Greener Gadgets 2009 Delivers Buffet of Awesome Green Tech

Greener Gadgets 2009 kicked off yesterday in New York City, letting forth a deluge of brilliant green technology and gadgets that address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifestyle and social development. The Greener Gadgets Design Conference, a collaboration between Greener Gadgets and Core 77, included the debut of fascinating advancements in green consumer tech and the live-judging of the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Inhabitat live-blogged the whole thing, giving us virtual front-row seats that almost make up for being unable to attend in person. Inhabitat’s Jill Fehrenbacher is co-founder of Greener Gadgets, along with Marc Alt.

The keynote speech – delivered by inventor, entrepreneur and tech guru Saul Griffith – was lively and fun. From Inhabitat:

He gave a broad overarching talk that visualized our out-of-control energy consumption in a series of easily understandable graphs and charts, focusing upon the ways that climate change and energy problems are design issues.

Beginning with an easy-to-understand explanation of energy using simple measurements, Saul went on to characterize his own energy usage in terms of travel by air and car, the requirements of his household and work, the food he consumes, the physical stuff he owns, and the society he lives in. By tallying up all of these, Saul found that his personal energy footprint amounts to 18,000 watts. Next, he took a broader look at the energy use of the rest of the world, quipping “I’m a planet fucker – all of you are too”.

And then, of course, there was the moment we were all waiting for: when the design competition winner was announced. There were a lot of amazing creations among the top 50, but ultimately, it was… drumroll please… the Tweet-a-Watt! The Power Hog came in second place, with the Indoor Drying Rack snagging third and the Laundry Pod making fourth.

Check out Inhabitat and the Greener Gadgets website for more details and to see the designs of all 50 finalists.

Link [Greener Gadgets] + [Inhabitat]

Exxon-Paid Scientist Claims Earth Doesn’t Have Enough Greenhouse Gases

A scientist on ExxonMobil’s payroll is trying to convince people that all those greenhouse gas emissions flowing freely around the world are nothing to worry about – in fact, we need more! Princeton University Atomic Physicist Dr. William Happer testifed before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee on the 25th, claiming that the real concern is a ‘CO2 famine’.

Check out the video, in which a smirking, slouched Dr. Happer smugly explains his belief that carbon dioxide emissions will be “good for mankind”.

Senator Barbara Boxer revealed after Dr. Happer’s testimony that he is in fact affiliated with an institute that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from ExxonMobil over the past decade.

Treehugger gleefully points out Happer’s stupidity and hopes that he’ll get even more publicity so people can see the caliber of so-called ‘experts’ that global warming deniers have on their side.

What an embarrassment for Princeton which last year sponsored a Lecture series [that] explores ethics and climate change, and which has the AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Congress, and which hosts the annual Carbon Mitigation Initiative..

Are we not yet past the point where the “A List” of climate change experts parading before Congress includes people with such fantastic ideas and foolish outlooks? Apparently not. And that’s a good thing.

Get that fellow up on the Hill a bunch more times. Play him on prime time news, over and over. Get him on the David Letterman Show talking about how lovely things were back in the Pleistocene. (I’m pretty sure he said “Pleistocene;” even thought that does not match up at all with the 80 million years ago answer he provided to Senator Boxer regarding the time to which he referred. Is that what you heard?)

Did you SEE this guy? Talk about a smug alert! He did that thing where he kept closing his eyes while he was talking. Parading this assclown around would be great for the cause.

Link [Treehugger] via [The Huffington Post]

Clean Coal Air Freshener Spoof by The Coen Brothers

Is regular clean clean enough for your family? Not when you can have ‘Clean Coal Clean’! The Coen Brothers are responsible for this hilarious spoof ad talking about how clean coal “harnesses the awesome power of the word clean” to make it sound like the cleanest clean ever… all while the family using the ‘clean coal air freshener’ choke on clouds of black coal smoke.

It’s pretty simple: there’s just no such thing as clean coal. Period.

Link [Eco Wonk]

Who’s Who in Green: The Dervaes Family

In response to genetically engineered food, grown thousands of miles away from where it will be consumed and doused in chemicals, a rallying cry spread across the country – a homegrown revolution. People have begun to realize that the ultimate way to take control over their own food is to grow it themselves – even if all they have to grow on is 1/10th of an acre in a town like Pasadena, California.

The Dervaes family – father Jules, son Justin and daughters Anais and Jordanne – have inspired people around the world to start their own urban homesteads with their ‘Path to Freedom’ project, which has transformed a humble home with a small, concrete-covered lot in the suburbs into a prolific organic farm that not only grows enough food to meet the family’s needs but to sell to area businesses, as well.

It all started with a simple goal: to reduce the family’s water bills. Jules Dervaes, who had previously grown food and raised bees on family properties in New Zealand and Florida, decided to rip out the dead front lawn and replace it with thick mulch and wildflowers in response to the severe California drought of the 1990s. Slowly but surely, the family began ripping up more grass and replacing it with edibles instead – fruits, vegetables, beans, herbs and nasturtiums.

