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

LETS MAKE THAT PHONE AGAIN

Four out of 10 billion handsets sold worldwide last year were made by Nokia. In an attempt to respond to the impact of mobile technology to the environment, they have developed a ‘green’ phone using recycled materials.

The prototype, entitled ‘Re-made’ is flat touch-sensitive keypad and metal casing are produced from recycled cans with its electrical components also made from recycled materials.

"It really shows what can be done with materials," Chief Executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, told the assembled audience of mobile phone industry executives at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this February. "It is only a concept now - I cannot make a phone call - but it gives you an insight into how we think we can break new ground."

Despite no concrete plans to start production, it signals an entry of the brand into new eco-territory.

via The Guardian

Greenpeace asks ‘How Green is that iPhone’?

Green Mobile: eco-minded network, landline and broadband provider who raise money for green charities and educate on the impact of mobile phones to the environment

Vodafone to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2020

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

The Great Green Race

(Why Buzz and Woz are driving to the South Pole)

What happens when you combine a famous, award-winning documentary filmmaker, an astronaut, a millionaire and an executive director with a passion for helping the world become a better place?

…(drumroll)

You get Apollo 11 astronaut, Buzz Aldrin and Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak driving alternative-fuel vehicles to the South Pole. You get an educational exhibit for kids on the use of alternative fuel. You get the ZERO SOUTH Expedition of 2008.

Sneak Preview: Selected in response to the demands of the expedition, this vehicle will be made to be green (although in this picture, it looks white).  It has been prepared and outfitted to go to the South Pole using only alternative fuel.

“The 1024-mile journey to the South Pole will take 12 days using four different types of alternative fuel vehicles driven along a U.S. developed traverse route,” explained Nick Baggarly, executive director of the ZERO SOUTH expedition. Fans of the film, Who Killed the Electric Car?, (which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival), will be glad to know that Chris Paine, the director, will be filming the adventure. Paine said it will be a demonstration for vehicles running on bio-fuels, hydrogen fuel-cell, and on electric batteries.

During the expedition, Buzz and Woz will be available via e-mail to communicate with students (or you and me) around the world. Following the 12-day traverse to the Pole, the actual vehicles used during the expedition will be converted to (should we say recycled?) polar traverse simulators and taken to U.S. schools and museums for two years to educate youth on climate science, alternative fuels, and the importance of the earth’s Polar Regions.  During the tour, kids can climb inside an alternative-fuel vehicle that actually traveled to the South Pole and experience a virtual expedition which unfolds on LCD panels retrofitted in the windows of the vehicle.

This expedition will open the eyes and broaden the minds of school kids around the world about energy-efficiency. It will truly be a different kind of Polar Express for your kids this year. “We’re showing kids a new world,” said Baggarly. “You’ve got to earn their respect and the next generation of scientists and engineers need to be excited about taking on some of the challenges.”

In the meantime, how about enjoying a cool hydrogen-fueled toy car as recommended by Treehugger.com.

~Melissa

How One Man is Cleaning Up Our Rivers, 3.5 Million Lbs at a Time

GreenDimes One Person, Big Difference Series

In 1997, Chad started Living Lands and Waters where a bunch of full-timers go out and clean the Mississippi river.  Here are some of the biggies (and interesting ones) just in a year!

30,000 bags of trash

22,000 Tires

615 refrigerators

33 messages in bottles (now that’s not trash, is it?)

18 tractors

7 football fields of Styrofoam

3 school bus tops

1 jet ski (figured there be more)

What’s cool is that Chad says he sees less and less trash every year over the past 10 years, so the program is working.  Btw, if you jump on their site, there's a more in-depth video from CBS.

Thanks Chad,

Sanjiv

How Green are Our Candidates?

Can you draw in the faces?

Leave it to the Grist.org to steal my idea.  I was going to do an unbiased write-up of all the candidates and their positions on the environment.  Leave it to the Grist to take my idea to interview every Republican and Democrat, research their positions and records, create easy-to-read charts and videos and drop down menus...

And leave it to me to steal their link.

Vote for favorite piece of junk mail.  Aw weird, no replies.

