Conserve N.S. putting hybrid cabs to the test

The provincial government is giving about $25,000 to a new pilot project to help taxi drivers in Halifax and Dartmouth cut fuel consumption.

The initiative, funded through Conserve Nova Scotia, will give $2,500 to up to six drivers to purchase a new fuel-efficient or hybrid vehicle.

It will also provide $1,200 to those drivers and three others cabbies using regular taxis to keep data on their fuel use, mileage, and maintenance and repair bills.

More here, http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1174851.html

Earth Hour 2010

Just a reminder that Earth Hour is tomorrow, March 27, 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm, your local time. Visit http://www.earthhour.org for more info

Earth Day Guest Blogger

Todays post is from a guest blogger, Dan Grifen, http://everythingleft.wordpress.com/

Thanks Dan.

3/24/2010


Green Infrastructure, Earth Day and Global Awareness

Spring 2010 is approaching and there’s a lot of buzz around topics like the economy, taxation, global poverty, restoration in Haiti/Chile, and lastly, green awareness. With spring, Earth Day also draws nearer (April 22nd); as individuals, we must remember and realize the importance of global warming and all of its implications. Subsequent topics discussed as of late include space travel/burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and green building. As nations like Haiti and Chile prepare for rebuilding and new construction, there are many things to consider when advancing. Moving towards cleaner, greener infrastructure is vital in ensuring a successful restoration campaign.

The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(3)(c) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everybody. It’s one of the many organizations playing its role in green progression. Heavy discussion lies on green topics, especially the more recent ones like space travel; others include deforestation, green crops, clothing, energy, and much more. It’s important that we as individuals/citizens stay up-to-date on important global topics like warming. As organizations like the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative), AFH (Architecture for Humanity), and the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) conducts sustainability campaigns and enforce strict green constraints, our world will continue to become a better, cleaner place. Machines behind the CGI, Doug Band and Former President Clinton have been pursuing an emission reduction plan in the San Francisco Bay area. Meanwhile, GEC (Globetrotters Engineering Corporation) is underway with green building projects in Chicago, IL. Despite these few national examples, green infrastructure, particularly in places like Haiti, has become an integral part of restoration and construction.

This aligns with the implications of "economic viability" and long term sustainability, posing the questions, "Can Haiti really make it through all the costs of repair and reconstruction?" Infrastructure can take a toll on any economy, especially if the funds aren't there. This goes hand in hand with meeting modern day LEED standards and approaching this in a "greener" sense. Organizations like Architecture for Humanity will make this possible. Architecture for Humanity (1999) is a nonprofit design services firm building "a more sustainable future through the power of professional design." It was formulated through a group of building professionals whose overwhelming passion for construction drove them to provide a way for underdeveloped, suffering countries to rebuild. Through their dedication and hard work, these people will be able to not only create new buildings and infrastructure, but make them bigger, better, and greener.

To touch on just some of the things that AFH covers:

• Alleviating poverty and providing access to water, sanitation, power and essential services
• Bringing safe shelter to communities prone to disaster and displaced populations
• Rebuilding community and creating neutral spaces for dialogue in post-conflict areas
• Mitigating the effects of rapid urbanization in unplanned settlements
• Creating spaces to meet the needs of those with disabilities and other at-risk populations
• Reducing the footprint of the built environment and addressing climate change

As polluters continue to buy their way out of Carbon Cuts globally, and large organizations continue to dump their waste into lakes, ponds and rivers, communities and must play their role in ensuring sustainability. Organizations like the CGI, AFH, and USGBC provide repercussion and policy change for acts such as. Most of the results from warming and climate change are miniscule and unnoticeable now, but our youth and earlier generations will experience firsthand the effects of pollutants and unsustainable efforts. Feel free to visit http://www.earthday.org/ to learn more about what you can do to support your world.

Food Connect

Food Connect is an award winning social business that works in collaboration with brilliant local farmers around Brisbane to deliver the best food in the world efficiently, affordably and equitably. Our unique distribution system is flexible, convenient and most of all healthy for you and your community. We are passionate about changing the way food is grown and distributed in this and any country where exploitation of farmers and customers is rampant.

Check it out, http://www.foodconnect.com.au/

Where I'm At Now (Part 2)

The next post in the series of some of the transitions we've made.

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a big coffee drinker.

Coffee is actually one of my exception items on my 100-Mile Diet (Details in future post)

A lot of coffee is produced in countries that are politically unstable. What this means in very brief terms, is that the coffee is controlled by large coffee cartels. The cartels market the coffee and make the profit passing very little along to the farmers.

The farmers are then forced to enlist their families, since they have no money to pay workers, and are denied proper meals, education and medical treatment. 

Fair Trade Coffee is usually grown in farmer owned cartels or co-ops where the farmers make more of the profits allowing them to live better lives. Most Fair Trade Coffee growers also grow the coffee organically and are excellent stewards of the earth.

 

One of the companies I've found is Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-operative Limited , http://www.justuscoffee.com/Default.aspx

I'm not trying to promote this company, I'm just using it as an example. Their site has a lot of info about Fair Trade.

 

Just Us! also has tea, chocolate and sugar, all from the Fair Trade variety.