Soon enough, the family began to see the project as a challenge: how much food could they grow? How much money could they save? They took on a voluntarily simple, self-sufficient lifestyle, dedicating themselves to living green. Today, their little homestead in the city – which boasts solar panels, a range of hand-powered appliances, a solar outdoor shower, a cob oven and an enclosure full of goats, ducks and chickens – serves as an inspiration for millions of people interested in starting their own urban homesteads.

The Dervaes homestead produces an amazing 6,000 pounds of food annually in their 66’x66’ backyard. They grow over 350 different vegetables, herbs, and fruits, gather honey from their beehives, and eat the hundreds of eggs provided each year by their chickens and ducks. The family’s carbon footprint is impressive – they brew their own biodiesel (for a car that rarely gets used), consume just 6.5 kWh of energy a day, eat seasonally (and vegetarian), make their own compost, buy secondhand and make almost all of their food from scratch.

Their website, PathtoFreedom.com, offers tips and information about small-scale farms as well as a journal that documents the goings-on at the Dervaes homestead. They have also created the site FreedomGardens.org, which offers freedom gardeners a place to gather, share photos and information and network with each other. The Dervaes also have an online store, the Peddler’s Wagon, where you can purchase many of the items they use themselves on a daily basis, and they’ve started their own seed company as well.

The family is also the focus of a new 52-minute documentary called Homegrown, which will be screening at the Cleveland International Film Festival, and has made their own 15-minute film entitled ‘Homegrown Revolution’ that will be screening at the Green Lifestyle Film Festival in LA (March 13th-15th). Check out the trailer, below.

Jules, Justin, Anais and Jordanne have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s entirely possible to subsist on what your own tiny parcel of land can provide, no matter where you live.

Dervaes Family’s Green Score: 38,998

Maggots in Your Mushrooms: Contamination is Rampant in our Food Supply

Insect filth. Rodent filth. Parasites. Mildew. Cigarette butts. Mammalian excreta. These are just a handful of the revolting things that are currently named as “allowable defects” in an FDA booklet entitled “The Food Defect Action Levels: Levels of Natural or Unavoidable Defects in Foods That Present No Health Hazards for Humans”. The very booklet that food producers use to determine just how much they can let slide.

All of a sudden, after the news about the Georgia peanut plant that sickened thousands with salmonella – which was also home to mold and roaches – people are starting to pay attention to how our food is made and what’s in it. Better late than never, I guess – but the details of how much is actually passable by federal law will sicken you.

From The New York Times:

Tomato juice, for example, may average “10 or more fly eggs per 100 grams [the equivalent of a small juice glass] or five or more fly eggs and one or more maggots.” Tomato paste and other pizza sauces are allowed a denser infestation — 30 or more fly eggs per 100 grams or 15 or more fly eggs and one or more maggots per 100 grams.

Canned mushrooms may have “over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid” or “five or more maggots two millimeters or longer per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid” or an “average of 75 mites” before provoking action by the F.D.A.

The sauerkraut on your hot dog may average up to 50 thrips. And when washing down those tiny, slender, winged bugs with a sip of beer, you might consider that just 10 grams of hops could have as many as 2,500 plant lice. Yum.

Giving new meaning to the idea of spicing up one’s food, curry powder is allowed 100 or more bug bits per 25 grams; ground thyme up to 925 insect fragments per 10 grams; ground pepper up to 475 insect parts per 50 grams. One small shaker of cinnamon could have more than 20 rodent hairs before being considered defective.

The New York Times estimates that every year, you’re probably ingesting one to two pounds of flies, maggots and mites without realizing it. The FDA permits all of this because, in their words, it is “impractical to grow, harvest or process raw products that are totally free of non-hazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects.”

If that doesn’t make you want to start growing produce and making your meals from scratch, nothing will. Of course, it’s still virtually impossible to avoid ingesting gross stuff every now and then, even if you do – we live in a world covered in bugs, germs, feces and animal dander. Still,  all of this really makes it clear how far removed we are from the production of the food we eat.

One thing is clear: you can’t trust the government to keep rodent hairs out of your cinnamon and insect guts out of your peanut butter. Our choice is basically to take total control over our own food in any way we can, or get used to the idea of eating nasty crap.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Flickr user jmichaeli

San Francisco Zip Car Lets Charity Workers Drive for Free

Zip Car is giving Bay Area nonprofits a massive break by offering their cars to charity workers for free. This generous program is designed to help the organizations get through the current donation slump that has deeply affected their budgets. Among the workers who have gotten to drive around for free are volunteers who help seniors switch their analog televisions to digital, after-school art teachers, environmentalists planting trees and Big Brothers and Sisters who mentor kids.

From SF Gate:

“I believe it’s part of doing business; it’s part of being a human being,” said Michael Uribe, general manager of Zipcar San Francisco.

“We get to come to work and contribute to the larger social network. How cool is that?” he said.

Fees averaging $70 a day are waived for Bay Area artists with HIV who need to haul their canvasses to exhibitions sponsored by the nonprofit Visual Aid, employees who need to pick up supplies for author Dave Eggers’ 826 Valencia writing center, and to Meals on Wheels drivers bringing hot food to the homebound. In March, Zipcar will lend 10 trucks to Friends of the Urban Forest to plant trees throughout San Francisco parks and residential neighborhoods.

