via Co.Exist:
 
Managing water resources in a rapidly-growing city can be problematic. Floods give much-needed water, but too much rain at one time can overwhelm a system. Meanwhile, droughts leave people with no water at all, and keeping water clean is always an issue. In Mexico City, poor management threatens to leave 22 million people without water in the near future. Leaky pipes alone account for a 40% loss of water that is pumped from nearby mountains. Already, more than a third of households lack adequate access to water.

 Isla Urbana is trying to change this with inexpensive, sustainable rainwater harvesting systems. The project was conceived while two Mexican-American students, Enrique Lomnitz and Renata Fenton, were studying industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design. “We repeatedly encountered the subject of water scarcity and became inspired to design rainwater harvesting systems for these communities,” says Lomnitz.

 They began physically installing systems in 2009, in the Ajusco Medio region of Mexico City, “because we met people there who were very interested in the system, and because the region combines extraordinary rainfall with chronic and widespread water shortages, making it ideal for rainwater harvesting,” says Lomnitz. Rainwater harvesting is pretty simple: the system captures water off the roof of a building. Then the water passes through a bypass that diverts the first rains of the season through a large first flush that separates the first 100 to 200 liters of rain from each storm. Only the later, cleaner waters of a rain event go into the cistern, says Lomnitz. The water generally gets stored in the building’s existing cistern, though sometimes a plastic tank is installed when a cistern is not available. The water is chlorinated, and goes through a sediments filter and an active carbon filter.

 Isla Urbana uses materials from local stores and trains local personnel to construct and install the systems--giving work as well as a way to gather and store water. The cost for each system is only about $350. Isla Urbana is a joint project between an NGO, theInternational Renewable Resources Institute and a small business called Solución Pluvial. Development and sale of rainwater harvesting systems is done by the business, and education, training, and subsidy models are done by the NGO. Isla Urbana’s rainwater harvesting is meant to complement the conventional water supply, not replace it “The water is then clean enough for all domestic uses, though we generally do not recommend it for direct drinking, unless additional filters are installed,” says Lomnitz.

In a drought, families can rely more on the conventional system, while during a wet year, the rain will displace more conventional water, he says. If rainwater harvesting were properly implemented throughout the city, Isla Urbana says that it could provide 50% of the city’s water supply. So far, the organization has harvested 29,300,000 liters of rainwater and installed 725 systems. In the future it hopes to develop better and more accessible systems that provide increasingly high quality and low maintenance water, something that will help everyone have a better life.

Don't Let Greenwashing Fears Hold You Back

Great article by Ian Yolles, chief sustainability officer of RecycleBank, a green rewards program that works with companies and brands such as Procter & Gamble, Kashi and Naked Juice to mobilize and reward consumers for taking environmentally preferred action while creating sustainability initiatives.


The article calls for consumers to take action against brands who are taking advantage of eco-conscious shoppers by pressing a "green" product with little "green" to it.

Accusations of greenwashing are rampant right now, and many are well-founded. Research shows that consumers are more likely to purchase products from a brand perceived to be more "sustainable"; that is, if faced with a choice (and price being relatively equal), they would select the "greener" product. To capitalize on this trend, some companies have cobbled together feeble marketing programs that have gotten them called out for greenwashing.

Yet today's consumer is increasingly savvy and quick to speak out against those companies they feel are falsely marketing themselves to profit from the eco-conscious shopper. Social media give anyone the ability to immediately amplify and propagate their dissatisfaction, which can serve as a forceful greenwashing deterrent. This, coupled with some outspoken independent groups, has created a bit of a wild west environment for greemarketing monitoring within the private sector.

On one hand, policing by industry and consumer forces is positive, weeding out those that are talking the talk but not walking the walk. On the other, I wonder if the fear of being labeled a greenwasher is preventing brands that are earnestly looking to do something positive from doing so for fear of a massive backlash. Is our desire to protect the consumer and police the industry hindering us from making real progress in moving toward a more sustainable future?

When it comes to the notion of a purpose-driven brand and being green, it is important to acknowledge that, in the absolute sense, there's no such thing as a truly green or truly sustainable product or company. It's about a journey, a continuum. Whether you're talking about individual products or brands and businesses, everyone is somewhere along the continuum of becoming more sustainable. The key is to be transparent about where you are.

