7 Terrifying Photographic Depictions of Global Warming

You don’t have to be a scientist to see the effect that global warming is already having on the world. Signs are popping up around the globe, from Bihar, India to coastal Alaska. Here at EarthFirst we’ve covered the places that are getting the worst of it, and now Treehugger has put together 7 disturbing images that show just how real – and terrifying – global warming is.

Thousands of dead fish, shrinking glaciers and massive dust storms are just a few of the photos that will make you want to ramp up your own personal fight against global warming. Here are three of ‘em – check out the rest over at Treehugger.

Top photo: Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina 1928. Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina 2004. 76 years of climate change. Then, and now. Scary.
Photo via Greenpeace

Thanks to growing marine dead zones that are caused by global warming, there’s been a huge spike in dead sea life in recent years–and it often washes up on shore, providing us with an unsubtle reminder.
Photo via CDNN

Hurricanes aren’t the only severe weather conditions that global warming stirs up—massive dust clouds like this one are becoming more frequent, and more violent, in regions like Southern Africa.
Photo via Daily Mail

Link [Treehugger]

Is Bottled Water Really So Bad?

I can’t tell you how many self-described environmentalists I know that have refrigerators full of bottled water. Not just gallon jugs, either, but giant Costco-sized packs of individual bottles. Now, we’ve all got our eco-sins – nobody’s perfect. And many of these bottled water-loving greenies assert that there are far worse habits they could have. Maybe that’s true, but bottled water and other beverages sold in individual plastic bottles certainly aren’t harmless.

Treehugger’s ‘Ask Pablo’ tackles the question, ‘Is bottled water really so bad?’

Surely there are bigger culprits out there. The problem for bottled water is that it is so ubiquitous and generally an unnecessary luxury. With most of the Western world having access to clean municipal water supplies, and even additional filtration, there is little reason to grab a pre-packaged dose of hydration, except for the sake of convenience, portability, or emergency preparedness. But successful marketing campaigns have created an image of purity, wealth, and health around bottled water and it is this situation that has triggered the bottled water backlash.

While everyone is bashing bottled water the rest of the bottled beverage industry has remained relatively untouched. This is despite the fact that all other bottled beverages contain a higher level of embodied environmental impact because they have ingredients in addition to water and their packaging is oftentimes heavier, translating into higher shipping emissions. Most of these ingredients are agricultural products: corn sweeteners for sodas, grapes for wine, grains for beer, etc. and their supply chain involves petrochemical fertilizers, diesel trucks, and processing factories. So all of a sudden bottled water doesn’t seem quite as bad, or at least this is how the bottled water industry sees it. Their argument is often that they are shifting market share away from high-calorie soft drinks to a much healthier alternative. Unfortunately this still ignores the fact that consumers can get healthy (and much cheaper) water from their tap as well as portability and convenience from Bisphenol-A free, reusable, and durable, stainless steel containers.

Pablo offers several suggestions for those who like soft drinks or carbonated water – check them out over at Treehugger.

Getting a faucet-mounted water filter is such a good investment and will go a long way toward reducing the amount of waste you produce – especially now that Brita is taking back old filters. Plus, with all of the great reusable containers out there, there’s really no reason to continue adding to the ridiculously large pile of empty plastic bottles that piles up around the world every day.

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: istock

Desk Clock Runs on Lemon Power

This little desk clock, created by French design firm Anna Gram, runs on the power of a cut lemon for a week. The acidity of the lemon juice connecting with a plug of zinc and copper creates electrolysis, powering the clock. It’s a cute novelty, and while Treehugger questions ‘the merit of the design’, I think they missed the point (no offense, Treehugger, ya know we love you).

From Treehugger:

Running a clock on a lemon a week seems pretty neat. But what is the point when we have clocks on our computers, our cell phones, and pretty much everywhere else we turn? These are gadgets we’re already charging anyway, so to waste a lemon on a novelty clock seems a little silly.

From Anna Gram:

Technically, it’s almost the same principle than Mr Volta used to invented the battery in 1799: an electrolysis of zinc and coper (the plug under the lemon) in a salted or acid liquid (the lemon). The oxidation phenomenon create the electricity.

If you were lucky enough, this chemical experience use to be teach in primary school (in france at least).

