy of Spitting Out Teeth
Attention green music fans—how much do you love rock music? Are you such a huge Clapton fan that you'd clothe yourself in his guitar's byproducts? Do you love Queen enough to press that which guitarist Brian May's fingers once caressed upon your arm? Would you don Keith Richard's, Jack Johnson's, or Jack Black's silvery strings as proud evidence of both your greenness and devotion to all that rocks?
Or maybe you've just been patiently waiting for the day when rock memorabilia would finally at long last intersect with eco-wear. If any of the above applies, rejoice, friends. The time for you to wrap your wrists in jewelry made from rock gods' rusty old guitar strings has finally come.
...
One Swedish Cyclist's Lament: How Hard Should it Be to Bike to Work?
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12.13.08
Canada In 12'th Place On Wind Power Capacity
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12.13.08
The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) said Canada has become the 12th country in the world to surpass 2,000 MW of installed wind energy capacity...Ontario is the current provincial leader with installed wind energy capacity at 781 MW. Quebec follows at 531 MW; Alberta at 524 MW; Saskatchewan at 171 MW; Manitoba at 103 MW; Prince Edward Island at 72 MW; and Nova Scotia at 61 MW.Via: Power Engineering, Canada surpasses 2,000 MW of wind energy capacity. That leaves Canada with an order-of-magnitude less wind power capacity that Germany, the USA, and Spain. And similar capacity level to that of Denmark and UK....
Arctic Circle Comic Strip is Environmentally Conscious, Funny
by Josh Peterson, Los Angeles, California on 12.13.08
Comics by Alex Hallatt used with permission. Courtesy of King Features Syndicate.
The Arctic Circle comic strip is a rare blend. On one hand, it’s a story of cute migratory penguins who have adventures with their mammalian pals at the North Pole. On the other, it carries a definite ecological message replete with disdain for those willing to sell out the environment for a buck. An overt message will usually sink a piece of artwork or comedy that doesn’t hide its themes in the subtext. Arctic Circle, however, pulls this tricky combination off. In short, the comic strip is funny. ...
Bringing the Rich World of the Galapagos into the High School Classroom
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12.13.08
Photo by teacher Lena Tashjian
Now that the Toyota International Teacher Program has ended, I've decided to turn the spotlight on a few of the teachers involved. First came the middle school teachers. Next up, a couple of the high school-teaching trekkers. Just see what a couple weeks in the Galapagos can do for an ambitious educator.
...
Twenty Ways to Wrap Your Presents Without Waste
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.13.08
If there is one good thing that can be said about this recession, it is that it is bringing out the creativity in people who are using their hands and their brains instead of their wallets to make or wrap their gifts this year.
London based design headhunter Represent challenged the design community "to develop fresh and eco-friendly solutions to the problem, by designing sustainable and totally tape-free ways to wrap a Christmas gift." They are adding a new one every day, and they include lots of clever ideas that will come in handy this frugal holiday season. ...
How GE gets the CFL into the Incandescent Shell
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.13.08
5 Things You Must Do When Eco-Touring in Fragile Ecosystems
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12.13.08
I've just returned from spending two weeks traveling through some of the most fragile, intricately weaved ecosystems in existence—the Galapagos Islands. Many took issue with my being there at all. Some believe such habitats should be hermetically sealed off in some sort of giant bubble and tended to only by scientists. Some think we should be free to visit the earth's wonders if we did so responsibly. Most were unsure about how tourism and conservation should intersect, exactly. Count me among the last group.
Pristine environments like the Galapagos certainly haven't benefitted from the intrusion of man—pirates killed the rare tortoises for meet hundreds of years ago, livestock introduced on the islands have crowded out endemic species, and sea lions are under attack thanks to a black market penis trade. But can we find a way to sustainably visit the ecosystems we've both imperiled and been inspired by? Perhaps. Here's how we can do our damndest.
...
Could New Fair Trade Flower Bouquets Soften the Blow of a Damaging Industry?
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 12.13.08
photo: 1-800-Flowers
After I learned the eco-issues behind the cut flower industry I was never able to look at a dozen roses the same again. No longer was it a symbol of a sweet loving gesture, but rather, the sign of often pesticide laden blooms and an enlarged carbon footprint. However, 1-800-Flowers has introduced Fair Trade flower bouquets. A step in the right direction? You be the judge.
...
Subaru Wants Wind Power For Your Plug In Car
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 12.13.08
(Photo from Nikkei Tech-On)
I had a chance to talk to Subaru staff at the Eco-Products 2008 Fair in Tokyo. I have been wondering why they are not speeding up the introduction of their plug-in electric car, that has been shown in New York and elsewhere. Here on Treehugger, the R1e or Stella got a good response, but so far, no sales. Then, Japan's Environment Ministry announced that Better Place is coming to Japan, and the Subaru Stella would be part of the project in Yokohama and other cities, hooked up with Better Place's novel mobility concept. Clearly, what Subaru wants, is sustainability: their fancy booth (photos below the fold) here at Tokyo Big Sight not only showcased the cute Stella but also provided ample information about the company's 80/2.0 wind mills....
Ozone Depletion Contributes to Ocean Acidification in the Southern Ocean
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12.12.08
Image from World Meteorological Organization
Forty percent: That is the share of annual oceanic carbon dioxide uptake accounted for by the Southern Ocean. Given that oceans comprise Earth's largest carbon sink, that is not an insignificant figure; indeed, this sole region is responsible for absorbing a staggering amount of anthropogenic emissions -- close to 1 petagram (1 Pg = 1,000,000,000,000,000 grams) per year. Which makes it all the more worrisome that ocean acidification is rapidly weakening its capacity to take up our excess emissions, something I discussed last month. Now we hear that ozone depletion, already a long-standing problem in itself, could be worsening the situation. ...
Traffic Lights that Work Even When the Power Doesn't
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 12.12.08
Photos from Today's Zaman (left) and BELBİM (right).
The obvious inconveniences aside, there's something to be said for living in a place where both random and rolling power outages occur with some frequency. It seems to foster neighborliness and camaraderie, as everyone gathers at a home that still has electricity or reminds themselves that a fun evening can actually be had without TV or the Internet. (We spent our last prolonged outage drinking wine, talking, and singing along as friends played guitar in the dark.)
But especially in a city with traffic as crazy as Istanbul's, a power outage can also throw the streets into dangerous disarray. A new pilot project has the potential to mitigate that problem, and it's environmentally friendly as well.
...
Gardener's Holiday Gift Supports Regional Seed Saving in NC
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12.12.08
Shares in The Abundance Pepper Promote Crop Diversity
With growing conditions varying tremendously from place to place, it seems insane that the majority of seeds grown in the US come either from the Pacific Northwest, or Japan, Holland or Israel. Matthew has noted before how saving seeds is a critical strategy for adapting to climate change. Just as open-source programming makes for better software, so a living network of farmers, gardeners and plant breeders is our best bet for maintaining a dynamic and secure gene pool of crops for our future. Now a charity that I am involved with is offering a chance for folks in the Carolinas and the South East to give the gift of diversity by purchasing a ‘share’ in the Abundance Pepper as a gift....
Clean Coal Carolers Slink out of Town in Shame
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
TreeHugger Takes the MINI E Out For a Quick Test Drive (Video Clip)
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.12.08
European Union Agrees to New Emissions Reduction Plan: 20/20/20 by 2020
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.12.08
The European Union has outlined a new plan to fight global warming. Which is a good thing. The less good thing is that according to the views of many scientists the measures will not bring about enough of a reduction in carbon emissions to really mitigate the worst effects of global warming.
Here are the broad stroke outlines of the so-called 20/20/20 plan:
...
Beth Terry's Lessons in Activism
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
Christine previously covered the recent success of Beth Terry's campaign to convince Brita in North America to take back and recycle their filters; Vanessa Farquharson of Green as a Thistle and the National Post interviews her and learns how it happened. It is an excellent guide for aspiring activists. Vanessa writes:...
Top 10 DIY Holiday Gifts, Cauliflower Gorgonzola Soup and Green Friday Fun Night
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 12.12.08
:: Who would be able to resist a Toaster Pastry i-Pod Cozy? Make this and other totally diggable DIY holiday gifts.
:: Getting your daily dose of veggies can be delicious. The proof is in Kelly's creamy Cauliflower Gorgonzola Soup.
:: The cold weather is conducive to boring weekend nights spent in, glued to the tube. Try something different--and energy efficient--by calling over your friends for a Green Friday Night of Fun....
This Week on Brink: Auto X Prize Contender Illuminati Motor Works
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.12.08
The guys at Illuminati say that this frame will be “elegantly covered with the composite body shell”. Photo: IMW
In case you haven’t yet tuned in to the Science Channel's new series Brink you should tune in this Friday, December 12th at 10 PM—this week’s show will be of particular interest to those of you interested in improving the fuel economy of our cars. This week host Josh Zepps will be profiling Illuminati Motor Works , who are attempting to win the Automotive X Prize.
Here are some of the things which Illumanati are doing on their quest to make a practical and clean car which gets 100 miles per gallon:...
One Third of Consumers Will Buy Green Gadgets, and Other Interesting Stats
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.12.08
Lush Lathers Up with Synthetic-Free Shampoo
by Naturally Savvy on 12.12.08
Image credit: Valli Ravindran/Flickr.com
Like any good TreeHugger, I love Lush's natural ingredients, minimal packaging, and the fact they won't sell out to the highest bidder. I was, however, always irked with their use of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) in solid shampoos. But the tides have shifted (thanks to customer demand), and most Lush Sampoo Bars are now SLS-free!
What's the big deal with SLS, you ask?...
Coal's Other Major Pollutant: Mercury
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 12.12.08
This post is co-written by Greg Haegele and Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.
When we talk about coal-fired power plants, the discussion usually revolves around their massive emissions of global warming pollution. Yet these plants also emit many other toxic pollutants – including mercury.
So you can imagine our happiness two weeks ago when a federal judge rejected Duke Energy's attempts to build its new Cliffside coal-fired power plant in North Carolina without modern mercury and other pollution controls. This is the latest federal court to find that Duke Energy and its CEO Jim Rogers are simply refusing to comply with the law....
The Blade Makes More Fuel Economy Improvement, Emission Reductions Claims
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.12.08
photo: Sabertec
Last time TreeHugger wrote about the Blade from Sabertec there was, to put it mildly, some skepticism among our readership. Personally, I tend to agree with the general sentiment of many of the comments on that if something sounds to good to be true then it probably is. But since Sabertec releases keep coming through my inbox I figured it was worthwhile to pass one on, even if only to keep people updated on the latest pitches commonly perceived as snake oil.
Again, for entertainment purposes only, here are the latest emissions reductions, gas mileage improvement claims about the Blade: ...
