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Dave said: "20 mins on my bike. 8km. Its always faster than driving/bus and we have little traffic and excellent puplic transport here in Christchurch, New Zea..." [read]

PricklyPear said: "Well, my family is working hard to be greener... but it isn't always easy. My husband drives almost every day from his home office into one..." [read]

Christoph Wienands said: "Hey, where is the three car garage for my family's SUvs :-)..." [read]

ron said: "thanks for attacking me, warren. that drivel about the worst part of leather being the tanning process is bs. it's raising the cows..." [read]

Christoph Wienands said: "Even if the electricity for an EV was produced by a coal-fired plant, it's carbon footprint would still be by multiples better than if it had an in..." [read]

John Laumer said: "This is a practical impossibility. Interstate Commerce act and other laws would regulate the transfer across state lines by pipeline, allowing ma..." [read]

At Cairo Recycling School, Students Learn the Business of Plastic Reuse

by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 05. 1.08
Design & Architecture

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We recently heard a piece on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition about a school in Cairo's Manshiyet Nasser slum community where the city's young garbage collectors are learning the business and economics of recycling and using solar energy to do it.

The school is called the Mokattam Non-Formal Education Project, and has received funding form UNESCO and Procter & Gamble, a company whose products like shampoo are sold in the plastic bottles that end up on Cairo's streets.

Read more: At Cairo Recycling School, Students Learn the Business of Plastic Reuse

SolesUnited by Crocs: A Step in the Right Direction

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04.24.08
Design & Architecture

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Two years ago we mulled over the notion of whether colourful Crocs footwear might be the Birkenstocks for a new generation. Many respondents argued that without containing recycled content or at least a way of recycling the worn-out shoes they couldn’t be considered ‘green.’

Earlier this year Crocs seemed to have taken steps, if you will, to address these issues. Their new line of SolesUnited are made with grounded up old crocs. The new styles have 20% of this recycled content. Going one further Crocs plan, for 2008, to develop partnerships with shipping companies and worldwide non-profit organisations, so they can donate 2 million pairs of shoes globally.

Read more: SolesUnited by Crocs: A Step in the Right Direction

We Recycle for Earth Day: Composting, Growing Your Own Food

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.22.08
Design & Architecture

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Collin did such a fine job of putting together our Earth Day posts last year that we decided to practice what we preach, conserve energy, and recycle them.

When it comes to strategies that help your garden grow, adding compost is a great way to mulch and add nutrients without using industrial fertilizers (not to mention a good use of food leftovers and other organic waste). Here are some tips and products that can help you compost and help the planet for Earth Day. Getting Ready for Earth Day: Compost Your Organic Waste

Read more: We Recycle for Earth Day: Composting, Growing Your Own Food

We Recycle for Earth Day: Green Cleaning, Water

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.22.08
Design & Architecture

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Collin did such a fine job of putting together our Earth Day posts last year that we decided to practice what we preach, conserve energy, and recycle them.

Cleaning products are everywhere in our homes, and get everywhere when we use them; on our dishes, countertops, floors, hands...the list goes on and on. They're so pervasive that we follow this general rule: if you don't want it on your skin or in your body, don't use it. Thankfully, there is a large (and growing ever larger) contingent of green cleaning products, strategies and ideas to help you keep your house clean and green. ::Getting Ready for Earth Day: Green Cleaning

Read more: We Recycle for Earth Day: Green Cleaning, Water

We Recycle for Earth Day: Electronics, Recycling

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.22.08
Design & Architecture

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Collin did such a fine job of putting together our Earth Day posts last year that we decided to practice what we preach, conserve energy, and recycle them.

When it comes to equating everyday behavior with saving the planet, few things are as high on the list as recycling. Here are some tips and resources for incorporating recycling into your life, not just on Earth Day, but every day.::Getting Ready for Earth Day: Recycle!

Read more: We Recycle for Earth Day: Electronics, Recycling

Amusing Reuse: Recycling At Copenhagen's Tivoli

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 04.20.08
Design & Architecture

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Spring has finally reached the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, and that means amusement parks, and in Denmark's case, lots of beer drinking (it's legal to imbibe on the streets). In addition to amusing and not-so-amusing public drunkenness, the drinking policy also leads to mountains of street trash after a warm spring night.

But at the famous Copenhagen amusement park Tivoli (one of the world's very first in-city large scale permanent parks) there's no trace of plastic cups on the grounds or even in the bins, and that's not because of overzealous maintenance staff - it's due to Tivoli's plastic cup deposit and return system that gets an approximately 80 percent return rate. When purchasing a beer or soft drink at any of the numerous concessions in the park, an extra 5 Danish kroner (US$1) is added to price, and the thick polystyrene cup can be dropped off at one of a dozen on-site recycling kiosks, which refunds the money. The system has been in place for nearly a decade, and studies are showing that with a 5-time reuse (cups are washed off-site and average five to nine uses) the cups score better in life-cycle analysis than disposables and at a break-even cost to the concessions. Seems like a proven technology whose time, with oil at near $120 a barrel, surely must be here. Via Tivoli
P.S. Hit the jump to see the return kiosks and reusable cups

Read more: Amusing Reuse: Recycling At Copenhagen's Tivoli

Greenwash Watch: Drink 2 Wear T-shirts From Coke Bottles

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.14.08
Design & Architecture

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Sometimes we cannot even tell if they know they are greenwashing, or if they are doing it with tongue held firmly in cheek. Like this: Coke is introducing a line of shirts made out of recycled Coke bottles. Their VP of marketing says with a straight face “These fun t-shirts merge trend with consciousness, reminding shoppers that small steps – like recycling a few bottles – can go a long way towards helping to preserve our environment. If the 200 million Wal-Mart shoppers in the U.S. purchase these shirts, they will help us reuse and divert more than 700 million bottles from the waste stream.”

No matter that only 34% of PET bottles are recycled while the rest end up in the garbage or by the side of the road, or in the Pacific gyre, or that it is doubtful that these shirts are made in the USA, so we are probably carting these bottles halfway around the world.

It is not green to take a bottle, ship it off somewhere to be turned into fabric and sewn into t-shirts. Deposit and return systems with local bottlers refilling glass bottles are green. But Coke killed that system. ::BusinessWire and ::Brandweek

See how in the they take Coke bottles from Taiwan, make a fabric and ship it to Eastern Europe for tailoring and then sell it in the UK and call it "Ecosmart"

A Rare Beast: Useful Disposable Plastic Water Bottles

by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 04.10.08
Design & Architecture

Plastic Water Bottles as Shoes

The photo above is from the art exposition "L’art... En Eaux Troubles" (lit. translation: "Art in Troubled Waters") in Paris. We really wish that person had some real shoes... Found via ::Aguanomics, ::Backcountry - The Goat

In case you aren't already aware of the mountain of reasons why bottled water is a bad idea, see: ::Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water, ::A World of Reasons to Ditch Bottled Water, ::Greenwash Watch: "Green" Bottled Water, ::The Ethics of Bottled Water, ::Should We Promote the "Better" Bottled Water?, ::Bottled Water: What a Waste

We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.

TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!

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