We call that a pedagogic project because the aim is obviously not to replace our actual clocks, but at least to help people think (or remember) about nature and energy.

It’s a reminder of the vast untapped potential for energy that exists on this planet. Anna Gram isn’t suggesting that we begin using lemons to power gadgets in our homes, but it goes to show that we need to think outside the box to solve our energy problems. If a lemon can power a desk clock, what other renewable natural resources could we be using to create power on a larger scale? Like most art, the lemon-powered desk clock is meant to inspire thought.

Link [Treehugger] + [Anna Gram]

Green Retailing 3.0: An Interactive World of Green Internet Shopping

In the past few days, we’ve seen a lot of bleak stories about how the retail industry is struggling to make ends meet due to consumers limiting their spending. Dire predictions have been made about the many outlets that won’t survive the season, as people do everything they can to save money – including not buying anything at all. But, even as most mainstream retailers resort to desperate measures for sales, the green retail industry is seeing growth.

Graham Hill, founder of Treehugger, wrote about how the green retail industry can continue to beat the odds, and proposes a quick shift to ‘green retailing 3.0’. From The Huffington Post:

So how about leap-frogging to green retailing 3.0? This would combine the best of two worlds – the well-developing empire of Internet-based e-commerce and an expanded universe of truly well-designed and quality-made green goods. An example of an early attempt at this is the Green Home online store, and the UK’s Green Store.

However these, and really most e-commerce sites, have been hampered by an inability to give people a full shopping experience. But that is starting to change. Look at Zoomii, an online bookstore that copies Amazon’s pricing and shipping policies but lets you browse the bookshelves. Perhaps It won’t be long before your own (realistic) Second Life avatar can go in to a virtual store and try on the organic t-shirt and jeans you’ve been needing.

Seem far-fetched to think that those vast tracts of land now taken up by the behemoth buildings we call “malls” can be replaced by online sites and distributed networks of green suppliers? Well, E-bay probably seemed like a crazy idea not too long ago.

Hill points out that brick-and-mortar neighborhood stores with a green theme typically don’t have a great selection, and we can’t depend on mega-retailers to go green in any meaningful way, no matter how they might attempt to pander to environmentalists.

There are pros and cons to both local shopping and internet shopping, and that won’t change no matter how fancy and interactive online storefronts might become. Earth 911 has a rundown on the battle between online vs. local in-store shopping.

Hill’s ‘green retailing 3.0’ idea is intriguing, though. We’d certainly love to see the world of online shopping get a lot greener, and in order to do that on a large scale, stores need to entice even mainstream consumers to buy their merchandise.

Link [The Huffington Post] + [Earth 911]

Tips On Being A Vegetarian At Thanksgiving

Have you ever seen the movie Pieces of April? In it, a cute and bubbly pre-Tom-Cruise Katie Holmes plays April, a vegetarian who attempts to create a grand Thanksgiving feast for her highly critical meat-eating family. Predictably, disaster ensues, especially since April has no idea how to cook anything, let alone a turkey. I’ve found myself in this position in the past when cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my in-laws, while my husband was working. I had no earthly clue how to tell if the thing was edible, much less worthy of being the centerpiece of such a huge holiday meal.

Luckily, my family is respectful of my choice to be a vegetarian and my mother even enthusiastically creates vegetarian dishes for me. But not all vegetarians find themselves surrounded by supporters during the holiday season – for some, family members see this choice as a temporary phase, an extreme rebellion or even a challenge to their own beliefs and preferences. In such a situation, holidays can get hairy.

As such, Treehugger has offered up some tips to help you get through the day:

1) If a relative is baiting you, don’t rise to it. Some wag once said “Of course your family can push your buttons, they installed them”. Chances are the uncle who is goading you is never going to see things from your point of view, and is just trying to get you going, so don’t bother arguing with him.

2) Offer to bring a vegetarian main course so that you aren’t making extra work for your parents. Make something that is ready to serve and doesn’t require precious oven or stove space.

3) Don’t cover old ground. Families have a way of endlessly reprising touchy topics. Keep in mind a list of things to talk about that will help you avoid the mobius strip of argument.

4) Before the big day, ask the cook to keep unnecessary meat additions out of the side dishes. Really, no one is going to miss bacon bits in the salad.