On the spectrum, there are those that have green DNA intrinsically embedded in their businesses. It is their foundation, the core of their company, service or product. Others are trying to find a way to integrate sustainability attributes into their products and brands in a way that is meaningful and makes a difference. Moving along this continuum isn't something that happens overnight. It can be costly and time-consuming and sometimes is even fundamentally impossible. The shift often happens in small steps, especially regarding large brands, and each step needs to be taken one at a time.

So amid this climate of skepticism, how can companies move along this spectrum? Two ingredients can authentically translate corporate responsibility into a positive impact and help avoid accusations of greenwashing and a subsequent social backlash:

Take action: The process of change should reflect an "inside-out process." By that I mean start with your own house and take steps that move your business practices toward more sustainable solutions. As that process of internal transformation begins, it gives you permission to engage in a dialogue with your consumers. That creates an opportunity. It's even more powerful when the internal transformation inspires a shift in consumer behavior, moving individuals along the green spectrum as well. It's the "give a man a fish" strategy, and it can be accomplished through education or motivating action.

Make that action measurable and trackable: If you attach goals to your efforts, both internal and external, and are able to measure and track those goals, your efforts become more credible; the impact, more tangible. This also has a profound impact on consumer behavior. There are many different ways to motivate people. Given the magnitude of the issues we face, one of the most effective motivators is showing consumers the impact that their individual actions have in the context of the collective action of others.
I am the first to admit that this is not a magic solution. Despite having the best intentions, some companies still miss the mark when it comes to designing and executing sustainability-related programs and integrating them in a way that is relevant and meaningful from a consumer point of view.

Industry guidelines from the FTC and industry watchdogs can provide a useful framework and should inspire companies to create marketing campaigns that are authentically driven and are not misleading. But the creation of an official third-party validator in this domain is an unlikely panacea. If you are seeking credibility for your marketing initiatives by merely following regulatory bodies, you're missing the point altogether.

To appease the greenwashing cowboys and weary consumers—and to authentically align your brand with a larger social or environmental purpose—you should focus first on measurable internal actions and use those as a basis to engage your consumer audience in a dialogue that inspires them to act in accord with your brand.

San Francisco's Dogpatch Biofuels Showcase

As a huge supporter of the Green movement, from home products to commercial production in sustainable fashion, it's always important to pay respect to the people pushing this movement forward. Everyday I park my car right outside of Dogpatch Biofuels before I jump on the train, and I finally was able to pull together some research on who they are and what they do.

The long and short of it, they are San Francisco's ONLY public biodiesel filling station. They carry B100 biodiesel from local and recycled sources, and also host a residential cooking oil collection site on behalf of San Francisco Greasecycle. [the latter is a sub-division of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission]

Having been started by two ordinary citizen who wanted to take part in the weening off of foreign oil and products, DB was recently taken over by Incredible Adventures, a Bay Area touring company that powers their entire fleet on biodiesel.

Here's a quick tour of the location, and be sure to head over to http://www.dogpatchbiofuels.com/ for more info:

GiddyUp; A Google Green Welcome Back

Today’s the day we bring it back. As per usual, I go off the radar and then come back with a new burst of energy. Well here’s the rebirth part VII. Smarter, fast, stronger. Oooorah.

Let's come back with a great interview from two of Google's leading Green execs....

Google Inc. often strays from its core mission of organizing the world's information online.
But investing in green, or renewable, energy is the company's most prominent real-world endeavor.


Google Inc.
Bill Weihl, left, and Rick Needham

In addition to reducing its own "carbon footprint" through solar panels atop its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, and increasing the energy efficiency of its data centers, Google's initiatives include developing technology that could cut the cost of building solar thermal power plants. It developed software that shows consumers how much energy they use at home and invested more than $85 million in early-stage solar thermal, wind and geothermal tech companies. It just signed a landmark 20-year contract to buy energy from a wind farm in Iowa, where Google has a data center. And the company got attention earlier this fall by announcing a multimillion-dollar investment in a planned offshore wind-energy project called the Atlantic Wind Connection.
The Wall Street Journal sat down with Bill Weihl, Google's green energy czar, and Rick Needham, green operations business chief, to talk about Google's investments in the wind market and solar technology. Here are edited excerpts of the conversation.

Riding the Wind

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Why do you make investments in wind projects that won't directly result in cheaper energy prices for Google?

