Matt said:
"If you use a large enough number of these devices at once, the cooling action may be great enough to ensure that your pack of dobermans survives th..." [read]
RemyC said:
"I read somewhere today that the German government changed its mind, and will indeed shut down all their nukes by 2020, if not indeed sooner...." [read]
RemyC said:
"That's sweet revenge, considering GM/Chevron conspired to pin Panasonic down to the ground by preventing them from continuing to make Nickel Metal ..." [read]
RemyC said:
"hey bikesaddle, you really can't tell when someone's kidding, can you? have you seen alter eco? this week they launched an organic jean collection,..." [read]
ARP said:
"I would not ban them as I think it a bit overboard. I would charge for them or tax them. It's a win-win for most cities: they get more money and fe..." [read]
Face it: you love that chorus of "Oh that is so darling! Where did you get it?" But if you want to live the eco-chic lifestyle, consumerism is out. What to do? Start swapping instead of shopping with a new trend called Swishing. Swishing started in London. Now the push is on to bring Swishing to American shores.
“Women spend 85 cents of every dollar in the marketplace.” That’s an astonishing statistic. It’s so incredible that Diane MacEachern wrote Big Green Purse to inspire women to use their spending dollars to help protect the Earth and to send a message to manufacturers that consumers want environmentally friendly products.
Big Green Purse explains in twelve chapters, how some seemingly insignificant decisions can make a difference, leading to bigger shifts in everyday habits and a cleaner planet. The book starts with easy to understand explanations of issues and concepts. MacEachern breaks things down, like the precautionary principle, chemicals, climate change, and air and water issues so that anybody can understand it, yet she doesn’t over-simplify things.
How often have you stood in front of the overwhelming display of AA batteries and wondered: "How do I pick the best batteries for my money? And what is the best option to reduce the number of batteries I throw away?" With prices ranging from $11.94 and $29.87 for rechargables or $4.25 to $16.84 for disposables, how can you judge whether a higher priced battery will make up the investment in a longer lifespan?
Thankfully, the clever people at Popular Photography have carefully tested a wide range of both rechargable and disposable AA batteries. With interesting results. First and foremost: you cannot depend on the mAh capacity advertised on the battery packaging. But from the green perspective, two messages are clear.
Impress your friends, who will secretly pet your fridge as they reach in for a beer.
How often do you get to start a serious post with a quote like that? Thanks to our friends over at Chelsea Green, for sharing their favorite project from Stephen and Rebekah Hren, authors of The Carbon-Free Home. Chelsea Green explains the step-by-step instructions on how to insulate your refrigerator and add shag carpeting as a finishing touch -- with shagadelic effect.
If you are more family-oriented, this project has the perfect answer for you too: a cork-board fridge where your little angels can pin their projects while you save on your energy bills.
The problem of phantom power -- the energy used by appliances doing nothing but standing by -- has earned a slew of solutions, of increasing sophistication. New to the list of options is CheckTap, which won the Grand Prix of the 2008 International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. CheckTap supports a USB link to your computer, so that the management of all peripherals can be optimized to the needs of the individual user.
More than £1.2 billion (2.4 billion US dollars) is up for grabs. If your business in the UK or the greater EU wants to go green, this money has your name on it. But how do you find it? Enter the Green Grants Machine: a match-making site made in business heaven may help put you together with your perfect partner funding opportunity.
But he's not the only one converting old bikes! Russ Gries is a fellow DIYer, and his electric motorcycle is centered around parts from an old battery-powered forklift. He got it for free from the company he works for, and after acquiring the carcass of a 1976 Honda CB550 for $50, he got to work. After about 120 hours and a net cost of $15.61 (that's right, he got money for recycling the rest of the forklift), the result is Voltzilla. See below for specifications, photos, and videos, including the first ride.
On Thursday night, April 10th, the warmest New York has yet seen in April, a well-heeled crowd outfitted in suits and festive party dresses crowded into Astor Center on 4th street for A Night of Eco-Chic Entertaining, presented by the online magazine about entertaining, Notesonaparty.com. The party was intended to show how it is possible to be both sustainable and chic in the party-hosting realm, and featured a number of participating green brands, from Frutzzo, the "first company in America to market antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice blends" in recyclable bottles, to Organic Bouquet, which creates flower arrangements with only flowers grown using sustainable practices....
An entire world is thriving in the virtual online community Second Life. With TreeHuggers in the game, elements of environmentalism are slowly seeping into play.
Last year there was a massive flood, to simulate the effects of global warming.
