Monthly Archives: March 2009

Photo via: d70focus

Lately, we just keep hearing more and more bad news about technology falling hopelessly under attack by dastardly bad-doers, otherwise known as cyber-hackers. With so much bad news finding its way into headlines, it makes some experts wonder just how safe a Smart Grid can ever be

Photo credit: Go Green Expo

The Go Green Expo, which dubs itself “the nation’s leading eco-focused, green-living showcase” returns to the Big Apple for an encore this April. Now open to the public, the event will introduce New Yorkers to the latest in energy-efficient and eco-friendly products and services in areas such as fashion and beauty, travel and transportation, business, and <a href=”http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/greener-gadg

Photo credit: Blumebox

Blumebox (which is both the name of the company and the product) has planted a new seed of an idea: A reusable, 100 percent recyclable flower vase that your pint-sized Michelangelos can decorate and then fill with cut blooms, whether as a rainy-day activity, a birthday present, or a gift for Mother’s Day (hint, hint, Dads).

The My Mo

In a lively discussion at New York’s Columbia University today, media titan Ted Turner lamented the US auto industry’s slow approach to green, promised to talk with Rupert Murdoch about the Wall Street Journal’s skeptical take on climate change, and criticized environmental coverage by CNN, the network he founded.

The “Mouth of the South” made his characteristically spirited remarks at the launch of the Climate Center at Columbia University, a new multi-disciplinary re

Image via: Author’s photo album

Today Akeena Solar and Morgan Stanley Solar Solutions Group announced their partnership, aimed at creating more jobs in the green-energy field, as well as improve the lives of low-income homeowners. But, Akeena Solar AC integrated solar panels also make it easier for first time installers to learn the system and get a job. Find out how.

Photo: Optare

Electric Buses Are Coming Slowly But Surely
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is great, but most of those buses are still running on plain old diesel. Diesel-electric hybrid buses are starting to become more popular and they’re an improvement, but 100% electric buses would be even better. The Solo EV by UK’s Optare is a (small) step in that direction. Read on for more details

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Photo via Gothamist

Not again. How many months since the peanut butter salmonella catastrophe? Two months? Well, it’s time to get on your guard again—”several types” of salmonella were discovered by Kraft Foods during routine inspection of pistachios bought from California company Setton Pistachio. The company decided to recall its entire 2008 crop—over one million pounds of pistachios

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Photo via Mopar Muscle Magazine

Yesterday President Obama told Chrysler and GM that it is time to shape up or ship out. He also said he supports a program that would pay people to trade in older cars for newer, more fuel efficient vehicles. Europe has successfully tried this, but could it work here and would it be good for the planet?

Bus stop in Curitiba, Brazil. Photo: Flickr, CC

75% of Population Commutes to Work Via Bus
Curitiba, in Brazil, has about the same population as Phoenix in the US. In Phoenix, about 1% of people take the bus to get to work, which that number if 75% in Curitiba. If you want to find out why their public transit system is so good – and all that without having an underground subway system! – check out the excellent video below by our friends at StreetFilms

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Photo: Flickr, CC

“If the poisonings don’t stop, the fate of the African lion may be sealed.”
Lions in East-Africa are being poisoned by a pesticide that is banned in the European Union and will probably soon be banned in the US for all food crops. It’s called Carbofuran and it’s used to “control insects and other pests on crops such as corn, rice and sorghum”. Unfortunately, it’s also used to poison lions