In keeping with the Christmas, or Hanukkah, spirit today, we delve into the thorny issue of the tree: real or fake. Somehow a fake tree just seems sacrosanct. It drives home the creeping commercialization of the holiday. On the other hand, how is chopping down 31 million trees and selling them for $1.3 billion in keeping with the spirit of the holidays? As this wonderful website notes, an artificial tree will last for six years in your home and a lifetime in a landfill. Yet this press release says artificial is a clear winner for the wallet and the wilderness. It seems like the latter is making the hard sell here. In the long run, it's not the tree but the thought that counts. NBN opts for the live tree. This one was planted in our backyard four years ago. It kinda looks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
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Speaking of hard sells, these folks want you to shop first your local thrift store before heading out to do mall madness. Outside of a catchy name, Thriftmas, the strongest selling point they have is what the holiday is all about: giving to others. That's what thrifts are all about. It's a neat read, we particularly like the part about using lots of ribbons and bows. In presents, presentation goes a long way.
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Here's the obligatory holiday safety check list along with a list of holiday energy saving tips. Let's face it, this holiday is all about indulgence and forgiveness, so lets no spoil it here. However, here's something worth thinking about the next time you need Christmas lights. The country would save a quarter billion dollars a year if we all used LEDs instead of regular bulbs. The neat thing is. LEDs will eventually replace all incandescent bulbs as will compact florescents. Solar panels will slowly cover every roof in the world. There will someday be an efficient electric car. SUVs are a thing of the past. We will ramp up algae-oil production to where it reverses global warming. Recycling rates will only go higher. And world peace? What can we say, we're hopeless optimists at NBN.
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Speaking of spending unnecessarily for holiday lights, Mountain Mama's Kitchen Co introduces the hip & new "Hand Poured" Soy Candles. Outside of burning slower, cooler and cleaner than paraffin wax candles made from petroleum, soy candles also cost a fortune. An eight oz. candle costs about $6. We bought one of these candles a while back, and it did burn forever and smelled great. I'd buy another.
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12.21.09
This is a great piece about dropping the Cap and Trade legislation the president is proposing and using instead what amounts to an enormous tax on fossil fuels. A gross oversimplification might read like this: the more carbon exhausted in producing a product, the more we pay for it. Needless to say gasoline, coal-fired power, plastic and anything else that results in lots of discarded carbon, will be much more expensive as a result. The beauty of this argument is the fees collected from those added taxes get doled back out to taxpayers in the form of a dividend allowing people to blow it on Hummers or Smart Cars, glass bottles or plastic as they see fit. However, with the huge increase in carbon costs where do you think the money will go? Pretty neat idea, huh? Prices like these will also solve Global Warming,
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Another oddity from the greenhouse gas files is this company that tracks leaks in refrigeration systems. The release says such leaks of a greenhouse gas called freon are much more damaging to Global Warming than CO2. Accordingly, the government clamped down on freon leaks years ago, which is why recharging your car air condition went from $7 to $100. Companies that make refrigerators and trucks with refrigerators get whacked with enormous fines for leaking freon. Not if they call this company first according to this press release.
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12.18.09
The marines are undertaking an experiment in alternative energy. Green Marines? Experimental forward operating bases, ExFOBs, are testing portable water purification and alternative energy technologies that will support small groups of armed men well versed in survival technique, stationed in places where they need them. No doubt, they will be carrying a few of these portable water turbines with them. It's amazing to think that unlimited money is available for exploring ways to improve warfare at the same time Los Angeles is shelving a 970-acre solar project which will provide free, clean power for the country's most polluted city. All for fear of possible short term utility rate increases. Let's just hope the Marine's ExFOBs are not FUBAR. There might be some lessons learned in their efforts for folks to use at home.
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From our questionable investment file, we've got folks in the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, spending $48m on a green roof. At first blush, green roofs sound like a great idea: Rubber-lined rooftop gardens reducing rain-runoff and providing a cool green surface in spaces normally occupied by very hot tar. Then again, this is 69,000 square feet of roof top that will never be seeing a solar panel in a sunny state like Texas. And how much rain can they count on to water this greenroof. The picture here is of a greenroof installation in Ipswich, MA. These plants are particularly drought resistant. Most likely, the greenroof plants planned in Texas are even more so. However, the Ipswich installation has a watering hose, just in case. So too, no doubt, will the Texas roof. You can't help but wonder if this roof is more of an expensive lark by people dedicated to plants, at the expense of a more productive use of a high energy surface. We give the greenroof in the Lone Star state a greenthumb down. This article about the Ipswich roof crunches the numbers a bit farther.
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12.14.09
Straining credibility got a new definition with this release by lumber lords Weyerhaeuser. Is it possible that cutting down trees and clearing land to build homes is good for the environment? Actually, those questions are left out of the release, which extols the environmental virtues of Weyerhaeuser's building products. The release quite accurately states that Weyerhaeuser wood-based building products do lock up greenhouses gases that would otherwise end up in our atmosphere. But to use their products—meaning building houses—you have to clear plants from land and that's not good for global warming. Producing that lumber also means cutting down trees, like Weyerhauser did in this image here. That's not good for the environment. Weyerhaeuser gets a greenthumb down for its misleading press release, but the diabolical author of this press release, is definitely working for the right company.
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12.11.09
This chair company's offering a 50 percent catalog discount for anyone recycling a used aluminum chair. What a great program. One problem. How do you recycle these chairs. There's something in the release about the company “collecting the chairs,” but somehow it doesn't seem likely they are going to drive from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts to pick up an old patio set. So, that means you spend $75 shipping a dead chair to Pennsylvania to get $25 off a $50 chair. Sign me up.
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12.09.09
You just knew it had to happen. Chia Pet, that greenest of green holiday traditions has made a Chia Obama. Here's the picture. At least these folks finally got the hair right. This also from our curious investments-of-time file. This group is canvasing the country looking for restaurants, gas stations and water treatment plants willing to let folks fill up their water bottles for free. They even got the entire city of Des Moine, Iowa, to sign onto this program. Anything that cuts down on the number of plastic water bottles in this country is a great idea. However, we don't see Tavern on the Green signing up any time soon. As for another vital fluid, it would be nice if these folks could work out a deal with McDonalds. They've got a program aimed at getting restaurants to donate their used cooking oil to folks who drive grease cars.
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Nothing lame about biodegradable diapers, it's a great idea. Now these folks are teaming up with a trucking company that buys carbon credits to offset the exhaust from its trucks. Both companies deserve a round of applause, but the diaper folks really get our attention. Canada and the US use nearly 20 billion disposable diapers every year. Yet, who wants to be the one to tell Octomom she's got to start using cloth diapers. If these biodegradable diapers work, it saves 82,000 tons of plastic from landfills and 1.3 million tons of wood pulp from a quarter of a million trees.
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12.07.09
In keeping with the odd-stuff-getting-into-the-environment theme today, we've got this press release from an organic soaps company. Wastewater treatment plants can't really clean the cleaning chemicals we dump down our drains, so they end up in our rivers and oceans along with what ever dirt those cleaners have pulled from our clothes, dishes and underarms. Second-hand soap is not the most harmful chemical to wash over an oyster bed, but you don't want to drink the stuff either. So, how cool is it these folks are selling cleaning products made from a tree called the soapberry, shown here. If nothing else, it's great to see environmentally sensitive products making their way into ever more facets of our lives.
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From our bizarre-marketing-strategies file, we have Kentico software pledging to plant a tree for every bug its customers find in its software. We give them kudos for planting the trees, but why not just make the same offer with every software package they sell. Why draw attention to the faults found in their product. Actually, it's a pretty gutsy move. BTW they've planted 100 trees.
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For the environmentally-aware homeowner with a forced hot air heating system, these folks have come out with a washable heater filter. Any one with forced hot air heat can appreciate the nuisance of changing your filters every few months. Now, all you have to do is wash them every few months, which is probably even more work. However, we'll have fewer oil burner air filters clogging our landfills. That's worth a half greenthumb up. Kind of like the soapberry soap, it's nice to see yet another tiny step forward in saving the planet.
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12.04.09
As if Benny Hill, Faulty Towers and Monty Python haven't done enough to separate Brits from the rest of deliberate society, now we've got this press release extolling their rather eccentric efficiencies. Actually, it's a very clever release written in a way that draws the reader into a pithy little nothing about recycling cell phones by a company called envirophone. It's hard to separate fact from fancy here—peeing in the shower to save water? But in the end, it gets you thinking about the topic they are writing about. That's more than millions of other press releases put out the same day did. The survey also points out that, when asked to share their favourite quirky tips for reducing our environmental impact, a massive 40 per cent of 18 to 30 year-old Brits said sharing a shower was their preferred way of giving Mother Nature a helping hand. Of the 3,000 people surveyed, over 1,000 claimed that they found showering with their partner the most enjoyable way of being green. Bravo, Envirophone. Good show old chap.
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12.03.09
Here's another good green idea completely obfuscated by a communications major who should be flipping burgers instead of writing press releases. As near as we can tell, this company is a clearinghouse of sorts, for green businesses of every ilk. Whether it's carbon credits, green building, recycling services or sustainable lumber, it looks like TRC can put you in touch with the right people. Kind of like brokers for green businesses. Given the proliferation of green businesses out there, this sounds like a great idea in desperate need of some good advertising.
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Here's a great alternative to trash incineration plants. These folks are turning everything nobody else wants into something everybody needs: gas. Methane gas in this case, a product which is apparently cleaner burning than natural gas. And certainly cleaner burning than garbage. Take a moment and read the release or this link if the power of trash interests you. Apparently, waste water is also used in this process. Once again, efficiency and innovation turning trash into cash. ~~~~~~><.((((((((()'>
Speaking of throwing stuff out, this Australian company is launching a new line of biodegradable picture frames with matching organic baby rattles. Aside from a masterful expansion of zero news into a 750-word press release extolling every other company product but the one topping the release, it sounds like these folks from down under are reaching here. Then again, it's better than plastic frames and rattles. Then again, couldn't you just give the kids a rubber band.
