Stop Junk Mail. Be Eco Friendly. Do Good. The GreenDimes Blog

Green Apple Festival 2008

Take a bite out of the Green Apple

Where will you be spending Earth Day this year?  How about at the 3rd annual Green Apple Festival? They’re calling it “America’s largest Earth Day celebration” where you can enjoy a weekend of music and environmental awareness from April 18^th- April 20^th.  The Festival will have 8 locations across the U.S. and they are free.  The bummer is that since that they occur simultaneously, it would be hard to attend all of them; if you need pick one, here they are:  New York City (Central Park), Washington, DC (The National Mall), Chicago IL (Lincoln Park Zoo), Miami FL (Bicentennial Park), Denver CO (City Park), Dallas TX (Fair Park), San Francisco CA (Golden Gate Park) and Los Angeles CA (Santa Monica Pier).

The 2008 Green Apple Festival

·         Is one of the largest Earth Day gatherings in U.S. history

·         Presents 8 simultaneous events at landmark parks across the country on April 20, 2008

·         Is located in parks, rather than concrete venues, chosen with eco-considerations such as easy foot/bike access and public transportation

·         Will “green” over 150 music venues over Earth Day Weekend in each Green Apple city

·         Is produced in partnership with Earth Day Network, founders of the original “Earth Day” in 1970

Each festival will invite nonprofit environmentally friendly organizations to promote new eco-friendly technology and green products. And, the more than 1,000 acts performing will be encouraged to speak about Earth Day from the stage.  Bands will also be asked to make a donation to an environmentally oriented charity.

The Green Apple Festival is produced with as small a carbon footprint as possible. How do they accomplish this green goal?  They have mandated a paperless event; use organic cotton t-shirts for staff; bio-diesel generators for power where they can; serve organic food and encourage patrons to take public transport, bike or get to the events on foot.

Last year's Green Apple Festival, billed as the largest carbon-neutral event of its kind, was held in New York, Chicago and San Francisco with artists such as Bob Weir & Ratdog, the Decemberists, Taylor Hicks, Stephen Marley and the Kaiser Chiefs, among many others.

52 days until Earth Day…why not take a bite of the green apple?

~Melissa

Green Gadget: Carbon Hero

Have you ever wondered about the size of your own carbon footprint?  What if there was a way that you could track your generation of CO2?  Well, now there is a new gadget (still in beta) that will help you with just that question.  It’s called Carbon Hero and is the brain child of Andreas Zachariah.  Last April, Oxford graduate student, Nick Burch, joined Zachariah to help him bring his vision to reality.

The purpose of this gadget is to help you track your CO2 (carbon dioxide) contribution on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.  By monitoring your output, you will tend to alter your behavior to see a better result on your cell phone.  That’s right, this application works on cell phones and is currently being tested by Nokia and Blackberry.  They believe that companies will use the Carbon Hero to track the effect on the environment from their business travel.

The Carbon Hero focuses on the environmental impact of your travel on a daily basis.  It uses satellite navigation data, a database and an algorithm, to calculate the effect of your method of travel.  Carbon Hero has won many awards including a regional prize in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition and the British Standards Institute (BSI) prize for Sustainability Design.

For more information, check out the Carbon Hero web site or read the article on Science Daily.

Pretty soon, we can ask someone, “Hey, what’s your carbon footprint?”

~Melissa

Green Pets

(This pooch is wondering how he can be more green.)

As our pets and pups are verifiable family members, it only makes sense that our green consciousness would extend to the lifestyle of our pets.  With all the new products for eco-friendly pets, your best friend (I’m referring to your pup) can become eco-friendly and perhaps even greener than you (they use less water, after all, and live more naturally.)

Many green options include feeding your pet sustainably-produced and organic foods, using green pet products, and buying only eco-friendly toys (when I was growing up, our St. Bernard was quite happy with a large stick, actually it looked more like a branch, that we or he, found in our yard - that was eco-friendly, wasn’t it?)   

There are a bevy of web sites about greening your pet, but here are few to get you started:

Great Green Pet

Great Green Pet is a shopping blog devoted to the green, eco-friendly, pet owner. They comb the web and find the most interesting environmentally friendly products for you and your pet.

Bark Natural

Natural and organic Pet Food, pet toys made with organic cotton and other green pet products.

The Green Pet

The Green Pet blog on National Geographic’s web site has an informative and extensive article on everything you need to know about the chemicals in pet-related products helping to make sure your pet is as green as possible.

What green pet ideas are you already doing?

~Melissa

The Greenest Phone on Earth

I found this green phone on CNET.com’s NewsBlog and on UberGizmo, the Gadgets News Blog. Cell phones can now be powered by hydrogen. It works by extracting hydrogen from water, then extracting electrons from the hydrogen. When the hydrogen molecules pass through a membrane in the fuel cell, electrons are stripped away and get diverted to run the phone. In essence, it is a water-powered phone. Energy is still necessary to break the water into parts and extract the hydrogen, but they say it’s possible that this could be accomplished via solar energy, which would definitely make it the greenest phone on Earth.