On Moving Toward Vegetarianism: Mock Meat
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 12.12.08
Photo: Kelly Rossiter
I admit to being very confused about mock meat. I don't understand why anyone who has decided not to eat meat would want to eat something that is shaped like meat, or made to approximate the taste and texture of it. When I see those packages of fake bacon or fake hot dogs in the grocery store, I can't imagine ever putting that stuff in my mouth. I suppose there is a place at Thanksgiving for tofurky because of the cultural emphasis on the turkey, but otherwise my credulity is strained....
Show You Love Your Computer...By Keeping It
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.12.08
ECOlogical Calendar App Arrives Just In Time for New Year Calendar Hunting
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.12.08
Screenshots via ECOlogical Calendar
Early last month we let you know that the ECOlogical Calendar, a very cool iPhone app, would be available soon. Well, it's here, and just in time for end-of-year calendar hunting.
Read on to watch a video of the app to see how it works. ...
Glut Of Solar Panels in 2009 Could Benefit Consumers
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.12.08
photo: Abi Skipp
Though the recession is taking its toll on financing some renewable energy projects and on share prices of renewable energy companies (many of which have fared even worse than the market as a whole); and though there still have been a number of new large solar power projects announced recently; 2009 will bring a glut of solar panels to the market. That could be good news for consumers:...
A Picture is Worth: Improve Your Immune System
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
Sign in Amsterdam hotel. TreeHugger has often noted that we need a bit of good bacteria. Source via BoingBoing...
Dear Obama: 'The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind'
by Earthwatch Institute on 12.12.08
UPS Back to Delivering by Bike
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
Image credit: Nick Chambers at Gas 2.0
Our own Collin in Corvallis can get a part-time job this season; UPS is looking for cyclists in Portland, Corvallis and other cities to drag around 200 pound trailers to do deliveries. UPS's Jeff Grant spoke with Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland:
“For every three bikes we use for deliveries, we save an average of 17 gallons of fuel per day (compared to one truck). That’s about $50 in savings.” Across the entire district, Grant says for every three bikes used during the holiday season, UPS will save $38,000 in vehicle operation and upkeep costs....
Ecofont Takes The Swiss Cheese Approach to Saving Printer Ink
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.12.08
Ecofont
The jury is out on this one as far as a real savings. But we played around with this intriguing new font to find out if Ecofont's claim of saving as much as 20% on printer ink by adding holes to the letters rings true.
Read on for our thoughts, and see samples of the font in action. ...
Many of World’s Coral Reefs Will Be Gone By 2050: 25% of Marine Species Too & Half a Billion People Without a Job
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.12.08
Nearly dead coral, photo: Jun Acullador
Sobering news on a Friday morning: Worldwatch Institute is pointing out how global coral reef losses—19% of coral reefs in the world are dead, mostly the result of warming sea-surface temperatures and water acidification—is really a sign pointing towards a coming global extinction event.
And unlike the five previous waves of extinction that this planet has seen, this one is caused by humans. Oh, and did I mention that this one is likely to happen in decades rather than centuries, with a quarter of the world’s species wiped out by 2050? Read on:...
Greenwash Watch: Catching CO2 With A Butterfly Net
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
It seems like Fun With Advertising Week at TreeHugger; first with Clean Coal Carolers, and now with the fantasy behind clean coal, carbon capture and storage. (CCS). Shell is running this ad in the New Yorker, noting that "Perfecting CCS won't be easy, but we believe it is needed to tackle CO2 emissions." But what are they really saying in that headline? That it is impossible. ...
Green Any Site Makes Online Shopping a GAS
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.12.08
Do you shop online? Do you try to go to the green websites to keep your footprint at a minimum? Maybe you wish there was a way to donate to green causes without actually spending extra?
Green Any Site hopes to solve these online shopping dreams with their clever widget. ...
Can You Survive the Heat Death of the Universe?
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 12.12.08
Image by Darren McManus, zeroDegreesArt
Environmentalists are known for taking the 'long term' view - our sons' sons' sons' well-being, that kind of thing. This was ok with me until I got strange-tangled up with a physicist, a non-water related one, who has a doctorate of the subject. And he got me thinking - long term view? Brother (actually, cousin), you don't know the meaning of the phrase. Have you given any thought to surviving the heat death of the universe?
Surviving the heat death of the universe is something that hadn't really occurred to me; I had been thinking of sustainability in more manageable terms, like not dumping paint down the toilet or refusing to wantonly spray DDT in schoolyards. But my time horizon was fairly short on these matters; getting a little more exotic life on earth, or for that matter anywhere, is probably not indefinitely sustainable in the form that we know it. And here's the problem.
...
"Ice Tree" made from mineral water bottles
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
At last, bottled water is good for something. Design studio Paprika has built a Christmas tree for Montreal furniture store Domison....
Our Favorite Guys On Bikes: Celebrities Take Their Wheels Out On the Town (Slideshow)
by Emma Grady, New York, NY on 12.12.08
Credit: Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair
Lance Armstrong in the buff on a bike? If this doesn't get your attention then I don't know what will. Fortunately, for our viewing pleasure, Annie Leibovitz captured this photograph for Vanity Fair. Continue viewing our Our Favorite Guys on Bikes image gallery for more celebrity shots.
Not a fan of the guys? Check out Our Favorite Girls On Bikes!...
Hackers Help the Hacking Down of the Amazon Rainforests
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.12.08
Photo via hyperscholar
The Brazilian government has tried to get serious about tracking and controlling the logging industry in their country. That includes switching from paper ledgers to computerized tracking systems that monitor quotas for logging companies.
However, high-tech hackers show that getting into the system and rigging the tracking information is easy work. Now, 107 companies are being sued to the tune of $833 million for the illegal logging and smuggling of nearly 1.7 million cubic meters of timer – the equivalent of 780 olympic pools full of felled trees. ...
Survey: When it Comes To Light Bulbs, Should Form Follow Function?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.12.08
Ya gotta wonder about GE sometimes. First they tried to convince us that they could squeeze more life out of the incandescent, then they gave up on that, and now they offer us a compact fluorescent that squeezes the works into the shell of a traditional bulb. Who is this for? The old traditionalists, the butts of Dilbert jokes? Will it suddenly placate the color/mercury/migraine crowd? At six bucks a bulb, is it actually going to fool people?
...
Make DIY Christmas Gifts, Inspired by the Experts
by Bonnie Alter, London on 12.12.08
If you can't afford to buy an artist's work, then copy it. Tracy Emin, renowned for her piece of art that was an unmade bed, offers her own personal instructions on how to make a Christmas angel from a clothes pin and some scraps of lace and wire. Just like you used to do in school. As she says "Picasso used to make magnificent dolls for his daughters out of anything he could find." It's a "recession angel" for economising times.
If Christmas decorations aren't your DIY thing, what about chocolate truffles from famed restaurateur and chef Tom Aikens. He claims that "these truffles are very straightforward. In the time it takes to go to a shop and buy a box, you could make these at home and they will taste so much better " But don't all chefs say that......
Connecting Kitchen Design Ideas and Food: An Interview with Architect Michael McDonough
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12.11.08
Kitchen appliance manufacturers Sub Zero and Wolf recently teamed up with a handful of designers and architects to create Kitchen Inspiration, a web documentary series about kitchens and sustainable design, among other things. TreeHugger caught up with architect Michael McDonough, who participated in the documentary series, and whom we've featured before, to chat about green building, kitchen design, and more.
TreeHugger: You mention the notion that we have 10 years to turn things around, and that it's important to you to leave real solutions for the next generation. How do you integrate that ethic into your work?
Michael McDonough: Well, people come to me, as an architect, increasingly for leadership in green building technology. Specifically, they’re interested in my work in net zero energy and zero carbon footprint technologies. Those can be somewhat differentiated from what the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is doing with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program -- and any number of other green building programs.
My perspective, in a nutshell, is as follows: energy is 90 percent of the problem. ...
Renegade Activist Single-Handedly Shuts Down Power Plant
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12.11.08
Mystery Man Silences 500MW Turbine
On 10PM, Friday 28th of November, in full view of CCTV cameras, a lone man climbed two electrified, razor-wired security fences at one of the UK’s major coal fired power plants, walked up to an unlocked door, and proceeded to shut down a 500MW turbine – apparently cutting off enough electricity from the grid to power a city of about half a million people. He then turned around and walked out, leaving only a home-made banner that read “no new coal”. According to folks over at The Guardian (one of the few sources to report on the story), the power plant operators, the police, and the protest community are all desperate to know who the mystery man was, and how he did what he did. Here’s more from The Guardian on the lone Kingsnorth protester:
...
If You Don't Like Coal You Are A Commie! Atheist! Enemy!
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.11.08
What’s Happening With Recyclables Markets?
by Wes Muir, Waste Management, Inc. on 12.11.08
Getting Green Wines from 4 Great Wine Regions
by Blythe Copeland, Great Neck, New York on 12.11.08
Photo credit: Janis Miglavs
While the definition of what makes green wine is wildly debatable—different certifications allow different levels of sulfites, which are a naturally occurring part of the fermentation process—one thing we can agree on is that vineyards and wineries using sustainable farming methods and organic grapes produce wines that are just as good as (if not better than) those from conventional wineries. Here, a few regions to watch as green practices become standard across the world. ...
From the Forums: Sustainable Socks?
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12.11.08
Image Credit: Breibeest
jhfortier:
I'm hoping someone can help me out. Hitting on the first R (reduce) I've been trying to cut down on all of the extra stuff that I buy, and to buy eco-friendly products when I need something, but I'm stumped when it comes to socks! I've bought bamboo socks from Secret, but they've got nylon in them and they wear out after maybe two wearings. Aside from thick cotton sweat socks, are there any socks (preferably organic cotton or bamboo?) that you've found to be more durable than the typical super-thin, too-tight socks? I live in Canada, but ordering online is ok.I have to say I'm in the same boat here. I go through socks like nobody's business, and I typically reuse them as wrags once they are beyond repair...but I'd rather buy a sustainable, higher quality, more durable product. Any thoughts?...
Enjoy Bottled Water with the Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.11.08
The fun never stops with the humorists at the Competitive Enterprise Institute; one never knows what cause they will satirize next. Like the Onion, you often have to look twice to tell if they are serious or not. We laughed till we cried at their CO2: we call it Life skits of a couple of years ago; cracked up at their defence of the top-loading washing machine; now they are having their way with a hilarious parody campaign to, get this, defend bottled water. ...
Chef Survey: Locally-Grown Produce Will Be Hot in 2009
by Eliza Barclay, Washington, D.C. on 12.11.08
Photo credit: National Restaurant Association
As further evidence that locally-grown food is going mainstream, a new survey of 1,609 chefs by the National Restaurant Association ranked locally-grown produce as the hottest trend for 2009.