MR. WEIHL: Our goal is to solve long-term problems in the world or set the company up for long-term growth. We took a risk around our data centers to improve energy efficiency, and that panned out really well. We experiment in investments, like with the Atlantic Wind Connection. There's a risk there, and all sorts of reasons why that project might stall at some point. But it could be very catalytic, enabling enormous innovation. Some projects may fail, but venture capitalists do that all the time.

MR. NEEDHAM: We thought, "There are a lot of capital constraints for getting good projects built. Why don't we give more capital?" We've made two investments and are in the midst of looking at several deals. The first investment we did was a tax equity deal in a North Dakota wind farm for $39 million, where we get tax credits as part of the investment.… There aren't a lot of tax equity investments anymore. Ours was the first such deal in 18 months.

WSJ: Do you think about your return on investment?
MR. NEEDHAM: Yes. We don't share ROI publicly, but the returns are good enough that we're willing to invest.
WSJ: Why did you sign a power purchase agreement with a wind farm in Iowa?
MR. WEIHL: The wind PPA [power purchase agreement] is not an investment. We made a 20-year commitment to buy [electricity] from that wind farm. That's very different from how people buy energy credits. This is the only way realistically for a developer to have the certainty of a contract with a credit-worthy counterparty. They can get debt financing and free up money for another project.
For us, it's a hedge against rising energy prices over the long term. We're not disclosing details of the contract, but it starts out with a slow escalation [in price]. It's a much slower escalation than we would expect to see in the energy markets in general. For our data centers, we already have power contracts in place. So if we sign that power purchase agreement today, we're buying that power but we can't use it. We can sell the energy on the wholesale market.
This is a structure that not many other people thought about. Contractually it wasn't simple. There was a lot of work in sorting it out. But it will be easier for us the second time around.

Doing It With Mirrors
WSJ: Tell me about your solar thermal technology project.
MR. WEIHL: We're not yet ready to disclose details. The fundamentals are we're developing solar thermal power generation to concentrate the sun's rays and generate hundreds of megawatts through mirrors called heliostats.

WSJ: Can clean energy technology become a core business?
MR. WEIHL: We're not an energy company and don't have such ambitions, but we want to help drive technology. I think that in a couple of years, we'll have [solar thermal] technology ready to be commercialized. Most likely we'd license it to get it to market. Renewable-energy technology that competes head to head with coal without subsidies will make a lot of money.

WSJ: What roadblocks do other companies face in making their facilities energy-efficient?
MR. WEIHL: We have dozens of engineers working on it. In many organizations you find that the person who [runs] facilities and has that budget is different from the person who pays operating costs. At Google on the data-center side, [one person] owns facilities and the operational costs to run those facilities. They focus on the total cost of ownership.
They can say, "I'm going to build this thing to last for five or 10 years, what's the cost going to be?" In many companies those things don't happen.

WSJ: Which companies do you admire for their "green" work?
MR. WEIHL: Wal-Mart does a lot with cutting waste in their supply chain and packaging. They had an initiative to get their suppliers to report to the Carbon Disclosure Project, a reporting mechanism to measure their carbon footprint. They have 100,000 suppliers.
MR. NEEDHAM: Procter & Gamble. They have good goals. Like their development of Tide [laundry detergent] that works with cold water. And they're driving their supply chains to think about carbon and sustainability.

First Offshore Wind Farm in the U.S. Approved

courtesy Fast Company...

Wind energy advocates scored a huge victory today with the announcement from U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the country's first offshore wind farm, dubbed Cape Wind, will be built in the Nantucket Sound. The 130-turbine development could provide up to 75% of all electricity for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

Land turbines abound in the U.S., but the $1 billion Cape Wind offshore project has been mired in controversy for the better part of the past decade. Opponents of the project argue that it will stand on sacred Indian ancestral grounds, mar the local landscape (potentially blocking the Kennedy compound's view of Nantucket sound!), hurt prospects for local fishermen who rely on areas that will disappear when the development is built, and interfere with airplane radar. The project could also raise electricity prices for local residents--electrical grid and transmission line improvements for Cape Wind may cost up to $10 billion.

Supporters argue, on the other hand, that Cape Wind will open up the U.S. to much-needed offshore projects. And if that comes at the comparatively small expense of the local landscape, so be it. "The U.S. offshore wind industry will build on the success and the lessons learned from the nearly 20 years of experience in Europe to provide clean, pollution-free, electricity along the coasts and in the Great Lakes. In fact, American manufacturers have announced plans to build factories in Europe to service the robust offshore wind industry there. With policy support in the America we can incent that new manufacturing sector to build here", said Denise Bode, the CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. Our recent polling shows that wind works for America--it means new manufacturing jobs, less dependence on imported energy, and more pure, clean, affordable energy for our country."

