roy said:
"I really dislike hi-def in general. Who the heck wants to see every wrinkle on Hugh Laurie's face? The only person who looks better in hi-def is Ev..." [read]
Roger, Gone Green said:
"Words that suggest that green stuff is new or unusual have to go! Here are some suggested alternatives(drop them into everyday speech and watch th..." [read]
said:
"Vent systems are not as carefully tuned as auto exhaust systems, but still shutting a vent off, especially in carefully designed larger systems, co..." [read]
Ken Clive said:
""Green is the new black" is an excuse for all the emo and goth kids to go green, that's all.
"Bush" shouldn't be banned. Although I do thi..." [read]
ian said:
"ok, i found something: approximately 20 miles on a 6 hour charge of full sun (difficult but possible) based on a recent aftermarket option:
<..." [read]
Tricia said:
"Thanks for the great list! I have only just started reading blogs (and blogging) so perfect timing....." [read]
Image credit:National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, "Concrete Is Green"
'Green' as a term of popular culture is on life support and barely hanging on: not just because some academic said so, and not because few "green" magazines of 2008 stayed around, and not only because of advert abuses (as pictured above), but because people are screaming to have Green taken off life support. Lake Superior State University, which, since 1971, has published an annual list of words or terms that need to be "banned" from the English language, reports that "green" was the number one balloted word to be rid of in 2009.
As a child growing up in Berkeley during the '60s, educator Patricia Donald loved reading National Geographic and Time magazines, where she says she learned about the pollution of the earth and its oceans, and the human-caused disruption of the balance of nature.
"There was a lot of scary stuff going on in those days," said Donald. "It just felt really important to try to empower people to understand the space and the habitat they lived in, to help protect it instead of fighting against it all the time. Luckily, I had a lot of people who helped me believe in my dream."
And what a successful venture her dream has become in Berkeley, California.
While so many people are working so very hard to help educate kids about environmental issues and what they can do to make a difference, there’s a pair of Canadians who’ve been on the run, literally, since May 4 of last year to raise awareness and educate kids at the same time by putting in a full marathon daily to make their way across the continent of North America as part of their Run For 1 Planet.
Kids do the darndest things with technology these days. I would have thought you would need a tripod in the exact spot every day for a year, to see the beauty of nature through four seasons in a forty second time lapse, but no. Eirik Solheim has a better way.
2008 was a banner year in the green world, and with events like the economic recession came some pretty interesting pictures. Sometimes funny, occasionally sad, always poignant, check out our gallery for 2008: The Year in Pictures and Images to see if your favorite made the list.
Among the greener filmmaking practices employed on the set were using refillable water bottles and biodegradable plastics, as well as using biodiesel in location vehicles. Images: Film In Focus
Though there are plenty of films out there spreading green messages, if you’ve even been on a film set you know that there are generally more immediate issues at hand than the eco-friendliness of the filmmaking process itself. Well, on the set of Focus Features’ Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes, green concerns played a more central role.
As part of a pilot project lead by Earthmark/Green Media Solutions (and supported by NBC’s Green is Universal initiative) the production team tried to increase implementation of better sustainability practices in the four areas: Energy, transportation, construction and set materials, and waste. Here’s how they did it; it’s a pretty impressive list:
While Christmas morning has come and gone, there’s no doubt that many kids across America are feeling flush with cash as a result of the holiday; and there’s a great, fun toy put out by Bill Nye that’s aimed at helping kids understand the process of recycling paper that the young, eco-conscious consumer in your house may be interested in.
With approximately 3.9 million infants dying within a month of birth each year throughout the developing world, and 25 percent of those deaths due to complications of being born prematurely like heat and water loss, a group of innovative engineers at Design that Matters are finding a way to recycle cars into infant incubators and hoping to ensure that millions of kids live to see their first birthday as a result of their efforts.
According to Dr. Jonathan Rosen, a former director at the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) which is now promoting the program, he learned from doctors working in developing countries that no matter how remote the community there always seemed to be a working Toyota 4Runner that around. So the challenge became to “start with a 4Runner and take away all the parts that weren’t an incubator.”
The big day is over and you've got a pile of wonderful and not-so-wonderful gifts. For the ones that you don't want there are lots of options. Re-cycle them to someone who might want them, donate them to a charity, swap them with some one else or give them away.
But for all of them, no matter what you think, don't forget to thank the person who gave it to you. They have taken the time to buy, wrap and deliver the present, even if it isn't your cup of tea. Debrett's, which calls itself "the modern authority on all matters of etiquette, taste and achievement", has a list of how to handle a horrible gift or what to do for the thank you. Get very polite after the fold.
