Photo via Exclusive Lifestyle. Artist's rendering of the Galactic Suite Space Resort. You think you'd find the Galactic Suite Space Resort in a cartoon, comic strip or kitschy hotel in Disney World, right? Wrong. Whether you like it or not, it's real, and plans to open its super-future-like doors to paying guests in 2012. Don't confuse this hotel however, with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic project, which plans to propel tourists into suborbital space at $200,000 a ride. Galactic Suite Ltd, the company behind the resort, has bigger, more "bling" plans in mind--a veritable space playground for the rich and famous. A three night stay comes at a pretty 4.4 million dollar price tag and begs to question: at what cost for the environment?...

Barney's Simon Doonan and Sesame Workshop's Gary Knell at Fashion Delivers/ K.I.D.S. gala in NYC. Credit: Thomas Iannaccone, Via WWD Fashion Delivers, a non-profit organization that supplies victims of natural disasters with donated product, and Kids In Distressed Situations, Inc. (K.I.D.S.) raised almost $1.2 million dollars at their annual charity gala in New York City Thursday night. Find out which Sesame Street Muppet in attendance asked "If a vegetarian eats vegetables, does that mean a humanitarian eats..?" After the jump. ...

Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com. You don't need electricity to do the laundry. It's as easy as riding a bike. My wife's 90-year-old aunt still washes her laundry by hand, and dries it with a wringer. God bless her. But if you're a little busier, you can keep your clothes clean with pedal power. GreenovationTV has a segment on the low-tech solution....

Images courtesy of Hopenhagen/Ogilvy & Mather. This guest post was written by Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, as part of the Voices from Hopenhagen series. In explaining the genesis of the name "The Beatles," John Lennon famously wrote, "A Man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them 'From this day on, you are Beatles with an A.'" With its roots in such a story, the name of the band came to reinforce some essential characteristics of the thing it was naming: free imagination, inspired irreverence, and a dose of whimsical humility. Name and band were fused - and the John, Paul, George, Ringo foursome by any other name would not have been so sweet. ...

A weekly wrap up of green and socially minded business news from the gang at TriplePundit.com. Warrior Film-making: The Story of Free Range Studios - Startup Friday features the makers of The Meatrix today and the trials and tribulations of launching a media enterprise with a sustainable goal. C.K. Prahalad Q&A: Lessons from the Bottom of the Pyramid - Jim Wiktin had a chance to interview C.K. Prahalad on the 5th anniversary of his seminal work, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Find out what's new! Chocolate Goes Green: Kraft Rolls out Sustainable Sweet Treats - Kraft Foods is known more for junk food than quality, sustainably produced food. But a new partnership with Rainforest Alliance suggests change is in the air for one new brand of chocolate. Barcelona Climate Talks End after a Week of Boycotts - The last meeting on the Road to Copenhagen emphasized the lingering stalemate between rich and poor nations, and the equally unmoving impasse between political factions in the United States. Is there a chance for progress? The Fourth Bottom Line of Sustainability: Perspective - Steven Kenney suggests it's time to put a fourth P alongside people, planet, and profit: perspective....

Image Credit: stevendepolovia Flickr Greenvert writes:

This MSNBC article reports that international negotiators in Barcelona are working on a global climate change treaty. However, it seems they've settled on a political agreement rather than a legally binding treaty, meaning that no one will have to follow the agreement if they don't want to. Aren't we at the point where we need concrete goals, and penalties for harming the environment? Enough of the carrot, break out the stick!

...

In the loop: a botanical garden inside a highway interchange (inset). Photos via Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden (inset) and the Istanbul Governor's Office. A botanical garden inside an "urban void" -- the loop of a busy highway's cloverleaf interchange -- has been recognized by Deutsche Bank as a creative solution to the problems facing residents of Turkey's largest city, and those of other metropolitan areas around the world....

There's so much going on in the modern green movement that it can be hard to grasp where the whole thing is heading, and how bloggers in Australia, activists in Africa, scientists in the US, and so on, are all stitched together. This segment from Current TV offers a nice, straightforward attempt to lay out the battle plan in simple terms. Check it out in the video after the jump....

Photo via Celebrity Gossip Plenty of celebrities are willing to donate their money to green causes, but this week, you can catch up with others who've agreed to donate their time by offering up lunches, set visits, and front-row tickets in auctions for two different celebrity causes. ...

Okay, so you're probably just as tired of seeing Glenn Beck's mug grace TreeHugger as I am--but this is more newsworthy on PETA's end than the never-ending stream of Glenn-Beck-said-something-ridiculous-again. And it's newsworthy because PETA's president voluntarily showed up on Beck's show to join him, uniting for a common cause: making fun of Al Gore. Video of the baffling event after the jump:...

Scientists reconstructed the ancient climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands. Photo: Barry Thomas via flickr. In case you wanted another piece of evidence that current melting in Antarctica is really a product of global warming, researchers of the UK's National Oceanography Centre, Southampton say that the widespread loss of glacial ice in the Antarctic Peninsula is unprecedented in the past 14,000 years:...

Image Credit: ellie via Flickr environmental wakko writes:

I have solar panels...Lately (past week or 2) at least one of the panels are shaded every hour of the day except between 2-4pm. I can see 2, possibly 3 trees that are the culprits for the high degree of shading. The question I have is...is it better environmentally to let these trees stand, or cut them down?

So what do you think? Is cutting down trees to get solar power the right move, or should the trees stand? Join the debate....

Despite 30% Population Growth We always hear about how we're using more of this and more of that, so it is welcome new to learn that apparently the people of the U.S. were using less water in 2005 than in 1975 despite a significant increase in population. Daily water consumption in the U.S. is 410 BILLION gallons of water, and 49% of those are being used for for producing electricity at thermoelectric power plants. Irrigation is 31%, and public use is 11%. "The remaining 9 percent of the water was for self-supplied industrial, livestock, aquaculture, mining and rural domestic uses."...

photo: Felix Francis via flickr. As the last official negotiations before the COP15 climate talks came to a close in Barcelona, progress on REDD forest protection scheme negotiations hit a new low. That's the word from the Ecosystems Climate Alliance, which says several key safeguards, as well as explicit language protecting intact forests, are missing: ...

Alex at Shedworking is expanding into interior design, with this bookcase that opens up to "create an environment which helps us to concentrate and focus," although it won't do much for noise. Alex calls it "shedworkingesque." Designer Rene Siebum won third in the public voting at the Design Academy Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week for it. ...

What do you get when you combine downloadable design (and the internet) and food, and splash in some molecular gastronomy? Just ask Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche: Two renowned chefs, successful restaurateurs, patent-owning mad scientists and celebrated futurists who are bringing their unique, fun, wacky brand of food to Planet Green's airwaves. The new original series, Future Food, will feature these two technology-obsessed chefs looking for solutions to some of the world's most pressing environmental issues from a completely unexpected place - the kitchen. Series host Cantu, and co-host Roche, and their team of chefs / gastronomists at Moto restaurant in Chicago will give viewers an inside look at their world running a real life restaurant business set in a theatre of lasers, chemical powders, flash freezing, meat glue, centrifuges, ion particle guns, liquid nitrogen, and effervescent proteins. In short, they're working with ideas on how to redefine the nature of food....

Mike was positive when he wrote Warren Buffett Makes a $44 Billion (!) Bet on Trains, Buys BNSF; Business Week's Bruce Nussbaum isn't, and calls Warren Buffett's purchase of Burlington Northern a "bet against innovation....Buffett just paid $44 billion for a 19th century technology platform, a railroad, that carries 20th century goods--coal, agriculture, imports from Asia, petroleum. This is a vision of an America mired in the past and in economic and political decline." Buffet says "an efficient and well-maintained rail system" will play a starring role in future prosperity.....it's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States." It is also a bet on the most fuel efficient land-based form of transport; a gallon of fuel moves a ton of goods 155 miles on truck; a train moves it 413 miles. ...

Disneyland sure is a wondrous place--beloved characters, thrilling rides, an entire fantastic world where a child's imagination can run wild. It's fun for the whole family. Unless, that is, you happen to be one of the 5,000 families of poor farmers that are getting kicked out of their homes by the Chinese government so Disney can build its latest Magical Kingdom....

TreeHugger previously showed some of the work of French designers Dans mon Arbre; Industrial designer Benoit Fray worked with them on this project we didn't see in their portfolio. Ecofriend calls it "a sustainable treehouse made from locally sourced wood."...

Full map here: Interactive: The World's Dirtiest Power Plants It's interactive map time! Forbes.com has a really cool map showing 200 of the dirtiest power plants in the world (hat tip to Earth First...) that's worth checking out. Scroll down for some highlights:...

Image via Orianna Helms. You head off to the local market with your grocery list in hand...and then you get there and realize you forgot your bags reusable bags! It's happened to all of us and darn, isn't it so frustrating? Not to mention that so many stores give us money back now if we bring our reusable bags. It would be so much easier if we had a little reminder as we walked out the door, which is exactly why we need these cute DFTB tags....

Image credit: The Eden Project The UK's Eden Project has long had our attention as a Treehugger's wonderland. From the 124 acre biome conservatories, to the rock concerts from Moby, Brian Wilson and PJ Harvey, to the recycled glass flutes they sell, created from bottles at their own restaurant, to hosting the premier of the Age of Stupid—this is much more than your average tourist attraction/conservation exhibit. And the team at Eden has just passed an important milestone—composting over 100 tonnes of its own food waste. As usual with these guys, it's not just what they do, but how they do it....

photo: J. Novak If I were to reference "the big four" in passing you would likely assume I was talking about cars, software companies, or maybe airlines. But unfortunately in this instance you'd be wrong. Scary as it may be, 75 percent of the seeds sold come from four companies, according to Michael Olson from Food Chain Radio. Could you guess which companies they are? ...

It looks like forest, but it's a palm oil plantation... photo: sampsadaily via flickr. Three stories coming in focusing on deforestation, climate change and biodiversity: Scientists point out that when it comes to carbon emissions from peatland loss SE Asia leads the way; development of palm oil plantations on Borneo is threatening several of the world's rarest cats; and (a small bright spot in this) palm oil producers in the rest of the world pledge to not create new plantations on peatlands:...

Image via BBC Earth News Gannets on the island of Malgas in South Africa are in a bit of a pinch. Usually they nest with one parent out fishing, while the other parent guards the chick. However, fewer fish to catch means both parents have to go hunting and leave the chick unguarded. This leaves an opportunity open for pelicans who have adopted a bizarre survival strategy. Rather than fly out to fish for themselves, they're gobbling up the unattended gannet chicks. And BBC film makers have caught the behavior on tape. ...

Photo via No Fact Zone We all know who Stephen Colbert considers to be his most worthy foe--himself. He tells us so every time he does a Formidable Opponent bit, in which he argues with different versions of himself over the topics of the day. Last night, the Stephens took on the global warming debate, with a little help with dual Al Gores. Video after the jump....