5) Be open to friendly discussion about your food choices if this is your first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian. Being a vegetarian is a normal, everyday thing for you and if you are matter of fact about it your family will see that it needn’t be a big deal.

6) If you’ve already had the friendly discussion and you don’t want to keep having it, it’s time to set some limits. Politely point out that there may be other topics more interesting than what you eat.

7) Don’t apologize to your family for your food choices, but also recognize that they have the right to their own choices as well.

Smile and be thankful.

Some good sources for vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes are In a Vegetarian Kitchen with Nava Atlas, The Veggie Table and VegWeb. Non-meaty main dishes abound, and they don’t necessarily have to be made from tofu. Thanksgiving, after all, isn’t about turkey – it’s about celebrating the harvest and being thankful for what we have.

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: Flickr user Greg Burkett

Why Can’t Obama’s New Presidential Limo be a Hybrid?

We aren’t supposed to know much about the President’s main ride, since it’s kind of a security issue. So, nobody’s really sure exactly how many miles per gallon the rumored new Obama Mobile gets – but according to reports, it might be pretty eco-unfriendly. Obama may have driven a hybrid SUV before winning the presidency, but once he’s in office this January, we’re hearing that he’ll be rolling in a souped-up limo that looks like a Cadillac GTS but is based on GM’s line of heavy-duty 2500 trucks.

Treehugger reports that even a non-souped-up 2500 series truck gets single-digit MPG and emits 16 tons of CO2 per year, earning it the worst possible climate change rating from the EPA. For security reasons, Obama’s limo will probably be even worse since all that 5-inch-thick glass and blast-proof ceramics are awfully heavy. But for all that, Treehugger doesn’t see why the new presidential limo couldn’t be a hybrid.

From Treehugger:

Clearly the limo — which is currently probably diesel-powered — has to be super strong, bullet-proof, and fast. But why can’t it also include a new drivetrain, electronics and some batteries? Ford made a conventional hybrid limo with the Mercury Mariner. If he needs something more militarized, can’t Obama car get something along the lines of those hybrid Hummer upgrades he earmarked as a senator? He did after all once call for every government car to be a plug-in hybrid.

And after all, wouldn’t a hybrid drivetrain help with accelerating such a behemoth? One commenter at CleanMPG speculates that the car might already be a hybrid for that reason.

Treehugger goes on to note that the limo could be a plug-in hybrid, though the threat of electromagnetic pulse could interfere with its electronics (a job for military engineers?).

It would be pretty awesome if they could pull that off, but when it comes to ferrying around a president with an unprecedented number of threats to his life, safety is definitely first. Hopefully this behemoth will make up for its abysmal MPG by keeping Obama as safe as possible.

Link [Treehugger]

During Economic Crisis, No Recession for Bicycle Makers

It’s a good time to own bike stock.  And, according to Stephen Colbert, soup stock.  But we digress.  Though the current state of the economy has hit carmakers hard, it certainly hasn’t put a dent in the profits of bicycle makers – not even close.  Bicycle makers are unsurprisingly selling more than ever, with demand up so high that in some areas, there are bicycle shortages. “Giant Manufacturing, the world’s largest bicycle-maker, sold a record 460,000 units last month and is heading for its best year ever.”

From The Economist, via Treehugger:

After a slow 2006, sales took off last year in Europe and America as fuel prices shot up. Suddenly a bicycle seems like the remedy for many modern ills, from petrol prices to pollution and obesity. Each market has its own idiosyncrasies. Europeans mainly use bikes for commuting, but have the odd habit of ignoring models made explicitly for that purpose in favour of sleeker, faster models which are then expensively modified. Americans prefer off-road BMX trail bikes. Taiwanese demand is led by racing-style bikes used for exercise.

Treehugger notes that, looking back on Giant Manufacturing’s stock performance over the years, they’re actually up by 5.65% right now whereas the market as a whole is way down over the same period of time.  Maybe it’s a good time to open that bicycle shop you’ve been mulling over, or work on that design you’ve had in the back of your mind for years.  Bikes FTW!