In addition to providing jobs and opening up the U.S to more offshore developments (Salazar says that Cape Wind is the first of many projects along the coast), Cape Wind will also cut CO2 emissions by almost 1 million tons per year, or approximately 1% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts.

There are still plenty of hurdles to cross before Cape Wind can be built--nine permits are in the midst of being appealed, and nearly a dozen groups have threatened to sue--but ultimately, the project's green light is a good sign for our clean energy future. If we really want to wean ourselves off coal and stall climate change, we have to be willing to make some political sacrifices. This proves that the U.S. is ready to do just that.

Bloom Energy Releases 'Bloom Box' - Fuel Cells To Power Your Own Home

Bloom Energy, a Sunnyvale startup that has been working for years on a fuel cell that would allow homes and businesses to generate their own electricity, officially unveiled its so-called Bloom Box at a highly orchestrated media event Wednesday morning.

Tech journalists joined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bloom cofounder and CEO K.R. Sridhar, venture capitalist John Doerr and former Secretary of State Colin Powell at eBay's San Jose headquarters to learn how Bloom, which has raised about $400 million from investors, plans to mass produce its solid oxide fuel cells.

Google, FedEx and Wal-Mart are among the companies beta-testing the technology; several Bloom Boxes are in use on the eBay campus.

EBay started using five Bloom Energy Servers in July. They produce electricity to power space for 2,000 to 3,000 employees and shaved $100,000 off eBay's power bill, says Amy Skoczlas Cole, director of eBay's Green Team. EBay uses natural gas in the boxes but will switch to methane gas from an Oklahoma landfill this spring.

The video on 60 Minutes is 13 minutes long, but worth every second to learn about this amazing technology.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Nike's GreenXchange A Market For Sustainability Models

Why is that shoe so special? Well, it is the fact that they are constructed from 100% recyclable materials, including white leather, along with synthetic leathers, rubber from Nike Grind recycle material, polyester, and used EVA.

The need no introduction company Nike has partnered with a variety of companies to create an open forum for sharing IP on sustainable business models and techniques to build more conscious functionality. Nike has partnered with nine organizations, including Yahoo, Best Buy, Creative Commons, IDEO, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, nGenera, Outdoor Industry Association, salesforce.com, and 2degrees to form the GreenXchange, a Web-based marketplace that Nike claims will allow "companies [to] collaborate and share intellectual property (IP) which can lead to new sustainability business models and innovation." In other words, it's a giant think tank for corporate sustainability.

According to the Sustainable Responsibility section on Nike's corporate site, "Nike sees Sustainable Business and Innovation as an integral part of how we can use the power of our brand, the energy and passion of our people, and the scale of our business to create meaningful change."

Powerful words and moves from one of the leaders in environmentally friendly business. Hopefully this continues to shake off the sweat shop horrors the brand once faced.

The Green Guide to Obama's State of the Union Address

President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address on Wednesday covered a lot of ground, but a significant portion of the speech was dedicated to the all-important topic of energy security. Below, some choice quotes from the speech.

* "From the first railroads to the Interstate Highway System, our nation has always been built to compete. There's no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains or the new factories that manufacture clean-energy products. Tomorrow, I'll visit Tampa, Florida, where workers will soon break ground on a new high-speed railroad funded by the Recovery Act." As we suspected, Florida will be the first to reap the benefits of Obama's $8 billion in spending on high-speed rail. Clearly, Obama believes that we will lag behind as a nation without a high-speed rail infrastructure.

* "These nations, they're not standing still. These nations aren't playing for second place. They're putting more emphasis on math and science. They're rebuilding their infrastructure. They're making serious investments in clean energy, because they want those jobs. Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America." And that, we presume, is why the White House recently invested millions in math and science funding.

* "Next, we need to encourage American innovation. Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history, an investment that could lead to the world's cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no area is more ripe for such innovation than energy." Innovation is important, but the most important kind of innovation right now is in the energy sector. And that means we can expect to see a lot more of it under this administration--with the ARPA-E program, for example.