Image credit:Earthwatch's program for the HSBC Climate Partnership program Does the looming climate crisis leave you feeling helpless? Apathetic? Disengaged? Disempowered? Well, you're not alone. According to a recent global survey of consumer attitudes to climate change, our optimism that we can avert catastrophic climate change is waning worldwide. The Climate Confidence Monitor research, commissioned by the HSBC Climate Partnership is a survey of consumer attitudes, carried out across twelve countries. Its aim is to gauge levels of concern, optimism, confidence in leaders to take action and personal commitment to tackling climate change. Over three consecutive years that the research has been undertaken, levels of optimism have taken a nose dive across all regions, and are lowest of all among wealthier nations such as the USA and Europe. ...

It's Friday, and therefore time to sit back and enjoy some sigh-worthy beauty compliments of Mother Nature. This is the spatuletail hummingbird - one of the rarest birds, with an absolutely amazing tail...and mating dance. Check out how this little guy manages to fly in order to attract a female. It's stunning. ...

Photo via ynse Talk about a high tech zoo! A new project called the Genome 10K Project wants to collect and sequence the DNA of 10,000 vertebrate species in an effort to shine a light on recent, rapid adaptive changes among the species. By understanding the adaptive and evolutionary changes, scientists believe they'll have a better insight on how species are responding to climate change, higher levels of pollution, and new diseases. The sequencing will not only reveal current changes, but also how the animals have adapted in the past. ...

One dress, 365 days. Credit: The Uniform Project You may remember Jasmin's post on The Uniform Project: One Dress, 365 Ways to Wear It back in May. Booklynite Sheena Matheiken's has made it half-way through the year--191 days on Saturday, to be exact--in one dress and with the help of vintage she's perfected the art of accessorizing. This weekend New Yorkers can borrow Sheena's style--she'll be dressed by rising star Raffaele Ascione-- and dress in black with vintage flare--like the invite suggests--click through for the invite. ...

Photo via Pink Sherbet Photography Electricity gets all the attention when it comes to the smart grid, but not to be ignored is also what a smart grid can do for water consumption. Americans consume twice the world average in water, massive amounts are wasted in households, manufacturing, agriculture, and landscaping - massive amounts that could be conserved through proper monitoring and accounting. Luckily, water footprints are getting increased attention, and a water grid is being zeroed in on by businesses such as IBM who is working on boosting technology behind everything from high tech water pollution sensing to water footprint accounting. . In fact, the water grid could be the next big business concept, set to be a $16.3 billion dollar industry in the next 10 years. ...

Link to video here A while back we showed a Japanese video of How They Store Bikes In Tokyo in crazy multistorey computerized bike parking garage. Now the Guardian picks up the story and shows us a video in English that you can see here. The Guardian describes how it works:...

Photos via Amphibious Architecture The East and the Bronx Rivers in New York are home to a new installation project that offers a "looking glass" into the marine ecosystems of the rivers. The Amphibious Architecture project is a way of connecting humans with the watery world upon which we depend, through an amazing lighting display that reflects the incoming information of attached sensors. As the sensors pick up data on water quality, the presence of fish, and human interest in the water system, the lights tell the story of the interactions and feedback loops are created. An interesting, techy way for fish and people to interact, right? But it doesn't stop there - also thrown into the mix is the ability of humans to text message fish. Yes, text message...and get a response. ...

A worker sprays carbofuran on a tree in Kannenfeldpark, in Basel, Switzerland. Photo by pppspics via Flickr. As of the end of the year, one more pesticide will be absent from food crops grown in the United States. In May the EPA ruled that the current residue limits of the insecticide carbofuran on food crops was too high, and the agency has now decided to fully revoke carbofuran tolerances (more commonly known as residue limits). What this means is no carbofuran residue on a food will be deemed acceptable as of 2010. The move follows in the footsteps of the European Union, which banned carbofuran nearly a year ago. But the U.S. ban isn't all that surprising--it has, after all, been three years in the making....

Image from Elizabeth Hurley You've come a long way baby... Liz Hurley, of the Versace safety pin dress (after the fold for that one) and former girlfriend of Hugh Grant, sigh, (after the fold for him too....) has abandoned the London celebrity scene for the countryside. Not life on just any 400 acre farm, but one that is working and organic, complete with sheep and cattle. But being a farmer doesn't mean that she is letting herself go. She may wear jeans and rubber boots but she is still watching her weight. So she has created an organic snack bar which contains oats from her own fields and is less than 100 calories. Just the thing when you are milking the cows....

Image Credit: donjd2 via Flickr TreeHuggerForever writes:

It seems that lately there have been a lot more stories about coyote attacks on both livestock and people's pets. I know that this is mainly because of human encroachment on wildlife habitats. Still, it is devastating to both farmer's and pet owners...I don't really agree with killing any predators for doing what they are instinctively born to do. If it's okay for humans to kill animals for food, fur and pleasure, then what gives them the right to kill animals that kill for food? But the point is, farmers are losing valuable livestock and people are losing precious pets. What is the solution? Is there one?

So what do you think? Join the debate....

Photo via First Strung A new report from the Friends of the Earth says that cap and trade systems are dangerous. They allow traders to package emissions permits into complex financial products and sell them in bundles--much like they did with subprime mortgages. And we all know how that went. ...

Photo: U.S. Air Force, Public domain I Can See My House From Up Here! The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is quite an impressive piece of hardware. It can stay in the air for more than a day, has a range of 3,400 miles, and at very high altitude (its record is 19,928 meters (65,380.6 ft)). Usually it's the military that would have control over these UAVs, but two Global Hawks have been turned over to NASA for environmental research flights ....

Photo via Esquire We worried about the rise in dumped TVs when the switch to digital in the US occurred back in June. The UK is also switching to digital and figures show a frightening rise in dumped TVs, rising by 70% in the past year, with over half of them being upgradable. But they were dumped instead. As more areas switch to digital over the next two years, including London, just how much more of an impact can we expect, and can citizens be convinced that they don't need to dump their TVs at all?...

photo: David Blaikie via flickr. With all the disappointing news about the UN climate negotiation talk shifting for reaching a legally binding deal in December to one which is merely politically binding, I thought I'd share this rather encouraging piece on analysis from Cleantech Group, which says the outcome of COP15 really doesn't matter much for cleantech investment:...

Al Gore Heads to the Daily Show That's just one of the questions Jon Stewart asks Gore when the former vice president sits down to talk about his new book about finding solutions to climate change. Consider this a companion piece to my earlier post defending Al Gore from the New York Times--and watch Gore prove himself to be the knowledgeable climate spokesman he is. Video after the jump....

Image credit: Siemens/DCI To those following the cutting edge of green transportation, an all-electric motorcycle is not a novel idea. Still, if you want one, you either need to build it yourself, or find a highly-skilled and versatile mechanic willing to do custom work. Siemens wanted an electric bike and, instead of building it themselves, they went to the undeniable experts in custom motorcycles: Orange County Choppers. The American Chopper Green Build will be featured on TLC tonight at 9 pm eastern....

National emissions; interactive version of this map: The Center for Policy Integrity Throughout the summer and we saw all sorts of citizens campaigns in opposition to the climate bill winding its way through Congress, most of which turned out to be in fact organized by one or the other fossil fuel group. Now, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has completed a study showing that that sort of obstructionist lobbying and activism isn't just taking place in the United States, or even just in developed nations, but is taking place throughout the world:...

Photo via Paul and Jill With the future of corals looking grim - grim enough for a proposal to start freezing them for future reintroduction - it's more important than ever to understand what corals need for healthy reproduction. The synchronization behind coral spawning has always been a bit of a mystery. Lunar and solar timing play a factor, but so does another weather pattern. A new study published in London in Proceedings of the Royal Society B explains why corals spawn at varying times depending on their geographical location. They wait for perfect times when regional wind fields are light, allowing some corals to spawn for several months at a time in some locations, or just a handful of nights in other areas. This discovery places increased emphasis on the importance of localized marine conservation efforts for corals. ...

When Trek unveiled the Lime back in 2007, the mission was to bring delightful, non-threatening biking to grown-ups. Some nice validation came last week when the Lime won the 2009 People's Design Award, a subcategory of the prominent National Design Awards. A simple city bike with an upright riding posture, the Lime uses Shimano's Coasting automatic three-speed transmission (a pretty complex system with a very simple user interface) and a back-pedal brake rather than hand levers. The mid-priced bike also packs a clever storage compartment into the bike's seat with enough room for keys, cell, and grocery money....

photo: quinn.anya on flickr From all I can gather, the actual on-paper negotiations are moving this week, progressing in some way towards some kind of agreement. (We'll get to what kind of agreement soon.) But we wouldn't have much way of knowing, since proceedings largely disappeared behind closed doors this week. I've been told by plenty of folks--including two former US negotiators--that I shouldn't complain about the lack of access, because it's the closed-door meetings where things really get done. Still, it's frustrating that an institution that prides itself on openness seems to operate best through closed meetings. The American delegation does seem more confident at this stage that there's an agreement out there to be achieved....

Photo credit: ellievanhoutte via Flickr Farmed fish and seafood has sort of a bad reputation in some green circles. Sometimes -- as with, say, Atlantic salmon -- it's for good reason. But there are a number of cases where farming can actually be a good thing -- for water quality, the health of the fish or seafood in question, and the aquatic environment as a whole. As with lots of food-related issues, location has a lot to do with determining how green the process is; while a farm in the U.S. might be a good option, one from, say, southeast Asia might not, even if the species being farmed is the same. With that in mind, these are the greenest ways to go when it comes to farmed seafood....

Image credit: Hopenhagen.com Editor's note: This guest post was written by Leda Huta, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. The world's attention is finally focused on the harm climate change presents and serious actions are being taken. While we will all feel the heat soon, some of us are already being impacted. Communities living in low-lying coastal areas know the threat is here now. The same holds true for wildlife. While all wildlife will likely be impacted, some are particularly vulnerable—those species already on the brink of extinction: endangered species. Climate change has begun threatening these endangered wildlife, birds, fish and plants. Melting sea ice, warming oceans, shifting life cycles and migration are impacting polar bears, penguins, coral, salmon and migratory birds....

Photo courtesy of Pohan via Flickr. Tonic has your "good news" highlights! Dig in for the best of this week's feel-good treats. Calling all animal lovers! Here's your chance to read up on sexy species and their naughty-time. David Bois highlights the wild ones in "Birds and Bees Do It. (And Fiddler Crabs. And Fruit Bats.)" From sea floors to mountain tops (Everest, to be exact), officials from around the world are going to extreme lengths to spotlight climate change. Check out Katherine Gustafson's "The Highs and Lows of Climate Activism." Go behind the scenes of an amazing charter school in Caroline Walker's "Success from Newark to Rwanda." If only every school were this cool ... More great stories, including how to pamper your puppy and top Halloween costumes, after the jump. ...

Photo via Business Week The green blogosphere has been alight with the startling news of the latest hit job on Al Gore. Startling news of a hit job on Al Gore? What is this, 1999? Gore, and the many people who appreciate the good work he's done have gotten used to deflecting baseless attacks from political opponents, the fossil fuel lobbies, and those who'd like to see the nation go right on polluting. The startling news this time was that the hit job came from the New York Times....

