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JULY 2008
17 ELECTRIC CARS
SMART HOUSE TO GO WITH YOUR SMART
CAR
NEW SOLAR COLLECTORS WOULD USE
WINDOWS INSTEAD OF PANELS
Scientific Blogging Imagine
windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms,
but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building
they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing
the sun's energy that could allow just that. The work involves
the creation of a novel 'solar concentrator.' "Light is
collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or
concentrated, at the edges," explains Marc A. Baldo, leader
of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.
As a result, rather than
covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor
devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells
only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition,
the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from
each solar cell "by a factor of over 40," Baldo says.
Because the system is
simple to manufacture, the team believes that it could be implemented
within three years-even added onto existing solar-panel systems
to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional
cost. That, in turn, would substantially reduce the cost of solar
electricity.
LIVING IN DENSE NEIGHBORHOOD CAN
SAVE UP TO $2000 A YEAR IN GAS
UTAH STATE WORKERS PUT ON FOUR
DAY WEEK TO SAVE GAS
JUNE 2008
THE COUNTERCULTURE: GUERRILLA
GARDENING
U.N. CLIMATE TIPS: DRIVE LESS,
DITCH ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH
MAY 2008
WORLDWIDE, BIKING IS UP
EARTH POLICY The world produced an estimated
130 million bicycles in 2007-more than twice the 52 million cars
produced. Bicycle and car production tracked each other closely
in the mid-to-late 1960s, but bike output separated sharply from
that of cars in 1970, beginning its steep climb to 105 million
in 1988. Overall, since 1970, bicycle output has nearly quadrupled,
while car production has roughly doubled.
A number of European cities have set the standard for bicycle
use and promotion, via pro-bike transportation and land use policies,
as well as heavy funding for bicycle infrastructure and public
education. In Copenhagen, for example, 36 percent of commuters
bike to work. The city plans to invest more than $200 million
in bike facilities between 2006 and 2024 and estimates that by
2015 half its residents will bike to work or school. In Amsterdam,
cycling accounts for 55 percent of journeys to jobs that are
less than 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) from home. The government
has pledged to spend $160 million from 2006 to 2010 on bicycle
paths, parking, and safety. And Freiburg, Germany, a city with
218,000 people, has allocated roughly $1.3 million annually for
cycling since 1976; now some 70 percent of local trips there
are made by bike, on foot, or by public transit.
Governments elsewhere are following Europe's lead. Bogotá,
Colombia, boasts more than 300 kilometers of bikeways, the most
for a city in the developing world. In Australia, the state of
Victoria has amended planning laws to require all new large buildings
to provide bike parking and other facilities such as showers
and lockers.
Some notoriously polluted and congested
cities are working to reap the benefits of cycling as well. Mexico
City plans to have 5 percent of all trips be by bike in 2012,
up from less than 2 percent today, using traffic calming methods,
promotional campaigns, and bike-transit connectivity. In India,
Delhi's newest Master Plan requires fully segregated bicycle
tracks on all arterial roads and notes that promoting cycling
will be an essential component of the city's plans to reduce
growth in fossil fuel consumption
Bicycle rental programs are also increasing
bike use in some cities. The stand-out example of 2007 was Paris's
low-cost Velib rental scheme, launched in July. Now offering
20,600 bikes that can be obtained by credit card at 1,451 stations,
the program logged 6 million rides in its first three months.
Analysts expect the program to double or even triple bike trips
in Paris. Similar programs exist in Oslo, Barcelona, and Brussels
and are planned for Washington, D.C., and central London, among
other cities.
While biking remains popular for recreation
in the United States, it is woefully underused for transportation.
Total cycling participation has declined nationally since 1960,
dropping 32 percent since the early 1990s, and now accounts for
just 0.9 percent of all trips. Cycling to work is even less frequent,
at 0.4 percent of trips.
While the bicycle is still an essential
form of transportation in China, the country has recently seen
a rapid decrease in bike ownership as its population becomes
wealthier and turns to cars. From 1995 to 2005, China's bike
fleet declined by 35 percent, from 670 million to 435 million,
while private car ownership more than doubled, from 4.2 million
to 8.9 million. Blaming cyclists for increasing accidents and
congestion, some city governments have closed bike lanes. Shanghai
even banned bicycles from certain downtown roads in 2004. This
deterioration in Chinese bike culture emerges even as the country's
share of world bicycle production continues to rise: China now
turns out more than four fifths of the 130 million bikes produced
each year.
China's central government, increasingly
concerned about traffic congestion, energy consumption, and people's
health, has now begun calling on cities to reverse this discouragement
of bikes. In June 2006, Deputy Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing
ordered cities that had narrowed or removed bike lanes to restore
them. Within Beijing, bike promotion is having some visible effects
as the city prepares for the 2008 Olympics. For example, after
successful pilot projects, a private bike rental scheme co-sponsored
by Beijing's environmental protection and security bureaus aims
to provide 50,000 bikes at some 200 locations by August. Thus
far, however, the recent pro-bicycle rhetoric from Beijing has
not translated into much positive action outside the capital.
Development projects addressing disease
and poverty in Africa provide evidence that the bicycle's utility
is not just limited to urban areas. In Zambia, World Bicycle
Relief has partnered with a coalition of relief organizations
to combat HIV/AIDS through more timely education and treatment,
providing 23,000 bicycles to healthcare volunteers, disease prevention
educators, and families affected by the virus. In Burkina Faso,
Ghana, and Uganda, an alliance of Dutch non-governmental organizations
has launched a micro-credit lending program called Cycling Out
of Poverty. Through this effort, poor people can pay off leased
bikes while using them to attend school or start a small business.
FEW RECYCLING PLANS FOR COMPACT FLUORESCENTS
MARC LEVY, ASSOCIATED PRESS It's a message
being drummed into the heads of homeowners everywhere: Swap out
those incandescent lights with longer-lasting compact fluorescent
bulbs and cut your electric use. Governments, utilities, environmentalists
and, of course, retailers everywhere are spreading the word.
Few, however, are volunteering to collect the mercury-laced bulbs
for recycling -- despite what public officials and others say
is a potential health hazard if the hundreds of millions of them
being sold are tossed in the trash and end up in landfills and
incinerators.
For now, much of the nation has no real
recycling network for CFLs, despite the ubiquitous PR campaigns,
rebates and giveaways encouraging people to adopt the swirly
darlings of the energy-conscious movement. Recyclers and others
guess that only a small fraction of CFLs sold in the United States
are recycled, while the rest are put out with household trash
or otherwise discarded.
"In most parts of the country, it
requires getting in your car and burning up your gas and going
out of your way, a long ways, and people are unlikely to do this,"
said Paul Abernathy, the executive director of the Association
of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers in Calistoga, Calif.
Sales of the bulbs have skyrocketed this
decade -- doubling last year to about 380 million after registering
just 17,000 in 2000, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. Recycling efforts, though, are spotty at best.
Some communities are arranging special
CFL drop-off events while some city or county hazardous waste
collection facilities accept them. Swedish retailer IKEA collects
the bulbs at its 34 U.S. stores and manufacturer Osram Sylvania
offers a mail-in program. In Nevada, customers of Sierra Pacific
Power Co. can now take used CFLs to eight landfills to be recycled.
A few governments have targeted retailers.
The city of Madison, Wis., requires retailers
that sell the bulbs to also collect them for recycling, although
stores can charge a fee for it. Maine and Vermont fund programs
that distribute collection bins to retailers, from neighborhood
hardware stores to Wal-Marts, and get the bulbs to recyclers,
either by pickup or mail.
Pennsylvania spent $8,000 to distribute
white plastic buckets to several dozen businesses, community
organizations and local governments that wanted them. The buckets
come with a seal-tight lid and the state pays the postage to
send them to a recycler.
URBAN FARMING GROWS INTO A BUSINESS
TRACIE MCMILLAN, NY TIMES For years, New
Yorkers have grown basil, tomatoes and greens in window boxes,
backyard plots and community gardens. But more and more New Yorkers
are raising fruits and vegetables, and not just to feed their
families but to sell to people on their block. This urban agriculture
movement has grown even more vigorously elsewhere. Hundreds of
farmers are at work in Detroit, Milwaukee, Oakland and other
areas that, like East New York, have low-income residents, high
rates of obesity and diabetes, limited sources of fresh produce
and available, undeveloped land.
Local officials and nonprofit groups have
been providing land, training and financial encouragement. But
the impetus, in almost every case, has come from the farmers,
who often till when their day jobs are done, overcoming peculiarly
urban obstacles. . .
