News aggregator
Prototype Generator Harnesses Vibration Power
Omron Corp. recently debuted a small prototype generator that harnesses power from vibrations to create electricity. The model will be cheap—approximately $10.36— due to its simple structure and packaging.
Can a Modern Green Home Be Built for $100K?
Follow Philly’s Postgreen as they attempt to build a modern green home for $100,000.
Just over a year ago, Philadelphia developer Postgreen undertook an ambitious project, to build a modern green home for $100,000. Not only are they seeking to shatter the myth that green homes are unaffordable, but they are documenting every step on their site, 100KHouse.com. Located in the New Kensington area of Philadelphia, the house will be a roughly 1,000 square foot two bedroom one and a half bath modern style home - and will not be a prefab; rather it is being built from the ground up according to LEED for Homes guidelines using such affordable energy saving materials as SIPs (structurally insulated panels.)
Documenting the progress of the 100K House are Postgreen President Chad Ludeman and PR Director Nic Darling. Both are convinced that affordable green building is not only possible, but necessary to bring about true environmental change. Their blog posts are not limited to the progress of the 100K House; they write about a range of interesting green topics.
Washington Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Wind Power in Landmark Case
Wind energy advocates won a big victory Thursday in Washington when the state’s Supreme Court ruled that local county commissioners can’t block wind farms.
The case, Residents Opposed to Kittitas Turbines v. State of Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, represents a big win for renewable energy advocates in the ongoing struggle to site wind energy installations; a struggle that has become a pervasive part of local renewable energy politics.
UbiGreen Cell Phone App Keeps Track of Your Carbon Footprint
Keeping track of your carbon footprint can be hard; you may walk or take the bus everywhere, but how much CO2 is that cross-country plane trip letting loose? UbiGreen, a new cell phone application developed by Intel and the University of Washington, senses whether you’re in a plane, train, or car to let you know exactly what your carbon footprint is.
Eco-Pregnancy Makes for Healthy Babies
Many women discover the green lifestyle when they are expecting, or become moms. Wanting to do the best you can for your child includes considerations that you make before your baby is even born – after all, that’s why you’ve given up wine, right? Everyone knows that eating right and getting enough rest will help both mother and baby be healthy, but the green movement has opened our eyes to the effects that the world around us can have as well.
Back in 2005, a frightening study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found chemicals in the blood of the umbilical cords from 10 newborn babies. These chemicals were linked to cancer, birth defects, and hormone disruptions, and included lead, mercury and PCBs. Since then, moms-to-be have demanded more information about reducing the impact of the chemical soup that we all live in.
We Are What We Eat
According to most studies, it’s not clear whether organic food has higher nutritional value than its non-organic counterparts. Regardless, one thing is for sure: organic food contains fewer chemicals. Organic food is grown without artificial fertilizers, conventional pesticides, or sewage sludge, and processed without ionizing radiation and food additives. That stuff is gross, whether you’re pregnant or not. To label a food product organic, it must be certified by the National Organic Program, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A USDA Organic seal indicates that the product contains at least 95% organic ingredients, so look for this label.
Mini Electric Car Fun But Quirky During My Short Test Drive
At the LA Auto Show today, I had the privilege of testing the 2009 Mini E electric car on a short drive downtown. It’s zippy off the line and maintains the Mini’s sense of fun and performance, yet it also has a few quirks that may make driving it a bit of a hassle — at least during an initial “mental adjustment” phase.
The new-for-2009 Mini E electric car is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated cars being released next year. Initially the car will only be offered to a select group of 500 people in the Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey metro areas who will be chosen by Mini to provide the exact set of testing conditions Mini engineers want to evaluate.
Recycling for Change: Epic Change uses a pay-it-forward approach to saving the world
If you’re going to change the world, wouldn’t you like it to be epic?
Stacey Monk, Co-founder and CEO of Epic Change, does, which is why she and Sanjay Patel decided to launch their unique approach to sparking social change by converting people’s “epic” stories into financial resources they can use to improve their communities, their lives – and the world.