Around that time, TH reported that an average Second Life avatar consumes as much electricity as a real life Brazilian.
A number of projects to help offset the carbon emissions created during one’s virtual play have popped up, and more recently Carbon Catalog wrote about a new initiative. The US-based carbon offset company 4Offsets has set up a virtual carbon offset shop inside the Second Life world.
...
TerraPass, an American for-profit carbon offset provider, is no stranger to media attention. Last year we interviewed TerraPass co-founder Adam Stein here, and
its other co-founder Tom Arnold here.
Today, at Carbon Catalog, TerraPass takes on the challenge of defending its position as a for-profit carbon offset provider. Arnold talks a bit about the upcoming elections in America, the company’s money-back guarantee, and Ed Begley, Jr.
A fan of reading blogs for news and offsetting information, Arnold says his company is motivated both by profit and the mission of saving the environment: “TerraPass challenges the traditional assumption that you either work on a business that destroys the environment or work at a non profit to protect it,” says Arnold.
Armed with educational resources and a web presence like no other, TerraPass has a bold goal to build a world where as many people offset as recycle. ...
Onzo is coming. 2 million pounds sterling start-up funds for Onzo have been secured in a deal with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE). Can this device live up to the great design promises that are being made for it?
...
CRAGs -- or Carbon Rationing Action Groups, are support groups dedicated to taking action to stop global warming through careful tracking of personal carbon emissions. Mostly in the UK, the groups set ambitious goals to cut back on carbon emissions, and then hold each other accountable -- with peer pressure and fines as motivation -- for reducing their carbon footprints.
Members of CRAGs, or "Craggers," were originally inspired by George Monbiot and his ambitious, powerful (if controversial) calls to quit flying and cut carbon emissions by 100%; essentially, they're providing both inspiration and motivation for governments to adapt universal, equitable policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by successfully implementing it on a grassroots community level first....
Do you wish you could send a message -- to the government, to the people, out into the world -- that it is time to act to save our planet? Adrian Saker is no longer wishing; he is acting. Adrian believes his line "It's Time to Mother Nature" is original. He has not trademarked nor registered this line, but chooses to give his creative slogan away to the environmental movement. And he has put the Secret Service on notice: he is planning to break the law....
The Oceanic Preservation Society is on a mission: to document beauty and destruction in our planet's oceans with the hope of motivating change. It is a mission which sometimes requires James Bond-like ingenuity. In this case, OPS goes head-to-head with some Japanese fishermen on the issue of dolphin killing. It is a thriller, involving celebrities under vicious attack during peaceful protest, blockades and risks of arrest for confronting an issue of national cultural sensitivity....
When you send the milk jug in your fridge on to the recycler, it’s often the last you’ll think of it. But Green Toys, Inc. is busy recycling them for profit into their line of classic children’s toys. And as they point out on their website, every pound of milk jugs recycled means an energy savings equivalent to 3,000 AAA batteries, three weeks worth of the electricity needed to power a TV or enough to run your laptop for the entire month ahead.
Not to mention the fact that they’ll also provide a great way to teach your kids about the positive benefits of recycling waste products into something fun.
...
The precipitous drops in the world’s financial markets this week—with possibly more to come—have a lot of us worrying about the economy. It’s also got national leaders talking about an economic stimulus package.
Obviously, America is facing some stiff challenges: ensuring economic security and rising to the challenge of climate change loom large.
But we also have a rare and golden opportunity to move forward, so we face a fundamental choice: We could stick our heads in the sand and accept the high risks and costs that will come from business-as-usual—or we can figure out how America will seize the initiative and lead the world in transitioning to a clean and prosperous new energy economy.
To that end, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups sent a letter to Congress this week in which we outlined ten steps Congress can take to lead. Mainly, we’re asking leaders to include federal clean-energy tax incentives and weatherization assistance in any economic stimulus package they pass....
Photo credit: JohnJMatlock
The big boys at Sharp, Panasonic and Toshiba have taken advantage of being in the same room at CES to announce that they've joined forces to create a new electronics recycling company, called the Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM). The company was formed to help other manufacturers and state and local governments manage electronics recycling programs across the US.
Formed in response to some stringent regulations passed last year in Minnesota, the company is working to help bring companies up to the new code, having collected 750 tons of junk in the first five months, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. Similar deals are in the works in Connecticut, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington; on the manufacturer side of the equation, MRM has deals with Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer, Sanyo, and Syntax-Brillian....
