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Massachusetts School Taps into Geothermal
The Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts is getting geothermal wells installed on campus. It's a move, school officials say, that will save money in the long run and coincide with the school's efforts to become more eco-friendly.The school is using geothermal energy to provide heat and air conditioning for its middle-school building. Although the system will cost more than a conventional setup, the school expects to save $17,000 a year, making up the difference in six years and cashing in savings from that ...

Goats On A Hot Green Roof
After you really get the green roof thing down, and you're saving energy and reducing stormwater runoff, and the blogs are all agog, what's the next move? Extremely locally produced goat meat could be it. Or just tourist bait. Either way, its an old tradition with a big future, we think."Door County Wisconsin is a major summer tourist destination, especially for Chicago area people looking for a respite from the summer heat. Can't really say it's "eco-tourism: but:- "At Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, the roof is covered with grass. All summer long the goats have a ball up there grazing away wondering why people are staring up at them! Quite a fe...

Second Quote of The Day: Herbert George Wells
Image via Prints Old and RareHerbert George Wells better known to you and me as H.G. Wells, was one of the true pioneers of science fiction writing. (Think of The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, etc.) Born 21 September, 1866, he would later peer into his crystal ball and imagine many scenarios of how the world might look in future. But of all the words he wrote, the following quote, sent in as a reminder by Sally J, is the one we like the most.Every time I see an adult on...

James Westwater's Plywood Chateau
Everyone else can ogle the MKLotus, the prefab of the moment is the Plywood Chateau by artist James Westwater. ""James Westwater has a whole new take on "prefab". His 48" x 48" Plywood Chateau incorporates a flokati cushion on wheels in it's own artsy cube environment." (NotCot)"4ft Square Castle. Your girlfriend wants to live in a chateau but you can't afford one? Why not get her a 4ft square one from James Westwater." Culture Push (Singapore) "A box that is a room that is a sculpture. The work of James Westwater, the Brazilian painter and conceptual artist. The Chateau is a room on wheels (a...

Create an Online Press Kit for Your Business
While Kenmore's new line of high-efficiency appliances wowed us yesterday, the company's press kit left us underwhelmed, even if it did come in a reusable hemp/cotton tote.While we didn't have stacks of virgin printed materials to contend with, we received a CD packed with press releases and miscellaneous Word documents; a DVD with demo videos of the washer and dryer; plus another DVD, this time for the dishwasher, inexplicably shrinkwrapped together with a one-page flyer and a backing board. The first two discs came in their own plastic clamshells, while the second DVD had been thrust into a

Why Protesters Are Playing Ping-Pong in Your Parking Space
The Wall Street Journal covers park(ing) day: From Miami to Munich, hundreds of urban planners and environmental activists plan today to set up tiny "parks" in metered parking spaces -- installing everything from lawn chairs and palm trees to beauty salons and self-service lemonade stands.It's an effort to raise awareness about the lack of open public space in urban areas, and to draw attention to the gas wasted and pollution created by drivers circling the block for low-cost curbside parking spaces. Park(ing) Day organizers are bracing for angry merchants, frustrated drivers -- and in some cities, parking tickets.

Quote of the Day: Laure Waridel on the Coffee Crisis
Photo credit: csaba_bajko The current world prices for coffeeset in New York and Londonhave fallen to their lowest ever level in real terms. As I write these lines, middlemen are paying peasants in Mexico around 44 cents for a kilogram of coffee that will cost North American or European consumers at least $8 and sometimes as much as $30. Ironically, at a time that growers are in dire straits, big coffee companies are announcing record profits. Because coffee is the only source of income for many rural families, thousands of people, especially the young, are movin...

Documenting Destruction: Paul Rudoph Houses
This TreeHugger thinks that we should ban demolition; that every building has embodied energy and value, and there should be a damn good reason before one is allowed to take it down. We have posted about the demolition of the ouvre of architect Paul Rudolph before; Photographer Chris Mottalini has documented the destruction of one and the deconstruction of another.Daily Dose notes: "While Mottalini's photos in the "after you left, they tore it apart" series strike a similar appeal as other images of ruins and the like, they serve a dual purpos...