-Sanjiv

Making it right...

Yes, he's a looker. We all know that. But today I learned that he is a thinker, too. Even more attractive? Yep.

Today Brad Pitt presented the designs for 150 affordable, environmentally sound homes in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, where residents are about to face their third Christmas without a re-built home.

Some things of note:

• At the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in September, Mr. Pitt announced that he will match the $5 million of contributions made toward the effort
• 9 architecture firms donated their design services to the project
• The green building initiatives will reduce upkeep costs by 75%
• You can adopt/ sponsor elements of the homes and give them as holiday gifts! (check out the site for details)
• Brad Pitt is smart. “If you have this blank slate and this great technology out there, what better test than low-income housing?” Mr. Pitt said. “It’s got to work at all levels to really be viable.”

So here is to restored faith in our celebs. I'll toast to that.

-Kendra

No tariff for green goods!?

I read in an article today that the United States and the European Union have proposed a tariff-free flow of green goods in order to 'spur carbon-friendly technology use.'

Seems to be a good first step, I'll take it.

This announcement comes one week before the UN summit on climate change in Bali. The AP reports that 43 environmentally beneficial goods have been named in the proposal- including solar panels and other such industrial goods.

The article points out that this initiative would ensure lower prices and a much more global availability of important environmental goods and services, particularly clean energy technology.

Tariff-free for me,
Kendra

In our own backyard (well, Bay)

On Wednesday, 58,000 gallons of oil were dumped into the San Francisco Bay, making this the largest spill since 1988. The South-Korean bound ship hit a large supports on the Bay Bridge while being guided out of the Bay.

Needless to say, many of the beaches, wildlife and bay-dwelling animals are covered in oil and in need of major clean-up. Major efforts are underway, but much more is needed.

The Coast Guard is coming under heavy criticism for their reporting of the accident- critics calling them out for first misreporting the amount of oil spilled and then taking too long to get the clean-up effort underway. Click here for more and stay turned, there's sure to be more buzz about this in the days to come...

-Kendra

NBC Paints Its Peacock Green

All this week, NBC will be product placing “Green” throughout this week’s TV line up.  Will Lucas leave Sami at the bio-degradable altar on Days of Our Lives?  Will the Heroes cheerleader find the correct rah rah number that rhymes with tree? (it’s 3 folks.) Will Jay Leno run his cars on sunflower oil and hugs?  Is the writer’s strike having any affect on their content? (yes.)  Find out all this week on NBC.

Alright, I’m done amusing myself.  Very cool NBC.  Hit up their site http://nbc.com/green to get a bunch of green tips and clips.  One tip missing though – stopping junk mail saves trees.   Hmm, thought they wanted traffic on their site.

“What’s the deal with all this junk mail?” [My NBC Seinfeld impression],

Sanjiv

A GreenDimes note from the West Coast

Lot's of you have been asking- so yes, we felt the quake on Monday night. We had just huddled around a family-style food spread in the office, courtesy of our fearless leader, when the shaking started. And kept going and going and going...

It was nothing like what I saw the next morning being reported from the East Coast as the 'worst earthquake in 20 years', panic and pandemonium everywhere, etc. That was just not the case. Unsettling, perhaps. Chaos, no. All is well, nobody was hurt and the most repair I have heard necessary is at the library in San Jose where all of the books fell off the shelves. Someone's going to have a busy few weeks getting that back in order!

And since we're already talking about Cali, I read this morning that the wildfires in SoCal- from October 19-26- pumped as much as 8.7 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air. That’s more carbon, in one week of burning, than the state of Vermont produces in a whole year. Wow. And yikes.

This same article reports that for every acre of land burned, the carbon dioxide emissions equal to 2 cars being driven average amounts for a year. And in California in the last couple of weeks, more than half a million acres have burned.

Another interesting note here is that Alaska is the state responsible for the most greenhouse gas at 27% of the fire-related carbon dioxide emissions annually in the US. Huh. Who knew?

It’s a good thing they seem to have the fires under control- aside from the human element of people’s homes burning, misplaced animals and dangerous conditions all around- it seems like our atmosphere could also use a breather (pun intended).

-Kendra