Wind Energy Gets Cheap!

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 09:13:47 GMT

Due to the rising price of natural gas as a result of the ever increasing demand and hurricane induced supply shortages, there's an interesting story developing in Colorado. This winter, Xcel Energy's customers in Colorado who purchase Wind Source electricity will be paying "up to $10 less than their neighbors who use conventionally generated electricity" per month! This Denver Post article goes on to suggest that this could open a huge flow of customers wanting to transfer into the green power program for the economic savings alone. It's still up in the air whether the price differential will continue or if it's just a temporary phenomenon. However, the price gap between natural gas and wind generated electricity was narrowing before this year's hurricanes, and the price shocks that natural gas has experienced of late may be enough of an incentive to keep green power's popularity high even when/if prices of electricity generated from natural gas falls.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Investing in Alternative Energy with PBW

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:00:00 GMT

We touched on it briefly here, but I think it's worth highlighting the relatively new Exchange-traded Fund with the ticker PBW that tracks the ^ECO index, also know as The WilderHill Clean Energy Index. As the name implies, the index and it's ETF allow you to buy into a portfolio of companies that are pursuing clean energy development. It's the easiest way I've seen (just purchase PBW through your brokerage) to date to get good exposure to a broad array of technologies that the TreeHugger mentality supports. Companies in the fund include Evergreen Solar, Distributed Energy Sys, Ballard Power Systems, Kyocera Corp Adr, and 30+ others. The full list is here. Anyone have any thoughts on the other companies? ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Choosing an Efficient Room-sized Air Conditioner

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 21:19:47 GMT

New York City has been breaking electricity usage records lately as a result of the extreme heat and humidity that can always be found in that part of the world in the middle of summer. Having just purchased a window air conditioner in the city myself, I thought I'd review some "best practices" for choosing an efficient room air conditioner.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes by Athena Steen & Bill Steen

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:53:36 GMT

Full of sumptuous photography, The Beauty Of Straw Bale Homes could easily be mistaken for just another dust gathering -coffee table' book. But that would belie the power that this very modest little volume can have. In changing the status quo of building construction. Taking more than 40 buildings as mini case studies, it definitively showcases the arrival of straw bales as a bona-fide method of construction. Ranging between Mexico and Canada, snug little cottages to expansive houses onto vast monasteries and even retail stores all get a look in. You'll certainly see how straw bales can run the gamut of quirky and rustic, right through to sleek and modern. The Steens were co-authors on the now classic, The Straw Bale House, widely credited with bringing this earth-friendly building technique to the world's attention. Whereas that earlier book was much more of a -how-to' digest, the newer -Beauty' simply demonstrates, with delightful visuals, just what can be achieved. It does, however, include a few salient pointers on the likes of retrofitting, paints, plasters, roofs and costings. Be warned though, it would be a rare reader of this book, who after seeing how beautiful strawbale can be, did not then reach for one of those numerous technical tomes now available. You could soon have mud render on your hands and flecks of straw in your hair! Buy The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes by Athena Steen & Bill Steen... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Choose to Reuse by Nikki Goldbeck & David Goldbeck

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:50:45 GMT

Admittedly this is not the most current of books. Originally published in 1995, it might be lacking in web and email resources, but boy, does it make up for that with just sheer bulk of information. Nikki and David Goldbeck have a story on how just about anything can be reused. And we mean Anything. Chopsticks - take your own and maybe get a small discount at some Chinese restaurants. Nail files - use a durable one like the Natural Nail File made from the scales of a Pirarucu fish! Golf Balls - a company that specialises in selling cleaned range balls. Pies - a Californian company that sells its pies in their own baking trays - return the tray and get a reimbursement. Movies - a company that salvages the stage sets from movie production. You'll find odd stuff in here that will make your head spin, and simple solutions that'll have you going "Doh! Why didn't I think of that?" In covering subjects such as design, rental, repair, maintenance and remanufacture, the book's 450 pages sure detail how we can enjoy life, without the need of always buying new stuff. Inspiring. Buy Choose to Reuse: An Encyclopedia of Services, Businesses, Tools & Charitable Programs That Facilitate Reuse by Nikki Goldbeck & David Goldbeck... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Small Is Beautiful by E. F. Schumacher

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:45:19 GMT

The sub title says it all: A study of economics as if people mattered. Yet this is no desert-dry treatise crammed with numbers and figures, usually beloved of economists. Rather it is imbued with hard nosed, real world compassion. "If ... nothing is left for fathers to teach their sons, or for the sons to accept from their fathers, family life collapses. The life, work, and happiness of all societies depend on certain -psychological structures' which are infinitely precious and highly vulnerable. A man is destroyed by the inner conviction of uselessness. No amount of economic growth can compensate for such losses ..." But E.F. Schumacher was not your tie-dyed style of greenie - he was, after all, Economic Adviser to the British Coal Board for twenty years. Yet he developed an understanding of the world so very different to his peers. "An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth - in short, materialism - does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited." Read this absolute classic to learn how Schumacher developed his notion of Intermediate Technology, as an appropriate mid-point between grinding poverty and decadent affluence. Buy Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if people mattered, by E.F. Schumacher... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Design for Society by Nigel Whiteley

