Post #37 for the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 6:39 pm
From the excellent Environmental Graffiti comes news that the King of Saudi Arabia will be donating $300 million dollars to environmental research.
The King made the announcement during a speech at a gathering of OPEC heads in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, saying: “We will give $300 million for research into helping the environment.”
OPEC had earlier announced that it supported the fight against global warming, and would support initiatives to help fight climate change.
The Saudi King’s gesture may seem like a positive step forward by some, but it seems almost laughable in light of other recent news involving the Saudi royal family. Airbus recently announced that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was the first person to purchase their USD 319 M Airbus SAS A380 superjet, for use as a private plane.
Add in another couple of hundred million to retrofit the plane and you have about twice as much money being spent on the plane than the environmental research. Those Saudis sure know how to roll!
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Post #35 for the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 5:35 pm
Thank you StumbleUpon for this one. I found a great post from a few months back at Grist about a U.S. map that replaces each of the states names with the name of a country around the world that has equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. My home state of Maine lines up with Oman, my home home state (where I was born and grew up) of New Hampshire emits the same amout of GHG as Estonia.
You can view the whole map at Sightline.org.
I think what’s most interesting/scary about the map is that it shows that America’s 2003 population of less than 300 million has the same impact on the world as the 1.5 billion people living in the equivalent countries. We Americans sure do like sucking up resources. Mmm… resources…
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Post #33 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 2:42 pm
The next time you’re hanging out with 9 of your friends with a spare £1,500 and nothing to do, consider renting out the Pub Crawler. It’s pedal powered, sits 10 people, comes with two professional drivers to keep things straight at the end of the night, and is as green as you can get this side of walking (or stumbling). Pure awesome.
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Post #32 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 2:21 pm
Green walls rule!
A green wall is exactly what it sounds like- a side of a building covered in flora. Green walls, much like green roofs, bring a lot of advantages to the table- increased insulation in the winter and improved cooling in the summer; no need to be repainted; and they actually clean the air around the building.
I found a great collection of green wall photos at TheGrowSpot by French botanist Patrick Blanc. Enjoy!
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Post #31 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 1:31 pm
I just read some news over at About My Planet about Virgin Air’s new Offset Program. People flying on Richard Branson’s airline can pay extra money that will go towards green projects in Indonesia and India. Here’s a snip from About My Planet, my favorite part is in bold.
The airline has partnered with myclimate to offer the scheme which is now available onboard and online, and will benefit projects in Indonesia and India including developing a power plant which turns farming waste like sugar cane husks into electricity for the local community.
Endorsed by 49 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) worldwide including many environmental groups, Gold Standard credits are independently validated and only support renewable energy or energy efficiency technologies (no tree planting or gas flaring).
Virgin Atlantic has also calculated exactly how much carbon is produced for each of its flights and had this verified through Greenhouse gas verification company, CICS. The airline then calculated how much this would equate to for each passenger by taking into account the different weights of equipment and seats in each class of travel, and also the amount of cargo on each route. So Upper Class passengers pay more than Economy passengers because their seat and Inflight Entertainment monitors are significantly heavier.
It’s good to be poor, let those Richers pay extra to green up their lush and comfortable seats.
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Post #30 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 1:02 pm
Swing over to eGMCarTech to read up on the hydrogen powered fuel cell car Honda just unveiled at the LA Auto Show. It’s expected to be hit the actual market next summer, getting 68 MPG and a range of 270 miles. The sales will be limited to three years leases at $600/month. eGMCarTech also has a big gallery of photos of the car.
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Post #29 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 12:21 pm
This is the coolest Crow News I’ve heard in a long time. Joshua Klein is a Mobile and Personal Technology Specialist living in NYC who has a great idea for working with crows to clean up trash. His machine trains the crows to pick up and drop off trash (or coins!) in exchange for a peanut. Sheer genius!
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Post #28 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 11:57 am
Add in $100/barrel oil and you have a pretty sweet environment for makings LOTS of money in Clean Tech.
Found at Newruls.com
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Post #26 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 11:24 am
Via Enviroblog, here are seven things found in the home that contain Phthalates, which has been proven to both smack the crap out of men’s sperm counts and feminize little boys. The Environmental Working Group put together a full report that can be read here. It’s kind of scary- 25% of American women are likely to have elevated levels of these hormone disrupters. Do your best to dodge these:
- Nail polish: Dibutyl phthalate is often used to make nail polish chip-resistant. Look for it on the ingredients list, where it may be shortened to DBP.
- Plastics in the kitchen: Take a critical eye to your cupboards. Phthalates may be more likely to leach out of plastic when it’s heated, so avoid cooking or microwaving in plastic.
- Vinyl toys: Phthalates are what make vinyl (PVC) toys soft, so don’t give them to children. Opt instead for wooden and other phthalate-free toys, especially during that age when they put everything in their mouths!
- Paint: Paints and other hobby products may contain phthalates as solvents, so be sure to use them in a well-ventilated space.
- Fragrance: Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is often used as part of the “fragrance” in some products. Since DEP won’t be listed separately, you’re better off choosing personal care products, detergents, and cleansers that don’t have the word “fragrance” on the ingredients list.
- Vinyl: Vinyl shows up in a lot of different products; lawn furniture, garden hoses, building materials, and items of clothing (like some raincoats) are often sources. Aside from carefully choosing materials when you’re making purchases, there is one easy change you can make: switch to a non-vinyl shower curtain. That “new shower curtain” smell (you know the one) is a result of chemical off-gassing, and it means your shower curtain is a source of phthalates in your home.
- *Air Fresheners: New research from the NRDC demonstrates that, just like fragrances in personal care products, most air fresheners contain phthalates. That even goes for the ones labeled “fragrance free.” NRDC suggests that you open your windows and use fans to circulate air and keep it fresh.
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Post #24 of the 2007 Green Blogathon
By Shea Gunther
November 17, 2007 – 10:58 am
StumbleUpon is a great way of finding new green links and websites. Both Michael and I are acknowledge StumbleUpon Addicts and use it’s awesome content discovery machine to find new writers and green news. Here are a few of StumbleUpon’s green tag pages- click around and find some great new sites and Stumblers.
• Green
• Clean Tech
• Green Gadgets
• Green Business
• Green Investing
• Wind Power
• Solar Panels
• Fuel Cells
• Hydrogen
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