This eco-baby, is the product of Angstrom Power (Fuel cell maker) and Motorola (cell phone maker). They have engineered this green gadget to be thin, light, and long-lasting.  And, the charging time for the mobile device can be as little as 10 minutes. 

This just makes me wonder, “If we drive an Air Car and talk on a Water Phone….what’s next?”

If you want a hydrogen toy, check out Horizon Fuel Cell's H2 racer, a toy hydrogen car that runs on solar-generated hydrogen.

 

(The H2 Racer receiving its Hydrogen.)

~Melissa

The Air Car: 2010

(Credit: Zero Pollution Motors)

On AutoblogGreen, I saw this cool post by Wayne Cunningham about the Air Car.  The Air Car runs on compressed air and is expected to be commercially available by 2010.  An innovation developed by an ex-Formula One engineer, Guy Nègre, one version of the car has a top speed of 96 mph and will go 848 miles on 8 gallons of fuel.  However, the car does create some emissions at high speeds, because that it when it requires some gas. 

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons. The Air Car was developed by The MDI Group, which received funding from Indian car maker Tata Motors to build the car for the Indian market. It is reported that up to 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India this year. Zero Pollution Motors intends to market the Air Car in the U.S.

To refuel your Air Car, you will need access to a gas station with custom air compressor units or you will need to plug into the electrical grid and use the car's built-in compressor to refill the tank.  Although this still isn’t an "emissions free" vehicle, the carbon emissions per mile of the Air Car are much less than any gasoline car on the market.

For more info about how the Air Car works (and scenes of France), check out this “Beyond Tomorrow” video about the Air Car:

I’m looking forward to this….the next invention should be air chocolate cake (with zero calories….or only some calories when eaten at high speeds.)

~Melissa

Ten Tips for Hosting a Green Oscar Party

The A-list celebrities of Hollywood will be gracing the red carpet this Sunday night, February 24, for the Oscars. Some of the celebs (especially Leo and George) will be most likely arriving at the red carpet event in new eco-limos (it’s just hard to ride a bike in a tux.) It’s hip and trendy to be green in Hollywood, in fact; the pre-Oscar party was thrown by Global Green (Salma Hayek was there.) With so many celebs going green, I got to thinking, “Why not emulate Hollywood and throw a green Oscar Party this year?”

(A celeb arrives at the ball in her hybrid carriage.)

If you like the idea of eco-friendly entertaining, here are ten tips about how to have an eco-chic party:

1.       Buy Locally-Produced Food—Any time you decide to have lobster in a place like Kansas, then you have to put them on an airplane.  And, any time a plane flies, it increases the ‘carbon footprint’ of your party.   So, decide on a menu that makes the most of what you have access to locally.

2.       Skip the Bottled Water - Filtered water served in ice-filled pitchers is now much more green (and more appealing) than putting out bottled water, because those plastic water containers are clogging landfills at an alarming rate. An interesting tidbit is that if you buy a filter for your sink, it is often better quality than bottled water.

3.       Drink Organic—Organic wines and vodkas are all the rage. Some brands suggested by Zem Joaquin, Eco-Editor of House & Garden, are: Sinskey, Sincerity, and Bonterra (which are brands of wine) and Square One, 350, and Rain (which are types of vodka).

4.       Serve Other Organics—Consider other food and beverages now becoming more widely available in organic food stores as well as supermarkets, including: coffee, tea, and my favorite…chocolate.

5.       Think Reusable Tableware—Use your own china, glassware, and silverware.  (This actually makes for a nicer presentation, anyway.)

6.       Biodegradable dishes and service pieces—An innovative party staple is tableware that you can throw away, but that won't take up space for eons in a landfill. Plates made of sugar cane (now, you have an excuse to lick the plate), or corn-based products will biodegrade in about six months. Bamboo is also hot right now, since it is quickly renewable, strong, and biodegradable. 

7.       Some sources for biodegradable tableware include:

NatureWorks
World Centric
Greenfeet
Branch Home
Re:Modern

8.       Quick Quiz: What type of dishes, cups, and other party-ware should you avoid at all costs? Green wisdom says, “Styrofoam.”

9.       Plants and Flowers -- The key to flower eco-friendliness is to buy locally and organically grown blossoming stems. (The idea is to avoid using airplanes to carry the blooms from faraway places.) Another good earth-friendly choice for floral decorations: buy flowering plants and place them in decorative pots or wrap the pots in natural fabrics tied with raffia or lovely ribbons. One idea that I love is to ask your florist to suggest potted plants that could adorn your garden after the event is over. You could also give the flowers to your guests or have someone take them to a local hospital or nursing home, where they'll brighten up someone’s day.

10.   Gifts for Your Guests – Gift bag (or should I say, “swag bag”) ideas for parties include natural shampoos and lotions, organic cotton hand towels, soothing candles made of soy or bees' wax (and of course, organic TONIC tees.)

As you enjoy your organic chocolate dessert, served on your own beautiful china, and sip your organic wine this Sunday, you can enjoy it even more knowing that you are not only partying like a celebrity, you are being green like a celebrity.  (I wonder how many of the actresses will be donning ‘green’ frocks.)