In October 2008, the association surveyed American Culinary Federation member chefs, asking them to rate 208 individual food/beverage items, preparation methods and culinary themes as a “hot trend,” “yesterday’s news,” or “perennial favorite” on restaurant menus in 2009....
Wind Power Beats Nuclear & Clean Coal, Other Renewables As US’s Best Energy Option
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.11.08
photo: contri
Since the internet loves lists, here are our best-to-worst energy options if we want to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce air pollution, according to Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z Jacobson: 1) Wind power, 2) Concentrated Solar power, 3) Geothermal, 4) Tidal, 5) Solar Photovoltaics, 6) Wave Power, 7) Hydroelectric, 8) Nuclear & Coal with carbon capture and storage (tied for last and which he recommends not using at all).
This is bound to ruffle a few feathers, so here are Professor Jacobson’s comments on how he came to this conclusions:...
From the Forums: Window Film?
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12.11.08
Image Credit: uberculture
GreenNorthFL:
Replacing windows with new energy efficient windows can be cost prohibitive for many people. Has anyone ever used energy saving window film?redambrosia99:
Also wondering about this. I live in an apartment, so replacing the windows is not an option. I've been wondering about these things, if they work well and how easy it is to install them.Do you have any experience with this type of film? Read More & Share...
Green Branding for Major Corporations
by Jerry Stifelman, The Change, Chapel Hill, NC on 12.11.08
Green Without Greenwashing
My posts about green branding and design have been generating some great discussion and traffic. But I recently had a complacency check courtesy of the folks at CSRWire, who raised concerns about the relevance of my content to a critical audience -- sustainability officers at more traditional corporations. It's all very well talking green branding for start-ups, non-profits and solar companies who are mission driven at their core – but what about those working to create change from within "the system." ...
Clean Coal Carolers from an Industry Run By Morons
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.11.08
Hot Hot Santa Strips for Global Warming and 1% for the Planet
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12.11.08
Santa's red suit - classic fashion at it's best, right? The baggy pants, the furry coat, the black plastic belt. Well, you'll appreciate Santa's level of cover up after you see the hilarious (and somehow, slightly gross and sacrilegious specter) of Santa stripping it all off, right down to his BVD's.
Of course, Santa has a right to strip - global warming has pushed Arctic ice into a death spiral and opened up the Northwest Passage. And, Santa is also stripping for a good cause: a whole boatload of good businesses (including TreeHugger fav Patagonia) have over the last six years joined 1% for the Planet. Like the name says, this organization makes sure 1% of the annual sales from member companies and uses it on environmental restoration and protection, but we're obviously not at Happy Planet yet. Hit the jump to see Santa strip and find ways to contribute....
Seventh Generation Makes Reading Product Labels Easier
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.11.08
Seventh Generation has a downloadable widget and a mobile phone app that make reading labels a whole lot easier when it comes to confusing and utterly unpronounceable ingredients. ...
Nigerian Oil, Shark Fin Soup & Elephant Poaching: Planet in Peril’s Lisa Ling Answers TreeHugger’s Questions
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.11.08
Over on CNN their award-winning series Planet in Peril, hosted by Anderson Cooper, Lisa Ling and Dr Sanjay Gupta, is returning for another season (the premier episode is Thursday, December 11 at 9 PM EST) focusing on the some of the conflicts that are occurring when growing populations put stresses on the environment and on natural resources.
TreeHugger had a chance to ask Lisa Ling some questions about some of the episodes she worked on:
...
RFK Jr Attends Hybrid Car-Sponsored Event, Declares Electric Vehicles Superior
by Emma Grady, New York, NY on 12.11.08
Credit: Marion Curtis/Starpix
Earlier this month, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Lexus Hybrid Living to host Waterkeeper Alliance Eco-Salon, one in a series of social events to raise awareness about sustainability. (Put simply, it's kind of like Green Drinks for rich people.) At $500 per ticket, entry wasn't cheap, but funds raised will support Waterkeeper Alliance, the non-profit founded by Kennedy in 1999 to to restore water quality and ecosystems across the world. Luckily, I was treated to a press pass, which included an escort to the party via OZOcar, a luxury car service that uses hybrids.
Dropped off at the private home of William Wachtel and Annie Zabar in Chappaqua, NY, I enjoyed a few eco-friendly cocktails, some gorgeous green furniture, and--oh yeah--had the chance to sit down with RFK Jr. himself and pick his brain about the Big Three fiasco, the electric revolution, and why the very hybrid cars that had whisked us all to the party just aren't going to get the job done. Read on to hear what he had to say, and find out which other celebs showed up and view our Photo Gallery!...
Boulder, Colorado Achieves Platinum Bike Status
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12.11.08
Television Home Shopping Network, QVC, Installs Megawatt Solar System On Distribution Center
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12.11.08
All over America, 24/7, millions of customers - mostly female - gaze at the premier electronic catalog of stuff-mostly-made-in-other-countries: QVC Network. How to go about offsetting the carbon footprint of their billion-package shipping enterprise would be a real challenge. QVC has made a starting try, selling solar-generated power to North Carolina's rural electric cooperatives. The solar farm is on the grounds of QVC's 1.5-million-square-foot regional distribution center, which employs about 1,300 people...QVC's photovoltaic project is quipped with a global positioning system that mechanically tracks the sun throughout the day and rotates the assembly for maximum sun exposure.Via:The News & Observer,The latest from shopping network: solar power. Not done out of altruism. There is a regulatory driver: see below....
Human-Solar Powered Hybrid Electric Car Unveiled in California
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.11.08
Credit Crunch Means Holiday Focus on Techy Fixer-Uppers
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.11.08
Little Chickie Wear Offers Free Matching Hat with Purchase
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 12.11.08
Today’s TreeHugger Deal comes to you from Gwen Designs and its adorable baby wear line called Little Chickie Wear. Each whimsical design is created by owner Gwendolyn Gardner, inspired by a cute antic from her daughter, and is truly a work of art. The baby wear is offered for both boys and girls and sizes range from 3 months to 6T. Little Chickie Wear onesies, tees, and hats can be found at stylish boutiques and online. New designs are added several times throughout the year and we love the new holiday onesie (“Twas the Night Before Christmas”) and “Local Catch,” in addition to “Inside Me.” All Little Chickie Wear pieces are printed on 100% organic cotton and are made in the U.S.A. ...
Coffee Could Power Your Car, As Well As Wake You Up in the Morning
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.11.08
photo: David Joyce
You may know that coffee is the world’s second most traded commodity—a stat undoubtedly given a boost by the great caffeinated blogging legion—but, according to researchers in Nevada coffee could be doubly valuable: For use as biofuel. Well, the waste coffee grounds actually. Here’s the skinny on coffee ground biodiesel:...
Nickelodeon Launches Big Green Help Challenge for Kids
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 12.11.08
Backed by the star power of folks like LeBron James and Cameron Diaz, Nickelodeon has launched The Big Green Help Global Challenge for kids. It’s the first online multiplayer 3D global game designed for their age bracket with the goal of inspiring them to take action for a greener world. And with groups like the NRDC, NWF, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the LeBron James Family Federation behind it, there’s a great chance they’ll successfully motivate kids to get up off the couch and get moving environmentally....
1,000th Green Tech Product OKed by EPEAT
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.11.08
Images via EPEAT and Sony
Congratulations EPEAT! And Sony!
The green electronics labeling company just gave the thumbs up to its 1,000th green tech product – the Sony VAIO VGN-SR290PDB notebook computer.
Read on about how EPEAT has grown in just over two years. ...
P.J. O'Rourke on Disney's Home of the Future
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.11.08
A while back we wrote about Disney's New Dream Home: Worse Than We Dreamed, the new stupid and ugly electronic McMansion that is the idiocratic update of the Monsanto House of the Future, and noted that Walt must be spinning in his cryogenic cylinder to see this failure of vision.
Now P.K. O'Rourke tours it with his children Poppet, Buster and Muffin. He doesn't think much of it either, and describes it brilliantly in the Atlanticarticle titled "Future Schlock". But it his his conclusion that resonated. ...
Better Place Coming To Japan
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 12.11.08
Bloggers here are excited about Better Place, as the Japanese government announced Tuesday that consumers will be able to swap depleted batteries for fresh ones easily when they don't have time to plug in. Thomas Friedman calls it a new way to generate mobility. Starting with municipal fleets, the program is the first step toward electrifying Japan's vehicles. The Japanese Environment Ministry invited Better Place to take part in the feasibility project for up to six months starting in January in several cities, starting with Yokohama, south west of Tokyo.
"Better Place is honored to participate in this groundbreaking program in a country with so much auto-manufacturing expertise," said Shai Agassi, the entrepreneur behind the venture. "Japan is moving one step closer to the next-generation, Car 2.0 model of electric cars fueled by renewable energy."
Better Place is the only foreign company invloved in this pilot project. The California company joins Subaru and Mitsubishi and others who aim to help the Japanese government get on the road toward toward its goal: half of all cars sold by 2020 will be electric....
The TH Interview: Fred Pearce—Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part Two)
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 12.11.08
Despite his own confessions, Pearce isn’t here to preach. He’d rather people make up their own minds about what to buy and what to snub. In the second part of our interview, the author of Confessions of an Eco-Sinner tells more tales from his explorations into the sources of his stuff. We also get a slice of his greenwash-busting that is featured regularly in the Guardian, and his reasons for believe that Obama might just save the world. Click here for part one. Listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download. Full text after the jump....
Graphic Of The Day: Urban Trees A Significant And Growing Means Of Carbon Sequestration
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12.11.08
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates, in 2006 urban trees accounted for nearly all (90 percent) of the carbon sequestration attributed to the combination of urban tree growing, plus land-filled yard trimmings and food scraps. [We assume that the sequestration tons for yard waste and food scraps are for landfilling. Compost degrades relatively fast.] Via:USEIA, Energy Information Administration, Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting U.S. Department of Energy, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007 Available as ftp download of pdf file here....
Florida Business Gives You $10 to Recycle Your Old Sex Toys
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.11.08
Images via Dreamscapes
Well over a year ago we brought news about Love Honey, a UK company that launched a sex toy recycling campaign to help keep e-waste from sex toys out of landfills. Their campaign collected over 1 ton of used toys.
Now a Florida-based business called Dreamscapes wants to do right by the earth and has launched one of the US’s first sex toy recycling programs. Read on for how you can get $10 for your old toys and keep the landfills cleared of these little-discussed sources of e-waste. ...
