Green Livin Four Day School Week in Bid to Cut Energy Costs

Green Livin Schools kick off eco-initiative

Green Livin In what sounds like a bright idea school's are committed to studying the idea of a 4 day school week as energy costs climb. A practice which would mean less time on the road for school buses along with lower heating bills and CO2 emissions because the schools heat supply could be shut down for a three day weekend.

Not to mention the need for one less set of school lunches to be shipped and prepared, along with one less daily commute for school personnel. All of which would most certainly cut both energy usage and CO2 as well.

Is this a genuine possibility or a pipe dream?

Energy Saving Four Day School Week Has Drawbacks
Such is the question, particularly as changing a school district has, historically, been just slightly less challenging than turning a battleship for most people.

And there are plenty of reasons why the savings might not add up as well, particularly as the cost of day care for most parents would increase significantly as schools often serve a dual role for working parents in an age when two incomes is usually a necessity.

And what may be a saving to the school district on energy bills and CO2 emissions may simply be transferred to those same parents as well. With the costs of running a school system currently spread over the entire population, it’s more than possible that those same costs will simply be redistributed to those with young children who often least can afford the increase.

Perhaps our readers have a suggestions on how schools might make a 4 day week work in an age of climate change and rising energy costs. Anyone able to see how it might work wonders?

Green Livin Cigarette Butt Litter

Green Livin Only smokers can stop cigarette butt litter.

Whether by habit, lack of resources or lack of caring, not enough is happening to reduce the amount of litter. Cigarette butt litter is still around 50% of all the litter.

Reusable and fire-resistant, the pocket ashtrays are designed to make it easy for smokers to do the right thing with their cigarette butts.

Research shows that many new cars no longer have ashtrays, so more smokers are throwing cigarette butts out of car windows where they can cause roadside fires. Recent tests showed that for every 1,000 smouldering butts that are discarded, 40 fires could result.

To combat this Planet Ark, Clean Up and Landcare have distributed half a million Go Green pocket ashtrays into 1,000 Coles Myer retail stores.

So, purchase a Go Green BUTTsOUT pocket ashtray for the great outdoors and:

1. Keep our beaches and waterways clean


2. Reduce the risk of bushfires


3. Help protect our wildlife and vegetation


4. Stop the littering of 7 billion butts


5. Avoid butt littering fines

The $1.59 Go Green BUTTsOUT pocket ashtray is available now in 1,000 Coles and Bi-Lo supermarkets and selected Coles Express, Liquorland, Theo's and Vintage Cellars retail stores.
Ten cents from each ashtray sold is donated to Planet Ark, Clean Up and Landcare.

What is a BUTTsOUT?

A funky reusable pocket ashtray that you can put your cigarette butts in whenever you are outdoors or not near a bin.

The BUTTsOUT personal ashtray is fire-resistant and re-usable, lasting from 3-12 months. It is also:

• Easy to use (single hand operation)


• Traps in most smell and smoke


• Fits easily into the palm of the hand,pocket or purse and can clip onto a belt or bag


• The only personal ashtray made in Australia


• Comes in over 100 colour combinations


• Can be printed with logos and littering messages

BUTTsOUT resources and background include:

Councils Workplaces & Corporate Branding
Retailers
Universities & Colleges Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes

Sustainable solution – the three phase approach to reducing butt litter that BUTTsOUT has pioneered around the world, and has recently seen Colchester council achieve 86.6% reduction

ENpsych – the environmental psychology and behavioural principles that underpin the BUTTsOUT global approach

Campaign resources that provide the infrastructure, educational and awareness material and information for your campaign. Resources can be tailored to your needs to provide maximum impact

The 5 Star Butt Litter Compliance Checklist provides the means for building owners and/or tenants to assess their efforts to provide adequate education and disposal infrastructure for reducing cigarette butt litter around their buildings

The BUTTsOUT which is the centerpiece to all campaigns – a unique personal ashtray that is functional, re-usable, easy to use, and welcomed by smokers

Green Livin Johnny Depp's Island to be Solar and Hydrogen Powered

Green Livin Buried in an article over on Huffington Post regarding carbon-free fuel is an interesting reveal that actor Johnny Depp is planning on converting his island home to run on solar hydrogen technology.

