Bhut Jolokia Chili Grenades to Take On the World's Worst Unruly Rioters

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:04:36 GMT

Photo via: Laughing Shaman The Bhut Jolokia (a.k.a. Ghost chili), the India version of the hot pepper, might be coming to a riot near you...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Colorado Firefighter Training Goes Green

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:39:01 GMT

Photo via: Amagill While not often a target of environmental groups due to the increased preparation and safety it promotes, a firefighters training regiment is anything but green. Such training often involves the controlled burning of vehicles, hay, and wood structures. The byproduct of such a rigorous training schedule results in thick, black, billowing clouds of toxic smoke and fumes, which not only simulates the danger to the firefighters and victims, but also the environmental catastrophe these types of fires promote.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recycled Tire Logs Say to Pressure Treated Lumber, "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better..."

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:16:10 GMT

Photo via: www.EricCastro.biz

"I Can Do Anything Better than You!"

RTP Re-Tread Products is in the testing phase of a series of recycled rubber tire products designed to one day take the place of some of the applications where pressure treated lumber has traditionally been used. The benefit of such a trade-off would be less chemicals to leach into the ground (from the treated lumber), improved flexibility, and increased overall durability. The tire logs are believed to be a very appropriate substitute for such applications as heavy equipment platforms, logging roadways, boat ramps, hurricane-prone building construction, highway separation, and flood-control barriers.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Closed Car Dealership Finds New Life as an Art Gallery

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:59:26 GMT

Image courtesy of artist, Elisabeth Subrin, Lost Tribes and Promised Lands, 2009 The saying should go, When the going gets tough... the tough show art. The sight of empty car lots is nothing new these days. The lack of sales during the recession has not been as easy affair for most dealerships. Many have succumb to the fate of closing their doors due to the practically nonexistent market for new cars.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

When the Love of Animals Becomes Deadly

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:53:13 GMT

Photo via: Fyunkie Can you find the cat amongst this hoarders 'collections'? Hoarders have been around for years. Some prefer to classify themselves as "pack rats," others "collectors." Whatever they choose to be called, they are still among the same mental illness which is categorized by the compulsive need to collect things. Some people collect mugs, others newspapers, but probably one of the most destructive of these people are those who are drawn to collecting animals...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How Do You Plan on Easing Your Burden on the Planet When you Die?

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:35:17 GMT

Photo via: Papalars There are only two things in life that are certain... taxes, and you know, that other thing! While death is not something that anybody wants to talk about, they certainly should. The process of what to do with your remains is a very important question. Society has a set list of procedures for the moment our time on this planet comes to an end, and most of them are not very green...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

In the News: Radiation Affects the Homes of Both the Big... and the Small

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:35:41 GMT

Photo via: D. Fletcher This week in the news, the mud dauber wasp and Navajo Indians are facing similar problems... radioactive homes. Read on...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Earn Extra Income By Renting Out Your Excess Space

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:01:06 GMT

For Rent: Walk-in Closet... $150, Food Pantry... $75, Couch... $50 a Night

The struggling economy has brought new opportunity to the budding entrepreneur. It is called renting out your excess space, and it means more than just renting out a portion of your house to a trustworthy tenant. Renting space can be anything from a single bedroom, closet, garage, or even just a couch for the night. Do you have more home than you really need? Perhaps you can capitalize on it and make a nice monthly income in the process...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Can a Small Footprint Lead to a Small Willie?

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:10:07 GMT

Photo via: The Prodigal Untitled13 James Price, a retired U.S. Army attack helicopter pilot, used to drink three quarts of soy milk every day. Now he believes that ding so may have had an effect on the size of his genitals. "I won't say it atrophied," said Price in a recent interview with Men's Health Magazine, "but it was so flaccid-it looked very small in comparison with the way it used to be." Could it have been the soy milk? ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Best Protection Against Global Warming is Better Hurricane Insurance, says CEI

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:14:37 GMT

Photo via: St. Louis Garage Katrina Beats it off the Line CEI, otherwise known as Competitive Enterprise Institute, has taken a bold stance against global warming and is recommending better risk-based insurance, stronger buildings, and improved methods of land use, over that of government restrictions on greenhouse gases...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How to Make Just About Damn Near Anything... Last Longer

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:39:26 GMT

Photo via: anomalous4 Duct tape is wonderful stuff! While there are some individuals who will tell you that you can fix just about anything with it, the best way to ensure your things last a long time is through plain old fashioned common sense and proper care. Here are a few preferred ways to take care of all your stuff...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cat-Food Irradiation Banned in Australia: Too Much of a Good Thing is Not Such a Good Thing

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:32:55 GMT

Photo via: Cliff1066 Food irradiation is basically the process of passing radiation through food in order to sterilize it and make it safe for consumption. It has the ability to rid most foods of disease harboring microbes, such as E Coli. It has been touted as a miracle in many areas of the world where disease harboring microbes take hundreds of lives each year. But what happens when such a miracle becomes fatal...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

New Study Says, Robbing the Cradle Makes Men Live Longer, Women Die Sooner!

