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Eurobike Awards 2007 - Top Picks
Do you like to think of yourself as "minimalist, chic and highly unconventional"? Then Momo Design's City Bike may be your ride. That is how the judges at Eurobike described the black beauty, which they only awarded silver. It's the TreeHugger pick for sexiest bike of the show. This dream of titanium and carbon is light, gorgeous and Italian (of course). The chain-free belt drive (photo over the fold) operates without lubrication. Good thing this is text media, so you can't see us drooling. Our second pick of the show is for those who add "practical" and "enduring" to their personal tags. From the designers of the world's most comfortable bike saddle (ask anyone wh...

Is 'Green Limousines' an Oxymoron?
Luxury car maker, Bentley, want to create a greener range of cars in order to get closer to tighter proposed EU limits on emissions. The head of the company, Franz-Josef Paefgen, said, "We are currently forming a view on the matter, for instance by talking to politicians in England. And when the view is complete, we will decide in spring 2008 what to do."However, whatever measures the manufacturer takes, dont get your hopes up - they won't be drastic. Paefgen went on to say that no one should expect the car maker to release a small, three-litre car - which would still be an enormous car by

Fall Fashion 07: Stewart + Brown
While putting together its Fall 2007 collection, Stewart + Brown revisited the sepia-toned romance of early 20th century locomotive traveltrains careening noisily down the rails past lush, picturesque scenery, while elegantly dressed passengers sip tea from delicate bone-china teacups. Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, merino wool, and surplus fabrics are cut into soft, feminine sweaters and loose, diaphanous dresseswith endless layering and matching options for adventure seekers. More designs below the fold....

The World's 10 Most Polluted Places
The Blacksmith Institute, an NGO that works to solve pollution problems in the developing world, has released its second annual list of the World's Most Polluted Places. This year's list includes two sites each in China, India and Russia, and one site in Azerbaijan, Peru, Zambia and Ukraine. Many of the sites' pollution comes from mining of heavy metals like lead and chromium; all of the sites pose serious threats to human health and the environment.In La Oroya, Peru, for example, 99% of children living near the local heavy metal mining and processing industries ...

Building Green and Local in Cuba
The Building and Social Housing Foundation this year chose a pioneering project in Cuba as a winner of its World Habitat Awards, which honor practical and innovative solutions to current housing needs and problems with a 10,000 prize. The project, entitled "Ecomaterials in Social Housing Projects," seeks to to make building materials more affordable and accessible to local people using resources with low embodied energy, often through recycling wastes....

Sustainable Brands 07 Conference: In New Orleans
Here's another great example of US corporate engagement with sustainability. Logos are from some of the leaders. Lets hope the conference creates a great many more followers."The countdown to Sustainable Brands 07 continues, as more and more big brands and new green brands alike make plans to gather in New Orleans September 26-28 to support the rebuilding of New Orleans, honor the reality of corporate contribution to climate change and discuss rapidly emerging best practices associated with turning environmental and social responsibility into a new driver of brand value.""Dozens of corporate brands like AMD, Bosch ...

Corporate Climate Response Conference: In Chicago
We see increasing evidence that US corporations are taking climate change seriously. Here's an example. There might still be enough time to register for Corporate Climate Response, which takes place September 25th and 26th at the Courtyard Marriott Downtown Chicago. (The following is quoted from a recent email promotion.)"Twenty top companies will share their climate change and sustainability strategies at this unprecedented gathering. Caterpillar, Ford, BP America, Abbott, Time Inc, Motorola, Walgreens, Anheuser-Busch, Wal-mart, Dow, McDonalds, IBM, AIG, Excelon, Intel and Baxter Healthcare are among t...

Quote of the Day: Amy Jaffe on Alternative Energy
Photo credit: fieldsphotos I really think it has to be a national initiative. There are groups of people who have called from an Apollo-style national initiative in science, [an effort that is going to take decades]. And so it's really important to start focusing on the science today.[We won't see any real progress] until we have a real direction. You're going to spend a billion dollars a year for ten years, just on fundamental science because the kinds of technologies that are here with us today are technologies that require huge breakthroughs, especially...

This Water Purifier is a Real "Life Saver"
Inspired after watching the coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 hurricane that devastated parts of Southeast Asia, Michael Pritchard - a businessman who runs a water treatment plant in Ipswich, U.K. - invented a highly effective water purifying bottle. The "Life Saver," which can purify 4,000 - 6,000 liters with one filter, could potentially revolutionize the way fresh water is distributed to disaster areas and has already become a hot seller amongst military chiefs eager to provide better drinking water to their soldiers.Unlike most typical filters, which can eliminate bacteria but not viruses (which measu...

Majority of American Public Opposes Mountaintop Removal
It turns out it's not just us TreeHuggers who vehemently oppose the Bush administration's proposed expansion of mountaintop coal mining: according to a new survey by the Opinion Research Corporation, fully 2 out of 3 Americans disagree with its plans "to ease environmental regulations to permit wider use of 'mountain top removal' coal mining in the U.S." "The lack of public support -- regardless of political views - for mountain top removal coal mining is one of the most striking results of this surv...

Aaron Chang: recycled fashion swimsuits
Another great find at the Action Sports Retailers (ASR) Trade Show 2007 is the new line from Aaron Chang. These are the first fashion swimsuits to incorporate environmental materials and they look great. What is Aarong Chang and how did he get involved in developing womens swimwear? Well-known in the photography world, his work has appeared on over 100 covers, on coffee table books, on countless ads for companies like, Nike, Yamaha, Polaris and Levis. As an avid and legendary surfer, nature has always been in the forefront of his mind and he had a desire to incorporate his personal values with his professional work. According to Aaron, I would like to conve...

Murphy Oil Seeking Nearly 700% Wisconsin Refinery Capacity Expansion - The Coming Texification Of The Upper Midwest
Who could forget the BP Lake Michigan discharge controversy. Looks like Alberta Tar Sands extracted crude oiil will be refined in the Lake Superior watershed as well. "Arkansas-based Murphy Oil Corp. has been meeting with environmental regulators from the State of Wisconsin and the federal government to find out what permits it would need to launch its own $6 billion refinery expansion in the lakeside city of Superior. City officials claim the upgrade would boost refinery capacity from 35,000 barrels a day to 235,000."The Lake Michigan discharge perm...

Retro-Progressivism: The View from the Onion
Should Americans Return To A Simpler, Stone Age Lifestyle?We recently discussed Kate Tennier's notion about being a retro-progressive"-mak...

UK Conservatives Issued Strong Green Challenge From Within
The UKs Conservative Party hasnt always put green at the core of its agenda even fairly recently it has been challenging proposals for pay-as-you-throw garbage disposal, despite evidence from mainland Europe that such schemes can dramatically increase recycling. Nevertheless, party leader David Cameron has been making increasingly green noises, and he has even been seen sporting a pair of Worn Agains. While these may be...

Prototype of the Smart? The Micro-car Circa 1924
There really is nothing new under the sun. It seems that unusually small cars were around, even back in the early days of the horseless carriage. We wander if the on-going safety debate, seen so often on the pages of TreeHugger (here and here, for example), was also an issue back then. ::Shorpy::via site visit:: ...