Home / treehugger.com rss archive / September-17-2007


Sound and Impartial Science: Who Needs It?
In an important post highlighting the need for fairer, more fact-based science in government, Mark Hoofnagle advocates for the return of the Office of Technology Assessment, an agency on the Hill that used to provide non-partisan scientific documents to the members of Congress. It was unceremoniously shut down - after 30 years of valuable service - upon being deprived of funding in the wake of the 1994 Republican midterm election rout. As Mark goes on to elaborate, this "self-lobotomy" helped in great part to facilitate the Bush administration's g...

Introducing the Australian Forestry Standard
Australia's $18 billion forestry industry can now boast of its own internationally recognized Australian Forestry Standard (AFS), a certification scheme that assures consumers that they are buying wood products from sustainably managed forests and plantations.Around 9 million hectares (22 million acres) of Australian forests are now AFS-certified through government forestry operations in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, and Queensland. A $200,000 go...

NYC Transit To Become More Eco-Friendly
Photo credit: pbouchardThe nation's largest mass-transit system is looking at ways it could become more environmentally friendly. Rooftop gardens on bus depots and windmills at rail yards are just a couple of the ideas being batted around by a member of panel experts formed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to develop a "green master plan" for the New York City's system of subways and buses."The issue of globa...

Fall Fashion 07: Charmon
Charmon's exquisitely luxe animal and sweatshop-free heels, pumps, and boots are bursting at their architectural seams with Old World sophistication and glamor this fall. Thematically divided into High Art and High Tea, these high-octane, architecturally structured kicks distinguish themselves with embellishments that include faux leather piping, embossed curlicues, and satin ruffles. Not for the weak of heart or pocketbook.More pictures below. ::Charmon...

Should All Cars be Banned from London?
The Greater London Authority (GLA) has pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in London 60% by 2025. Its a massive goal, and one which many believe is unreachable using current methods. A new study shows that some radical moves might be needed in order to achieve it, such as banning all cars from London. The report was written by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Transport Studies Unit of the Oxford University Centre for the Environment, and explains that London will only make a 10-23% reduction at its current rate, but that their plan could achieve a 72% drop by 2030. ...

Seen in New YorkJersey: Geico's Mindless Littering Campaign
Famed caveman nemesis and friend to talking amphibians, Geico, blew by the neighborhood this afternoon like a hurricane, planting advertisement hang tags on every fence post, gate, and railing as far as the eye could see. This writer's brownstone apartment had the dubious fortune of being graced with eight of these flyers, although they were torn down and stomped on by a (complicit?) loitering child only seconds later. Do you think Geico used recycled paper, at the very least? Yeah, we didn't think so, either. ::Geico...

FedEx Kinko's, Staples Top Environmental Score Card
Photo credit: maulleighOffice-supply retailers have been upping their use of recycled paper, as well as their commitment to sustainable logging management and other environmental issues, according to a recent scorecard released by ForestEthics and Dogwood Alliance, which have tracked the environmental practices of the office-supply sector since 2000....

Interview with Carolyn Mugar, Executive Director of Farm Aid
Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid, has an incredible resume of socially-conscious experience. The social issues shes tackled includes labor, environment, toxics, literacy, and community empowerment as well as starting a reforestation project in Armenia. Willie Nelson turned to her to direct Farm Aid after the success of the first concert in 1985. The staff at the organization is convinced she never sleeps I had a chance to ask her some questions about her lifes work and Farm Aid.TH - Tell us about your background and how you got involved with Farm Aid?Carolyn - Before I started with Farm Aid, I worked a...

Zimbabwe Fights Back Against Invasive Species
Photo credit: ferdinandareusZimbabwe is mad as hell, and it's not going to take it anymore. From exotic plants, in any case. Andrew Langa, Zimbabwe's environmental and tourism deputy minister is calling for a full-scale attack on invasive species that are threatening the nation's vegetation and biodiversity, which are crucial to mitigating the effects of climate change."Zimbabwe is under attack from a variety of this type of species and I would like to call upon environmental stakeholders, the media included, to focus on awareness raising as well as ...

