TreeHugger

Design Students Build Prosthetic Arm: Core77's Allan Chochinov Shows How

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:23:44 -0500

We're fans of Core77, "a gathering point for designers and enthusiasts alike". Clogger Allan Chochinov also teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York, in a course called "MFA Designer As Author" where they look at the issues of design and-

Our focus is on authorship in the broadest sense: Beginning with a viable concept we encourage students to write, edit, film, compos...

With Help from Species Survival Plan, Red Wolves May Have a Future

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:55:53 -0500

Photo from Gregory Koch Red wolves are one of the rarest mammals in North America. They are a mere 100 strong in their native habitat of North Carolina’s Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. But with the help of the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) in South Salem, NY, the Canis rufus may grow in number…first in New York, and then in North Carolina....

Coal State Electric Bills Rising 7% To 100% - Even Without Cap & Trade

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:18:25 -0500

Monthly US Natural Gas Electric Power Price. Image credit:US Energy Information Administration. As the title indicates, some of the nation's most coal-dependent states face dramatic price increases for electricity without a Cap & Trade mechanism in place. One cause is the de-regulation of electrical utilities, a process begun while Congress was also busy deregulating the financial industry. More recently, investments in new coal-fired plants became a contributing factor, as did price increases in the best grades of coal. What's wit...

And We're Taking a Break... Senate Won't Take Action on Climate Bill Until September

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:45:00 -0500

photo: Doug via flickr Don't expect any action from the Senate on a climate bill until September, after the summer recess. That's the word from Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer. However Reuters quotes Boxer as saying that "We'll do it as soon as we get back."...

The Dutch Master Bike (Super Duper Limited Edition) by Core77

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:36:31 -0500

Photo: Core77 The Secret Ingredient is Love Our friends at Core77 know beautiful design, but they're really surpassed themselves with the Dutch Master super-duper-limited edition bike. The goal is to celebrate New York bike culture, and an heritage of local manufacturing. Only 25 Dutch Master bikes have been made, all hand built by in Brooklyn by KT Higgins. More details and photos below....

A Picture is Worth...Recessionista's DIY Chanel Bag

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:36:08 -0500

Photo credit: Jak and Jil The economic caldera we're still digging ourselves up from under has put a whole new spin on the definition of "luxury." (This fall's New York Fashion Week will be an eye-opener for sure.) With consumer spending in the hole, and chi-chi brands like Hermes tightening their croc-skin belts, we might be witnessing the end of luxury goods as we know them. What does a brand, in the end, boil down to? A

President Obama, Please Live Up to Your Climate Change Rhetoric & Truly Lead!

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:10:00 -0500

photo: G8Photos/Ansa The G8 meeting in L'Aquila, Italy is just ripe with quotes for the picking. Unfortunately, apart from statements of agreement that we must indeed hold global average temperature rise to 2°C, most of what was said seems a bit hollow. Case in point: President Obama's talk about the need of the wealthy nations of the world, and the US in particular, to take the lead on climate change. Surely Obama is far, far a head of his Oval Offi...

Greenpeace's Mount Rushmore Stunt from Behind the Scenes (Video)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:38:00 -0500

Yesterday we saw the short-lived hubbub about Greenpeace draping an Obama poster over Mount Rushmore in order to call attention to Climate Activism by the G8. They've followed up with this vi...

Alguita's Journey to the Center of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:16:00 -0500

Photo via Drew Wheeler The Pacific Garbage Patch is drawing in quite the rush of explorers and scientists, from David de Rothschild to Project Kaisei and the research team's efforts to explore clean-up options. It's also drawing in Algalita Marine Research Foundation's research vessel the Alguita. The crew is ...

UN Secretary General Rebukes G8 Nations for Weak Climate Change Commitments

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:08:00 -0500

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaking in Copenhagen on climate change. UN photo/Eskinder Debebe The G8 nations may have agreed to some sort of climate change action in Italy, but it's really not what the science says is required. I said it, as well as other writers more seasoned such as myself (Fred Pearce writing for Short Sharp Science, for example). But don't just take it from us: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also was less than thrilled with the comm...

Tsuru, Yamanashi (Japan) Finding Off-Grid Solutions To Solve Their Energy Needs

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:40:28 -0500

Photo: New Energy Foundation Small towns and communities all over the world are looking for solutions to their energy needs. Going off-grid is not just a choice for individuals, the way it sometimes seems here at Treehugger. No, you will never be able to live totally away from anyone else. Off-grid doesn't mean you are on your own, out there in the wilderness. Hey, not even Thoreau was able to achieve that kind of level of gridless living. You need to have good neighbours, or else.

Improved Solar Power Dish with Stirling Engine Made by Car Parts Suppliers

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:30:21 -0500

Photo: Stirling Energy Systems New and Improved Solar Thermal Collection Dish While a lot of people think about photovoltaic panels when "solar power" is mentioned, solar thermal must not be underestimated. One of the players in that field is Stirling Energy Systems (SES), who we've written about before when they set a new world re...

