Monthly Archives: January 2009

Photo via Carblog

When Consumer Reports put their Prius Touring through an expensive modification in order to convert it into a plug-in electric car, the results were pretty astonishing: the converted plug-in Prius picked up an extra 25 miles per gallon, landing the already efficient car at a whopping 67 mpg. And that’s just the around town mileage.

Image via Crafting a Green World

It’s true that a little fabric label can add an extra dimension of professionalism and brand recognition to your handmade stuff, especially if you run your own small business or just love the do-it-yourself ethic. We came across these five tips on how to make your own environmentally-friendly labels over at the DIY blog Crafting A Green World that will definitely come in handy for crafters. For those who need huge quantities of labels, writer Jackie Hernandez suggests looking at these <a

Image via flickr

Ah, the Super Bowl. One of the great American celebrations of sport, music, and creative consumerism. It’s all but a national holiday, and every year, half the country tunes in to catch the most expensive advertising in the world, the uber-elaborate half time show, and to occasionally check the score of some sort of athletic competition.

And tomorrow, TreeHugger will be presenting full, non-stop coverage of everything that’s green (and probably more often, everything that isn’t) about <a href=”http://www.nfl.c

Image via Monterey Bay Shores

The “greenest ecoresort in the world” is set to be built in Monterey, California this February. The resort, called Monterey Bay Shores, will be built on 29 acres of a sand dune that was previously destroyed by 60 years of mining. It will actively provide habitats for endangered species, boast 5 acres of living roofs, and get 30 % of its power from onsite solar and wind systems. The developers claim that “every single detail of Monterey Bay Shores Ecoresort encompasses principles of sustainability and conserv

Photo via the New York Times

The largest rainforest in the world is being chopped down almost entirely for a single purpose: beef. That’s right, one of the biggest, most beautifully diverse ecosystems on the planet is being traded in—for hamburgers. According to a report from Mongabay, a full 80 percent of the land cleared by Amazon deforestation from 1996-2006 has been used to create cattle pastures.

The rainforest

There’s both green and grime in the environmental news from Turkey this month.

In a country in environmental transition, there isn’t always a lot of sexy or earth-shattering news–not a lot of sleek new technological innovations from the business sector or ambitious green plans by government.

But that doesn’t mean that Turkey isn’t taking steps forward–and, sometimes, back. Here’s a look at some of the developments from January

European Union Member Countries

Ten European Union member nations have failed to keep environmental permits up to date. That means industries and municipalities in those nations report pollutant air emissions and water discharges in dissimilar ways. After missing an October of 2007 EU deadline, final warnings were sent to “Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain, after which they face the prospect of court action. Denmark and Ireland were sent first warnings.” Why is this important?

photo: Eden

I knew that would get your attention and that’s precisely the purpose according to Eden, the group that’s behind the exhibit to draw attention to global warming. And if there were ever an effective image to show the painful victims of climate change, it’s a cuddly polar bear floating atop a drifting ice cap

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Jumeirah Beach, Dubai
Image credit: Sonia Verma

Beaches filled with sewerage: what a fitting ‘epilog’ to the decadent design and development tale that was Dubai.

According to the Times Online, in their story Sun, sea and sewage in the playground of the rich in Dubai, Plan A was for the sewerage and chemical waste of a population of over a million to be driven out into the desert and dumped. Plan B, which was implemented, apparently, without official sanction, has a much-reduced carbon footprint compared to Plan-A. Pla