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11.30.09
Years ago a friend actually manage to build a car that mixed gas with water in a way that reportedly doubled his truck's mileage. He was a chronic tinkerer and horrendously cheap—he'd steal TP from public bathrooms. So, it was more than innovation that drove his automotive effort. He was also a genius and he made his water/gas hybrid truck work through his own design. A variation on the same theme is shown here. The surgical tubing sprays water into the fuel line, I think! It was an odd concept that worked on the notion that not all the gas pumped into a car engine's cylinder was burned off in the explosion touched off by the spark-plug. You could however, burn more of that gas by injecting a little water in the fuel line. Somehow, the gas wraps around the tiny water droplets increasing the surface area of gas subject to combustion. We're butchering the explanation, but not the concept. Now, these folks are working on something similar and apparently taking it to a whole new level. We couldn't read the whole press release, but if this kind of thing interests you, knock yourself out. Here's another release that talks of pumping hydrogen into diesel fuel to improve mileage in much larger trucks.
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11.27.09
This just in from the, are-you-sure-about-that file. These folks think it's a good idea to expose your kids to dirt and dust at a young age. So much so, they are infusing baby blankets with: “16 kinds of microscopic plant and animal proteins.” A.K.A. Dust.They are saying a baby's immune systems is just developing and getting dirty will make those fledgling immune systems stronger. Kind of like a work out for the immune system. This is a far cry from the industry that has sprung up in recent years to disinfect our homes and everything we touch. Now swine flu has emerged to give that industry a real shot-in-the-arm, PTP.
But this idea of bolstering the immune system versus germ-killing as a defense against sickness, is interesting. Is there a possible parallel in other aspects of our lives. They say drinking the water in third world countries is dangerous, yet the natives guzzle the stuff like water. Let's try another analogy. When you get bug bites in distant wildernesses, they always seem so much worse than those gotten at home. One more thing. Poison ivy. Because the price paid for parading through poison ivy is so painful, your immune system is never given a chance to acclimate. It begs the question: Could your immune system acclimate to poison ivy? Can you build up an immunity to the stuff? You'd probably have to spend a few months itching to find out. Any volunteers?
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11.25.09
The Nature Conservancy has a holiday gift catalog of eco-friendly items you might want to give like-minded family and friends. Pretty pedestrian stuff. The reason we mention it here is because we think TNC is an extrodinary outfit and they derserve your attention. They are preserving land all over the world while helping to fund all manner of strange science in just as many places. However, since we took the time to examine the finances of the NRDC in the 10.23.09 ENews, we felt it only fair to examine TNC similarly. Turns out the headcheese at TNC in 2008 wasn't doing too badly either, making about $350k annually for a 35hr workweek. TNC takes in $1billion a year, NRDC takes in $107m and its top wage earner is taking home $450,000. It's worth taking a look at TNC's IRS form 990. Take a look at Page 3. These folks are doing great work. NRDC does a lot of great work as well, it just seems that organization is more about lawyers and less about science. Then again, they are the Natural Resources Defense COUNCIL.
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Speaking of the NRDC, here's a questionable contribution from same to the environmental movement. It's a recycling list bordering on the obsessive compulsive. The funny thing about this is, when you're actually doing these things, it's not that inconvenient. Pulling celophane windows out of envelopes takes just a second. Seperating cans, plastics and paper out of your trash is equally simple if you have the recycling containers to place these items into. However, it's a fractional gain when someone already recycling goes Ed Begley on their waste stream, as is the case with the author of the article linked above. It seems anyone who would even consider this list, is a poor target for it and the sort of people who put out bags of trash every day will only laugh it off. We give it a half greenthumb up.
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11.25.09
The Nature Conservancy has a holiday gift catalog of eco-friendly items you might want to give like-minded family and friends. Pretty pedestrian stuff. The reason we mention it here is because we think TNC is an extrodinary outfit and they derserve your attention. They are preserving land all over the world while helping to fund all manner of strange science in just as many places. However, since we took the time to examine the finances of the NRDC in the 10.23.09 ENews, we felt it only fair to examine TNC similarly. Turns out the headcheese at TNC in 2008 wasn't doing too badly either, making about $350k annually for a 35hr workweek. TNC takes in $1billion a year, NRDC takes in $107m and its top wage earner is taking home $450,000. It's worth taking a look at TNC's IRS form 990. Take a look at Page 3. These folks are doing great work. NRDC does a lot of great work as well, it just seems that organization is more about lawyers and less about science. Then again, they are the Natural Resources Defense COUNCIL.
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Speaking of the NRDC, here's a questionable contribution from same to the environmental movement. It's a recycling list bordering on the obsessive compulsive. The funny thing about this is, when you're actually doing these things, it's not that inconvenient. Pulling celophane windows out of envelopes takes just a second. Seperating cans, plastics and paper out of your trash is equally simple if you have the recycling containers to place these items into. However, it's a fractional gain when someone already recycling goes Ed Begley on their waste stream as is the case with the author of the article linked above. It seems anyone who would even consider this list, is a poor target for it and the sort of people who put out bags of trash every day will only laugh it off. We give it a half greenthumb up.
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11.23.09
It's so easy, or tempting, to write-off the myriad social projects that have been lumped in with the Stimulus package as so much more welfare. And here is a really good example of why: Stimulus money going to provide new landscaping at the Los Olivos affordable housing project 100 miles north of LA. That bears repeating. Tax money for new landscaping at a public housing complex. Before we start harrumphing about the welfare generation, lets take a closer look at the work being done. They are replacing irrigation and lawns with natural plantings, saving 50 percent of the landscape water bill in the process. You might argue there should be no landscape watering or irrigation system at a public housing project at all. However, the project is saving water in a drought stricken area, it's putting landscapers to work and making the place look a little nicer in the process. We give it half a green-thumb up.
This release talks about using stimulus money to truck radioactive waste from a government nuclear research facility in Illinois to waste disposal sites in New Mexico. Shown here is the Waste Isolation Plant 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. One thing that's as questionable as using Stimulus dollars to ship this stuff, is shipping it in on public highways. Hope they aren't taking any back roads.
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11.19.09
In keeping with the evolutionary theme of today's NBN, we have this release about weeds evolving resistance to the most popular herbicide around, Roundup. Also know as glyphosphate, Roundup has protected a billion acres of farmland over the years. Given there are 6 billion acres of total land in Central and North America, that a lot of plant poison. These folks say there are all kinds of problems with glyphosphate. Can it be that bad if it's been on the market for so long? Sadly, the only solution the Weed Science Society of America has to this survival-of-the-fittest saga is asking farmers to use different kinds of plant poison throughout the year, instead of just using Roundup all the time. Seems like evolution beat us to the punch on that one.
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Filtered drinking water to clean your dishes and dimples? That's what this release is proposing with a home water filtration system. Rather than just place a filter on your tap, these folks propose a filter on your water main. It filters water to drinkable standards then sends it to your dishwater, shower and garden hose. We read the release completely and couldn't find enough reason to justify filtering all the water in the house. Maybe if you live next to Love Canal, it's a good idea. But, certainly not in most public water systems. We give the whole-home water filter a greenthumb down. However, we do give the company, HtruO brownie points for name selection.
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Tree-huggers extraordinaire, Audubon have placed their famous bird field guide on the iPhone for easy access in identifying birds. Given the original, bound volumes of the field guides are not that much larger than an iPhone, we wonder at the wisdom of this. We give the Audubon IPhone field guide a half greenthumb-down.
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Anyone interested in a review for solar panels may find this release interesting. We didn't.
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11.18.09
Here's another cryptically crafted press release that is actually newsworthy, if you can distill the information from the jargon. Apparently, a hybrid-core computer is similar to a hybrid car in that it uses dramatically less energy. These folks have inked deals with some big computing companies that are going to be using their hybrid-core computers for some pretty sophisticated number crunching. Unbeknownst to most, desk-top computers use a fair amount of electricity. When you start getting into the mega-computers that internet service providers like Google and Microsoft use, you're burning up some BTUs. If this link is true, then the work these hybrid-core computer folks are doing really could be very important. Too bad they that didn't know how to explain it better.
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A couple of Cornell academics in this release are suggesting the White House target farmers in its Cap-and-Trade legislation. This makes sense to NBN. There are all kinds of things farmers can do to reduce their energy needs and dependence on fossil fuels. Maybe those efforts can be turned into cash for farmers through carbon credits. As the release points out, verifying that these farmers are actually taking these energy-saving steps may be a trick. Alas, the rose has thorns only for those who would gather it.
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This release warrants more graphics than text. A marketing group study found people who visit national parks are an easy mark for green businesses. This get into a thorny issue regarding allowing commerce in the nation's parks. An issue that might be behind the battle over an oyster farm in a national seashore we discussed in the 11.13.09 ONews. We raise it here again because we have this cool graphic and we want to once again ask: what's wrong with commercializing our parks in this fashion? With the present administration, the need to bolster commerce in any way possible has never been more important. Untapped sponsorship opportunities abound in this nation's natural resources. We're not talking about opening the old-growth forests for logging. But, would a few more Coke machines, or another McDonalds or two hurt? We don't have to ruin these parks, just find ways to take better advantage of trends like the one in this graph.
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Who hasn't thought of disconnecting the cloths drier vent and using the hot, moist air to heat your cold, dry house in winter. Anybody? Cloths driers are the second highest household energy user after the refrigerator. These folks have a variation on the energy savings of the vent-disconnection idea: a clothes drier that recycles the hot air. Might be worth a try. However, once again, no mention of price. Given the average household drier uses about $85 annually, these green drier folks had better be coming in at an attractive price point or you can hang them out to dry.
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11.13.09
Conscious-clear-Christmas here we come. This company has come out with biodegradable bubble wrap. Does that mean no more Styrofoam peanuts either? Is it possible all that packing material can now be thrown into a compost heap? There is no mention in the release as too how much this wrap costs, other than to say it's competitive with the regular stuff. That just leaves one question: is biodegradable bubble wrap as much fun to pop?
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11.09.09
This is a boilerplate press release regarding how many helix-type wind turbines this particular company is selling. What's neat is the size of the turbines, pictured here atop lamp posts. This photo here looks like their smallest unit, which it seems would fit nicely on top of any home without frightening your neighbors. Maximum output for the units shown here is 350 watts, at peak performance. That's not too shabby. Presumably, that's enough power to run a dozen or so, 100-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs and then some. Or about half the power needed for your frig. Isn't that about 25-30 percent of the average household's needs at any given time? In more conservation-wise families, it is probably more. At least it should be. Why wouldn't you slap one of these puppies atop every house in the country, like TV antennas used to be before cable?