TreeHugger Radio: World Park(ing) Day, Londons Economics of Cycling, and Cheap Gas Makes you Fat
This week we get the scoop on the radical re-appropriation of the curb called Park(ing) Day, and we speak with the chairman of Cycling England about the true economic value of bike riding. We also look at a new study that finds a strong bond between cheap gas and poor health, plus get the word from Vermont where a recent greenhouse gas victory was won against the automakers. Listen to TreeHugger Radio on iTunes or listen/right click to download. ::

Coal: Cheap. Abundant. Cheap.
Watch this wonderful parody of coal; the Naib says "It is simply dripping of the same green washing irony that so many companies are rolling out now and days. These companies use the same kind of tactics to try and convince people that their otherwise dirty industry is now shiny and green because they have done some small token action." ::Free Love Forum via, yet again, ::th...

The Bicycle Lift: Trondheim's Trampe On Video
We so need this in Toronto- there is an escarpment cutting across town that intimidates a lot of people who might ride bikes to work if they didn't have to climb the hill getting home. We have shown Trondheim's wonderful bike lift before, but through the wonder of YouTube we now present the video. And for those who think investing in bicycle infrastructure is silly in cold climates, this is in Norway. via

Shigeru Ban Does New York Condos
We love New York, we love opening windows and good ventilation, and we love Shigeru Ban. Yet somehow we are not so sure about putting them all together like this. "The Metal Shutter Houses" have walls that lift up completely out of the way, as well as "perforated metal shutters that operate exactly like the rolling grates of the Chelsea galleries and Korean delis that inspired them." While it does overlook the Hudson, the view is across ten lanes of the West Side Highway. ...

Grow Plastic Posies
If anyone can make plastics bags come up practically smellingor at least looking like peonies, it'd be green DIY guru Danny Seo. And to top it off, he makes it look so gosh-darn easy to do.Before you send any vagrant plastic bags you've accumulated off to be recycled, you can glean some decorative use out of them. First, scrunch up a particularly colorful bag lengthwise into a long strip, and then fold that strip in half lengthwise twice. Secure the middle...

Le Plus a Change Dept.: Green Roofs
From Modern Mechanix: "Covering a roof with growing grass might seem fantastic to most persons, but Louis Koefoed, an architect of East Rockaway, N.Y., has found it practical as well as decorative. Since he applied a roofing of sod over tar paper to his dwelling last fall he has experienced a welcome decline in his coal consumption. Moreover, he expects the heat-insulating covering to keep his home twenty degrees cooler next summer. Pipes along the peak of the roof spray the growing grass with water and keep the lawn roof green."...

The Problems with Green Sprawl
We were less than impressed when Best Buy announced that it was going to build big green boxes; we called lipstick on a pig. Apparently neither was Greener Buildings' Shari Shapiro, a LEED accredited Philadelphia lawyer. (Now that is a surprising mix of skills!) She writes: Most Best Buys and [new] bank branches, are located in strip malls with seas of impervious parking lots that are accessible only by car. This phenomenon - where green buildings are located in unsustainable contexts - can be called "green sprawl. Green sprawl presents several problems: it justifies the continue...

A Healthy California School Lunch: Fruit, Veggies, And A Bit Of Lead
Vinyl man (pictured) may be disappointed. "The hundreds of thousands of lunch boxes given away by California state health officials over the last several years were designed to promote healthful habits, bearing slogans such as "Eat Fruits & Vegetables and Be Active." Just one problem: At least some of them were made with unhealthful levels of lead.""The California Department of Public Health said Thursday that it was recalling 300,000 green and blue canvas lunch coolers made in China and distributed throughout the state at health fairs and other events since 2004. No injuries have been reported as a result of the lead-tainted l...

