Monthly Archives: August 2009
EcoTech Daily Hosts Carnival of the Green
This week is Carnival of the Green #195 and it’s being hosted by EcoTech Daily, a site that’s dedicated to bringing us the lastest and greatest in green technoloy, gadgets, and news. At EcoTech Daily, you can track the hottest CleanTech startups, learn about alternative energy technologies that can power your community’s future, and discover cool and useful green gadgets designed to make your life simpler and more eco-friendly.
So head on over to this week’s Carnival, which includes a round up of green news and events f…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Will Climate Change be “Obama’s Waterloo”?
(Ridiculous) image via Radioactive Liberty
Slate’s Christopher Beam thinks it could. While many pundits and politicians are wondering if health care reform will be “Obama’s Waterloo” (some of whom, including the man who coined the term, are determined to make it so), Beam says that the battle for climate legislation is more likely to take that dubious mantle….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Inflatable Solar Panels Zip Together To Power Most Anything
Illustration by Studio Formwork
This lightweight, inflatable solar panel concept brings renewable energy access to any building and without that pesky renovation.
Each eye-shaped piece has a white foam shell that measures 4 feet by 2.5 feet. Inside the foam housing is an inflatable polymer lined with <a href=”http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/53-m…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Himalayas, Africa Facing Climate Change-Induced Water Shortages – Yemen’s Already Rioting
photo: Anna Pearson via flickr
The focus keeps getting placed on the impact of global climate change on world water supplies: Oxfam highlights the effect of water shortages and declining crop yields in Nepal; IPCC chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri comments on how thirsty Africa could become; and, Reuters writes from Yemen on a gro…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Alex & Ani Jewelry Goes for the (Recycled) Gold
Photo credit: Alex & Ani
Some things, like broken relationships, should never have been made. Alex & Ani plucks bungled metals from their sordid situations—no questions asked—and recasts them into sophisticated statement pieces, gussying them up with candy-like gems, polished vintage beads and stamped, handmade charms.
Designed by founder Carolyn Rafaelian (her bauble biz is named after her two daughters) and made in Rhode Island, Alex & Ani’s jewelry collections are replete with symbolism, both universal and personal, from the Middle Eastern Hamsa to the transcendental Tree of Life. (St. Christopher rubs shoulders with the Egyptia…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Coal Ash from Tennessee Spill Shipped to Poor County in Alabama
Photo via NY Times
In yet another controversial development in the case of the Tennessee coal ash spill, the millions of pounds of ash are being shipped from the accident site to a landfill in a poor county in Alabama….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Are Cell Phone Towers Honey Bees’ Next Big Threat? New Study Says Yes.
Photo via autan
As if honey bees don’t have enough to worry about right now, it seems that cell phone towers may be problematic for the insects. According to a new study, a rapid drop in the bee population in Kerala, India is the result of recently installed cell phone towers, and could cause a complete collapse of bee populations within 10 years. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
Wind Power Financing Picks Up Again, Thanks to a Little Federal Push
photo: Yovany Alas via flickr
Despite a steady trickle of new wind power projects coming in over the past year since the recession set in, things haven’t exactly been going gangbusters in terms of financing. But as the Wall Street Journal points out today, that’s starting to change… and (gasp) it’s at least partly because of government inves…Read the full story on TreeHugger
New York Times Behind the Times on LEED
You can get your LEED plaque in any number of different materials, but whatever kind you put up, it won’t guarantee that the New York Times will understand what it means. They do an “exposé” about LEED, noting that quite a few LEED buildings are not energy efficient enough to qualify for Energy Star certification.
But the Times distorts it two ways.
1. LEED is evolving. Even the Times admits that the Federal Building in Youngstown, that it criticizes for not scoring high enough to get Energy Star certification, would not qualify for LEED under today’s standards. So why lead off …Read the full story on TreeHugger
New Study Finds Kindle Greener Than the Printed Word
(Image: Geekbrief)
The battle, no doubt, will rage on for some time over which is greener, e-books or the printed stuff. A new item of evidence, however, has been submitted: a report by the Cleantech Group has concluded that in a spine-to-spine lifecycle analysis, the Kindle 2 outperforms physical books. The study, combining previous research, finds that a Kindle is responsible for 168 kq of CO2 over its lifetime. Replacing three physical books a month for four years with Kindle books will save 1,074 kg of CO2. The less vo…Read the full story on TreeHugger