Green Daily

According to a recent article in Marie Claire, selectively breeding hens to produce large eggs due to consumer demand is animal cruelty. Think ten pound baby versus six pound baby.

The British Free Range Producers' Association (BFREPA) asks that shoppers opt for medium size eggs and the laying of larger eggs causes undue stress on the chickens and lead to osteoporosis, bone breakage and prolapse. Tom Vesey, the chairman of BFREPA, keeps chickens himself and has noticed that the laying of larger eggs causes pain to his chickens.

Here we have video of Mosha, a baby Asian elephant who lost her front right leg to a landmine, testing out her new fake leg.

This is Mosha's second prosthetic leg. She lives with the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, who rescued her, and nursed her back to health after she was injured by the landmine.

In the video it looks like she was getting around okay with just the three legs, but I've heard that there's something about elephant physiology that makes it better for them to be able to balance on four legs. Which, you know, makes sense.

Except that she seem totally stressed out by the new leg, and her handlers seems ot be chasing her all over the place, like she's trying to escape.

Plus, she's just a baby, and growing fast. They have to make a new leg for her, as she gets bigger. That doesn't seem very sustainable, although you have to applaud the kindness of their intention.

What do you think?

Only a few months ago, it looked like Norwegian electric automaker Th!nk's days were numbered. Now, not only is Th!nk not dead -- but they've announced that they're coming across the pond with their cute little EVs. Back from the brink, Th!nk bigwigs finally went public with their plans for North American conquest today in Ann Arbor. Rather than a surge, Th!nk's invasion of the US will begin as a trickle, with 2,500 of their electric sub compacts produced in 2010.

Th!nk is currently in talks with eight US states including Michigan, of course, as they try to choose a site for their HQ which is expected to employ about 300 workers initially, ramping up to 900 after things get really cranking. The vehicle that Th!nk is placing its hopes into is the City hatchback, which can reach speeds of 70mph. Apparently, the cars will initially be targeted towards fleet customers, but private consumers will no doubt join in. The projected price to consumers will be under $20,000 -- plus a $80-$90/month fee to lease the battery.

[via AutoblogGreen]

"Stolen for Fashion"-Learn More at PETA.org.

Pink and Ricky Gervais are the voices of this totally scary, bloody, gory video of a talking alligator and bunny who don't have skin.

Naturally, it's from PETA.

In the video, the two animals accost a woman carrying an alligator bag, and her boyfriend who is holding her rabbit fur coat. The four of them argue while the alligator smears blood across the floor, and the (freaking scary) bunny jumps up and attacks the dude.

It's a distracting video, that's for sure. And who knew Ricky Gervais was so vehemently anti-fur? But will it change anyone's mind (and yes, we're looking at you, Giorgio Armani)? Probably not, because they'll never watch a video of skinned, bleeding, talking animals.

Still, it gives the rest of us something to talk about on a Friday afternoon at work. Watch at your own peril, and definitely not during lunch.

Who knew that ugly, outdated vehicle upholstery would become such fertile ground for inspiring awesome eco-chic designs. Last week, it was super stylish Chuck Taylor-esque shoes made from the painfully ugly mid-90s upholstery in the London transit system. This week, it's the award-winning Lepidoptera Chair by Australian designer Simone LeAmon.

Recently winning the 2009 Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award for its unique design, the Lepidoptera Chair is built from the remnants manufactured by local upholstery maker Autofab for major auto companies. So, if you happen to live in the state of Victoria and drive an old Ford, Holden, or Mitsubishi, you may recognize some of the patterns. Apparently, Simone is fascinated by the "machismo of moto culture." So, why the name Lepidoptera? Maybe it's best to let the artist explain in her own words:

"Titled Lepidoptera after the insect species of moths and butterflies, my concept draws on the anatomy of a butterfly's wing to bring purpose to the formal equation of structure, colour and pattern. Translated from Greek to mean 'scale' and 'wing', Lepidoptera are powerful signifiers of evolutionary process, providing new perspectives on issues as diverse as climate change, technology, structure and aesthetics."