Back in 2005, Depp bought the the 35-acre island in the Bahamas for around $3m after being inspired by what friend Marlon Brando had done with his own Tahitian paradise. In an interview with the Guardian, the actor recalled his conversation with the late Brando,

“Depp said, ‘Hey, man, I found this thing, this island!’ Brando said, ‘Well, what’s the elevation? Do you have a water system there? What about the electricity?’

Several years later, it appears that Depp is finally getting serious about emulating Brando’s earth-friendly tech elements. According to Peter Hoffmann, the Pirates of the Carribean star is third in line to receive a grid-independent solar hydrogen system from Mike Strizki. The inventor created the nation’s first solar-hydrogen house in New Jersey — without sacrificing any of the amenities included in his 3,500 square-foot home. You can check out a video of his system below.

Depending on the size of Depp’s home on the island, the cost is expected to run between $250,000-$500,000 — which, for someone with an island, isn’t a bad deal for unlimited, clean energy.

Green Livin The Oil Sands Of Alberta

Green Livin Where Black Gold And Riches Can Be Found In The Sand


There’s an oil boom going on right now. Not in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or any of those places, but 600 miles north of Montana.

In Alberta, Canada, in a town called Fort McMurray where, in the dead of winter, the temperature sometimes zooms up to zero.

The oilmen up there aren’t digging holes in the sand and hoping for a spout.

They’re digging up dirt — dirt that is saturated with oil.

They’re called oil sands, and if you’ve never heard of them then you’re in for a big surprise because the reserves are so vast in the province of Alberta that they will help solve America’s energy needs for the next century.


Within a few years, the oil sands are likely to become more important to the United States than all the oil that comes to us from Saudi Arabia.

Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, vehicles that look like prehistoric beasts move across an arctic wasteland, extracting the oil sands.

There is so much to scoop, so much money to be made.

There are 175 billion barrels of proven oil reserves here. That’s second to Saudi Arabia’s 260 billion but it’s only what companies can get with today’s technology. The estimate of how many more barrels of oil are buried deeper underground is staggering.

The oil sands are buried under forests in Alberta that are the size of Florida.

The oil here doesn’t come gushing out of the sand the way it does in the Middle East. The oil is in the sand. It has to be dug up and processed.

The oil sands look like a very rich, pliable kind of topsoil. Why doesn’t oil come out when squeezed? Well, because it’s not warm enough. If you add this to hot water you’ll start the separation process and you’ll see the oil come to the top of the water and you’ll see sand drop to the bottom.

It may look like topsoil but all it grows is money.

It didn’t always. The oil sands have been in the ground for millions of years, but for decades, prospectors lost millions of dollars trying to squeeze the oil out of the sand. It simply cost too much.

But then $40 a barrel happened and the oil sands not only made sense, they made billions for the people digging them. But it wasn’t just the price of oil that changed the landscape, it was the toys. That’s what they call the giant trucks and shovels that roam the mines.

Everything about the oil industry has always been big. It’s characterized by bigness, from the pumps to the personalities. But up here in Alberta, it’s frankly ridiculous. The mine operates the world's biggest truck. It’s three stories high and costs $5 million. It carries a load of 400 tons of oil sands, which means, at today’s oil prices, each load is worth $10,000 dollars.

The oil sands then go into a plant. They’re heated in a cell, which separates the oil from the sand. The result looks like something out of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. This oil froth is then sent to an upgrader and eventually to a refinery.

The capital of the oil sands frenzy is a frontier town called Fort McMurray, which isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It’s north of nowhere and colder than the Klondike, but a boomtown just the same.

Is this comparable to a gold rush?

I think it’s bigger than a gold rush. We’re expecting $100 billion over the next 10 years to be invested in this area — $100 billion in a population that, currently, is 70,000 people.

"We’re managing $5 billion here. And, about 10 percent of it is in the oil sands. So, it’s the largest single investment we have," Pickens says.