Images via Yanko Design Designer Kitae Pak has come up with a great home accessory concept - a light that looks like a tree when turned on, and a root system when turned off. It's gorgeous, and a beautiful eco-centric idea. And while it looks attractive, it doesn't do much to really hit the bigger picture concept that inspired it. ...

Image by hawkins.matt via flickr. I spend a lot of my time as an advocate. To be able to champion a cause and educate others about the importance and necessity of action at this critical time, I must first educate myself about the reality of the challenges we all face. I need to keep it real. The wake-up call Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, reminds all of us what our challenge is regarding climate crisis and the survival of all species in his newly released book, Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth. Climate crisis is not a destination in our future. It is happening now. I don't like the too-well-proven conclusion that I come to: We must act dramatically or lose civilization as we know it. A bold, overused, uncomfortable statement, I know. But in all my reading and research, this is the book that wakes me up in the middle of the night--not in fear, but with profound clarity: It is time to focus. ...

Thought the Senate climate bill was on hold all thanks to an ongoing three-day Republican boycott of Environment and Public Works Committee activity? Think again. Using some side-stepping parliamentary procedures, committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA), has managed to get the bill passed by a vote of 11-to-1, AFP reports:...

Image via Hammacher Schlemer If I were nine years old again, I'd soooo ask for this for Christmas. It's a learning toy centered on renewable energy. The mad scientist-looking device teaches kids about different types of renewable energy sources, how effective each type of energy source is, energy storage, and even teaches them how to reduce energy consumption at home. And yet, there's a very ironic twist to how part of the device itself is powered. ...

The cold weather is quickly approaching, which means it's time to start thinking about the holidays! Whether it's gift-giving, entertaining, or curling up to a warm biofuel fireplace, WorkingWonders has what you are looking for in the upcoming winter months. And what's better is that WorkingWonders carefully researches everything they offer, selecting only what meets their unique eco-standards, and then they make that information transparent to all of us. The company also offers their very own Green Guide in which they ask their manufacturers to identify within eight categories their products fall into and, based on their information, WorkingWonders then assigns the appropriate green icons to assist us in making better buying choices....

Money to Be Made Replacing Fossil Fuels Wang Chuanfu (in Chinese: 王传福) founded BYD in 1995 at the tender age of 29. Now, 14 years later, BYD is the world's biggest manufacturer of mobile phone batteries and has been working on electric cars for a few years. While it's not yet clear if it will be successful at selling the cars themselves or if they will end up as a battery supplier for other car makers, its potential is undeniable and even Warren Buffett felt he needed a piece of the action (with not one but two investments). All this has reportedly made Wang Chuanfu's personal fortune increase about six-fold to $5.1 billion, making him the richest man in China according to the Hurun Report and Forbes China....

photo: anoldent via flickr. I hate to say this, because pressure absolutely needs to be kept up on politicians in the next few weeks before COP15, but the green community needs to read the writing on the wall and start moving beyond Copenhagen. Despite a few policy notables, all signs point to no legally binding deal in December; and, let's be realistic, no amount of protest is going to align political will with scientific necessity at this point:...

What do You Think? Please Vote in Survey Below BusinessWeek has compiled a list of what they consider to be the 50 ugliest cars of the past 50 years. The inclusion of the Hummer H2 on the list might make some TreeHugger readers cheers, but what about the nomination of the Toyota Prius? Yay or nay? We're curious to know what you think. Please vote in the poll below, and drop us a comment....

I always thought I was most likely to get killed by a "right hook", where a car blithely turns the corner without looking and the cyclist goes under the wheels. I lost a rowing buddy that way. Or the "door prize" where a driver opens a car door without looking to see if anyone is coming up beside them. But a new study of accidents in Fort Collins, Colorado, covered by Cyclelicious, tells a very different story....

Image via Yanko Design City streets could be much more interesting and informative with these manhole covers - a concept dreamed up by Cheolyeon Jo & Youngsun Lee. The covers, called "eco signs," would harvest power from rainfall in order to tell you, just by tapping your foot on its right or left side, information such as where to find the closest subway station or bus stop. ...

Photograph: © Grahm M. Balkany / Gropius in Chicago Coalition, used with permission It is hard to get people excited about saving buildings from the 50s and 60s. But then it used to be hard to get people excited about saving Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, and now Chicago values them above all else. That is why it is so stupid to see the City of Chicago demolish the work of Walter Gropius, one of the most important architects of the 20th century. In twenty years, people are going to look back at this demolition with the anger they do now over the loss of Louis Sullivan buildings in the sixties. Twenty years from now, people are going to wonder how an entire species of architecture was demolished to extinction....

Photo credit: kafka4prez Baking soda to save money AND the planet! 22 ways to use this miracle stuff (oh, yeah, and you can bake with it, too). 5 easy ways to be cycle-chic on the supercheap. These 3 coffees are triple-certified fair trade -- and all of 'em support fun "extra" causes, from bird-friendliness to soccer balls to feminism. More decorations! More cookies! More presents! More shopping! Time to take a breath and plan 10 frugal, healthy meals for November. You're a locavore? Great! Your next mission: Take eating local out of your home kitchen and into the community. What to get the baby who has everything? Durable, green holiday gifts for the under-one set. BlogHer is the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online. Follow us on Twitter (@Blogher), on Facebook, and at BlogHer.com....

photo: abdallahh via flickr. Mark your calendars for November 23rd. That's when the first aviation biofuel test flight with passengers aboard is scheduled to take place, and the first test flight in Europe. Dutch airline KLM has announced that "a select group of passengers" will be ride in a Boeing 747 powered in one engine by a mixture of 50% bio-kerosene and 50% conventional aviation fuel:...

Image credit: Narocroc We TreeHuggers have long been inspired by the Transition Movement's positive response to peak oil. From planting nut trees for food security to launching local currencies, Transition Initiatives are promoting real, boots-on-the-ground action. But they have not been without their critics, arguing that Transition feels like a rebranding of the back-to-the-land movement, or hinting that it is deeply skewed to the left-leaning, hippy end of the cultural spectrum. Now Alex Steffen of Worldchanging has weighed into the debate, claiming that Transitioners exhibit a "casual eagerness for the death of others."...

Printers can be big, clunky machines that spit out more pages than you intended to print. So what if you had a tiny hand-held printer that only put down ink where you waved your hand? For a society going increasingly paperless, a little printer that can handle the rare print job like concert tickets or boarding passes, or a quick document in a notebook sounds ideal. The PrintBrush claims to be just such a solution. ...

Old Lace & Arsenic. The Movie. Image credit:Amazon,dvd. If you eat "burger," there is more to be concerned with than just fat intake, e-Coli, and carbon footprint. In a new addition to the "Who Knew" file at TreeHugger, we just learned that the cows which contributed to your pattie may have been fed chicken poop. Add to that, the fact that chicken poop may be "laced" with arsenic. (Hence the illustration.) You wonder if I'm a crazed liberal environmentalist wacko for writing this, correct? The better question is What Evil Genius Fed Arsenic To The Chickens?. Although it is true that McDonalds and several major chicken brands have recently required their suppliers to drop the arsenic supplements from chicken feed, arsenic is still purposefully fed to chickens in the USA. LA Times reports on the practice of feeding cows chicken poop: but from the angle of added Mad Cow Disease risk. That particular risk would be pretty low on my Chicken Little, Sky-Is-Falling list. (You see, I'm not as crazed as you think.)...

Image Credit: World Economic Forum via Flickr stomped writes:

I wrote a blog about the amazing turn of events for Al Gore Financially last week and people have been giving me guff about it. Its like we can't call into question someones motives even if they welcome it. I'm not blatantly attacking Al Gore because he makes money off of Global Warming, I simply find it intriguing that he is making so much money from global warming.

So is Gore an eco-saint or a profiteer? Join the conversation....

Yesterday the exhibition Bits 'n Pieces launched at Material Connexion in New York, a dialogue between the analog and the digital technologies within design in a post-digital era. What grabbed our attention in the busy space during the opening, were the insects doing graphic design! A sophisticated machine transformed the movements of a few bugs into beautiful patterns and logos and printed them out as fast as the insects performed. ...

Photo via Jaymi Heimbuch For years, New York City has been working to toughen up electronics recycling laws, and for years the electronics industry has been less than thrilled. The city has gone forward with a plan that requires electronics manufacturers to offer free door-to-door pick-up service of used devices. However, electronics companies say this too expensive, too labor intensive, and too annoying - so they sued. Now, government officials from across the nation are asking the electronics industry to drop the suit, saying that it's not about a troublesome e-cycling regulation, it's about trying to take power away from the states to regulate e-waste....

In his post When Given the Chance, Will Consumers Pay More for Green?, Tom Szaky says "I've presented before groups of all sizes, viewpoints, and interests, from the biggest of corporations to the hippiest of the hippie, and the result is the same: I ask, if you had two similar products of equal efficacy, one green , one non green, the first costing $1, the second costing $1.05, which would you buy? 5% raise their hand for the green product." Yet I consistently pay more for products that often don't work as well as the cheaper, non-green products, to avoid toxic chemicals that I don't want in my house. ...

Curatorial spring/summer 2010. Credit: Well Made Phrase Following the success of LA-based Popomomo, Lizz Wasserman has transformed vintage and deadstock fabrics into contemporary designs under the label CURATORIAL. Lizz hand picks the vintage fabrics--that follow suit with season trends in patterns and color--and designs one-of-a-kind and limited edition pieces at lower price points. ...

Image courtesy of Lav & Kush Candian-based Lav & Kush is showing relaxed dresses--ideal for day and travel--in colorful prints that follow trends in sustainable fabrics--Modal, Tencel, soy, bamboo jersey--for spring/summer 2010. We talk shop with Designer Angela Saxena--currently showing her designs at Vancouver Fashion Week--on innovate fabrics, fair trade, and fashion--after the jump--and show photos from her collection. ...

Lambert/Archive Photos/Getty Images Two new bits of research: A new study by members of the Reproductive Toxicology Branch of the EPA did not find any evidence that Bisphenol A (BPA), was a "gender bender" in female rats. BPA "Does not Alter Sexually Dimorphic Behavior, Puberty, Fertility and Anatomy of Female LE Rats" (Abstract here, via Stats.org) This is particularly good news in the light of the Consumers Union's recent report that showed leaching of BPA from canned food, as reported in Calorie Lab. The worst product, Progresso Vegetable Soup, had BPA content in the range of 67 to 134 parts per billion. These are levels comparable to those found in the polycarbonate bottles that we have all been dumping like mad. ...

Phillies fan bicycle helmet. Image credit:MLB Phillies Shop The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition reports, based on a US Census survey, that Philadelphia is ranked number one among the ten largest US cities for bicycle commuters per-capita. Per the Census data, 1.6% of Philly commutes are estimated to be by bicycle. Poor New York City came in at 6'th place (0.6%). "Philadelphia also tied for 10th among the country's 60 largest cities and the second highest percentage among east coast cities (only Washington DC has a higher percentage). Philadelphia's percentage of commuters who bike is nearly three times the national average of 0.55%." Look below for the rankings for all ten of the largest US cities.q...