For me, it's only Fair Trade Organic coffee at home and I look for it in coffee shops too.

Are pet flea treatments safe?

This may be worth a read if you are a pet owner.

http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/03/18/are-frontline-and-other-spot-on-flea-and-tick-treatments-safe-for-dogs-and-cats/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

Where I'm at now

My wife and I started our commitment to a lower carbon footprint in September 2007. Just over 2 1/2 years and we've changed just about everything in our life.

The next series of posts will be about some of the transitions we've made.

Switching to CFL's

These may cost a bit more but they last a lot longer. We've only had to replace 2 in the past few years. We changed 18 or so on the first blitz. When we compared our electric bill the following season, the change was a shocker.

 Blue - Winter       Green - Summer

The chart shows the drop in energy use from January 08 to January 09. Really, this was only due to the switch to CFL's with a little bit of diligence in turning out lights that were not being used. It took a year to compare since we had to wait for the proper season. You can't compare January with August since your utility uses are very different.

This kind of proved our effort wasn't in vain. This was one of the first things we changed. Now, a year and a half into our lifestyle adjustment, it was the third bit of proof we were on to something. Sometimes it takes time to see results.

Annihilation of a Fish

There is a series of photographs called "The Chase" taken off Nomans Land Island, near Martha's Vineyard, in 1986. The photographs show a giant bluefin tuna, weighing over 900 pounds, leaping, missing, leaping again, and capturing an Atlantic bluefish about two feet long.¹ The giant bluefin has all the design characteristics of a fighter jet: supremely tapered shape, short fins like abbreviated wings, extreme speed.

 

Read here, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-rigney/annihilation-of-a-fish_b_505712.html

TD’s Global Business Operations Are Now Carbon Neutral

TD Bank Financial Group, today announced that its operations in Canada, the US, and international locations - its entire footprint - are now carbon neutral.

"This is a significant milestone but we know there is still a lot to do," said Karen Clarke-Whistler, Chief Environment Officer, TD. "Thanks to the terrific effort of our employees as well as the helpful input we've received from environmental and community groups, TD is the first North American-based bank - and one of only a few banks in the world - to reach a carbon neutral goal. We look forward to engaging with key stakeholders as we continue to work on environmental issues."

Read here, http://www.zerofootprint.net/press/single/zerofootprint-helps-td-make-its-global-business-operations-carbon-neutral/#continuedReading

Ways to Go Green

A new analysis has an encouraging conclusion about individuals who "go green": If we all took a few simple steps, collectively we could reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 15%. Each of these steps is cheap (or free) and won't cramp anyone's lifestyle.

Read here, http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/03/15/the-two-chicken-global-warming-solution/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

Hi all,
Earth Hour will be held March 27, 2010 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Hope you can make it.

http://earthhour.org

Detroit looks at downsizing to save city

Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.

Read here, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/09/detroit-looks-at-downsizing-to-save-city/

How to make your electronics batteries last longer

Taking good care of your electronics batteries can pay off. The financial rewards of longer lasting batteries are obvious: You won't be forced to render a perfectly good gadget obsolete before its time or have to shell out money for a replacement battery.

Read more here,
http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/03/02/how-to-make-your-electronics-batteries-last-longer/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

Energy vampires: Is it worth it to unplug your electronics?

It's common knowledge that appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they're switched off but still plugged in. One solution is to unplug electronics and chargers when you aren't using them. Or you can plug cords into a power strip and switch it off whenever you want to cut off all power to ppliances.

Read the article here,
http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/02/08/energy-vampires-is-it-worth-it-to-unplug-your-electronics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

7 Companies You Can Trust to Use BPA-Free Cans

Here's a startling, almost amazing fact. Eden Organic has been canning beans since 1999 in BPA (bisphenol-A) free cans. For a decade. Concerns about BPA keep mounting - in January the FDA reversed its 2008 stance to say it was "concerned" about BPA and recommended limited exposure. So why all food manufacturers follow Eden's lead?

Read more and see the list here,
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/7-bpa-free-canned-foods.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29&utm_content=FaceBook

Device mimics leeches, ejects plug when gadget is done charging

Leeches drink blood until they're full and then fall off of their host, but our plugged-in gadgets keep drinking electricity even once they're fully charged.
The Outlet Regulator changes this by ejecting the plug from the electricity source once the gadget is done charging, turning vampire electronics into leeches.

Check it out here, http://conorklein.com/index.php?/ongoing/outlet-regulator/

Freight Transportation’s Hidden Cost to Health and the Planet

Freight—nearly everything we buy, eat, manufacture, or build with is carried to us by a complex system of shipping routes, rail lines, highways, ports, and rail yards.
West Coast ports are expected to see a 138% increase in container traffic by 2035. Source: Port of Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, pollution from moving all this freight is significant and growing. Truck, locomotive, and ship engines spew greenhouse gases, toxic diesel soot, and other dangerous pollutants. These emissions contribute to global warming and are responsible for serious health problems. This is the first in a series of posts about how to address the huge environmental and public health costs of moving goods around the country.

Read here, http://blogs.edf.org/transportation/2010/03/01/we-gotta-clean-up-freight-transportation%e2%80%99s-hidden-cost-to-health-and-the-planet/