~Melissa

The Great Green Leap Day (in the UK)

   

February 29^th may be a very green day London town.  The National Trust in England has told all of its employees to take the day off from work on February 29th, and to use the day to do something to help the environment and combat global climate change.  They want their workforce of over 50,000 people to spend the day thinking about ways they can reduce their environmental footprint.

There are many British blogs with suggestions about how to spend one’s green day (“green day” reminds me of some cool music, but I digress.) Suggestions include taking small steps such as switching to energy saving light bulbs, beginning to use their bike to commute, sorting out the loft insulation, starting a compost heap, or giving a talk on the environment in local schools and community centers (and, may I suggest signing up all of your friends for GreenDimes.)

On their website, the Trust said: “The National Trust believes that small steps by thousands of individuals are of infinitely more value than millions of words without action. We want to lead by example and encourage others to do the same - starting at home.  Imagine how much of a difference could be made if other companies across the UK joined us in devoting the day to making the world a healthier place.”

The Trust is encouraging other employers to follow their lead and take part in the Great Green Leap Day. Any businesses and organizations that join the Trust in the Great Green Leap Day are being asked to email: greenleap@nationaltrust.org.uk, and tell them how they are using the day to make a difference. 

Wherever you live in the world, this is a great idea to run by your employer.  Even if you can’t take the day off, check out our GreenDimes Corporate Gift Program, this is a way your boss can be green (even if they do make you come to work).  He/she could gift the GreenDimes service to all of their employees, at a discounted rate, and be a part of the Great Green Leap Year.

~Melissa

The Greenest Cities: Greentown, USA

Popsci.com has ranked the United States’ 50 greenest cities, (but since I watched too much David Letterman in college) here’s the Top Ten List of the Greenest Cities in the U.S.:

10. Austin, Texas, 21.0 points

9. Chicago, Illinois, 21.3

• Chicago was the leader in the Green Space category.  Chicago has devoted 12,000 acres to public parks and waterfront space.

8. Seattle, Washington, 22.1

7. Berkeley, California, 22.2

6. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 22.2

5. Eugene, Oregon, 22.4

• Eugene was the leader in the Electricity Category because it draws 9% of its municipal electricity from wind farms.  Also, the city buys back excess power from residents who install solar panels.

4. Oakland, California, 22.5

3. Boston, Mass. 22.7 

• Grass Power: Boston has plans for a plant that would convert 50,000 tons of leaves and grass into power and fertilizer.

2. San Francisco, California, 23.0

1. Portland, Oregon, 23.1  (Portland barely beat San Fran, look how close it was; it reminds me of the Olympics)

“America’s top green city (Portland) has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council,” according to PopSci.com.  Popsci ranked each city based on four categories of green: electricity, transportation, green living, and recycling.

Check out the whole list of 50 cities and the PopSci.com study in more detail.

~Melissa

A Cool Green Gift for the Music Fan in Your Life

Here’s a new spin on recycled gifts (not to be confused with re-gifting, which may be a topic for another day).  Designer Jeff Davis rescues vintage LPs and makes them into hip coaster sets! Each coaster is cut from the center of an actual vintage LP record and has the original label intact. The coasters are protected from moisture with a clear mylar seal. Each set includes a clear case and 6 coasters in a wide variety of artists/bands/music styles with a diverse selection of label colors. Jeff’s fun, recycled creations have been featured in numerous museum exhibits and magazines throughout the world.

 

By rescuing discarded records and creating them into fascinating works of functional art, he also has created vinyl bowls (shown here) and snack trays which can be used for dry snacks or just for a cool decoration.  What I really like is that you can even choose your preferred music genre: rock essentials (artists such as The Police, Eric Clapton, YES, Santanna), crooners (Nat King Cole, Sinatra and Dean Martin), jazz, country or 70s/80s pop.

Whether you need a gift for a music fan, for an eco-geek (that would be all of us at GreenDimes), or for the person who has everything, these recycled gifts are a great idea. You can purchase these recycled "art pieces" at the Modern Artisans web site.

~Melissa

The Earth's Hour

What will you be doing on March 29, 2008 at 8 pm?  I hope you will be sitting in the dark and participating in Earth Hour 2008.  Last year, the people of Sydney, Australia (2.2 million people) turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour.  As a result, there was a reduction of Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2%.  There were weddings by candlelight (a nice idea, even if it wasn’t Earth Hour) and even the Opera House turned off its famous lights, changing the Sydney’s Harbor beautiful skyline (but well worth it). As this idea catches the attention (and more importantly, participation) of more and more cities around the world, just imagine what Earth would like from space during that hour.

Here’s a summary straight from the web site, “World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour is catching on across America following the tremendous success of last year's event in Sydney, Australia. This global phenomenon will spread across six continents in 2008, including hundreds of communities like yours in the United States. Chicago will serve as the U.S. flagship city for Earth Hour in 2008, with Atlanta, Phoenix and San Francisco joining as leading partner cities. But everyone throughout the US and around the world is invited and encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour on March 29 at 8 p.m. local time--whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.”

Check out this video and for more info about how to get involved and to spread the word about Earth Hour 2008, check out www.earthhour.org.

~Melissa