The city's cultivators are a varied lot.
The high school students at the Added Value community farm in
Red Hook, Brooklyn, last year supplied Italian arugula, Asian
greens and heirloom tomatoes to three restaurants, a community-supported
agriculture buying club and two farmers' markets.
In the South Bronx a group of gardens called
La Familia Verde started a farmers' market in 2003 to sell surpluses
of herbs like papalo and the Caribbean green callaloo. . .
The city's success with urban farming will
receive international attention on Saturday when, during an 11-day
conference in New York, 60 delegates from the United Nations
Commission on Sustainable Development are scheduled to visit
Hands and Hearts, the Bed-Stuy Farm and two traditional community
gardens in Brooklyn.
There was not always so much enthusiasm
for city farming, though.
John Ameroso, a Cornell Cooperative Extension
agent who has worked with local farmers and gardeners for 32
years, said that when he first suggested urban farm stands in
the early 1990s, city environmental officials dismissed the idea.
" 'Oh, you could never grow enough stuff with the urban
markets,' " he said he was told. ' "That can't be done.
You have to have farmers.' "
But local officials have come around. .
.
On a fringe of Philadelphia, a nonprofit
demonstration project used densely planted rows in a half-acre
plot and generated $67,000 from high-value crops like lettuces,
carrots and radishes.
In Milwaukee, the nonprofit Growing Power
operates a one-acre farm crammed with plastic greenhouses, compost
piles, do-it-yourself contraptions, tilapia tanks and pens full
of hens, ducks and goats - and grossed over $220,000 last year
from the sale of lettuces, winter greens, sprouts and fish to
local restaurants and consumers.
A NEW APPROACH TO MOTOR BIKING
NEW WAY TO STOW YOUR BIKE IN RIVERSIDE,
CA
FOOT PEDAL FAUCETS SAVE WATER
IN THE KITCHEN
APRIL 2008
TEENS HELP A TOWN GO GREEN
Bionx has created a conversion system that allows you to add electric
power to any bike, adding now more than 15 pounds. Only problem:
price is in the four digits. Reports Tree
Hugger: A seven pound, 350 watt gearless and brushless motor
replaces the rear hub and the battery pack is fastened to the
frame. The lithium-manganese battery charges in three hours and
go for seventy miles, helped along by regenerative braking. Use
up a lot of juice going up a hill?
WILL YOUR CANDIDATE SUPPORT BIDETS?
TREE HUGGER - Bidets [are] a key green
technology, because they eliminate the use of toilet paper. They
also provide important health benefits. These include increased
cleanliness, and the therapeutic effect of water on damaged skin
(think rashes or hemorrhoids).
We use 36.5 billions rolls of toilet paper
in the U.S. each year, this represents at least 15 million trees
pulped. This also involves 473,587,500,000 gallons of water to
produce the paper and 253,000 tons of chlorine for bleaching
purposes. The manufacturing process requires about 17.3 terawatts
of electricity annually. Also, there is the energy and materials
involved in packaging and transporting the toilet paper to households
across the country.
Toilet paper also constitutes a significant
load on the city sewer systems, and water treatment plants. It
is also often responsible for clogged pipes. In septic systems,
the elimination of toilet paper would mean the septic tank would
need to be emptied much less often.
Basically, the huge industry of producing
toilet paper could be eliminated through the use of bidets. Instead
of using toilet paper, a bidet cleans your posterior using a
jet of water. Some bidets also provide an air-drying mechanism.
In Japan, high-tech bidets called Washlets
are now the most popular electronic equipment being sold -- 60%
of households have them installed. In Venezuela they are found
in approximately 90% of households.
WIND TURBINES FOR YOUR HOME
NY TIMES Wind turbines, once used primarily
for farms and rural houses far from electrical service, are becoming
more common in heavily populated residential areas as homeowners
are attracted to ease of use, financial incentives and low environmental
effects. A residential wind generator that has built-in controls
and an inverter. Some "plug and play” systems plug
directly into the home panel
No one tracks the number of small-scale
residential wind turbines - windmills that run turbines to produce
electricity - in the United States. Experts on renewable energy
say a convergence of factors, political, technical and ecological,
has caused a surge in the use of residential wind turbines, especially
in the Northeast and California.
"Back in the early days, off-grid
electrical generation was pursued mostly by hippies and rednecks,
usually in isolated, rural areas,” said Joe Schwartz, editor
of Home Power magazine. "Now, it's a lot more mainstream.”
"The big shift happened in the last
three years,” Mr. Schwartz said, because of technology that
makes it possible to feed electricity back to the grid, the commercial
power system fed by large utilities. "These new systems
use the utility for back up power, removing the need for big,
expensive battery backup systems.”
Some of the "plug and play” systems
can be plugged directly into a circuit in the home electrical
panel. Homeowners can use energy from the wind turbine or the
power company without taking action.
KITCHEN GARDENING
DAILY GREEN - A new generation has discovered
the pleasure - and the power - of growing your own fruits and
vegetables, Anne Raver writes in a New York Times article.
Perhaps most surprising to those who don't
grow their own, is the taste difference between something that's
been shipped 1500 miles to reach your plate - the average distance
it takes a food item to get to us - and something that has been
just plucked from the ground. I've never tasted a fresher, more
flavorful vegetable than the heirloom tomatoes fresh from a friend's
garden. . .
One kitchen gardener, Roger Doiron, started
a movement, Kitchen Gardeners International, where you can learn
the tricks of the trade. He is quoted in the Times talking about
who his audience is: "people out there who are concerned
about peak oil, or the gardening gastronomes who want the freshest
food possible. Or the people who joined a C.S.A." - a community-supported
agriculture project - "last year, and this year are thinking,
you know what? I can do some of this myself."
Doiron is trying to get one of the presidential
candidates to follow in the steps of their forefathers and use
the White House lawn to grow a garden. The article says John
Adams grew a vegetable garden, Woodrow Wilson had sheep grazing
the grounds, and Eleanor Roosevelt grew peas and carrots on the
White House lawn.
MARCH 2008
THE CASE FOR SEPARATED BIKE LANES
WHO OWNS YOUR ORGANIC FOOD?
NEW
ENGLAND STATES CONSIDER LIBERATING CLOTHESLINES
WHY DRINKING BOTTLED WATER ISN'T
THE ANSWER TO DRUG POLLUTION IN STREAMS
AMERICA'S WATER POLLUTED BY VAST
ARRAY OF DRUGS
BOTTLED WATER 'MORALLY UNACCEPTABLE
A
HOUSE MADE OF NEWSPAPERS
TREEHUGGER Londoner's
have three free newspapers foisted on them every day in the streets.
This adds up to a lot of waste and a lot of people are getting
pretty upset by it. As a response to this litter, and as a political
statement about "making something high-quality out of something
that has no value", Sumer Erek has created a five meter
high Newspaper House out of all the discarded free papers around.
The house has been built in a London square. Along with numerous
volunteers, he has been constructing it out of donated papers
for the past five days. Using almost 150,000 discarded free papers
carefully packed inside a wooden frame for the construction,
people were encouraged to write their own thoughts and wishes
on the paper before it was rolled into logs. GREAT
PHOTOS
FUEL AND LOCAL FOOD
ANTHONY FLACCAVENTO, WASH POST - Of late, a number of commentators have disparaged
local food economies, based on two claims: First, that shipping
food long distances in fully loaded tractor-trailers is more
efficient than local transactions; and, second, that consumers
travel much further to buy local foods, creating more, not less
carbon emissions. They're wrong.
A full tractor-trailer hauls about 32,000
pounds of produce. On average, according to the Leopold Center
for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, this food
travels about 1,750 miles from farm to market, in trucks that
get about 5.5 miles per gallon. That's 320 gallons of fuel to
transport 32,000 pounds, or about a gallon of fuel for every
100 pounds of food.
My farm is an eight-mile round trip from
the Abingdon farmers market. Our '94 Toyota pickup gets 15 miles
to the gallon, fully loaded, so my trip to and from the market
uses just over a half gallon of gas. We take and sell an average
of 1,600 pounds of fresh produce every Saturday morning. This
works out to 3,200 pounds of food for every gallon of fuel expended.
That's 32 times more efficient.
Of course, not every farmer lives four
miles from his or her market. But our local experience, along
with studies carried out in Austin and Toronto, indicate that
most farmers stay within a 50-mile radius. Assuming they carry
about 1,000 pounds -- a third less than we do -- the average
local food transaction delivers 500 pounds of food per gallon
of fuel, five times more efficient than conventional transport.