And if oil sands are the answer for investors, does Pickens think the oil sands are the answer for the United States? "

Oh, I think so," he says.

A million barrels a day are now coming out of the oil sands and oil production is expected to triple within a decade. It won’t replace Middle Eastern oil but at that point it will be the single largest source of foreign oil for the United States, even bigger than Saudi Arabia, which sends a million and a half barrels a day to America.

"When it comes to exploration in the oil sands, you can’t drill a dry hole. It’s there," he says. "We know where it is. They’ve outlined it. You don’t have any risk. But other conventional sectors around the world, there’s a huge exploration risk."

The exploration risks are the least of it. Much of the world’s crude is in the Middle East where the instability is deeper than the oil. When Alberta’s blue-eyed sheiks took to Wall Street last summer in their Stetsons to drum up support for the oil sands, their message seemed to be, "If you can’t trust Alberta, who can you trust?"

100,000 people are needed in Fort McMurray. That’s why one oil company has built a runway to fly workers daily from civilization to Fort McMurray. But why would anyone want to come work in a place where temperatures plummet to 40 below and the sun sets shortly after it rises in the long winter? Well, perhaps because the oil companies pay some of the highest salaries in North America.

The oil companies still have other problems. Creating energy from oil sands requires so much energy that the oil companies wind up spiking greenhouse gas emissions. "And they do it in volumes that exceed any other production of oil crude anywhere on the planet," says Elizabeth May, the director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

She takes issue not only with what the oil sands are doing to the atmosphere, but to the land. The oil companies, environmentalists say, are digging up an entire province. Take a helicopter ride over the mines and you’ll think you’re flying over the moon after a moonquake.

"One of the reasons they can be mined the way they’ve been mined is the out of sight, out of mind aspect of it. And your film crew is one of the few that’s gone in there to look at how devastating this is," May says.

The oil companies say they will reduce greenhouse gasses and they point out they are required by Canadian law to refill old mines and plant new trees, and that is happening — slowly. One company, Syncrude, has even introduced bison to land that once was a barren pit.

There is a larger question that not only environmentalists are asking: will the availability of an enormous supply of secure oil right next door mean America will have little incentive to reduce its dependence on oil?

"What Canada’s doing," says May, "is continuing to feed the U.S. addiction to fossil fuels, instead of being the kinda friend who says, 'Let’s make a helpful intervention here.' We're acting as the supplier of a drug fix to the U.S., while all the time saying, 'Just say no.' But we keep selling it."

As blank as the landscape around Fort McMurray, where the world of oil exploration ends.

Does Pickens think the days of cheap oil are gone?

"They’re gone," he says. "From what we knew as cheap oil, when I pumped gasoline in Ray Smith’s Sinclair station on Hinkley Street in Holdenvale, Oklahoma, 11 cents a gallon, that’s gone."

Will we ever again see $1.50 a gallon? "We won’t ever see $1.50 a gallon. No, that’s gone," says Pickens.

Right around the corner from Fort McMurray you can still see oil being produced the traditional way. It’s picturesque now. The wells are still pumping but they belong to the past, like the iron horse that once rode across these prairies.

The future? Up here in Alberta they’re convinced it’s in the dirt.

Green Livin A Modest Proposal: Eco-Friendly Stimulus

Green Livin ECONOMISTS and members of Congress are now on the prowl for new ways to stimulate spending in our dreary economy. Here’s my humble suggestion: “Cash for Clunkers,” the best stimulus idea you’ve never heard of.

Cash for Clunkers is a generic name for a variety of programs under which the government buys up some of the oldest, most polluting vehicles and scraps them. If done successfully, it holds the promise of performing a remarkable public policy trifecta — stimulating the economy, improving the environment and reducing income inequality all at the same time. Here’s how.



A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT The oldest cars, especially those in poor condition, pollute far more per mile driven than newer cars with better emission controls. A California study estimated that cars 13 years old and older accounted for 25 percent of the miles driven but 75 percent of all pollution from cars. So we can reduce pollution by pulling some of these wrecks off the road. Several pilot programs have found that doing so is a cost-effective way to reduce emissions.