Because, you also need all this stuff in your basement to turn that natural energy into unnatural electricity. We're not sure how much all that basement hardware costs, but this piece says turbines are getting real expensive, so you might want to go shopping. Here are some figures we dug up. It took a while to find them, and they are all in English pounds, but the relative costs are what's helpful and it appears that wind power is much more expensive than fossil fuels. But, once renewable energy sources, like wind turbines and solar panels, are are installed, costs go way down and eventually disappear. Fossil fuels are the gift that keeps on taking.
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11.04.09
This, from the who'da-thunk-it file. Spenco, the maker of great shoe inserts is making their product now from 50 percent recycled material. Good to see that Spenco doesn't want to be a heel and is toeing the line by getting a foothold in the recycling business. They've got a lot of sole.
Speaking of shining the light on green business, these folks think they've an answer to light pollution. What's most amazing about this release is the number of ways it says that light pollutes. When you start linking artificial light to breast cancer, you've got to wonder if they might be taking this a bit too far. Watt's that say about folks who stare at a computer for a living? Heart wrenching, is the story about the baby sea turtles heading towards downtown Miami because evolution taught them to head for lights closest to the horizon. In the past that's always meant stars reflecting off the surf. Now it means South Beach where a different kind of star is known to shine. Who the heck is Jared? More important about this release is this: yet another area of man's impinging on the environmental is being addressed through commerce. How can we not be hopeful for the future.
10.30.09
Do you suspect that your oil refinery is running a little slow? Can't keep up with Exxon and Mobile? Then you might want to give these folks a call. They've apparently got an oil refinery auditing business which seems to be doing quite well, now that US oil use is losing steam. That's the good news here folks, Americans are burning less oil. The bad news is, burning less oil is synonymous with lower economic output. At least to the powers that be on Wall Street. That's about as stark a fact about what's wrong with this US economy as any. The more gas we burn the better off we're doing. Burning lots of oil, means people are out working, having fun, traveling. Here's a bewildering array of charts and jargon that supports this. It really points up that America's fortunes coincide nicely with the exploitation of oil as an energy source. Is it so unreasonable to think that we could ride a similar economic wave exploiting energy efficiency? Instead of generating more money through energy production and consumption, couldn't we also generate money and industry by spending less on energy production and consumption? Isn't making more money the same as spending less?
Stake-able recycling bins, there's a stand-up idea. This gets a greenthumb up for its simplicity. Like a stack-able washer and dryer, stack-able recycling bins just makes it easier to increase the value of trash, or at very least decreasing the expense. They stand out more, so people will be more inclined to use them. They take up less floor space, brighten up your living room and send a message of hope. All at the same time. More importantly, it makes it easier to separate your recyclables. Many communities assume the cost of separating plastic, paper, glass and metal. But, the products are co-mingled in the home. That's where separation should take place. Consider it a part of doing the dishes.Separated recyclables are more valuable than when it's all thrown together. It's the resale market for to buy recyclables that's often the biggest problem with making these recycling programs pay for themselves. If you clean, separate and stack as much as possible, you drive up the value of the product. So pull those cellophane window from your bill envelopes. Separate your No. 7 plastics from, your No. 3s. You're making money doing it, sort of.
10.21.09
Kudos to the London Aquarium for this little prank on the public. Dismayed by a survey that found school children thought fish fingers were real fish, the aquarium thought it might be interesting to put a few fish-finger fish into an Aquarium aquarium. The message being: We've got a lot to learn about our marine environs if so many people think that fish sticks are a kind of fish. NBN would take that a step further and say we've all got to learn a lot more about all the sciences surrounding us. But that's just us. With the world population approaching 6.7 billion we can little afford to be this ignorant about the planet we all depend on to keep all of us alive.
Along the same lines, aquariums on the other side of the pond are also using marine life to teach global lessons. NOAA is shelling out $9 million for youth education projects at nine of the nation's top aquariums. Five of the 11 projects being funded are focused on climate change. If the kids aren't already getting the message at school or at home at least they get it at the museums.
10.19.09
Once again, a poorly written press release is completely obscuring what sounds like a great idea that will never make it into a newspaper. These folks are teaming up with the Heinze family to mass produce a waste-to-energy plant that runs on sewage. We've vilified the WTE industry in these pages in the past, because they burn trash with all kinds of unknowns in it. Here, they are burning waste material from a much more innocuous (for the most part) and clearly defined source. They are not burning lead paint surreptitiously thrown into a landfill by your friendly neighborhood furniture stripper. They are burning crap, for the most part. And they are recycling water along the way, according to the release. The poorly written part is the reference to burning the sewage to dry toxic chemicals. This went completely over our heads, but it could mean that the sludge is burned to neutralize certain forms of toxic waste. Oil-soaked soil is treated in some instances by burning. Perhaps, sewage is particularly well suited for this. It certainly can't smell too good. If you have a moment, read the press release. If nothing else it's amazing to see the directions waste management technology is going these days. Above is a picture of a sewage incinerator on a slightly smaller scale. They say these things don't stink, but can you really imagine having a party and asking your guests to use this this thing. Guess you won't need matches in the bathroom anymore.
After hours of careful scrutiny over days that stretched into weeks, we've finally found an environmental cause we can really get behind: organic lingerie. We'll just forgo the hand wringing analysis, puns, plays-on-words and fabricated figures to simply say this is about the best news to have hit our desks since the advent of the home water filter. It sends a valuable message to a prized target market and it frames that message in the highest impact manner possible. Unlike the jewelry campaign with the recycling theme, this is all good. Seriously, it may seem like frivolity tacked onto an important message. But, lingerie tends to tag along with luxury and excess, and this suggests it doesn't have to. We love it. Go ahead, click on the link, it's pretty much g-rated.
10.16.09
From our why-didn't-I-think-of-that file we have the floating house. No, not house boat. It must ride on pilings, sort of like a floating dock. We're not sure, because we didn't read the whole article and this is not a picture of the floating house. Brad Pitt shelled out for this thing in a gesture of solidarity with the New Orleans victims of Hurricane Katrina. The only question now is: how high can a floating house float before it becomes a house boat a-float? Or worse, a submarine. At first NBN gave the floating house a greenthumb down. However, if we keep tearing through the earth's oil at the rate we're doing, these things may come in pretty handy as rising tides start to engulf Manhattan. Any way to float the Chrysler Building? Bet this house in the picture above hopes it's low tide.
10.14.09
Here's a product that deserves a plug PTP: earth safe batteries. Americans buy 3 billion dry cell batteries a year to run their radios and such and the number is going up. (Cars use wet-cell batteries with acid. We use 99 million of those, but their pretty carefully recycled when they are dead.) On average, each person in the United States discards eight dry-cell batteries per year. Where do these batteries end up when they are dead? Couldn't find that answer anywhere. Still, it's nice to know that, if the dry cell batteries are being thrown out, it's not creating as big a problem in a landfill somewhere. All this is even less of a problem if you're using rechargeable batteries. They may not have the life of a brand new pair of Duracell, but they also don't poison the ground water and cost a lot less to recharge. Starts to make you think that perhaps, batteries should have a deposit.
If you live north of Florida you're probably buying yard leaf bags. Much like the biodegradable fast food containers, biodegradable lawn bags have slowly displace the plastic variety. The plastic bag makers probably aren't to glad about that, PTP. And, the paper leaf bags don't work quite as well as the plastic. The paper leaf bags look like they hold about six leaves each, but they hold up reasonable well when you stuff them. They do tear, which is a pain in the neck. You'd think they'd fall apart in the rain, but they don't.
Most important, they rot with the leaves and that has to be our priority, and increasingly it looks like it is. We've spoken here about the problem of plastic dissolving into our environment and then working its way up the food chain. Here's a good article on it. Paper leaf bags is another example of the small prices we'll continue to have to pay to do the right thing.
Imagine this: You're camping on the banks of Maine's Allagash River and the batteries on your TV die. No problem, you say, and pull out your portable water turbine and sit back to enjoy the rest of the Beverly Hillbillies. If this sounds more like Fantasy Island, it's not. This company has produced a water turbine that you can put on your back and carry into the woods. Of course they extol the myriad military applications for this technology: what good is advancing civilization if you can't apply it toward destroying civilization.
More to the point, boutique power sources, such as the portable river turbine are gradually going to displace fossil fuel generators much like cardboard is replacing plastic food wraps and paper is now used to bag leaves. And there are doubtless going to be lifestyle changes needed to make the transition. Just the fact that there is a market for this technology suggests that transition is already being made. You know that folding solar array backpacks are not far behind.
10.5.09
This just in from our every-little-bit helps file. Sylvania has a new car headlight that can save a driver $2 to $19 over the life of the bulb. (Apparently, how fast you drive determines how much you save.) Multiply that savings times two bulbs and you save $4-$38 over the average five-year life of an average headlight bulb. (We just made up the five-year figure, but it sounds about right. Look here if you want a better answer.) Not impressed with the savings? Let's look a little deeper into this release. The Ecobright headlamps are 25 percent brighter than the competition. Not bad. They will save between 13 and 107 pounds of CO2 from entering the air. From a car lightbulb? We're getting there. (We're not sure if this is cars worldwide or American.) Here's the clincher: “If only one percent of registered cars switched to EcoBright, 21 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions would be avoided annually.” Lets take that a step farther. If every car in the US used these things, that would be 1.088 billion pounds of CO2 not going into the air every year, assuming these folks aren't just making up these figures.That kind of savings? From a lightbulb? The bulb must cost a fortune, right? They do. At $29.99 they are about three times the cost of many other basic bulbs. Who in their right mind is going to buy these things? Nobody, and that's the point.
