Tag: Life Cycle Analysis

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  Ask Pablo: Is It Really Better To Recycle Paper?

  Dear Pablo: I have a tough one for you: shall we recycle our paper? There are both the CO2 and the chemical aspects to consider, and there's arguments against recycling paper in each case.

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  Ask Pablo: Did I Do The Right Thing By Cutting Down A Christmas Tree?

  Dear Pablo: I don't like fake Christmas trees but I can't help but wonder if I did the right thing by cutting down a Christmas tree this year?

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  Zero Energy Christmas Decoration Lights Up Under Existing Streetlamps

  How about using the light from already existing street lamps to spark off the festive season? Here are some off-the-grid parasite lamps so to speak, that look good by day!

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  Ask Pablo: Which Favorite Holiday Pie Is The Greenest to Bake?

  Which holiday pie is greenest? Pumpkin, apple, or pecan? Find out in this week's Ask Pablo!

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  Ask Pablo: Are Repurposed T-Shirts Carbon Neutral?

  Image credit: Karen, used under Creative Commons license. Dear Pablo: Say an average fancy t-shirt holds carbon footprint of 6kg but is never sold and sits in the warehouse of a textile/clothing production company. I take that same t-shirt and use it to

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  Ajiro Bamboo Velobike: A "Grown Vehicle" That's Farmed, Not Factory-Made

  Bamboo may seem like a questionable material for making bikes, but we've seen our share of great bamboo bikes -- and hey, there's even DIY bamboo bike-building classes out there. Taking advantage

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  Tour of the Second PassivHaus in UK

  This lovely looking Victorian house in west London seems deceptively straightforward except for a tiny plaque on the front door. It notes that this is the second house in the UK to reach PassivHaus standards. And that is no mean

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  Ask Pablo: Are Plastic Bags Better After All?

  Dear Pablo: Is it true that plastic bags have less impact on the environment than the alternatives?

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  Europeans To Ban Fire Retardants and Phthalates Critical To American Building Industry

  Comments to the post What is the Best Way To Build A Wall? Not A Simple Answer wondered why we wanted to reinvent the wall. The consensus was "Having XPS on the exterior is, I think, the easiest and best solution." I will be

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  Are Plastic Bags the Greenest Option After All?

  I must admit I have never really understood the environmentalist obsession with plastic bags. As I noted in my post on a ban plastic bags rap that went viral, I've always felt there are

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  Nissan's Mark Perry on the Arrival of the Leaf (Podcast)

  Amid a media flurry starring a displaced polar bear and an easy-breathing Lance Armstrong, Nissan has become the unlikely leader as it delivers a mass-produced, affordable electric car. The Leaf is now arriving in the driveways of eager customers, and

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  Ask Pablo: Does recycling your toothbrush really make a difference?

  Image Source: Preserve Dear Pablo: Does recycling your toothbrush really make a difference? Doesn't mailing it back do more damage than the recycling avoids? It is true that mailing anything has an impact, but is it more than the recycling itself? To

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  Life Cycle Analysis Compares Footprint of Gas and Electric Passenger Cars

  Electric cars are the darlings of the green technology futurists. But wait, cries a receding voice, "what about the environmental impact of all those batteries?" Until recently, that lurking uncertainty shadowed the

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  When Is It OK to Knock Down Old Houses?

  The largest collection of prefab houses in the UK is about to be demolished. Built by German and Italian prisoners of war in 1945, these small bungalows are a remnant of war-time years when housing was at a premium.

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  Big Surprise: New Study Shows Insulated Concrete Forms Are Better Than Crap

  I have always wondered why a sandwich of polystyrene and concrete is considered green, and have taken significant abuse for my position on insulated concrete forms (ICF). Now an interim report from the impressive-sounding MIT Concrete

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  Ask Pablo: What is the Best Environmental Choice for Yoga Mats?

  Each year thousands of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) yoga mats are sold

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  Radical Product Transparency Via Carbon Mapping- Highlight from Opportunity Green

  This past Thursday, at the business conference Opportunity Green, one panel entitled Next Generation Carbon Mapping: Radical Transparency and Truth in Advertising captured the attention of the standing room only audience at

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  Ask Pablo: Is Boxed Water Really Better?

  In past articles I have shown that boxed