All eyes are on the city of Barcelona this week, as the last round of climate talks take place before the campaign roadshow moves onto to its final destination in Copenhagen in December. So what advances have the international delegates made this week? Well progress looked doubtful when 50 African nations staging a boycott, as Matthew McDermott reported, but thankfully they rejoined the discussion after making their point for 24 hours. We tour the blogosphere to see what else has been going on at the talks in Barcelona this week....

Todd Stern and Hillary Clinton (Photo: EPA) The head US climate negotiator, Todd Stern, and Sen. John Kerry have announced that they are giving up hope of reaching a deal for a new climate change pact at next month's meeting in Copenhagen. The move comes as world leaders are meeting in Barcelona to finalize negotiating text in advance of the December meeting in Copenhagen. Without the US's participation, there is no hope for a treaty that will result in capping emissions any time soon....

See the bee? Aim the pee. Photo Sfegette via flickr. Chasing negawatts, the energy that you don't use, is a popular pursuit these days for cash-strapped states, and California is turning out to be excellent at it. Negawatts (a term Amory Lovins came up with) can offer a lot more bang for the buck, so to speak, then building new power. And asSteve Fleischli at HuffingtonPost reports, when faced with choosing a $550 million salination plant that would require lots of water and lots of power but produce fresh water, or a Coastal Restoration $187 million project to swap out 455,000 existing urinals for waterless alternatives and save water and generate negawatts, California's choice would seem to be, well, clear. ...

Image from Mail online London's cycling mayor, Boris Johnson, is the "knight on a shining bicycle" after he foiled three girls who were attacking a woman late at night. The victim, director of the film The Age of Stupid , was walking home when she was pushed up against a car by 3 young female hoodies with an iron bar. She called out for help to a passing cyclist, and much to her surprise it was the Mayor! He chased after the girls, calling them "oiks", a unique english word for obnoxious people. They dropped the bar and took off. He then went back to the woman who was one of the creators of the 10:10 campaign and insisted upon walking her home. He said that he ended up having a very good chat with her about the environment....

This week is Carnival of the Green #201 and it's being hosted by ooffoo, where you can reuse, recycle, swap, sell, giveaway, write and even blog - all in one site! Not to mention their recipes, eco-tips, and debates! So head on over to this weeks Carnival which includes a round up of green news and events from the past week and your best green tweets, submitted by other bloggers and green sites. From biofuel fireplaces and going solar to homemade Pico de Gallo - enjoy! We are now accepting host requests for 2010! Read on to find out how to host....

Image credit: Opportunity Green "The world can no longer afford business as usual," stands in bold at the center of the Opportunity Green website. The Opportunity Green Business Conference, to be held at UCLA from November 7 through the 8th, is about "being green and being profitable." It's about new approaches to business that take advantage of collaborative culture and unconventional ideas. It's about ingenuity and redirecting business to include the triple bottom line while maintaining profitability. It's an impressive set of goals, but the conference has a lineup of speakers and panelists to meet them....

Photo via Washington Post Ever since Obama's stimulus bill was first announced, false rumors an melodramatic criticism (Bobby Jindal and his made-up train to Disneyland, anyone?) have spread like wildfire--and they haven't let up yet. Opponents of the presidents' agenda seem to have made a hobby of finding a project that could potentially sound funny to the public, and declared it as 'wasteful.' You're probably familiar with the drill. Well, the White House has just hit back, cleared up some of the top myths about the stimulus bill . . ....

Image courtesty of TerraCycle We just began an interesting experiment at TerraCycle: Opening our first retail outlet and giving people a place to bring in what they'd normally mail to us as part of our collection Brigades. But that's not the most interesting part. We've decided to see what people will do when given the chance to pay whatever price they want for products. In this economy, will people intentionally undercut the price? Will they, unaware of what we really charge, which, whenever possible, is the same or lower then comparable non-green products, actually overpay for their purchase? Or, might they, knowing we're a company working hard to make as sustainable a product as possible, make a point to pay more as a show of support? ...

Image Credit: stevendamron via Flickr Natural_Rx writes:

Nikola Tesla should, in theory, be a modern-day hero considering the inventions he brought to the world, mentionable with names such as Edison, Einstein and Newton. But given the increasing momentum of the green movement in society, could he also be considered an environmentalist's hero? Consider this: * He invented alternating current, which allows for the transmission of any electrical energy, including solar, wind and hydro. In fact it was Tesla and George Westinghouse who constructed the first hydroelectric system at Niagara Falls. * He invented the basic electric motor, a design still used today, powering many forms of transportation with no emissions at the tailpipe, including the emerging car company named after him. * Wireless communication is used to communicate with the world vs. physically travelling all the time.

So what do you think? Does Tesla deserve a spot in the eco hall of fame? Join the debate....

photo: Christa Uymatiao via flickr. With the needle of expectation tilting towards no full climate deal being reached in Copenhagen, two of the most prominent voices in the climate change policy world -- Lord Nicholas Stern and Dr Rajendra Pachauri -- maintain that a global agreement is still possible in six weeks:...

Photo via Flickr Like a Needle in a . . . Just how good has GPS technology gotten? Good enough that it can be used to pinpoint the exact location of a handful of tiny ants in a massive forest. And British conservationists are taking advantage of this technology to track down 69 ultra rare ant nests--amidst tens of thousands of trees that are about to be cut down. ...

A quick round-up from our pals at GOOD: We began the week by applauding the monumental, grassroots climate-action events mobilized by 350.org, receiving a lovely email from Paris, and viewing another Brooklyn on a wall. We learned how technology can ease traffic, that pop-up education can really inform, and in which countries murder is most and least prevalent....

The Wave at Stop Climate Chaos Coalition This is a relatively benign stunt by the standards of the Stop Climate Change Coalition, which has stirred up excitement with a nude climate change calander and in the context of Copenhagen, where one group plans to get 10000 people arrested in a climate change protest. But it is cute, and fun, and certain to succeed at the intention to "drive traffic to the-wave.org.uk where people can find out how to get involved in the march, as well as spread the word to friends and family". So what's it all about? ...

Photo via NY Daily News Some 63% of the world thinks so. A survey by HSBC questioned consumers from countries as disparate as the US, Brazil, Malaysia, Germany, and India about the importance of tackling climate change in relation to other pressing social issues--and the results are fascinating. For instance, the majority of people felt that mitigating climate change is as important as fighting crime. Check out the illuminating graphs after the fold. ...

SoA Architects- the future of farming? Philip Proefrock and TreeHugger emeritus Hank Green are no fun at a party, if it is a party like the one designers and bloggers like us have been having on the subject of vertical farms for the last five years. From Mike's first post in 2005 (showing SoA Architectes iconic tower) to Romses Architects Harvest Green, we have been collecting them. They are wonderful images, visions of a green future of hyperlocal food. But Philip and Hank throw cold water all over them, saying Let's Make This Clear: Vertical Farms Don't Make Sense We have occasionally noted that they are perhaps a bit "pie in the sky", quoting Adam Stein of Terrapass: ...

Since the leveling of forests is linked to everything from sneakers to burgers to biofuels, it's refreshing to find a furniture shop souring all of its timber from reclaimed sources. Urban Woods hand makes all its pieces in Los Angeles from wood that was milled between 50 and 100 years ago. Aesthetically, these are down-to-earth collections, more refined and tame than Hugo Franca's gnarly masterpieces, or even Carlos Motta's rustic reclaimed recliners....

Image credit: David Burdeny/Young Gallery David Burdeny is an architect and interior designer. He is also a skilled photographer. His iceberg series shows that these frozen giants are far more than platforms for penguins: They are floating sculptures that are becoming increasingly endangered. ...

photo: Perrimoon on flickr Well that's settled. There won't be a Senate bill before Copenhagen. Which means a lot of things: the US won't have concrete numbers on mitigation targets and finance commitments before COP15 convenes; the difficult job of the American negotiators just got even harder; the international community has even more cause to accuse the US of coming up short; the chances of a fair, ambitious and binding deal coming out of Copenhagen have taken a serious blow; and finally, any hope for the talks to succeed depends on a dramatic shift in how the State Department approaches the negotiations....

photo: Hermanus Backpackers via flickr. Mongabay is pointing out a really pretty cool piece of shark research from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: The great white sharks along California's coast were previously thought to roam far and wide, but we now know that the California population is distinct and hasn't mixed with other white sharks for tens of thousands of years:...

Carbon allowances and cash flows in the oil sector Image credit:Point Carbon Research The above diagram is reproduced directly from Monday's report from Point Carbon. They're estimating a rough average of a 5% increase in gasoline price at the pump (around 15 cents per gallon at today's prices) from Cap & Trade. Read on for news about who will be the corporate revenue winners and which facilities will be the operating-cost losers, when and if a Cap & Trade bill, as in it's present configuration, would be enacted. ...

Photo courtesy of Sunkist I've always been curious about how green it is to pick up a piece of organic fruit that has two or three different stickers pasted onto it. Each piece of fruit in the pile sporting several stickers has got to add up in terms of material waste and a little boost in the carbon footprint. So, would laser etching be a greener, safer alternative? While it's been approved in a variety of countries, it has yet to make it into the US. ...

Design rendering of Rice Solar Energy Project via Solar Reserve The problem with solar power plants is, of course, that they're rendered useless on cloudy days and at night. But news broke a while back that a process of storing solar energy in molten salt was being considered to help make solar power plants more commercially viable. Now, it looks like that technology is about to be put into action: a California company has filed an application to build a 150 megawatt solar plant that will store 7 hours worth of the sun's energy in molten salt--allowing it to provide power nearly around the clock....

Philips Design We love vertical farms on TreeHugger, but some question whether they make any sense. But perhaps if they were downsized and brought into our homes they might be just what we need. "This Biophere home farm contains fish, crustaceans, algae, plants and other mini-ecosystems, all interdependent and in balance with each other."...

photo: PetroAlgae And then there were five... Indian Oil Corporation has become the fifth major oil company to stake a claim in the world of algae biofuels. IOCL has a signed a memorandum of understanding with Florida-based PetroAlgae to license micro-crop technologies for "future large-scale production of renewable fuels."...

Images by Tim Mitchell The Ministry of Trying to Do Something About It sounds like a fantastical invention that's just flown straight out of a Harry Potter novel, but in fact it's a collaboration between the excellent New Economics Foundation and inspiring artist Clare Patey. This newly formed Ministry revealed itself at The Bigger Picture, a recent event organised by NEF which took place on the International Day of Climate Action just up the river from where Londoners gathered to create the number 5 of 350.org. ...

Inhabitat shows a lovely coffee table made from a recycled bowling alley by designer/woodworker William Stranger. This is not an easy task; I worked with bowling alley floors many years ago, and it can be a challenge, because of the weight and the way they are made....

Photo: AOPA With 2 People on Board (Unlike Photo Above) Klaus Savier likes to have his cake and eat it too. Usually with airplanes, speed and efficiency are a tradeoff. You go slower and burn less fuel, or you go faster and burn more fuel (all else being equal). This is why it is impressive that Mr. Savier won this year's Fuelventure 400 in his modified VariEze (originally designed by the famous Burt Rutan) by getting 45 MPG at 207 MPH, and this with two people on board (and for those wondering, there were no massive tailwinds or anything of the sort)....