. .
Though the data are a bit sketchy, two
points stand out. First, in spite of the dramatic growth of Wal-Mart
and other "one-stop shopping" outlets, our shopping
miles are steadily increasing. As author Stacy Mitchell has pointed
out, we Americans increased our travel -- just for shopping --
by over 90 billion miles from 1990 to 2001. . .
Second, several studies indicate that consumers
are not willing to travel more than six to eight miles or 15
to 20 minutes by car to shop at a local market, perhaps slightly
more than what people will travel to reach the big-box store.
. .
When my wife and I get up at 5 on Saturday
morning to start packing our truck, a cup of strong coffee and
a glass of orange juice make it a little easier. So we're not
dogmatic about local foods. But we also know, first hand, that
locally produced foods are increasingly abundant, convenient
and rewarding.
FEBRUARY 2008
DRIVERS DRIVING LESS
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO TURN ON THE
LIGHT
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD - Compact fluorescent
light bulbs that get broken release mercury that can be more
difficult to clean up than consumers and government agencies
have thought, says a new report from the Maine Department of
Environmental Protection. The DEP spent months breaking bulbs
in a laboratory and experimenting with cleanup strategies before
issuing its report. It also posted new cleanup advice and precautions
about the spiral bulbs, and advised consumers for the first time
that the popular, energy-efficient lights may not the best choice
for some parts of the home, including children's bedrooms and
playrooms.
DEP officials said the results won't change
the state's policy of promoting the bulbs as a way to save energy
and reduce global-warming pollution. "We are still very
much in support of CFL use," said Stacy Ladner, an environmental
specialist with the DEP and one of three staff researchers who
did the study. "Hopefully, people will think about where
they put them" and how they clean up any bulbs that break.
. .
A compact fluorescent bulb contains only
about 5 milligrams of mercury, enough to fit on the tip of a
ball-point pen. An old-fashioned mercury thermometer, by comparison,
contains about 100 times that amount.
But if a bulb breaks, the small amount
of mercury can create high levels of vapor in the air, the study
showed.
ORGANIC FERTILIZERS, COMPOSTING COULD HELP CUT
GREENHOUSE GAS
SCIENTIFIC BLOGGING - Applying organic
fertilizers, such as those resulting from composting, to agricultural
land could increase the amount of carbon stored in these soils
and contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions, according to new research published in a special issue
of Waste Management & Research. . .
One estimate of the potential value of
this approach - which assumed that 20% of the surface of agricultural
land in the EU could be used as a sink for carbon - suggested
it could constitute about 8.6% of the total EU emission-reduction
objective.
"An increase of just 0.15% in organic
carbon in arable soils in a country like Italy would effectively
imply the sequestration of the same amount of carbon within soil
that is currently released into the atmosphere in a period of
one year through the use of fossil fuels," write Enzo Favoino
and Dominic Hogg, authors of the paper.
"Furthermore, increasing organic matter
in soils may cause other greenhouse gas-saving effects, such
as improved workability of soils, better water retention, less
production and use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, and
reduced release of nitrous oxide."
However, capitalizing on this potential
climate-change mitigation measure is not a simple task. The issue
is complicated by the fact that industrial farming techniques
mean agriculture is actually depleting carbon from soil, thus
reducing its capacity to act as a carbon sink.
According to Hogg and Favoino, this loss
of carbon sink capacity is not permanent. Composting can contribute
in a positive way to the twin objectives of restoring soil quality
and sequestering carbon in soils. Applications of organic matter
(in the form of organic fertilizers) can lead either to a build-up
of soil organic carbon over time, or a reduction in the rate
at which organic matter is depleted from soils. In either case,
the overall quantity of organic matter in soils will be higher
than using no organic fertilizer.
MOVING YOUR APARTMENT BY BIKE
GUIDE TO DO IT YOURSELF WATER FILTERS
BOTTLED WATER 'MORALLY UNACCEPTABLE
BRITISH ENVIRONMENT MINISTER CALLS BOTTLED WATER
'MORALLY UNACCEPTABLE'
TELEGRAPH, UK - Drinking bottled water
should be made as unfashionable as smoking, according to a government
adviser. "We have to make people think that it's unfashionable
just as we have with smoking. We need a similar campaign to convince
people that this is wrong," said Tim Lang, the Government's
naural resources commissioner. Bottled water generates up to
600 times more C02 than tap water Bottled water generates upto
600 times more CO2 than tap water
Phil Woolas, the environment minister,
added that the amount of money spent on mineral water "borders
on being morally unacceptable". Their comments come as new
research shows that drinking a bottle of water has the same impact
on the environment as driving a car for a kilometre. Conservation
groups and water providers have started a campaign against the
L2 billion industry.
METAEFFICIENT -
The largest modular green
roof, has been installed on top of the new "Court at Upper
Providence" shopping center in Pennsylvania. The 2.3 acres
green roof was constructed with Green Grid modules. These modules
are made with recycled plastic, and they contain small but hardly
plants like sedums. The lightweight modules are then delivered
to the facility, where they are laid out on top of the roof.
As many as 4,000 square feet can be installed in one day.
FIRM TO REVIVE 1907 ELECTRIC CAR
THAT GOT 80 MILES BETWEEN CHARGES
DESIGN
WITHIN REACH - This 9'x13'
structure redefines conventional prefab with its proprietary
clamping system that makes installation quick, economic and practically
waste-free. What also caught our attention about Kithaus is how
it can tuck into any area, even remote locations, without needing
ultra-heavy equipment. All of the lightweight, anodized aluminum
pieces are pre-cut and drilled in Southern California and shipped
to you for on-site assembly. Installation is fast, taking only
a few days, and Kithaus is built with eco-friendly components.
Wondering where you can use Kithaus? How about anywhere you need
a fully insulated, pre-wired comfortable space. . . The complete
Kithaus, including decks, canopies and louvers, is $44,900.
AN ECO-TOWN IN BRITAIN
TREE HUGGER - Wintles has 12 acres of shared
woodland and allotments, so that people can feed themselves,
and they even bought a failed pub in town and are turning it
into a micro-brewery. The houses are built in clusters of about
ten to twelve homes. . .
The houses are wood framed with lots of
insulation, careful placement of windows for passive solar heating,
with wood stoves. That didn't stop the authorities from questioning
the designs;
"The banks that lent the money insisted
on central heating being put in, even though the homes were heated
perfectly well by wood-burners. The heating engineers would not
sign off the properties without insisting on radiators being
installed upstairs, even though, due to the very high insulation,
they were unnecessary. The water company insisted on Living Villages
taking external liability for any problem with the rain-harvesting
system, which caused further problems with the banks. And the
council insisted on the approach road being wide enough for two
refuse trucks to pass - even though this is deepest Shropshire."
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/the_wintles_bri.php
SKYLIGHTS THAT FOLLOW THE SUN
JANUARY 2008
HIGH RISE TOWN HOUSES
WITH GARDENS
TREE HUGGER - Rotterdam
designer Reinier de Jong notes: "Housing in big city centers
seems to consist of small apartments. High rise equals apartments.
Or so it seems. However many cities economically really need
well-to-do middle class dwellers. They flee to suburbia as soon
as salaries go up and kids arrive."
So he takes the standard suburban typology, the two story house
with a garden, and stacks them on top of each other, "so
we will diminish the suburban sprawl that is swallowing up our
precious land."
"The project TUIN
('garden') combines high rise with a typical suburban housing
typology: a two storey dwelling with garden. A height of seven
meters and a depth of one meter of soil guarantees a true garden.
Enough for sunlight, rain and wind to enter and nourish trees,
shrubs, flowers and grass."
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/reinier_de_jong.php
A GUIDE TO RECYCLING STORAGE CONTAINERS
FIRMITAS - This is a webpage devoted to
listing as many examples of people using shipping containers
as architectural elements as I can find, in an effort to embolden
people to use containers in building projects, when and where
doing so is feasible and appropriate. Be aware that containers
are not a perfect building material, since they tend to corrode,
but they have been used effectively in some cases, especially
in areas near saltwater.
http://firmitas.org/
ENERGY FROM PAVEMENT HEAT
ZIP VOITURES IN PARIS
DECEMBER 2007
IRELAND BANS TRADITIONAL LIGHTBULBS
INDEPENDENT, UK - Ireland became the first
country in the world to ban the traditional lightbulb. Householders
will be forced to switch to new long-life low-energy bulbs in
12 months' time. . . As the normal lightbulb expires, householders
will have to replace them with the more environmentally friendly
long-life bulb which uses far less energy. Consumers will save
E185m in electricity costs every year as a result of the measure.