Join The Race Against Global Warming
We say that all the time figuratively, but now we mean it literally. It is in Santa Cruz, California on September 29th: a recreational 5K run, "fundraiser and all-day Climate Expo featuring expert and celebrity key note speakers, live music, food, resources, kids activities and more, all designed to help people to connect to one of the most important issues of our time, global warming.Speakers include Fred Keeley, former state assembly member and CA environmental policy maker, Summer Rayne Oakes, fashion model and founder of consulting company, SRO, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, renowned speaker, author and marine biologist and Jonny Dubowsky, lead singer for Jonny Lives and founder...

Awnings: Time to Bring Them Back
After Gutenberg shows the building on the left, with sunshades made of photovoltaic panels. He notes that "shading can generate electricity while reducing solar heating in the summer, which cuts cooling loads and glare. To reduce cost, such shading makes use of thin film, photo voltaic laminate systems."::After GutenbergEmily Lloyd of Columbia University notes that awnings used to be common in New York. "Canvas awnings enjoyed widespread use in the days before air conditioning. They were found on many residential buildings on the east, west, and south facades to shade the apartments from the sun. The armature was...

Will Melting Mammoth Poo Speed Up Climate Change?
Though they have been extinct for around ten thousand years, some scientists are now claiming that their remains of the "organic" variety are coming back to haunt us. Sergei Zimov, chief scientist at the Russian Academy of Science's North Eastern Scientific station, believes that layers of mammoth waste and organic matter once trapped within the Arctic tundra's permafrost are being lifted back from suspended animation by its thawing. This large amount of frozen dung more so than many other sources of organic matter, he argues will accelerate the onset of global warming. According to Zimov, the thawing of the dung will lead to the reaw...

Are there green dry cleaners?
Contrary to what its name implies, dry cleaning involves washing clothes in a liquid solvent to remove stains. In about 85 percent of dry cleaning shops this solvent is perchloroethylene (or perc), a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers both a health and environmental hazard. Dry cleaning is not always necessary; clothing makers often place the dry clean only label on tags because they can list no more than one cleaning method and can be held liable if an item is damaged when the owner follows the listed procedure. Yet many of these items can be safely washed at home, e...

Sew a Pet Bed
Dog and cat bedsespecially eco-friendly ones made of hemp, organic cotton, and recycled PETcan get pricey, costing upwards of at least $60. So when it became obvious that recent adoptee Mir needed a place to snooze other than our seriously peeved older cat's window-sill hangout, we decided to follow Lori Mari...

Organic Watchdog Group Takes on Aurora Organic Dairy, USDA
Photo credit: cookingupastoryOh what a tangled web the organic industry can weave. Way back in 2005 and 2006, Wisconsin-based organic watchdog group, The Cornucopia Institute, filed complaints that the Platteville, Colo. farm owned by Aurora Organic Dairy, one of the largest organic milk and butter producers, confined thousands of organic cows in factory-like feedlots, instead of grazing them on pasture land as federal organic reg...

Wretched Excess Dept.: The View from the Onion
In The Know: Are America's Rich Falling Behind The Super-Rich?We talk often about how difficult it is for the super- rich to be green, and how unsustainable

The Travelpod: Prefab Mobile Hotel Room
Here is an idea for your next trip to Burning Man or Glastonbury: why get wet and muddy with the riffraff when you can see the show from your mobile Travelodge hotel room? It has all the accoutrements of their standard room, including a luxury double bed, bedside lights, duvet, pillows, fully carpeted floor, window blinds, dressing table & light, mirror, chair, flat screen TV, DVD player with a collection of DVD's, air conditioning, heater, bedside lights and a illuminated headboard, tea / coffee making facilities, washroom with bio-degradable toilet and washbasin with running water. All in a polycarbonate box twenty feet long by eight wide, with great views if a bit deficient in privacy...

Blissen's 2008 Hidden Habitats Calendar
West coast artists Jill Bliss and Saelee Oh have tag-teamed to bring us 13 luscious months of nature's magical, undiscovered places in all their whimsical, illustrated glory.Each 2008 calendar ($15), which measures 9.5 x 11 open, is printed in full color with vegetable-based inks on 100 percent recycled (50 percent post-consumer waste) paper, processed chlorine-free. ::Blissen...