Considering the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is among the biggest events in electronics worldwide, it never seems too early to start talking about it. Especially when they issue a press release stating that they're expanding the Sustainable Planet green gadget section by over 40% from last year. Not that it'd be tough to do. Last year the Sustainable Planet section was practically impossible to find, and LG's booth right next door was practically the same size. So...what are the improvements CEA intends to make this year to ensure greener gadgets get the attention they deserve? ...

On Climate Change, "China has to say, this is my problem, and my solution" For more than two decades, Dr. Yang Fuqiang has been a participant in the energy and climate change discussion in and around China. His career began as a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission, the Chinese government's main economic planner, and continued for three decades in the realm of energy and the environment. Formerly head of the Energy Foundation's China office, he is now director of global climate solutions at the World Wildlife Foundation. We spoke with him recently in Beijing, before he left for the Barcelona round of climate talks. Look for the second half of our interview, about China's domestic efforts to tackle climate change, later this week. TreeHugger: President Obama comes to China this month. What kind of impact do you think his visit will have on climate change policy between the two countries? Yang Fuqiang: The question is will the Chinese government give him a gift. Because Obama has to give the Congress, the Senators, a sense of what China is doing, and what China is doing can boost Congress to move forward. ...

photo: Wagner T. Cassimiro via flickr. New research published in Nature Geoscience shows that the oft-used figure for the contribution of deforestation towards total carbon dioxide is a bit too high. Rather than 20%, as was estimated by the 2007 IPCC report and which would mean that deforestation emissions were greater than the global transport sector, a more accurate estimate is 12%:...

Image Credit: jdn via Flickr TreeHuggerForever writes:

I was going to start buying those energy saving florescent lightbulbs but a fellow environmentalist friend told me that those are worse due to the mercury in them, especially when thrown in landfills when they finally die. What are your opinions? What kind of light bulbs are the best way to go? The ones that die out quickly and waste energy or the ones filled with poison?

What do you think? Join the discussion. ...

Photos: Luddista. It might not be a first, but you have to give this couple credit for marrying on a bike in a city where traffic is so heavy that even pedestrians beat cars. Priscila Teixeira and Willian Cruz were married last week in Sao Paulo and they organized a group biking trip to the city hall. As strong bike activists, they invited everyone who wanted to join with only one condition: they had to ride to the place. Take a look at more sweet pictures inside and get inspired!...

Architects Stephen Guthrie and Lindy Atkin of Bark Design Architects designed this steel, glass and plywood building to act as either a house or a studio in New South Wales, Australia. They describe it as a showcase of the Barks design approach and provides an inspiring work environment."...

Image credit: REM eyewear Only the other week I posted about an innovative project to integrate solar power with food production, and while the photo-shopped graphics for that post may have left something to be desired, a new installation may give a better idea of what's possible. In what's billed as the "first, cable-suspended free span solar energy system" REM eyewear and P4P Energy have created a patented system that could help expand the potential for integrating solar with other types of land use. ...

Credit: G.L. Kohuth, Michigan State University We've heard a lot about robotic fish over the last year, including that they'll patrol for pollution, and gather information to monitor climate change in the oceans. Michigan State University researchers are bringing another version of a robotic fish to the scene, having just received funding to move the project forward. However, these fish have some very life-like features. ...

You can't easily take Collin's slideshow into a restaurant, but you can take the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Super Green List of seafood that is low on contaminants, high on Omega 3 and not endangered. ...

The Creative Places + Spaces conference was based on the theme of the Collaborative City, to develop "guiding principles on what cities and communities need to do to foster creativity through collaboration." David Buckland, founder of Cape Farewell, didn't have a lot to say about cities and communities, but he certainly knows a thing or two about collaboration. He takes artists, writers, scientists, educators and the media, sticks them all into a boat and takes them into the Arctic to see climate change first hand. ...

The female executives of Gucci Group. Credit: Frederike Helwig, via WSJ The Rainforest Action Network has announced that Gucci Group--including high fashion houses--Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga--has pledged to reduce the amount of paper it uses, eliminate fiber from high conservation value forests, and purchase only recycled products--or those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council--by December 2010. Click through for our video with RAN's Forest Campaign Director, Lafcadio Cortesi and model and activist Summer Rayne Oakes. ...

Image via Ubergizmo This is a great one for our UnTreehugger category. It's a device that does just one thing, just one thing that any smart phone or computer can do for you, just one thing that no one really needs a device to do. It checks your Twitter account. ...

Eight jet contrails from exhaust vapor mess with radiation balance. Photo by Jasmic via Flickr No, we are not saying air travel is green. But some airlines are a lot greener than others. In fact, in this arena, the difference between 'eco savvy' and 'who cares' is much more drastic than in most industries--you're looking at 418 billion pounds of carbon emitted annually by airplanes, enough aluminum cans from beverage services to build an entire new fleet each year, and contrails causing "climate forcing. The good news is some airlines, like Virgin America, are making strides to green the industry. Greenopia ranked U.S. carriers' environmental record, noting big differences with older fuel-inefficient fleets. There are also times planes can be greener than car or train trips. So who's not up to snuff? Here's the offenders, with number seven being the worst of the worst....

Photo credit: XS Labs This trio of human-powered dresses convert kinetic energy from movement into electricity. A solar-powered, vintage-inspired brooch might appear to be a design contradiction, but this subtle stunner is still a winner. Made from recycled cassette tape, these nondescript-looking ties can be "played" when you run a tape head over them. Clothes that generate heat from your sweat? Jimmy Carter would approve. Timbuk2's new solar-panel messenger bags are almost too cool for school, but they'll turn into a lantern at night if you need to hit the books after dark. Made from recycled soda bottles, Zegna's solar-powered jacket can power an iPod or cellphone without making you look like a dork. After harnessing power from the sun, the tiny LED bulbs on this photovoltaic-cell necklace light up like a string of pearls. Ecouterre is a website devoted to the future of clothing and textile design. We're dedicated to showcasing and supporting designers who not only contemplate cut, form, and drape, but also a garment's social and environmental impact, from the cultivation of its fibers to its use and disposal. Follow us on Twitter @ecouterre or join us on Facebook....

Image via Designboom Designer Mitchell Whitelaw has created a very cool bracelet based on the pattern of 365 days of weather in his home town. The varying temperatures form the curves of a 3D wearable piece of art. Can you guess what the holes are?...

The Pirin mountains are among Bulgaria's threatened natural habitats. Photo by Marin Nikolov via Flickr. Come December, the European Council will assess Turkey's slow, sometimes stumbling efforts toward EU accession. If the country gets a decent grade, the next chapter of negotiations to be opened is likely to be the one dealing with environmental issues. And if neighboring Bulgaria's recent experience is any indication, the European body won't be letting Turkey off easy....

Image from The British Monarchy Tonight Her Majesty The Queen is serving the first-ever vegan meal at Windsor Castle to the Alliance of Religions and Conservation. Included in the royal banquet for 200 people are high-profile representatives from nine different faith groups. The guest list includes the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa, President of the All Africa Conference of Churches. They are gathered together to discuss long term initiatives to "Protect the Living Planet." In keeping with the gravity of the occasion, the royal dinner has to be as ethical, faith-consistent and environmentally-friendly as possible. The castle's regular caterers weren't quite up on the latest in glamorous food for vegans so a cookery writer from the Telegraph was called in to consult. ...

We've been following Stephanie Bernstein's company, To-Go Ware, over the past few years and have seen the company expand its product lines to offer a wide range of products for life "on the go." With re-usable food carriers, utensils, and convenient bags to tote your lunch to school or work, there isn't any excuse to send disposable to-go plastics off to the landfill again!...

Photo via DOE The initial reaction to news that the Oracle from Omaha was investing billions of dollars in BNSF railway was positive--Mike noted that it could lead to a number of positive developments: potentially more passenger rail lines, a higher profile for railroad transportation in general, and further investment in other rail lines from other finance big guns. But there's a downside to his purchase as well--the rail Buffett bought transports some 1/5th of America's coal. Is Buffett's investment therefore a bet that coal will need to be shipped into the foreseeable future?...

photo: susteph via flickr. A new study of the effect of land use changes on surface temperatures demonstrates what anyone who lives in a city intuitively knows: Urban areas are hotter than the surrounding countryside -- the heat island effect has been well demonstrated for a while -- but what's interesting is that researchers have found a switch from forest to agricultural land actually has a cooling effect:...

Photo credit: NOAA Finding sustainable seafood has always been about balancing the health of a given fishery with the health effects of consuming that fish. Some that can be sourced sustainably are also high enough on the food chain that they accumulate toxins in their flesh, transferring those to us humans when we eat them. The Super Green List from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program balances the two considerations, providing a list of the healthiest seafood that comes from sustainable sources. ...

Image Credit: LaMenta3 via Flickr dballisonnyc responds to this post, about a conservative invasion of TreeHugger:

Another post points out how there seems to be republican bloggers filling this board with antienvironment posts...I would like to say to all republicans visiting this site welcome. If there ever was an issue that shouldn't be red or blue, it's the environment. But please take a few minutes to read opposing point views while you're here. I have had my opinions changed by well argued posts and if you, and everyone else, tries reading with an open mind you might as well.

So what do you think? Join the conversation....

"I think this is the decade that it's all going to come together." I don't know if it's going to have the same effect on you, but this video made me hopeful that things are changing. There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's finally a solid movement for walkable and bikeable cities, and it's good to see that NYC is getting on board because whatever happens there will be seen by everybody else around the US and the world. In the video, the Streetfilms crew and Rep. Blumenauer (who sometimes bikes to the White House) ride around town and look at some good and bad bike lanes, and discuss the future, including the upcoming transportation bill. Via Streetfilms. See also: UK's Cycle to Work Guarantee: Good Idea, But Doesn't Go Far Enough......

photo: adopt a negotiator via flickr As the last round of "intersessional" climate talks before Copenhagen opened yesterday in Barcelona, all eyes were looking in the same direction they were when we left Bangkok three weeks earlier: at the United States. Without American numbers on mitigation (or emissions reductions) and finance (for developing nations to build their own clean energy economies, and also to adapt to the impacts of climate change), any real forward progress in the talks is just about impossible. "We need a clear target from the United States in Copenhagen," urged Yvo de Boer, who's charged with steering this UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) process to some kind of December resolution." "That is an essential component of the puzzle." The problem is that the U.S. isn't putting anything out there. At least not yet. Not while the Kerry-Boxer bill limps through Senate subcommittees back on Capital Hill....

Should Shipping on the Yangtze be Made Safer and Cleaner? Even when everything's going according to plan, cargo ships can be major sources of air pollution (see "Just 15 of the world's biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as all the world's 760m cars"), but when things go wrong and they're carrying dangerous chemicals, things can degenerate quite a bit. Chinese workers are currently trying to clean up two spills that took place on the Yangtze River this week (oil was spilled in one case and hydrochloric acid in the other)....