MORE EQUAL INCOME DISTRIBUTION It won’t surprise you to learn that the well-to-do own relatively few clunkers. Most are owned, instead, by low-income people. So if the government bought some of these vehicles at above-market prices, it would transfer a little purchasing power to the poor.


AN EFFECTIVE ECONOMIC STIMULUS With almost all the income tax rebates paid out, and the economy weakening, Cash for Clunkers would be a timely stimulus in 2009. As was made clear during the Congressional debate last winter, prompt spending is critical to an effective stimulus program. And the quickest, surest way to get more consumer spending is to put more cash into the hands of people who live hand-to-mouth.


Here’s an example of how a Cash for Clunkers program might work. The government would post buying prices, perhaps set at a 20 percent premium over something like Kelley Blue Book prices, for cars and trucks above a certain age (say, 15 years) and below a certain maximum value (perhaps $5,000). A special premium might even be offered for the worst gas guzzlers and the worst polluters. An income ceiling for sellers might also be imposed — say, family income below $60,000 a year — to make sure the money goes to lower-income households.


The numbers in this example are purely illustrative. By raising the 20 percent premium, lowering the 15-year minimum age, or raising the $5,000 maximum price or the $60,000 income ceiling, you make the program broader and costlier — and create a bigger stimulus. By moving any of these in the opposite direction, you make the program narrower, cheaper and smaller.


People who sell their clunkers would receive government checks, perhaps paid to them at the motor vehicle bureau office where they turn in their old vehicles. They would be free to spend this money as they see fit, whether on a new car or truck or some other form of transportation — or anything else. To ensure that the program really pulls clunkers off the roads, only vehicles that had been registered and driven for, say, the past year would be eligible.


The government can either sell the cars it buys to licensed recyclers for scrap, or refit them with new emissions controls and resell them. But the government must not ship the cars to poor countries, where they would continue to belch pollutants.

Cash for Clunkers is not the pipe dream of some academic scribblers. Local variants are either now in operation or have been tested in California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Texas, Virginia and several Canadian provinces. So there is no need for a “proof of concept.” Rather, a national Cash for Clunkers program could learn from all this experience in building a better system.

THE big need to date has been money, which is why the scope of Cash for Clunkers programs has been limited. And that, of course, is where the need for stimulus comes in. We now want intelligent ways for the federal government to spend money.

Here’s a high-end cost calculation for a national program. Suppose we took two million cars off the road a year, at an average purchase price of $3,500 (the top price in the Texas program today). Including all the administrative costs of running the program, that would probably cost about $8 billion. Compared with other nationwide income-transfer or environmental policies, that’s a pretty small bill. For stimulus purposes, it would, of course, be better to run the program on a larger scale, if possible. There are over 250 million cars and light trucks on American roads, and some 30 percent are 15 years old or older. That’s at least 75 million clunkers. At five million cars a year — an ambitious target, to be sure — the program would cost less than $20 billion, still cheap compared with the $168 billion stimulus enacted in February.

And what would all this money buy? First, less pollution. The Texas program estimated that clunkers spew 10 to 30 times as much pollution as newer cars. Second, the subsidy value (the 20 percent premium in my example) is a direct income transfer to the owners of clunkers, who are mostly low-income people. Third, these folks would almost certainly spend the cash they receive — not just the subsidy, but the entire payment, giving the economy a much-needed boost.

Oh, and I left out a fourth possible goal. By pulling millions of old cars off the road, Cash for Clunkers would stimulate the demand for new cars as people trade up. It need hardly be pointed out that our ailing auto industry, like our ailing economy, could use a shot in the arm right now. Scrapping two million or more clunkers a year should help.

With today’s concerns over stimulus, inequality and greenhouse gases, as well as an aging vehicle fleet, Cash for Clunkers is an idea whose time may finally have come. Write your congressman.