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:01 GMT

Photo via: Freeparking The fountain of youth is one of the ultimate legends made famous by Juan Ponce de Leon, who was only 53 at the time of setting out to find the mystical fountain. Since then, men and women have engaged themselves in all kinds of non-green activities to make themselves look and feel younger, such as buying a new Corvette, Porsche, getting a hair transplant, beauty product, smearing monkey dung and rare extracts from endangered tropical plants on their face and bodies, or wooing a younger man or woman into their clutches with their mature charm. So far, only one of the above mentioned items could be considered somewhat promising (not to mention, somewhat green) for accomplishing the task of making one younger... but the women sure aren't going to like this one!... Read the full story on TreeHugger

New Laser Burns Hot as the Sun with Potential to Blast a Nation off the Map... or Power it Indefinitely!

Sun, 31 May 2009 22:43:33 GMT

Photo via: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory A new laser currently being tested at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has caught the imagination of many scientists and critics. For one, it is one of the largest lasers ever to be developed. It takes up the space of a standard-sized stadium, housing 192 individual beams, each combining into one ultimate beam that is said to have the equivalent intensity and heat energy as the sun itself.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Downsizing Your Home: How Much Space Do You Really Need?

Sun, 31 May 2009 20:32:47 GMT

The Smallest House in Great Britain, photo by ChicagoGeek When was the last time you really thought about how much space you really need to be comfortable? 250... 500... 1,000... 2,000... 3,000 square feet. While many people are concerned about their lifestyle, what they eat, what they drive, some never even consider the wasteful space accompanied by their home.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Global Warming: Technology vs. Choice

Sat, 30 May 2009 21:27:52 GMT

Photo via: mysi anne Our world has become very much reliant on technology, and why shouldn't it. Technology has progressed in leaps and bounds over the years creating new and improved methods of health care, faster and more powerful networking, cleaner and more organized industry. However, despite its many great advances, technology is not necessarily what is going to save us from the ill-effects of global warming...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Get on the Ground Floor of 5 Million New Jobs with a HAZWOPER Certification

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:42:04 GMT

Photo via: Azrainman; Freaking News The unemployment situation in the U.S. is serious. Currently there are 13.7 million unemployed people. Of these, 6 million have been added since the beginning of the recession (December of 2007 ) and nearly 4 million have remained jobless for a period of over 27 weeks. In the month of April alone, the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 to 8.9 percent. If you are one of these unfortunate individuals, or fear the prospects of becoming one in the near future, you may want to pay particular attention to this post...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Bosch Wind Energy Green Report

Sun, 24 May 2009 22:43:20 GMT

Photo via: Bosch Rexroth Renewable energy is currently at an all-time high as far as political focus and public goal orientation are concerned. At the same time, it is also facing one of its greatest challenges, a very unfavorable economic market. I spoke with Raj Boya from Bosch Rexroth about the prospects of wind energy as we move towards a greener future.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

A Little Toilet Humor: Powerloo, The Flushable, Outside Dog Toilet

Sun, 24 May 2009 03:52:42 GMT

Photo via: Left Hand Sometimes finding humor in life is as easy as checking into some of the news being featured around the nation. Today's humorous news bit comes from a story published yesterday in the Chicago Tribune titled, "What to do with doggy doo _ how 'bout a Powerloo?" The article proceeded to describe the health problems and environmental eye-sore associated with outdoor animal defecation. The solution offered, outdoor, flushable doggy toilets going for just under $1,000 a pop (not including the price of a heated unit for cold weather climates)...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hybrid-Powered Remote Control Lawnmower

Sat, 23 May 2009 20:53:28 GMT

You know, I sure hate to mow the grass. It is messy, time consuming, and every time I go to unload the grass clipping, my beer hat falls off my head. There has got to be a better way, and in fact there is. Introducing Southern RobotX, which when compared to the typical ride-on lawnmower, becomes one lean, mean & green, grass cutting machine. Here's how it works...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Save a Tree... Use an Unbreakable Golf Tee

Tue, 19 May 2009 21:20:26 GMT

Photo via: Launcher Tee What do you get when you cross an aerospace engineer with the game of golf?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Need a Little Help Reaching Your Environmental Goals?

