Home / treehugger.com rss archive / September-26-2007


U.S. Policy Plays Favorites With Public Transportation
It's a case that pits electricity versus petrol, density versus sprawl and tracks versus road. Portland, Oregon recently found out that their much-acclaimed streetcar system wasn't good enough for the feds. Even though their system of modern-day streetcars has spurred economic development, drawn the creative class and changed perceptions about public transportation, the city's planned expansion of the service could be facing roadblocks from the Federal Transit Administration. The FTA would rather see the money from a program called Small Starts go to buses instead, specifically bus rapid trans...

Angelina Jolie Announces Commitments to Educate One Million Children Affected by Conflict
Actress Angelina Jolie, the other half of the unfairly good-looking Jolie-Pitt juggernaut, announced at today's Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) that members of the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which Jolie co-founded as part of a 2006 CGI commitment, has pledged to educate more than one million children whose lives have been irrevocably shaken by conflict around the worldincluding young people affected by Darfur genocide, girls and youth in rural Afghanistan, and other groups across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East....

National Initiative to Create 250,000 Green-Collar Jobs for Urban America
Green for All, a new national campaign dedicated to bringing green-collar jobs to urban neighborhoods, launched today at the Clinton Global Initiative. Created by Van Jones, the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the group wants to channel part of the growing green economic wave to bolster predominantly black, low-income communities in areas such as Detroit, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Its time the African American community had a part in the discussion on climate change, said Jones. Were not going to solve global warming just with expensive consumer ch...

Cuba Does Its Part in Billion Tree Campaign
With a push from the United Nations "Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign", designed to encourage tree planting around the world, Cuba has committed to plant some 135 million trees this year. "Forests are natural and economically important sinks, sequestrating carbon from the atmosphere and locking it away in trunks and branches. Globally, forest cover is at least one-third less than what it once was. It is time to reverse the trends, it is time to act," says Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director....

Ted Turner at the Clinton Global Initiative
Media mogul Ted Turner just said that global warming is the biggest thing to happen, short of getting bombed by the Russians. God bless 'im.One of solar power's more visible cheerleaders of late, Turner invested several million dollars last year in the New Jersey-based DT Solar. He also created a holding company, Turner Renewable Energy, and has said that he plans to start lobbying lawmakers in Washington to promote solar power and address climate change.Better keep an eye on those durn Ruskies, though, Ted. ...

Learning From the Past
Our twenty-first century global civilization is not the first to face the prospect of environmentally induced economic decline. The question is how we will respond. As I note in of Plan B 2.0 (free online), we have one unique asset at our commandan archeological record that shows us what happened to earlier civilizations that got into environmental trouble and failed to respond. As Jared Diamond points out in his book Collapse, some of the early societies that were in environmental trouble were able to change their ways in time to avoid decline and collapse. Six centuries ago, for example...

Lifecycle Building Challenge Winners Announced
The Lifecycle Building Challenge was a competition run by the EPA "to change how people think about, design, and construct and deconstruct buildings." The winners were just announced and include the Greenmobile, by Michael Berk, which won for best professional unbuilt project and"envisions affordable, factory-built energy efficient mobile home units that meet International Residential Code for housing with structurally-sound foundations, demountable for easy relocation, and can function in a place with a limited infrastructure or no utility grid in-place.... This project will incorporate systematic strategies for growth and change as family structures also grow and change. "Pre-fabrica...

CGI Opening Session Commitments
Photo credit: AP Photo/Jason DeCrowFormer president Bill Clinton announced five new commitments during the opening plenary session:The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: The governments of Norway and the Netherlands are committing $1 billion and $175 million respectively to launch Deliver Now for Women and Children, a campaign aimed at a two-thirds reduction in the rate of child mortality and three-quarters reduction in maternal mortality by 2015.Florida Power & Light: FP&L is investing $2.4 billion in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. As part of the project, FP&L will build new solar p...

Will A Global Network Of Marine Reserves Reverse Troubling Trends In The Sea?
As a sombre reminder that the oceans too are suffering the grave effects of over-exploitation and widespread pollution, a new report released by the Worldwatch Institute indicates that 76 percent of world fish stocks are either fully or over-exploited. The report suggests that in order to protect marine biodiversity and human livelihoods, marine reserves or national parks of the sea should be set up and precautionary procedures taken to curb the pollution disrupting oceanic temperature and chemistry.The oceans cannot save themselves, says Worldwatch Institute president Christopher Flavin. Collective commitments to thrivin...

