Not that I really needed another reason to sweat Herman Miller, but this week the furniture company put out an announcement that their sustainable improvements around energy efficiency paid off--combating the old adage that "sure it's good for people and the environment--but it's too expensive". Take this, suckers!
Who says energy efficient lighting has to be boring?! Plumens, a new innovation in energy efficient lighting gets rid of the shade and allows the bulb to speak for itself. And what a statement it makes!
Hulgar, London-based design firm has taken the classic radiator shape of energy efficient light bulbs and jazzed it up a notch.
They're only in the prototype phase as of now, but check back here to see when you can get your paws on them.
Today, I stopped by my corner store to pick up a monthly mass transit pass to find that they were completely sold out! The guy behind the counter told me this is the first time this has ever happened and many of the people coming in to buy the passes are new customers. Maybe the gas price has finally reached the point that people have decided mass transit is not so bad.
This comes on the heels of a conversation I had over the weekend with a friend who said that George W. Bush may go down as the leader that promoted sustainability more than many other (albeit unintentionally) because his mismanagement has led to huge infringements on the basic freedom to consume to our hearts' content. What do you think?
LOHAS, an organization that focuses on how businesses and individuals are paving the future for healthier and environmentally friendly lifestyles, put out a report this week with a very interesting finding: consumers actually care about certification seals on products.
I wasn't surprised to see that the front runner was Energy Star pointing to the fact that consumers are taking the life-cycle of the product into account before buying it. The popularity of the recycled logo points to this trend as well. The results caused me to ponder whether these consumer choices have to do with saving the environment, saving money, or both....particularly interesting because we are sitting in a recession right now. Who says the recession doesn't have some positive side effects?
And, while tap water doesn't carry a certification seal when it comes out of the tap, some municipalities are putting a ration on how much water they will allow to certain households in order to force conservation on their customers. The East Bay Municipal Utility District, for example, is asking single-family homes to cut back on their water supply as much as 19%. They list several saving water tips on their website.
Awhile back, thought leaders discussed what it would take for a critical mass to actually take action to curb their own consumption and take responsibility for their own contributions to global climate change--consensus was that the risks of climate change would have to begin to impact daily life.....a water ration seems like a good place to start...
Academics and researchers from Intel and Microsoft are putting the Internet under the microscope, developing strategies to cut the consumption of computer-network hardware in the belief that adjusting the flow of network traffic could create dramatic energy savings, NewScientistTech reports.
Studies have shown that a server can consume 60 percent of its peak power even when it is idle, said Jie Liu, a researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash., studying how Internet servers use energy.
“In an extreme case, a single connection can keep a server on,” Jie Liu said.
One answer could be to slow things down. CNET reports that “research from labs at Intel and the University of California at Berkeley has found that network hardware could consume up to 80 percent less energy if allowed to sleep, or if set up for data to travel in clusters rather than in an even flow. Changes to delay the flow of data by milliseconds, not enough for Web surfers to notice, reportedly cut energy use in half.”
In 2007, the citizens of Sydney, Australia took a stand against climate change and turned off their lights for one hour as a symbolic gesture of their support of climate change mitigation. The symbolic gesture had a notable bi-product--the hour without lights was equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off the road. Earth Hour was born.
Earth Hour happens again this year--tomorrow night. The movement has gone global and includes cities such as: Toronto, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco are involved. Regardless of where you live, show your solidarity for the fight against climate change and try and use as little as possible electricity tomorrow, March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m.
The incredibly inspiring story of Earth Hour is here:
I gotta say I loved the blackout of 2003 in New York City. Besides the monster blisters I had on my feet after walking from my job in mid-town Manhattan to my home in Brooklyn--it was an amazing experience. I got to know my co-workers, I got to know my neighbors, I got to appreciate my apartment by candlelight, I got to eat discounted half-melted popsciles from the corner store, and yes, I got (or had) to set aside time to clean out the freezer.
