TH Exclusives

2008 Copyright Greg Gladman

An endlessly talented friend and photographer, Greg Gladman, was in Florida last month and took this photograph of an exuberant "activist" roaming the streets of the State-most-famous-for-navals. What do you think it means? Who is the singular “terrorist” that this dude is referring to? And what is up with all those flags?

Curiously, if you look really closely and zoom in on that truck (like we did) there is a Florida Farm to Fuel website and what looks like a State Department logo. Is that a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services truck!? From what we can see it sure is. So much for keeping the church and state separate. What does "Remember me Jesus" have to do with fighting terrorists and ethanol? This will hopefully provide you with a little pick-me-up giggle to help you past the post Valentine’s Day blues. See more of Greg’s photos on his website here.

TH Exclusives

With US Presidential elections, a potential recession, and climate policy in the air, TreeHugger has put its collective head together to channel information from the great beyond about the year ahead. We’ve called up the most mind-rattling 2008 prognostications about all matters environmental.

What a tumultuous seance it was (as pictured). Our psychic predictions range from a more energy-efficient Latin America to an oral virus-pandemic. Forget the ‘waronterra.’ The Population Bomb is back.

Year Of The Tree: The US political simile of "grass roots" campaigning or "grass roots" efforts of any kind will get a new twist in 2008: "tree-roots.” Critics of carbon offsetting via tree planting or fostering sustainable forestry practices miss the point. People just love trees. They love planting trees themselves...or hiring someone to do it on the cheap.

Add a couple of bucks to the price of an airline ticket: has there ever been a cheaper more convenient, way to plant trees? Ignore the carbon offsetting aspect. Buy an offset (dedicated for tree planting) and you're good to go. Offsetting with trees will grow in popularity, not recede. The FTC and those cynical cable talk show pundits can take a hike. Hopefully, somewhere they can see the forest.

TH Exclusives

When I recently opened my inbox I saw that I’d received an invitation from the Green Charter Schools Network to get involved with what they’re doing and being the curious creature I am I took the opportunity to check them out.

Turns out there’s a growing movement of charter schools focused exclusively on educating kids by utilizing the environment as a tool to foster their knowledge of the world around them, and I certainly believe that’s a positive thing.

And while I certainly don't know whether or not you'll find an owl in one of them, the reality is that most children will never attend a charter school in their lifetime. Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that our public school system is the one that we, as a public, inevitably own. And undoubtedly the future that we and the owls share is inextricably linked with the future of that system.

TH Exclusives

Are you cool and creative? Do you know how to draw? Does this sound like one of those TV ads for art school? TreeHugger is looking for a graphic illustrator than can contribute to a special project.

The right candidate is professional, deadline-driven and totally gets the TreeHugger aesthetic. Hopefully, you are available immediately and can work in a fast-paced environment, too.

This is a freelance assignment that can be done from anywhere.

Please send a brief cover letter and a link to your online portfolio or no more than three lo-res examples of your work to meaghan(at)treehugger(dot)com.

TH Exclusives

We love watching good ideas grow. Two years ago William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart announced their program for Cradle to Cradle Certification and John said "If the MDBC certifications become popular, and we certainly think that could be a good thing, it could transform the very definition of "green design." Since then, C2C has been accepted by LEED for credit, has certified everything from diapers to surfboard wax, and is launching a new and improved C2C program, with with revised criteria based on knowledge gained during the first two years of the program. There will be a new entry level called Basic, resulting in four tiers of certification- Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum - to reflect a product's relative success against the criteria, which are so obvious that everyone should be designing for it: "using environmentally safe and healthy materials; design for material reutilization, such as recycling or composting; the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency; efficient use of water, and maximum water quality associated with production; and instituting strategies for social responsibility." ::MBDC and ::Inhabitat

TH Exclusives

It was a big week for prefabs; Justin noted two that have gone places since: the Micro-Compact House, in production and was installed at the Technical University of Munich. It was intended that the students live there for one term but they all loved it so much that they asked to stay for the full academic year. In less than 100 square feet.

TH Exclusives

Words like green or sustainable- what do they really mean? We ponder this in our shiny new headquarters, shown above. We are reading "the Meaning of Everything", about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary. Editor James Murray asked readers to report ""as many quotations as you can for ordinary words" to find where and when they were used, and cataloged them on slips of paper. In 1882 he had 3,500,000 million of them in 1029 pigeonholes. He didn't catch the new meaning of "green" or "sustainable."

Green is so mushy. Wikipedia thinks it is the same as Sustainable, but William McDonough once said

"We still have people talking about 'sustainability'! Nothing is more boring. Are you proud if your marriage is 'sustainable'?

We need a better word or a better definition. Any suggestions?

TH Exclusives

We quote from the Onion:

WASHINGTON, DC—The Environmental Protection Agency issued a bulletin Tuesday warning the bodies of American citizens, with their large concentrations of artificial, synthetic, and often toxic substances, have been reclassified as industrial waste.

"The average human body is now only 35 percent organic," EPA chief Ralph Johnson said. "Due to changes brought about by modern detergents, silicone implants, and processed cheese food product, it is no longer safe to allow human tissue to come into contact with our nation's topsoil."

Johnson said the EPA is seeking funding to construct a massive, federally managed human-body containment facility in the Mojave Desert to safely and viably store human remains. ::The Onion