Join the CGI Block Party with MyCommitment.org
Make your own Clinton Global Initiative commitment by logging on to MyCommitment.org, an online initiative that will "give people the chance to be part of our common endeavor," said former president Bill Clinton in the opening plenary for today's meeting, which includes attendance by 52 current or former heads of state.Clinton appealed to the attendees' "common humanity," so that we can pass along a better world for our children. "We believe we can do it and that we can make a difference," he said.Recent commitments on the Web site run the gamut of tutoring local kids to picking up trash while walking the dog. Hey, you don't need a million dollar...

Quote of the Day: Tavau Teii on Adaptation Funding
We seek for a commitment by the international community to provide predictable and sufficient international funding arrangements such that the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change have the resources and know-how to adequately prepare for and to cope with the impacts of climate change.In our view this is critical. As according to recent reports, adaptation funding needs due to climate change will be in teh region up to $US80 billion per year compared to a few hundred million dollars per year already available. A huge gap therefore exists between the adaptation funding needs of the poor and most vulnerable to climate ...

Cotton Houses: 1933 Answer to the Cost of Housing
But is it organic cotton? Sort of looks what might happen if Le Corbusier went camping. Modern Mechanix quotes: "Houses of cotton are proposed by Lawrence Kocher, noted architect, to solve the low-cost housing problem. Models of two types; a $1,500 five-room home and a week-end house, have been designed. A weatherproof exterior is provided by a roof and walls of fireproofed cotton ducking stretched over a wooden structural frame. Inner walls are also of cotton. Insulating material may be added to exclude heat and cold. Since the canvas is flexible, it is adaptable to any shaped surface." ::Modern...

2007 Abbott Kinney Festival: Going Green in Venice This Weekend
Following in the footsteps of events like this years' Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, the 2007 Abbott Kinney Festival in Venice, CA is making strides in green festival-going. The event, coming right up on Sunday, September 30, is going beyond just purchasing carbon offsets for the emissions created; they're taking steps to reduce the footprint of the event, and have put together a solid lineup of speakers and vendors to help educate event-goers about ways to green their lives.Solar generators for the music stages, biodegradable plastic...

Solar Powered Vending Machines
Just what you wanted to find on a secluded beach far away from any source of power- a nice cool one from a vending machine. The challenge, according to Springwise, was "developing a refrigeration system strong enough to keep the machines food and drinks cool, while powered solely by the sun. Solar panels on top keep the machines refrigerator running, and a rechargeable battery provides power at night or during prolonged cloudy periods. A wind turbine can substitute for solar cells in less sunny climes, where hot beverages could make the vending dispensers a popular stop-off along ski runs."Now you can shop just about anywhere....

Citizens Reach Across the Border to Fight Climate Change
In yet another example of why a wall between the United States and Mexico doesn't always make sense, more than 5,000 people from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and El Paso are engaged in activities this week to increase awareness about climate change as part of a regional Clean Up the World effort.We hope that this will be the start of a bi-national relationship which joins the two cities instead of dividing them, given that both cities share the same air, water and earth even though they are situated in two different countries, Ernesto Moreno Mona, director of industrial relations at the Jurarez Limpio Asociacion Civil.A numbe...

TreeHugger Takes The Stage At PRWeek's Target Green Conference
Calling all TreeHuggin go-getters! Learn a thing or two from TreeHuggers President, Ken Rother, and Discoverys SVP of Communications, Annie Howell, who will speak at PRWeeks October 3rd event, Target Green. The day-long event will be held in Washington, DC and will feature remarks from GMs chief environmental officer, representatives from Proctor & Gamble,

Interactive Window Helps Green Roots and Fight Climate Change
Roots, a leading Canadian lifestyle brand, has launched an interactive window display to help you shrink your carbon footprint. Through the display, you'll also be able to help Roots reduce their environmental impact. Plus, the technology will allow you to shop regardless of store hours literally 24/7!...

Absolut Downloads: Bradley Marks' Laptop Table
Students at The Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto, Canada were asked to design a piece of furniture out of a single 4 x4 sheet of baltic birch plywood. These wowed the crowd at the Interior Design Show this spring; We thought it a wonderful opportunity to present the work of these talented young designers as downloadable designs. Shown here is Bradley Marks' design for a laptop table, a "constructivist inspired cantilevered piece. Line and forms transform depending on the perspective from which the table is seen." Download and build your own 1/6 scale model (in full color-make sure you have lots of black ink!) at

Recycled Paper Ceramic Speakers: Can You Hear Me Now?
Mark this one in the "great materials use; not so great implementation" column: thin paper ceramic loudspeakers made from discarded musical scores and clay. The ceramic columns amplify sound from your strategically placed earbuds to broadcast music like regular speakers would; it's like your earbuds yelling through an orange street cone. Though we doubt the sound quality would be top notch, ceramic does reverberate sound very well, and we like the idea that the recycled musical scores are no longer reliant on someone else to play the music; they can do it themselves, and are given a 2nd chance to fulfill their destiny - the propagation of music. Cute...