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: Flickr user Bitpicture

Paper that Erases Itself After 24 Hours Debuts at WIRED NextFest

Xerox debuted an innovation that might just save paper from becoming a relic of less than eco-friendly times at WIRED NextFest, which is taking place in Chicago until October 12th.  It’s paper that self-erases within 24 hours, and can be re-used again and again. Studies have shown that 40% of paper gets discarded on the day it was produced, and despite the availability of new technology and tips for using less paper in the office, most companies still use paper at an astounding rate.

From Treehugger:

The catch is that you can’t just use regular ink for it to work. You need a certain type of light:

The “a-ha” moment came from developing compounds that change color when they absorb a certain wavelength of light but then will gradually disappear. In its present version, the paper self-erases in about 16-24 hours and can be used multiple times.

You can also erase the page faster by exposing it to heat.

The scientists at PARC (the place that invented the laser printer) are working on a new type of printer that could print with the right type of light.

It’s still a research project, so it won’t be for sale for a while still.  A Treehugger commenter also points out the waste that would be produced when thousands of companies switched over to the new special printers required. Still, it’s a step in the right direction.  We need to start thinking this way, in terms of reducing waste and preserving resources.

Link [Treehugger]

How to Green Up Your Dorm Room

Just because you’re at college, on your own for the first time, doesn’t mean you have to join the millions of students across the country who generate thousands of tons of garbage each year due to poor choices in furniture and accessories.  Treehugger has a great guide over at Planet Green for greening up your dorm room, with tips ranging from using power strips instead of extension cords and picking out the right lighting to scoring free stuff and doing without disposables.

From Planet Green:

Beyond the actual stuff you’ll need, going green in your dorm room is also about adopting a green point of view. For example, instead of loading up on bottled water to help stay hydrated during all-night study sessions, grab a BPA-free water bottle (like a Bilt, Sigg or Kleen Kanteen) and a tabletop water filter, or a filtering system that you can keep in the fridge. Rather than running extension cords everywhere to power your electronic gear, put them all on power strips, so you can easily keep them from sucking too much phantom power out of the electricity grid. Instead of using plug-in air fresheners, stock up on plants that improve indoor air quality to help keep your room smelling fresh without all that toxic stinky stuff.

Read through the whole article to get facts on colleges and universities going green as well as links to dozens more college tips.

Link [Planet Green] via [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Flickr user (nutmeg)

Treehugger’s Green Tips: Humanure Composting

Humanure: it’s exactly what it sounds like. Human feces and urine when composted properly, is perfectly safe to use in gardens, even those growing edibles. As part of their Green Tips project, Treehugger has a few videos that explain the (surprisingly easy) process of composting ‘humanure’. Created by Joseph Jenkins, the author of The Humanure Handbook, the first video explains how to set up a safe and secure humanure composting system while the second shows you how to empty the bins.

From Treehugger:

While some people may be put off by the idea of gardening with human waste, as long as it is done properly there really shouldn’t be any safety concerns. And as Joseph explains in a few of his videos, when done properly humanure composting systems are almost odor-free. And there is no doubt it is an important subject. As the blurb for Joseph’s book says: “There are almost seven billion defecating people on planet Earth, but few who have any clue about how to constructively handle the burgeoning mountain of human crap.“

Be sure to check out the rest of Treehugger’s Green Tips, ours tip about biking to work without being a sweaty pig got picked up by them for a post.

Link [Treehugger] + [Chelsea Green]

Disney’s ‘Dream Home’ is Tacky, Lame, and So Not Green

I’ve just seen the future, and it’s lame. Luckily, it’s nothing more than Disney’s ‘Dream Home’, not an actual vision of how we’ll be living our lives in the years to come. Unlike the innovative, futuristic 1950’s version, this ‘home of the future’ looks like a typical suburban McMansion, but with even more worthless electronic junk. Lloyd Alter of Treehugger agrees, and he’s written a scathing review of the home:

The builder said “The 1950s home didn’t look like anything, anywhere. It was space-age and kind of cold,” “We didn’t want the (new) home to intimidate the visitors. We want the house to be real accessible to our guests.” So Disney designer Tom Zofrea made it a mix of Art Nouveau and Craftsman Style. “The design celebrates the inventive thinking and optimism of both yesterday and today” But there seems to be nothing inventive at all, just more electronic junk than I have ever seen in one place, most of it off the shelf Microsoft and HP stuff. As one commenter said in an earlier post, “Instead of fantasizing about advancements in science and technology, we are once again led to simply fantasize about being rich.”