PHILLY CAR SHARING UP TO 35,000 MEMBERS
On October 5th Philly Carshare signed up
member number 30,000. In October they signed up a record 4,000
new members and they are now over 35,000. And 10,000 of these
members have given up their cars. . . The City, the Parking Authority
and SEPTA (the City's transit agency) all got on board. The city
even got rid of 330 cars and started saving $7 million a year
as a result. Philly Carshare management now believes they could
someday get to a million members.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PLANNING
ELECTRIC BIKE SHARE PROGRAM
TREE HUGGER - The University of Washington is
teaming up with Intrago to create an electric bike share program
for its Seattle campus. The self-rental bicycles will work much
like traditional bike share programs: users are given a special
pass to unlock bicycles from stations located throughout campus,
and then return them just as easily. The only difference between
this system and a more conventional one is that the bikes have
an electric assist for hills and longer distances, circumventing
one of the more common excuses for not riding a bike. It is unclear
what kind of battery the bicycles make use of. . . The pilot
system is being funded by a grant from the Washington State Department
of Transportation in the hope that "corporate campuses,
vacation destinations and high-density urban and public transit
locations" will see the value of these systems.
NOVEMBER 2007
A BETTER FLUSH FOR THE FUTURE
CNN - [Scott
Kelley's] Philadelphia company urges its customers to install
high-efficiency toilets, which use 20 percent less water than
the previous generation of low-flow toilets. . .
Toilets built 30 years ago guzzled 5 or
more gallons of water per flush, but in the early 1980s manufacturers
designed new models that needed only 3 1/2 gallons per flush.
Congress emphasized further conservation in 1992 when it passed
the Energy Policy Act, which mandated that regular toilets made
starting in 1994 use 1.6 gallons.
Consumers weren't pleased with those early
low-flow models. The first flush didn't always clear the bowl,
and subsequent flushes negated any water savings.
But the newest generation of high-efficiency
toilets -- developed in the last two to seven years -- does the
job on the first try and uses only 1.3 gallons per flush, according
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. . .
One high-efficiency model that's gaining
in popularity is the dual-flush toilet, in which users press
one button to flush liquid waste with 0.8 or 0.9 gallon of water,
or an adjacent button to flush solid waste with 1.6 gallons.
The flushes amount to an average of about 1.3 gallons, complying
with the EPA's definition of a high-efficiency toilet.
While a water-friendly toilet can be several
times more expensive than a standard one, which typically costs
less than $100, consumers can expect to recoup the cost within
about two years after water savings and possible rebates from
the local water company.
THE CASE FOR STRAW BALE HOMES
HYPER HYBRID HITS THE ROAD
TRYING TO COME UP WITH A SOLAR POWERED
CAR
DANIEL B WOOD, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
- In the local airport parking lot, Steve Titus clicks shut the
lightweight fiberglass door of his fireman-yellow Solar Bug.
. . Mr. Titus straddles the saddle-style seat and revs the Hi-Torque
Pancake motor. It whirs away quietly, reaching a top speed of
40 miles per hour in a few seconds.
On display at a recent alternative-car
expo here, this is Titus's second and latest rendering of a solar-powered
car concept. It gets up to a fourth of its 60-mile capacity from
200 watts of roof-mounted solar panels. . .
Titus, who is based in Bozeman, Mont.,
has 25 years of experience bringing alternative-power products
to market, working with more than a dozen businesses that range
from medical equipment to lasers. About seven years ago, he got
tired of driving to the gas pump, paying high prices, and watching
the geopolitical clashes over oil in the Middle East. . .
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1115/p01s10-ussc.htm
LONDON BANS PLASTIC BAGS
INDEPENDENT, UK - British shops hand out
a staggering 13 billion every year. But after a decision by 33
London councils yesterday, plastic bags could be soon be consigned
to history, unmourned by anyone who cares about cleaning up the
environment.
Eighty villages, towns and cities, including
Brighton and Bath, have introduced or are considering a ban on
them since shops in the Devon market town of Modbury went "plastic
bag free". But yesterday represented the most significant
move yet. The capital is now on board.
All 33 authorities in the London Councils
group voted for legislation to prevent shops in the capital handing
out free plastic bags. In the next fortnight Westminster Council
will present a private Bill to the House of Commons which would
apply to every London shop from the humblest newsagent to Harrods.
Shoppers clutching large numbers of bags
in London's West End could become a thing of the past; instead
they will be asked to use sturdy reusable plastic "bags
for life" or cotton or string hold-alls. London's authorities
said they needed to halt the environmental damage done by plastic
bags, which use oil and landfill space and kill marine wildlife.
. .
Peter Robinson, director of Waste Watch,
said: "We've seen successful action taken on carrier bags
all across the world from Australia to Zanzibar, and now it's
time for London to take a lead on this issue in the UK."
THE PROS AND CONS OF ELECTRIC BIKES
CHRISTOPHER CHERRY, LIVE SCIENCE - Electric
bike users have taken Chinese cities by storm, quickly outnumbering
the cars and in many cities, bicycles. Electric bikes range in
style from traditional pedal bicycles powered by an electric
motor to larger electric powered scooters. They are loosely restricted
on speed and size, but given the same rights as bicycle users,
operate in bicycle lanes, and do not require driver's licenses,
vehicle registration or helmet use.
Proponents would suggest that the e-bike
phenomenon is a positive development; after all, e-bikes are
quiet, non-polluting and provide more mobility than any other
mode of transportation. Opponents charge that e-bikes are unsafe,
increase congestion, and indirectly pollute the environment through
increased power plant emissions and lead pollution from their
heavy batteries. Several cities have attempted to, or successfully,
banned electric bikes from roadways, including the mega-cities
of Beijing and Guangzhou.
Still, there has been little research on
the true impacts of electric bikes in China. As a Ph.D. student
in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California,
Berkeley, I began conducting research, which led to a dissertation,
on quantifying the impacts of electric bikes in China. . .
I found that electric bikes travel about
35 percent faster than bicycles and have a much larger range.
In the city of Kunming, an electric bike can access 60 percent
more jobs within 20 minutes than a traditional bicycle. Compared
to a 30-40 minute bus ride, an electric bike rider can access
three to six times the number of jobs. While this increase in
mobility is remarkable, this mobility does come at a cost, namely
increased lead pollution from battery use.
Electric bikes use one car-sized lead acid
battery per year. Each battery represents 30-40 percent of its
lead content emitted to the environment in the production processes,
resulting in about 3 kilograms of lead emitted per battery produced.
When scaled up the 40 million electric bikes currently on the
roads, this is an astonishing amount of lead emitted into the
environment.
This negative environmental impact is countered
by other environmental benefits compared to most modes, including
vastly reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Ultimately, the success or failure of electric
bikes as a sustainable mode of transportation should be evaluated
in the context of the extent to which they displace automobile.
They certainly have fewer negative impacts than personal automobiles,
but they currently displace mostly bus and bicycle users and
only a small number of car users.
OCTOBER 2007
THE MOVE TO GREEN FUNERALS
|
ECO CLIPS
TREE HUGGER - A Zen Buddhist temple
in Ann Arbor, Michigan has taken up [dumpster diving] as a method
of raising money and for spiritual reasons. A priest at the Ann
Arbor temple explained that dumpster diving is actually a modern
variant of an ancient tradition by which Buddhist "patched-robe
monks" and nuns reclaimed clothing, sometimes from corpses,
and would repair garments repeatedly to extend their life as
much as possible. "Just taking care of a set of clothing
to make it last a long time has a spiritual aspect to it,"
she said. . . Not only that, they raised $12,000 bucks by picking
through the detritus of frat houses and sororities. . . Before
he leaves, Kroepel pulls out a stick of incense from a tiny container
in his shirt. And he lights it. Then he softly recites a few
lines of dedication, makes a bow, and tucks the incense into
the corner of the dumpster, to give thanks.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/zen_and_the_art.php |
 LETTING BUGS RECYCLE FOR YOU
TREE HUGGER - [A] nifty little shed on
a suburban street in Gothenburg, Sweden is filled with microbes
busily eating household garbage in a pilot project to dry up
compost before it's turned into methane at the local biogas plant.