Is Bamboo Clothing Truly Green?
Very, very little bamboo clothing would qualify as sustainable or organic clothes. This is the view of Lotus Organics, who in their usual full and frank style have investigated the industry and presented their finding on their informative Organic Clothing Blog. It is always a great read for anyone with an interest in the greening of the rag trade. None more so than their current peek at bamboo. Michael Lackman of Lotus concludes, The growing of bamboo is environmentally friendly but the manufacturing of bamboo into fabric raises environmental and health concerns because of the strong ...

The Business of Sustainability
Can environmentalists and big business work together in solving environmental problems? Yes, if we can get over our mistrust of each other. Many smart business leaders now realize that sustainability is good business. The opportunity is there for smart environmentalists to help shape the role played by corporations in advancing sustainability. But guess what? It doesnt work to hold your breath until you turn blue. You have to make a good case to get business leaders to tune in and join your conservation efforts. ...

Survey: Does Size Matter?
In an earlier post we questioned whether a 15,000 square foot house could be green, suggesting that these houses may be efficient but their environmental footprint is still huge. We quoted Leo Hickman about ethical living: "a major tenet of ethical living is to attempt, wherever possible, to reduce one's own demand for resources... Simply, it is a call to consume a fairer and more proportionate slice of the pie."We were surprised by the comments and quote them for this survey.

Brad Pitt, Steve Bing Plan New 150-Home Community in New Orleans
Actor Brad Pitt has just communicated plans to build a new community of homes in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward. Announcing the new effort at today's meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, Pitt will be partnering with real-estate developer and philanthropist Steve Bing to create 150 low-price, sustainable homes as part of Pitt's "Make it Right" project.In terms of moola, Pitt pledged to match $5 million in contributions to the project, while Bing has pledged to match $5 mill...

We Can't Make This Stuff Up Dept.: Famous Club to Be Torn Down For YMCA Parking Lot
Toronto likes to talk the green talk but when it comes to walking the walk, it drives a Hummer. Latest jaw-dropper: It wants to knock down the Matador, where for 43 years people have danced the night away after the bars close (watch Leonard Cohen sing Closing Time, filmed at the Matador, below the fold), to build a parking lot, to service, wait for this, the YMCA, so people can drive to their workout.Chris Hume in the Star says: "This is a city that invites you to hop into the family vehicle and drive on downtown for a workout. God forbid anyone should have to take the streetcar, which goes to the front door of the YMCA, or th...

Reporting Live From the Clinton Global Initiative
TreeHugger is reporting live from the Clinton Global Initiative 2007 Annual Meeting at the Sheraton New York in Manhattan. The three-day event rustles up about 1,000 global leaders to examine the world's most-pressing and challenging issues, and "transform that awareness into tangible commitments to action." (If members do not keep to their commitments, they're not invited back the following year.)The opening session, scheduled for 10 a.m. ET, will be chaired by former president Bill Clinton and focus on the need for global actio...

The Center for American Progress' Top 100 Effects of Global Warming
Given the context, we're not sure "top" is the right word to use here - nevertheless, the Center for American Progress has done a bang-up job compiling an exhaustive list of the effects global warming is expected to have, or is already having, on different aspects of our lives and on the planet as a whole. Go figure: according to the list, wine lovers are expected to be amongst the hardest hit (relatively speaking, of course). Here are some other examples of things you'll soon be kissing goodbye - or saying hello to:- Say Goodbye to Discoveries of Sharks That Can Walk- Say Goodbye to Guacamole- ...

EU On Collison Course With US Over Airline Carbon Cap Proposal
This is one of those "Big Ideas" for climate management that looks to be headed nowhere. So, back to lifestyle choices for a bit."The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body that oversees global air travel, has scheduled a vote in Montreal this week, perhaps as early as today, on the European plan. U.S.-led opposition is mounting...Under the European Commission's proposal, European airlines would be forced to cap emissions starting in 2011, and foreign airlines flying into Europe would join the plan in 2012...The U.S., supported by Brazil, Japan, China and others, rejects the European plan as an unacceptable unilateral burden on companies."Air tr...