Zip Car, which has been around for nearly a decade, has yet to turn a profit – but growing demand in cities with a high parking-hassle factor like San Francisco and New York have helped position the company as a creative social entrepreneur.

Helping people in need, even when they aren’t rolling in cash themselves – now that’s something to be proud of. Let’s get the word out about Zip Car’s good deeds. Knowing that they are providing such an unselfish service to volunteers in San Francisco makes me want to help them become more successful themselves.

Link [SF Gate]
Photo credit: Frederic Larson / The Chronicle

Great Green Job of the Week: Conservation Crew Leader, Southwest Conservation Corps

Southwest Conservation Corps
2008 Job Announcement

Position Title: Conservation Crew Leader
Position Type: Field-based, seasonal, full-time, exempt
Location: Based out of Tucson, AZ, Alamosa, CO, and Durango CO; works throughout the Southwest including Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Salary: $460 – $520 weekly stipend (depending on experience), includes weekly $25 mandatory meal deduction
Start date: Start dates range from April – August depending on location and program. Program length ranges from 6-25 weeks.
Benefits: Food provided while in the field, uniform, paid training, pro-deal purchase
Deadline: Open until filled
Reports to: Program Director

Overview:
Southwest Conservation Corps’ Crew Leaders perform many roles and are the key to our program’s success. The position is also multi-faceted and demanding, but with opportunity for enormous rewards. Successful candidates will demonstrate high standards, compassion, excellent judgment, and the desire to devote themselves (at least seasonally!) to youth and the environment. The Crew Leader position requires both supervisory and technical aptitude, and a high level of comfort in the outdoors.

Southwest Conservation Corps:
The Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) is a local, non-profit, Americorps-affiliated organization with offices in Tucson, Arizona, Durango, Colorado, and Alamosa, Colorado. SCC hires young adults, ages 16-25, to complete conservation work projects on public lands through the southwest. SCC has a strong environmental education component, and life skills are learned via formal lessons, on-the-job training, and the process of communal living.

The majority of SCC’s programs are residential programs, with crews camping in either front or backcountry settings for 11 day periods. SCC serves a diverse population that is representative of the Southwest, including at-risk youth, college graduates, and a cross-section of ethnicities and income levels.

Crew Leader Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage, supervise, and participate in day-to-day details of crew life in camp and at work.
• Monitor, manage, and promote the crew’s physical and emotional safety on and off the work site.
• Train and motivate a crew of eight young adults to efficiently complete conservation projects on public lands. Coordinate logistics with project sponsors, Program Coordinator, Program Director and co-leader.
• Implement Environmental and Life Skills Curriculum via formal and informal lessons.
• Complete professional documentation of time sheets, daily and weekly report, Corpsmember and peer evaluations, incident reports, etc. Manage petty cash, gas cards and food budget.
• Transport crew safely in SCC’s 15-passenger vans or Suburbans.
• Promote individual Corpsmember development and a healthy community.

Qualifications:

• Leadership experience, preferably with diverse young adults, required.
• Previous Conservation or Youth Corps experience preferred.
• Familiarity with basic conservation skills including tool maintenance. Professional conservation, construction or landscaping experience preferred, but not required. SCC will trail exceptional applicants.
• Experience teaching outdoor and/or environmental education curriculum preferred.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Physically fit and able to work long days in adverse conditions.
• Good driving record (insurable) and current driver’s license.
• High School diploma or GED required. Relevant Bachelor’s Degree preferred.
• Current Wilderness First Aid or higher and CPR certification.
• Sense of humor, spirit of adventure, and desire to make a positive difference.

Essential Functions:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to walk, sit and talk or listen. The employee is required to use hands to operate objects, tools or controls, and to reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision and the ability to focus. The employee is frequently required to drive an SCC vehicle, and must be able to speak, understand, read and write English. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

To Apply:
Complete the Crew Leader Application, available at www.sccorps.org , and submit with your resume and contact information with three professional references to the location you are interested in:

Four Corners-Durango, CO
Kevin Heiner-Program Director
(970) 403-0145
kevin@sccorps.org
701 Camino del Rio, Suite 101
Durango, CO 81301

Los Valles-Alamosa, CO
Heather Mc Slarrow-Program Director
(719) 539-2438
heather@sccorps.org
PO Box 583
Alamosa, CO 81101

Sonoran Desert-Tuscon, AZ
Josh Burt-Program Director
(520) 884-5550 ext. 4
josh@sccorps.org
1376 W. St. Marys Rd.
Tuscon, AZ 85745

Link [Treehugger Jobs] + [Southwest Conservation Corps]

Weed Could Save California’s Economy

Mendocino County, California is often called “America’s Marijuana Capital”, and for good reason: weed is this area’s number one cash crop. California, which is one of 12 of states in the U.S. to have legalized medicinal marijuana, allows residents to grow a limited amount of pot plants for medicinal use – though federal law, which bans growing marijuana for any purpose, causes clashes between state and national government agencies.