In Defense of the Cow: How Eating Meat Could Help Slow Climate Change

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:27:44 -0500

Photo via stock.xchng by bouwm019

Should we be eating more beef in order to slow global warming? It sounds counterintuitive, but it may be so: Cattle could be part of the whole ecological equation to solving climate change and restoring healthy, bio-diverse ecosystems. I am a vegetarian, but I maintain there is a place for grass-fed beef on family menus—and pasture-raised cattle in global warming solutions. Cows can help more than harm if they are sustainably raised....

Rhino Poaching at 15 Year High as Asian Demand Increases

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:17:00 -0500

Indian rhino in Kazaringa national park, Assam, India. Photo: Lip Kee Yap via flickr Asian demand for rhinoceros horn for medicinal use has driven poaching in Africa and Asia to a 15 year high, WWF reports. This is of course despite the fact that trade in rhino parts from any species is banned under international treaty. In some places it has gotten so bad that a decad...

20 Green Fashion Designers You've Never Heard Of—But Oh You Will (Slideshow)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:16:53 -0500

Photo credit: Label Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, Jenny Hwa, and Linda Loudermilk are household names—well, okay, if you live in the kind of home where green togs regularly crop up in dinner conversation—but there's a rising phalanx of upcoming designers ready to vie for your sartorial affections. In this slideshow, we feature 20 environmentally savvy fashion designers who haven't quite achieved the same level of acclaim as the big guns of sustainable style, w...

G8 Nations Agree to Cut Emissions 80% by 2050 - Developing Countries Still Skeptical

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:08:44 -0500

Photo via NY Daily News Okay, so it turned out not to be a total failure--the G8 nations (the US, UK, France, etc) ended up pledging to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, and to work towards keeping temperature levels from rising 2 degrees Celsius. As for the developing countries, led by China, India, and Brazil--they pretty much said, 'We'll get back to you.'...

Beautorium Offers 20% Off + Free Shipping + Free Cleanser

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:30:32 -0500

It’s always nice when you can one-stop shop. Such is the case with Beautorium, a natural and organic beauty emporium that carries some the most ethical and effective beauty brands, all in one place. There are 20 brands and about 650 products available on the Beautorium’s website and each has been carefully hand-picked based on certain criteria. ...

100 Abandoned Houses: Photographs of Detroit

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:36:59 -0500

The New York Times tells us about 100abandonedhouses.com, a website with stunning photographs of abandoned houses in Detroit, shot with an old Hasselblad....

Coal-Loving Missouri Senator McCaskill Doesn't Think Strong Climate Bill Will Pass Senate

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:20:00 -0500

Missouri coal train, photo: Scott Granneman via flickr You know how I said a few days ago that not every state in the US was dependent on coal? Well, that's entirely not the case in Missouri and that little fact is having some repercussions already. Like any climate bill of strength not ever passing in the Senate, at le...

Using Augmented Reality to Change The Way We See Our Green World

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:17:07 -0500

The above video shows what augmented reality - taking in the real world on a device and layering computer generated data over it - could mean. Essentially, you can point your phone at something and the data for whatever it's seeing pops up on your screen. Here...

WatCleaner Robot Is the Roomba for the Ocean

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:49:00 -0500

Images via JDF International Design Competition What might happen with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch if we were to sic an army of robot ocean scrubbers on them? This concept by Chinese industrial designer Ye Yao just might be the start of that very possibility. It's a robot that could detect the difference between trash, fish and oil, and clean up the junk from the open seas. ...

Plantagon Develops Vertical Farm That Can Go Anywhere

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:44:13 -0500

Plantagon is more than just another vertical farm. We learn from PSFK that it "will dramatically change the way we produce ecological and functional food. It allows us to produce ecological with clean air and water inside urban environments, even major cities, cutting costs and environmental damage by eliminating transportation and deliver directly to consumers. This is due to the efficiency and productivity of the Plantagon® greenhouse which makes it economically possible to finance each greenhouse from its own sales."...

Sugarcane to be Turned into Conventional Diesel Fuel at Brazil Biorefinery

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:43:00 -0500

photo: Cliff via flickr Brazil's widely know for running a whole heck of a lot of cars on sugarcane-based ethanol. There are lot's of problems to be pointed out in growing it, but sugarcane is one thing that the country definitely has in spades. Which is why Colorado-based Amyris Biotechnologies is opening up a demonstration plant in Campinas which will convert sugarcane into diesel fuel,

Great Green Job Alert! Be a Bike Commuter Guide

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:58:53 -0500

The Council of Economic Advisors estimates 700,000 green jobs will be created this year from federal stimulus funds. That's encouraging, but here's something even better - a man with a plan who decided to create his own green job and business after he and his fellow training team were laid off from Target Corporation earlier this year. Meet Bill Delano, bike commuter guide extraordinaire, who is just starting a company called "Bike With Bill" in Minneapolis/St. Paul, which Delano says is a "par...