Whitehouse Lobbied Against Schwartzenegger Environmental Inititative
This one is an easy exercise in pattern recognition. Doubt if the Governator will be bowed. "The Bush administration has conducted a concerted, behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to try to generate opposition to California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, according to documents obtained by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.""A flurry of e-mails among Transportation Department (DOT) officials and between its staffers and the White House, released yesterday, highlights efforts that administration officials have made to stir up public opposition to...

Philadelphia Eagles the Greenest Team in Pro Sports?
It may be only a coincidence that the Philadelphia Eagles wear green jerseys, but theyve quietly become the most environmentally friendly team in the National Football League, and maybe even in all of pro sports. And that s due in no small part to the vision of owners Jeffrey and Christina Weiss Lurie, both former Hollywood producers who bought the team in 1994. In fact, according to team officials theyve spent well into seven figures ensuring that it happens, and part of it means that when the lights come on for an Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field, 30 percent of the power comes from wind power and methane reclaimed from landfills. ...

Business 2.0 Goes Out in Style
Not with a whimper but a bang, Business 2.0's last issue has a long article on Pacific Gas and Electric, San Francisco's power company that has been the subject of many TreeHugger posts. Not everyone loves them and they still are building liquified gas and gas fired power plants, but they are investing in smart meters, plug-in hybrids, wave and tidal power and solar. CEO Peter Darbee is preparing for a storm of climate-change regulation: "There is going to be mandatory carbon regulation within the next two to three years...We are going to be ...

Green tech doesn't reduce computational demands?
Ted Sampson over at Infoworld writes a nice column on sustainable IT which is a good read. His latest deadpans a briefing about AMD's energy efficient quad-core processor, where a journalist asked if AMD would be hurting its own sales with the release of its newest energy-efficient chip, code name Barcelona. The reasoning is as follows: If AMD is selling a processor capable of doing twice as much work as its previous CPU, wouldn't that mean that organizations will end buying fewer produc...

The Go Green Initiative Making A Difference In A School Near You
Not too long ago I pointed out that the Go Green Initiative, was doing great things to get schools involved protecting the environment. Now theres word that more than a million students and teachers in the U.S. and around the world are a part of registered Go Green Initiative schools as the movement gathers momentum in the more than 750 schools in 41 states, Europe, Africa, Canada, Indonesia, and Mexico who are participating in one form or another. Just one of the ways in which Go Green is helping schools make a difference is by providing guidance on waste diversi...

Super Design Market: Instant Collectibles
Instant collectibles: get them now, because they may never be available again. The Super Design Market is a sale where young designers are flogging some interesting, some wacky and always unique design products at affordable prices. We loved the pencil that was created out of a clothes pin. There was an anti-theft device that makes new cars or bikes look unattractive by applying stickers that appear to be scratches, rust and peeling paint so thieves will assume that it is not worth stealing. The sock-dog is a puppet made out of loose or ripped...

Who Cares If It Is Green, Is It Ethical?
Preston at Jetson Green asks: At a time when luxury living is scrutinized for excess energy consumption, why not build a 5 bedroom, 6.5 bath high-end home with a "small environmental footprint"? Seriously, with smart, energy-efficient design (read: 4 extra solar panels), you can generate enough electricity to run all 6 interior refrigerators. And by using recycled and reclaimed wood (where possible of course), non-toxic blow-in insulation, and low-VOC finishings, this home is going to surpass Built Green standards. Designers worked their hearts out to build the greenest home possible wi...

Sun Microsystems Launches OpenEco.org: Open Business Community for Carbon Savings
Sun Microsystems have long been at the forefront of green computing, and as a result theyve never been far from the front page on TreeHugger. Weve interviewed Dave Douglas, the companys vice-president of eco-responsibilities, weve covered their top ten tips for cooling your company, and weve written about their new desktop that reportedly uses less energy than a nightlight. Now we hear via Kurtz ov...

VIDEO S&WFF: Ride of the Mergansers = TH Cute Overload
Hooded mergansers are fish-eating ducks found only in North America. You gotta see this vid of these just-hatched fuzzy-wuzzy ducklings take their perilous leap to the water below to begin life in the wild. The point-of-view camera angles here are off the hook. Sometimes here at TreeHugger we feel we just can't compete with Cute Ov...