With an increase in border security after 9/11, California has become an even more popular spot to grow marijuana plants for sale in the U.S., and business is booming. With so much money changing hands, legislators are starting to recognize weed’s potential to save California’s floundering economy. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced “The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act”, which would go well beyond the decriminalization of marijuana to actually legalize the cultivation, sale, purchase and possession of the plant.

From The Itt List:

“With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense,” Ammiano said. “This legislation would generate much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes.”

As announced yesterday, the state of California would receive a $50 fee for every ounce of pot sold (which would be on top of whatever that ounce’s actual price is in a future free market). That fee and a proposed sales tax on medical marijuana would mean $1.3 billion “immediately,” according to Betty Yee, the chairwoman of the Board of Equalization who was at yesterday’s press conference. I wonder what the annual weed revenues would be, especially in a state that just barely averted a major fiscal disaster late last week. Yee called the new proposal “a responsible measure on how to work out the regulatory framework of the legalization of marijuana.”

Legalizing marijuana simply makes sense, not just for California but for the entire country. First and foremost, there are the economic benefits. The government and taxpayers would benefit hugely from diverting the billions that are currently spent each year on tracking down, prosecuting and jailing non-violent marijuana offenders to more important uses. Instead of chasing peaceful stoners and putting them in jail alongside rapists and murderers, they could be focusing more of their efforts on fighting real crime.

Plus, there are two major environmental benefits to legalizing and regulating marijuana cultivation. Marijuana operations could be brought out into the open, eliminating the need to destroy fragile forest ecosystems in an attempt to hide from authorities. And, noxious chemical spills caused by irresponsible growers could be reduced dramatically. Spills from improperly buried diesel fuel tanks and generators have leaked into California waterways, causing untold damage.

Unfortunately, this bill is unlikely to pass simply due to the ingrained negative view of the beneficial plant, courtesy of the misguided War on Drugs.

From SF Weekly:

Ammiano told SF Weekly that he doesn’t expect his bill to pass “overnight,” but doesn’t see it as merely a “placeholder.” As far as superseding federal law, he pointed to a similar bill recently introduced in Congress by Rep. Barney Frank; hopefully the law of the land will change. If not, Ammano hoped to exploit “fuzziness” regarding state and federal laws and the low priority this state has given to busting marijuana users entitled by Proposition 215. He predicted that, in these dire economic times, “support will fall all over” for his bill. Perhaps, perhaps not.

Legalizing weed would solve two of California’s most pressing problems: prison overpopulation and an unprecedented budget deficit. It’s a no-brainer.

Link [The Itt List] via [The Huffington Post] + [SF Weekly]

NYC Skyscrapers Gather Heat for Power

Towers in Manhattan are getting power from heat through the installation of gas-powered cogeneration plants, which are being added to many buildings’ roofs and parking garages.  Improved efficiency combined with government incentives and rising electricity costs have made installing cogeneration plants and generating their own power cost-effective for landlords, who are looking to save money in the long term.

From The New York Times:

The appeal is simple: cogens help landlords lower energy costs. “You start to see savings on monthly bills right away,” said Clark Wieman, Cooper Union’s planning director. He said that the new generator would cost eight cents a kilowatt-hour, roughly half the cost of buying electricity from Con Ed.

For landlords, the assurance of on-site power also provides added comfort. “Backup power is another amenity we offer to our tenants,” said David R. Greenbaum, president of Vornado’s New York office division.

Cogens are also considered greener, because they lighten the demand on Con Ed’s older, dirtier plants and generate as-needed energy on location. Electricity weakens as it travels along transmission lines. Indeed, only 40 percent of each volt that Con Ed generates reaches the customer, according to Thomas W. Smith, the chief executive at Endurant Energy, the consulting firm managing the One Penn Plaza installation. The remainder dissipates into the grid as heat and carbon emissions.

The cogen at One Penn Plaza, the black skyscraper next to Madison Square Garden, is expected to attain efficiency levels as high as 80 percent, according to Smith. That’ll translate to about 2,800 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions that are offset each year. And that’s just from one building – the more skyscrapers install cogeneration plants, the more greenhouse gas emissions will be cut.

The upfront cost will keep this idea from spreading too far and wide – One Penn Plaza’s cogen cost $18 million. So, only big developers will be able to afford to make the change. Still, it’s encouraging to hear that big cities are getting smarter about energy.

Link [The New York Times]

Make a Messenger Bag Out of Trash Bags!

This video from Make Magazine shows you how to fuse plastic together and then make a bag out of it! All you need is an iron, plastic bags, sewing machine, and some straps and buckles.

Beware: Scammers are Preying on Green Job Seekers

“Green jobs” has become quite a buzz phrase lately, with millions of people who have either already lost their jobs or are nervous about their futures trying to learn more about the opportunities that are available. Unfortunately, scammers are all too eager to make a buck off the trend. Research shows that internet green job scams are growing, both to take financial advantage of green job seekers and to gather information that could be useful for identity theft or spam mailings.

So, where to turn when it’s so tough to tell the difference between the real deal and a scam? The Live Green, Live Smart Institute has launched list of the best green job sites. They vetted over 123 sites and were surprised by what they found.