Brainchild of Lars Smedlund, the Somnus
Hus is a system that helps remove 75 percent of the moisture,
and most of the odor from compostable food waste. About 180 families
in a condominium complex in the pilot will share the shed and
deposit their paper bags with food scraps into the green shute
(each family has a key to the shute). After the scraps are shredded,
moisture is sucked away via a wet filter system filled with odor-eating
bacteria. In 4-5 days the scraps resemble finely-chopped wood
chips.
Unlike other compost systems, which are
subject to rot when too wet, the Somnus system is designed to
control the humidity and smell, and the smaller resulting volume
of compost only requires a pick-up once or twice a year, versus
the once a week or every two weeks for food compost collection
systems such as San Francisco's.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/the_sucking_sou.php
HOW BAD IS A LIGHT BULB?
[From
Be Turtle]
Q - Are traditional light bulbs really
that bad? They're so small-- how much harm can they really do?
A - If we decided to ban traditional light
bulbs 5-10% of our power stations could be turned off. In the
case of China, a ban on traditional light bulbs could mean that
the Chinese didn't need to build 25-50 of the 500 coal power
stations they are currently planning to construct over the next
decade, whilst a similar ban in the US could mean that 25-50
of the power stations which already exist could be turned off.
. .
At the domestic level, using 70% less electricity
to make the same amount of light also saves approximately L9
($18) worth of electricity per bulb per year.
An average, rather small, British house
has been estimated to contain 23.5 light bulbs. While a good
quality energy saving light bulb from one of our biggest supermarkets,
Tesco, costs as little as 81p.
This means that replacing all of the light
bulbs in a typical British house, at a cost of L19 ($38), with
energy saving bulbs which have a 6 years lifetime could in theory
allow you to save up to L1,057 ($2114) on household electricity
bills over the lifetime of all the new light bulbs.
These savings are even greater if you install
some of longer lasting energy saving light bulbs, which have
lifetimes of up to 8 - 15 years.
If you still think this is too small a
saving to justify they effort, then I would like to ask for your
help with identifying other politically acceptable measures which
would allow us to reduce our energy imports (whilst experiencing
little obvious pain), to save large amounts of money (at little
upfront cost) and to cut our carbon dioxide emissions by millions
of tonnes (within the next couple of years).
[Dr Matt Prescott Director, Ban The Bulb]
http://www.banthebulb.org
|
ECO CLIPS
TREE HUGGER - As a result of half
a century of planning, Copenhagen has achieved a fabulous cycling
goal - during the morning rush hour more bikes and mopeds pound
the inner city streets than personal cars and buses. Just a bit
more than a third of inhabitants get to work by bike every day
- the other two thirds take public transport or a personal car.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/in_copenhagens.php |
SEPTEMBER 2007
WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE
TREEHUGGER
AUGUST 2007
GUIDES TO HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY
From the Rocky Mountain Institute
Building Envelope. On average, a typical
family can spend as much as $680 per year to heat and cool its
home. This brief explains why this expense is not necessary,
even in extreme climates, and can be reduced by up to 50 percent
through investment in building envelope improvements such as
sealing air leaks, adding adequate insulation, and upgrading
window features
Lighting. There are many lighting designs
and technologies available today that can not only meet all your
lighting needs, but can do so using less electricity. This Brief
details a few steps to make your home lighting more energy efficient
while maintaining and improving lighting quality
Space Cooling. Space cooling typically
accounts for 13 percent of total energy use, costing homeowners
an average $197 per year. A well-insulated and tightly sealed
home that uses the natural movement of heat and air to maintain
comfortable indoor temperatures can reduce cooling costs by up
to 50 percent while also saving on heating bills. This brief
outlines how to first minimize the amount of heat that enters
and is generated inside the home, and then, if additional cooling
is still needed, take steps to increase the efficiency of cooling
equipment and/or buy new, more efficient equipment.
Space Heating. Space heating costs the
average homeowner $480 per year and accounts for about 32 percent
of the total energy bill. This brief details how a well-insulated,
tightly constructed home can require little supplementary heating,
and how retrofit measures that minimize heat loss can reduce
heating requirements even in old, leaky homes.
Water Heating. Water heating accounts for
approximately 19 percent of total home energy use and costs an
average household over $300 a year. This brief outlines the many
things you can do to cut your water heating costs, including
using hot water more efficiently, switching to water-efficient
shower and faucet fixtures, and making a few simple adjustments
to your existing heater.
Cleaning Appliances. Dishwashers, clothes washers, and dryers
are among the most energy-intensive appliances in the home, costing
the average household about $150 annually to power them. This
brief points out efficient models that are available today and
that can actually produce cleaner clothes and dishes while using
less energy and water.
Electronics Home office equipment, audio
and video systems, and miscellaneous electronics consume almost
20 percent of all electricity used inside the average home and
can cost as much as $175 per year to operate. This brief shows
that while buying more efficient electronic devices can save
some of this energy and money, changing how you use the equipment
is more effective.
Kitchen Appliances. Having an energy efficient
kitchen means understanding the energy consumption of the appliances
in your kitchen, the energy life cycle of the food that comes
into it, and all of the wastes that leave it. No matter what
your lifestyle is, there are numerous energy efficient practices
that you should consider. The options in this brief range from
locating your refrigerator away from heat sources, to sizing
appliances to match the job to be done, to considering your food
disposal habits.
Whole System Design This brief introduces
the powerful tool of whole system design within the context of
the building envelope - introducing the synergies that exist
between thermal mass, windows, and other components of passive
solar design. Whole system or integrated building design actively
considers the interconnections between systems, occupants, and
the environment, and uses these connections to develop single
solutions to multiple problems (shelter, energy savings, aesthetics,
natural daylight, indoor environmental quality, affordability,
etc.)
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid119.php
LIVING OFF THE GRID IN BRITAIN
NICK ROSEN, GUARDIAN - I reckon there are
75,000 people living in nearly 25,000 off-grid homes in the UK.
These are homes not connected to mains gas and electricity, water
and sewage or even the phone lines that bind the rest of us into
a system that wastes energy transporting it around the country,
and loses up to 30% of water through leaks.
To get some idea of how many are living
this way, I traveled round the UK for most of last year researching
a book, How To Live Off-Grid. I met some of the thousands of
normal families living this way, in everything from brick houses
to yurts. . .
Perhaps the nation's off-grid housing stock
can be classed as an investment in a carbon-free future. Every
off-gridder automatically reduces their energy and water consumption
by up to 90% compared with a typical household. . .
The figure of 75,000 is only those living
off-grid all year round. It does not include part-time off-gridders
- the winter renters who go out in their vans or take to their
yurts and caravans. This triples the winter numbers.
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,2134370,00.html
PARIS RENTS 45,000 BIKES A DAY IN NEW
PROGRAM
MARJORIE MILLER, LA TIMES - Paris is awash in two-wheelers, thousands of
taupe bicycles that are part of a plan by City Hall to get people
out of their cars and onto more eco-friendly transportation.
The bicycle rental service still has some kinks to work out,
but the first week of the Velib program was a big hit with Parisians.
City Hall reported 45,000 rentals a day and counting. . . .
Mayor Bertrand Delanoe launched the program
to alleviate traffic jams and parking problems. The city has
placed more than 10,000 bicycles at about 300 stations around
the capital. Riders can buy an annual pass for 29 euros (about
$40) or pay a euro on the spot to use a bike for half an hour,
which is long enough to get almost anywhere in central Paris
and park at another station.
The price goes up with time - another euro
for an additional half-hour, two euros for the third and four
euros for the fourth. The idea is to keep the bikes in circulation
as transportation. . .
Management consultant Jean Marc Baron,
50, rented a bike to go out for drinks with friends in the 17th
arrondissement the other night. When they finished, he said,
"there weren't any bikes to ride home and we all ended up
walking."
Graphic designer Olivier Patte lives at
the top of hilly Montmartre, and his station is often empty when
he goes looking for a bike.. . . Another problem, Patte said,
is taxi drivers. "The taxis really don't like us,"
he said. "They stick close to us so we can't turn right
or left. We are in their bus lanes and they don't like it."
JULY 2007
CORPORADOS TAKE OVER ORGANIC FOOD
INDUSTRY
STILL INDEPENDENT ORGANICS
HOW'S YOUR WALK SCORE?