New High-Altitude Climate Observatory in Mexico Announced
Today the Climate Institute announced a new observatory called the High Altitude Climate Observatory in Pico De Orizaba National Park, which is the first high-altitude climate observatory in Mexico and the highest of its kind in the world. The project was announced in conjuction with a speech on vulnerability and climate change by Sir Crispin Tickell, the president emeritus of the Climate Institute and the author of Climatic Change and World Affairs, one of the first books to highlight the dangers of human-induced global climate change, first published in 1...

Trash Luxe
Trash Luxe is an exhibition of serious up and coming designers who have taken humble objects and made them into luxury items. Put together by Liberty, an old and stylish store, there were familiar names and surprises in this sophisticated show created specially for London Design Festival. Stuart Haygarth was there, of course, (his third exhibition as part of the festival) and this work was a wonderful chandelier made out of eye glass lens from spectacles, shimmering in the light. Heath Nash was also represented with a light created from discarded materials such as wire...

Reminder! Greenest Photo Ever Contest: DeSmogBlog
Have you taken the greenest photo ever? We wanted to remind you that DeSmogBlog wants to give you a Sony Cybershot DSC-S600 6MP camera if you can. DeSmogBlog is a website dedicated to clearing the PR pollution that clouds climate change. What do they mean by green?It can be literally a really green photo (but not of a green dress, that's cruel). Or it can be a metaphorically green photo, whether that's ecological or 'green with envy' or any other angle you can think of. In short, be creative!To enter simply submit your greenest photo to their

Garbage, Design, Recycling: An Exhibition and Some Reflections
More events trying to raise consciousness about ecology and consumerism in Argentina, this time in the interior of the country and with an arty approach. From September 4th until October 26th, the cool print publication Acido Surtido is holding a collective art exhibition by the name Garbage, Design, Recycling; featuring artists also grouped in its latest issue with the same name. The event, which is taking place at the Centro Cultural Espaa Cordoba, in Cordoba province (about 700 kilometers from Buenos Aires), reunites the works of 22 artists-groups that analyze themes such as consumerism, recycling and garbage disposal. This is an invitation to reprogram the reality in the unst...

Wired on "The Plant That Will Save America"
Who couldn't love the gee whiz, boyish enthusiasm of Wired Magazine. When they see a trend, they just pounce and cover it like a blanket; last year it was the hydrogen economy, which has barely been heard from since, and this year it is cellulosic ethanol, the plant that will save America. They do note that "There's just one catch- No one has yet figured out how to generate energy from plant matter at a competitive price. The result is that no car today uses a drop of cellulosic ethanol."They go on for pages, describing the chemistry, looking at veterans who have been trying to do this since Jimmy Carter first funded research in it, enzyme hunters and gatherers,...

Quote of the Day: John Barrie on Design
It takes about the same amount of material to make a BMW as it takes to make a Chevy. The only real difference is the design. John Barrie, an architect who has taught at the University of Michigan and Washtenaw Community College, admits that perhaps there are other minor differences: (Ok, some of the interior finishes in a BMW may never be seen in a Chevy, but bear with me) but notes "The shape, color, texture and even the sound of a new car are designed and built from the same lump of clay. The same holds true in Architecture. The same pallete of materials handled by different Architects will turn out differently." He continues with som...

String + Bottle + Lighter = Drinkable Water
MacGyver Style DIY Tip - video powered by MetacafeSure, it's not the best-tasting water you'll ever have but - if you're lost, dehydrated and have an empty bottle handy - it'll do in a pinch. All you'll need are the above instruments and a puddle of water: get some water, start a small fire and hold the bottle over the flame to bring it to a boil. Once that's done, let it cool and take a swig of perfectly drinkable water (a nice variant, and more accurate/use...

Italian Scuba Divers Shack up Underwater
Global warming asideone of sciences age-old questions is: Can humans live underwater? In Italy, six Italian scuba divers recently broke the record for human underwater living in an experiment inspired by the Jules Verne classic "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." For 14 days, Stefania Mensa, 31, Debora Vissani, 26, Isabella Moreschi, 33, Claudio Croce, 34, Luca Giordani, 28, and Alessandro Brandetti, 40, lived on a wall-less platformcalled the apartment--anchored to the seabed off the Italian island of Ponza at a depth of about 15 metres (49 ft.). The goal: Determine the medical effects of living ...

Never Mind Future Temperature Increases: CO2 Emissions Deserve EPA's Attention NOW
As far as oceanographers and biogeochemists are concerned, the level of attention that has been bestowed on the interactions between increased carbon dioxide emissions, global warming and the oceans amongst media and policy circles has essentially boiled down to one of two memes: higher sea surface temperatures or higher sea levels. Even then, the media's focus on these global warming-induced effects has paled in comparison to the attention paid to terrestrial ecosystems and future changes.Though no big secret amongst marine biologists - some of us have been studying the phenomenon of ocean acidifica...