From the Live Green, Live Smart press release:

Several sites asked individuals to pre-register before granting them access to hundreds or thousands of green jobs. In the process they were asked to fill out resumes that asked for information ranging from a drivers license number to a social security number, date and place of birth and other very private information. In the wrong hands this is information that could be easily used to create a new identity. Two of the sites were gone when the researcher checked a second time, a common technique among scam artists, gather information and move on.

In other cases the sites offered jobs that either did not exist or had been filled and were never removed from the posting boards. According to Peter Lytle, Executive Director and founder of the Institute: “We posted our own resumes on various sites and with various companies only to find out that the posted positions either never existed or had been filled months ago, most of the time we received no response and often we ended up getting put on a spam or pornographic e-mail list.” ” We found a large number of jobs that said they were green, but in reality were jobs that were not in the green and environmental sectors. Examples would be a Life Insurance sales position listed as Director of Environmental and Risk Sales Products; it was really only selling life insurance to your relatives.”

Don’t fall prey to scammers – get a full list of trustworthy green job sites at the Live Green, Live Smart website.

Check out EarthFirst’s Green Jobs 101: How to Snag Eco-Employment for more info about determining which job is right for you, training and applying.

Link [PRWeb] + [LiveGreenLiveSmart]

Meat-Eating Environmentalist: A Contradiction in Terms?

So, you’re an ardent environmentalist. You wear organic clothing, live in a small energy-efficient home, ride your bike to work and always remember your reusable bags when shopping. But for all of your efforts, your carbon footprint is still huge – thanks to your diet, which is full of hamburgers, steaks and ham sandwiches.

Nobody’s perfect – we’ve all got our little slip-ups and areas in our lives where we know we could improve. For some people it’s taking long hot showers in winter, or using paper towels. But, meat eating is a biggie. It has a much greater impact on the environment than using a little more energy than you should every now and then or occasionally wasting paper. Then there are the impacts on human health and animal welfare.

Consider these facts:

• The livestock sector is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.  Cows emit vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere – and the impact of these emissions is greater than that of CO2 from cars.
• Animals raised for food in the U.S. produce 130 times more excrement than the human population.
• Each and every year, factory farms dump 220 billion gallons of hormone-, antibiotic- and bacteria-laden animal waste onto farmland and into waterways.
• Pfiesteria, a microscopic organism that feeds off the phosphorus and nitrogen found in manure, is a lethal toxin harmful to both humans and fish. In 1991 alone, 1,000,000,000,000 (one billion) fish were killed by pfiesteria in the Neuse River in North Carolina.
• Since 1995, an additional one billion fish have been killed from manure runoff in estuaries and coastal areas in North Carolina, and the Maryland and Virginia tributaries leading into the Chesapeake Bay.
• Overuse of antibiotics in animals is causing more strains of drug-resistant bacteria, which is affecting the treatment of various life-threatening diseases in humans.
• Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all the water used in the U.S. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons for a pound of wheat.
• Raising animals for food is the number one cause of deforestation around the world, thanks to the huge amounts of land needed for grazing and growing animal feed.
• Animal feed is grown by intensive farming operations that use massive quantities of pesticides while producing problems such as pesticide resistance in insects and weeds, and pollution of nearby water supplies with toxic chemicals. Those pesticide residues also accumulate in animals’ fatty tissue.
• 20 times more land is required to feed a meat-eater than to feed a vegetarian.
• Overgrazing has turned a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.

All of this leads to a simple question: can you be an environmentalist and still eat meat?

In response to facts about the meat industry’s impact on the earth, meat-eating greenies have responses that range from “it’s too tasty to give up” to the evasive “it’s my choice”. You’ve got to admit, these excuses sound an awful lot like the ones given by so many Americans to explain away their all of their environmentally harmful choices. You might scoff at a Hummer owner saying “it’s too fun and cool to give up” and “it’s my choice and I’m entitled to it”, but aren’t you effectively doing the same thing?

Eating meat isn’t inherently un-green or unnatural. Yes, humans have been eating meat for centuries, yadda yadda yadda. But it’s been a long time since we raised and slaughtered our own food animals on our own land, which had a far smaller carbon footprint. People in industrialized countries (especially the U.S.) eat way more meat than they used to, as well. Demand is growing, so the number of factory farms is growing, too. Does mean that free-range, grass-fed, organic meat is necessarily the answer to all of these pressing problems? Not exactly.

If you do raise and kill your food animals yourself, congratulations. That’s just about the greenest way you could possibly remain a meat eater. Purchasing meat from a nearby small farm that offers grass-fed meat that travels a mere handful of miles to your door is a close second. But that ‘free-range’ meat from the grocery store isn’t necessarily the same thing.

Part of the problem with ‘free-range’ meat is that these animals require even more land than conventionally raised livestock. As Friends of Animals explains, space for animal agribusiness doesn’t need to be expanded. It needs to be phased out. Deforestation and desertification is a major problem, as is taking up so much land that could be used to grow more efficient, calorie-dense food for more people. If demand for free-range meat increased, these problems would get even worse.

From Friends of Animals:

Already, most of the landmass of the contiguous United States is taken up by agriculture — primarily for resource-guzzling animal processing. Worldwide, the demand of six billion humans for physical space is vastly expanded as animals are bred into existence to be food commodities. These domestic animals now outnumber us by an estimated factor of three to one. There is nothing sustainable, let alone kind, about animal agribusiness.