We plugged in
our office address to Walk Score and found we were in pedestrian
heaven. Check out your address
MAY 2007
YELLOW BIKES FOR RIDERS IN DOWNTOWN
LEXINGTON, KY
 JENNIFER HEWLETT, LEXINGTON HERALD LEADER - Identical
new bright yellow bicycles -- 52 of them -- were placed in downtown
Lexington. For a fee of $10 that's good for a lifetime, a person
may take one of the bikes for a spin at any time from April to
October in the downtown area. The bikes, parked primarily along
Main and Vine Streets yesterday, are part of a new Lexington
program.
"Basically it's a free or nearly free
bike program designed to get more people out of their cars and
onto bikes," said Lexington developer Phil Holoubek, a member
of the board of directors of Yellow Bikes LLC, which oversees
the Yellow Bikes program. Holoubek, the developer of Main &
Rose Lofts and Nunn Building Lofts, and four other sponsors --
BB&T, 500's on Main, Gray Construction and South Hill Group
-- each chipped in $2,500 to get the program off the ground.
They have purchased 80 yellow bikes; 28 are to arrive soon. .
.
Yellow Bikes riders are encouraged to ride
the bikes just in the downtown area. When they're finished riding,
they're supposed to lock up the bikes again at downtown racks.
The bikes have baskets so riders can carry purses, briefcases
and packages. . .
The University of Kentucky has had a similar
program, Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library, since the fall of 2004.
The bikes can be checked out by any UK student, faculty or staff
member with a valid ID for a 48-hour period.
http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/73075.html
YELLOW BIKES
http://lexingtonyellowbikes.com/
Recycle for solar
MARCH 2007
NEW TRICYCLE GIVES BIKING A DIFFERENT
FEEL
TREE HUGGER - Mechanical Engineer Stephen
Coates thought that traditional bikes has limitations when it
came to balance, comfort, storage and joint-friendly leg action.
He has developed the [three wheeled] hiker, and says that he
"has done away with the inefficiencies of both traditional
bicycles and recumbent bicycles - tricycles. For starters, the
seat is at standard chair height and does not require a complicated
movement to get onto and off of. The revolutionary tangent lever
design abolishes circular pedal travel in favor of a simple leg
extension for forward movement. Due to the versatility of this
design, all that is required is a simple internal 3-speed hub
to ensure optimal gearing with minimal changes. As for steering,
all that's required is an intuitive lean, thanks to the new center-pivot
steering ."
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/hiker_sitdown_t.php
JANUARY 2007
TOP
RIGHT: Vienna's free
bike system. Users can register directly at the terminal or at
the site. . . TOP LEFT: An electric bike that has enough mileage
on it to make it a feasible alternative to the urban car. . .
BOTTOM RIGHT:
Built in France in 1875, the Cynosphere was driven by two
caged dogs. The Society for the Protection of Animals thought
the idea inappropriate and further development was abandoned.
. . BOTTOM LEFT:
A hyperbike featuring speeds up to 50 mph, full body workout
and two independent brake systems. The driver twists his torso,
contracts the stomach and back muscles, and alternately extends
the arms up and down as in a foot pedal motion, while coordinating
with the legs to get the best push and pull from the lower pedals.
NORWAY'S BIKE LIFT
TRAMPE, NORWAR - The inventor
of the Bicycle Lift and the owner of the company Design Management,
Jarle Wanvik, is a true bicycle enthusiast. He always finds an
excuse for parking his car and using his bicycle instead. In
daily transport to and from work, to the shopping center etc.,
it is uncomfortable to be too warm and sweaty. In 1992, Wanvik
got luminous visions about a bicycle lift that could carry cyclists
uphill. Inspired by the ski lift technology, he visualized a
lift design by which the cyclists could be pushed uphill without
having to descend the bicycle.
Wanvik's home town is Trondheim,
the third largest city of Norway, housing 150 000 inhabitants
and 30,000 students. Trondheim is characterized by the old town
center down by the seashore with a surrounding, terraced landscape
formed back in the ice age. On the banks of these terraces, 100-300
m above sea level, we find most of the living areas, each of
them with 20-30 000 inhabitants. On top of one of these terraces
is the University of Trondheim.
To increase the usage of bicycles
in Trondheim, the Municipal of Trondheim has through the recent
years invested in building multiple, connected bicycle roads.
Due to topographical height differences, however, there is limited
bicycle commuting to and from the town center. In job/school
commuting or shopping the last thing you want to be is sweaty,
and climbing the hills to the top of the terraces in Trondheim
will guarantee copious amounts of perspiration.
After having simulated the basic
principle of the new product - pushing the cyclist by his backwardly
stretched foot, the Public Roads Administration was convinced.
In November 1992, Design Management AS was asked to deliver and
install a prototype of the lift at Bakklandet, situated close
to the town center and consisting of a commonly used hill leading
to the university campus.
Normally, there are 20-30,000
trips per year. 220,000 have taken Trampe since the installment
in 1993.
http://www.trampe.no/english/history.php
HOW TO PEE GREEN
SUSTAINABLOG - According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
the city has passed new rules that "...encourage builders
to construct 'green roofs,' 'vegetated walls' and other features
that clean the air, insulate buildings and ease the burden of
Seattle's wet climate on the city's drains and creek beds."
http://sustainablog.blogspot.com/
A FEW POWER CUSTOMERS CAN
FIND OUT THE CHEAPEST TIME TO DO THEIR WASH
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, NY TIMES
- Most people are not aware that electricity prices fluctuate
widely throughout the day, let alone exactly how much they pay
at the moment they flip a switch. . . Participants in the Community
Energy Cooperative program, for example, can check a Web site
that tells them, hour by hour, how much their electricity costs;
they get e-mail alerts when the price is set to rise above 20
cents a kilowatt-hour. If just a fraction of all Americans had
this information and could adjust their power use accordingly,
the savings would be huge. Consumers would save nearly $23 billion
a year if they shifted just 7 percent of their usage during peak
periods to less costly times, research at Carnegie Mellon University
indicates. That is the equivalent of the entire nation getting
a free month of power every year. Meters that can read prices
every hour or less are widely used in factories, but are found
in only a tiny number of homes, where most meters are read monthly.
The handful of people who do
use hourly meters not only cut their own bills, but also help
everyone else by reducing the need for expensive generating stations
that run just a few days, or hours, each year. Over the long
run, such savings could mean less pollution, because the dirtiest
plants could be used less or not at all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/business/08power.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
ABOUT SOLAR HOT AIR SYSTEMS
DON CHIRAS, H20POWER - Solar
hot-air systems capture sunlight energy and use it to heat incoming
air. Heated air is then transferred into your home, often with
a small electric fan. The solar energy costs what it always has
cost - nothing. Solar hot-air systems can help alleviate homeowners'
worries about rising fuel costs and provide years of inexpensive,
maintenance-free comfort. They can heat homes, offices, workshops,
garages and barns.
All solar hot-air systems rely
on hot-air panels or collectors. Collectors are typically mounted
on south-facing walls, roofs or even on the ground, if it's unshaded
during the heating season. Some commercial systems are simple
thermosiphon collectors that rely entirely on convection to distribute
hot air, but most use fans or blowers controlled by relatively
simple electronics. A temperature sensor mounted inside the collector
monitors internal temperature. When it reaches 110 degrees, it
sends a signal to a thermostat mounted inside the home, which
turns on the fan if room temperature is below the desired level.
When the temperature inside the collector drops to 90 degrees,
or the room reaches its setting, the thermostat turns the fan
off.
Solar hot-air systems actively
produce heat only in the daytime, but some of that heat is absorbed
by the building's thermal mass: drywall, tile, framing lumber,
etc. At night, the heat stored in the thermal mass radiates into
the rooms. The more thermal mass, the greater the nighttime benefit
http://h2opower.blogspot.com/2006/12/buyers-guide-to-solar-heating.html
ROTTERDAM INTRODUCES SUSTAINABLE
NIGHTCLUB
SPRINGWISE - Kicking off in Rotterdam's
Off_Corso is the Sustainable Dance Club. . . Enviu, an environmental
NGO for young people, is working together with architectural
firm Döll to create a truly sustainable nightclub. The club
[features] energy-generating dance floors (excellent way to extract
kilowatts from energetic clubbers), toilets that flush with rain
water, walls that change color as a reaction to temperature changes,
a rooftop garden and other elements . . . Some 80 Enviu volunteers
(young professionals and students) have developed the concept
over the last 8 months.
http://sustainablerotterdam.blogspot.com/2006/10/sustainable-dance-club-what-night.html
VIDEO
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzb3VFi3Sew
THE LIST
Household Power Usages
45W - Outside Christmas Lights
7W - DVD player
3W - Microwave sitting idle
785W - One Side of Toaster
75W - Christmas Tree Lights
145W - Central Vacuum Brush
1250W - Carpet Cleaner With Water Heater On
1475W - Kettle
995W - Coffee Maker Brew Cycle
http://www.yafla.com/dforbes/2006/12/28.html
MAKING HOUSES LIKE CARS
ARCHITECTURAL RECORD - KTA's
Loblolly departs most wholly from past prefab models through
its innovative component-based design, in which KTA minimized
the number of parts. "We want materials we can take apart
like used auto parts, as opposed to ending up with rubble,"
Kieran says. Unlike many houses, even those built with sustainability
in mind, Loblolly's components, or elements, as the architects
call them, could be unbolted and reconfigured at another site
for a different house or, as the architects like to demonstrate
in their public lectures, sold off in pieces on Ebay. . . The
architects divided the chain between three tiers of suppliers
and a final assembler, much in the way automotive companies outsource
major components of each car with final assembly at factories
throughout the world.