Seven Easy Pieces for Fall: Women
A new wind is starting to blow and you can almost smell change crackle in the air, feel the crunch of leaves beneath your soles. We pulled together seven versatile, mix-and-match basics for keeping the chill at bay, while treading gently on the planet we live on. These classic styles will weather any fad or faithless trend and never go stalestalwart wardrobe basics we hope will stand you in good stead year after year.1) Stewart + Brown's cozy merino wool dress can be worn by itself or layered with an undershirt and leggings beneath for additional warmth. The V-neck bodice is compleme...

World Car Free Day
Bernard Rudofsky said Streets are for People. We say Cars are a scourge on the face of the planet. On Saturday, September 22 we can all take back the streets and celebrate World Carfree Day, "an annual celebration of cities and public life, free from the noise, stress and pollution of cars."Throw a parking meter party. Do some guerilla gardening. Show that roads belong to all of us. Take back the streets. ::World Car Free ...

Taking Back the Streets: TreeHugger Tips For Car Free Day
Here are some ideas for World Car Free Day to take back our streets:Do some radical roadwitching. "A series of creative experiments in repurposing roads as enjoyable public living spaces rather than motor traffic conduits." ::Treehugger and ::The Road Witch Trial Put on a show. We like the "urban interventions" by New York's Improv Everywhere, who staged a suicide jumper on a ledge three feet off the...

Downloadable Designs: Cat Toys from Marmalade Pet
We do go on about downloadable designs, (and even have a website devoted to them at In An Absolut World Everything is Downloadable) but now present the simplest and easiest downloadable design anywhere. It's from Marmalade Pet, who brought us the cardboard cat chaise longue. They offer three free cat toys- the mouse, a ball and a jak. Our cat will be so thrilled. ::Marmalade Pet...

Visiting Tridel's Eco-Suite
It started badly; I couldn't find a bike rack and Stacy offered me a bottle of Fiji water. (It turns out they had terrific bike storage in a more protected area that I could not see.) I had been invited to tour the "eco-suite" built by Tridel, a large Canadian developer. The eco-suite was started a few years ago before LEED was applicable for apartments in Canada, "to raise awareness about the environment while illustrating the huge range of possibilities in environmentally friendly condo living" and to act as a test bed for the "green" condo buildings they are building now. It was designed by Andrea Kantelber...

Recipe of the Week - Heirloom Tomato and Arugula Salad
I was in a real quandry this week about the recipe for my post. I have been thinking about autumn foods. I have been setting my mind to squash and apples and things to roast and bake and make hearty soups from. On the other hand, it happens to be 27 C in Toronto and I'm still wearing shorts and sandals. So I decided to leave dinner and my TreeHugger post to fate. My husband and I set out under the blazing sun to see what was on offer at the local farmer's market. This was my first foray to the market since returning from the cottage and although there were fewer vendors than in July, I was delighted to see that there was still plenty to choose from. We ended up with quite a ...

AIA Discover A Global Warming Misunderstanding
Image from Freaking News.Americans responding to a survey by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) seems not to be aware just how much their buildings contribute to global warming via the emission of greenhouse gases. In the US buildings consume 71% of power plant electricity and are responsible for 48% of the countries GHG emissions. But survey respondents placed them down near the same level as aerosol cans (1%), with only seven percent correctly pointing the finger at buildings as the biggest, baddest cause of emissions. Most (40%) thought it was cars and trucks, while others blamed power ...

A Veritable Mind-Blowing Species Factory Found Off Indonesian Coast
A barely-explored underwater coral reef has revealed what scientists are calling a species factory, due to dozens of new exotic species of fish and corals being discovered there in two recent expeditions. Though it lies in an area one tenth the size of the Great Barrier Reef, the Birds Head Seascape just off the Indonesian province of Papua contains roughly 50 percent more reef-building coral species than its more famous counterpart. It was studied in the 1880s by Victorian explorers but remained largely overlooked until recently.Dr Mark Erdmann of Conservation International (CI), who led the two missions, commented: "These reefs are species factories. This region is sim...