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:42:43 GMT

From the fork with which you eat your meal, to the school building you were educated in, most everything around you was designed. It has passed through a design studio, at some stage. Designers, because they are involved so early in the process of producing -consumer' goods, are hugely influential in determining the materials to be used and because of their decisions, even the method and location of production. In Design for Society, Nigel Whiteley put the case for ensuring all this design has a net beneficial outcome for the community at large. He goes behind the gloss of arty magazines, exhibitions and black turtlenecks to look at what design has delivered and more importantly what it can offer us. In brief, he explains how design can be more responsive, to 'needs', not merely 'wants'. Peppered with lovely little examples, like the WoBo (or World Bottle) that Heineken designed, so African villages could build housing from these square beer bottles. Or chairs for disabled children, utensils for arthritis sufferers and urban housing for women. For an industry that prides itself on its freshness, it is sobering to realise that design is still in much the same rut that Whiteley chronicled a dozen years ago. Whether designer, or purchaser of goods, this easy-to-read book will clearly illuminate the choices we face. Choices we've been putting off for too long. Buy Design for Society... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Green Volunteers by Fabio Ausenda

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:40:54 GMT

Wanna do something practical? Get your hands dirty, or your T-shirt sweaty, making a real contribution? Grab a copy of this directory. But be warned, you might just end up in the Galapagos undertaking biodiversity surveys, tracking dolphins in the Med or protecting cheetah habitat in Africa. Flora and Fauna projects across the globe. This digest tells you what's on offer and has a web-based updates section, so it never goes out of date. Planned un-obsolesence, now that is a concept every Treehugger can relate too. Buy Green Volunteers: The World Guide and Information Network To Voluntary Work in Nature Conservation edited by by Fabio Ausenda... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Collapse by Jared Diamond

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:28:31 GMT

One weekend, in an idle moment, I casually picked up a book with an intriguing cover. It was Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Big mistake. I devoured it like some whodunnit thriller. My weekend was lost, but a new understanding was found on why civilisation flourished in certain hot spots on the planet and not others. Diamond is engaging author, who takes big picture stuff and explains it in terms that enthrall, without the reader needing to own a wall full of PhDs. In his latest writing, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, he seeks to establish what caused the demise of cultures, like those of the Mayan, Anasazi, Norse Viking and Easter Island. In short, he fingers ignorance as one of the main culprits. And although the book is full of less-than-positive pointers to the lack of practical intelligence of the human race, he also sees hope in our current turmoil. Arguing that we cannot hide behind ignorance this time - we are overflowing with information and knowledge - we merely need to act on it. In Australia to promote the book, he appeared on radio and TV programs and copped some flak from farmers, whom he suggested, in the chapter on this ancient, worn-down continent, were eking out an existence on land, that was unlikely to support them long term. They countered that his information was not current and their land management practices have improved in recent years. Which perversely vindicates Diamond's hope that we can see the error of our ways, in time to make corrective changes. Reading this book will hopefully not only galvanise you into action but also to encourage those around you to act as well. :: Buy Collapse:How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices by Michael Brower & Warren Leon

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:25:42 GMT

Many readers of TreeHugger have asked for direct actions they can take to reduce their environmental impact. In the early 90s there was a plethora of books addressing such interest. The seminal 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth prime among them. Although now out of print, it can be obtained second-hand. A decade after that guide came out, the Union of Concerned Scientists released their own take. The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, was in their words, "the first comprehensive look at the full range of modern consumer activities, identifying those that cause the most environmental damage and those that cause the least." It ruffled many feathers because it advocated focusing on the bigger issues and not fussing over debates such as paper or plastic bags and cloth or disposable nappies/diapers. And while some of their data might not be fresh out of the lab, the outcomes do remain much the same. So what is some of this non-small stuff, that the UCS would rather we sweat over? Choose a place to live that reduces the need to drive and buying a low- or zero-emission vehicle, if you must have one. Walking and cycling more and eating less meat and dairy while selecting organic produce also rate highly. The reasoning behind why these and other such actions were deemed crucial is lucidly explained in the book. Buy The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists, by Michael Brower and Warren Leon... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products by Edwin Datschefski