[via Treehugger]

Valcucine has come up with a 100% recyclable kitchen design, which if ever put into mass production could really make a difference considering how un-environmentally friendly the current average kitchen is. The 100% recyclability factor is achieved through innovations like a special glass cabinet system (they call it "Invitrum") and a base kitchen structure made of drawn, recycled aluminum instead of primary aluminum. Also, all the joints are made mechanically, which means not only are no toxic glues required but (if need be) it can all be easily disassembled. Very cool.

[via Trendir]

Spring means gardening, and that means some dry, cracked hands. I'm sure you've had the experience of using moisturizers and hand lotions that actually make your poor hands feel worse -- greasy, goopy, and ugh, the perfumes!

If you're looking for something that is strong enough for man, but gentle enough for the whole family, check out Sweet Grass Farm Super Duty Hand Care.

It's not a lotion, it's a salve that comes in a solid, round disk of beeswax, olive oil, and lanolin. No muss, no fuss, it's packaged in a metal tin, the scent is fresh combination of lemon and lavender, and most importantly it makes your hands feel soothed and soft.

To "apply" the salve, you pass the disk from hand to hand, warming it up with your natural body heat.

At first it's kind of trippy, and I definitely thought, "Oh boy, this is going to be a mess." But your skin is able to absorb the natural ingredients in a way that is so much cleaner than most hand lotions.

When you're moisturized enough, you put it back in the can. One disk lasts for ages.

Like all of the products from Sweet Grass Farm, the Super Duty Hand Care is totally affordable: $7.95. You can order it from the website, or pick up a tin at your local enlightened natural food store, in the Awesome section.

Have a screwdriver and an electrical outlet? Then you can become a solar panel installation expert. Solar Start-up Veranda Solar has been showing off new photovoltaic designs that are making condo-dwelling DIY solar enthusiasts lick their chops. Aside from looking kinda cool, Veranda's panels are super easy to install and are designed to live in all types of cramped spaces like windowsill, gutters, or balconies. All you've got to do is bolt them on and plug them in.

Oh yeah, did I mention that they're also fairly cheap? Though they're not available just yet, a 70 watt system -- inverter and all -- would cost about $600. That, along with the fact that they're about as easy to install as a small satellite dish makes me think these things are going to be hugely popular. The prototype -- developed in conjunction with Stanford University and SunPower Corp. -- won Veranda a €100,000 prize in the PICNIC Green Challenge, which is helping speed up the marketing process. They're also developing smaller add-on panels that snap on if 70W isn't enough for you.

[via Treehugger]

Outside of a major oil company's heavily greenwashed marketing campaign, you won't hear very many people use the words green and motor oil in the same sentence. Yet, if you walk down the lubricants aisle at your local auto part store, you may soon see both terms on the same bottle. That's because Green Earth Technologies has just become the first bio-oil to get the API seal of approval on their totally biodegradable, fat-based G Oil.

Green Earth Technologies' model is made entirely out of fat from American-bred livestock, and as the company likes to brag: "it takes three barrels of crude oil to make one barrel of motor oil, but it only takes one barrel of animal fat to produce one barrel of G-Oil." Getting the American Petroleum Institute's Service Symbol stamped on a quart of your 5W-30 is pretty much the equivalent of getting the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on an oven or dishwasher." Basically, it's shorthand for telling people 'hey, this stuff actually works.' Now, the real question: does it?

To be fair, traditional motor oil comes from animal fat -- it's just that the animals have been dead for billions of years. Who wants to be the first to test it out in their engine?

[via AutoblogGreen]

I was pretty excited to hear that reliable drugstore beauty brand Pantene was coming out with a "green" line of shampoo and conditioners. The lovely Padma Lakshmi is the spokesperson for the Pro-V Nature Fusion line, which contains cassia essence, which is sourced in India.

There are two formulations of the Nature Fusion line, Smooth Vitality and Moisture Balance. Pantene sent me a sample of the Smooth Vitality to try out, and it was totally great. My hair was shiny and manageable, the fragrance is awesome, and you have to love a beauty product this affordable -- just $4.99 at Walgreens.

Here's the question, which a very smart commenter pointed out in my first post. Is it really green? And honestly, well, no. Sure, it contains some botanical extracts, but it still has a lot of those other "chemical" ingredients -- you know, the ones that make shampoos and conditioners so effective.