Would it be so bad if the USgovernment mandated these things in every car in the country. We already have recycling mandates, EnergyStar appliances, EPA fuel efficiency standards, carbon taxcredits and opening highway HOV lanes to fuel efficient cars. All these mandates start to add into real pollution prevention. Every time we turn around, NBN finds itself advocating for another government program. Believe it or not, we really aren't that fond of increased government regulation. But when it comes to the environment that weall share and must share with those coming after us, it's a different story. Industry has been getting a free ride for far too long. Nestle has got to start paying for all the plastic bottles that they make that consumers eventually throw out. You can try and pin the blame on the consumer, say it's the bottle-buyer not the bottle-maker, that's to blame for the trillions of these things clogging our landfills, beaches, highways, streets and car floors. But there is no realistic recycling market for our plastic bottles.That would change in a hurry if they carried a 25 cent deposit. Therewouldn't be a plastic bottle in sight. Would it be so awful if youhad to pay 75 cents for a 16-oz. bottle of Poland Spring. Or $2 for aliter of Coke? If you shop around, you can find cases of bottle wateron sale for 25 cents a bottle, even less. Again, to fully appreciatethe impacts here you have to think cumulatively, like the headlights.FYI US cars emit628 trillion pounds of CO2 into the air annually. Here's a coolarticlethat goes into a little more detail.
10.5.09
These folksare announcing their environmentally friendly line of lawnmowers. What do you want to bet they just tookall their electric and helix blade push mowers they've been sellingfor the past 40 years and decided they were now the Eco-Friendlyline of lawn mowers. Never mind that the concept of fine trimmedlawns, presumably fueled with fertilizer, are pretty much theopposite of environmentalism. Warning!Tangential Digression Approaching. Which do you think is betterfor global warming: a forest or a finely trimmed lawn? Actually, theanswer isn't as straight forward as it might seem. You'd have tomeasure it in biomass.Is there more vegetation in a tree full of leaves than there is alawn full of grass. Let's see if we can't find and answer. Nah...noluck. It's probably safe to say thetree has it, because it take up so much more volume than a lawncovering the same surface area. Anyway, we give the environmentallyfriendly line of lawn mowers a half greenthumb down. It was a whole greenthumb down then we discovered thisarticle.
9.30.09
From our gotta-have-it file we have the portable, self contained car wash. Apparently, these are real handy for used car dealerships. Once you've sold that Hummer with 160,000 miles on it to the Judo instructor for $20k you can relocate and take your car wash with you.
9.28.09
For the environmentalist intent on conserving their own energy as well as oil energy, ROBRADY is unveiling its electric bikes. Looks like more fun than a Segway, for getting around town, but we couldn't find anything relating to how fast or expensive these things are, let alone how far they travel on a single charge. Here's an idea. Cities start installing the solar flowers Toyota put up across the country this summer, so people can plug their ROBRADY electric bikes in while they go into the store. The bike video in the release looks really neat. Probably don't do too well in San Francisco.
9.21.09
We've talked about this before in INews. Getting our data and communications centers off the power grid. This company seems to focus on measuring how much energy a company's data-center uses, sort of an energy audit for your company's IT. What we need to do is get Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, NetZero the US Government, to get a hold of these guys and find out exactly what their energy needs are and then get them to build the solar panels and wind turbines needed and get them off the grid. It's easy to become a little star struck over alternative energy technology, especially considering the very real limitations yet to be overcome. But some how the idea of plugging your cell phone into your solar charger and knowing the cell phone antenna you are depending on is tapping into the same power source is comforting. These folks are apparently doing it right now. This is supposed to be a picture of a solar powered cell phone tower.
Harping on the subject of taking our communications system off the grid, as we do here at NBN, may seem a little confusing. We confess to being a little uncertain where this technology could take us. But the idea of eliminating centralized power and the horrendous amount of pollution that comes with it is pretty attractive. Not to mention the inherent problems with so many folks depending on the same power source. Is it that unrealistic to think it's possible to get such vital elements of our society off the grid. Centralized power is a great luxury to have. But it's coming at too great a cost for a planet that's literally awash in alternative energy solutions. This is a great release to put into the perspective the economics here. A company that makes wheels for things like beds and couches is boasting about how saving energy helped save jobs and made the company mreo efficient at the same time. Take a moment and read this and see if you don't get a little hopeful.
9.18.09
Finally, someone is taking the idea of biodegradable food service items seriously. Here is their product line. Still real expensive, compared to petroleum-based plastic knives and plates. You'll get 1,000 plastic forks for $16.95. The same number of biodegradable forks will run you $82.95 cents. But, that's just eight cents a fork. A small price to pay for the comfort of throwing them into your garbage with a clear conscious. Gradually, the cost of garbage is going to make the price of biodegradable forks seem cheap. Here's a chandelier made from used plastic picnic wear that you can't throw into the trash. Or shouldn't. Perhaps, we can mass market these if the biodegradable picnic-wear doesn't catch on.
As if the things on TV weren't bad enough for you, the things in TVs are even worse. All kinds of toxic metals are used to make boob-tubes and when those tubes die, the metals end up in places like China where they are melted into toxic soups for extraction purposes. 60-Minutes just ran a piece—another repeat which they sold as an update—on a landfill in China that does this melting down. The Chinese community that allows this practice to happen definitely bears a lot of blame here. However, US electronics recyclers were found sending the stuff over to China.
Now, according to this release, there is a system to rate how environmentally safe a TV is. That includes how environmentally safe the stuff inside the TVs is, and how responsibly the TVs are thrown out when they've left this world. In other words, do manufacturers provide some sort of recycling programs for their TVs? Samsung and Sony do. They top the list of green tube makers, so perhaps some appreciation is in order. Now, if Sony and Samsung can just get us to watch a little less of the programming that's polluting our minds. Back to 60-minutes. Shame on them for running a year-old clip as new reporting. Here's a link to the 60 Minutes piece. If only CBS could do this kind of reporting every week. Instead of once a year. Here's a good colage from the 60-Minutes piece.
9.07.09
Where do they come up with these things? Here's a battery that uses steam and methanol for an energy source. This is a little like the problem of the plastic shorts. These batteries are much less damaging to the environment than the heavy metals most other batteries are made of. But they emit CO2 which is what global warming is made of. This may be a silly comparison. Getting rid of all the heavy metal batteries at the cost of what is doubtless an insignificant addition of greenhouses gasses is a great trade. What would be even better, would be requiring all batteries be rechargeable. No more disposable batteries. The bunny may not be too happy to hear about that, but Energizer does make a rechargeable battery. As does Duracell, and they got a rabbit to promote it. What better beast to promote regeneration than a rabbit.
9.02.09
This just in from the, are-you-sure-about-that file. These folks think it's a good idea to expose your kids to dirt and dust at a young age. So much so, they are infusing baby blankets with: “16 kinds of microscopic plant and animal proteins.” A.K.A. Dust.They are saying a baby's immune systems is just developing and getting dirty will make those fledgling immune systems stronger. Kind of like a work out for the immune system. This is a far cry from the industry that has sprung up in recent years to disinfect our homes and everything we touch. Now swine flu has emerged to give that industry a real shot-in-the-arm, PTP.
But this idea of bolstering the immune system versus germ-killing as a defense against sickness, is interesting. Is there a possible parallel in other aspects of our lives. They say drinking the water in third world countries is dangerous, yet the natives guzzle the stuff like water. Let's try another analogy. When you get bug bites in distant wildernesses, they always seem so much worse than those gotten at home. One more thing. Poison ivy. Because the price paid for parading through poison ivy is so painful, your immune system is never given a chance to acclimate. It begs the question: Would your immune system acclimate to poison ivy. Can you build up an immunity to the stuff? You'd probably have to spend a few months itching to find out. Any volunteers?
Who would have thought fiber-glass made a good oil sponge? Looks like that's what these folks are doing with the stuff. Some kind of glass fiber is proving to be perfect at extracting oil from water. Could have used these fellows when the Exxon Valdez went aground. No doubt they will be busy when the next one does. Might also be interesting applications for Brownfields remediation work. That's where leaking gas station tanks contaminate ground water. Talk about an expensive clean-up. If you ever see big excavations at gas stations, that's the problem. Each year hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on Brownfields.
8.31.09
This just in from the three-steps-forward-two-steps back file. Completely recycled toilet paper. Not just the paper, but the box it comes in. You have to wonder about these companies that sell recycled paper products in plastic wrap. The paper may disappear but the wrapper lives on forever. Speaking of which, what's the latest news on recyclable plastic bags? There is none. Here's the latest news on the issue in general. San Jose, CA city council considering plastic bag ban, Seattle rejects grocery bag return deposit bill, and here's a Times piece on Delaware mandating supermarkets bag recycling stations. Sounds like we're heading in the right direction folks. Someone will invent a completely recyclable replacement for plastic and will make more money than Gates doing it.
This is non-news but what's being proposed is worth thinking about. IBM is teaming up with a company called Trillient to examine new ways to deliver electricity to consumers. Hopefully that means converting the current, centralized power-plant-based energy supply system to a decentralized power supply based on small wind and solar installations. Imagine your primary source of power coming from your roof and not the pole outside your house which is connected to a coal-fired power plant 50 miles away. Right now the Trillient work seems to focus on improving power delivery data, like meter reading. But eventually, that will become an integral part of decentralizing our power grid. Knowing a company like IBM is on the job is nice to hear. Let's get rid of this tangled mess, forever.
Here's another alternative power company collaboration along the same lines, that's just been announced.
8.28.09
Someone should be going to jail for this. Solar bras? It's like the jewelry marketing campaign with the recycling theme written about in the June 3, 2009 INews. “Ladies, take your battle for the environment a little closer to your heart with a solar-powered bra that can generate enough electric energy to charge a mobile phone or an iPod.” How can this be seen as anything less than a shameless exploitation of a vital public message, all to the detriment of the environmental movement as a whole? Who knows, but let see if we can't look on the sunny side of the solar bra. If you're sitting in your back yard talking on the phone and the battery goes dead, you can open your shirt and chat away. And there is always the argument that any new niche the environmental movement can occupy is another step in the right direction. Hmmmmmmm. Besides, any opportunity to show beautiful women in a website devoted to esoteric environmental issues shoud not be passed on.