International Team Of Scientists To Test South Atlantic Carbon Sink In 2009
In an attempt to test the possibility of mitigating the effects of global warming, scientists from India, Germany, Italy and Chile plan on sinking carbon emissions into the Scotia Sea, off the Antarctic Peninsula in the South Atlantic, during January to March 2009.By depositing 20 tonnes of non-toxic iron sulfate into a 1,000 square kilometre area of the sea, it is hoped that the iron particles will create fertile conditions for the explosive growth of phytoplankton or algae and microorganisms that will soak up carbon dioxide....

Picture of the Day: Northwest Passage
I had to rotate the picture from the original source to accomodate my world view, but there it is, the northwest passage, clear from end to end. I have read of Nansen drifting in the ice, and Amundsun spending two years to get through here, and now it is something that recreational sailors are doing. Unbelievable. ::Livescience...

TH Forums Highlights: Edible Yards, Air-Cleansing House Plants + More
1) "Is 'hyperlocal' the new organic?" wonders Forums user OG, in relationto the topic of edible yards. Who grows their own? Who wants one? Who doesn't? "What can they do to contribute to sustainability? What are their drawbacks? Can we be food self-sufficient within a city's borders? Discuss."

Face Off: Our Sunblock & Sunscreen Picks
1. Sunblock Vs. SunscreenSlathering yourself with sunscreen isn't the same thing as applying sunblock, a popular misconception surrounding sun protection. The key difference is how they work. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sunscreens are chemicals that shield your skin by absorbing and/or reflecting both long- and short-wave ultraviolet rays from the sun, known as UVA and UVB, respectively. Sunblock, on the other hand, is made of physical or inorganic ingredients, such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, tha...

Eurobike Awards 2007 - Green Machines
You can hardly say "bikes" and "design" in the same sentence without finding something green behind the discussion. That is why we wait with great anticipation each year to learn the winners of the annual Eurobike Awards. This year, 269 entries from 27 lands made going tough for the judges at the Eurobike International Bike Conference. Top honors went to the GreenMachine, a recumbent from a small dutch company, Flevobike. This is the all-round, maintenance free bike you've been looking for. The drive train is completely enclosed, to keep your suit greaseless and your chains mud-free. A Rohloff hub ensures years of sh...

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:: ...

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...

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...

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 oil 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."...

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...

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...

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...

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."...

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....

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 sipped from delicate bone-china teacups. Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, merino wool, and surplus fabrics are cut into soft, feminine sweaters and loose, diaphanous dresses. Endless layering and matching options await for adventure seekers. More designs below the fold. ::Stewart + Brown...

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. ...

Coffee Lifeline Rwanda: Renewable Energy for Better Coffee
Weve covered the fabulous Freeplay Lifeline Radio before, and weve also written about the plight of coffee farmers who are exploited because they lack information about current market prices. Now, in the kind of story that TreeHugger loves, we are seeing these two topics come together clean, self-powered radios are being used to inform farmers about processing techniques to improve their product, and up-to-date market information to make sure they get fair compensation for their efforts:...

Quote of the Day: Dan Barber on Slow Food "Elitism"
At the checkout aisle, we're not paying the real cost of food. Whether you're an elitist or not, you're a human being and the real costs of your food are being paid in environmental costs and healthcare costs. And who pays when we have an obese nation? We all do. We just pay it under the radar. To call it elitist, I think, is really shortsighted.I think that eventually what we're talking about is really rooted in peasantry, which is the ironic thing. To say that good food is for the elite is preposterous, like saying that Chinese peasants who talk about and revolve their day around food are elitist, or the Peruvian mountain f...

Peak Oil and Local Resilience: Rob Hopkins Addresses the IFG
Its been a little while since weve heard from Rob Hopkins of the Transition Towns movement, so we checked in on his Transition Culture blog to see what has been going on. It turns out Rob was recently asked to address the International Forum on Globalizatio...

IPATH: A Lifestyle Brand with Skate DNA
At the ASR Trade Show last weekend, I sat down with IPATH Public Relations guru Bill Byrne to talk about the greening of skate shoes and what is Green DNA. IPATH, which means follow your path was founded in principles of high performance and low environmental impact. IPATH shoes, which are currently only made for men (though dont be shy ladies because plenty of these shoes would look fab on you too), are made of eco-materials like hemp and organic cotton. The leather is tanned without chromium. The insoles of the shoes are special and include coconut and natural fibers for odor absorption. The colors and styles for ...

