Fwd: Car Gets 73mpg, Bill Nye Talks, Turbines Payback.

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our weekly newsletter is not quite 2.5

years old. We hope it wobbled

on unsteady legs through the 'terrible twos'

without causing you too

much anguish. But as we grow up and find our

voice, we'd also like you

to find yours. Please tell us how you find

the newsletter. Share your

thoughts. We're looking for the spank, as

well as the lolly pop,

whichever you think this youngster deserves.

Comment on the format,

content, length, tone or whatever takes your

fancy. Carpe Diem. Click Here.

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Locavore vs. Life Cycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other day NPR's Here Now program hosted author James McWilliams,

to talk about "locavores" (2007's Word of the

Year) and the merits of

food miles vs. life cycle as a way to measure

the impact of your

eating choices. The gist: sometimes, it takes

more energy to grow and

harvest local food than it does to grow it

far away and have it

shipped in, e.g. if you're trying to reduce

your carbon footprint,

local food isn't always the best choice. If

you're looking for one

takeaway, it should probably be this: there

is no silver bullet, no

one right way to consume food, all the time.

Eating green is not about

putting the blinders on to "eat local" at all

costs, or "eat organic,"

or any other eating buzzword, it's a lifestyle.

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2007 Green Car of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roadsters in places like the

UK and Australia may wish to consider the

Hyundai i30, which picked up both the 2007

Car of the Year and 2007

Green Car of the Year in Australia.

Although claimed to have a fuel consumption

of 4.7 litres per 100km,

the i30 1.6-litre turbo-diesel managed to

complete the 2007 World

Solar Challenge conventional vehicle class

(PDF) on a

smell-of-an-oily-rag 3.2litres/100km (73.5

mpg!), while producing

97g/km of emissions. For comparision a Prius

petrol hybrid averaged

5.6litres/100km with emissions of 146g/km.

Reviewers thought it big

enough and practical for a family, providing

the strength of diesel

performance, strong torque and a responsible

carbon footprint.

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Anson Mills' Heirloom Grains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes nothing beats

creating your own food. But say you are

creating your own ginger cookies, for

example, where should you get

your flour from? Assuming there's not a good

source of locally milled

flour nearby, our American readers could do a

lot worse than ordering

their flours and grains from Anson Mills,

purveyors of the finest

heirloom varieties of grits, cornmeal, rice,

flour, oatmeal, buckwheat

and farro. The concept and values behind the

company are certainly

right up TreeHugger's alley. Started back in

1998 by Glenn Roberts,

Anson Mills was always intended to be a

catalyst for recreating the

ingredients and recipes of the past that were

in danger of

disappearing for ever.

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Wind Turbine Payback Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody asked us the other

day what the life cycle impacts of a wind

turbine are and how long it would take to pay

back the energy used to

manufacture one of those tall majestic

beasts. Considerable amounts of

raw materials and energy are required to make

these big windy wonders.

We found a report with some answers. The life

cycle assessment of a

3.0 MW wind turbine indicates that it would

have to generate

electricity for only 6.8 months, of their

assumed 20 year useful life,

before it produces as much energy as is used

during the manufacturing

phase. "This, they say, means the turbine

model earns its own worth

more than 35 times during its energy

production lifetime."

::More

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Nye the Science Guy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's one of the world's

foremost scientific educators and comedians,

and if you've spent time in a science

classroom recently there's a

good chance you've been exposed to the magic

of Bill Nye. We caught up

with him recently for an interview, and

learned what he has to say

about the growing green movement in America,

his friendly

eco-competition with neighbor Ed Begley Jr.,

the current group of

presidential candidates, and his favorite

form of eco-friendly

exercise. "I don't even go to the gym

anymore. Instead I go swing

dancing! I've found that it's just an

incredible form of exercise, and

the girl to guy ratio is terrific in these

kinds of places. So I say

to every man in America, get into swing dancing!"

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Matteriashop: New Online Shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a new shop paradigm

for you: Shop according to the revealed

ingredients of every object. Because those

ingredients sure look yummy

with a range of products made from

sustainable wood, cork, bamboo,

organic and recycled materials. Monica Potvin

in Barcelona and Anu

Suominen in Finland have joined forces and

created 'a new version shop

presenting a collection of objects for living

made as sustainable as

possible'. Matteriashop is a shop that

guarantees eco-smartness as

well as fabulous design. Through close

collaboration with designers

all over the globe, the Matteriashop offers a

unique transparency and

behind-the-scene information on each

carefully selected product.

::More

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle of the Bans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a. Whole

Foods said that they'll ban free

plastic shopping bags from

checkouts, They use to give out 150 million.

b. Setting yet another high environmental

standard, Cuba

recently outlawed the hunt of endangered

marine turtles.

c. Ontario

are banning their ban on clotheslines.

Clothes are now free to escape

the grasp of tumble driers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E(waste) Phone Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a. The

Secret Life of Cell Phones project

says in 1985 the US had 0.5

million mobile phones, now its 233 million.

b. And slick new gadgets like the iPhone

have all but eliminated the possibility of

simple repair, say

refurbishers.

c. So we were please to learn that he guys at

VoIP-News have done some

digging and found 50

ways to recycle them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Names Doing Good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a. Long known for her

vegetarianism, Natalie

Portman has designed her own line

of shoes, free of animal

products.

b. Nepalese children rate school and hospital

builder Sir

Edmund Hillary second behind the

Dalai Lama as a hero.

c. Brazilian supermodel Gisele

Bundchen has been raising

awareness about conscious use of water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to pay a visit to our sister

site, to see what they've

been up to over at Planet

Green. Plus we should make mention

of our user aggregate news

site, Hugg, as well. And

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