VIDEO S&WFF: Bilby Brothers: The Men Who Killed the Easter Bunny
Al Gore isn't the only one encouraging Australia to become environmentally engaged as Lloyd recently reported. Two larger than life characters, zoologist Peter McRae and park ranger and former 'roo shooter Frank Manthe, joined forces more than a decade ago in an attempt to save the Bilby a small, endangered Australian marsupial from extinction. The film Bilby Brothers: The Men Who Killed the Easter Bunny (Australia, 2002, Documentary, 48min by Larry Zetlin & Jim Stevens) tells the story of the massive marketing campaign, fundraising and army of volunteers employed to accomplish the impossible. Warr...

The Sustainable Modular Classroom by ARC
The President of the AIA, R.K. Stewart, wrote recently: "It is imperative that we design the next generation of schools to teach about a more sustainable way of living, use minimal energy, eliminate the creation of toxins and waste and be interdependent with natural systems." Unfortunately, the construction of schools takes longer than the subdivisions they are supposed to serve. Ideally, school construction would be modular and flexible, to follow the demographic need; what we usually get is the dreaded mouldy portable classroom. The architectural firm ARC has revisited the portable, with the goal "

Planet-friendly Love in China: A Bike Wedding
Green weddings seem to be all the rage these days, and the trend seems to be growing around the world. The picture above is of a bike wedding held in Anyang City in China on Saturday, which also happened to be Car-Free Day. For more thoughts on green weddings, check out our comprehensive guide on How to Green Your Wedding, or you can even read about this authors own celebrations on a goat farm in North Carolina.

Fridgewatcher: We Are What We Eat
Fridgewatcher.com "is a project where people open their fridges to others. 'Cause every fridge tells a story." It's true; look at all these Dutch and Scandinavian fridges. The one shown is in Amsterdam: "Full of fresh fruits and vegetables our fridge smiles and flirts with asian sauces, sweet jam, a lot of fish. Normally it has more cheese from the market, but we ate them all."It is foodie voyeurism. Only three entries from North America so far; We have to get some of those double-wides with a full supermarket inside to wow them. Submit your fridge pix to ::Fridgewatcher. via

The RCA Presents: Slow Water, Design Solutions to Water Wastage and Management
Platform 10 at the RCAs Department of Design Products, led by Daniel Charny and Roberto Feo, gave their students the following brief: 'slow water down between the sky and the sea'. The creative outcomes show how design can intervene in the domestic use of water. Concepts include domestic rainwater management, water awareness, water bill sharing and the future of showers. What if your kitchen sink was eroding? Alan Merons Soap Sink takes on the misuse of our invisible water which shoots out of the tap only to be collected 15 i...

Solar Row: Sustainable Housing In Boulder
Every time we show a "green and sustainable" house being built in the middle of nowhere or with 6,000 square feet in it, we wonder where people with normal incomes and bikes instead of cars will raise their families. Perhaps the Solar Row in Boulder, Colorado is a good example; Nine homes ranging from 1200 to 1700 square feet, Net Zero energy consumption, and lots of green features in a "mixed-use neighborhood that includes artist's lofts, neighborhood-scale retail businesses and offices, pedestrian walkways and a two-acre park."It is built by Wonderland Hill Developments, which builds "sustainable communities based on the cohousing conc...

Off-Grid Assisted Living: Backing It Up Green
The generation that created the first Earth Day may not be ready for assisted living and senior centers. As that day comes for seniors in northern US states, however, winter comfort will, as in this example, sometimes be maintained by petro-diesel backup generators. Stellar Energy Services, delivered a 300kW diesel engine generator system to Warroad Senior Campus, located in Warroad, Minnesota. The system is large enough to supply emergency power to the complete assisted living community. Warroad Senior Campus is located in norther...

The Sun Lizard - Solar Air Conditioning
Asks an Australian if theyve been busy or not, and they might reply, Mate, Ive been flat out. Like a lizard drinkn. Colin Gillam, CEO of Alternative Fuels and Energy may well give just such an answer regarding his Sun Lizard solar heating/cooling project. Especially as he has been working on it for the past 16 years. His persistence finally paid off when last month he was scored both the judges vote, and the peoples choice vote on the ABC New Inventors TV show. In basic terms the Sun Lizard harnesses the sun to heat and cool a house. How it does this is a tad more complex. Though not radically so. In summer a pho...

