-
SWF Seeking Attractive Male With Small Carbon Footprint for Valentine's Day
Tweet Share on Facebook February 13, 2009 Comment (7)If only you had a Valentine to share scintillating conversation about altetnative energy policy over an organic, local meal with tomorrow night. Just as there are niche dating sites for singles who love indie rock, Sean Hannity, horseback riding or Star Trek ("Love Long and Prosper"), there are options for those who would like to weed out anyone with a large carbon footprint from his or her dating pool. They're a little on the granola Birkenstock side of the spectrum, though, so make sure you check out some profiles and see if you're a good fit for the site before joining. Here are a few:
Green Singles is the most established of the sites, and actually began as a newsletter for eco-friendly singles in 1985. You can place a free listing, but have to pay $24 for three months to be able to contact any members (many of the sites work this way). The site shares five percent of its profits with environmental organizations like Greenpeace and Oxfam America. It also congratulates prospective members on being a "kindred spirit." In the success stories section of the site, one woman gushes, "he proposed in our bean patch."
-
Zumbox Presents a New Alternative to Postal Mail
Tweet Share on Facebook February 12, 2009 Comment (15)When I received a press release touting "the first all-digital Web-based alternative to the U.S. Postal Service," my first thought was, "Like... e-mail?" E-mail has not, of course, replaced our postal mail, but it sure would be nice if it could - paper mail is wasteful when you consider the tons of resources used, and the carbon emitted in its delivery. The USPS has always been threatened by electronic mail ever since it was created, especially as more people who care about saving time, money and the environment go online to pay their bills and correspond each day.
E-mail addresses lack geographic grounding, though, so your congressman or neighborhood association wouldn't be able to send you an online notice unless they already knew your e-mail address. E-mail addresses can come from any number of providers, and local businesses who want to advertise to a small audience would have no way of directly reaching potential customers online.
Zumbox wants to change that. The start-up, which launched this week, has created an electronic mailbox for every address in the country, and it's free for all users. Companies can sign up to send mail via Zumbox so you can check your mail from anywhere. Companies can send catalogues, bills and notifications, all paperless, and customers can decide whether or not they want to opt-out of the paper versions of the same documents. It's free for businesses, nonprofits, government entities and individuals to send mail, while marketers are charged five cents per message. Video can be embedded, and catalogues are PDFed.
-
Will Carbon Offsets Survive the Downturn?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 11, 2009 Comment (1)To get through the recession, consumers are scrimping and saving, which posits an environmental catch-22. Since we're spending less, we're consuming less, but since we have less to spend, we may not be as likely to put money towards extras like carbon offsets. Recently, I caught up with Patti Prairie, the CEO of offset provider Brighter Planet, to talk about how consumers will be green in tough times. Brighter Planet partners with credit card companies to provide offsets that are accrued like rewards points for purchases. One memorable quote from Prairie: "We think this will be the year when knowing your footprint will become a classy thing."
How do you think the practice of carbon offsets will fare in this year's economy?
I think that a time like this when people are focused on doing less is a good time from an environmental point of view. If people understand where it is that they are spending and using energy, they could be more inclined to buy offsets, because there will be a heightened awareness of everyday actions. We consider conservation to be just as much of a win for us as offsetting. It's not selling something, but raising awareness of the environment - raising the sense that every person can do something about it.
-
Sorry, UFO Watchers - Aliens Didn't Take Down the Wind Turbine
Tweet Share on Facebook February 11, 2009 Comment (8)A few weeks ago, a wind turbine in Lincolnshire, U.K. was mysteriously destroyed, with one blade lopped off and another twisted around. Some eyewitnesses attributed the damage to an "Octopus-shaped U.F.O." that passed through the wind farm, while others blamed ice buildup on the blades, an out-of-control fireworks display, or simply fatigue. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek post about the incident, which garnered a lot of comments from three types: First, the UFO believers, who were offended by my sarcasm (thanks for the crop circle links, guys); second, British citizens who were offended by my sarcasm (wasn't making fun of you personally, guys), and third, Simpsons fans who appreciate a good internet meme (as do I).
Proving once again the principle of Occam's razor - that the simplest explanation is also the likeliest, as Dan from California pointed out - the results of the investigation of that incident were recently revealed and it was indeed material fatigue that brought the turbine down. Aging bolts that attached the blade to the turbine were to blame. “To be honest I’m not surprised. But there was part of me that did hope it was a U.F.O. as it was a lovely story,” said Dale Vince, the founder of Ecotricity, the wind project operator. Case closed.
-
Google Brings the Smart Grid to You
Tweet Share on Facebook February 10, 2009 Comment (2)Forgetting to turn off a TV or the lights is a waste of energy, we know - but without knowing how much, it's an amorphous eco-sin with no real consequences. Google.org, the philanthropic branch of the search engine, aims to change that with Google PowerMeter, a tracking device that will help consumers see how much power they're using, and where it's coming from, in real time.
