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

Hummer: Now Everyone Will Know

Treehugger’s Mark Ontush?

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]

Get Out Your Bicycles! Gas is Heading to $7 a Gallon

Jeff Rubin, a leading economist at CIBC World Markets, has a message for us all: start thinking about alternate transportation. In 4 years, gas prices will likely hit $7-$10 per gallon, making it too expensive for many people.

Treehugger has it:

“Stripping out natural gas liquids, oil production has not grown for over two years, which certainly goes a long way to explaining why oil prices have doubled over that period,” Rubin said. “It is increasingly clear that the outlook for oil supply signals a period of unprecedented scarcity.”

Rubin predicts hybrids will go “from marketing and PR fluff to the core of car production.” People will move closer to where they work. “I think there will be fewer people on the road in North America in five years than there is right now.”

Seems to me as if now is the time for cities all over America to start planning better public transit systems, since not all of us have the luxury of living close enough to walk or ride a bike to our places of work, grocery stores and other essential destinations - and the poor probably won’t be able to make that move. Let’s hope that the powers that be take this seriously.

The good news is, prices like this will definitely get more people to trade in their ridiculous look-at-me gas guzzlers in for something a little more reasonable. I’d venture to guess that we’ll be seeing less Hummers on the road, and I for one am happy about that, because my egg-throwing arm is getting tired.

Link [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Flickr user Brianfit

Ali G In The Tree, Ali G In The Tree

OK, these are oldies but goodies- Ali G does Green.

Treehugger Commenters Have No Sense of Humor: Must be Nipple Chaffage

Lloyd Alter is one of my favorite Treehugger writers. He mostly covers green architecture but isn’t afraid to wander into other green realms. He’s a really smart dude and a great writer and he just got dogpiled by a bunch of Treehugger commenters for a tongue in cheek post –tagged with “Humor” — he wrote about the 88 pounds of petroleum jelly that will be used during the London Marathon.

His entire post was a one sentence pull out quote:

If recent years are any guide, 40 kilograms, (88 pounds) of petroleum jelly will be used during today’s London Marathon to prevent chaffing, blistering and “runner’s nipple.”

and a link to the story.

Unleash the dogs of Holy Hell, because here come the crazy greenies! They are not happy. Not happy at all.

Here are a few of the choice comments:

what an idiotic article.

Im glad to see that the tree huggers are finally starting to admit that global climate change has NO affect on hurricanes.
maybe soon they will realize that the people of this world do not have the affect on this planet that they think they do. Sorry, but you guys are all going to look like fools in ten to twenty years.

conroy

&

Llyod,

Since you haven’t indicated you’re joking, then one has to assume you’re rather dim: the amount of petroleum used by runners is on the scale of worldwide use, infinitesimal.

I hope that, for the sake of the site, you retract, or that a treehuger editor resects. This entry cheapens your publication.

Luckily Nick chimes in to help prove that not all Treehugger readers are uptight assholes folks with stunted senses of humor with:

BACK IN THE HOLES, TROLLS.

Are we all unable to take a joke?

And failing that, did nobody see the “Humour” tag at the bottom of the article?

In my opinion, it’s good to have little jabs like this, to get us to laugh at ourselves. It keeps us from getting too self-righteous about environmental causes, which makes our entire movement more approachable to and resonant with the public at large. Treehugger PROtip: If it looks like a silly article, take it with a grain of salt. The writers here have a sense of humour.

And here I thought Treehugger was the one with the intelligent readership.

Link [Treehugger]