EcoEDGE2 : Building Sustainable Cities
Walled city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi: to become world's first zero-carbon and zero-waste cityEcoEDGE2 is a conference coming to Melbourne, Australia during 14-16 February 2008. We are mentioning it now because early bird registrations close at the end of next month. And you might want to get along to an intriguing forum that addresses The Urgent Challenge in Building Sustainable Cities. The plethora of speakers includes experts in a tackling the economic, aesthetic and ethical dimensions in making sustainable cities through green urban design; green urban energy systems; green housing; and green government. One such speaker is the British based architecture firm, Foster + Partners,...

Bridge in Japan Uses Stored Summer Heat to Melt Snow
Bridges are dangerous in cold climates; because they cool more quickly than regular roads, ice can form when the rest of the road seems safe. More de-icing chemicals are used, which can cause the bridge to deteriorate. In Fukui, Japan, the Snow Management and Construction Technology Research Center has developed a system where they store summer heat for snow-melting in winter by driving a large number of dedicated heat-exchanger piles into the riverbank....

Kids Create Rain Barrels With A Cause
Thats right folks, a local martial arts instructor in Annapolis, Maryland recently decided to engage his students in a fun, artistic endeavor to help prevent runoff and raise some bucks for local environmental causes at the same time. Impressively, 65 of his students showed up recently on a sunny Saturday morning to paint away alongside 4 local artists turning a bunch of your average rain barrels into artistic masterpieces worthy of sale at their charity auction. And theyre learning from the activity too, because as Joe Van Deuren, their instructor and the owner of Balanced Life Skills put it, We recognize that what we do and consume has an affect on others. ...

Freedom of Creation: Downloading Clothes
Freedom of Creation (FOC) of Helsinki uses laser sintering to "create digitally generated consumer products. These products are more than stunning beauties. They are also models for localized manufacturing and distribution logistics where no stock, no assembly, minimal transportation and just-in-time production are future goals" -what we have been discussing at Absolut Downloads. They have designed a range of products from lighting to textiles; watch a video of the process here. Jiri Evenhuis came up with the idea of Rapid Manufactured textiles- "instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into f...

Rhode Island Winds Report Finds 10 Possible Areas for Wind Farms
Because we offset our electricity each month through our local electric company, we receive quarterly newsletters that incorporate the latest in alternative energy around Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts. In the most recent one, results were printed from the Rhode Island Winds report, commissioned by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources. The report noted that after taking a close look and the wind speeds at various heights, water depth, shipping lands, eelgrass beds and other constraints, there are 10 possible areas in Rhode Island for state-sponsored offshore wind farms. And a wind farm at any of these sites could produce enough wind to meet

Superfund365: Where Toxic Waste Meets Art
So, what happens when you combine toxic waste and art? It's something that doesn't get done often, but when executed properly -- Ed Burtynsky's work (here, here and TH interview here) is a great example -- it can be very visually stimulating and moving: a deft, simultaneous celebration of our world and condemnation of th...

This is a Paper Bag
Here's an idea for eco-retailers, especially those who can't rely on their customers to always BYOB (which is to say, all of them). Measuring 12x16 inches, these paper carriers are made from several layers of used newspaper, along with sturdy cardboard bases, so no new paper is used in the process. Each bag costs 50 cents, with a minimum order of 50 bags. You can even customize the bags with your store's logo for an extra 10 cents per bag, although you'll need to order a ...

Grand Opening: A New York City Drive-In
One of the reasons people can live in smaller spaces when they live in cities is there is so much to do. Why have a media room and a big screen when there are theatres and places to go? Not only that, in the city, your experiences keep changing. The artists who run Grand Opening, Manhattan's only drive in cinema, used to run a ping-pong table in the space; now they have parked a 1965 Ford Fairlane convertible and are showing films from 1960 to the present, in chronological order. Fabulous curating of films; today they are in 1968, showing The Odd Couple, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Producers. Book online (seats six, cozy in a Fairlane) at ::Grand Opening

Instant Contest: Win Two Tickets to Fashion Takes Action
We have mentioned the oh-so-green Fashion Takes Action show in Toronto on September 26th; it is "a fashion show with some of Canada's top designers using sustainable fabrics from SYKA made from soy, bamboo, hemp, organic cotton and wild silk, all in support of Environmental Defence."We have two tickets (worth C$110 each) to give away at noon on the 26th; send in a comment describing what you will wear to the show. Greenest wardrobe wins the pair. Be sure to put your real email address in the comment form, it does not show up on the site. More on the event at ::Fashion Takes Action...