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Photo Via: New America Media
As part of an outreach program to help parents better understand the effects of lead on their children, there’s a great group of folks that deserve a bit of recognition this holiday season for their efforts to educate and protect kids in California from lead poisoning.
It turns out they’re working off part of a $1.5 million settlement between major toymakers and the state of California after the public outcry over lead in toys that turned into a nightmare for parents, legislators and toymakers not so very long ago.
And in particular, this group of educators from the Center for Environmental Health is focused on those who need the most help understanding what all the fuss is about when it comes to lead in toys by working to educate parents who often don’t speak English by taking their lead testing equipment to the streets in locations they often frequent.
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It has been said that the pictures taken on Christmas Eve forty years ago created the environmental movement, that for the first time people really could see that we really were all together on one little boat floating in space. This was the first, the black and white shot. Historian Christopher Riley writes in the BBC that Frank Borman saw it: "Oh, my God! Look at that picture over there!" Then they ran for the colour film. ...
Photo Via: East Tennessee Clean Fuels
When you think of success in any endeavor the simple truth is that a grade of “C” is rarely considered top-notch. Mediocre is perhaps more like it, but that’s just what Coca-Cola, called the top U.S. beverage maker, received when As You Sow, a corporate watchdog group, released their findings recently as the result of an investigation into the recycling practices of the top 23 U.S. beverage companies. Unfortunately, many more failed, with 16 of the 23 surveyed receiving an "F." Did your favorite beverage maker top of the “somewhat nice” list? Find out below the fold.
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Photo Via: Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
If you’re looking for a more eco-friendly way to create a festival of holiday lights in the future, consider what Pennsylvania homeowner Jim Berroth has taken on as a more environmentally friendly approach to dealing with holiday decorations that’s stopping traffic in his neck of the woods. It’s a unique twist on your tired old Christmas tree, and his six grandkids, already schooled in the necessity to recycle what once filled landfills, call the creative display "Pap's pop can trees."
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I remain a fan and subscriber of Dwell Magazine. It was the biggest promoter of my previous gig, prefab housing; it almost invented modern prefab with its 2001 issue covering the subject. For full disclosure I will note that I have been quoted in it a couple of times and was a speaker at two Dwell conferences.
So I was very excited to see their new Prefab issue; it is a must for anyone following the industry. TreeHugger friend from Inhabitat and Worldchanging Sarah Rich covers ZeroHouse, carefully treading about the concept of prefab vaporware; Debra Prinzing covers garden sheds, many of which we covered here. There is good coverage of Marmol Radziner, builders of the most beautiful prefab I ever saw, Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG fame gives Fuller his due. DWM of the month is Konrad Wachsmann, and the smartest guy in the prefab room, FabPrefab's Michael Sylvester, writes an excellent introduction to prefab.
But as interesting as what is in the issue is what is left out. ...
From Henry to Nikola
Fortum, an energy company in Scandinavia, has made the above commercial that contrasts the past of the automotive and oil industry (they make it look pretty grim) with what it hopes is the future: A sleek electric car, in this case the Tesla Roadster, stopped to recharge its batteries at an electrical charging station. Via Edmunds...
Photo courtesy of ClintJCL
Remember when you were a kid, and you didn’t quite get exactly what you wanted for Christmas? And then you whined and complained like it was the end of the world? Well, it turns out that nasally-voiced, impossibly immature younger you might have been onto something. Every year, crappy Christmas presents are literally ruining the planet....
Photo courtesy of Telenovela Garden
Did Judy sleep with Alejandro? Even though she’s married to Sebastian, who’s in a coma from leaping in front of a bullet fired at her by Don Curio, Alejandro’s jealous evil twin brother? Will she learn the error of her ways, and that promiscuity and unprotected sex are dangerous global threats that lead to overpopulation and health woes?
She might if the production happens to be helmed by the Population Media Center, a Vermont organization that creates serialized radio and television dramas that use “entertainment education” strategies to positively influence the social behavior of audiences in third world countries around the world. The shows’ creators believe these soap operas, which currently air in 15 countries across 4 continents, will slow population growth, increase HIV/AIDS awareness, and promote family communication. Basically, PMC hopes to be a sort of General Hospital to the world.
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photo by gailf548Hollywood has been slipping environmental messages into their blockbusters lately. I’m not talking about smart indy films or well-researched documentaries. I’m talking about movies that are marketed to a mass audience and have dizzying special effects, plenty of bad-guy punching, unchecked vehicle chases and expensive things that explode. You know, the stuff good clean family fun is made of. ...