A group of architects from Argentina have come up with a project called Orchard House, which proposes the implementation of vertical gardens in shanty towns to provide local people with food and improve the visuals of these villages. The idea is to teach people how to build a series of 'productive modules', with metal structures and different types of coverage that allow the growing of small vegetables. By providing them with the tools and knowledge, people could then build their own houses or structures on their own....

Image credit: Tour de OG/Opportunity Green Business Conference When CEOs of the Big Three had to take a trip to Washington to ask for a public bailout, they took private jets. Several attendees of the Opportunity Green Business Conference are taking a lesson from this misstep: Instead of driving or flying, they're cycling from San Francisco to LA for the event. And you can join them....

Photo via schizoform Earthworms in Britain are seeing their turf taken over by a European species that is better suited for warmer, drier climates...the type of climate we're seeing more of thanks to global warming. At Whitley Wood in the New Forest, the change in the ecosystem has made it too much of a battle for native earthworm species to keep European invaders at bay. As non-native earthworms continue to make their way to Britain, hitching rides with imported plants, the balance of species will continue to shift. ...

Photo via Luxist It's one thing to live in a $325,000 McMansion yourself--but to build one just for your pets demonstrates a brand new level of excess. A brand new level excess that perhaps can only be reached by Paris Hilton. See, Hilton built this two-story, air-conditioned, designer furniture-decorated, heated, and black crystal chandelier-boasting miniature mansion for her dogs. Yes, Paris Hilton's dogs live in a more expensive, decadent, and consumptive house than millions of Americans do. More pics after the jump....

That's Quite a Nice New Toy You Got There, and It's Not Even Xmas Has the Oracle of Omaha seen the future? If so, it seems to include more trains, because Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's investment vehicle, decided to buy the remaining 77.4% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway that it didn't already own, and the price tag wasn't small: 44 billion dollars when cash, stock and debt are included. Mr. Buffett says that he's betting on "the United States", because "railroad operators cannot do well unless American businesses were producing goods and customers were buying them." But is it possible that he's also betting that relatively fuel-efficient trains will play a bigger role in the future of transportation?...

Photo via Nickjohnson India is drowning under 420,000 tons of e-waste a year. And while it isn't clear which percentage is generated within India and which percentage is imported, what is clear is that the number is growing about 10-15% each year. If the number doesn't mean much on its own, put it next to this: Pollution control officials says there are only six regular recycling units in India, with an annual capacity of 27,000 tonnes. ...

Despite the recent bipartisan support garnered from some Republican senators, progress on the Senate climate bill has been stalled by a group of others led by Sen. James Inhofe. Inhofe is the Senate's most vocal climate change denier, and he's convinced other GOP Senators to throw a wrench into the climate proceedings--by simply refusing to show up and cast a vote in committee. ...

photo: © thebigmonkey via flickr. A 35-mile long volcanic rift in the Ethiopian desert that opened up back in 2005 has been confirmed as likely being the beginning of a new sea. That's the word from an international team of scientists, whose work has been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters: ...

Image via Sahara Meteorite Prospecting I recently returned from the Do Lectures in Wales, a collection of talks given by visionary people who've decided to put their ideas into action; to "do." I walked away inspired by nearly all of the lectures, but there was one lecture in particular that got my design juices flowing. It was given by Michael Pawlyn, architect and co-founder of the Sahara Forest Project....

The monitor lizard is under threat due to habitat loss and hunting by humans for food. All images: ICUN. The latest update to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is in and if you were expecting good news prepared to be disappointed. Of the more than 47,000 species surveyed, about 17,000 are at serious risk -- of those 21% of the world's mammal species, 12% of birds, 28% of reptiles, 30% of amphibians, 35% of invertebrates, 37% of freshwater fish and 70% of plants:...

Image via Akihabara News Cold weather is rolling in and we're all starting to think about how to keep warm while walking down the street - but without giving up the ability to listen to music, right? MusiPhones offers a solution - headphones built into ear muffs. We have another solution... ...

This guest post is written by author and activist Ed Begley, Jr. as part of our Voices from Hopenhagen series. Earlier this month I attended a sustainability conference at the University of South Florida to speak about green technology. I'm a strong proponent of green tech for anyone who can afford it, having spent the last 40 years working toward achieving a smaller and smaller eco-impact for myself. (I've lived a slower and less expensive life going off the grid, and I'm happier because of it.) While I was there, a class of first-graders from a neighboring school gave me a book they'd made called Earth, Earth, What Do I See? On each page, they'd written and illustrated ways to go green. It was powerful for obvious reasons: here were twenty-some children who wanted to affect the world in a positive way. But it was also incredibly inspiring, because it was symbolic of the kind of shift that's happening right now in the environmental arena, a clear illustration that "going green" is not just a trend or something for the elite, that it's a reality that people are increasingly embracing. ...

Image via Portable Light iTEACH Blanket Project Page Sounds like a strange mix, but a blanket that sports solar power could help improve health care in Africa by allowing those people without electricity to charge cell phones, which are used to send and receive text messages with health information for people with HIV and Tuberculosis. It's called the Portable Light iTEACH Blanket, and it wants to save lives. ...

photo: derekkeats via flickr. As if Zimbabwe didn't have enough problems: The Economic Times forwards on the news that Zimbabwe's director of national parks has told a parliamentary committee that one-quarter of the nation's rhinoceros population has been killed by poachers, just in the last three years:...

Photo via Rojer Could cradle-to-cradle design become law? The beginnings of it seem to be hatching with a new bill going through the Senate. The bill, titled S.1397, the "Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act," would push for dealing with e-waste through not only better disposal methods, but also having designers consider end-of-life product design in the first place. While this is already a growing part of electronics design - especially if a manufacturer wants their product to qualify for labels such as EPEAT, it isn't a very broadly set goal. This bill could help us slow the impacts of e-waste, and move towards cradle-to-cradle design. However, it is a bill without much teeth. Well...without any teeth....

This week at Fast Company, we looked at China's entry into the Texas wind power industry, Cereplast's plastic made out of algae, the long-term future of trucking, and a proposal to build floating cities in the Netherlands. T. Boone Pickens scrapped his massive wind power project in Texas. Now China has come in to pick up the pieces with a 240-turbine wind farm in the state. Algae is one of the hottest new biofuels, but the slimy substance has many other uses. One of the most promising is a sustainable bioplastic developed by Cereplast, a company that already produces plastic from corn, potatoes, tapioca, and wheat. The trucking industry isn't known for its sustainability. If it wants to survive, the industry will have to start using high-tech telematics solutions along with more energy-efficient trucks. IBM has the scoop. DeltaSync wants to build a floating city in the Netherlands made out of foam blocks and concrete . It's a sensible adaptation to rising water levels, but is it fair to marine life? Fast Company sets the agenda, charting the evolution of business through a unique focus on the most creative individuals sparking change in the marketplace....

photo: Adopt a Negotiator via flickr. A boycott by 50 African nations at the Barcelona climate talks has forced cancellation of several technical meetings, Economic Times reports. At issue are the weak emission reductions targets offered up by the rich nations of the world, which is the only topic the African nations said they were willing to discuss:...

Image credit: Ecotricity UK wind energy developer Ecotricity's stance on green energy supply has long been controversial. Instead of guaranteeing that it purchases all of its energy from green sources, as most of its rivals do, it has instead guaranteed it will invest its profits into building new generating capacity - arguing that this is the most effective way of cutting carbon emissions. Now it looks set to take a further step into the fossil fuel arena - supplying customers with natural gas, and channeling those profits into greener supply too. The question is—will it fly with customers? Is this a logical step toward greener energy, or a muddying of the waters?...

Image credit: Jenni Grover (with thanks to Kris, and the fish, for the fish.) The gun rights advocates who got upset at my post about 5 Things I Hate about the USA may be surprised at this, and the vegans who despised my post on urban farming and backyard slaughter will be no happier, but I am an increasingly big fan of hunters and fishers. In fact, (responsible) hunting and fishing may make it on my next list of 5 things I love about America. Here's why. ...

Melvita opens in San Francisco, CA in January 2010. Image courtesy of Melvita. French organic skin, hair, and personal care brand Melvita is launching their online e-commerce store for the US tomorrow, November 4, 2009, and first state-side boutique at San Francisco Center, California in January 2010. The beauty brand--certified by Cosmebio and Ecocert--was created by beekeeper and biologist Bernard Chevilliat--that's a lot of bees--in 1983, click through for photos from their soon-to-be-launched store. ...

Image Credit: morgan.queen via Flickr dballisonnyc writes:

If you put everything you owned in a storage unit, how much space would you need? Due to some business travel, I put everything into storage and managed to fit everything in a 5x20x8 space. Not bad for a family of three and a half (my older daughter has things at her mother's). I have plenty of money so I can buy whatever I want (okay I admit I want a larger flat panel tv, but as long as the old one works, I won't replace it), but have found I'm happier the less I own.

So how much space do you really take up? Post here....

Image courtesy of Lizz Wasserman One of our favorite LA eco-designers Lizz Wasserman of Curatorial and Popomomo--we covered their Spring 2010 collection during LA Fashion Week, here--is hosting an open studio tomorrow along with Courtney Lowe of LA Vintage Exchange. Sip champagne--we hope it's of the green pink champagne variety--and shop 'till you drop. ...

TreeHugger has shown a couple of toilets with sinks built into their tanks, which make you reach over the bowl to get at the sink. There have also been gray water collection tanks that go under the sink. But this is the first time I have seen an elegant, properly integrated sink and gray water system integrated so elegantly with a toilet. ...

Image credit Razy2 What is the difference between a dining table and a desk? Mocoloco shows a very clever dining table for six with a pull-out end that exposes storage, USB hub and pen holders. A little pull changes the nature of it completely. ...

Photo: Montane Montane may not be one of the iconic names of outdoor gear, having only been around for 16 years. But they are taking it to the big boys by offering part of their outdoor sport clothing line in eco materials. The garments shown below, for example, use recycled polyester in either shell fabrics or insulations. Yet British-based Montane are still able to offer their signature low weight and pack size, demonstrating that eco-textiles still offer performance characteristics....

Photos: Chris Chapman website Chris Chapman is an early twenties British designer, who baulked at the idea of studying design to make "pretty things for wealthy, privileged consumers." So he changed tack and learnt design-for-sustainability instead. He now has a quiver of cool green projects ready to fling at prospective clients or employers. The one that most captured our attention was his Roll-Out Veg Mat. Each season householders buy a new roll of corrugated cardboard impregnated with vegetable seeds. Simply roll out the cardboard and cover with soil. Presto! Near instant veggie garden. It's simplicity could even push the No-Dig Garden for uncomplicated elegance. ...

Photo: courtesy City of Sydney, Live Green house. The sustainability demonstration showcase house was erected in a single day, when it first appeared as part of Sydney's Art & About Festival last month. Now it's on the move again, this time as an exhibit for the City of Sydney's participation in Australian National Recycling Week and other green community engagement events. Designed by Terry Bail and Martin Urakawa from Archology, the Live Green House uses a modular, interchangeable arrangement of low embodied energy plywood sheets. The house is prefabricated off-site allowing it to be assembled and disassembled by hand with just screws. The architects reckon their working prototype would perform real world service as a small home, shed, or artist retreat. ...