DECEMBER 2006
SURVEY FINDS BUYERS RESPOND TO THINK
LOCAL CAMPAIGN
NEW RULES - A three-year-old
campaign to encourage people in northwest Washington state to
"Think Local First" is having a dramatic effect on
spending behavior, according to a recent survey. The survey of
300 people in Whatcom County found that 69 percent are familiar
with the Think Local First campaign and 58 percent are making
a more deliberate effort to patronize locally owned businesses
than they did before the campaign started three years ago.
"These results are phenomenal,"
said Dr. Pamela Jull, the lead researcher. "Normally, if
1 in 5 households claim familiarity with your program, and change
their behavior because of it you would consider it a success.
To have nearly 3 in 5 households attributing a behavior change
to this program shows an amazing impact."
They survey also found that 86
percent respondents are spending the same or more money at locally
owned businesses than they did before the campaign. Only 12 percent
reported spending less.
http://www.newrules.org/retail/news_slug.php?slugid=349
HOUSES THAT HEAT AND COOL THEMSELVES
BIKE PORTLAND -
Bob Crispin sent in these photos after seeing this wayward pedaler
on the streets of Northeast Portland. Amazingly, the guy claims
to have ridden this contraption all over the U.S. and down to
Mexico. "He said his design was inspired by the moon rovers
and the moon landing vehicle, the super structure and the shiny
panels. The interior was sweet too, looked comfy, and had a map
holder and lots of neat nooks and crannies to store stuff.".
. . The craziest thing is that despite days of torrential rain,
Bob said it was dry inside the cabin.
NOVEMBER 2006
THE ECOCITY FARM
TREE HUGGERS - The developers
of the Ecocity Farm reckon all you need is a standard urban house
block. They've come up with a commercial aquaponic system that
effectively recycles its own water and waste, while being space
efficient due to it's vertical stackable design. Barramundi fish
are harvested alongside vegetables. Waste from the fish is reduced,
via a biodigester, to water soluble feedstock for the hydroponically
grown plants. Plans are even afoot to prototype a process that
converts human food scraps into fish meal. According to the designers
the concept can produce 12 times the quantity of food from conventional
farming. And the idea is develop the system to a complete all-in-one,
out-of-the-box unit that can be franchised worldwide. Traditional
farmland is preserved as the package can be used in urban blocks
or even on building rooftops. Farmers will then be able to service
their customers with minimal transport and energy costs.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/ecocity_farm.php#perma
OCTOBER 2006
 KATRINA EMERGENCY COTTAGE SEEPING INTO MAINSTREAM
RON SCHERER, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MONITOR - A model home here that gives Katrina's displaced an
alternative to trailer living is starting to take the country
by storm. The Katrina cottage - with living quarters about the
size of a McMansion bathroom - is now appealing to people well
beyond the flood plain. Californians want to build one in their
backyards to use for rental income to help with the mortgage
payment. Modestly paid kayakers in Colorado see it as a way to
finally afford a house. Elsewhere, people envision building one
so a parent can live nearby.
Flying in the face of a "big
house" trend, designers of these tiny abodes seem to have
found a new housing niche. Some experts cite an interest by some
Americans in downsizing their habitats, a reaction to the supersized
home, and note the challenge of heating and cooling a big house
at a time when family budgets are flat. Others note that changing
demographics - more empty-nesters and single adults - may mean
a timely debut of the Lilliputian homes. . .
Commercialization of the concept
is limited - but that is about to change. Late this year, perhaps
as soon as next month, Lowe's, a national hardware and building-supply
company, intends to begin selling the plans and materials for
four models in 30 stores in the Gulf Coast region.
The "Lowe's Katrina Cottage"
offerings range from a two-bedroom, 544-square-foot model to
a three-bedroom, 936-square-foot house. The cottages will cost
$45 to $55 per square foot to build, Lowe's estimates, meaning
the smallest would run about $27,200 and the largest $46,800.
Estimates do not include the cost of the foundation, heating
and cooling, and labor.
www.cusatocottages.com
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1002/p01s01-ussc.html
ENERGY FROM MELON RINDS
MICHAEL KANELLOS, CNET - University
of California, Davis wants to light the world with old melon
rinds. The university will show off an experimental facility
that takes wilted lettuce, fish heads and other leftover food
bits and turns it into biogas, a combination of natural gas and
carbon dioxide. Separating the CO2 leaves commercial grade natural
gas.
The technology, called an anaerobic
phased solids digester, has been licensed from the university
and adapted for commercial use by Onsite Power Systems. In the
digester, microbes eat the garbage and give off valuable gases.
Several companies are experimenting
with figuring out ways to exploit waste products as an energy
source. Natural gas releases fewer pollutants than coal or car
gas. And the fuel stock costs little to obtain and has little
independent value. Who wants a chewed up piece of meat that got
spit out into a napkin, after all? In fact, garbage costs money
to get rid of, so using it as fuel can cut other operational
costs.
http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-6128182.html?part=rss&tag=6128182&subj=news
BEFORE YOU GET A GREEN ROOF, FIGURE
OUT HOW TO MOW IT
TREVOR MARTIN, DAILY RECORD, UK - Bosses at the new Scottish Natural
Heritage HQ are facing a L5000 bill every time they cut the grass
- on their roof. The L13 million centre, which has won acclaim
for its eco-friendly credentials, includes a roof garden. But
health & safety regulations mean scaffolding and other safety
measures must be installed when people are working above ground.
. . Local councillor Jimmy MacDonald said: "It seems the
extra costs to cut the grass will make this building not as eco-friendly
as first believed." An SNH spokesman said: "The roof
was chosen due to its low-maintenance regime, which is why it
is so popular for green roof projects."
ETHANOL HIGH COULD RAISE FUEL ECONOMY
PLANET ARK - Injecting small
quantities of ethanol into car engines at moments of peak demand
-- such as accelerating sharply or climbing a steep hill -- could
improve the fuel economy of gasoline engines by 20 percent to
30 percent, a scientist said. A team of researchers at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology is working on the system, which scientists
say would allow carmakers to use smaller engines in their vehicles,
reducing weight and improving fuel economy at a lower cost to
consumers than by adding a hybrid engine. . . He estimated that
adding the ethanol injection system to a car would cost about
$1,000 and that cars using the new system could be in mass production
by 2011.
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38678/story.htm
THE BOTTLED WATER LIE
MICHAEL BLANDING, ALTERNET -
The corporations that sell bottled water are depleting natural
resources, jacking up prices, and lying when they tell you their
water is purer and tastes better than the stuff that comes out
of the tap. . . In the past decade, the bottled water market
has more than doubled in the United States, surpassing juice,
milk, and beer to become the second most popular beverage after
soft drinks. According to a 2003 Gallup poll, three in four Americans
drink bottled water, and one in five drink only bottled water.
Together, consumers spent some $10 billion on the product last
year, consuming an average of 26 gallons of the stuff per person,
according the Beverage Marketing Corporation. At the same time,
companies spend some $70 million annually to advertise their
products. Typical are Aquafina's ads advertising the beverage
as "the purest of waters," Dasani's ads contending
the water is "pure as water can get."
In fact, says Kellett, not only
does tap water often taste the same as bottled water, but it
is also often safer to drink as well. "They are spending
tens of millions of dollars every year to undermine our confidence
in tap water," she says, "even though water systems
here in the United States are better regulated than bottled water."
That's because tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection
Agency, which imposes strict limits on chemicals and bacteria,
constant testing by government agencies, and mandatory notification
to the public in the event of contamination.