Cyanobacteria that Crap Ethanol
For those of us who toil in marine biology, these are exciting times: we've known now only for a few years that populations of cyanobacteria in the open oceans contribute significantly to nitrogen fixation and total biological productivity. In fact, they are in large part responsible for supplying the nitrogen used by phytoplankton to conduct photosynthesis. Cyanobacteria such as Trichodesmium and Synechocystis have thus become hot research subjects in the field.Given their abilities (and relative abundance), it is perhaps not surprising that some enterprising marine scientists have ...

An Experiment in Subsistence Farming, Brooklyn Style
In this week's New York Magazine, Manny Howard chronicles his experiment to live off his land as his sole source of food for a monthin a 20x40-foot backyard in suburban Brooklynmuch to the wild-eyed glee of his two young children, the increasing consternation and frustration of the first-time farmer, and the chagrin of his wife, who grows increasingly concerned that her husband is turning into Richard Dreyfuss from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.But just as Howard manages to wrest some semblance of sanity in his urban homestead, he miscalculates the due ...

Water Shortages Hit Long Beach
An already rough couple of months just got worse for the residents of Long Beach, California: prompted by the record drought afflicting the region and a court ruling likely to limit water deliveries from northern parts of the state, the city has imposed the most stringent water restrictions in recent times. Southern Californian authorities believe these restrictions could be just the precursor for what will happen in other cities in the region.The ruling by a federal judge last month - which would cut water deliveries from the vitally important Sacramento-San Joaq...

Praise The Lord And Pass The Efficiency Ammo
From now on, we promise to smile each time a respected industry figure states publicly that oil prices are headed up, driven by the combination of rapidly escalating demand from developing nations and by peak oil. That such a statement was just made by Lord Oxburgh, former Shell Chairman (now with a biodiesel firm), can be viewed variously. He's either self serving toward his biodiesel interests and right about petro prices...or he's not. Which politicians think they know better and want to play fuel-cost roulette? That's the very political gamble which has been made constantly by the auto industry and by the US Congress. It's a gamble that reminds this writer o...

Against The Odds: Tigers Resurface In Indian Rainforest
In an astonishing reappearance, at least 20 tigers were spotted last week in Indias western state of Maharashtra, at least three decades after it was believed that illegal poaching and habitat destruction there had devastated the whole population.The discovery occurred in the 800 square kilometre-wide (300 square miles) Sahyadri range of forested mountains, as part of an ongoing nationwide tiger population census. It is estimated that India has half of the worlds remaining tigers. According to the last count in 2001 and 2002, their numbers were pegged at 3,642 a huge decline from 40,000 a century ago....

Global Warming Could Cause World Crop Collapse
With the U.N.-affililated Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) already warning of declining grain harvests due to extreme weather, a U.S. study released last week suggests that global warming could cause world agricultural systems to face possible collapse by 2080, with countries in the south being the hardest hit.India, Pakistan, most of Africa and most of Latin America would be the areas most affected, according to the Washington-based Center for Global Development and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. India, which is fast becoming the worlds most populous nation, could stand to see its agricultural y...

West Coast Green 2007
We are less than one week away until the 2007 West Coast Green Conference the largest green building event this side of the Mississippi and we here are Treehugger are pumped. The keynote speakers includes a long-list of eco-celebs like Ed Begley Jr, Bill Weihl (Google), Steve Wozniak (Apple), Hunter Lovins and Erin Brockovich. But enough with the star-gazing, because the entire speakers list is an amazing compilation of some of the most visionary architects, designers and builders available today. This years convention takes place in San Francisco at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and runs from Thursday September 20 through Saturday September 22, ...

Toxics Link Finds High Levels Of Lead In Indian Paints
The Delhi-based non-profit environmental group Toxics Link released a study last week that showed dangerously high levels of lead in household paint samples from Delhi and Mumbai, following another study they conducted in collaboration with a television channel that also found that a shocking 65 percent of toys (made not only in China but other branded toys in India as well) that claimed to be non-toxic, but in fact had high amounts of lead as well.The comprehensive study on paints, titled "A Brush With Toxics", is one of the few of its kind in India in terms of scope and sample size and ex...