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:22:40 GMT

Edwin Datschefski has been tracking the growth of eco-design for over a dozen years now. In this lavishly photographed and designed book, he has elected to show that a better world is already here. Everything that you touch on a given day is replaced with a more sustainable option. These are not airy-fairy, future concepts but products you can buy today. In this is an idealised day-in-the-life of a modern Treehugger, selected goods from all over the world have been gathered together into one persons green life. Edwin wants us to see that a more sustainable lifestyle is not only possible but most of its elements are currently with us. And they are good looking too. No scratchy sack cloth need apply. A rich, treasure trove of green optimism. If only the books high production values had not bumped its purchase price out of the reach of the many who would have benefited from the content. If wallet challenged, maybe encourage your local library to obtain a copy. Buy The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products by Edwin Datschefski... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:13:38 GMT

A very TreeHugger-esque philosophy is expounded here. Your Money or Your Life helps you understand your relationship to money. How you get it, where it goes, and how inconsistently you value it. The goal it sets up is to move toward a state of financial independence, so that you can spend your time doing what you've always wanted to do (which, the authors intimate, should be save-the-world-type stuff). Importantly, the authors exhort you to really understand your expenses and to reduce them to those that bring you the most pleasure, and nix the rest. Compellingly, this doesn't mean giving up your expensive Japanese porn collection or SoHo House membership, if you determine that they're essential to your happiness and well-being. Secondly, they teach you to calculate your actual hourly wage, including commute, clothing, work-related downtime (a lot lower than you might expect), and consider your purchases using this metric. That shirt that you don't really need may look different when you realize that it causes you to be another 1.2 hours away from doing what you really want to be doing. Buy Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:10:57 GMT

Treehugger founder, Graham Hill bought this Pulitzer Prize-winner en route to the Galapagos and it opened the immensely enjoyable world of layman science reading to him. "Weiner weaves the tale of Darwin's discovery of evolution into the story of the Grant couple, who have spent the last 20 years studying the evolution of finches and other fauna and flora on the Galapagos Islands. Their major discovery: despite Darwin's belief that evolution happens over decades, you can actually watch it happen over as little as months or years! The Grants' close observation of finch beaks allowed them to see the significant changes that occurred year to year. The Galapagos is one of the most incredible places on Earth and this book is a great way to learn about it, and about evolution." Buy The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins & L. Hunter Lovins

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:03:58 GMT

An environmental call to arms for the designer, Greenie, and business person, this book profiles the next industrial revolution and proposes that will be thoroughly green and pro-business. Companies, it claims, should model their business plains based on the concepts of natural capitalism-biomimicry, resource productivity, service and flow economy, and investment in natural capital-and thereby achieve a competitive advantage, while bettering the environment. To illustrate one of these concepts, a service and flow economy shifts from selling products to selling services. This changes the incentives and does so in a very positive manner. Manufacturers focus on making lasting, repairable, recyclable products instead of planning their obsolescence. For example, by selling you the function of your fridge versus the actual fridge, the manufacturer will create a fridge that needs minimal repairs and that can be fully recycled once its useful life is over. Concepts like these, flushed out with examples, make for a great read. Viva la revolucion! Buy Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Eco-design Handbook by Alastair Fuad-Luke

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:56:15 GMT

This brick of a book played a large part in inspiring TreeHugger. Full of pictures and key info about sexy, green furniture, transportation, materials, clothing, and more, it's the bible of green design. Each selection in the book has a handy legend that explains the eco-design strategy applied, the materials used, designer, etc. It's a fascinating read for both the average green-interested consumer and the hard-core green designer. Instantly up your eco-status by sliding this into your coffee-table collection. An updated edition became available in 2005. Buy The Eco-design Handbook: A Complete Sourcebook For Home And Office by Alastair Fuad-Luke (Thames & Hudson).... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough & Michael Braungart

Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:58:45 GMT

In this hip-looking tome, McDonough (architect) and Braungart (chemist) propose an industrial revolution, but this time, a green one. Taking cues from biomimicry, they propose that WASTE = FOOD, and suggest that things should be made from one of two types of materials: biological nutrients, which decompose naturally, and technical nutrients, which are designed for upcycling (little to no quality lost during recycling). A speedy read from two men who walk the talk, as many of their revolutionary projects unfold around the world (cradle to cradle chairs, windows, packaging etc..). And with plastic, upcyclable pages, you can read the damn thing in the bath! Buy Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Treehugger Welcomes Writer Ben Engebreth!

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:44:55 GMT

Ben Engebreth lives in New York City and draws on the experiences and environments he's witnessed living in Atlanta/Athens, Denver/Boulder, and Los Angeles for TreeHuggin' perspective. His background is in Science & Engineering, but he likes to think of himself as more broadly interested than those two disciplines alone would imply. Ben developed a social network based carpool matching website in 2005 called Pooln and also has a personal website.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Ben Engebreth, New York City