Survey: Do You Chase Every Milliwatt and Calorie?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.11.08
My first thought upon reading Christine's post about the guy who worries about the energy lost while flushing a toilet and bringing all that cold water into the house was that this is silly, why worry so much about such little things? And then I read further and found that they are in fact, not so little, and as we often say, small steps add up. So do you sweat the small steps or go for the big stuff?
...
Top Ten Ways To Get Your Gift-Giving Even Greener
by Greg Haegele of Sierra Club on 12.11.08
Tree Planting. Image credit: MD DNR Celebrating Arbor Day
Ahhh…the holidays. You want to join in the holiday tradition of exchanging gifts, but you also want to stay true to your green sensibilities. Here are my ten top gift ideas. Help me out by adding your own ideas as comments to this post so I get a hand with my own holiday shopping.
1. Don't give a "thing" at all. Rather, give a gift certificate for an experience (a massage, movie tickets, a pound of coffee, lunch in a nice restaurant), a service you'll provide (a cake on demand, several hours of baby-sitting, volunteer time for a friend's favorite charity), or a membership in an environmental organization or other group that shares your values.
2. Contribute to a social or environmental program in your friend's name: adopt a baby seal, plant redwood trees, or - our favorite - Sponsor A Wild Place like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Giant Sequoia, or the Arctic. You'll be contributing to a good cause, and in our case, your friend will receive some gift, like the polar bear pictured here - the same kind of bear that Steven Colbert brought to life by having it ask questions of our executive director, Carl Pope, when he appeared on the Colbert Report....
Earth Hour 2009: Will Your City Take Action?
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 12.11.08
Top Ten Best Christmas Charity Gifts
by Bonnie Alter, London on 12.11.08
In the last few years, donating to charities that fund a good cause has become very popular. The recipients will never see the gift, but know that the money was spent in their name for someone who needs it. The traditional donation to Oxfam was giving a goat to a village in Africa. Now charities are getting more innovative to capture our imaginations--and dollars.
The group "Intelligent Giving" has compiled a list of the top 10 charity gifts in 2008 and the camels are winning the race. According to their survey, buying a camel is the top charity gift. People like them because they provide a full range of services--you can ride them, drink their milk in times of drought and use their dung for fertiliser.
The second most popular is fish cages, bamboo and net enclosures. These enable Bangladeshis to breed fish in flood-prone areas so that they can eat them and sell them. ...
Boc'n Roll, the Reusable Sandwich Wrapper Rocks!
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 12.11.08
Are you fed up with having to waste tin foil or plastic food bags to wrap your sandwiches? Or you had enough of carrying bulky plastic containers to get your snacks to work? Well, BOC’N ROLL, a Spanish design by MarcaDiferencia, (VERY similar to Wrap-N-Mat...) seems to be the solution. It is a reusable food wrapper, meant to pack up snacks like sandwiches, fruit or biscuits and take them to work, school or on a trip without leaving any waste behind. See video and more information after the jump.
...
NASA Satellites Help Track Natural Oil Slicks as Potential GHG Sources
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12.10.08
Image from NASA
It may seem unusually high, but almost half of the oil that makes its way into the ocean derives from natural sources. To find these oil slicks, scientists have long made use of satellite radar instruments. Upon reaching the surface, oil has a tendency to spread out into a thin layer, which causes a glint that can easily be seen by radar, explains the New Scientist's Catherine Brahic (see a short video here). ...
When Teachers Trek Across the Galapagos: A Photo Gallery
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12.10.08
Teacher Eduardo del Solar scanning the Galapagos horizon. All photos by Pete Oxford
What does it look like when 29 acclaimed US teachers embark on a study tour of the Galapagos?
As I've mentioned before, the unusual grandeur of the Galapagos Islands is difficult to put into words. Thus, as part of my effort to recap the rather amazing journey I recently completed with some of our nation's top educators, I thought another image gallery was in order. From mingling with stingrays to examining dead tropical penguins to engaging Galapagos students in the classroom, here are the photos I feel best define the trek.
So what does it look like, exactly? Something like this.
...
HP Laptops Get Awesome New Lithium-Ion Batteries
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.10.08
Mass Customization: Mix Your Own Breakfast at [me]&gogi
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.10.08
A while back I admired MyMuesli, a german company where you mix up your own blend of cereal online and they ship it to you. I suggested that it was an example kind of technology that could dramatically reduce waste and save a great deal of energy.
Mass customization could mean less waste, as products are made to order rather than in the big lots that come with mass production. No more shelves of jeans to cover all sizes, or parking lots full of unsold cars waiting to be discounted. Or having to add fruit to my muesli.Now it has come to America with [me]&gogi, who "collect the healthiest foods from around the world and you fuse them in combinations that satisfy your unique tastes and nutritional needs right down to the last chia seed." I love the way it recalculates the nutrition facts as you add ingredients. ...
166 MW Solar Power Plant Will Be China’s Largest
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.10.08
photo: Kevin Houle
Rack up another largest record in the solar power world: China Huaneng Group, China’s largest electricity producer, has announced that is has begun construction on what will be China’s largest solar power plant, a 166 MW project in Yunnan province. The cost for the project is expected to be 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion), with the plant coming online in 2010.
What’s more, China Huaneng has also announced that it will building a windfarm in Yunnan Province:...
Fast & Funny Video Comparing the Latest Lightbulb Technologies
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.10.08
Restoring Natural Areas = Economic Stimulus & Job Creation
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.10.08
photo: Dean Forbes
Everybody and his brother in the green movement seems to be recommending that President-elect Obama make investing in clean energy and improving the United States’ infrastructure by making it more energy efficient and eco-friendly. The Nature Conservancy has taken the idea of green infrastructure one step more and is recommending that the federal government should also focus on rehabilitating natural areas.
Bob Bendick, Director of US Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy, responded to the following questions:...
Un-TreeHugger: Twist & Spout
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.10.08
Photos via Green Upgrader
Plasticrap alert. Most of us are making an effort to remove plastic bottles from our lives. And we certainly don’t want anything around us that encourages their use. But that seems to be exactly what this greenwashed oddity is doing. ...
Remember the Gift of the Magi
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 12.10.08
There's a strange, heart-wrenching side effect of gift-giving and receiving: not the thought of unwrapping another ugly sweater you don't need, but the knowledge that someone who truly cares about you went to the trouble of getting it in the first place. You realize then it's the thought that counts -- and that the thought alone is often more than enough.
As we take a deep breath to dive into our holiday shopping lists -- our breaths made shorter by our tense economies and ecologies -- it's a good time to read or reread (or listen to) that famous tale of giving, O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi."
Sure, it's didactic and moralistic, told in flowery and unpretty prose. But the story's short and, though published 102 years ago today, just in time for Christmas 1906, it fits right into Christmas 2008 and every gift-giving holiday....
From the Forums: Vegan or Local?
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12.10.08
Image Credit: Ralphman
saucyriot:
I would love input on this topic. I have been vegan for 3 years now. I am on a limited budget, so I don't spend much money on cheese/meat substitutes, and I don't buy vitamins. Most of my produce comes from local, organic farms. When making dietary choices, I factor in personal health, environmental impact, and cost. I do feel healthier since giving up meat and dairy, but I am worried about the environmental impact of buying many non-local food products (milk substitutes, tofu, etc). So which is better for my health, the environment, and my wallet: an entirely vegan diet, a local vegetarian diet, or a local (low-meat) vegetarian diet? I'm not interested in arguments about the extremism of veganism - I genuinely want informed opinions about plant-based diets and local food.Chime In!...
Thermo-Con House
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.10.08
Just after World War II the US Army experimented with a lot of different housing technologies (see 58 Lustron Homes Being Given Away). This International Style gem was built in 1949 out of Thermo-Con, a "combination of Portland cement, water, aluminum flake, caustic soda, and bituminous emulsion. It provided a gas-expanded, cellular cement composition having a remarkably high strength-to-weight ratio."...
Scryve Set to "Become the Zagat of the Environmental and Social World"
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.10.08
Scryve is a green ranking for companies so that you can quickly and easily see how businesses rank in greenness, and compare companies to make more environmentally conscience purchasing decisions without having to spend hours looking up company info and doing your own analysis.
As the creators say, they're set to be the Zagat of greenness.
Basically, you can search their site or download a widget you can install so that a ranking pops up on the website you’re visiting. Read on for more about how their ranking works, how you can utilize their database, and how you can get them $40k to expand green rankings. ...
Two Banks Turning a (Slightly) Darker Shade of Green: HSBC and Bank of America Review Enviro Policies
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.10.08
(Very young) oil plantation photo: Angela Sevin
Amid all the news of financial demise, you may have missed two positive bits of news regarding at least two banks greening their activities.
HSBC recently indicated that it would be limiting its involvement with palm oil production (increasingly seen as a threat to the endangered orangutan and as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions) and reviewing its practices of lending to Canadian oil sands developers. Meanwhile, Bank of America as taken a stand against mountaintop removal coal mining (if not coal itself) and will stop financing companies who use this mining method.
Here are the details:...
Container Housing Jumps the Shark
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.10.08
Mocoloco tells us:
The 2+ Weekend House is a container house with a difference - it's made with containers manufactured expressly for housing (vs. cargo containers). "As opposed to the other container projects, which mostly feed on the excess of available cargo containers, ConHouse pushes the development of containers manufactured especially for housing and office purposes."And we ask, why?...
Postcards from UN Climate Change Conference
by Alex Smith, San Francisco, California on 12.10.08
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Postcards from Poznan Keeps Climate Advocates in the Loop
During the UN Climate Change Conference that started last week in Poznan, Poland, two globally oriented Earthjustice lawyers are sending updates from on the ground via the organization's Postcards from Poznan Project. More on the conference's goals below the fold....
SaaSy Software Leads to Better e-Waste Recycling
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12.10.08
Back in June, Webroot launched a product called Security Software as a Service (SaaS) which provides a great threat protection service that makes hardware solutions obsolete.
Switching to software solutions instead of hardware is great since it means less security hardware needs to be produced. But what about all the hardware that is now out of a job? As so often happens, when something new comes along, a bunch of e-waste is generated.
Thankfully, green-thinking Webroot fixed that problem as well. ...
NRDC Partners With Planet Green: President Frances Beinecke Answers TreeHugger's Questions
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12.10.08
NRDC President Frances Beinecke, photo: Matt Greenslade/photo-nyc.com
Exciting news over at Planet Green: The Natural Resources Defense Council has joined Planet Green’s roster of non-profit parter organizations. Together they will work on a broad range of activities, ranging from grassroots community outreach and public affairs to content creation. In commenting on the new partnership, NRDC President Frances Beinecke called Planet Green “a critical voice for the solutions to our most pressing environmental challenges.”
I had a chance to ask Beinecke her views on the solutions to a few of these environmental challenges:...
Five Green Nightclubs Where You Can Party the Night Away
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12.10.08
Photo via Club Watt.