G8 Pledges to Support Deforestation & Forest Degradation Reduction Efforts, Stop Illegal Logging

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:54:00 -0500

Spreading deforestation in Malaysian Borneo, photo: Ben Sutherland via flickr While the G8 was collectively patting itself on the back for passing what are, from a scientific standpoint, some pretty wishy-washy emission reduction pledges, it did add an encouraging section into its statement on climate change: One acknowled...

Italy's Trash Robot is a Real-Life Wall-E

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:51:06 -0500

In the computer generated waste land of Wall-E, a garbage-collecting robot is the last survivor on Earth, hoarding quaint treasures from the trash in a dogged attempt to find some slice of happiness amidst the ecological devastation left behind by consumerism. In real-life Italy, where a noxious mafia-run waste industry has turned some landscapes post-apocalyptic, scientists have proposed a new solution to picking up the trash: the googly-eyed Dust Cart robot. It may not solve Italy's garbage problems, but its inventors h...

Stretchy Salt Discovery May Improve Desalination Processes

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:46:00 -0500

Photos via Sandia National Laboratories Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Pittsburgh have found that salt can be stretchy, and not as brittle as previously thought, in the absence of water. This can affect not only our current desalination processes, but also how we look at cloud formation and ozone destruction....

350 Square Foot Apartment is "The Bohemian Dream"

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:32:29 -0500

Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times TreeHugger loves the idea of small spaces; the New York Times shows a particularly lovely apartment in Greenwich Village that packs a lot into just 350 square feet. They write:

As floor plans go, there isn’t much: one medium-size room; a galley kitchen tucked behind a wall; a bathroom; and, in lieu of a bedroom, a sleeping loft up a ladder from the living area, under the sloping roof.

But what a difference design makes....

High Expectations For Organic Food Could Be Off

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:29:23 -0500

"Thinking big." Image credit:The Economist. Everything has limits. Case in point, regarding generally high expectations for organic food growing in importance, and as reported in Environmental Leader, 'based on recent national survey of consumers, organic food is expected to grow greatly in importance over the next decade,' let's review the powerful limits to that expectation being realized. ...

Biggest Dogfighting Raids in US History Saves 350 Dogs

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:25:16 -0500

Photo via NHSPCA In a series of simultaneous raids, a staggering 350 dogs were seized from dogfighting rings in 5 states around the country. Some 30 people have been arrested so far for a range of heinous violations--it all amounts to the biggest dogfighting raid in US history. ...

An Idea That Won't Go Away: Standing-Room Only on Airplanes

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:11:00 -0500

New York Times, from an earlier proposal for standup flying Three years ago we wrote about the Airbus proposal (quickly denied) for standing-room seating (Now We Know Why They are Called Airbuses) noting that there might be TreeHugger benefits:

We suppose there could be a TreeHugger case that more people crammed in means less fuel burned per person, and we also suspect that it will end deep vein thrombosis, but generally we think it gives new meaning to Flying is Dying.

Now the id...

Un-TreeHugger: Designer Spaghetti Measurer

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:05:00 -0500

Images via A+R The mantra of green is "Less is More" and that includes kitchen devices. Which is why this special designer spaghetti measurer is one of those things that makes me stop and ask, "Seriously? One more kitchen device that does something pointless?"...

84 Recycled PET Bottles to Make ECOALF Cabin Trolley

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:03:54 -0500

Here is something that is 100% recycled, but doesn’t look it. ECOALF is the new fabric developed by the Spanish company fun&basics, made from recycled PET bottles. It is a high quality textile: flexible, tension resistant, long lasting, waterproof and lightweight. The first bags made from ECOALF are a toilet bag, a small bag, a cabin trolley and a large, wheeled luggage bag. The fun thing about them is the visualisation of the recycled bottles. Each bag tells you exactly how many 75cl PET plastic bottles were needed to make it. ...

Gigantic Solar Plants in Nevada Slated for Fast Tracking

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:00:06 -0500

Image credit: NextLight Solar 407MW Solar PV Plants to be Followed by Many More The idea of utilizing deserts to generate solar power is an attractive one. Of course, they would come with their own ecological price, but some claim that solar power stations in a few deserts could power the entire world - and that's got to be an improvement on mountaintop removal and tar sands. Mike has already written about a

Why Some Greens Wish Sarah Palin Wasn't Resigning

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:39:28 -0500

Photo via Babble Sure, she wants to open ANWR up for drilling, she's fought to keep endangered species delisted, and she supports the practice of hunting wolves from helicopters--but believe it or not, there are some environmentalists who will be sorry to see Gov. Sarah Palin go. Why? Precisely because she supports things like aerial wolf hunting....