Kudos to Kurt Zuelsdorf for a clever contribution to the ecosystem of the beloved birdlife on the Clam Bayou in Gulfport Florida. Zuelsdorf's idea: no rent is due on kayaks if the boater brings back a bag of trash. Field&Stream named Zuelsdorf a "Hero of Conservation", and local news coverage has helped bring out the volunteers and financial support so that Zuelsdorf's work can keep on going. Zuelsdorf has organized events to pick up the pace of the cleanup. Current cleanup stats: ...
This holiday season for sure you’ve had many guests and used lots of that sweet nectar of the cows – milk. We were looking into the impacts of milk jugs versus cartons and found an interesting study that goes a little against our typical idea of what is greener. This study on the Use Less Stuff website reports that plastic milk jugs have less overall environmental impacts than cartons or even PLA jugs.
The study notes that milk jugs are recycled at a rate of 29%, but that also means that 71% are going to landfills. That’s a lot of high density polyethylene milk jugs sitting there that may never break down. Of course, they duly notes that it takes more energy to make PLA milk jugs given the new-ness of the technology and additionally, the plastic guys take less material to make the same thing (one of the reason that glass is also less efficient). Thus it appears that the overall energy requirements are less for the traditional HDPE jug than the PLA jug, the carton and the glass bottle. They didn’t look at the plastic bag option, which probably would have come out on top.
...
We promised a more depth interview with Israel’s carbon offset non-profit, Good Energy Initiative (GEI) and today we deliver. The group is the first body in Israel to utilize voluntary carbon offsetting through its own carbon offsetting projects.
Founders Eyal Biger and Joshua Berman explain a little more about what they are doing for GEI, and offer us a taste of the carbon offset climate in Israel. Here is their story:
Environmental consciousness is doubtlessly growing in Israel. The discussion regarding global warming is finally picking up pace, and both media and decision makers seem to be spending more time and attention on climate change and other environmental issues. ...
We've heard of Jewish day school, but Jewish farm school?
Yup, that's right. Ever dream about living off the grid and building yourself a farm? If you're Jewish and want to get in touch with some of your earthly roots, consider an ecological farming apprenticeship with Shorashim in Israel. The next 5-month residential apprenticeship begins this February and there is space enough for 10 of you.
...
Ring the bells! Pop the (organic) champagne! TreeHugger’s 2007 Gift Guide is here!
We've made this guide the most comprehensive yet, with 180+ gift ideas in three shades of green, making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, we'll be adding organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient.
Ever dream about sailing away for a year and a day with “school at sea” and teachers named Sven and Olaf? Learning on a sea-faring vessel could be a dream, but not for those who prefer dry land instead.
A chance to study at sea, but on land, is the basis of a new study-abroad program offered by Tel Aviv University. The new 6-credit summer school course suited for an undergrad (with at least one credit in the area of the environment) will focus on Israel’s unique variety of water resources and how to make them sustainable.
Israel has a lot of water – most of which is not potable. In one small area, you can find four very unique bodies of water: there is the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the Med Sea and the Sea of Galilee....
ReadyMade asked its readers to submit ideas on how to reanimate the dried-up corpses of juiced-out, presumably unrefillable pens. Although the winners of the magazine's MacGyver Challenge did not prove that the pen is mightier than the sword, they did demonstrate that it could at least hold its own against a butter knife, by fitting pen barrels to old silverware.
Runners-up include bud vases, a plastic jump rope, a pretty nifty recycled garden sprinkler, a tool shelf with pen-barrel pegs, plant stakes, and a trompe l’oeil pencil cup. ::ReadyMadeDifficulty level: Moderate...
Got wood? With a handy resource like Woodfinder, you do. The online database helps you find "sources of lumber, veneer, plywood or laminates -- or local sawmills and sawmill services," and in addition to searching for retail, wholesale or distribution yards near you, you can also narrow it down to sustainable sources like reclaimed, salvaged, submerged and even FSC-certified.
One of the knocks on sourcing sustainable wood is that it can be dang hard to find; with something like Woodfinder, there's no reason you can't find some solid sustainable woods for your next DIY weekend, and you can even find a local mill to help you cut it up, if need be. Maybe now you can make you're very own Urban Hardwoods or Urban Tree Salvage knockoff that's been appearing in your dreams, or find the perfectly-patina-ed collection for your new kitchen floor. ::Woodfinder via ::materialicious...