* "But to create more of these clean-energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives, and that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development." This part is a little contentious. Many green energy advocates think nuclear power is far too unsafe to be able in the long term. And what does opening up offshore areas for oil and gas have to do with clean energy? We're guessing Obama is advocating it as a means to secure American-made energy, albeit in a not-so-sustainable way.

* "I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy. I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But--but here's the thing. Even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future, because the nation that leads the clean-energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy, and America must be that nation." Bingo. It doesn't matter what side of the climate change debate you fall on. The fact is, clean energy is only going to become more important as oil supplies dwindle and coal continues to be vilified. Again, Obama equates dominance in clean energy as the key to our economic future--sounds reasonable.

Solar Powered iPhones?

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been a goldmine for green-minded Apple fans recently. Last week, the technology giant filed a patent for an "intelligent power monitoring" system, and now Apple has revealed a design for a solar powered portable device (i.e. an iPod or iPhone) in an advancement of a patent originally filed in 2008.

According to the patent, such a device would include built-in solar cells on its front and back for an increased surface area to collect power. Since solar cells can be made with rigid materials, Apple imagines that the entire front and back of the device could potentially be covered in solar cells. It would also have circuitry to monitor the battery's state and determine whether to recharge using external solar power or store solar energy for later use.

It's already possible to juice up an iPhone with solar power--Novothink's solar charger case for iPods and iPhones is certified by Apple--but this is the first time Apple has expressed interest in making solar power an integral part of its portable devices.

No word on when we might see a solar-powered iPhone in stores, but Apple's move to update its 2 year-old patent makes us think that the company still has solar on the brain.

The Fun Theory...Stairs Turned Into A Piano

"66% more people chose to take the stairs as opposed to the escalator."

Being that the US is tha fattest country in the world, maybe we could use the "fun theory" to get people to do things that have positive impact on their health.

Turn Parking Spots Into Parks

This is a great idea....

CB Richard Ellis and ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance are once again teaming up to bring you national PARK(ing) Day on September 18, 2009 – when dedicated citizens around the world transform metered parking spots into actual public parks for a day. This year’s event will focus closely on the conservation of water, and how YOU can take simple steps to save two precious resources: WATER & money!

Learn more at PARK(ing) Day 2009

Ocean Currents On Board To Create Renewable Energy

The answer to easing the energy crunch in one of the nation's most populous states could lie underwater.

Imagine if your utility company could harness the ocean's current to power your house, cool your office, even charge your car.

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University are in the early stages of turning that idea into reality in the powerful Gulf Stream off the state's eastern shore.

"If you can take an engine and put it on the back of a boat or propel a ship through water, why not take a look at the strength of the Gulf Stream and determine if that can actually turn a device and create energy?" asked Sue Skemp, executive director at Florida Atlantic University's Center for Ocean Energy Technology.

The demand for energy in Florida -- the fourth most populous state, with an estimated 19 million residents -- is quickly outpacing the capacity to create it, according to experts.

"Right now in Florida, we are at the cusp of an energy crisis. Our energy demand keeps growing," said Frederick Driscoll, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology.

Beginning in the Caribbean and ending in the upper-North Atlantic, the Gulf Stream lies on the eastern shore of Florida.

Its powerful currents have been used by many fishermen, sailors and explorers to expedite their passage in the Atlantic north and east to Europe, but scientists say the energy within its currents could propel Florida out of its potential energy crisis, powering 3 million to 7 million Florida homes -- or supplying the state with one-third of its electricity.

"The predictions at this point estimate that the strength of the Gulf Stream could generate anywhere between four to 10 gigawatts of power, the equivalent of four to 10 nuclear power plants," said Skemp.

"The Gulf Stream is the strongest current in the world, so we want to harness our greatest resource. It's renewable, emission free and reliable," said Jeremy Susac, executive director of the Florida Energy and Climate Commission.

At the university's Center for Ocean Energy Technology in Boca Raton, Florida, ocean engineers are working with marine, environmental and material scientists to develop cost-competitive technologies to commercialize the energy within the Gulf Stream.

Though it has been considered for more than a century, harnessing the energy of the Gulf Stream is no easy task, and no sustainable system has been implemented.

"First we have to do a resource assessment and understand how much energy is in the Gulf Stream current on a minute-to-minute, day-to-day, hour-to-hour and yearly basis," said Driscoll.

In April, researchers at the center deployed four acoustic Doppler current profilers in the Atlantic off the east coast of Florida.