Plus, never underestimate the greed of corporations eager to cash in on your concern.  The USDA doesn’t regulate “free-range” or “free-roaming” beef products (nor do they effectively regulate the quality of meat in general).  While you might want to believe that the expensive free-range steaks you’re buying from Whole Foods came from happy cows that spent their lives outdoors enjoying sunshine and fresh air, that’s not necessarily the case. The USDA does require “free-range” animals to have access to outdoor areas, but doesn’t specify how long they spend out there or how much room they get.

True grass-fed beef may be healthier, but the term ‘grass-fed’ isn’t regulated by the USDA, either. That means companies can claim that their animals are grass-fed even if grains still make up the majority of their diets.

Don’t confuse “free-range” and “organic” on meat labels. Certified organic meat must be free of antibiotics and growth hormones. And, if you’re concerned about the treatment of animals, be aware that animals raised organically aren’t necessarily treated any better than those raised at big conventional factory farms.

That leads us to the unpleasant reality of livestock mistreatment. Even if you’re not a bleeding heart, animal-rights kind of person, you can’t deny that locking animals into tiny crates to wallow in their own excrement, mutilating them and then slaughtering them in inhumane ways is shockingly cruel. PETA is oft maligned, and they certainly have their faults, but their videos don’t lie. Just because you choose to be ignorant of these things doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.

I can hear you already: “I’m not going to stop eating meat, no matter what you say.” When it comes down to it, whether or not you eat meat is still a personal choice. But, if you’re at all concerned about the environment, at least cut back on the amount of meat you eat – and buy it from a local source if you can (if that’s not possible, check out meat CSAs and delivery services). Seek out truly grass-fed, free-range and hormone-free meat and eat it only a few times a week, and you’ll at least be taking an important step forward.

Grass-Fed Beef Resources:

West Coast sources
East Coast sources
Midwest sources

Vegetarianism Resources:

Protein in the Vegan Diet
Go Veg: Vegetarian and Vegan Information
VegWeb.com: Vegan Recipes and Cooking Tips

Factory Farming Facts and Information:

OrganicConsumers.org Disturbing Facts on Factory Farming and Food Safety
Vegan Outreach: Animal Mistreatment at Factory Farms

Photo credit: Flickr user dogfrog + Cornucopia.org

Sarah Palin Files Suit to Avoid Protecting Whales in Alaska

What’s the biggest threat to beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet? Two words: Sarah Palin. Belugas already have a lot stacked against them. Cloudy water in the summer forces them to rely heavily on echolocation to get around, and they must venture into dangerously shallow waters to find food. Palin, who is already infamous for her total disregard for animal lives, is filing suit to prevent the federal government from protecting the whales.

Her argument? “Alaska is already doing enough for whales”.

From Salon:

Palin’s chief of staff published an Op-Ed in the Anchorage Daily News on Jan. 28 titled “Protection Requirements for Cook Inlet Belugas Are Silly.”

While there are five stocks of beluga whales in waters near Alaska, the ones in Cook Inlet are isolated and genetically distinct from their cousins. That population has declined dramatically since the 1980s, from over 1,000 to about 375 now. More than 300 whales perished in one four-year stretch (1994 to 1998) alone, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Marine mammal biologists and conservationists were hopeful that sharply limiting subsistence hunting of the whales by native Alaskans would see the whales bounce back. But despite only five whales being killed by hunting since 1999, when new regulations went into effect, the whales have not rebounded.

Even the Bush administration took note of the Cook Inlet belugas’ decline, after being pressured by environmental groups. In October 2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced the listing of the Cook Inlet population of beluga whales as a full-fledged endangered species. Yes, the Bush administration, infamous for its disdain for science when it came to protecting endangered critters, saw fit to offer protections to the belugas living in Cook Inlet. But not the Palin administration.

“It’s hard to imagine that anyone could be more anti-environmental than Bush, but Palin is Exhibit A,” says Brendan Cummings, oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Here we had the most anti-environmental administration in U.S. history, and Palin still feels compelled to sue over one of the few environmentally positive things to come out of that administration.”

Marine mammal biologists don’t yet know what’s preventing the beluga whale population from making a comeback, but they do know that the health of the species could have implications for the rest of the ecosystem they inhabit.

Designating the beluga whales as endangered will also turn Cook Inlet into a ‘critical habitat’ for the whales, which is exactly why Palin’s administration is fighting the measure. They’re afraid that such protected status will hamper the “unfettered industrial activity” going on in the inlet – including the dumping of toxic waste by the oil industry. It could also affect plans to expand the port of Anchorage and build the Knik Arm Bridge – famously known as “the bridge to nowhere” – and curtail oil and natural gas drilling.

This is the same woman who advocates shooting wolves from helicopters and has an office full of dead animal trophies and a pile of caribou antlers sitting outside her house.  Her antipathy toward animals and the environment knows no bounds. So, none of this is too surprising. Luckily, advocates of protecting the whales are confident that the Obama administration will defend the beluga listing from Palin’s lawsuit.