It looks like I'm not alone. Rufus Wainwright feels the same way and is calling for a "Blackout Sabbath" to happen from noon to midnight on June 21st--the longest day of the year. The event also goes down as one of my favorite images of the environmental movement. He talks about it with Lloyd Alter via Treehugger.com (reposted here):
Rufus Wainwright found the last New York power failure "incredibly invigorating, spiritual and practical at the same time: we all had to pay attention to each other! Not to mention that Manhattan in total darkness was oddly enough a beautiful sight to behold.
Now he is proposing that on June 21st, the longest day of the year and the summer solstice, we all turn everything off (lights, fridge, computer, everything) from noon to midnight. "The time could be spent contemplating alone or with friends on the coming year and what personally one can do to save the planet."
He adds that "Mummy (Kate McGarrigle) says it's a good day to also empty out the fridge." ::Blackoutsabbath via ::Grist; be sure to watch Rufus' amazing performance of "Get Happy" at Glastonbury below the fold, and to learn how to really enjoy a New York Blackout, watch Joan Crawford in the original Night Gallery episode "Eyes", directed by an unknown Steven Spielberg.
Yes. I'm as bad as your neighborhood drug store--there are still Thanksgiving leftovers in your refrigerator and there's still quite a bit left of your long weekend, and here I am pushing you to go out and spend moola to revive our sputtering economy. Cue song.
I just ordered some decorations (I did my part for our GDP), and got to thinking about what I would hang the little lovelies on this year. Is the more sustainable choice a real tree or an artificial one? The image and lovely aroma of a fresh tree is definitely a warm fuzzy, however the good feelings exit quickly when these images flash through my mind.
Trees
I was pleased to read that there are many benefits to natural trees over artificial ones. Artificial trees are produced with petroleum-based products and require quite a bit of energy to manufacture. They also are often manufactured in China which means transportation from the factory to you produces a considerable amount of emissions versus your locally grown tree.
In contrast, real trees come from Christmas tree farms which means a lumberjack doesn't go into an old growth forest and chop one down. Christmas tree farms are usually cited in areas where not much else grows, so their time is put to use well lowering emissions before they come to be decorated in homes for the holidays.
While artificial trees can be used year after year, real trees can be used but once...or can they? For those in temperate climates with outdoor space, an option might be to go with a potted tree instead of a cut one.
For city dwellers who have but a square of fire escape at their disposal, most metropolitan areas have great recycling programs for trees---complete with mulching services that help nourish city parks. Earth 911 has compiled a great resource for this here. My personal favorite is Mulchfest in NYC. Can someone please turn this into a concert? Please?! How great would it be if your ticket was your sad old holiday tree? Mulchfest could give Coachella a run for its money, for sure!
Lights
Take a cue from Rockefeller Center, go LED. The U.S. Department of Energy says if everyone switched their normal holiday light strings with the LED variety, at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity (i.e. a whole lot) would be saved in a month. Please listen to them. They are smart. Here are some LED options.
Not that I really needed another reason to sweat Herman Miller, but this week the furniture company put out an announcement that their sustainable improvements around energy efficiency paid off--combating the old adage that "sure it's good for people and the environment--but it's too expensive". Take this, suckers!
Who says energy efficient lighting has to be boring?! Plumens, a new innovation in energy efficient lighting gets rid of the shade and allows the bulb to speak for itself. And what a statement it makes!
Lightbulb by Call And Response
Today, I stopped by my corner store to pick up a monthly mass transit pass to find that they were completely sold out! The guy behind the counter told me this is the first time this has ever happened and many of the people coming in to buy the passes are new customers. Maybe the gas price has finally reached the point that people have decided mass transit is not so bad.
LOHAS, an organization that focuses on how businesses and individuals are paving the future for healthier and environmentally friendly lifestyles, put out a report this week with a very interesting finding: consumers actually care about certification seals on products.
Academics and researchers from Intel and Microsoft are putting the Internet under the microscope, developing strategies to cut the consumption of computer-network hardware in the belief that adjusting the flow of network traffic could create dramatic energy savings, NewScientistTech reports.