Most Huggable: Bushs Warning, Glasses like Legos, Als Emmy, and More
Bushs top scientific adviser advises that the planet could become unlivable without CO2 reductionsThe Daily Green wonders if an economic downturn will cause an about face on green momentum...Victoria E takes a crack at INV/ALTs snappy connectible table things21st Century Citizen rounds up six classic texts on organic growing and livingAl Gore and Current TV take an Emmy for letting viewers be part of the showHugg 2.0 is up, running...

Vermont's Big Win over Automakers
In a major victory over carmakers and their attempts to rebuff state measures aimed to rein in GHG emissions, Vermont won a court ruling last week mandating that auto companies work to develop new technologies to raise their fuel economy standards. The presiding judge - William Sessions III, sitting in the U.S. District Court in Burlington - rejected the carmakers' argument that the proposed state rules conflicted with rules set forth by the federal government and that they imposed unnecessary and costly burdens on them:"There is no question that the GHG (greenhouse gas) regulations present great challenges to automakers. History...

Quote of the Day: Carl Sagan on the World Population Crisis
There is a well-documented correlation between poverty and high birthrates. In little countries and big countries, capitalist countries and communist countries, Catholic countries and Moslem countries, Western countries and Eastern countriesin almost all these cases, exponential population growth slows down or stops when grinding poverty disappears. This is called demographic transition. It is in the urgent l...

Amy Goodwin's Flatpak House
Two and a half years ago we first reported on Charlie Lazor's Flatpak house, which he built for himself in Minnesota. Like much of modern prefab at the time, there were a lot of architects running around with ideas and designs, but there was not much out there on the ground. How much has changed since then; Michelle Kaufmann has turned into an industry and Charlie's flatpak is being realized across America. The first production version has been built for artist Amy Goodwin; not a lot of pictures yet but it is wonderful to see the vision realized. , Production " took almost two years since kinks had to...

Company Brings Farmer's Market to Employees
The company itself is housed in an old barn in Vermont, but Zutano, maker of a line of childrens clothing has come up with a clever idea to help employees get a regular crack at farm fresh organic vegetables that are locally grown despite the fact that they lead busy lives like everyone else. Hows that? Well, as company founder Michael Belenky puts it If you can't bring the company to the farm bring the farm to the company." That way theyll have the opportunity to purchase them on a weekly basis right in the parking lot without ever leaving the company premises....

Green Baby Steps For The Future Of The Earth
Baby Borka Torda (pictured below the fold with her father) has had her "foot print" made green, literally (pictured here) and prospectively: baby's lifespan has been carbon-offset through tree plantings which will be professionally managed in a Hungarian State park."A new baby girl born to proud parents Gergely & Ildik Torda of Budapest on August 20th. will become Europes greenest newborn as hundreds of trees are planted next month to celebrate her birth. Borkas lifetime Carbon Footprint will become greener every day of her life as her part of a new protected forest grows in Bukk National Park in northeastern Hungary. This is part of the KlimaFa / Planktos n...

Absolute Downloads: Because We Can
Jill and Jeffery of Because We Can are "a husband and wife team working in all mediums and exploring new ways of solving old problems." They are design-builders using the latest technology to make "Any number, any size, anything you can dream of!" Besides making things for others, they design their own furniture, like the tree stump table we have shown previously. They have contributed the plan of the table as a download that you can build one/sixth full size at ::In An Absolut World Everything is Downloadable...

Breaking News In The Wind: Long Island Might Come Back, Delaware On The Move
Scale and patience are critical to making wind power cost effective in offshore installations. Recently we brought the unfortunate news that a proposed Long Island Sound wind project had been dropped due to projected low return on investment and high taxpayer burden. A few months back we also mentioned that a developer was working with the US State of Delaware on plans for an offshore wind power installation. Success in Delaware would likely make it a first in the US. Apparently, the Delaware project sponsor thinks there is so...

Contrasting Eco Houses: Open HouseLondon
Open House London is the weekend when almost 600 hundred buildings are open to the public. This year sustainability is being highlighted and some special eco-homes are on view. This new private house (above) has won several awards for sustainability and is a good example of clean and attractive design based on ecological principles. The floors are made of recycled teak from a village hall and maple from squash courts and have under-floor heating. In the walls there is 8 inches of sheep's wool insulation to make life really cozy. There are solar panels on the roof, which is quite low-tech-...