PowerMeter would sync up with the smart meters that many utility customers already have. Companies that partner with Google will take data from the smart meters and make it available for real time graphing via a Google widget. Consumers would be able to see when they are consuming the most, and what devices are sucking the most energy. You can also opt to share your energy data to see how you stack up to other Americans, and encourage friendly competition.
-
The Stimulus: What Everyone Green is Saying About It
Tweet Share on Facebook February 10, 2009 Comment (11)After the Senate passed the stimulus bill, environmental and green energy groups came forward with praise for the House's version of the bill, and hope for moving forward. "Shovel-ready" is the buzzword of the day. Here's what they had to say:
Greenpeace: A new ICF analysis commissioned by Greenpeace shows that the House version of the stimulus package would be more effective in fighting global warming, cutting approximately 12 million metric tons more greenhouse gas emissions than the Senate version. Furthermore, the House version’s energy package would save government and consumers approximately $3 billion more in utility bills annually ... “The fact that the federal government could spend so much money and actually help slow global warming means we’ve really turned the page as a country,” said Kert Davies, Greenpeace’s Research Director. “This is a real sign that we’re starting to move beyond the era of fossil fuels.”
-
Rep. Blumenauer on Bikes: "Republicans Don't Get It."
Tweet Share on Facebook February 9, 2009 Comment (5)After Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) proposed an amendment to the stimulus that would prohibit funding of bicycle paths, outspoken bicycle supporter and Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer went on the warpath. In a blog post he wrote for the Huffington Post, Blumenauer described Republicans as "out of touch."
Said Blumenauer:
To their detriment, they are continuing their trend from last Congress of using the most economical, energy-efficient, and healthy forms of transportation as their whipping post. Investment in bike paths will not only improve our economy, and take our country in the right direction for the future; it is exactly the kind of investment the American people want.
Moreover, bicycle and pedestrian paths are precisely the kind of infrastructure projects our country needs. These projects tend to the most "shovel-ready" and are more labor-intensive than other projects-- therefore putting more people to work per dollar spent.
-
3 Gross Green Fuels That are Powering Vehicles Now
Tweet Share on Facebook February 5, 2009 Comment (5)Corn, soybeans and cooking oil are ingredients that can go between our kitchens and our cars, since they can be used for fuel. They're not the only sources, though, as recent headlines have been made by far more unusual - and sometimes icky - substances powering our vehicles. Here are a few:
The least disagreeable ingredient on this list is beer waste, which the Sierra Nevada Brewing will use to power the company's trucks. The waste, which is made of yeast, will be put through an on-site ethanol machine for fermentation, and then added to gasoline to be used in the brewer's fleet of biodiesel trucks. Any surplus fuel may even be given to the company's employees. Sierra Nevada generates 1.6 million gallons of beer dregs each year.
-
Not Just HFCS and Peanut Butter: Here are 10 Other Risky Foods
Tweet Share on Facebook February 4, 2009 Comment (21)As if we don't have enough to be worried about already. In the midst of food safety scares from salmonella in peanut butter and mercury in high fructose corn syrup, Sprig has produced a list of 10 other foods that can be dangerous. Their risks range from hormones to pesticides to carcinogenic substances. How to avoid many of these risks? Buy organic.
- Farmed Salmon. It's high in Polychlorinated Biphenyls, with 11 times more dioxins than wild salmon.
- Conventionally Grown Bell Peppers. They require more pesticides than any other vegetable - with as many as 64 being found on a single sample of pepper in one study.
- Non-Organic Strawberries. Some growers of strawberries irrigate their plants with Nutri-Sweet-laced water. The sugar substitute is a probable carcinogen.
- Chilean Sea Bass. The fish is high in mercury, and if eaten consistently over time, can elevate the body's mercury levels to dangerous amounts.
- Non-Organic Peaches. Pesticides easily penetrate their soft skins and permeate the fruit.
- Genetically Modified Corn. We still don't know the long-term effects of genetically modified corn, but it's been tied to an increase in allergies for humans.
- Bluefin Tuna. Not only is it high in mercury, but overfishing may drive the species to extinction.
- Industrially Farmed Chicken. Arsenic has been found in conventional chickens, as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
- Non-Organic Apples. When grown in humid Mid-Atlantic states, the crop uses more pesticides than California, Oregon and Washington states.
- Cattle Treated with rBGH. Recombinant bovine growth hormone has been traced to breast cancer and hormonal disorders.
-
'Inconvenient Truth' Opera Inconveniently Loses Director
Tweet Share on Facebook February 3, 2009 Comment (1)A operatic adaptation of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth has hit some snags, reports the New York Times. Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin, of films such as The French Connection and The Exorcist, has quit the production. He cited artistic differences with the poet J.D. McClatchy, who is writing the libretto, but that may not be the case: Giorgio Battistelli, the composer of the opera, told a paper that Friedkin's reasons were personal, not artistic. Battistelli was also critical of Friedkin's qualifications and background, saying "Opera isn’t Hollywood."
Either way, questions remain about how well the film will translate to opera - and if it will draw a crowd. Will a Power Point presentation look out of place on the grand stage of Milan's La Scala, where the work is set to debut in 2011?