But is a move in the right direction. The more mainstream botanicals and oils and herbal infusions become, the more affordable and accessible they will be. And fewer chemicals are always better.

So, if you're like me and just can't give up the traditional stuff entirely, can't afford the super amazing eco-friendly products, and will never use something like Dr. Bonner's Peppermint soap on your hair, this gives you another choice.

We all have to start somewhere.

When Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant announced its closing in Louisiana, PETA sprung to action. The animal activist organization wrote a letter to the state's governor, Bobby Jindal, imploring him to use state funds to turn the factory into a "Chicken Empathy Museum."

When PETA learned that the state was offering $20 million to help a new company take over the building, PETA jumped into the fray with plans to create a public educational space. PETA would like to devote the proposed museum to the intellect of the chicken claiming that they have brains comparable to cats, dogs and even primates.

Say what you will about PETA, at least most of their gimmicky celebrity campaigns in the past have made some kind of attempt to deliver a quasi-rational message. Their latest publicity stunt, however, I'm having major trouble wrapping my brain around. It's literally a George Clooney flavored tofu -- or "CloFu" as PETA's president Ingrid Newkirk is calling it -- and its gift to the world is combining the taste of George Clooney's sweat with the wholesomeness of sparing animals from being eaten.

The flavor is being replicated from a stinky, sweaty gym towel that Clooney used after working out in Washington DC. Apparently, PETA recieved the sweat rag as a donation (anyone else think that's creepy?) and that spawned the CloFu idea. Using advanced "gas chromatography and mass spectrometry" technology, experts have isolated the movie star's primary odor characteristics, which will be extracted and dumped into the curd. That part, I kind of understand. Here's the thing: we all know Clooney is a do-gooder, but is he a vegetarian? Is there any real connection between Clooney and tofu at all? I'm at a loss.

Most fans know Sting as a socially conscious rock star with no last name and a huge soft spot for the Amazonian rain forest. What they don't know is that he's really a straw hat wearing, tobacco chewing farmer. OK, I made up the hat and tobacco part. But for the last 15 years, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler have been spending much of their time kicking it at their 300 hectare farm in Tuscany, growing all sorts of organic produce, livestock and even wine.

Acai fruit products are everywhere, promising detoxification, anti-aging and the holy grail of supplement claims, weight loss. You've no doubt been inundated with ads for acai products, especially if you spend any time on the internets.

However, like many supplements, there is little evidence to back up many manufacturers' claims for acai, according to an article in the New York Times. While the acai berry does contain antioxidants, there are no solid studies showing specific anti-aging, weight or detox benefits. Even Oprah has had to put a disclaimer on her website, stating that she does not endorse any acai berry products, due to peripheral connections via her buddy Dr. Mehmet Oz. One researcher who performed a study on acai admitted that while the berry has good antioxidant levels, more studies are needed to back up other claims.

Since acai is probably just another berry, which is not a bad thing, you'll want to be aware of any possible hyped-up health claims. On the positive side, acai berry harvesting can provide a good source of income to farmers in the Amazon rainforest. For example, Sambazon (Saving and Managing the Brazilian Amazon), buys organic acai from 1,500 local families for use in their products, according to the Nature Conservancy. This helps provide a sustainable source of income for the farmers, while helping to preserve the forest.

When it comes to maximizing your home's efficiency in the winter, most tipsters will tell you to buy a wood pellet stove, or beef up your insulation. Not me, I say sacrifice any sense of personal style or fashion and put on a jumpsuit made out of sleeping bags. The Selk Bag pretty much eliminates the need for a heater (think of all the energy we could save) and possibly a comforter.

A few months ago, everyone was piling on the Snuggie bandwagon for being possibly the most annoyingly marketed -- yet strangely alluring -- way to keep warm without cranking up the thermostat. Well Snuggie, consider yourself out-snuggled, because there's nothing quite as comfortable as a good sleeping bag. As of yet, there's no annoying infomercial touting the home heating benefits of the Lippi Selk Bag, but I'm kinda hoping that there will be. It's even got reinforced booties. Spring is supposedly right around the corner, but there's still time to enjoy the energy saving benefits of the Selk Bag.

[via SwissMiss]