Nightclubs take an extraordinary amount of energy. So while we're not exactly encouraging you to travel to one of these cities just to party on a piezoelectric dance floor or pee away the organic beers you just quaffed in a special waterless urinal, we must admire these far-seeing club owners for forging a green path in the party scene. They have taken steps to curb their energy usage, bring in or buy renewable electricity, and use dancing energy to power those flashing lights, to name a few sustainable initiatives. Lots of clubs--Bar Code in Vauxhall, for example--are using LEDs. Many, including Beta in Denver recycle, but the green destinations on this list have gone above and beyond the norm. Here are five super green nightclubs to dance the night away....
Greenpeace Says Some Food Retailers Are Acting "Fishy"
by Daniel Kessler, Greenpeace on 12.10.08
The Incredible Shrinking Man: How Pollution is Destroying Your Genitals
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.10.08
We have covered the story of the feminizing of men, the shrinking of both their numbers and their penises many times, most recently in The Disappearing Male and Are Boys Disappearing Because of Gender Bender Chemicals?
Now the Independent tells us of a new British study. It concludes:
"Males of species from each of the main classes of vertebrate animals (including bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have been affected by chemicals in the environment.
...
Last Report of a Crackpot: How Much Energy to Use the Toilet?
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 12.10.08
Image credit: GETTY
Thermostat Chicken King
In the game of thermostat chicken, Turboglacier is holding a lead. The blogger from Portland, Maine, has not yet turned on the heating. The "crackpot" title relates to Turboglacier's penchant for musing on the condition of the unheated human. Hoping not to see his name and the word "crackpot" in the same sentence again, Turboglacier has resigned himself to discontinue posting on the "topic of home-heating/cold-adaptation/practical thermodynamics". But he leaves us with one last thought: on the topic of toilet thermodynamics.
If you ever wanted (or just discovered you want) to learn just how much energy it takes to heat the cold water which comes into your house with every flush, Turboglacier answers. And he provides a handy formula for calculating the case in your own household....
Trees Have Rights Too: A Call For a Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 12.10.08
Sixty years ago today the United Nations passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pictured above is Eleanor Roosevelt who played a key role in the UN Commission that devised the charter. Today in 2008 a group called Trees Have Rights Too are calling for a Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights in order to focus attention on the growing threat of climate change. Polly Higgins, the UK barrister and environmental activist who is leading the call, has been greatly inspired by the work Eleanor Roosevelt's did in 1948 saying, "Without her, I would not be doing what I am now!"...
Survey: Is Detroit a Joke?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.10.08
Matt's humorous post We're The Big Three. We Don't Need to Compete. drew a wide range of responses, for and against a bailout of GM.
...
Istanbul's Public Transit Plans: 12 Million People, Almost as Many Ideas for Moving Them Around
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 12.10.08
Clockwise from top left: Istanbul bus, "nostalgic tramway," metrobus, and funicular. Photos from IETT.
Once upon a time--way back in 1871--Istanbul had some of the most innovative public transportation around. The Tünel funicular, which still carries tourists and residents alike up the steep hill from Karaköy to the southern end of Istiklal Caddesi, was the second underground subway line in the world, after London's. Maalesef (alas), it took 129 years for the city to open another one....
Canadian Political Crisis Ends, Not With A Bang But a Whimper
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.10.08
Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and Stephane Dion after the last leadership race
During the last Liberal leadership campaign, delegates looked at front-runner Michael Ignatieff and thought "who is this guy, he spends 25 years swanning around Oxford and Harvard and comes back, expecting to be Prime Minister?" Then they looked at Bob Rae and thought "who is this guy, he is the socialist premier of Ontario and runs it into the ground and then switches parties and expects to be Prime Minister?" So they voted in Stephane Dion as Liberal leader. He is smart, he is the greenest candidate we ever had, even more so than the Green Party, he is honest as the day is long and he was absolutely hopeless as a politician. The final straw was his video response to Prime Minister Harper last week, delivered an hour late and looking like a bad outtake from youtube.
Yesterday Bob Rae graciously withdrew from the race to replace him, leaving the job to Michael Ignatieff, who will shortly be anointed the new leader of the natural governing party of Canada, aka the Liberals. ...
Exquisite Accessories with Recovered Materials by Dominique Besanson
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 12.10.08
Photos: dqb studio.
Art director and photographer formed in Milan and New York, Dominique Besanson returned to Buenos Aires a few years ago and started thinking what she could do creatively. It was then when she thought of gathering her love for handcrafts and knitting with her care for the environment and created DQB, a line of accessories produced with discarded materials from the textile industry.
More info and beautiful pictures in the extended....
Ice Orchestra Blows Hot and Cold
by Bonnie Alter, London on 12.10.08
Cold but warm...is how you could describe the sound of an ice trumpet carved from a 2,500 year old glacier. It's part of the orchestra of the Norwegian percussionist, Terje Isungset, who has been making his instruments out of ice for the last twenty years. He started experimenting with the sounds of stone and glass and then progressed to ice. There is a difference between natural ice and factory ice--the ice from the factories is "dead and has no sound". Even with the natural ice, some instruments have amazing tones whilst others have nothing.
So how does he do it? It's simple: "We travel to a place, find ice, then carve the instruments there, play the concerts, and then give the instruments back to nature where they belong. You can have 100 pieces of ice; they will all sound different. Perhaps three will sound fantastic. Nature decides whether it's possible to play or not: if it's too mild or windy, we can't."...
Green Tea Instead Of "Fizzy Drinks"
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 12.10.08
(Photo of a tea whisk made of bamboo from Another Tea Blog)
One of the advantages of living in Japan is the huge amount of choice when it comes to tea instead of soft drinks laced with sugar, aspartame, or High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Avoid! Tokyo restaurants usually serve a cup of tea with your meal, and convenience stores like Seven-Eleven are providing all you can drink in terms of green tea, the traditional brew that Japanese people have loved for centuries. Other teas are also available, served hot in winter, and iced in summer.
Will green tea ever make it big in the United States? Earlier this year, Reuters quoted Naoko Tsuda, Suntory spokesperson, as saying: "Fizzy drinks are struggling, but green tea is doing pretty well there. Because of the recent health-consciousness, many have started trying green tea."...
First Summit on Building Integrated Sustainable Agriculture
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12. 9.08
Image credit: Sky Vegetables
Vertical Farming Innovators Convene for Two-Day Summit
Vertical farming, or building-integrated sustainable agriculture – call it what you will – the idea of commercial or residential buildings that can produce a significant proportion of their residents’ food needs is certainly an attractive one on paper, though the world is currently short on working prototypes of any scale. From Mithun architects’ vertical farm in Seattle to Organitech’s high-density food production units, the concept generated significant discussion about the pros and cons of large-scale urban food production over in our forums - and Adam Stein over at Terrapass hasn't held back on his views on why Vertical Farms are just 'pie in the sky'. Now an invite-only event is being held this weekend in Berkeley aiming to explore all facets of building-integrated food production, including insight into a prototype for rooftop farming on grocery stores that hopes to be operational by Fall 2009. Here’s more from the group’s press release:
...
Freeplay Foundation Brings Light to Rwanda
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
Photo Credit: Freeplay Foundation
Freeplay Energy has been developing some great consumer products over the years, such as the Lifeline Radio, Jonta “human-powered” Flashlight, and the Indigo Lead Lantern. But there is an offshoot of Freeplay we have yet to discuss, which is the non-profit Freeplay Foundation. With the help of the Lemelson Foundation, and green celebrity, Tom Hanks, Freeplay has been working to bring clean and renewable energy lanterns to Rwanda.
The Lifelights will replace the old, polluting, and dangerous kerosene lights currently being used in Rwanda. Compared to the consumer version of the Indigo Lantern, the ones that will be sent to Rwanda this February of 2009 are far more durable (able to withstand extreme weather and environmental conditions) and can be used to light up a larger area for longer periods of time.
...
Less IS More, How to Go Green: Holidays and Where to Rent Bikes
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY on 12. 9.08
:: Learn how to live large in small spaces with this handy plan from Lloyd.
:: Enjoy the indulges of the holiday season without leaving a heinous carbon footprint.
:: Making an escape to one of these five US urban centers? See the best of what the city has to offer on a rental bike!...
Middle School Teachers Pioneer New Globally Focused Environmental Education Plans
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12. 9.08
All photos by Pete Oxford
It seems that we only hear about environmental plans and initiatives being made at legislative, university, and corporate levels—and we can forget that there are still folks like progressive secondary school teachers making bold moves in environmental education around the country. They just never get any press.
So now that the Toyota International Teacher Program has drawn to a close, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to take a long overdue closer look at some of the educators and their inspired impact plans for upgrading environmental education.
...
Community Questions: Dave Schembri, President of Smart Car
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12. 9.08
Image Credit: SmartUSA
A new feature we're doing on TreeHugger is having our community participate in some of the interviews we do here by asking folks to pose some of their own questions. We think it is important that your voice gets in front of many of the leaders featured on TreeHugger. We've done this in the forums before, but now we're bringing it to the front page.
Our own Eric J. Leech is doing an interview with Dave Schembri, President of Smart USA. If you have any questions you'd like to ask him about the smart fourtwo, the future of auto manufatcuring, or perhaps the Big 3, jump into the forums and make a post. No account required, but joining does have its privileges.
Questions?...
Give Groovy Gifts and Save 10% from The Groovy Mind
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 12. 9.08
This week’s TreeHugger Deals comes to you from The Groovy Mind, a company that’s known for their groooovy, gourmet gifts. Each is deliciously organic, fairly traded and seasonally harvested and includes coffee (one of our faves), tea, cookies and corn chips, to name a few. The Organic Meltdown chocolate is some of the best we’ve tasted (we love the “one bar saves one tree” campaign), while the Metro Sensual Spa Box…we’ll leave it at that. Even the most discriminating treehuggers will lose their collective groovy minds over these one-of-a-kind green gifts. They are delivered in a hip, sustainable gift box is wrapped in hand stamped paper and shipped in a groovy literary box—a perfect size for re-use to store small collectibles, magazines or manuscripts....
From the Forums: Volunteering?
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12. 9.08
Image Credit: Food not Bombs Volunteers taken by ccbarr
joshuabradley1:
I was wanting to volunteer with some green/eco friendly projects in my area. Is there a website to find out what's going on or to get put on a list for this?greenteadrinker:
Off the top of my head -check with Habitat for Humanity in your area, boy/girl scouts often have projects, gardening clubs or bird watching clubs may steer you in the right direction. Being a big brother or big sister is not considered "green" but it sure helps a kid.You'll find a volunteerism guide over on Planet Green. Also there are a number of recommendations in the forums. Perhaps you have an idea for one or need some green volunteer help in your area? Submit your ideas (no account required) ...