Link [Salon.com]

Can Companies be Shamed into Cutting Emissions?

A group of investors named a builder and 8 other companies to a “Climate Watch List” this week, hoping to force those companies into taking responsibility for their contributions to global warming. The environmental investor group, Ceres, cited concerns that the firms are undermining their own long-term competitiveness and lagging behind their peers by failing to respond to the business challenges posed by global warming.St

From Energy Priorities Magazine:

The Climate Watch List isn’t limited to coal and oil companies, although those dominate the widely publicized shame list. California homebuilder Standard Pacific was singled out for not responding to requests for energy efficiency measures.

Unlike other leading homebuilders, Standard Pacific has opposed shareholder requests the past three years to disclose its strategies and performance on energy efficiency and other climate-related issues. The resolution filed by the Nathan Cummings Foundation asks the homebuilder to adopt quantitative goals for boosting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its products and operations. Homebuilders have an important role in mitigating climate change because 40 percent of GHGs come from building energy use, and building energy efficiency is one of the most cost effective means of reducing global warming pollution.

Among the companies named were ExxonMobil, Chevron, Massey Energy and General Motors. Two of the oil companies were targeted for their investments in Canada’s oil sands region, where more than a million barrels of oil are extracted every day using carbon-intensive technology. GM’s spot was earned for its “ongoing legislation to stop California’s clean car standards from being adopted”. You can read a full list of the companies over at Sustainable Business.

Green Biz gives more details:

Jack Ehnes, the CEO of the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), one of the largest pension investment funds in the country, explained on the press call yesterday that the groups involved in making the Climate Watch List see understanding and measuring climate risk as a fundamental business activity, like any other kind of business risk — and an ever-growing number of investors see these issues as key to making informed investment decisions.

So, will shame push these companies into action? It’s difficult to say. Ceres is trying to force the companies to shape up for their own good – so they can prepare for the “low-carbon global economy” that’s looming. In other words, they’re saying that cutting back their contributions to global warming is essential to survival. But companies like ExxonMobil are so deeply invested in dirty practices that it seems unlikely being named to this list will spur changes. But, money talks and if investors demand action, companies had better listen.

Link [Energy Priorities Magazine] + [Sustainable Business] + [GreenBiz]

Climate Change Researchers Discover Carnivorous Sea Squirt 4,000 Meters Underwater

Researchers exploring the ocean floor of the Tasman Fracture Zone in Australia to learn more about how climate change is affecting coral have discovered several new species, including a fascinating carnivorous sea squirt previously unknown to humans. The creatures were found over 13,000 feet below the surface of the water.

From EcoWorldly:

One of the CalTech researchers, Jess Adkins, described what it was like to see video images from the remote device about 2.5 miles below them on the ocean floor:

“We were flying–literally flying–over these deep-sea structures that look like English gardens, but are actually filled with all of these carnivorous, Seuss-like creatures that no one else has ever seen.”

Although a sea squirt may appear to be a worm, or other invertebrate, it actually has a spinal chord. So its basic physical structure is that of chordate animals, like birds and humans. However, unlike the other chordates the sea squirt does not have a backbone. Sea squirts have been likened to the Venus Fly Trap plant because they catch their prey in a similar manner and are carnivorous.

According to National Geographic, the 20-inch sea squirt is one of the deepest-dwelling animals ever found in Australia. Along with a few other species, including a barnacle and an anenome, it was discovered along the Tasman Fracture Zone, a crack in the Earth’s crust measuring 1.2 miles long to more than 2.5 miles deep, by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The four-week voyage found evidence that global warming may be linked to dying coral reefs in the ocean depths.

Imagine all of the other species that have never been seen by human eyes, all over the world. It really makes you realize how outnumbered we are – how much variety and diversity there is in the natural world. The earth is amazing, isn’t it?

Link [Eco Worldly]
Photo credit: Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, WHOI/Jess Adkins, Caltech

PETA President Wills Her Body to Become BBQ & Leather Goods

PETA did it again. Stomach-turning publicity stunts are nothing new to the animal rights organization, but the latest one will make you lose your lunch (fair warning). PETA President Ingrid Newkirk has willed her body to the group along with a gross list of instructions on what they should do with each body part after she’s dead.

From Treehugger:

The Bizarre Will of Ingrid Newkirk

Here’s an abridged list of Newkirk’s directions for PETA to follow with her body:

a. That the “meat” of my body, or a portion thereof, be used for a human barbecue, to remind the world that the meat of a corpse is all flesh, regardless of whether it comes from a human being or another animal, and that flesh foods are not needed

Will does not specify who is to be served at the event, or whether there shall be beach volleyball.

b. That my skin, or a portion thereof, be removed and made into leather products, such as purses, to remind the world that human skin and the skin of other animals is the same and that neither is “fabric” nor needed.

c. my feet be removed and umbrella stands or other ornamentation be made from them, as a reminder of the depravity of killing innocent animals, such as elephants, in order that we might use their body parts for household items and decorations;

Got to give Newkirk credit for creativity for that one—umbrella stands? However, from here on out, things take a turn for the worse . . .

d.That one of my eyes be removed, mounted, and delivered to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a reminder that PETA will continue to be watching the agency until it stops poisoning and torturing animals.