Bike Moves: More Popular Than We Thought
Our previous post on Bike Moves (that is a group of friends moving an entire household by bike) proved pretty popular, and our ever vigilant commenters were able to furnish us with a little more info on this cultural phenomenon. Anthill sent us details of two more cool bike moves here and here (both of these were in Ottawa anyone else know of bike moves anywhere else around the world?), we also found out from Beth that the bike move scene in Portland which, apparently, has rec...

Survey: Is "Green Limosine" an Oxymoron?
Our correspondent Matthew, who admittedly can't tell the difference between a Chrysler and a Bentley, questions Bentley's intent to make its models more environmentally friendly. He says it "reeks of hypocrisy. For a car manufacturer such as Bentley to even try to align themselves to the environmental movement is ridiculous. Of course, every step they take towards sustainability is positive, but if they truly believed that it was important to reduce emissions then they wouldn't make such enormous and energy-hungry cars."

Arcosanti: "A Utopian Well in the Desert"
Paolo Soleri has started building Arcosanti in 1970 and is still at it. However, after 37 years the utopian vision of Soleri, so radical at the time, has proven truly prescient. According to Chris Colin of the New York Times, With its radical conservation techniques and a brilliantly scrunched-together layout, Arcosanti was intended to reinvent not just the city, but also man's relationship to the planet: picture a 60s vision of a Mars colony, but with a cutting-edge, eco-friendly design. Evaporative cooling pools release moisture into the air. In winter, heat from the foundry furnace is collected by a hood and sent through the apartments above.Soleri has never had the mon...

Power Cart by Mouna Andraos: Juice to Go
Artist Mounas Andraos has built the Power Cart: An old idea from yesterday's streets adapted to serve the needs of today's urban dwellers, the Power Cart is a mobile unit that delivers alternative energy to people in the streets.Knife sharpening in India, refills of gas in Africa, fake Gucci bags in Paris and chair massages in New York, the Power Cart looks and feels like another service for the city of today. Need a charge on your cell phone? Your laptop is about to die and you really need to check that email? Or maybe there is no power around you at all? Where ever you might be in the world, hail the Power Car for a quick fix. Let the Power Car owner turn the cran...

Sustainable Mobility Week in Buenos Aires
Under the theme Streets for everybody, from September 16th to 22nd Buenos Aires celebrates the Sustainable Mobility week: a period to reflect on the effects of cars on the environment, embrace alternative vehicles such as public transportation, bicycles, and our legs, and learn more about the importance of physical activity for health. During the week, the government has set up activities which include a day of conferences, open gym classes, the announcement of a new health program, environmental education workshops, and a grand finale with a bicycle marathon on Saturday. The complete program, in the extended.Thanks Juan Casavelos for the info!

Joe Romm on Bjorn Lomborg
When we last mentioned climate change delayer Bjorn Lomborg after his Colbert interview, , commenters noted "Why have you labeled him a denier? He simply sounds like a pragmatist." Over at Climate Progress, Joe Romm has prepared a two-part debunking of Lomborg, first going after his comments on polar bears (Lomborg thinks they will simply follow the ice or turn into land animals) and in part 2, Lomborg's cherry pi...

Green Guide to Houses Down Under
We have given you a ton of info about building green, such as the Building Green Series from Ted Owens and How to Green Your Electricity. Today we just want to direct you to an outrageously informative initiative by the Australian Government and design and construction industries called Your Home: Australias Guide to Environmentally Sustainable Homes.If you search through this site youll find all kinds of interesting info in the Technical Manual including ...

Well Hello Velo, in Tel Aviv
Like the popular bike rental program in Lyon, Paris and other European capitals, Tel Aviv Municipality has announced that is in the process of choosing a company to market and manage a city-wide public bike rental program. For a nominal fee, a few shekels perhaps, riders can pick up bikes at one of 25 bike rental stations and drop them off at a bike depot station near their destination. ...

Toys For Saps
History Professor Gary Cross has another view of the tainted toy crisis: Why are parents buying such crap in the first place? Why does the toy marketplace need 56 different varieties of Polly Pockets? He notes: When I looked at Mattels list of recently recalled toys, it became obvious that something more than our dependence on foreign goods or even the physical safety of children is at stake here. The problem is that the toys and the business model that creates them has so little to do with the needs of children and their parents. In the seventies there was a movement to ban advertising directed at children, but the industry lobbied Congress, which prohib...