Bottled water, on the other hand,
is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which according
to federal law is technically required to hold itself to the
same standards as the EPA. The devil is in the details, however,
since FDA regulations only apply to water that is bottled and
transported between states, leaving out the two-thirds of water
that is solely transported within states.
http://www.alternet.org/stories/43480/
SEPTEMBER 2006
GREEN CONDOS
UTNE - A 10-unit condo in the
Bankers Hill neighborhood of San Diego [will get] up to 70 percent
of its energy from solar panels. In addition, the project will
use chemical-free building materials, wood discarded by lumber
companies, and a landscape of fruit trees and herbs. Developer
Craig Brod [said] that environmentally sound condos are worth
the 3 percent to 5 percent extra in building costs, adding that,
"[t]he majority of builders in America are creating a travesty.
They're charging people a lot of money for a product that is
basically inferior to what it could be."
Though a green condo may be more
expensive than its conventional counterpart, buyers can walk
away with a satisfaction that's more tangible than the warm and
fuzzy feeling of shrinking their eco-footprint. This' Saunders
points out that since much of the work goes toward making buildings
more energy and water efficient, the savings from reduced bills
will add an extra layer or two to owners' wallets in the future.
Some developers are going a step
further, combining green living with green transportation. Saunders
writes that designers often incorporate ways to minimize gas
usage, like constructing condos a walkable distance from amenities
and cultural centers or including a membership to a co-op car
in the condo package. In Dallas the purchase of a "Buzz"
condo comes complete with an electric moped. Residents can recharge
in the garage using wind-powered electricity, writes Christine
Perez of the Dallas Business Journal.
http://www.utne.com/webwatch/2006_268/news/12281-1.html
THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF BIOFUELS
JEFFREY A MCNEELY, BBC - The
grain required to fill the petrol tank of a Range Rover with
ethanol is sufficient to feed one person per year. Assuming the
petrol tank is refilled every two weeks, the amount of grain
required would feed a hungry African village for a year Much
of the fuel that Europeans use will be imported from Brazil,
where the Amazon is being burned to plant more sugar and soybeans,
and Southeast Asia, where oil palm plantations are destroying
the rainforest habitat of orangutans and many other species.
Species are dying for our driving.
The expansion of biofuels would
increase monoculture farming If ethanol is imported from the
US, it will likely come from maize, which uses fossil fuels at
every stage in the production process, from cultivation using
fertilizers and tractors to processing and transportation. Growing
maize appears to use 30% more energy than the finished fuel produces,
and leaves eroded soils and polluted waters behind.
[Jeffrey A McNeely is chief scientist
of IUCN, the World Conservation Union, based in Switzerland]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/sci/tech/5369284.stm
FREE OR LOW COST WAYS TO GREEN YOUR
KITCHEN AND LAUNDRY
[From Consumer
Reports]
Run the dishwasher and the washing
machine only when they are full.
Don't prerinse dishes before
loading the dishwasher. You'll save as much as 20 gallons a load,
or 6,500 gallons per year. Our tests show prerinsing doesn't
improve cleaning.
When your dish load is small,
fill the sink or basin and wash dishes by hand. Place soapy dishes
on a rack, and spray rinse.
Wash vegetables and fruits in
a bowl or basin using a vegetable brush; don't let the water
run.
Use recycled water on plants.
Sources: water left from boiled eggs, tea kettles, and washed
vegetables; dehumidifier condensate.
Investigate using waste water
from the washing machine, bathtub, or sink on outdoor, inedible
plants. States vary in their approach to so-called gray-water
use. . .
Steam vegetables instead of boiling.
Besides using less water, you'll retain more vitamins in the
food.
Chill drinking water in the refrigerator
instead of running the faucet until the water is cold.
Defrost food in the refrigerator,
not in a pan of water on the counter or in the sink. Besides
saving water, it's less likely to breed bacteria.
SHOULD YOU OBSERVE 'USE BY' LABELS ON
FOOD?
LUCY SIEGLE, OBSERVER, UK - According
to a recent report, 70 per cent of produce is dumped by producers
and retailers before it even gets to the store. . . One quarter
of all the food waste that goes into British landfill is reckoned
to be edible, and a sizeable portion of that will be food with
highly conservative end-of-life dates. Whether you observe dates
depends on whether you view them as labels that protect our health
or as a ruse to get you to buy more. If it's the latter, you'll
appreciate the freegan movement, which throws all culinary caution
to the wind by advocating urban and rural foraging - from dumpster
diving and skip harvesting (rooting in bins outside restaurants
and supermarkets) to plate scraping (going into restaurants and
scraping the leftovers straight from diners' plates - you can't
be shy in this business). I am yet to find one freegan who admits
to ever having had food poisoning.
Noticeably, if you buy produce
unwrapped from a farmers' market it comes without a directive
on when to throw it out, requiring use of eyes, nose and common
sense to judge when food is dangerous. These are the kind of
sustainable talents worth fostering.
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,,1880427,00.html
GREEN GIZMO UPDATE
JUSTIN MCCURRY, GUARDIAN - Heated
seats and computerized bidets are practically standard in modern
Japanese toilets, but what greenie points the country's WCs lose
in electricity consumption, they try to make up for in water
savings. The addition of a tap and basin on top of the cistern
- so that, when you wash your hands, the water from the basin
then re-fills the cistern - seems a far more elegant solution
than any of the electronic add-ons. . . Most feature handles
you can turn one way for a big flush, the other for a smaller,
less wasteful one.
Modern Japanese homes are designed
so that the washing machine is installed just a few meters from
the bathtub - and with good reason. Many households now save
water by feeding it from a pipe placed in a tub of used bathwater
into the washing machine. . .
Philips has come up with a new
light bulb design that may eventually replace the compact fluorescent
light bulb as our best green lighting option. Based on light
emitting diodes, the bulb is said to use far less energy even
than CFLs. In the meantime, ponder the thought that, if every
household in the US replaced one traditional (incredibly inefficient)
incandescent bulb with a CFL, it would be the equivalent of taking
one million cars off the road. . .
Samsung has created a prototype
widescreen LCD television that consumes only 80 watts. . .
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,1876043,00.html
SOLAR REFLECTIVE PAINT
TREE HUGGER - One of our very early posts was on the
enviro benefits of Green Roofs. . . But if you have some deep
seating aversion to growing grasses and strawberries on your
upstairs, you might alternatively be curious about Texcote. It
claims to be 10 times thicker than normal paint, and to be infused
with a special reflective pigment. Now your house, or commercial
premises, unlike a Stealth bomber, may not need to reduce its
radar signature, but reducing roof temps by 40°F is a practical
application of the technology. Apparently the US govt think such
energy reduction possibilities might have merit, so are said
to be researching just what the savings could be. And the stuff
is robust, in some instances not needing a repaint for 40 years.
Yet for all this heavy-dutyness, it is said to have a low volatile
organic compound emissions.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/texcote_solar_r.php#perma
LONDON SUBWAY CARS BEING RECYCLED AS
WORKSPACES
TUBE LINES, UK - A new charity
is helping Tube Lines, the company responsible for rebuilding
the Tube's busiest lines, to recycle obsolete Tube carriages
which have been lying disused for years. Over the weekend six
old Jubilee line carriages were removed from sidings in Uxbridge
and taken for cleaning up before being turned into workspace
for start-up creative businesses by Village Underground, a new
charity which supports new small companies.
Typically carriages which no
longer serve the traveling public are taken to pieces, the metals
separated and the various parts disposed of, some into landfill
http://www.tubelines.com/news/releases/200608/20060803a.aspx
TREE HUGGER - California-based Phoenix Motorcars
is in the game to mass produce full-function, freeway-speed electric
automobiles; their first model was a reproduction of a 1937 Ford
Cabriolet, but they've moved on to light pickups, small vans
and a mid-size SUV coming in mid-2007. With a minimum range of
120 miles per charge and max speed of 95 mph, the vehicles compare
favorably with most other electric vehicles in production.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/phoenix_motorca.php#perma
TREE HUGGER - Hertz is this week launching its "Green
Collection" of rental cars (with USEPA ratings of 28+ mpg,
highway). "More than half of the 35,000 vehicles are Smart
Way certified, the highest EPA marks for limiting air pollution
and greenhouse gases. Travelers can reserve one of 42 types of
cars, including the Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion and Buick LaCrosse,
at 50 airports around the country".
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/hertz_fearturin.php#perma
AUGUST 2006
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