Sun, 17 May 2009 18:42:22 GMT

Photo via: James Jordan We all need to have goals. Goals help guide us and give us wings to reach new heights. Becoming green is not a natural process for everybody, and in fact, many of us could use a little help here and there. Maybe we are trying to reduce consumer spending, red meat consumption, or energy consumption. Whatever your environmental goal, they are actually no different than any other success program, and should be treated as such.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The "Sliding House" Features an Exterior Skin for All Seasons

Sun, 17 May 2009 17:10:51 GMT

dRMM Architecture, situated in London, England, has built a number of fascinating home designs over their existence, but one of the most functionally eco-interesting would have to be their Sliding House. At first glance it looks like your typical European barn-style home with a 45 degree lean-to roof, but upon watching it over the course of a day, you would notice it actually changes shape, form, and consistency to match just about any season, weather pattern, or time of day.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

GM's New Strategy: "Made in China"

Sat, 16 May 2009 23:01:29 GMT

Photo via: Mr. Bill "Using taxpayer money to subsidize U.S. job losses," is how the United Auto Workers (UAW) describes GM's move to tighten their belts, slash production costs, and make the most of their $15.4 borrowed billion by outsourcing to China. GM has already plucked the suckling Pontiac and Saturn from their proverbial tit and are prepared to slash a few more sucklers' in the form of U.S. Laborers...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The 2009 Anti-Green Awards: The Worst Car, House, Building, Celebrity, Company, Country, and U.S. City...

Tue, 12 May 2009 22:00:42 GMT

Photo via: M1khaela The green movement has always had its share of both winners and losers. Today, we look at a few of the top losers for 2009. Hopefully with such a shameful honor to be bestowed upon them, they will clean-up their act for next year's round of awards. We can always hope anyway. Let the shaming begin!... Read the full story on TreeHugger

What Can Trigger An Asthma Attack May Surprise You

Sun, 10 May 2009 22:11:59 GMT

Photo via: Fredo Alvarez

What Causes Asthma?

According to Dr. Todd Mahr, a Gundersen Lutheran pediatric allergist and asthma specialist, it is many things. It is allergens (pollen, mold, pets, rodents, food, bugs), pollution (cigarette smoke, smog, exhaust fumes), temperature fluctuations, respiratory infections, etc. It would be great if we could find a key instigator to this rampant form of lung disease which effects millions of both children and adults, but a disease with so many causal factors can get a little tricky to deal with. But things are about to get a little more tricky as research uncovers a few more potential causal factors...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Prejudism and the Green Entrepreneur

Sun, 10 May 2009 19:08:47 GMT

Photo via: Tony the Misfit As the mortgage and banking industry collapsed last year, a painful reminder that prejudice banking still exists echoed over thousands of foreclosed homes whose minority owners had taken out a second mortgage (with unfavorable terms) to obtain additional money. There are no government statistics of how many of these owners were green business owners looking to build their business with these loans, but we can safely assume that many were. If there is anything to be said here, it is that lending institutions are not always on the green entrepreneurs side, especially the minority entrepreneur.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

This Post Burned Two Trees, Endangered Three Species, and Created One Dime-Sized Hole in the Atmosphere

Sat, 09 May 2009 20:02:25 GMT

Photo via: Mike Licht of NotionsCapital.com Okay, so this heading is far fetched by quite a stretch of imagination, but it poses a very interesting question for us green bloggers and green websites in general. If information is power and the spreading of knowledge is considered progress, at what point is too much of a good thing, well, too much?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Russian Nuclear Power Station Takes an Axe to Santa's Workshop

Tue, 05 May 2009 20:41:57 GMT

Photo via: azrainman As the Photo depicts, it is not Exxon/Mobil who will be bulldozing Santa's workshop this year, but rather the Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom. It will be a 70-megawatt prototype floating nuclear power station, consisting of two reactors nestled on one giant steel platform. There has also been an agreement to build another four plants once the first is complete. What the heck are they going to do with 360-megawatts out in the middle of no-man or woman's land? Why, to power the immense Russian built drilling rigs commissioned to exploit the vast stores of oil and gas buried deep within the Arctic, of course!... Read the full story on TreeHugger

New Study Says, You're Dead Meat if You Eat Red Meat

Sun, 03 May 2009 21:42:35 GMT

Photo via: Marshall Astor One million men and half a million women die each year from the excessive consumption of red meat (beef, venison) and processed meats (sausage, bologna). So what, you say, I've heard this same old song and dance for some 20 years now. That's true, but what makes this new study so interesting? Not only have they broken down some of the risk factors of eating red meat within these statistics, but they also are beginning to understand that perhaps it is not so much the red meat itself, but rather the lifestyle choices of the types of people who eat it. Red Meat is bad stuff we are told, it clogs the arteries, boosts blood pressure, and allows cancer cells to sneak past the bodies own self defense mechanism. So where's the statistical evidence? It's right here...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Eric Leech, New York, NY