This ‘dream home’ is the antithesis of what a true dream home of the future should look like. Instead of moving in the direction of more pointless empty space, energy inefficiency, and dozens of gadgets plugged into the wall, we should be seeing something far smarter. I choose to treat this like an alt-timeline version of the home of the future: “Look at the tacky homes we could have been living in if we hadn’t started on the path to smart green design.”

Lloyd truly said it best:

Watch the appalling video on the hideous website with the nauseating music. Walt is spinning in his cryogenic cylinder.

Link [Treehugger]

Bumper Cars as an Alternative to Electric Cars?

Imagine taking a really stupid idea, multiplying it by a few million and setting it loose on the streets of America. No, I’m not talking about hybrid SUVs (this time). A website called Low-Tech has decided that, instead of focusing on increasing the battery life of electric cars, we should just get rid of the batteries all together. How? By re-introducing the ‘bumper car’ cable system.

Treehugger has it:

“Batteries are the flaw of electric cars, and not only when considering the environment. Electric cars are not yet a reality because of the limited mileage of their ‘fuel tanks.’ At best, an electric car can drive 100 or 200 miles. After that, the car has to be plugged in for hours.” Their suggested alternative: bumper car technology, where electricity is fed to the vehicle directly from the grid.

Kris De Decker reminds us that in many countries, there are networks of trolley cars and vehicles that use overhead wires for power yet drive on the road like a conventional vehicle. ” Like electric cars, the environmental score of a trolleybus depends on the way the electricity was generated. However, a trolleybus (just like a tram or an electric train) does not face the problem of energy storage. Therefore, the problem with the electric car is not that it’s electric, but that it’s wireless.”

What a mess that would be. Aside from the obvious problems of requiring massive, expensive overhauls of our road system and being unable to pass each other on the highway, a Treehugger commenter named Ross sums up our sentiments on the issue nicely:

So they’re proposing something like one of those newfangled train machines?

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: Flickr user brainware3000

Sound the Alarms! Treehugger Bought an SUV

Treehugger, we really hate to do this. We love you like family. You have always been the eco-conscious big brother that helped us make the right decisions. But your justification for purchasing an SUV – and it’s not even a hybrid SUV – just doesn’t seem to jive. We’re sorry to give you a big fat ECO FAIL for that, bro.

Treehugger’s Mark Ontush (MJO) is based in Boston, has a family of three and telecommutes. His wife rides the bus to work. When his car, used primarily to pick up large purchases and haul visiting family around, gave out on him, he went into the dealership with the intention of getting a hybrid or Smart Car and came out with a Honda CRV. The reasoning is mostly based around, er, moving dishwashers.

From Treehugger:

Having space in a car is a funny thing – you don’t need it all the time, but when you need it, there aren’t a lot of options; you aren’t going to get a dishwasher into a Prius, or transport your extended family around when you are all together and going somewhere. So then you are into renting trucks and vans for these types of situations – which we did for years – and these rentals can really add up.

The other big item was safety. We realized that SUVs are often overrated in this regard, but the fact was that the SUV felt safer. I don’t know why this is exactly; you are up a little higher, it is heavier; you sort of feel that if you get hit, mass will be on your side. Again, this is one of those ‘probably never need it but nice to have things’; environmentally, it’s a luxury item. But the effect is pretty powerful and swayed our decision.

A commenter points out a previous Treehugger article, “SUV’s not safer for Kids”, in response. Other commenters wonder how much stuff MJO is buying every year that he needs to rent vans and trucks to the tune of $1500 total to bring it all home. And, uh, can’t your family ride the bus like everyone else? Tell them it’s part of the city experience!

Treehugger commenters can certainly be an ornery bunch, so it’s not surprising that this post got an SUV-load of scathing comments, but most of them had good points.

Sometimes I’m amazed that the rest of the world can manage to raise families without SUVs, the way they’re talked about in the States. – Ross

This does not sound like good enough justification. I’ve heard this before from my ‘green’ friends — who’s wives ultimately pushed the decision to an SUV.