GM, Ford Can Meet US’s Strongest Emissions Standards by 2012, Based on New Fuel Economy Proposals
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
photo: Ford Motor Co.
According to a new piece of analysis by NRDC of fuel economy plans submitted to Congress by General Motors and Ford will be able to meet the most stringent emissions standards in the nation. Chrysler did not provide fuel economy projections.
You can download a PDF of the analysis (GM and Ford Investment Plans and California Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards) but here are the key points:...
Skip Recycling in Georgia, Get Slapped with $500 Fine
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 9.08
T. Boone Pickens Is Anxious About Financing His Mega Wind Farm
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
photo: Henning Leweke
If you at all follow renewable energy, or even just watch television, you’ve probably heard that T. Boone Pickens has been back-peddling on the future of the wind power portion of the Pickens Plan. While reports that its cancelled probably overstate the situation, the rapidly receding economy is putting a hitch in Pickens’ get-along.
Reuters ecently had an article which quotes Pickens on the future of his mega wind farm:...
Using Space Lasers to Measure Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 9.08
PG&E Gives a $1.4 Million Rebate for Green Data Center
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 9.08
Photo of money via jenn_jenn
If saving money via energy efficiency wasn’t reason enough to build a green data center, PG&E just gave California businesses another incentive.
NetApp just received a $1.43 million rebate check from Pacific Gas and Electric Company for their energy-efficient data center design and construction.
...
We're The Big Three. We Don't Need to Compete.
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
It's funny because it's true.... Image: From the Forums: 60 Minutes on Saudi Oil
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12. 9.08
Image credit: ejk
greenteadrinker:
I think 60 Minutes may have done the American public a disservice yesterday (12/7). Leslie Stahl was speaking to a Saudi (the owner of some huge oil field) and they were showing all the infrastructure they were building, and spouting they had enough oil there, in the desert, for another 50 years. First, if we were to believe it; we'd still be dependent on their oil. Lots of it and still cheap. Second, it might slow down our switch to cleaner fuels. Third, we would still have another 50 years of emissions adding to the mix. Fourth, she never mentioned (not once) about the emissions or global warming. Lots of people watch 60 Minutes, and my worry/question is; when people saw that report they'll just think, cool, I can still keep my SUV and not worry about it.Your thoughts?...
Algae, Jatropha Tapped To Power Continental Airlines’ First Biofuel Test Flight
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
photo: Quack1k
Continental Airlines joins a growing list of travel carriers investigating biofuel-powered flights. The Houston-based company has announced that it will be conducting its first biofuel demonstration flight in the United States on January 7, 2009, in Houston.
Continental says that it will be using “a special fuel blend including components derived from algae and jatropha plants--sustainable, second-generation fuel sources that don’t impact food crops or water resources, and don’t contribute to deforestation”. (True enough for algae, less so for jatropha.) More details from Continental:...
School Built From Wood By Sheppard Robson
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 9.08
I do go on about how I love wood as a construction material; it is renewable, it is reusable, it is warm and friendly and it sequesters tonnes of CO2. After almost a century of ceding commercial applications to steel and concrete, it is making a comeback in office buildings, apartments and schools. A good example is the proposed Waingels College in Woodley, Wockingham in the UK, which Canadians of a certain age will be interested to know is three miles from Reading. ...
Nagoya: City Planning For The Car-Free Future
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 12. 9.08
(Design: Sugiyama Women's College)
When Nagoya City decided to let design students present their ideas for the city center, they got a bunch of creative minds to come up with some really novel ideas. The city council has approved a generous budget for change, and for three days, the young designers are displaying their diverse projects and models. A common theme is more trees, getting rid of the personal car, or at least make the city center a lot more pedestrian-friendly. Reducing the current four car lanes to two, or rebuilding the entire area for bipeds only? ...
Grass Concept Phone: Pass or Fail?
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 9.08
Eat A Camel, Save Australia’s Environment
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
It may be at the Sydney Zoo at not the Outback where feral camel populations are a problem, but it’s a great camel photo nonetheless. Photo: Michelle
First Australians were urged to start eating one of the country’s iconic animals, the kangaroo. Now Australian research institution Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre is telling people that they should also start eating camels to preserve the nation’s environment. The rationale is different than with kangaroos, however:...
World's First LEED Platinum Aviation Hangar Completed
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 9.08
Reaction Housing Stacks Up Against Trailers
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 9.08
In the prefab biz there is always the tradeoff between modular, where one has to ship a lot of air at great cost but it is delivered almost complete, and flatpack, where shipping is much cheaper because one can pack more units in a smaller space, but need a lot more assembly time and energy. That is why FEMA bought trailers; they may each have to be towed into place but they are complete inside.
The Reaction Housing System adds a new idea to the mix: they developed a tapered design that stacks up like a pile of coffee cups or take-out containers, delivering a finished building envelope without shipping a lot of air. Take what would be the coffee cup lid and put it on the ground as the floor, and you have an instant housing unit. Brilliant. ...
Better Place Displays First Completed Electric Car Charging Spot in Israel
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 9.08
Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinksy at the first electric parking lot in Pi-Glilot, Israel. Photo: Better Place
The end of 2008 is turning out to be a productive one for Better Place: The California-based electric vehicle charging point/service station company has recently announced plans to deploy its electric car technology in the San Francisco Bay Area statewide in Hawaii and now has demonstrated the first of its planned nationwide charging spots in Israel.
Initially the plan calls for deployment of charging spots in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Kefer Sava, Holon and Jerusalem. The company’s first electric parking lot however is the Cinema City parking lot in Pi-Glilot:...
Kitschen: Kitschy Repurposing of Old Fridge Parts
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 9.08
Most old refrigerators go straight to the dump, avocado green drawers and all. Toronto's Urban Product (which we learn about from Chicago's Apartment Therapy, go figure) takes old plastic bins and makes wood cases to fit around them, with rare earth magnets to hold knives. ...
Jargon Watch: Ecoflation
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 9.08
ecoflationary transport source
That is the term that Deborah Zabarenko, environmental correspondent for Reuters, uses to describe "the rising cost of doing business in a world with a changing climate.". According to a study by the World Resources Institute and A.T. Kearney, regulation of carbon dioxide will change the way people do business.
For instance, companies that presumed U.S. transportation costs would be low and U.S. labor costs would be high had their goods made in countries where employees would work for less. But a new cost to the carbon emitted by long-distance transport could change that equation, making foreign manufacturing less attractive, Mahler [of A.T. Kearney] said....
$5.2 Billion Rail Project in Washington, D.C. A Sign of the Times
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 12. 9.08
Image Credit Fabio Raphael
Public Transportation Gets a Boost
Several trends are emerging in the current political and economic climate that are conducive to public transportation. First, there is the surging popularity of public transportation in the United States (in fact, on election day, voters approved $75 billion worth of new mass transit projects)). What's more, there is an incoming administration keen on investing in American infrastructure, and an economic downturn that is even fostering a bipartisan consensus on bailouts for the financial industry and the Big Three. Given all of the above, it isn't surprising to hear that "Federal regulators have approved a long-awaited" extension to the Washington, D.C. metrorail, "virtually assuring construction of a $5.2 billion project that regional leaders say is crucial to ease congestion and spur economic growth in Northern Virginia."
In fact, the news seems to be a sign of the times. Read on for more on the project, and how it speaks to a broader trend....
Survey: Would You Donate Your Electronic Brain To Harvard?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 9.08
Hmmm. Jaymi tells us that Harvard and IBM want to borrow a million computers to help find "the best molecules possible for: organic photovoltaics to provide inexpensive solar cells, polymers for the membranes used in fuel cells for electricity generation, and how best to assemble the molecules to make those devices" Let's go down this rabbit hole....
...
Liability Insurance Bailouts Needed For Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Industry?
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 9.08
Chile's Climate Change Plan Focuses on Research
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 12. 9.08
Picture: Chile presidency photo service.
Last week, president Michele Bachellet introduced Chile's Plan of Action for Climate Change. The four year long program doesn't set specific goals to reduce emissions, but announces research plans to examine possible courses of action to adapt to climate change, mitigate carbon emissions, and develop local capacities to confront the problem.
Among some of the measures, the plan includes a seven billion Chilean pesos (over ten million USD) budget for biofuels research, a 400 million USD national warranty fund for investments in renewable energy and efficiency, and the establishment of a Renewable Energy Center with a budget of 700 million Chilean pesos (over one million USD). More details in the extended....
Praying For A Bailout: The Lithium Calf On Detroit's Altar
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 9.08
With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit's largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry...Local car dealerships donated three hybrid SUVs to be displayed during the service, one from each of the Big Three. A Ford Escape, Chevy Tahoe from GM and a Chrysler Aspen were parked just in front of the choir and behind the pulpit.Via:Reuters, SUVs at altar, Detroit church prays for a bailout But the altar belongs to all of us....
Style Will Save Us Launches On-line Shopping
by Bonnie Alter, London on 12. 9.08
Style Will Save Us is the cool, hip and gossipy eco-website that brings the latest in design, food, clothes and beauty products to the web on a weekly basis. Now , with the introduction of on-line shopping--get ready to look--and spend.
Here's how they describe their new offerings: "uber-styish ethical fashion, eco-chic interiors, slinky sustainable lingerie, green gems for kiddie winkles, cool organic menswear, indulgent organic beauty products, an exciting array of eco-friendly accessories and some real hotties for our eco gift guide." And it's true, there is a great selection of very cool things to choose from for family, friends and you.
...
Greenland Questions Global Warming Controls While Embracing Independence
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12. 9.08
Photo wili_hybrid @ flickr.
There's always an irony or two in the daily news, and today is no exception: Greenland, the world's largest island, is suffering from the effects of global warming at about twice the rate of the rest of the globe (except for Antarctica).
But, Greenland's 56,000 inhabitants recently voted to more thoroughly achieve independence from Denmark. One of the reasons Greenlanders want go beyond the Home Rule system it has been governed under is to get control of the oil and natural gas reserves under the ice sheet that covers more than 80 percent of the country. To many Greenlanders, global warming (which would lead to fewer ice-free days and make drilling for oil somewhat less costly) is considered a good thing!
...
The Mysterious Case of Disappearing Acorns – Squirrels Starving
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 12. 8.08
Image: A hungry squirrel in Virginia (Corbis)Is Mother Nature calling it quits? Along with the baffling collapse of bee populations worldwide to other strange natural phenomena, we can now add the bizarre disappearance of acorns in widespread areas along the eastern seaboard – Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nova Scotia, and even as far away as the Midwest. "I'm used to seeing so many acorns around and out in the field, it's something I just didn't believe," says Rod Simmons, a field botantist based in Arlington, Virginia, where at this time of year, acorns are usually everywhere – either underfoot or falling from oaks. "But this is not just not a good year for oaks. It's a zero year. There's zero production. I've never seen anything like this before." He wasn’t the only one who noticed this odd occurrence: ...