Build a Humane Mouse Trap
Call us a bunch of bleeding-heart, granola-chewing hippies, but watching a mouse starve to death while it struggles on a glue trap or coaxing pests with poison isn't our idea of a good time. Sure you could pony up some cash and buy one of those fancy humane mouse traps available out there, but you can also save yourself the dough and make your own with a used soda bottle, a piece of woodmaybe a salvaged cigar box from your friendly neighborhood smoke shack?and some dry-wall screws. ::Humane Mouse TrapSee also: ::Lavender Sachets as Moth Repellent and

Beklina Ethical Fashion Store: Fall '07
The online ethical fashion store Beklina has got in contact to tell us that not only are they stocking Stewart and Brown's Fall collection, but they also have two more exciting labels for us to enjoy. Beau Soleil is an fashion label by New York designer Anne Salvatore Epstein. She uses bamboo fabric, vegetable-dyed organic cottons, tencel, which is made from eucalyptus trees, and recycled leather trims. We love her sexily cut and metal accessorized dresses (above right).Beklina a...

Tesla Announce Latest Production Schedule
If you're waiting for a Tesla Roadster, then read on.Last month Martin Eberhard, the one-time Tesla CEO, stepped down from the head of the company, worrying some that delays could be on the way. At the time he said, "We are still planning to start production of the Roadster by the end of next month and deliver the first cars to customers this fall. We have a good chance of meeting this goal, but to be fully transparent, I want you to know that while it is within our reach, it is not yet fully within our grasp." ...

Concepts We Want Made: Yuko Taguchi's Wind-Up Lamp
For people who like to do a little reading in bed (and might fall asleep with the light on from time to time) comes this cool concept from designer Yuko Taguchi. The "Wind-Up Lamp" is just that: crank the key around to generate power for the lamp and start the timer; when the power is used up and the timer goes off, so does the lamp, leaving you to a peaceful (energy-efficient!) slumber. Hit the jump for the designers' statement and another pic of the lamp in action. This concept really should get made. ::Yuko Taguchi via ::Red Ferret...

The Hidden Costs of Free Parking
Bryan Pijanowski counts parking spaces at Purdue University. In his own county, he found 355,000 off-street, nonresidential parking spaces, three for every person in the county. Now he wants to take his count nationwide. Dr. Donald Shoup, professor of urban planning at the University of California at Los Angeles, says there is no such thing as free parking. "We all pay for it, not in our role as drivers, but as residents, taxpayers, and customers." According to the Christian Science Monitor: Big parking lots hike building costs and get passed through to the consumer, sometimes through higher rents in their apartment buildings or bigger costs at their grocery stores. "Every pla...

Brokaw Wins Emmy For "Global Warming: What You Need To Know"
Here's but one reason we've teamed up with the good folks at Discovery. Last night at the 28th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards gala, Tom Brokaw was awarded an Emmy for his work on Global Warming: What You Need To Know. The two-hour special decoded eco buzzwords and armed viewers with clear definitions and visual depictions to explain the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide emissions, CFCs, effects on weather and rising se...

Watch "Tableland" in NYC, Oct. 1st
All across North America grows a wonderful bounty of local, seasonal, delicious food. Tableland is about the people with their hands in the dirt, the farmers, and the chefs and eaters who enjoy the benefits of their hard work. In Tableland, award-winning Canadian filmmaker, Craig Noble, documents successful and delicious examples of small scale food production and enjoyment....

Small Island Nations "Can Only Do So Much" To Impede Climate Change
As the leaders of the attendant developing and small island nations took their turns at the podium on Monday's United Nations high-level event on climate change, their angerand desperationwas palpable. And it wasn't because they were only given five minutes to make their statements. (Although, like award winners at the Oscars, there were those who skirted the time limit.)"It is an irony that the least-developed countries and small island states, which are the least responsible for the climate change, are the worst affected," said Sahana Pradhan, Nepal's minister of foreign affairs. "Industrialized nations have a spe...

Brush Your Teeth And Help Rivers At The Same Time!
What do toothpaste and mouthwash have to do with protecting our rivers?A lot, thanks to Toms of Maine, our countrys leading natural care company.We are thrilled to announce the new Rivers Awareness PartnershipTM between Toms of Maine, American Rivers and River Network. Toms of Maine is generously providing $1 million in support over five years to our organizations to enhance awareness, understanding and, ultimately, protection of rivers nationwide. Additionally, Toms has pledged to work closely with us to reach the public with a river stewardship mes...