No...No! This is insane. Solar panels on an undergarment? Next it will be wind turbines on boxer shorts. Not only should we not buy the solar bra, we should boycott the company making them. These geniuses also have underwear that seconds as a shopping bag so you don't have to use the plastic variety. What, are you going to strip in the store? You get home and pull your Breyers out of your briefs? How funky is that? This can only hurt the environmental movement. Once Rush Limbaugh gets a hold of this thing, the environmental movement will be set back a century. We'll be driving our Hummers down the driveway to pick up the mail. NBN gives the solar bra a resounding Green-thumb down. The picture above was NOT included to bump our male readership, which seems stalled at four. It's for illustration purposes only. However, we might have spent a little more time than necessasry researching the website. Sorry, we couldn't find any cartoons with with turbines and boxers. But this drives the point home.
On a different subject, this press release illustrates what can be accomplished when energy efficiency and resource conservation are the top priorities in building designs. It's worth a read if you want to get an appreciation of all the weapons in the conservation arsenal. Correspondingly, it suggests that this kind of effort will mean greatly reduced human impacts on our surrounding environs. There's not a person in the country, who doesn't want that, with the possible exception of disciples of James—“We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand”—Watt. Yes, he really said that. This guy was the Secretary of the Interior under Reagan.
8.24.09
Not to beat the solar drum again, but this is why the power source has to play a prominent role in our energy future. An African company is selling solar cell phones. (Say that 10 times fast.) Now, if they could justs starting building solar cell towers to carry the calls. This is probably an over simplification, but it's fun to think about: as suggested in the July, 22, Emailbox, could the solar cell phone be another baby step toward taking the massive communications network building up around cell phones and the internet, off the grid. Our dependence on the internet is fast becoming one of our biggest vulnerabilities. NBN would be in dire straits without it. The Emailbox piece linked above featured the solar “flowers” Toyota planted around Boston to provide free WiFi and a laptop recharging station. If those flowers, and solar cell towers and solar cell phones could become permanent fixtures planted all over the country, it brings up some pretty interesting scenarios. Maybe put the internet service providers on solar power. In other words anything that has to do with the communications network gets first priority for taking it off the grid. Let the coal fired power plants run our air conditions, not our computers. It's fun to think about, anyway.
8.21.09
Here's a solar power story that's as much good news as it is bad. Massachusetts, just upped the ante in the solar installation business, by allowing large commercial solar installations to dramatically increase how much surplus solar energy they can sell to local power plants. By a factor of 30. For reasons that are hopefully clear to some in the Bay State's capitol, Massachusetts only allowed solar panel installations to sell 60 kilowatts of surplus power back to local power companies. New Jersey, on the other hand, allows such installations to sell 2 megawatts. That's the difference between electricity that can power about 60 average window air conditioners for an hour, versus the amount of power that can run 1,600 to 2,000 households for a year.
Even if we did screw up the math, it doesn't take away from the question: Why on earth would Massachusetts put a 60 kilowatt limit on the solar sell-back option? In defense of the government, all governments, there is often a very good reason for these seemingly inexplicable laws media personalities earn their salaries making jokes about. But, entirely too often there isn't. It would be nice to know the answer to this one. Jersey's sell-back policy enabled it to become the second highest solar installation state in the country. Maybe now, the Bay State can join the Garden state among the ranks of the sunshine states.
8.20.09
How can anybody find fault with Centennial Contractors Enterprises, of Hampton Roads, Va, taking time to clean litter from the banks of the Chesapeake Bay? I don't know, but let's give it a shot. We'd have to know how much development Centennial is responsible for and weigh that against the environmental advantage of the beaches they are cleaning up. Litter may look awful, but how much additional pollution is it adding to the biology of the surrounding waters? On the other hand, NBN is always harping about road-runoff from over-development and the growing problem it posses for the biology of these same marine environments.
Is Centennial's litter removal program just a way of counter-balancing the environmental damage the company cause elsewhere? What's wrong with that? At least they are doing something, and it sends a great message to the workers and surrounding community. If the houses need to be built, someone will build them. At least this company is making an effort. Construction in general is taking a great turn toward the green. So many construction companies make efforts these days to mitigate environmental impacts. Low Impact Development, Energy Star housing, buffer zones and native landscaping are all becoming standard parts of development blue-prints. A quick look at this company's website suggests they are following suit. Lets just hoe they keep the McMansions and golf course to a minimum. We gfive Centennial a Grenn-thumb up.
Along the same lines, here's a plastic bottle maker teaming up with a recycling agency to make booze bottles with 15 percent recycled-plastic. That's all well and good, but couldn't they do better than 15 percent? Again, it's better than nothing and it's doubtless that number will only go up. It's increasingly hard to envision how this country, and the world, will ever be able to go back to the buy and toss-out days, that fueled the economic and environmental disaster that was America for most of the past two decades.
Here's proof that you don't need to burden the taxpayer to improve the environment. This is possibly a vicious oversimplification of the great work these folks are doing, but here goes. The Community Reinvestment Fund buys up low-interest community development loans from organizations that usually have a lot more borrowers than cash. With CRF cash in hand, those community organizations can make more loans. The CRF then turns to its investors for more cash to buy up more loans. Here's a link that may explain it better.
The reason it's being belaboured here is, the CRF is starting up a new loan program aimed just at improving energy efficiency in small businesses. The release above notes such energy efficiency loan programs are usually directed at big business, while small businesses are the ones hurt proportionately much harder by energy bills. Case in point, the Warren St. Market that just opened in Newburyport. The owner had his air conditioning cranking when it was only about 80 degrees out, a few weeks back. He said it was because the refrigerators were throwing off too much heat. He only had two frigs working. Of course he'll reap that loss back in reduced heating bills in winter. Still, the folks above could probably find a good investment in the Warren St. Market. Here's a link to the organization.
8.17.09
Perhaps, it's a little strange to get carried away about window shades in a column devoted to environmental issues, but this release just gets you thinking. Bamboo window treatments, calls up images of Robinson Crusoe and making your home as nice as possible using just what nature provides. No more hydrocarbon-based blinds, we've got bamboo. That may sound a little sarcastic, but it's fun to imagine that even the little details in a home can be made more environmentally sound.
Changing your window treatments may sound like a silly way to save the planet. But multiply that by a couple hundred million windows and you're getting somewhere. Then, you add on low-toxicity paints and varnish, solar panels on the roof, a careful recycling plan, sofa's finished in organic cotton, and the silly get serious.Anyway, bamboo blinds look pretty cool and to quote the release: “As a weed, bamboo is resistant to pests and insects so doesn't require spraying with pesticides or insecticide.” Hey,it's all good.
Along the same lines there's a ranch in Texas that letting 400 acres of lawn revert back to native grasses. That's 400 acres. Take a drive south sometime along New Jersey's Rt. 1 into Princeton, if you want to put that into perspective. That road is home to a variety of mega-businesses which have some of the largest lawns north of the White House. Dozens of acres of the green stuff which appears to benefit from a lot of man-made, and Canada goose, fertilizer. Yet in Texas, they are taking the initiative to plant the stuff that grows naturally, and probably doesn't attract geese or need fertilzer. How is it that Texas keeps coming up in these press releases as the environmentally-friendly state? Go Big-Horns. Do us proud!
Here's a twist on the farmers market. Bay-state fishermen are opening up a co-op in Newburyport, MA. They are going to be selling their catch right off their boats at an experimental market that I'm sure going to check out next Monday. This co-op is kind of a hard read, because fish markets will clearly be affected, and this is one instance where it may not be a good idea to cut out the middleman. More on this later.
8.12.09
Here's a press release about raising the allowable level of ethanol in car fuel from 10 percent to 15 percent. Makes sense to NBN but, as always, there's more to the picture. A quick internet search found ethanol is energy efficient, meaning it produces more gas than gas needed to produce it. However, it's not very friendly to your engine and it does create complications with the ever-shrinking Midwest ground-water supply. Brazil imports no oil, using sugar cane instead, to meet its energy demands. Sweet!
This brand new website is devoted to energy savings books. Take a look, we didn't.
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is giving a plug for the Freecycle folks. That's nice of the NHDEP. Freecycle helps erode the consumer culture in this country that's nice for everybody. There is nothing wrong with using things until their usefulness is exhausted. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? However, it will hurt the economy. The longer it takes to throw something out, the less new stuff being made to replace it. Hmmmmmm. I've just got to have that new Hummer
From our two-steps-forward-three-steps-back file, here we have the Hawaiian Springs bottled water folks. They say they are sponsoring some sort of Hawaiian botanical garden, no doubt to appease guilt feelings over filling Hawaiian landfills with plastic Hawaiian Spring water bottles. If they really want to do something for the Hawaiian environment, maybe they could start selling their product in glass bottles or with a $.25 return deposit. I looked around and couldn't find any reference to Hawaiian Spring sold in glass bottles. Here's a shot of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Hawaii. Wonder how many Hawaiian Spring bottles are in here.
8.10.09 This is straight out of the nice-try folder. An Acton, MA, company is planning on running copper pipe through pavement to trap some of the heat stored there from summer sun. It's hoped that heat can be converted into energy, but it's hard to tell from the press release which kind of energy. Therein, lies the problem. It's easiest to store the heat in water, but how do you get it hot enough to drive a steam turbine to generate electricity. Perhaps, it can supply hot water plumbing?
Advantages to cooling the pavement are many; less heat trapped in urban areas means less city air conditioning needed. Cooler pavement also holds up better. But these fellows are looking for, and have apparently received, preliminary Stimulus funding approval for this project. If it can be made to work, great, but wouldn't spending the money on a few solar panels prove more reliable? Good luck with that.
Green back-to-school stuff! Sounds timely, if not a little too trendy. Is Madison Ave. stealing Greenpeace's thunder? Are we diluting the “green” message to where it no longer holds water, PTP. Or, is this a genuine effort to improve the planet? Read this excerpt from the release.
All of Project571's products are made from organic cotton, recycled polyester, naturally occurring rayon or a combination, printed with environmentally friendly inks, and manufactured by Fair Trade certified wholesalers whose workers are treated and compensated fairly for their work. The result is college apparel that's superior in every way - soft, stylish and safe.
That sounds like more than lip service. It's efforts like this that help bring environmental consciousness into the very fabric of our lives, PTP. We give 'em a Green Thumbs-up.