The Onion Explains Carbon Offsets
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
They write: " There are numerous services that allow you to pay into a fund offset your carbon footprint. But how does it actually work?" As only they can, the respectable journalistic source explains the intricacies of carbon offsets. See the whole thing at the Onion...
A Symphony of Recycled Shoes
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
Clever Ways to Reuse PET Bottles
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
Swiss company Recycline has taken a rather interesting PET bottle and turned it into a range of products, from newspaper racks to vases to napkin rings. They range in price from 6 to 120 swiss francs but no doubt the MAKE types will have them knocked off before Christmas. ...
From the Forums: What to Do With Disposable Diapers?
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12. 8.08
Image Credit: wharman
yoohoo44 asks:
We have a newborn and have a cloth diaper service. The problem is we got a few disposable diapers for gifts which came with the packages opened ("a diaper cake" which is pretty sad). So we have quite a few disposable diapers that we don't know what to do with. If we use them, they go to a landfill and sit. If we don't, then they sit and likely wind up in a landfill anyway. Is there any other use that would make more environmental sense or are disposable diapers just bad no matter how they're used?Any ideas? ...
Green Temporary Showroom by Vector Architects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
It is a sort of showroom for a residential project, the likes of which are often built and then thrown away. This one is designed for easy demolition and recovery after use.
...
Transformer Furniture: Trio Sofa Lets You Work And Play
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
TreeHugger loves furniture that serves multiple functions; with Julia Hamid's Trio Sofa you can work, eat, relax, you may never have to get up again. ...
Your Computer Could Save the World While Idling
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 8.08
Big Boxes: Reuse or Recycle?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
A few years ago, Julia Christensen wrote a book about big box reuse. She slept in pup tents or cheap motels to document their conversions into everything from Museums of Spam to gyms to charter schools to megachurches. It is not an easy thing to do, as she told Grist:
"The challenge is size," says Christensen. "It really is hard to find an institution that uses 200,000 square feet of space, and since they're built for single purposes they're hard to use for multi-purposes."...
Get the New Voltaic Solar Laptop Bag at 15% Off!
by Meaghan O'Neill, Newport, R.I. on 12. 8.08
Image courtesy Voltaic Systems.
Would you love to have a solar-powered laptop bag that really works? Here's your chance to get the hottest, most-effective bag on the market (it literally just hit the shelves) at a sweet deal. The new-and-improved Generator by Voltaic Systems uses bleeding-edge technology to charge your computer faster than any other bag out there. With a battery that juices up in as few as five hours, this is by far the most advanced solar-powered laptop bag available.
Read on for more details about how you can get this bag for less through TH Deals.
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1 Gigawatt Solar Power Plant (Plus Factory) Planned For Jordan
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
photos: Amelio Solar
Now here we go! Renewable Energy World is reporting an announcement by the Al-Husseini Group and Amelio Solar that they will be partnering to build a gigawatt scale solar PV power plant and a thin-film solar PV manufacturing facility in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. (Couldn’t resist writing the full name of the country most readers just know as Jordan.)
Here are the details on the power plant and the solar factory:...
7 Greener Options for Give-Away USB Flash Drives
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 8.08
Photo via oooms
Flash drives are becoming extremely cheap, and can hold ever larger amounts of information. In 2002, I “invested” in a 128MB flash drive for $54 from Costco. Just a few months ago at the same location, I picked up a three-pack of 2GB flash drives for a measly $30.
But really all I had to do to fulfill my flash drive need was hold off until the next trade show I attended, where 256MB and even 1G flash drives are handed out as media kits and giveaways; increasingly they're becoming a more popular item for promotional and branding items, or as novel ways to distribute press information. And while it's great to see swag coming in such a tiny, reusable form that helps to cut down on waste from trade shows and in businesses, it would be even better if we saw everyone using the greenest options possible. Luckily, ever more eco-friendly options are popping up. Below, we've gathered up some cool options for earthy drives. ...
Solar-Powered & 80 MPH: Phylla Electric Concept Car Driven
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
image: Fiat
OK, so it won’t be winning any speed records, and frankly I think aesthetically design is a bit wonky (I know, I know, it’ll probably change in production, but it still looks far too Hello Kitty happy bubbly computer icon for me) but the solar powered Phylla electric car was recently unveiled and test driven by some Italian VIP guests at the Turin Environment Park.
Here are the relevant tech stats:
...
Green Eyes On: Handmade Gifts for the Holidays
by Sara Snow on 12. 8.08
Photo: Cláudia*~Assad via Flickr
Flip on the TV and you’ll see commercials suggesting every little thing under the sun is the perfect holiday gift. Turn on the radio, and you're sure to hear ‘round-the-clock Christmas carols. (I’ll admit, I’m one of those people who doesn't mind this, but maybe it’s because I’m not actually listening to a radio for more than an hour a week). Checkout any suburban neighborhood and you’ll see the lights and inflatable lawn decorations are out in full swing. Yes, the season is upon us. And here's an idea: How about making holiday gifts this year? Believe it or not, simple handmade gifts can take no more time than running about town buying them....
YOU Could be the Next Big Thing in the Green Gadget Industry
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 8.08
Energy Efficiency Leads Obama Economic Recovery Plan
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
From the Forums: Apple's Packaging Hall of Shame
by Alan Graham, Portland, Oregon on 12. 8.08
Ordered a small iPod dock for my mother-in-law for xmas, and it came today. When FedEx dropped the package off I had no idea what it was because it came in a huge box. I thought, this thing must be way too big for a nightstand. I opened the box and dug through layer after layer of paper and finally got to the item. I was a bit surprised to see how small it actually was.
I took some photos to illustrate just how bad of a shipping job this was.
See Photos & Share Your Package Nightmare Stories...
New Podcast for Quick Clean-Tech Weekly News
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 8.08
Photo of woman via Christiano Betta
If you’re looking for a quick fix of what happened in clean tech during the week, you might want to check out Sustainable Business’s new webcast that gives a 20-minute zip-through of the hot stories in clean tech for that week. It’s a great way to get the dirt on clean tech happenings for the week, and they already have a pretty interesting line-up of last week’s big stories....
iPhone App Plants Real Trees
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 8.08
Images via A Real Tree
A cool iPhone app called A Real Tree does something very practical for the earth entirely apart from your iPhone. When you purchase the app, you’re actually supporting the reforestation of countries around the globe. ...
Chicken Trucks Leave Trail of Bacteria
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
image source
For all of those who think drafting behind transport trailers is a great way to save fuel, take a pass on the chicken trucks. A new study by scientists at Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that following them can result in elevated levels of bacteria in and on your car, including bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics used to treat humans.
Although the scientists stayed at least three car lengths behind the transports, the National Chicken Council accused them of "tailgating."...
Norway Electric Car Sales Set Records: High Gas Prices Anyone?
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
photo: Th!nk
Unless you've been under a rock for the past few weeks you've heard about the woes of Detroit's car makers. And you may have seen news about German manufacturer's sales declining as well. What's more, sales of the Toyota Prius aren't booming at the moment either (at least according to how some are parsing the stats).
Well, this sort of malaise hasn’t hit sales of small electric cars in Norway however (where gas prices are over $5 a gallon currently) at least if you just go on percentage growth and not absolute sales numbers:...
UK's First 'One Planet Borough' Launched
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12. 8.08
Image credit: Southern Railway
London Suburb Announces One Planet Living Plan
It’s not just their involvement in everything from localized closed-loop paper recycling to decentralized supply chains to massive sustainable housing developments across the world that makes the UK-based Bioregional Development Group special. It’s the fact that each of their projects uses environmental footprinting to form a holistic, detailed and coherent vision of what sustainability might look like, both on an individual and community level, and then sets about creating the services, products and infrastructure that might deliver it. The latest initiative from Bioregional involves a partnership with the borough of Sutton, a suburb of London and home to the groundbreaking BedZED housing development (another Bioregional project), to launch an ambitious plan to become the first “One Planet Borough”. Cllr Colin Hall, Deputy Leader of Sutton Council, explained the thinking behind the scheme:
...
Survey: Are You NIMBY About Windfarms?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
You can barely see the turbines in the photomontage of a Welsh offshore wind farm, (see 750 MW Offshore Wind Farm Approved for Wales) but the chairman of Save our Scenery, who campaigned against the wind farm, said he was "shattered" by the scheme's go-ahead.
One can think of few more benign power sources, yet wherever they are proposed the NIMBYs , even committed environmentalists like the Kennedys, go nuts. Why can't they, like David Suzuki, see the beauty of windfarms?
...
Linen n' Things Could Become Cardboard n' Plastic as Recycling Market Dries Up
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 8.08
Images by Jodi Hilton for The New York Times
Lots of people are worried about what to do with all those empty big-box stores in power malls across North America. Here is a solution: Fill them up with recyclables. There doesn't seem to be much else to do with them right now as the bottom has fallen out of the market for old cardboard and plastic. As the New York Times points out:
The scrap market in general is closely tied to economic conditions because demand for some recyclables tracks closely with markets for new products. Cardboard, for instance, turns into the boxes that package electronics, rubber goes to shoe soles, and metal is made into auto parts....
Gifts of Change: Nau’s Corporate Giving Gets A Boost
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 12. 8.08
With the Global Financial Crisis in full swing, most everyone is tightening their purse strings. It is not just retail sales which are showing a steep downturn, but so too are charitable donations. Not-for-profit organisations rely heavily on philanthropy from businesses, foundations and people on the street for their livelihood. So it’s not a pretty picture for charities right now. Take on example, when the Association of Small Foundations surveyed about 200 of their members, they found that more than half said “they would eliminate support to some charities in order to be able to fully support the rest of their grantees.”
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750 MW Offshore Wind Farm Approved for Wales
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
Map of Gwynt y Môr wind farm: Npower Renewables
The pound may be tanking against world currencies, credit may be scarce, and very real fears of deep economic recession abound, but that hasn't stopped Npower Renewables' plans for a giant new wind farm off the Welsh coast. Approved this week by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Gwynt y Môr wind farm will be located 10 miles offshore from Llandudno, Wales. The tech details (such as they are) are as follows:...
A Rose Is Not Just A Rose Anymore: Cut Flowers Or Guerilla Gardening
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 12. 8.08
(Image from Roses Fabien Ducher)
We all love flowers and here in Japan, you can find a local hanaya-san on every corner. People do love flowers. Problem is, it is getting difficult to know if the cut flowers available are locally grown. The cut flower market is considered to be worth US$7-8 billion in terms of retail value. 90 per cent are traditional varieties such as chrysanthemums, carnations, roses, orchids, and lilies. The chrysanthemum is one of Japan’s national flowers, but where was it grown, or what is the total environmental impact?