Using high frequency, low-power sonar, these large orange ball-shaped objects measure the speed of the ocean currents.

"We are looking at how much energy we can safely extract -- what is the sensitivity of extraction versus the environmental effects?" said Driscoll.

The vision for the pilot program is to develop and test a 20-kilowatt underwater turbine by spring 2010.

Sound familiar?

The concept behind underwater turbines is similar to that of wind turbines on land.

As water flows by the turbine, it turns a rotor blade. As the rotor blade turns, energy is generated.

That energy can be transmitted from a generator inside the turbine to electrical conducting cables, where it's captured, harnessed and distributed for future use.

Researchers also are looking at ways to use the electricity that is generated underwater to generate and store hydrogen in the ocean. The hydrogen could be used to fuel clean-running cars and trucks.

"Because it's such a new endeavor, there's a lot of knowledge gaps not only in terms of the technology side but also on the ecological side of things," said Driscoll.

Completely reliant

Florida is completely reliant on out-of-state fuel sources (coal and natural gas), but generates more than 90 percent of its own electricity, according to the Florida Energy and Climate Commission. It ranks third nationally in total energy consumption.

So how much will this endeavor cost? And what kind of impacts will it have on the local marine environment?

"Those are the questions we don't have answers to," said Skemp.

There are some hurdles that need to be cleared before the technology can get approval and become commercially available.

"This area is so new, we're still finding out what needs to be done," said Skemp.

"It's not like an established industry, like the aerospace industry or the automotive industry or others, where you have models which you could base cost on," added Skemp.

So far, the state of Florida has allocated $13.75 million in grants toward research and development of the pilot project, but the cost to implement the project on a large scale could be much higher.

Before a project like this can go forward, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to look at a whole range of factors, from the effects it will have on wild and marine life to recreation activities and shipping, said an environmental specialist with the commission.

If the pilot program is successful, it could take another five to 10 years before the technology can be implemented.

The Gulf Stream is something that has been taken for granted, said Skemp.

"The Gulf Stream is on 24/7. It's flowing 365 days a year, so it's a continuous source of energy." E-mail to a friend | Mixx it | Share

By Azadeh Ansari
CNN

The Latest From Tesla Motors

Anyone with a hand, eye, or interest in the green world has to be watching Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley based electric sports car manufacturer. Still looking to start mass distribution in 2012, here's a recent video showcasing the Roadster Model S....

A Post About Nothing

I haven't written in awhile due to some busy busy days, but today I woke up knowing that I needed to write. Without purpose or direction, I've needed to just sit at the keyboard and go. There will probably be no rhyme or reason, but sometimes the best writing exercise is when you don't think, you don't plan, you don't even really look at the screen for typos. You just start going. I'm listening to "Give Me Sympathy" by Metric, truly great song on a great album by the pop-rock band from Canada. Definitely a pick up for anyone interested. Good background music for a nonsensical rant....

There are certain days when you are purely thankful. Thankful for what you have, and what you don't. I was having an amazing discussion the other day with my world famous sister Bird about privilege, and how that is the true currency of the world. Privilege not in the sense of anything material, but the privilege to be who you are and to be allowed to manifest that however it seems natural. She teaches yoga at a juvenile detention facility in Los Angeles for girls, and its started her on this amazing journey of understanding the idea of privilege and opportunity. Certain inmates at the facility are there by choice, but mostly by circumstance. And thats not to say they intentionally placed themselves in a position that was lose lose, but that they have ended up there almost as a step in their life's process, like they were meant to end up there. Be that a vague social commentary on the penitentiary system in this country, or maybe just a cop out for people that just plain bad, it's worth understanding and studying no less.

When Advertising Goes Right

Check out today's Dictionary.com takeover by Prius...

OXFAM Young Lions: Climate Action in Copenhagen

THE EARTH WILL THANK YOU!

In December world leaders will get together at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen to decide how the world tackles climate change and global warming for decades to come. In the words of Oxfam's Campaigns Director, Thomas Schultz-Jagow, this conference is "the most important meeting mankind has ever had."

Here's a video to get the message out. Please pass it along, embed it, tweet it, digg it, all those good things.