That’s not all – she also requested that her pointing finger be delivered to the owner of Ringling Bros. + Barnum & Bailey Circus, that her liver be vacuum-packed and shipped to France to be sold as human foie gras, and that her thumbs be removed and mounted to plaques to serve as immortal thumbs-up and thumbs-down PETA awards.

The rest of the will can be read over at the PETA website. It actually goes into the legal details on how to best accomplish her wishes. The will was actually released last year, but this is the first we’ve heard of it. Though nothing is really shocking coming from PETA, you gotta admit this one is an eyebrow-raiser to say the least.

Mmm, don’t you love the smell of wrinkled lady parts slathered in barbecue sauce sizzling on the grill?

Link [Treehugger]

Are China’s Skyrocketing CO2 Emissions Our Fault?

We Westerners just can’t get enough of cheap Chinese goods.  While we satiate our voracious appetite for cheap gadgets and gizmos, China continues to build factories to meet that demand – factories that are polluting their air and water and emitting vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Last year, China officially earned the title of world’s biggest CO2 emitter – but they’re refusing to accept responsibility for the emissions involved in producing goods for foreign markets. New research shows that about a third of all Chinese carbon emissions are the result of producing goods for export, pointing the finger of blame at the West rather than at China itself.

From The Guardian:

Under Kyoto, emissions are allocated to the country where they are produced. By these rules, the UK can claim to have reduced emissions by about 18% since 1990 – more than sufficient to meet its Kyoto target.

But research published last year by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) suggests that, once imports, exports and international transport are accounted for, the real change for the UK has been a rise in emissions of more than 20%.

China, as the world’s biggest export manufacturer, is key to explaining this kind of discrepancy. According to Glen Peters, one of the authors of the new report at Oslo’s Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, about 9% of total Chinese emissions are the result of manufacturing goods for the US, and 6% are from producing goods for Europe.

Academics and campaigners increasingly say responsibility for these emissions lies with the consumer countries.

Despite this new research, world leaders may not agree to a deal based on consumption rather than production of CO2, and even if they did, it’s unclear how national figures would be calculated. But Dieter Helm, professor of economics at Oxford University, says there are ways to take consumption into account, such as a border tax or carbon transfer.

It makes sense: if those factories were producing goods – and emitting CO2 – in America, the UK and other Western countries, we’d obviously be responsible for those emissions. We don’t just purchase vast amounts of consumer goods from Chinese-owned companies – so many of our own domestic companies outsource their production.

Though China needs to take some responsibility for their own dirty practices, we can’t put the blame solely on them for rapidly rising emissions. We’ve got to get our crazy consumer appetite under control.

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Smug Self-Important San Francisco Stereotype Springs to Life

There’s a certain stereotype that San Franciscans just can’t seem to get away from. Smug, Prius-driving, Whole Foods-patronizing with a my-shit-don’t-stink attitude that is unleashed upon anyone who isn’t flawlessly green 24 hours a day. That stereotype doesn’t actually fit most residents of this beautiful California city, but it came to life in a maddening episode of ABC’s reality show Wife Swap in the form of Brit transplant Stephen Fowler. The episode aired weeks ago, but the fallout continues.

Fowler, wearing t-shirts with slogans like ‘Treehugger’, ‘Go Solar’ and ‘Sustainability’, made a complete and total jackass of himself by treating Gayle Long, the woman who was forced to live with him for a week, embarrasingly badly.

From The Huffington Post:

At one point, as Long read a list of rules for the Fowler family, Fowler told her, “I didn’t know you could read.” When Long challenged Fowler for acting like he was better than her, he responded: “I probably make more in a week than you make in a year.”

At the end of the visit, he said, “God, that woman is the most stupid woman I’ve ever met in my life.”

Friends quoted anonymously in the San Francisco Chronicle said Fowler told them he was instructed to ham it up by “Wife Swap’s” producers. His performance evoked a stereotype of the San Francisco elitist liberal — the tree-hugging do-gooder who acts morally superior while putting down others.

Watch the video clips to get a real sense of just how much of an asshat this guy really is:

Shea Gunther said it best over at MNN.com:

Fowler does not represent the vast overwhelming majority of environmentalists (and San Franciscans) who are very nice people who just want to pass on a nice world to their grandkids. Sure, a few are snobby jerks like Fowler, but most of us are really nice folks.

I’m happy that Fowler seems to be paying mightily for his terrible behavior. His wife has publicly said he needs to “get professional help” and the Internet has responded in full force, spawning StephenFowlerSucks.com and a Facebook group called “I Can not Stand Stephen Fowler from `Wife Swap’ “. I hope he takes a lot of lessons away from this and comes out a less douchey person on the other side.

On behalf of all greenies – especially San Francisco greenies – you suck, Stephen Fowler!

Link [The Huffington Post] + [MNN.com]

Hourglass to Oblivion

Here is the latest Cartoon from Earthfirst.com’s own Jerry King, a sad but seemingly true commentary on the current sate of affairs. Let us know what you think, and send us some of your ideas for future cartoons…..enjoy

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