Some flower shops are noting an increase in excema and skin problem in workers who are handling the chemical-laced cut flowers.
Similar to certified organic food, there is now a way of knowing how to choose cut flowers from producers that avoid or reduce harmful pesticides or herbicides.
To speed things up, sounds like we need more guerilla gardening, but until then, what is a poor Romeo-san supposed to do, when his Julia-chan could need a little encouragement?...
Move Over eBay... HandMeDowns.com Has Your Babies Needs Covered!
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
Credit to nyki_m
As their website says directly on the front page:
“Hand-me-downs is a new classifieds website for moms (and dads), where you can buy, sell, give away, or donate your new and gently used baby gear, clothing, toys, childcare services, and more. We find the best items from around the web and combine them with our own listings—the next step is up to you!”Sounds great in writing, but what exactly is this new website all about......
Save The Planet And Win: Save What... Win What? Let's Find Out, Shall We...
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 12. 8.08
Credit to FutureWorks PR
Save the Planet and Win is a new website which launched last Friday. It is basically a social network, environmental website, and “Price is Right” all in one. You can participate in this worldwide collective in a variety of ways.
You can get involved in their free environmental promotions, win prizes/points/money, offer tips and videos to others on how they can make small changes in their lifestyle to reduce their carbon footprint. Then you can discuss these ideas with like-minded folks across the world, and oh yeah, did I mention... save the planet while you're at it!
How could you possibly save the world by watching videos of promotions and winning prizes? Well let me tell you......
Christmas Tree Uses Pedal Power
by Bonnie Alter, London on 12. 8.08
Every year the Tate Britain Art Museum commissions an artist to decorate its Christmas tree. Last year's was covered with guns and fighter planes, another was hung upside down and yet another year there was just a note saying the tree had been given to charity. This year's creation by Bob & Roberta Smith has an ecological and recycling theme.
Called "Make Your Own Xmas", it's big, ramshackle wooden structure made of recycled materials, including sandwich boards, tape, signs and an oil drum. Eight bicycles of various sizes have been fixed to stands around the "trunk" (bottom), each holding a generator that is connected to a set of light bulbs that decorate the tree. When happy children and chuckling adults hop on the bikes and pedal hard, the lights go on. With signs urging people to "Make your own power" and "Make your own fun", the artist is showing his subversive sense of humour and making an important point as well.
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Vancouver 'Podmob" Brings The Carrotmob Concept To Sustainable Sushi
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12. 8.08
Photo adactio @ flickr.
San Francisco-based Carrotmob's great idea to organize consumer spending to really work for the environment is leaping and growing all over the globe.
In Vancouver, organizer Emily Jubenvill decided that because she loved and ate so much sushi, getting a local restaurant to highlight the best sustainable choices for sushi was her goal. As an unofficial offshoot of Carrotmob, Jubenvill decided to call her group a 'podmob' and started busily visiting all the sushi restaurants in her West End Vancouver neighborhood to see who would take the bait. She approached 15 restaurants, but very few had heard anything about 'sustainable sushi' - though all were at least intrigued by the idea of a mob of customers showing up on a scheduled day - November 20 - ready and willing to eat a lot of sushi. So what happened?...
Frog and Toad are Friends: A Biodiversity Story
by Josh Peterson, Los Angeles, California on 12. 7.08
photo by PlanMyGreen
A study out of Colorado University finds that biodiversity is good for toad legs. Two species of amphibians, the American toad and the gray tree frog, seem to have a symbiotic relationship. When there are no gray tree frogs in an ecosystem, American toads are more likely to have malformed legs.
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Methamphetamines Pollute More than the Body
by Josh Peterson, Los Angeles, California on 12. 7.08
photo by nathan russell
We all know that methamphetamines are bad for our health. Meth makes teeth fall out. It damages the workings of the brain and causes a slew of psychotic conditions that can last long after a person has stopped using. The consequences of methamphetamines go far beyond health and human tragedy. It can ruin farmland, make houses unlivable and destroy forests.
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End of the Line for American Auto Makers? Paul Krugman Thinks So
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 12. 7.08
On Sunday, a few days before collecting his 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) Nobel Memorial Prize in economics (on international trade patterns), Professor Paul Krugman told reporters he felt the American auto industry will likely disappear.
"It will do so because of the geographical forces that me and my colleagues have discussed, it is no longer sustained by the current economy,” he said.
Commenting on the possibility of a bail-out for the so-called Big Three car makers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, (who are asking taxpayers for $34 billion USD) Paul Krugman suggested this was merely a short term solution, stemming from a "lack of willingness to accept the failure of a large industry in the midst of an economic crisis."...
New Melamine-Detection Program Launched
by Josh Peterson, Los Angeles, California on 12. 7.08
photo by Markhillary
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. recently launched a program that assists governments and companies in the detection of melamine in food products imported from China. In September of 2008, 53,000 Chinese infants fell ill due to melamine contamination in their milk and formula. Because of this, the FDA set forth new regulations in October of '08. The regulations changed the way milk-related imports from China would be dealt with, hence, the new detection program. ...
Largest University Science Center Meeting LEED Platinum Standards Opens
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 12. 7.08
St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, has long attracted students to natural sciences and math with the quality of programs and excellent faculty. The campus was never shabby either, but now St. Olaf has outdone itself with a new science and math building complex expected to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Regents Hall will be the largest university science center in the United States to achieve this coveted green building standard. What are the features that make Regents Hall exceptional?...
Super-Concrete to Store Solar Power in Works
by Josh Peterson, Los Angeles, California on 12. 7.08
photo by billaday
Researchers at the University of Arkansas are working to develop a new way of storing thermal energy in concrete. They were given an award from the U.S. Department of Energy in the sum of $770, 000 dollars as part of the federal government‘s program to create inexpensive solar energy storage. ...
Wall Street Pundits Racing In Reverse: "The president-elect can't have it both ways." - Yes He Can
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12. 7.08
First Arctic Ice-Free Summer Could be in 2015
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 7.08
Image from NASA
It's hard sometimes to make heads or tail of all these gloomy predictions -- what with the projected year always changing (just scan through our previous posts on the subject to see what I mean) -- but, for what it's worth, some scientists are now pegging it at 2015. That, according to David Barber of the University of Manitoba, will be the year when all of the region's sea ice will be gone for the first time. There will still be ice during the winter, of course, but, as Barber put it to Winnipeg Free Press' Kevin Rollason, it will "always be first-year ice"....
Commuter Rail Returns to Baghdad
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 12. 7.08
Image Credit: Saad Khalaf / Los Angeles Times
Commuter Rail Returns to Baghdad
As a result of the significantly improved security situation in Iraq, the Ministration of Transportation has been able to provide a commuter rail service in Baghdad for the last month. According to the LA Times, "the Ministry of Transportation wanted to relieve Iraqis of the chaos of Baghdad's streets, where checkpoints, speeding convoys and almost daily bombings cause massive traffic tie-ups." However, ridership on the train--which " weaves about 15 miles through west and south Baghdad on just two round-trip journeys a day"--has been low, and taxis and scooters remain the most popular mode of transportation.
Still, the Baghdad Metro, as it is being called, may be a sign of urban renewal in Baghdad. At a minimum, a ride on the train reveals much about the state of the country and its infrastructure. Read on for more....
In Cooking Pots Today, Car Tanks Tomorrow: Vegetable-Oil Collection Initiated in Turkish Town
by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 12. 7.08
Photo: Getty Images
As in other Mediterranean countries, olive oil is a staple ingredient in the Turkish diet. The country is one of the world's top five producers of olives and dishes cooked in olive oil (zeytinyağlı) often have their own section on the menu. So, especially in a popular tourist area with many restaurants, a Turkish town is going to go through a lot of oil--and that in turn can cause a host of problems for local waterways.
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Guayaki Yerba Maté Empowers Women In Central America With Direct Purchasing Agreement
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia on 12. 7.08
Image: Guyaki Yerba Maté
Wouldn't you know it? Just as I was about to post something about a great new program from the folks at Guyaki, they decided to offer our readers a special deal at their online store. Serendipity at it's finest.
Guyaki's Yerba Maté is one of the favorite drinks around TreeHugger's virtual break room so we were excited to see them partnering with The Equilibrium Fund to connect with Alimentos Nutri Nutrales, a women owned business based in Ixlu Peten, Guatemala, to directly source Maya Nut for their Java Maté beverage.
Keep reading to find out how the relationship works. ...
Clif Family Winery Introduces Green My Shipment
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 12. 7.08
photo: Clif Family Winery
While buying wine locally is usually a better option, sometimes it's simply not feasible to find high quality wineries close to home. Now Clif Family Winery is making it easier to offset your shipping. We all know what an eco-demon shipping can be and now Green My Shipment can make it just a little easier on the planet. Read on to find out how....
Betting on Biochar to Solve Our Super CO2 Imbalance
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 12. 7.08
Nope, it's not biochar production you are witnessing but Polish charcoal making! Photo ecksunderscore @ flickr.
UN climate talks are bogged down in Poznan, Poland, partly by Polish insistence that a new EU climate deal give them concessions to allow them to keep depending on coal (90 percent of their electricity comes from burning the black stuff) awhile longer.
But as usual, sometimes the news comes not in the climate-talk chambers themselves, but out in the corridors and on the streets. In Poznan, around 700 environmental activists marched through the streets over the weekend demanding negotiators get real in efforts to formulate a post-Kyoto deal. And in a side event, scientist and promoter Johannes Lehman from Cornell University made a push for how plant waste heated at high temps (called "biochar") might be a super-effective CO2 storage method (and less expensive, perhaps, than CCS?). What's exciting is that entrepreneurs have started to see biochar's promise....
The Gas Price Limbo: How Low Can it Go?
by Eric Leech, New York, NY on 12. 7.08
Photo credit to Tim Patterson
What a ride it has been folks... The price of gas in the U.S. was teetering on the $4 mark just a short few months ago, and here some states stand today with $1.90... $1.70... $1.60... dare we say soon to be $1.50. We are making history right now with gas prices having plummeted over half its original value in just the last six months. You'd think folks would be happy, which many of them are, but gas is not quite selling like hotcakes, even at these outrageous prices.
This is because there is another force at work. Many experts are telling us that the good news at the pumps is unfortunately due to some pretty bad news on Wall Street. Among other reasons, much of the amazing drop in gas prices is that old factor of supply and demand. People are staying home more these days, finding their own brand of entertainment, and saving their money for what could become quite a steady length of rainy days....