8.5.09
A Cape Cod, MA company is teaming up with a half dozen scientific orgs and agencies to produce from algae on 100 acres in Wellfleet. This is one expensive town for launcing an agricultural experiment. Couldn't they find an empty lot outside Elk Horn, Iowa? That said, the company hopes one day to produce 100 million gallons of fuel in well-off Wellfleet, and at $3 a gallon, it looks like an algae farm might be the highest and best use of the land. Certainly beats 100 McMansions. Woods Hole is getting involved so you can be sure it's a serious effort. The problem with these algae farms is quality control. Here's a on that.
This just in from the three-steps-forward-two-steps-back file. A Texas company says it's going to save its customers $1 million in energy costs by tuning up their air conditions. It makes you wonder what we did before air conditioners. Which makes you wonder why we'd want to live without them even with the high cost to operate them. Here are some fun AC facts. While NBN trends away from self indulgence at the expense of the planet, AC is great. Maybe there is a way to get solar-powered AC. All the wonderful energy heating our homes in the summer can be used to cool them. Slap a couple photovoltaic panels on the roof and away you go. Or give these folks a ring.
While on the subject of energy efficiency check out these two different links, for energy efficiency services and options
Lucchetti's Service Center, Inc., is now offering earth-friendly oil changes using EcoPower, a new motor oil product made from recycled motor oil. Nice work fellas. It just goes to show, environmentalism is for everyone, not just Greenpeace and Audubon.
July, 28, 2009
This is a great idea from U-Haul. The company famous for introducing legions of college students to the world of truck driving is perhaps lesser known for its self-storage facilities. It's hoping to change that by opening a reuse center at its Medford, MA, storage facility. Apparently, not everything stored at these places is reclaimed. So, rather than U-Haul throwing it all out, you get a chance in Medford to see if there's anything there you'd like to take home. The same idea has worked wonders at landfills across the country, giving retirees a much more rewarding alternative to Bridge. They hoover around these landfill reuse centers shooting the breeze and waiting for good stuff to come in. When 20 years of my single past got tossed out after getting married, I gained celebrity status around Southold Town's reuse center in New York. Even slipped a few broken VCRs and computer monitors into the mix. Let's hope the Medford U-Haul reuse center works and they expand the idea. Also makes you wonder if other self-storage facilities don't have some great stuff kicking around. Long live Freeganism!
It's surprising to see these folks still issuing press releases after the FDA just said keep away from electronic cigarettes. Got to wonder why the government isn't as vigilant with alcohol companies. Then again, you'd think that big tobacco could be a little more effective at swaying public opinion. Makes you wonder: why are cigarettes on the wane?
July 24, 2009,
Here's a Georgia car dealership boasting about its carbon-neutral footprint? Selling hybrids putting recycling boxes on the showroom floor, recycling tires and oil. it's included here to illustrate that you don't need to build a solar farm or lobby against mountaintop mining to help the environment. Every little bit helps when everyone is doing them.
Case in point, here's an Oscoda, MI, flooring company getting the green-light to join elite groups of environmentally minded manufacturers using recycled PVC products.Unfortunately it takes five paragraphs to figure out what they are talking about, but the news, once stated is commendable. FLOORING
Landfill friendly batteries? There's a great idea. We've got batteries kicking around all over our house. We can never seem to get in on the 15 minutes per year our landfill is open to taking dead batteries. Imagine just throwing them into the trash like the bad old days. BATTERIES
July, 23, 2009Here's something pretty cool from a manufacturing plant down in Kentucky. Apparently, they've managed to save six-figures on air conditioning costs by recycling the exhaust air collected around the plant's welding stations. Then again, who would rather breath welding air just to stay cool.
Pet and family friendly pet stain remover? Gotta have it. Really! Environmental sensitivity has to, and will eventually, enter every facet of our lives. Can't wait to see the war over disposable diapers take hold in earnest.I've heard very environmentally minded mothers say take away anything but the disposable diapers. Can't Pampers and Co. find a way to make these things biodegradable? Cellulose fibre wouldn't do the trick? You could throw them in your compost.
Another neat idea, if not a little contrived. This company is making clothes from scraps. On one hand it sends a great message, on the other hand the message is riding a horse of hypocrisy. Is there really any savings of energy, resources or anything here. I couldn't find it. Good for a few laughs, perhaps.
July, 14, 2009
Anybody need an organic teddy bear? Right up there with there recycling-theme jewelry marketing campaign. Presumably it's better than non-organic teddy bears. No wonder they are looking for wholesale opportunities. An organic Teddy Bear, shouldn't your stoe be carrying these?
June 29, 2009
This press release helps add a little dimension to the concept of green building. It’s about an award winning example of a personal library built from certified rainforest-safe hardwoods finished with environmentally-friendlyvarnish. From one perspective this sounds more like an award winning oxymoron. A personal library is a luxury. Luxury implies excess. Excess by definition is wasteful and there is increasingly less room for waste in today’s world. Why not just build some bookshelves?
Because it's not that simple. Take the above logic to the extreme and we should all be living in tree houses or caves. (Depending on whether you want a view or climate control.) It's always tempting to take a stand, and boasting about using environmentally safe shellac in what appears to be one very expensive library is clearly sending the wrong message in the name of environmentalism. At the same time it's better than using virgin mahogany and polyurethane.
As the green movement increasingly moves mainstream, we'll doubtless see more abuses in the name of environmentalism. Environmental sensitivity is not black and white. What’s important is at least thinking about the environment in everything you do, even if what your doing doesn't make a lot of sense. So, bravo luxury library for thinking about the environment before spending its resources recklessly.
This piece gets back to the idea of chemical contaminants coming from everywhere. The article says latex paint isn’t that bad because it dissolves in water. Do you want to eat a clam that’s just filtered latex paint through its siphon? This happened in one of the most environmentally aware communities in the world. Now expand the problem to remote corners of China where not only are townsfolks not looking but the government doesn't care. Compound the problem by the fact the United States has only recently started to really crack down on illegal dumping. I’ve always wondered what really dangerous things might be buried in the Fresh Kills landfill of Staten Island. Pollution is everywhere.
June 25, 2009
Extra Extra, Read all about it! Upsite Technologies Expands its Cabinet Recirculation Research to Demonstrate Significant Impact of Blanking Panels on Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings. Huh? What this release is trying to say is this company has designed a computer cooling system that keeps out dirt. Kind of an interesting concept when you stop a moment to think about it. How do you pump cooling air past sensitive computer parts without dust piling up?
Appearances to the contrary not withstanding, this is a computer air conditioner. Plumbers and carpenters may think this has nothing to do with them. It does, if those same businesses want to have websites or use the internet. Computer air conditions start to take on a whole new significance when you start contemplating the computers that run the country or your website. These aren't computers, these are entities they start to take on different dynamic than you laptop or cell phone. If these things go down, it potentially effects millions of people. The computer age has empowered dirt. Think about it. Now, if Upsite can just find a way to recycle the heat pulled from those computers into the nation's hot water heaters, we might have a Page 1 story.
Speaking of recycling here is something a little more interesting perhaps. Delta airlines has just expanded its recycling program. We've all seen it. You are in an airplane where space is at a premium and the stewardesses walks down the isle filing a trash bag that could accommodate a first class seat. Later, we see those same stewardesses chatting with each other, the plastic bags overflowing from what ever metal compartment is the trash bin. So, spend a little of that time spent chatting separating the stuff in the black bags into nice neat piles.
Let's take that concept to the average homeowner with a half dozen trash bags filled with a week's refuse from a family of four. Couldn't someone in that family spend a little less time watching TV and a little more time separating his recyclables? This article sheds some light on this subject. The market for recyclable has collapsed. However as the piece points out a lot of money goes into source separation, an expense the home owner can pick up at no cost to himself other than missing an episode of his favor TV program from time to time.
Regardless of market, the higher the purity of resource, the higher the value. Newspapers get separated from cardboard. Cellophane windows get pulled from envelopes. Perhaps more important, companies needing plastic, cardboard and paper must be forced to buy recycled products rather than new. And yes, the consumer must pick up the tab. Some business-mined individuals are going to call it a new tax. Isn't it really just starting to assume the responsibility for our waste we should have a century or two ago. This would be a different planet if we had. It may seem awfully expensive at first, but given the rate trash is piling up around the world and the price we pay as it seeps into our lives through groundwater contamination and trash incineration plants, can we afford not to?
June 22, 2009
Yet another source saying here that global climate change is happening right now in measurable ways. You have to wonder how folks still manage to challenge the idea of global warming climate change. Check out this website. Why is the American Eagle the mascot for this movement? What was that saying about “the last refuge of the scoundrel?”
Stop the presses! This company has just introduced the very first 100 percent organic flower pots. OK, this announcement isn't quite cold fusion, but it's worth a look, maybe. All organic pots before this were made of peatmoss which needed some sort of glue to keep them together until they were planted.
If only this technology would start to take off. The idea of biodegradable plastic has been long-talked about but no one seems to be getting anywhere. It looks like that's what these folks are talking about here, but I can't be sure. As I write this I'm listening to my wife rustle through the dozen or so plastic bags she just got from the supermarket. I love the things because they second as trash bags, complete with handles to tie. I hate the prospect they can outlast uranium in a landfill. Not really, but close.BAGS3 Not to whip a dead horse, but you might want to take a look at this link, too.
June 17, 2009
Privacy proponents might want to size up these folks. Apparently, if you want to see if your kid is doing drugs all you need is a hair sample from his head. It reminds me of a similar test sent over to me by a wonderful group from Haverhill MA, that was dedicated to curbing mercury in the environment. They sent me over a package distributed by the Sierra Club that could measure mercury built up in my body by testing hair from my head. Now I'm wondering if they might have been looking for a few other goodies in that hair sample as well.
You got to love this, recycled motor oil. Americans throw away enough used motor oil every year to fill 120 supertankers. And what happens to it after it's tossed. Ask the poor folks who happened throw their used motor oil out at the Beede waste oil facility in southern New Hampshire. They are in the process of getting thoroughly screwed by the EPA. This is a much longer story for another time. Do a little research. The same fellow who allowed honest business owners to continue dumping at this site, knowing full well it was a contender for Superfund status, is now the head of EPA for New England. It's just plain cruel and it's our tax dollars hard at work.
