If We All Do Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, the Mercury Will Drop

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:12:18 GMT

Dimmable CFLs now available - photo via Velo Steve @ flickr. Today's compact fluorescent lights are now light-years ahead of their ancestors of just a few years ago, in terms of the range of styles available and their lower price points. True, LED lighting is nipping at the heels of the lighting industry, solving a lot of lighting needs with very low energy use, and possibly a better life-cycle profile. But at TreeHugger, we've long agitated for CFLs, and we still do. Now that the European Union has banned incandescent bulbs, perhaps we'll be able to see that a CFL world will be still bright enough, and with billions of dollars saved in energy costs as a bonus. Yet some of us can't quite forget about the dangerous drop of mercury in CFLs.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Getting Green Power: If You Want It, Prove It

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:24:30 GMT

Photo via Eyesplash Mikul @ flickr. Green power -- that is, power generated by renewable energy -- for residential use is widely available, but remains a bit perplexing to some. Typically, getting green power for your home means paying a little a extra on your utility bill or purchasing renewable energy credits. That money doesn't necessarily mean that when you switch on a lamp you get wind or solar or geothermal power delivered directly to light up the bulb, however. Instead, the premium you pay for each kilowatt hour of energy used means the utility you buy from should be building or buying cleaner sources of energy. Alternatively, you can get your regular utility company's power mix and buy add-on green certificates that represent more of the clean and green stuff going into the grid somewhere. (To learn more about how you can get green power, read 5 Good Ways to Get Green Power Into Your Home.) Green is definitely good when it comes to electricity, and it's one of the easiest green actions you can take, but it also raises another perplexing question -- if it's green and it's good, shouldn't we just use more of it? ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Making Stuff Cool, Making Stuff Uncool: Why Cultural Change is Key

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:24:00 GMT

James Dean makes smoking look cool. The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. In a science research boat, he traveled alongside over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars. Humans are driven by incentives. For the most part, we do things because there's something in it for us. This may be money, food, entertainment or even the feeling of having helped someone. In terms of the incentives that drive people to go green, some of the main ones that we hear about are ones such as saving money, maintaining your health and improving national security. There's one incentive that doesn't get talked about as much but that I believe is very powerful...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Quote of the Day: Ian McEwan on The Hot Breath of Our Civilization

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:48:00 GMT

Image credit: Belinda Lawley The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. In a science research boat, he traveled alongside over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars. Ian McEwan, talented author of Atonement, On Chesil Beach and many more, was on the 2005 Cape Farewell expedition. The idea behind Cape Farewell is to inspire cultural change by inspiring artists to incorporate climate change in their work. The word on the street is that Ian's next book will incorporate climate change as a theme and is therefore a great example of the ongoing success of the project. (Well done David and team!) Here is a profound excerpt from McEwan's, An Essay for our Time: ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Masterful Beatboxing Shlomo: Music Without Instruments

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:17:00 GMT

Beatboxin' Schlomo making some noise. The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. In a science research boat, he traveled alongside over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars. At TreeHugger, we love less. Less is more, small is sexy, mini is magnificent. We love us some small houses, small cars and small bikes. The one thing smaller than small? Nothing, nada, zip. Enter Shlomo and his mouth of many instruments (includes vids!)...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Whale Oil as Space Lubricant: Better than Anything We Can Create?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:59:00 GMT

The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. In a science research boat, he traveled alongside over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars. TreeHugger does surely not lack in its coverage of whaling. The proof is in our ocean-sized archive. But did you know that whale oil was used to send a man to the moon? I learned this weird but true fact during my sea travels...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Carbon Offsets for Your Private Jet Flying Pal?

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:55:00 GMT

Image credit: RecoilRick The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. Packed in snugly on a science research boat with over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars, Graham recounts his journey and the unforgettable moments that made it so meaningful. On my trip to the Arctic, we spent many a night leisurely dining over good conversation--just one of the perks of being stuck on a boat with a crew of dynamic personalities. One night, Lori Majewski of dosomething.org discussed a quandary she had found herself in. A well to-do friend was to be married and owned a private jet. She needed to buy him a wedding gift and was considering carbon offsets for his plane. However, she was originally leaning towards not giving the offsets as she thought that that would be effectively giving him permission to keep flying his private jet. So, dear reader, we pose the following question to you...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hang Your Folding Bike in Your Closet

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 17:32:01 GMT

Would love to have a bike but keep getting it ripped off and don't think you have space for one in your apartment? First step, get a Strida folding bike (an awesome commuting machine) or other small folding bike. Second, figure out a way to hang your bike in your closet. Hit below the fold for how a chinese restaurant window display led me to an easy $2 solution (including pics and video).... Read the full story on TreeHugger

