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Manuel said: "This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]

Jay Knecht said: "What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]

gazelle said: "@ Dallas: The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]

Barry said: "Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda. He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]

JJ said: "Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]

Derek said: ""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]

The Local Movement Comes to Forestry

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.17.09
Design & Architecture

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In the food world there is the debate between "organic" and "local" and the idea of looking your farmer in the eye. It appears that much the same thing is happening in wood- there is certified FSC lumber, and there is local, sustainably harvested lumber where you look your forester in the eye. There is even a National Network of Forest Practitioners that "promotes the mutual well being of workers, rural communities, and forests by supporting individuals and groups that build sustainable relationships between forests and people."

Article continues: The Local Movement Comes to Forestry

SF Green Festival 09 - Elephant Poo Paper Saves Pachyderms

by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 11.16.09
Design & Architecture

poo paper sign photo

A familiar face at San Francisco's Green Festival was Mr. Ellie Pooh, a company that makes paper from elephant dung. Elephants in Sri Lanka are killed for their interference with agriculture, but they interfere with agriculture simply because they're running out of space of their own. By making a lucrative market for paper from their dung, they're given a better chance at survival.

Article continues: SF Green Festival 09 - Elephant Poo Paper Saves Pachyderms

ForestEthics Keeps Up The Pressure against SFI Certification

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.16.09
Design & Architecture

Forest Ethics campaign sfi image

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Is now battling in the courts, in front of the Federal Trade Commission, at the US Green Building Council to gain credibility. That doesn't cut any ice with ForestEthics, who never miss a chance to expose it as greenwashed lumber. They ran full page ads in USA Today during Greenbuild, naming the companies that use wood from "destruction as usual" logging with the SFI Label on it.

Article continues: ForestEthics Keeps Up The Pressure against SFI Certification

Five Fabric Skins Help Buildings Beautifully Harvest the Weather

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 11.10.09
Design & Architecture

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1. Harvesting water. Part of the prototype cloth is designed like a lotus leaf with microscopic spikes and depressions to make water bead, though letters absorb water so they appear. Photo via Filiz Klassen.

Architecture, says designer Filiz Klassen, is infatuated with "super materials" and gimmicks. Instead of building for the gee-whiz factor, however, Klassen wants to build with new incarnations of existing materials that, as she says, "make visible the effects of the weather," and in addition also use the weather's energy for practical, but also beautiful, effects.

"I was fascinated with all the material innovation taking place, but what made sense to me is that that's a tool to show the effects of the environment on a building...I was looking into materials that can harvest, transfer and release energy...that would change our perception of the buildings."
Article continues: Five Fabric Skins Help Buildings Beautifully Harvest the Weather

Bio-Plastics Could Replace Up to 90% of Plastics, But Not in Short Term

by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 11. 9.09
Design & Architecture

bioplatics logo image

270 Million Tons of Plastics in 2007
Bioplastics are certainly not a panacea - they have their problems - but if we are to someday move to a world free of fossil fuels (by choice or by necessity), we'll need something to make plastics. Researchers from Utrecht University conducted a study that was commissioned by the associations European Bioplastics and the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE), and their findings were pretty interesting.

Article continues: Bio-Plastics Could Replace Up to 90% of Plastics, But Not in Short Term

Green Materials Guide: An Intro to Green Flooring

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 11. 2.09
Design & Architecture

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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.

Article continues: Green Materials Guide: An Intro to Green Flooring

In Defense Of TetraPak

by Pablo Paster, San Francisco on 11. 2.09
Design & Architecture

TetraPak.jpg
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.

Article continues: In Defense Of TetraPak

Trend Watch: End Times For Journalism - Terminix Selling Newsprint Insulation Treated With Pesticide

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.28.09
Design & Architecture

newspaper survivor image
"Despite the apocalypse, newspapers will refuse to die." Image credit:Guardian, OrgangrinderBlog.

US newspaper readership rates have slipped another 10%, ytd. Not to worry. A new print journalism business model may have been discovered by Terminix, the pest control company. Turning "readership" into "R-Value," they are selling pesticide-soaked newsprint as building insulation, entombing, for posterity, an archive of the scant coverage given climate science over the last two decades. Just skip the reading, and send the papers right to the insulation factory. Balloon Boy gets full coverage on your thousand dollar TeeVee.

Article continues: Trend Watch: End Times For Journalism - Terminix Selling Newsprint Insulation Treated With Pesticide
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