Last week, New York State became the second state after California to enact legislation requiring that car manufacturers include “climate index” stickers warning customers of the projected greenhouse gas emissions of the vehicle. The law becomes active with model year 2010 vehicles, and covers only cars and light trucks under 8,500 pounds (which apparently excludes Hummers)….
Archive for the 'Saving The Environment' Category Page 10 of 12
There are green salons, green clothing lines, even green party-planning companies. So why not a green pet store? You’d think that Crazy For Animals, New York City’s first eco-friendly pet shop, would be opening in the West Village or the Meatpacking District, but instead, it’s located in mall in Glendale, Queens. The store, which is already up and running in The Shops at Atlas Park, will be undergoing its transition into earth-friendliness when it moves into a larger space this fall. Crazy For Animals’ new home will be fitted with bamboo floors and energy-efficient lighting and will stock holistic pet food and spa products. You know, only the necessities.
? Crazy For Animals [Official Site]
Daedalic Entertainment, the German publisher of adventure games like Ankh, is developing a new adventure game for the PC, Wii, and DS with a preachy twist. A New Beginning is being billed as an “eco-thriller” in which the player, as
five teenagers with elemental ringsa scientist and a time traveler, is responsible for stopping an “impending global climate cataclysm.”
Remarkably, A New Beginning uses hand-drawn 2D art and animation. We’ll hopefully find out how it looks when Daedalic debuts the game at the Games Convention in Leipzig.
[Via Game|Life]
From Yahoo! Green:
The SustainLane 2006 US city rankings of the 50 largest cities is the nation’s most complete report card on urban sustainability. The rankings explain how people’s quality of life and city economic and management preparedness are likely to fare in the face of an uncertain future. Read more
- Portland, OR – 85.08
- San Francisco – 81.82
- Seattle – 79.64
- Chicago – 70.64
- Oakland – 69.18
- New York City – 68.20
- Boston – 68.18
- Philadelphia – 67.28
- Denver – 66.72
- Minneapolis – 66.60
Yahoo! Green is making some headway…
Almost immediately after watching the devastation and horror of Hurricane Katrina, and later Rita, unfold in New Orleans on August 29, 2005, I began to ask myself, what could we do? These events were in part made worse by human action and inaction ? the neglect of the levees, lack of political leadership and will, poverty, and much more. Global warming had also caused the sea levels to rise, making storm surge worse, and increasing sea temperature likely fueled the intensity of the storm. The lumbering response from our government was unacceptable. Global Green could not help but respond to the plight of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast ? arguably the first major city in the U.S. affected by climate change.
Today, Brad Pitt and I hosted a ?board cutting? ceremony in the Holy Cross neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward to launch what we hope will become the future of green affordable housing and a cornerstone of New Orleans? rebuilding efforts. Global Green sponsored an international design competition last summer, with more than 125 firms competing to design a zero-energy affordable housing development. This morning, we offered the first hard-hat tour of the Holy Cross Project site, showcasing the winning design, which was created by Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen of Workshop/APD.
Thanks to our friends at Yahoo! Green, you can take a virtual tour of this home, which is being built with green products and energy efficient systems and whose solar panels will generate enough electricity to power the home. You?ll find information about dozens of green products and systems, which fall into the categories of water conservation, energy conservation, natural resource conservation, indoor air quality, and durability. You?ll learn about innovative materials such as eco-friendly termite- and mold-resistant wood, soy-based foam insulation, and wheat boards.
The principles we are applying are simple at their core: if only 50,000 homes in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast were rebuilt according to even 40% of the energy and resource standards used in this home, the residents would save up to $56 million in electricity costs and reduce global warming pollution by 550,000 tons each year.
Global Green?s work has always included a focus on communities and addressing those in need. From our work on green schools to green affordable housing, it?s about revitalizing communities from the inside out, while addressing poverty. It is immensely rewarding to be bringing together and mobilizing such a dedicated team of people ? from Brad Pitt; our lead funding partner, The Home Depot Foundation (with whom we?ve worked on green affordable housing for several years); Yahoo!; our designers, architects, and developers; and the Holy Cross community ? all believing that imbedded in this project is real hope and the opportunity to make New Orleans the first true green city.
Matt Petersen
President and CEO, Global Green
Fellow Cornellian Summer Rayne Oakes (that’s right, she has her own and very robust Wikipedia page) has exploded and grown as an Environmental Activist in many ways…
Summer Rayne Oakes is a MODEL, MEDIA HOST, WRITER, SPEAKER, AND BRAND STRATEGIST on socio-environmental sustainability, sustainable style, and env’l communications. [SRO: company site]
I personally knew Summer Rayne and had a few classes with her, so let me tell you, she is not only smart and beautiful, she is definitely the woman to help change the world (environmentally that is)…
For more, here is some clippings from Summer Rayne’s Wikipedia page:
Summer Rayne Oakes is an American-born model known for her social entrepreneur work in ecofashion and related sustainability ventures. Because of her close ties to the environment, she is often referred to as “The Eco-model.”
Her work has been featured on CNN, NPR, Fox News, HGTV, Sirius Satellite Radio, NY1, Current TV, Video Fashion News, the Fashion & Beauty Channel, and LinkTV. Recent interviews and articles have appeared in French Vogue, Elle magazine, Lucire, Experience Life, Artist Interviews, Entertainment World, GQ, Healthy Living, E, The Fader, Yogi Times, The Lazy Environmentalist, Sustainable Industries Journal, and Grist Magazine.
In 2007, “Vanity Fair (magazine)” named her a Global Citizen, “Outside (magazine)” named her one of the Top Environmental Activists, and “Cosmopolitan (magazine) named her Fun, Fearless Female.”
On September 5, 2005, Oakes launched “Behind the Label”, a bimonthly sustainable style editorial produced for Lucire. On October 23, 2006, Oakes took over as acting editor for the magazine. In September 2006, Oakes also launched the S4 Newsletter, reporting on sustainability trends in fashion.
Her educational curriculum entitled ECOFASHION 101 links pop culture, fashion, and mainstream media into traditional subject topics and was launched in Philadelphia schools in September 2005.
Summer Rayne was represented by Boss Model Management in New York City from September 2004 to July 2005 until she went under private management. That same month, she founded SRO, a consulting and production firm focused on sustainable business.
Oakes currently co-hosts Eco 4 the World with Andrew Patterson created by Big Durian Productions in Singapore.
Here is a list of 50 simple things that everyone can do in order to fight against and reduce the Global Warming phenomenon: some of them are at no cost, some other require a little investment but can help you save a lot of money, in the middle-long term!
Coming Soon to Stores Near You: Compostable Plastic
(Photo Courtesy of Oscar The Goat)
According to World Centric, for a plastic to be called compostable, it needs to be biodegradable (break down into carbon dioxide, water, biomass at the same rate as cellulose), disintegrate, and have no eco-toxicity (meaning it produces no toxic material and the compost supports plant growth). They also state that other materials that can be used to make the plastic is potato, tapioca, cellulose, and soy protein.