This poem is offered to encourage joining the "good fight" for sustainable development (SD). Done in good spirits, with credit to Clement Clarke Moore, author of A Visit from St. Nicholas, now known as "Twas a night before Christmas."
‘Twas a night of sustainability'
‘Twas a night of sustainability, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a louse;
The badges were hung by the entry with care,
In hopes that participants soon would be there;
For they were all nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of climate change clanged in their heads;
And climate with regulations and carbon with caps,
Had just started discussing long-suffering maps,
When out in the parking lot there arose such a clatter,
We sprang to the door to see what was the matter....
Image source: Metaefficient
While virtually sitting by the fire, and sipping hot, organic apple cider, our very own Meaghan O'Neill chatted with Sean Daily, of Green Living Ideas, about going green this holiday season and what tops her green wish list this year. The two talked about the history and growth of Treehugger.com, the influence of An Inconvenient Truth and how to Give Green to Save Green....
Photo Credit of Henry Paulson: Goodman/VanRiper Photography
The economy is crashing all around us, but the green movement is offering a bright ideas to rebuild the United States. But should we trust the call for a green economy? The last ten years saw a rebirth of excitement for the environment as huge amounts of debt mounted. Maybe the two are connected - and the brave new green world is a promise we can't cash. ...
Dayak woman dancing the hornbill dance in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Hornbills are one of the bird species that appear to be impacted by rising average temperatures in Southeast Asian rainforests. Image credit: Jeanine Pfeiffer.
In Tibet, sacred glaciers are melting and alpine medicinal plant populations are disappearing. In the Borneo rainforest, Dayak tribes report unusual alterations in wildlife seasonal patterns: native birds aren't showing up in their usual places, or at the usual times. In Central Africa, changing rainfall patterns have altered stream flows, making it harder for the Mbaka (pygmy) women to catch fish.
In Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia, milder winters are decreasing lichen populations, a key food source for both wild and semi-domesticated reindeer. For the first time in history, Sámi peoples have to search for fodder to feed their reindeer herds. ...
Happy Birthday Bill!
Now on the lighter side: eSolar employees shot this video of them wishing a happy birthday to Bill Gross, the founder of Idealab, the parent company of eSolar. They can write with the panels by using the computer-controlled tracking motors that allow the solar cells to stay turned toward the sun. Pretty neat. Thanks to reader "Octopod" for the tip....
When a children’s author can sell 13,000 copies in just a month without the support of mass-market booksellers there’s reason to believe this one just may be a hit with your kids. And with Christmas just around the corner and a price tag of $15.95 there’s no doubt the price is right as an eco-themed stocking stuffer to round out your list.
But what’s this suddenly hot selling children’s book about?
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While the city of Louisville has been known for many things over the years, citizens of an area consisting of various chemical plants and commonly referred to as Rubbertown have put up with strange odors, burning eyes and fears that their every breath might contribute to asthma, cancer or other illnesses.
But that began to change about a decade ago, after a minister from the predominantly African-American neighborhoods around Rubbertown organized protests, demanding aggressive government action to clean up the toxic air and reduce the chemical emissions from factories.
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If you’re somehow attached to or involved with the green building movement it’s certainly worthwhile to note that the EPA is urging professional and student architects, builders and product developers to submit designs for green buildings and building materials for its third annual Lifecycle Building Challenge competition.
Essentially, they’re seeking design entries for buildings that minimize waste, reuse materials, cut greenhouse gas emissions and support cost-effective disassembly by anticipating the future reuse of building materials, and they’ll also accept designs for innovative green building materials that cut down on waste that goes to landfills.
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Image from luigig
It's easy to dismiss climate change as a threat when you live in a country that hasn't been affected much or that, at most, has only seen slight alterations. But what if you lived on one of the many South Pacific Islands? Climate scientists believe these islands will be some of the most at risk of succumbing to future sea-level rise—a gloomy scenario that may not be too far off (perhaps as early as 50 years from now), according to new research presented at the AGU conference in San Francisco this week. One of these vulnerable islands, Kiribati, is the setting for a must-see episode of PBS' Now show, (appropriately) entitled "Paradise Lost". ...
Faced with the stark truth that the numbers of U.S. students pursuing careers in science are dwindling rapidly, the EPA and the City College of New York have announced a joint effort to encourage and produce environmental scientists of diverse backgrounds to pursue their dreams in the field of environmental science and potentially wind up working for the EPA.
Of course, there’s always the reality that a career at the EPA may not fit the economic aspirations of such driven individuals, but there’s certainly cause for hope that the program through CCNY just may help fill the void at the EPA.
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We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!