Vloggers The Urban Homesteaders, from Rochester, NY, have put together this handy how-to guide for building your own compost spinner, to help you accelerate the composting process. They built it entirely from recycled and salvaged materials, making it a pretty green process, and costing them exactly $0 and an afternoon of labor. Watch the video, about 10 minutes, for specific, step-by-step instructions; the basic instructions go like this:
1. Get a compost bin -- plastic drum, old garbage can, etc., as long as it has a secure lid.
2. Drill vertical holes in the bin, to provide proper aeration.
3. Put a pole (they recommend aluminum) through the center of the barrel, as an axis for the barrel to spin on.
4. Build a base upon which to suspend the barrel.
5. Install the barrel, and spin, spin, spin. ::YouTube via ::HuggDifficulty level: Moderate...
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
“Women spend 85 cents of every dollar in the marketplace.” That’s an astonishing statistic. It’s so incredible that Diane MacEachern wrote 
On Thursday night, April 10th, the warmest New York has yet seen in April, a well-heeled crowd outfitted in suits and festive party dresses crowded into Astor Center on 4th street for A Night of Eco-Chic Entertaining, presented by the online magazine about entertaining, 
An entire world is thriving in the virtual online community Second Life. With TreeHuggers in the game, elements of environmentalism are slowly seeping into play.
Last year there 
TerraPass, an American for-profit carbon offset provider, is no stranger to media attention. Last year we interviewed TerraPass co-founder 
Onzo is coming. 2 million pounds sterling start-up 
CRAGs -- or Carbon Rationing Action Groups, are support groups dedicated to taking action to stop global warming through careful tracking of personal carbon emissions. Mostly in the UK, the groups set ambitious goals to cut back on carbon emissions, and then hold each other accountable -- with peer pressure and fines as motivation -- for reducing their 
Do you wish you could send a message -- to the government, to the people, out into the world -- that it is time to act to save our planet? 
The Oceanic Preservation Society is on a mission: to document beauty and destruction in our planet's oceans with the hope of motivating change. It is a mission which sometimes requires James Bond-like ingenuity. In this case, OPS goes head-to-head with some Japanese fishermen on the issue of dolphin killing. It is a thriller, involving celebrities under vicious attack during peaceful protest, blockades and risks of arrest for confronting an issue of national cultural sensitivity....
When you send the milk jug in your fridge on to the recycler, it’s often the last you’ll think of it. But Green Toys, Inc. is busy recycling them for profit into their line of classic children’s toys. And as they point out on their website, every pound of milk jugs recycled means an energy savings equivalent to 3,000 AAA batteries, three weeks worth of the electricity needed to power a TV or enough to run your laptop for the entire month ahead.
Not to mention the fact that they’ll also provide a great way to teach your kids about the positive benefits of recycling waste products into something fun.
...
The precipitous drops in the world’s financial markets this week—with possibly more to come—have a lot of us worrying about the economy. It’s also got national leaders talking about an economic stimulus package.
Obviously, America is facing some stiff challenges: ensuring economic security and rising to the challenge of climate change loom large.
But we also have a rare and golden opportunity to move forward, so we face a fundamental choice: We could stick our heads in the sand and accept the high risks and costs that will come from business-as-usual—or we can figure out how America will seize the initiative and lead the world in transitioning to a clean and prosperous new energy economy.
To that end, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups sent a letter to Congress this week in which we outlined ten steps Congress can take to lead. Mainly, we’re asking leaders to include federal clean-energy tax incentives and weatherization assistance in any economic stimulus package they pass....
Photo credit: 
This holiday season for sure you’ve had many guests and used lots of that sweet nectar of the cows – milk. We were looking into the impacts of milk jugs versus cartons and found an interesting study that goes a little against our typical idea of what is greener. This study on the 
We 
We've heard of Jewish day school, but Jewish farm school?
Yup, that's right. Ever dream about living off the grid and building yourself a farm? If you're Jewish and want to get in touch with some of your earthly roots, consider an ecological farming apprenticeship with Shorashim in Israel. The next 5-month residential apprenticeship begins this February and there is space enough for 10 of you.
...
Ever dream about sailing away for a year and a day with “school at sea” and teachers named Sven and Olaf? Learning on a sea-faring vessel could be a dream, but not for those who prefer dry land instead.
A chance to study at sea, but on land, is the basis of a new study-abroad program offered by Tel Aviv University. The new 6-credit summer school course suited for an undergrad (with at least one credit in the area of the environment) will focus on Israel’s unique variety of water resources and how to make them sustainable.
Israel has a lot of water – most of which is not potable. In one small area, you can find four very unique bodies of water: there is the 
Got wood? With a handy resource like 