Rooted in the best practices of successful businesses and charities, their somewhat novel approach to funding uses donations to provide interest-free loans to finance community improvement efforts, which they repay by generating revenue-driving projects based on each epic story, and then recycle by duplicating those ideas in other communities, effectively spreading hopefulness and change to everyone their program touches.
I had the opportunity to talk with Stacey to dig a little deeper into their change model, and this impassioned former management consultant with a degree in Public Policy from the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University boasts an impressive resume, but her most compelling attribute by far is a genuine desire to promote positive change and a dewey-eyed hopefulness that makes me believe she can.
Former Mailman in Federal Court Gets Probation for Refusing to Deliver Junk Mail
Former mailman Steven Padgett received probation in federal court for failing to deliver years worth of junk mail. Although the mailman did not stop delivering junk mail based on the environmental impact of junk mail, which accounts for 30% of all US mail. He did it because he couldn’t keep up with the volume of mail he had to deliver and still maintain a personal relationship with the residents on his route. Even so, environmental groups, such as Forest Ethics, have supported Padgett. The federal court sentenced Padgett to three years probation, a $3,000 fine, and 500 hours of community service.
Via: News & Observer
Image: uzvards on Flickr under a Creative Commons License
Real Wall Street Bailout As Sea Levels Rise
A mere four centuries after the Dutch founded a little settlement in a far off land they named Nieuw Amsterdam; New York City could really use their expertize in dealing with sea levels. Even by the end of this century.
According to new sea-level rise research, by 2100, the area in lower Manhattan near the wall that kept the original settlement safe from invasion will need to be protected with Dykes. Or something.
Wall Street was named for that ancient protective wall.
PureAyre Natural Odor Eliminator Perfect for Bathrooom or Diapers
A friend of mine’s baby just crossed that threshold from sweet smelling breastfed diapers to the offensive food eating bowel movements. Diaper changes are now done in a hurry, especially when other people are around, and the baby has joined the ranks of the rest of the family that can stink up a room.
PureAyre makes several organic odor eliminating sprays that really do work for the smells babies, kids, and adults produce in the bathroom.In our family of four, we have only one bathroom. Sometimes in the mornings, we can’t wait for the air to clear before another family member needs to brush their teeth before school. We keep a bottle of PureAyre on the back of the toilet, and it really does works to eliminate odors without masking them. I don’t really understand how it works, but the strong smells just seem to disappear. I’ve tried lavender bunches, matches, scented candles, etc., but nothing compares to PureAyre’s ability to eliminate odor.
Schwarzenegger, Bay Area to Build First U.S. Electric Vehicle Network
Bay Area leaders are hoping that a combo of public and private investments can turn the region into The Electric Vehicle Capital of the U.S., by building out a $1-billion electric vehicle infrastructure. The group involves Silicon Valley’s Better Place and a group of wide-eyed politicians: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.
Electric Car Infrastructure Announced for California
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed joined Better Place CEO Shai Agassi in announcing a plan for a sustainable transportation model for California.
Shai Agassi founded Better Place in October of 2007 with $200 million in venture capital. The vision of Better Place is to reduce global dependency on oil by creating a market-based transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Within the first six months of its founding, Better Place forged cooperative agreements with business and government in Israel and Denmark, most recently announcing a deal to bring Better Place to Australia. And with today’s announcement the electric car infrastructure model is set to come to California, starting in the San Francisco Bay Area.
US Endangered Species Could Lose Vital Protection
Endangered US animal and plant species are in danger of losing vital legal protection designed to prevent them from extinction.
The outgoing Bush administration is proposing to rush through legislation that will remove the right of government experts to ensure that dams, highways and other big infrastructure projects don’t pose an unacceptable threat to fragile plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Crucially, the regulations must be approved by Friday if they are to come into effect before President-elect Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on January 20th.
The Green Festival, Obama and Hillary – What’s The Connection?
Whatever you think of Hillary Clinton, she has always been a champion of Shorebank. Actually both Hillary and President-elect Obama are big supporters of this microlender and their work in both Arkansas and Kenya. This bank, with over $2 billion in assets recently sponsored the After Green Festival Party in San Francisco as part of the Green Festival attended by several of us here at Green Options.