Athena Hits the Mark with Green Building Tools
The construction industry has gained the Athena Assembly Evlauation tool for use (free!) with the Green Building Initiatives (GBI) Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system for commercial buildings. The intent is to leverage life cycle assessment within the industry and provide a simple framework and tool that can be incorporated into the system. The tool currently works for high-rise buildings and low-rise buildings. The simple Excel-based tool you to change the assembly options to compare the environmental impacts in an unbiased way. The assembly categories include: intermediate floors, interior walls, windows, exterior walls, roofs, and columns and beams....

Salmon Sperm = Better LEDs?
Talk about your unlikely combinations. Andrew Steckl, an expert in photonics from the University of Cincinnati, has been working to intensify the properties of LEDs by using biological materials - specifically DNA from salmon sperm. As he put it: Biological materials have many technologically important qualities electronic, optical, structural, magnetic. But certain materials are hard for us to duplicate, such as DNA and proteins. Which is where the salmon sperm comes in: "Salmon sperm is considered a waste product of the fishing industry. Its thrown away by the ton. Its natural, re...

Changents: More Social Networking for Social Change
Social networking seems to be all the rage these days. Despite numerous invitations to Facebook, this author has yet to get into this phenomenon, but it certainly doesnt seem to be getting any less popular. Encouragingly, we've recently noticed an increasing range of sites dedicated to social networking for those of us interested in social and environmental change. Not long ago Collin brought us a roundup of whats currently out there, and soon after that we brought news of yet another service, MakeMeSustainable. Now it seems we n...

Survey: Paper or Porcelain?
As we noted recently, a cup of joe has a big ecological footprint,whether it is the the type of coffee, the cup you drink it from, even the stir stick. Then of course there is the garbage generated and the exhaust fumes at the drive-through window. Commenters in the earlier post certainly had opinions, some of which are quoted below. View MicroPoll|

Ten Principles Behind Excellent Environmental Education Programs
In case youve been looking for a few pointers on what specifically constitutes excellent environmental education, Green Street has put together a top ten list, and I think theyre definitely worth considering.The list varies from the obvious things like ensuring youre educating students based on factual research to the less common like integrating it across the curriculum and giving students a sense of the past, present, and future of the planet. The complete list follows after the break, and I suspect it may well help to improve our efforts at educating children and each other about the necessity of protecting the environment....

East Meets West
These raw silk dresses were hanging at the front of the Estethica show at the London Fashion Week and they stopped us dead in our tracks. Made of the finest softest silk, they moved gently in the breeze coming in the door. The dresses and skirts are designed by Samant Chauhan who is a big Indian designer and they are part of his special eco-line. They are a perfect meeting of the eastern aesthetic with western styles. The clothes are exquisitely made; even the buttons and trims are hand made out of silk. The detail in each skirt and jacket is painstaking, with double layers of fabric used to create effects...

Green-Zip-Tape: Demountable Drywall Installation System
Green-Zip-Tape, a patented demountable tape provides an alternative method for hanging sheet rock for later de-construction and reuse. Drywall has traditionally been a barrier to gaining easy access to structural components of the building for repair or reuse. This tape and associated screw connectors allow drywall to be easily removed [as pictured] and replaces the traditional nailing mechanism, which can damage the drywall and inhibit reuse.Mr. Dry Wallie, TreeHugger's interior finishing consultant sez: "I'm going to throw away those goggles, toss my pry bar, and tell the the haul-off delivery guy to take a hike. Life is good now."Too bad 3M. It...

The Natural Collection Supports Peace One Day Today
We're sure that millions of people all around the world have made a commitment to today's International Day of Peace. In the UK we know that some great musicians, including Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Annie Lennox and Corinne Bailey Rae, are gathering in the Royal Albert Hall tonight for a concert to make their commitment to Peace One Day. What's going on in your part of the world? Every little bit helps. Our friend Al Tepper from the online eco-store the