Image from Metro In a bid to make pedestrians' lives easier and safer, Oxford Circus, one of the busiest street crossings in London, has been redesigned. Today a copy of the Japanese "scramble crossing" design was unveiled, complete with Japanese drummers. When the traffic lights turn red, cars in all directions have to stop and let pedestrians go. There is a 30 second window when walkers can cross in any diagonal configuration, not just corner to corner. Studies have shown that an X-shaped crossing is far more efficient. Given that thousands of shoppers cross at this busy intersection every day, it is hoped that this will alleviate congestion and make walking easier in the compact and busy area. ...

As the climate negotiations in Barcelona continue this week, issues of social justice and economic equity are at the forefront. A group of African nations walked out today, supported by Bolivia, Benin and Venezuela, over issues of funding and the weak emissions reduction targets set by developed countries. The arguments about fairness from developing countries, which will be disproportionally affected by climate change, are clear when you look at the Washington Post's amazing tool that tracks total national emissions and emissions per capita over the past 50 years. ...

Photo via Scruffy Dan As frustrating as it is to see good environmental policy unfold ever so slowly in the US Congress, it's encouraging to know that there are indeed sitting congressmen who understand the vast potential clean energy reform presents. We've heard from Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Kerry (D-MA), and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) on why they support forging a strong climate bill. Now, watch Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as he deftly explains why we need energy reform, and why we need it now--in five minutes flat....

Image: ILSR Well, Not Literally 100 Miles... The Insitute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has released a second version of its study titled Energy Self-Reliant States. In it they look at various ways that U.S. states could generate clean electricity locally (rooftop solar PV, onshore wind, offshore wind, etc). Just from the name of the institute, it's pretty obvious that they aren't in favor of centralized solutions to our energy problems, but at least they aren't all ideology: They back up their claims with a lot of data. ...

photo: Stig Nygaard via flickr. New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences calculates for the first time the volume of ice lost from Mount Kilimanjaro's snowfields and the prognosis isn't good. From 1912-2007, the mountain's iconic glaciers have decreased some 85%, with 26% of glacier present in 2000 now gone:...

This patent doesn't really have anything to do with green. I just thought it was funny (and scary). No Need to Keep Re-Inventing the Green Wheel Last year, guest posters from the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) wrote a post on TreeHugger about the creation of the Eco-Patent Commons. At the start they had 31 green patents that had been pledged by companies like IBM, Nokia, Pitney-Bowes and Sony. Today, that number has more than tripled with a 100 patents and new heavy-weight pledgers like Xerox, Dupont, Dow Chemical and Bosch....

Image Credit: LanceCheungImages via Flickr Greenvert writes:

I recently read this article, about how solar panels are being set up in the Sahara to provide Europe with solar power. While I do see this as a good thing, it got me thinking: one of the political problems facing energy usage is that we (both the US and Europe) are dependent on foreign oil. Solar energy is certainly more plentiful (and won't run out) than oil, but by locating solar panels abroad, what's the risk we're setting ourselves up for more oil-like problems?

Have thoughts? Ideas? Post them here....

Sunrise over Barcelona photo: Andrew Larson via flickr. We're really into the pre-COP15 negotiating home stretch now, with talks moving to Barcelona, and initial reports aren't exactly encouraging: An IEA official says negotiators aren't ready to solve any of the problems on the table; while pressure builds on the United States to actually commit to a meaningful 2020 emission reductions target:...

Images: Jetson Green
Biomimicry is everywhere these days. It seems increasingly clear that design inspired by nature will play a great big role in our energy future. Case in point: Green Wavelength, an up-and-coming California engineering biz, has prototyped a small wind turbine, the xBEE, the elegant flapping motion of which is inspired by the buzz of insect wings (see the video below). Borrowing design cues from nature is already changing the face of technology, especially in the swirly realm of fluid dynamics. We've seen fan blades inspired by the bumpy fins of whales, solar cells made more efficient by the texture of butterfly wings, turbine blades that mimic the hydrophobic surface of leaves, and maybe even high-MPG car coatings that are rough like shark skin....

Photo via Bradley Stoke It just might. As part of the health care overhaul, Congress is looking at a system that would provide incentives--via bonuses and lower premiums--for people that pursue healthy lifestyles. Called the Safeway Amendment, as it's based on the California grocery store chain's health insurance system, it could inspire people to eat healthier, quit smoking, and exercise. Or, it could be a colossal failure, discriminating against people with certain body types and penalizing the poor for having fewer food options and less health education....

Back in 2005, Warren wrote about Kiva, and making history on a one-to-one basis. Kiva was a brand new idea, an easier, more human-centered way for struggling business owners to get the helping hand they need. Now, four years later, Kiva has hit a record - $100 million in microloans. ...

image: Desertec It's been a couple of months since we've had an update about the mammoth solar power in the Sahara desert project otherwise known as Desertec. Last we left it, though the idea had been around for a while, a consortium to make the dream real was just in the works. Well, another step forward has now been taken, with the official legal formation of DII GmbH:...

Photo: Flickr, CC Tragedy of the Commons? Vélib, the Parisian bike-sharing program, is great. But it would be incorrect to pretend that tout est parfait dans le meilleur des mondes (lit. transl.: everything is perfect in the best of worlds). Vandalism and theft has been a problem, and the latest news aren't good: About 80% of the original 20,600 bicycles have been damaged or stolen and the resources required to fix them or replace them are straining the program's budget. There's even a black market for stolen Vélib bikes in Eastern Europe and Africa......

Flickr/Claire Evans When we awoke on Sunday, we were shocked to find Beijing draped in snow. It was a gorgeous white Halloween, and the earliest snowfall in a decade -- the result in part of an unusually strong cold front that had a few of us thinking of Copenhagen (and not just because of the Danish capital's weather). The snow was also the work of the government's weather guns. ...

photo: Meena Kadri via flickr. While climate change may pay no heed to human political boundaries, how well people cope with the effects of a global warming can have a lot to do with those boundaries. Some countries are climate-fit while others are climate-weak, argues a new piece by Gaia Vance in Yale Environment 360. Now, a number of factors determine how climate-fit or climate-weak a place is, which Vance elaborates, but this is the gist of it:...

click on image to enlarge As part of the Cities Alive Green Roof Infrastructure Conference in Toronto, there was a student design competition, that Steven Peck of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities described as a challenge to "faculty-led student teams from around the world to develop ways of productively using the walls and roofs of multiple buildings by incorporating green infrastructure elements such as green roofs, green walls, wetlands and urban forests." But that doesn't begin to describe what the spectacular winning entry does. It is more than just green roofs, it is a complete reinvention of the ubiquitous strip mall. ...

Who They Gonna Call? Last week, before hundreds of students and others gathered to call for government action on climate change, Beijing officials were busy talking with its two biggest climate interlocutors: India and the United States. They weren't all talking together though. As the last round of climate talks before Copenhagen begin in Barcelona , China is playing a careful game of climate diplomacy with the U.S. and developing countries. How Beijing, the de facto lead representative of the developing nations -- and the world's biggest carbon emitter -- will balance both lines of demands is one of the biggest questions leading up to Copenhagen....

Every once in a while, a song will emerge to invigorate the environmental movement, and help bring an overlooked plight to the attention of the masses. Micheal Jackson's 'Earth Song' and Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi', for example, were huge hits trumpeting environmental awareness. Such songs are powerful--they can win hearts and minds, educate, and inspire. "Let's Save Our Environment" is not one of those songs. Its music video, however, is perhaps the most ridiculous thing you will see all day--and yet, you can't look away . . ....

All images via Eye Candy Ranches and Bungalows from the fifties are all the rage these days among mid-century modern fans, but some are less interesting than others, and Matthew O. Daby has done a pretty spectacular conversion of a pretty boring one....

Photo credit: Getty Images / flashfilm We all walk on it every day, but don't often think of it. It's underfoot, and, for many of us, out of mind. But just because you trod on it doesn't mean you shouldn't pay close attention to the materials that make up your flooring. Here are a few tips to find the best green material for the job; check out the full Green Materials Guide for Home Flooring over on Planet Green to get all the details....

photo: 200 More Montreal Stencils via flickr. Now here's one to tug at your climate change heartstrings... A new report from Save the Children highlights the impact that global warming is having on the world's children and how many more will be put at risk in the coming decades. The stats: Climate change could kill 250,000 children next year, and 400,000 annually by 2030:...

Image via Flurry We've seen a rash of me e-readers coming out lately, including one that claims to be a Kindle killer- Barnes & Noble's Nook. However, the iPhone just might be a device for Kindle to really keep an eye on as a competitor. In September, the number of book-related apps sold for iPhones outpaced games for the first time, indicating that the iPhone is gaining popularity as a convenient device for ebook reading. In fact, one out of every five new apps hitting the apps store was for ebook reading, reports Flurry, a San Francisco-based mobile application analytics company. It could mean that rather than turning to a Kindle - or one of the many other e-readers hitting the market - iPhone users will simply pic up the device they already have. ...

Image credit: Enterprise UK When I wrote about 5 things I hate about America (in my defense, I also wrote 5 things I love about America!), I lamented a lack of entrepreneurialism or initiative in the UK. But generalizations are almost always dangerous. Mark Boyle, founder of the Freeconomy Community, is a case in point, although he's not your average idea of an entrepreneur. He's hitting the headlines once again, blogging over at The Guardian about his quest to live without money for a year. The ensuing debate is fascinating. ...

Images via dezeen Trailers are such interesting exercises in design of small spaces. Pop-up campers and tent trailers have been around for a long time (see this great Pac-man version from 1936). Their great virtue is lower air resistance when towing, making them easier to handle and reducing fuel consumption considerably. In Europe, people take caravan and trailer design seriously, and the Opera by Belgian architect Axel Enthoven is seriously high end; you don't see stuff like this in a North American campground. Less has never so looked like more. ...

Image Credit: Anonymous9000 via Flickr Charles17 is concerned:

Is it just me, or is Treehugger being flooded by anti-environmental commenters? It seems like every article I look at or comment on there are way more people than before that are belligerent and don't care about the environment... Yet they are visiting this site and taking the time to make negative comments...I just don't want to stand by while our beloved site gets overrun by backwards, reason-hating, global warming deniers, especially IF they represent a concerted effort.

What do you think? Join the conversation....

Yes, it's over the top. You won't be missed on a dark street, however. Photo of a Rotterdam bike via joancg @ flickr. When the design world discovered that bike commuting is growing in leaps and bounds, city-style cyclists had to take the good with the bad. The good being better-designed solutions to our biking needs, the bad being that better-designed solutions to our biking needs obviously cost more than many of us frugal cyclists want to pay. So, here we comb the web and the TreeHugger archives for a few examples of bike commuting style-plus-affordability. Sometimes solutions don't entail much purchasing, just a bit of bike DIY....