This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.
ShoreBank is the only bank in the world that has been Protecting the Environment, Building Community and providing a Social and Financial Return on Investment for over 35 years. The bank’s motto is “Let’s Change the World,” and they make loans that strengthen communities and preserve the environment.
VW Jetta TDI Gets Green Car of the Year Nod at LA Auto Show
Considering the fact that diesel cars have been nearly non-existent in the US for the last decade, the Green Car Journal’s choice of the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI as the Green Car of the Year comes as a bit of a surprise — especially because its competition included two hybrids, and a Smart fortwo.
FBI Increases Reward for Suspected Eco-Terrorists to $50K Each
Looking back on so-called “eco-terrorist” organizations like the now less-active Earth Liberation Front, their actions almost seem quaint as compared to the destruction wrought by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, or what I like to call, ‘the real terrorism.’
But the Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn’t think the ELF’s actions were so quaint. On Wednesday the FBI announced it is increasing the reward for information leading to the arrest of four people accused of sabotage attacks in five Western states,”including the largest eco-related arson in history, a $26 million arson at the Vail Ski Resort in Vail, Colorado.”
Turn off Your Video Game, Save a San Diego’s Worth of Energy
Which would you rather have: your Sony Playstation 3 or a year’s worth of electricity for the entire city of San Diego?
Silly question? You might not think so after reading the Natural Resources Defense Council’s new study, “Lowering the Cost of Play: Improving Energy Efficiency of Video Game Consoles.” Prepared with the help of Ecos Consulting, the report finds that energy inefficiencies and poor practices like not turning off games that aren’t in use are wasting huge amounts of energy and generating lots of greenhouse gases.
This is the first time anyone’s taken a hard and comprehensive look at the energy and carbon footprint of video games, and the findings might surprise you:
Try Community-Supported Agriculture for Fresh Produce
With Thanksgiving around the corner and (slightly) cooler weather here in LA, my thoughts are turning to comfort food. From stuffing to squash, it all sounds good right now. What better way to enjoy the best that the season has to offer than joining in the movement of community-supported agriculture?
These farms, or CSAs, provide fresh produce, and sometimes meat and dairy. For a fee, you get baskets of fresh food once a week. One well-known CSA in LA is the Tierra Miguel Foundation, which drops off batches of organic produce at designated spots around town. All you do is swing by and pick it up. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can visit the North San Diego farm in person the first Saturday of each month. The farm is also a charitable foundation that supports education in sustainable agriculture.
Eco-Libris: book review of ‘Strategies for the Green Economy’ by Joel Makower
This post was originally posted on Eco-Libris blog on November 18.
I love to read good books about green business and when it’s a book written by one of the people whom I consider to be one of my “green biz” teachers, it is a real delight!Our book today on Monday’s green books series is:
Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business by Joel Makower and Cara Pike
In the last couple of years I have read Joel Makower’s blog Two Steps Forward on regular basis and it became one of my best resources to learn and better understand the green economy. I see in Joel one of the best teachers I had (and still have) in the complex world of green economy and therefore I was very excited to hear about his new book. And I wasn’t wrong.he green market from the consumer perspective and tries to make some logic in all the information we’re constantly fed with about the green consumers - from the surveys we hear about all the time about the green preferences of consumers to the many definitions of green market (LOHAS, greenback greens, cultural creatives, etc.).‘Strategies for the Green Economy’ doesn’t have all the answers and leaves you with some questions that only time might gives you the answers on, like “how green is good enough”?, but it gives you plenty of information and tools (including the Ecological Roadmap of Cara Pike that is brought at the end of the book and includes valuable data on people’s environmental values) to figure out what green business is all about.
If Chevron Stopped Greenwashing, These Would be Their Ads
The League of Conservation Voters has launched a new campaign to counter Chevron’s newest greenwashed advertising blitz. In their new ads, Chevron asks, “Will You Join Us?” and gives examples of the things people can do on a personal level to stop global warming.
They don’t mention what they as a company have the power to do. Instead, they ask people to do things like take their golf clubs out of their trunk, replace light bulbs with CFLs, and “consider” buying a hybrid.
