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Alexander López said: "Sweet! I would only add an umbrella on top. and its height makes easier to store recumbents! Amsterdam could use these......" [read]

Chris Hurst said: ""Clean" coal is the stupid part of Obama s energy policy,the rest looks OK to me.The first good point in a vote for Obama is out of Iraq,the next i..." [read]

MandyPandy said: "Because cars need our food more than we do......" [read]

Chris Hurst said: "But it is better than "Frisco"..." [read]

HopHunt Free Traffic said: "Thanks for sharing these good panda photos. We are happy to see that there are may good people who take good care of our forest and wildlif..." [read]

Berkana said: "Great tits may be coping well with global warming, but regular tits may need support. ^.~..." [read]

Buying Green Online - Gasoline Saver Or Climate Bigfoot?

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 05.10.08
Science & Technology

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With gasoline prices rising so, we expect consumers to increasingly shop online to reduce their personal climate "footprint" and save money. Especially if the green products selection is good.

To explore this question a bit, we checked out the Amazon green product listing where one can find many of the familiar "green" items and then some. A total of 713 items were "tagged" as green by customers. Click and scroll, click and scroll.

Read more: Buying Green Online - Gasoline Saver Or Climate Bigfoot?

Product Service Systems: Japan's Cat Cafés

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.27.08
Science & Technology

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We love product service systems, where you borrow or rent instead of own. On April Fools Day we showed Puppy The World, a PPS where one can rent a dog; Now we present Neko JaLaLa, or the Cat Café. You don't get to rent the cat, but you get to join them for tea while catz loll around. After all, cats are like tribbles; rubbing them makes you feel good. It is only in the morning that you pay with your skin. One customer says "When it comes to having cats, it's a burden. I work and I don't have the time to take care of them in a responsible manner," but thinks cat-gazing is "a way to relax and let go of my stress." Others note that it is a big help for people without time or space to have their own.

"I always used to play with cats back home, but now I can't, since I live on my own," says Yuka Sato in the CSM. "I wish I could live together with cats like this."

And, for Cute Overload and Lolcatz fans, we provide links to two Japanese websites for people who cannot get to the cafe and just want to look at cute cats. http://hatchan-nikki.com/ and http://scomu.jp/makocat/)

All via ::Christian Science Monitor via ::Planetizen

Product Service Systems: Puppy the World

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 1.08
Science & Technology

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TreeHugger adores product service systems; Though the name is easy to trip over, the concept is brilliant: that there are ways to rent products or services on-demand, and then just pass them on where you're done.

That is why we fell in love with the concept of Puppy the World, a store in Japan where you rent a dog by the hour or the day. It's called Doggurentaru; Tokyomango tells us that "You can choose small, medium, or large breeds and rent them for $19/hr, or $100 a night. They have everything from chihuahuas to labs to border collies to papillons." ::Puppy the world via ::Tokyomango
and ::Boingboing See also the existing American version at FlexPetz

Read more: Product Service Systems: Puppy the World

Clothing Libraries: Another Product Service System

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03.31.08
Science & Technology

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We love libraries here at TreeHugger. They’re a perfect example of a Product Service System (PSS) where you get the service of an item without having to own it and all the cost and upkeep time that requires. In the past we’ve discussed Toy Libraries and Tool Libraries. But it seems we’ve forgotten to mention Clothing Libraries.

The ones I’m familiar with are like the Belmont Clothes Library in Western Australia. A volunteer run organisation with over 1,500 fashion garments on its books it loans out, for free, male and female apparel to unemployed people, so they can look smart for crucial job interviews. We were reminded of this when reader Joe F. left a message on our Q&A post on Green Business Suits. Joe is offering his collection of pre-loved business suits to a worthy organisation, like Belmont. Anyone know of something similar in the USA that Joe can donate his suits to?

Read more: Clothing Libraries: Another Product Service System

Velorution: London’s Folding Bike Rental Service

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 02.14.08
Science & Technology

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Velorution, a bicycle shop in London reckons visitors to the UK capital should make like a local and get about on a zippy folding commuter bike. To this end they offer a rental service for folders. Here’s the deal: “There is no faster way to do it than by bicycle. Order one of our models and we will deliver it to your room; at the end of the day, just leave it to the concierge and we will pick it up; couldn't be easier. If the weather is not friendly, we can rent you smart weatherproof jackets and trousers. Don't waste time in traffic jams!” You can choose from a Strida, Brompton, Dahon or even an iXi.

Read more: Velorution: London’s Folding Bike Rental Service

The TH Interview: Bicing, Barcelona’s Bike Sharing System (Part 3: Clear Channel)

by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona on 01.29.08
Science & Technology

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Image courtesy of Clear Channel

This week we interviewed Clear Channel Outdoor in Spain, the company behind the bike sharing system Bicing in Barcelona, whose success story you can read here. We previously interviewed Mayra Nieto from Barcelona’s City Council (Part 1) as well as some of its over 100.000 users (Part 2).

Clear Channel Outdoor is the world's largest outdoor advertising company, designing advertising displays for anywhere from airports and taxis to malls and including some of New York's Times Square displays. We learned that one of the most sustainable and innovative Product Service Systems like the Bicing, is the fruit of this company’s international street furniture division. Read what Jordi Sáez, regional director of Clear Channel in Catalonia, has to say about Bicing and sharing bikes.

Read more: The TH Interview: Bicing, Barcelona’s Bike Sharing System (Part 3: Clear Channel)

ThinkGreen: To A Virtual World Beyond Recycling's Curbside

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 01.28.08
Science & Technology

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Think about how your understanding of recycling affects your lifestyle - we generally drop the recyclables curbside, go back inside and literally wash our hands. For many of us, personal knowledge of what's beyond the curb is from the memory of a grade-school tour or college lecture.

I'm probably also safe in assuming that very few of our readers have seen the inner workings of a modern landfill or incinerator. More of us, I know, will have been to the loading dock of a recycling center. But, how much do we really understand about how leading edge recycling centers operate? The technologies they might use?

There have been many changes since that school tour. Your father's junkyard or tip no longer exist as you knew them. And, recycling centers near urban centers can have a wide variety of updated technologies.

Offering a Second Life-styled glimpse into the the post curbside world of waste management, Waste Management (the corporation) goes live today with ThinkGreen. Got an itchy click finger? Dive into the bowels of a landfill or tour the recovery center. When you return, we do have a bit more to say.

Read more: ThinkGreen: To A Virtual World Beyond Recycling's Curbside

The TH Interview: Bicing, Barcelona’s Bike Sharing System (Part 2: the Users)

by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona on 01.15.08
Science & Technology

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image by Petz Scholtus

This is Part 2 of our interview series about Barcelona’s bike sharing system Bicing. You can read the first interview with Mayra Nieto from the Barcelona City Council here. To find out what Bicing users thought of their relatively new public transport system, we went into the streets and asked them. With 194 stations and over 100.000 users it wasn’t difficult to fget hold of them.

Read more: The TH Interview: Bicing, Barcelona’s Bike Sharing System (Part 2: the Users)
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