June 15, 2009
Hybrid, remote-control lawn mowers? As Anthony Lewis at Columbia J-School used to say : “Were it were only true.” I can't quite tell what these folks are hawking in this press release. It's good for a few laughs, tho.
This from our not-for-nuthin file. The Nature Conservancy applauds Obama's efforts to “establish an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that will lead an effort to better protect the health of our oceans with a focus on more efficient ocean planning.” I'm not sure I know what this means. I'm not sure by this press release, that the Nature Conservancy knows what this means. Still, in the dull-but-important category it will doubtless end up being read by a lot more folks than this entry will.
Back to the subject of certifying agencies (see eMailbox) comes this release about egg producer Kreider Farms, included here for illustration purposes only.
June 5, 2009
Here's a little beauty on a lead saliva test. This gets back to the whole poisons pervading our environment issue dealt with on June 3.
Along the same lines, something just didn't seem right about this pitch, yet it's probably a great marketing tool. For people who don't want to feel really bad about dumping chemical fertilizer on their lawns, this company allow you to feel only a little bad through a mix of organic and chemical fertilizers. Like hybrid Escalades perhaps, every little bit helps. Check that. The only good fertilizer is no fertilizer. The only reason we buy the stuff is because we've been convinced the only good lawn is a green lawn.
I just had to toss this in. Bet these things sell like hotcakes in Kansas. If ever there is a reason to cheer on global warming the folks selling these things have it.
June 3, 2009
In keeping with the bottle water theme this release talks about getting some of those bottle out of landfills. The idea of walking into a restaurant and asking them to fill up you water bottle sounds a little strained, but you got to love the effort.
Here's a gem from the hip-hop-hypocrite file. Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records helped kick off the America's Greenest Campus contest last month featured in this release. Little does most of the world know, Mr. Simmons owns what's reported to be the largest home in New Jersey. Hopefully, it's got zoned heating. BTW my money is on the University of New Hampshire in the Green Campus competition. They just got a cogeneration plant on line that taps landfill methane gas to provide up to 85 percent of the campus' power needs.
Here's a release from the two-steps-forward-three-steps-back file. Some jewelry designer is advertising her pieces using models in mid-recycling mode. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't jewelry made from gold and silver. Aren't these metals harvested through some of the most earth-destructive processes known to man? So, having models bedecked in jewels carrying cans out to the curb is going to be good for the environment? Hey, it's got to be better than having them draped in fur or stepping out of a limo.
This release is included only because I want to personally refute a Page 1 NYTimes piece a few weeks back about problems with the mini-fluorescent bulbs that use a quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs. I've got the mini-fluorescent bulbs all around my house and they work great! Yet the Times headline says: “Do New Bulbs Save Energy if They Don’t Work?” without the reporting to back it up. At least that's the impression I got. Click the link and see what you think.
Along the exact same lines is this release: energy efficient air conditioners? I've got ' them scattered throughout the house, wall mounted units, they're called windows.
It's the numbers that prompt me to include this release. Paying people to car pool. Anybody who has spent rush hours in LA or NYC can attest that just about every car has no passengers. If you could double the occupancy, you'd reduce traffic by half. Triple it and take two out of three cars off the road. Three passengers and up? One can only hope and thank groups like this for their efforts.
Meanwhile we've got the “green roofer” beefing in another release about U.S. Energy Secretary Chu's comments that painting and paving roofing and pavement surfaces white would be the same as taking cars of the road for 11 years. The contractor tees off on Chu, presenting some decent practical arguments. My problem with the release is the contractor doesn't address the theoretical. Couldn't the guy dedicate his energy to finding way to make white shingles? Another example of industrial intransigence attacking rather than assisting science in the fine tradition of GM and Chrysler. Read for yourself and see what you think.
Wednesday, May 27
This release, if true, is surprising. Apparently the recession has been very very good to the farm products industry. People can't be getting that desperate, can they? In case you can't tell, this is a hydroponic tomato garden.
Just to add to yesterday's irreverence regarding weddings, this disk jockey is getting into the act as well. Anyone want to say we aren't in the middle of a green revolution. It's happening folks, lets just hope we're not too late. Bravo, Green DJ, Bravo
This, is a great press release. I couldn't read the whole thing, but it's chuck full of great information and eventually it leads around to the fact that even the lowly drinking straw can be recruited in the drive toward greater resource efficiency. The worm has turned. Judgeing by the photo at left apparently, there are alternative uses for drinking straws.
Tuesday, May 26
In keeping with today's efficiency theme, this company has something to say about using the water and tossing the bottle. Maybe if they contributed what Nestle does to campaign coffers they wouldn't be floating press releases they'd be taking out Superbowl commercials.
This dental practice received some sort of dental association award for its environmentally sensitive practices. Unfortunately, no where in the press release do they mention mercury which is used in trace amounts to soften silver used for teeth fillings. Some dentists concerned about the amount of mercury being disseminated into the environment from their spit sinks have actually started to remove it from their waste water. There is some debate over how much mercury actually escapes from the filling they are mixed into. However, the growing levels of nasty chemicals soaking into our environment and us could do with a little excess vigilance
Speaking of inefficiency, no where in modern civilization has the concept of blowing maximum money with minimal return been so completely embraced than in the American wedding ceremony. Before I get myself in too deep with the other half of humanity a disclaimer: a big fancy wedding does help to cement bonds every bit as important to civilization as the air we breath. However, isn't it time we started to question how much food, paper, cloth, candy, flowers and booze get wasted at these elaborate weddings? Kudos to this company for at least attempting to slaughter this sacred cow.
Monday, Memorial Day, May 25
This little gem from the bureaucracy-gone-bad department. The Food and Drug Administration is apparently poised to ban healthy cigarettes. The misnomer at the center of this on-line irony is something called the e-Cigarette. Apparently, it delivers nicotine in water vapor that simulates the smoking experience without the lung cancer. Despite declining in a 2000 court decision to regulate less user-friendlycoffin nails, the federal government is stepping in now, saying the e-cigarette has not been proved 100 percent safe for human consumption. Seems like a product has to be a proven carcinogen before you get the US governments' seal of approval to market it.
Tired of trolling bars and night clubs in search of Miss. or Mr. Wright only to wake up the next morning sleeping next to a Hummer driving, lipstick smacking reincarnation of the tree-hugger you met the night before? Now you can abandon the granola goggles for good with this new service.
Thursday May 21
Imagine no more grease and oil going into your septic system. While it might bum out a few cesspool services, it's got folk at the Waikaloa Beach Marriott smiling. Hydrologix Grease Reduction Systems says it's got a sink trap that pulls grease and such from waste water and dispenses it into a “trap” loaded with grease-eating bacteria. My guess is this trap needs careful monitoring or it gets clogged. But read the press release for yourself. For me, it's another illustration of capitalizing on what we consider waste in this country. Grease, for lack of a better word, is good. It's a hydrocarbon, it houses energy you can burn the stuff or feed it to bacteria which turn it into more bacteria which is food for something else. It's another example of efficiency boosting economy. The photo does nothing for the release, but it gives you something to look at.
Speaking of which a Window Wizards of Pennsylvania says it's cashing in on Obama's economic stimulus package. Seems to me this is an excellent use of tax dollars
Don't paint your Tipi with out reading this press release first. Makes me realize just how sheltered a life I lead.
Here's a few folks arguably cashing in on excessive eco-mania. The reason I include this is to illustrate that every little bit, no matter how silly it may seem helps. It may be fodder for rabid right radio, but the fact is it helps.
Wednesday May 20 Who would have thunk it. This company apparently has found a way to keep pools clean without chlorine. They use moss instead. Sorry, I couldn't read it for you, but if it's true this could be huge. My guess is they go through a lot of moss to keep some swimming pools clean
Anyone up for an absolutely bewildering press release. It took me 15 minutes to figure out what the hell is was all about.
On the other hand, this release seems clear as a bell. The subject matter is also dear to my heart and home. The Merrimack Valley in NH and MA is lined with old industrial cities that have countless mill buildings enclosing countless more millions of vacant space outfitted, in most instances, with heating systems and plumbing of some sorts. Many of these buildings are right on the Merrimack River. If, as I earnestly pray, the age of the McMansion is over, the residential opportunities here--not to mention the cost savings and reduced environmental impact--are enormous. Sorry, didn't mean to get preachy. Here's a picture that probably says much more than I just have.
This is one of the many largely vacant waterfront mil buildings in Lawrence, MA. Unfortunately it's during a flood.
This is what the inside of some of these spaces are being turned into. you can pick these things up for under $300,000 right next to a commuter rail, all on the water. Great stripped bass fishing from your living room window. Bald eagles in the winter. Problem is the city is still a little rough arund the edges.
This is so far from my universe, I don't feel qualified to comment. Now find a way to commercialize this stunt and you're going to get rich!
Tuesday, May 19 Bycatch, rolling condos and watershed science
How can you not love this effort. Watershed science and ground water flows need to get much more focus than what they've received so far. In some respects watersheds are our coastlines' sewer systems. Watersheds quite literally scrub our coastlines and discharge the washwater into the sea. It's no wonder our local fish populations are taking a nose dive across the board. It's not just commercial fishing. Speaking of which
South Coast Today had this piece about Massachusetts mayors lobbying for more local input into federal figures that are being used to limit commercial fishing. The argument being: the feds can't see the trees for the forest, they aren't using local information as they compile their world view of the fishing industry. Another argument can be made that only the big picture matters and that local populations swings shouldn't figure in. It's dangerous practice to second guess those who make their living at the sea when it comes to all issues ocean. These fishermen are smart fellows. However, they also have a severe conflict of interest problem. Industry wide regulations are the only way to to tackle these problems. A patch work of regulations will only invite confusion
On the subject of confusion, this just in from the Ralph Kramden crowd The very concept of a Green RV is absurd to me. They don't call them motor homes for nothing. But when you see how many American's rely on these things to experience the great outdoors, you get a whole new appreciation of RVs. Is it better that such folks sit at home in front of their TVs? Perhaps natural gas should be used to power these things.I'd rather go camping
For the record: there is no effort made that's good for the environment that's made in vain. However, sometimes those efforts could be more effective made elsewhere. Take Better Barrelz by Smartware Products for one. A group in Leominster, MA, is making whiskey barrel flower planters out of 98% recycled material, presumably plastic. Is there really that big a market for whiskey barrel flower planters that we need to make them out of recycled material? Apparently, so. The company has been around for 25 years. They also make back-saver rakes, retaining wall timbers, speed bumps and planter pots out of recyclables. Beats throwing the stuff out.