Join the global movement for action on climate change, and support the summit in Copenhagen this December at: www.oxfam.org.uk/climateaction

Green Auto News: Daimler Investing In Tesla=Electric Mercedes-Bens

A real interesting move by Daimler to shoot Silicon Valley electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors with a pretty solid chunk of cash, equating to 10% of the electric- sports car manufactures company. A great step forward in a major manufacturer (Daimler) jumping into the green, sustainability, autos game. Like most people, I am curious whether Tesla will be successful making and selling cars or if their real cash cow will be licensing their technology to others. Time will tell...

Courtesy TechCrunch...Silicon Valley electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors got another shot in the arm today from German auto giant Daimler, which took a 10 percent stake in the company and expanded its partnership with Tesla to equip future Mercedes-Benz vehicles with electric lithium-ion batteries. Mercedes has been testing Tesla’s batteries in a fleet of 100 smart cars, and is already moving into limited production. But with this agreement, Mercedes now expects to roll out its first battery-powered Mercedes-Benz in 2010, and offer battery-powered vehicles for all of its models by 2012.

The amount invested was not disclosed, but even more valuable to Tesla is the vote of confidence from one of the world’s leading auto companies. In a press release, Daimler proclaims: “Tesla is the only production automaker selling a highway capable electric vehicle in North America and Europe.”

The money will no doubt help as well, since Tesla still needs a few hundred million dollars to produce its own $50,000 Model S, which is half the price of its first car, the Tesla Roadster. The company is still applying for $350 million in government loans to get the Model S into production, but it looks like Mercedes will have at least its B-class cars on the road first.

But as I suggested a year ago, Tesla’s real business may be in supplying the electric drive trains for other vehicles. The Roadster and Model S might just turn out to be really expensive demos. In a TechCrunch poll I inserted into that post (and again below), 77 percent of you agreed. I wonder if Mercedes has an exclusive license to Tesla’s battery technology, at least for a few years. (Update: Tesla says there is no exclusivity. According to spokesperson Rachel Konrad, “This investment obviously establishes a very close relationship between the two companies, but Tesla still plans to continue with its strategy of growing its powertrain business through sales of EV components. This investment does not preclude Tesla from growing such relationships with other automotive OEMs.”)

A Car That Runs On Air!

>

San Francisco Is The Least Wasteful City!

I love calling this place home....

Do you spend your days traipsing around San Francisco? Then congratulations, you live in America's least wasteful city according to a study conducted by Nalgene. The water bottle company questioned 3,750 people in America's 25 largest cities about their transportation use, waste, sustainability efforts, shopping habits, and reuse of items. Nalgene weighted the results to give preference to behaviors with an immediate and significant impact like driving less, recycling more, and reducing trash. The survey's index is based on a scoring system with a potential individual high score of 1930 and a low individual score of 193.

San Franciscans topped Nalgene's list thanks to widespread habits of recycling, turning off the water while brushing teeth, and only using cars for short trips. 86% of San Franciscans also reported that they live an "extremely" or "somewhat" eco-friendly lifestyle, though the definition of an eco-friendly lifestyle is not made clear in the study.

Atlanta came in at the other end of the spectrum, with residents ranking the worst at recycling, throwing out less than two bags of trash a week, using reusable containers, participating in sustainability programs, using energy-efficient lightbulbs, and borrowing books from the library.

Nalgene, of course, had its own motivation for conducting the study. The company recently came under fire for using Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like chemical, in its water bottles. Nalgene did eventually pull BPA-filled water bottles from the shelves, but the wastefulness study could be the company's attempt to get back in the good graces of eco-minded consumers.

The full list of America's least wasteful cities is below:
Rank City Weighted Score
1 San Francisco, CA 1025.45
2 New York City, NY 1004.01
3 Portland, OR 1001.66
4 Seattle, WA 985.03
5 Los Angeles, CA 960.46
6 Denver, CO 943.77
7 Minneapolis, MN 943.17
8 Washington, D.C. 941.81
9 Boston, MA 941.29
10 Philadelphia, PA 932.59
11 Chicago, IL 931.03
12 Baltimore, MD 927.26
13 Detroit, MI 911.59
14 Pittsburgh, PA 909.42
15 Orlando, FL 901.71
16 Cleveland, OH 900.77
17 Sacramento, CA 899.78
18 Miami, FL 898.49
19 Tampa, FL 896.01
20 Phoenix, AZ 887.48
21 St. Louis, MO 883.38
22 Houston, TX 879.16
23 Indianapolis, IN 872.75
24 Dallas, TX 860.60
25 Atlanta, GA 857.51

courtesy FastCompany