[there was a wife involved, yes mjo]

When all else fails, blame it on the wife, right? My husband likes to pull that sometimes, too. It takes two, baby!

I generally agree with making the decision that’s right for you at the time, and certainly none of us are saints – but imagine if everyone in America reasoned this way. The fact that Mr. Ontush lives in Boston and not a suburb makes it even worse, since convenient, efficient mass transit abounds. We’re trying to get even suburban people to give up the SUVs, MJO, so when ‘green’ city people do it, it don’t look too good.

Link [Treehugger]

Jet Sharing: For Celebrities Who Don’t Want to Try Too Hard

Gee, it must be hard to be a celebrity. You have to deal with annoyingly adoring fans, are inundated by free stuff at every turn and get flak from us peons about flitting around in private jets. Cause, as we all know, there are so many good reasons why you can’t fly commercial. Like the fact that you’re accompanied by a truckload of baggage and multiple employees who wait on you hand and foot. So, even when you have all these dumb environmentalists telling you it’s really bad for the planet when you fly a private jet, you just aren’t going to stop, no matter what. Well, guess what, your highnesses: now you can share a private jet with other celebs, so you can tell people you’re ‘green’.

Treehugger has it:

If you look at Madonna, her carbon footprint in 2006 was estimated to be 1,018 tons – or 100 times the average British citizen’s. Not only do celebs fly a lot, the more famous they get, the more likely they are to want the convenience and luxury of a private jet. So now you know why Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt never look jet-lagged!

London-based Private Jet Club has launched a service to pair up different jet-setters going to some common cities to reduce their costs and (incidentally) their per-person carbon footprint – and calling it jet pooling. While jet pooling may sound like a ridiculous bit of greenwash, the CO2 load of flying solo in many jets is astronomical, making jet pooling better than nothing.

Sure, it’s better than nothing. I’d much rather hear about, say, all of those LA-based actors flying to Cannes in one private jet than all of them flying separately. So, there’s that. Here’s hoping that some of them will actually do it!

Link [Treehugger] + [Private Jet Club]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Ooh, What’s That Smell? Gazans Using Falafel Oil to Power Taxis

Gaza is currently under fuel sanctions, making it difficult for taxis to continue business as usual. Luckily for them, people in the region love them some falafel (fried mashed, spiced chickpeas), and the oil can be used to power the vehicles. It makes for some rough running and isn’t great for the cars, but it works, and right now Gazans don’t have much choice.

Treehugger has it:

According to Reuters, Gaza’s taxi drivers say the used falafel oil works much better than the fresh stuff smuggled in from the Gaza-Egypt border. They either beg for it from falafel vendors, or buy it from the vendors who are hawking it for a profit.

“It makes the cars smell like a kitchen — you feel like falafel is following you,” said Ahmed al-Beltaji, crinkling his nose. “Next week they’ll be putting water in there.”

Beltaji runs a falafel stand near a taxi station and started selling his falafel oil leftovers in April. Others are turning to other creative measures –– using cooking canisters to power their cars, or are traveling by donkey or bicycle.

I can eat some falafel like nobody’s business, but I can’t imagine that it would be too pleasant to constantly smell it while you’re driving, considering that it’s mixed with turpentine. That could get you over an addiction to the delicious fried goodness pretty quickly. I also love that one of their alternatives to riding in taxis is to take a donkey. Imagine if this caught on in American cities: seeing Wall Street businessmen in their suits and ties gripping their briefcases while clinging to the back of an ass. How fantastic would that be?

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: Reuters

Heavy, Expensive, Wasteful College Textbooks are So 20th Century: Why Aren’t Ebooks More Readily Available By Now?

As mountains of old, out of date college textbooks continue to pile up – and updated versions are published to take their places – the current system of buying and selling these books seems more and more antiquated. It begs the question, what other options do we have? Sure, you can buy and sell used books, but there are cons to that too.

Last March, Treehugger questioned the eco-friendliness of online book swaps. While purchasing or borrowing used books is way better than constantly paying for new ones, all that shipping back and forth makes it a little less green than it should be. At least one site, 2swap.com, gets a good rating from Treehugger but isn’t geared specifically toward college students.