TreeHugger Acquires Discovery Communications

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:30:00 GMT

Ok, ok. Not quite. Close to four years ago, TreeHugger was founded with the goal of helping to push sustainability into the mainstream. Today, as an award-winning Top 20 blog having served over 50 million pages, we like to believe that we've played a part in pushing green towards its tipping point. Today, we are proud to announce another big step toward that goal; Discovery Communications has acquired TreeHugger. We suspected that at a certain point in TreeHugger's life that we would need to attract significant investment or partner up with a large media organization if we were to really take our message to the masses and fulfill our mission. Over the last year, we were approached by over 15 large companies interested in playing this role. We had many conversations and concluded that we needed a partner with a sizeable, international audience, a kindred brand and a high level commitment philosophically and financially to green. Discovery fits these criteria to a T. * They reach 1.5 billion (yes, billion!) cumulative subscribers around the world with top quality, often nature related non-fiction content * They have commitment from the top of the company for over $50M to create content including programming for the world's first 24 hr green channel and in addition have allocated significant budget aimed at building the leading green web portfolio on the Internet * They already have web properties serving hundreds of millions of pageviews per month * They are looking to the TreeHugger team to help drive the direction of their green efforts online We are honored that upon surveying the potential acquisition candidates or the option of building internally, Discovery elected to pursue making us a core element in their overall green strategy. We believe that this combination will allow TreeHugger to go much further and faster than it would have been able to alone or with another partner. If you believe what the world's scientists are saying, and I do, we have but a few years to make major changes in our relationship with nature. By teaming up with Discovery, we believe we can more effectively play a critical role in this mission. We're bringing 2 premiere brands together, one with the largest broadcast, one with the largest online audience in this area. And then we're making the largest financial commitment towards green yet. Nice, no? More after the jump... ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Mexico! TreeHugger is Looking for a Mexican Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:16:05 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in Mexico to highlight the latest in green coming out of Mexico. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Middle East! TreeHugger is Looking for a Middle Eastern Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:16:02 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in the Middle East to highlight the latest in green coming out of the Middle East. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Japan! TreeHugger is Looking for a Japan Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:15:58 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in Japan to highlight the latest in green coming out of Japan. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Russia! TreeHugger is Looking for a Russian Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:15:55 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in Russia to highlight the latest in green coming out of Russia. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Brazil! TreeHugger is Looking for a Brazilian Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:15:53 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in Brazil to highlight the latest in green coming out of Brazil. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey South Africa! TreeHugger is Looking for a South African Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:15:50 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in South Africa to highlight the latest in green coming out of South Africa. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Italy! TreeHugger is Looking for an Italian Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:15:47 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in Italy to highlight the latest in green coming out of Italy. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey France! TreeHugger is Looking for a French Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:15:45 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in France to highlight the latest in green coming out of France. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey China! TreeHugger is Looking for some Chinese Correspondents (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:13:30 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get some more passionate, talented, driven writers in China to highlight the latest in green coming out of China. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey Scandinavia! TreeHugger is Looking for an Scandinavian Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 16:37:08 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in Scandinavia to highlight the latest in green coming out of Scandinavia. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hey India! TreeHugger is Looking for an Indian Correspondent (paid).

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 16:16:47 GMT

TreeHugger wants to cross-pollinate the globe with green. We d love to get a passionate, talented, driven writer in India to highlight the latest in green coming out of India. We are also offering a $200 referral reward if you connect us with a successful longer term hire. Sound like you or someone you know? More after the jump...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Introducing Graham Hill

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 11:01:30 GMT

Alternately described as Serial Entrepreneur, Do-Gooder and Designer, Graham Hill certainly enjoys variety although now finds his future happily confined to the social entrepreneurship arena. Past businesses include forays into fashion, web-development, viral email and plant-based air filters. In 1995, with his cousin, he started and grew the web-developer, SiteWerks, to 60 people doing work for large companies such as Microsoft and sold it to a New York company in 1998. He currently focuses on pushing sustainability into the mainstream through TreeHugger.com, which in 4 short years has become one of the most respected and trafficked environmental sites on the web. Hill and the TreeHugger.com team recently joined the Discovery Communications family of networks as part of its Planet Green multi-platform, global environmental initiative. Additionally, he owns a product business that sells a New York souvenir he designed a few years ago into 150 stores including MOMA. Graham has a Bachelor of Architecture with distinction from Carleton University in Ottawa and did advanced studies in Industrial Design at E.C.I.A.D, Vancouver. Graham has lived all over the world and his guiltiest sin is air travel (offset of course). He speaks English, French, German and Spanish and is addicted to squash.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Graham Hill, New York, NY