Image Source: TetraPak TetraPak, the company that makes aseptic milk carton-like packaging that holds everything from wine to soup to tomato sauce, has been receiving a lot of coverage in the green media lately, both good and bad. This surge in attention is in part due to a recent TetraPak-sponsored media event in Sweden,to which I had the fortune to get invited. Before I continue I should state that what I am about to write is based entirely on my professional opinion as a sustainability engineer and was not influenced by pickled herring or Swedish meatballs....

photo: azdiaz1002 via flickr. We've covered how global warming is going to change California on a number of occasions in a broad context, but here's something a bit more granular: BBC News is highlighting how decreased snowpack and increased lightning strikes are going to cause wildfire flare ups in Yosemite National Park:...

all images via dansmonarbre Dansmonarbre of Grenoble, France, is a company "specializing in arboreal activities." One of their projects, the Hermitage, was less arboreal and more shed-like, a "place to allow a person or a couple to experience special wilderness for a few hours, overnight or several days." Its walls are infinitely adjustable, transforming it according to whim and weather....

Readers' green Halloween photos. Credit: JP From WeeHuggers dressed up as trees to a jack-o-lantern carvings of butterflies, bees, and one of three men raising a wind turbine--much like the Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima--readers sent in their green Halloween photos from Copenhagen, Canada, and here in the States. And if you missed last week's Readers' Photos it's not to late to enjoy our action-packed Readers' International Day of Climate Action Photos slideshow. ...

Contributors to Core77 always amaze with their 1 hour design challenges (now bigger and better at 90 minutes!). The latest challenge was to imagine "What will reading look in the future? Will we be using printed books, rectangular electronic devices, embedded technologies? This competition challenges designers to envision a rich future digital reading experience, based on a defined set of design research." A favourite was Kicker Studio's Booklight. ...

FIN's neutral tones and sexy silhouettes for Spring/Summer 2010. Credit: FIN Sustainable fashion brand FIN from Norway first made TreeHugger news with their "wild" hand-spun silk, click through for their sexy organic cotton, bamboo, fair trade, and carbon neutral creations for Spring 2010. ...

Over fifty years ago, Vance Packard wrote the best-selling Hidden Persuaders, which the New Yorker called "A brisk, authoritative and frightening report on how manufacturers, fundraisers and politicians are attempting to turn the American mind into a kind of catatonic dough that will buy, give or vote at their command." It was hugely influential, sold millions of copies right across America, and led to changes in the way advertisers could influence customers, with legal restrictions on subliminal messaging. James Hoggan's Climate Cover-up is our generation's Hidden Persuaders, an exposé of the methods by which people are convinced (or paid) to write comments to TreeHugger like "climate change is a hoax" or why George Will and others can get away with saying that it has been getting cooler since 1979 and ice sheets and glaciers are getting thicker. It isn't true, but that doesn't matter any more. ...

Vancouver Fashion Week, Fall 2009. Credit: Kris Krug, VFW Vancouver Fashion Week is upon us (November 3-8) and we are happy to report that eco-fashion brands Hawks Ave, Lav & Kush, Movement, Red Jade, and Nate Organics will be representing green fashion on the runway. ...

Colin Viebrock needed a new garage on his house a few years ago, and decided to make it green, topping it off with a green roof. He blogged about it, got some good press and the next thing he knew, he was in the green garage and shed business. Everyone in Toronto has massive new recycling and garbage containers, as well as green bins for raccoon dinner compost, creating a big market for sheds. Completely by chance I met Colin while he was installing a green roof on the top of a prefabricated modern shed, combining three of my favourite topics in one post. The owner got permission from the City to install it in the front yard (much of which is on City property), so it is a very public display of modern green shed design. ...

Photo: PTTEP ERG Media You might recall back, in mid August 2009, when Matthew noted that an oil rig of the NW coast of Australia had sprung a leak. A rather bad leak that was expected to take some time to plug. Well, it's now November 2009, more than 70 days and four failed attempts later, the oil continues to gush into the Timor Sea, at an estimated rate of somewhere between 400 and 2,000 barrels per day. (A barrel contains 159 litres or 42 US gallons.) But the news gets worse. On Sunday 1 November the West Atlas oil rig caught on fire, and oil company PTTEP Australasia admit they don't know how they are going to put it out. Should the rig collapse, the opportunities to plug the still leaking oil, pouring from the well bore 2.6km under the seabed, decline markedly. And the bad news keeps on coming....

It is a controversial issue. The Canadian government has ordered enough of the stuff to immunize the whole country, but not everyone is planning on it. The Globe and Mail asked some prominent Canadians and got a wide range of answers. Who do you agree with? ...

photo: Chrishna via flickr The buzz around the green blogosphere today is another record-setting Chinese wind farm, with 240 turbines producing 648 megawatts. But this one isn't in Inner Mongolia -- it's in Texas. This $1.5 billion wind farm -- a US-China joint venture paid for in part by Chinese banks -- will be built not with turbines from usual suspects GE or Vestas, but with Chinese-made machines from a year-old company called A-Power. Needless to say, most of the project's green jobs will be created in China. And don't shoot the messenger, but it's hoping to secure 30 percent, or $450 million, of its financing from, yes, U.S. stimulus funds. Someone better turn on those spin machines right about now....

Image from Skram As TreeHuggers how could we resist the chance to bring a real tree into the living room. Especially if it is made of reclaimed timber that would otherwise be discarded. Several new designers are giving us just this opportunity. The Wood Drop is a stool created from chunks of timber found in North Carolina. The pieces still have the original cracks and flaws and these add to the warmth and appeal. The designer, Jacob Marks, calls them an exercise in "deliberate imperfection." ...

Image courtesy of Gizmag Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have created the world's first 3-D photovoltaic solar system that actually works underground. Using optical fibers common to the telecommunications industry, researchers seeded them with zinc oxide nanostructures--much like the white stuff found on a lifeguard nose. Those nanostructures were then coated with a dye-sensitized material that converts light into electricity. The electricity is then captured using a liquid electrolyte surrounding the nanostructures. So only the very tip of the cable needs to be exposed to actual sunlight. ...

Image Credit: junmon603 via Flickr yiseowl writes:

I created a topic so that we can rate the greatest environmental threats. For me, garbage in the ocean, specifically plastic, is greatly endangering our ecosystem. Our oceans take up roughly 70% of the world's surface ... and they are polluted. I would love to see a project get started to clean up the great garbage swirl. Currently little particles of plastic are spreading all around our oceans and killing our marine life. The sad fact is that this plastic will be there for hundreds of years.

So what do you think? Join the conversation....

Image Credit: Greg7 via Flickr agraham999 has started a thread to help you find local produce:

I've seen people interested in finding a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), organization, or farm to get their organic foods delivered to them. I thought I'd start this thread and see if people who already participate can recommend a good service. If you use a similar service in your area, can you post it here and we'll collect them and create a document from it later. Farmers markets and co-ops are also welcomed.

Want to find local produce near you? Have info to share on your area? Post here....

PUYL Tire Pump as Bike Light If good design were a calling card, PUYL would be in a lot of rolodexes and the name of its designer, Kai Malte Roever of Formpasch, on a lot of lips. The strange name PUYL can only be an acronym, perhaps PUmp Your Light, which describes the function the perfect gadget to pimp your bike. The PUYL serves both as a bicycle tire pump and as a headlight, an efficient combo it its own right. But it gets better: the PUYL's battery recharges while you pump! This is the part where you ask yourself: What is the catch? And where do I get one?...

TRAIDremade for Timberland, reclaimed leather bag. Credit: TRAID Recycled fashion label TRAIDremade has designed four exclusive handmade bags for Timberland made from reclaimed leather jackets, denim, and reconditioned Timberland shirts and jackets. Through 'Change Your Wardrobe, Change Their Lives' customers can bring old clothing to Timberland's London stores, receive 20% off a new purchase, and have old clothes refashioned into new pieces through TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development). ...

Delinquent dioxane isomers seen lurking in darkened store aisles: Walmart to the rescue! Or not. Image credit:Wikipedia GreenBiz has an update on the significant progress Walmart has made with managing hazardous product ingredients in the interest of public health. Back in May of 2009, we are told, Walmart introduced its suppliers to a chemical ingredient screening software package called GreenWERCS. The plan, as Walmart sees it. Product formulators, personal and home care brands mainly, are told by the big boxer to feed chemical data to the software beast. (Presumably, those which refuse risk losing market share.) Algorithms in the GreenWERCS software rake over all entered data to analyze composition and report hazards of retailed 'chemical' product formulations. Walmart buyers flag products with ingredients that are legally codified, in Europe or America, as:

1. Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances (PBTs);
2. Carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxicants (CMRs); and
3. Potential hazardous waste.
4. Probable endocrine disruptors.

So far so good. Here's the money quote from GreenBiz: ...

TreeHugger always advises turning down the thermostat and putting on a sweater, but different parts of the body react to cold differently, and some need a little more help than others. The USB powered breast warming pads to the rescue. Just plug them into your computer and stick the U-shaped pads under your bra and problem solved. ...

Image credit: LXTV Remember Woolly Pocket Garden Company's recycled planters for DIY living walls? Using 100% recycled plastic bottles, the company provides a cheap and durable way to plant plants in almost any vertical or horizontal space. Used right, the result is an affordable, do-it-yourself version of the living walls so popular in modern architecture. (See also ELT's living wall kits.) Now LXTV has created a short piece showing how Woolly Pockets work. The inventor also explains,, much to his own surprise, why plants grow better in these containers....

Image credit: Consider Us The UNEP's Consider Us campaign is one of those initiatives that has me totally inspired and utterly depressed at the same time. Inspired because the idea of giving youth a voice in advance of the Copenhagen climate summit is about as important task as I can think of. Depressed because we've given youth a voice many times before. Collectively, we're actually quite good at listening to the youth voice. It's just acting on it that seems a little more difficult. ...

Mociun winter wool coat. Credit: Mociun We covet Caitlin Mociun's Native American-inspired coat--made from 100% mill end blanket wool--for winter, featured on and sold at Kaight NYC--we stopped there last week for Ecouterre's launch party. Click through for full length photos and more on Mociun. ...

The Black Sea is an integral part of millions of peoples' lives. Photo of Trabzon, Turkey, by Whewes via Flickr. With its watershed covering almost one-third of continental Europe, an area home to some 160 million people, there are plenty of opportunities for pollution to run into the Black Sea -- and only one outlet to the world's oceans and seas, the Bosphorus straits in Turkey. It's little wonder, then, that a dozen years ago, it was described as "facing an environmental catastrophe." More surprising, perhaps, is that conditions in the Black Sea have shown any improvement at all....

photo: J. Novak If you've never before been plagued with allergies, it ain't pretty. Sniffling, sneezing, congestion--symptoms can vary dramatically but more and more people are getting them. According to an article in Time Magazine, climate change is to blame....

Photo via Flickr I'm in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two weeks. It's 95 degrees everyday here, and the metro area is a concrete jungle of 23 million fed by street vendors, choked by traffic, and populated by what must be the nicest collection of people on the planet. Scooters fill the narrow streets like swarms of bees, weaving in and out of traffic with reckless abandon. There are no sidewalks or much public transit to speak of, and even if there were to walk anywhere is to agree to become a sweaty mess. When I'm at home, I'm a bike rider who uses his two wheel machines to commute, for exercise, and as political statement to show that we can power ourselves and not be reliant on fossil fuels to live a comfortable life....