Nearly all college students these days have laptops, and PDF versions of books are becoming more and more common. Imagine how much easier and less wasteful it would be if college books were licensed and sold electronically for a semester of use. You wouldn’t have to lug around an insane number of 20-pound books, you wouldn’t be out a ton of money even when selling your books back after you’re done with them and the old unwanted texts would stop their endless march to the landfill.

Perhaps starting up a signature drive to get more publishers to offer texts in ebook form would be a good way for college students to get their eco-activist on. Publishers are old school and most aren’t yet internet-savvy, but they’re like any other businesspeople: if there’s a demand, and they know they can make money off of it, they’ll take action. If enough students started requesting ebook versions of their college texts, there’s no reason why everybody couldn’t make the switch. It’d result in less trees being cut down, savings for college students, and a way for publishers to get their foot into the 21st century finally.

Here’s a partial list of college textbook publishers to get started. Any takers?

Link [Treehugger] + [2Swap] + [ACQWeb]

Photo credit: Flickr user anavrin

LSD Inventor Albert Hofman Dies, Treehugger Gives Props, Treehugger Readers Freak Their Shit Out

Man, Treehugger readers can be a bunch of bitchy squares.

The inventor of LSD, Albert Hofman recently died. Mr. Hofman’s invention was a major influence (mostly positive, some negative) in the lives of millions of artists, philosophers, deadheads, green bloggers, and yes, even treehuggers. LSD’s ability to show people planes of thought outside the normal everyday consciousness is one of the undertold stories of modern history.

Poor Lloyd Alter over at Treehugger posted a Happy 100th Birthday post a few years back when Mr. Hofman ticked over the century mark and got flamed in the comments for it. His recent post giving props to the deceased Swiss chemist was again flooded with uptight squares saying stupid things like comparing Hofman to Pablo Escobar (Escobar got WAY richer).

Someone needs to drop hit of cool on those squarebots. You’re giving us treehuggers an uptight name.

Link [Treehugger] & [Guardian]

Rock Port, Missouri Proves that Wind Power Really Works

Wind turbines haven’t just provided Rock Port, Missouri with 100% of their power. They’ve provided an extra 23% on top of that – enough to sell some to other cities.

Rock Port, Missouri, is a small city of 1,300 people, and they just made history by being the first city in the US to be 100% powered by the wind, also making them #1 in the US for percentage of renewable energy. The Loess Hills Wind Farm, built by the Wind Capital Group, employing 500 workers from 20 states for about a year, is expected to produce about 16 million kilowatt hours annually, while Rock Port only uses 13 million. The excess wind power will be sold to other communities in the area.

They’ve provided a great example for the rest of the nation. It’s time to start doing this in more cities. Of course, there are always those people that will complain that wind turbines are ‘ugly’ – the whole Not in My Backyard thing. Personally, I think they’re beautiful because of what they stand for: renewable energy. Doesn’t that mean more than having ‘eyesores’ in your city?

Link [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Fujitsu’s Zero Watt Computer Monitor Uses No Power in Standby Mode

We’re all aware of the issue of phantom power, wherein all of your electrical items that are left plugged into outlets constantly draw a small stream of energy even if they’re turned off. The energy savings from eliminating these phantom power draws can definitely add up over time, but one thing that’s annoying for many technophiles is constantly unplugging and plugging back in items that we use regularly every day.

Computer monitors are one of those items. For those of us that don’t use notebook computers but still use our computers frequently throughout the day, the new Fujitsu Zero Watt computer monitor may be exactly what we need. The technology may even cross over to other electronics.

Treehugger has it:

A new computer monitor by Fujitsu Siemens Computers breaks with its brethren and uses no power at all in idle mode. It works with a clever switch that shuts down the monitor when there’s no signal from the computer, and turns it back on when there is one.

If we extrapolate a bit, we see that this probably can’t be used on all electronics if we want remotes to still work, but in a home entertainment system (stereo, TV, etc), it could easily be fitted on all accessories except one that would catch the signal from the remote, and then when it powers on, that would give the signal to the rest to follow suit.

It’s pretty awesome that as issues like phantom power are being identified, solutions are being invented fairly quickly. We can be thankful to those with super-crazy-smart ideas for continuing the trend of breakthroughs in green technology. Thank you, crazy smart people! We’re not worthy!

Link [Treehugger]

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