In keeping with the Christmas, or Hanukkah, spirit today, we delve into the thorny issue of the tree: real or fake. Somehow a fake tree just seems sacrosanct. It drives home the creeping commercialization of the holiday. On the other hand, how is chopping down 31 million trees and selling them for $1.3 billion in keeping with the spirit of the holidays? As this wonderful 
Speaking of spending unnecessarily for holiday lights, 
This is a great 
Another oddity from the greenhouse gas files is this 
The marines are undertaking an 
From our questionable investment file, we've got folks in the 
Straining credibility got a new definition with this 
This chair company's 
You just knew it had to happen. Chia Pet, that greenest of green holiday traditions has made a Chia Obama. Here's the picture. At least these folks finally got the hair right. 
Nothing lame about biodegradable 
In keeping with the odd-stuff-getting-into-the-environment theme today, we've got this press 
As if 
Here's a great alternative to trash incineration plants. These folks are turning everything nobody else wants into something everybody needs: gas. Methane gas in this case, a product which is apparently cleaner burning than natural gas. And certainly cleaner burning than garbage. Take a moment and read the release or 
Years ago a friend actually manage to build a car that mixed gas with water in a way that reportedly 
This 
But this idea of bolstering the immune system versus germ-killing as a defense against sickness, is interesting. Is there a possible parallel in other aspects of our lives. They say drinking the water in third world countries is dangerous, yet the natives guzzle the stuff like water. Let's try another analogy. When you get bug bites in distant wildernesses, they always seem so much worse than those gotten at home. One more thing. Poison ivy. Because the price paid for parading through poison ivy is so painful, your immune system is never given a chance to acclimate. It begs the question: Could your immune system acclimate to poison ivy? Can you build up an immunity to the stuff? You'd probably have to spend a few months itching to find out. Any volunteers? 
Speaking of the NRDC, here's a questionable 
It's so easy, or tempting, to write-off the myriad social projects that have been lumped in with the Stimulus package as so much more welfare. And 
This 
In keeping with the evolutionary theme of today's NBN, we have this 
Filtered drinking water to clean your dishes and dimples? That's what this 
Tree-huggers extraordinaire, Audubon have placed their famous bird field guide on the iPhone for easy access in identifying birds. Given the original, bound volumes of the field guides are not that much larger than an iPhone, we wonder at the wisdom of this. We give the Audubon IPhone field guide a half greenthumb-down.
Here's another cryptically crafted press 
This 
Who hasn't thought of disconnecting the cloths drier vent and using the hot, moist air to heat your cold, dry house in winter. 
Conscious-clear-Christmas here we come. This 
This is a boilerplate 
Because, you also need all 
Speaking of shining the light on green business, 
Do you suspect that your oil refinery is running a little slow? Can't keep up with Exxon and Mobile? Then you might want to give 
Stake-able recycling bins, there's a stand-up 
Kudos to the London Aquarium for this 
Along the same lines, aquariums on the other side of the pond are also using marine life to teach global lessons. NOAA is shelling out $9 million for youth 
Once again, a poorly written 
After hours of careful scrutiny over days that stretched into weeks, we've finally found an environmental cause we can really get behind: 
From our why-didn't-I-think-of-that file we have the 
Here's a product that deserves a plug PTP: earth safe batteries. Americans buy 
If you live north of Florida you're probably buying yard leaf bags. Much like the biodegradable fast food containers, biodegradable 
Most important, they rot with the leaves and that has to be our priority, and increasingly it looks like it is. We've spoken here about the problem of plastic dissolving into our environment and then working its way up the food chain. Here's a good
More to the point, boutique power sources, such as the portable river turbine are gradually going to displace fossil fuel generators much like cardboard is replacing plastic food wraps and paper is now used to bag leaves. And there are doubtless going to be lifestyle changes needed to make the transition. Just the fact that there is a market for this technology suggests that transition is already being made. You know that folding solar array backpacks are not far behind.
This 
Would it be so bad if the USgovernment mandated these things in every car in the country. We already have recycling mandates, 
These folksare announcing their environmentally friendly line of 
From our gotta-have-it file we have the portable, self contained 
For the environmentalist intent on conserving their own energy as well as oil energy, 
We've talked about this before in INews. Getting our data and communications centers off the power grid. This 
Harping on the subject of taking our communications system off the grid, as we do here at NBN, may seem a little confusing. We confess to being a little uncertain where this technology could take us. But the idea of eliminating centralized power and the horrendous amount of pollution that comes with it is pretty attractive. Not to mention the inherent problems with so many folks depending on the same power source. Is it that unrealistic to think it's possible to get such vital elements of our society off the grid. Centralized power is a great luxury to have. But it's coming at too great a cost for a planet that's literally awash in alternative energy solutions. This is a great 
Now, according to 
Where do they come up with these things? Here's 
This 
Who would have thought fiber-glass made a good oil sponge? Looks like that's what these folks are doing with the stuff. Some kind of glass fiber is proving to be perfect at extracting oil from water. Could have used these fellows when the Exxon Valdez went aground. No doubt they will be busy when the next one does. Might also be interesting applications for Brownfields remediation work. That's where leaking gas station tanks contaminate ground water. Talk about an expensive clean-up. If you ever see big excavations at gas stations, that's the problem. Each year hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on 
This is non-news but what's being proposed is worth thinking about. IBM is 
Someone should be going to jail for this. Solar bras? It's like the jewelry marketing campaign with the recycling theme written about in the June 3, 2009 
No...No! This is insane. Solar panels on an undergarment? Next it will be wind turbines on boxer shorts. Not only should we not buy the solar bra, we should boycott 
On a different subject, this press release 
Not to beat the solar drum again, but this is why the power source has to play a prominent role in our energy future. An African company is selling solar cell phones. (Say that 10 times fast.) Now, if they could justs starting building solar cell towers to carry the calls. This is probably an over simplification, but it's fun to think about: as suggested in the July, 22, 
Here's a solar power 
How can anybody find fault with Centennial Contractors Enterprises, of Hampton Roads, Va, taking time to 
Is Centennial's litter removal program just a way of counter-balancing the environmental damage the company cause elsewhere? What's wrong with that? At least they are doing something, and it sends a great message to the workers and surrounding community. If the houses need to be built, someone will build them. At least this company is making an effort. Construction in general is taking a great turn toward the green. So many construction companies make efforts these days to mitigate environmental impacts. 
Along the same lines, 
Perhaps, it's a little strange to get carried away about window shades in a column devoted to environmental issues, but this 
Changing your window treatments may sound like a silly way to save the planet. But multiply that by a couple hundred million windows and you're getting somewhere. Then, you add on low-toxicity paints and varnish, solar panels on the roof, a careful recycling plan, sofa's finished in organic cotton, and the silly get serious.Anyway, bamboo blinds look pretty cool and to quote the release: “As a weed, bamboo is resistant to pests and insects so doesn't require spraying with pesticides or insecticide.” Hey,it's all good.
Along the same lines there's a ranch in Texas that letting 400 acres of lawn revert back to native grasses. That's 400 acres. Take a drive south sometime along New Jersey's Rt. 1 into Princeton, if you want to put that into perspective. That road is home to a variety of mega-businesses which have some of the largest lawns north of the White House. Dozens of acres of the green stuff which appears to benefit from a lot of man-made, and 
Here's a 
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is giving 
From our two-steps-forward-three-steps-back file, here 
8.10.09
This is a 
Case in point, here's an Oscoda, MI, flooring 
Landfill friendly 
July, 23, 2009Here's 
Pet and family friendly pet stain 
Another neat idea, if not a little contrived. This 
Anybody need an organic 
This press 
This 
Appearances to the contrary not withstanding, this is a computer air conditioner. Plumbers and carpenters may think this has nothing to do with them. It does, if those same businesses want to have websites or use the internet. Computer air conditions start to take on a whole new significance when you start contemplating the computers that run the country or your website. These aren't computers, these are entities they start to take on different dynamic than you laptop or cell phone. If these things go down, it potentially effects millions of people. The computer age has empowered dirt. Think about it. Now, if Upsite can just find a way to recycle the heat pulled from those computers into the nation's hot water heaters, we might have a Page 1 story.
Let's take that concept to the average homeowner with a half dozen trash bags filled with a week's refuse from a family of four. Couldn't someone in that family spend a little less time watching TV and a little more time separating his recyclables? This 
Yet another 
If only 
Privacy proponents might want to size up 
You got to love this, recycled motor oil. Americans throw away enough used motor oil every year to fill 
Hybrid, remote-control lawn mowers? As Anthony Lewis at Columbia J-School used to say : “Were it were only true.” I can't quite tell what these folks are hawking in this 
Along the same lines, something just didn't seem right about 
Here's 
It's the numbers that prompt me to include 
This 
This 
Imagine no more grease and oil going into your septic system. While it might bum out a few cesspool services, it's got folk at the Waikaloa Beach Marriott smiling. Hydrologix Grease Reduction Systems says it's got a sink trap that pulls grease and such from waste water and dispenses it into a “trap” loaded with grease-eating bacteria. My guess is this trap needs careful monitoring or it gets clogged. But read the press release for yourself. For me, it's another illustration of capitalizing on what we consider waste in this country. Grease, for lack of a better word, is good. It's a hydrocarbon, it houses energy you can burn the stuff or feed it to bacteria which turn it into more bacteria which is food for something else. It's another example of efficiency boosting economy. The photo does nothing for the release, but it gives you something to look at.
This is one of the many largely vacant waterfront mil buildings in Lawrence, MA. Unfortunately it's during a flood.
This is what the inside of some of these spaces are being turned into. you can pick these things up for under $300,000 right next to a commuter rail, all on the water. Great stripped bass fishing from your living room window. Bald eagles in the winter. Problem is the city is still a little rough arund the edges. 
For the record: there is no effort made that's good for the environment that's made in vain. However, sometimes those efforts could be more effective made elsewhere. Take Better Barrelz by 