Green Livin 7 Celebrity Environmentalists in Need of Green 101

Green Livin We love our green celebrities, but for the most part, they are as fresh and new to this fight against climate change as Brangolina's twin babies Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline are to the world. They can give global warming a big 'ol kick in the organically-grown cotton pants simply by gracing the covers of supermarket rags. They can get the word out by looking posh in gleaming hybrids, shopping with chic reusable bags, or sending thousands of extra stilettos to New Orleans. But just like free-range baby chicks taking their first tottering steps into the farmyard, sometimes they fall in a big pile of cow dung meant for the methane digester.

We're not going to call them eco hypocrites, that term that is all the rage now. These folks are on the right track, just under informed or misadvised. Here are our top seven green celebrities who need to enroll in Eco 101 ASAP.

1.)Paul McCartney and the Lexus Hybrid Delivered by Plane Fiasco

Given, it wasn't really the fault of our favorite green knight (and apparently he's really peeved). But somebody in his posse should have kept closer tabs on how that free Lexus LS600H Hybrid was going to get from Japan to the U.K. Green car it was -- but not any more. Delivery by plane instead of by boat means its transport footprint was 100 times larger, and it got 4 mpg for the first 5,966 miles of it’s life without even hitting the road. The shocking carbon blunder: This Beatles alum might as well have jumped in his car and driven around the world six times.

2.) When Woody Harrelson Forgot His Vegan Belt and Shoes

Woody Harrelson was green before it was trendy. He scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to save the redwoods, was inspired by the fish he saw during a scuba trip to become a vegetarian, is keen on biodiesel (he took a road trip across the West Coast in a hemp oil-fueled biodiesel bus), and doesn't like it when scientists stick pins in rats.

But what to do when you are in France for the Cannes Film Festival without your most favorite vegan belt and shoes? Why fly them over from California, of course.

Don't worry, he has taken punishment into his own hands and is now starving himself on an island for 40 days. We don't mind if you eat Woody, but the veganism extremism is a bit over-the-top...

3.) Arnold Schwarzenegger and the State of California's Tax on Used Fryer Grease

Dear Arnold, with all the amazing eco initiatives rolling out from the state of California, we've notice a bit of umm..slippery bureaucracy. Do you really need to tax fryer grease repurposed from a chowder house? Mechanic Dave Eck inspired the world with his feet of vegetable oil-powered vehicles, but California through the book at him. Granted the Governator was out of the loop, but seems a bit unfair that in the Golden State, Eck's a tax cheat and illegally operating without a "diesel fuel supplier's license" and permission from the Air Resources Board. Oh yeah, the poor guy also needs $1 million in liability insurance just in case he spills some.
The good news? He can drive in the carpool lane.

4.) Google Founders and Their $60 million dollar "Party Plane"

Gotta have at least one air travel culprit on this list. In the workplace, media giant Google is greening the way with a solar-clad headquarters, cafeterias serving hormone-free chicken, beef from free-range cows and eggs from cage-free hens, and free shuttle service for employees. They even have an employee incentive plan that encourages walking, biking, and taking public transportation.

Course, that doesn't mean the co-founders follow it: After a public dispute, Sergey Brin and Larry Page were revealed to be more concerned about the size of the mattresses in their $60 million dollar "party plane." The Boeing 767 carries 180 passengers in commercial use and is three times as heavy as a conventional executive plane, says the Wall Street Journal. Tripped out with the comforts of home, the Google plane is luxury all the way, with customized showers, dining rooms, and bedrooms...which leave room for only 50 people.

5.) Gwyneth Paltrow's Perfume Smells Fishy

Oh Gwynnie, you promote hybrids, shop for organic products and green baby furniture, and support Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Father of Inconvenient Truth Al Gore, so why are you hawking a perfume line that contains seriously dangerous chemicals? According to the Cosmetic Database, Estée Lauder Pleasures Delight body lotion gets a hazard score of 8 out of 10 (10 being dose yourself with this stuff and bring on the cancer, birth defects, reproduction failures, and immune toxicity). And it's not like she didn't have better options: Of all the skin creams on the market we could lather up with, 96 percent show better scores.

6.) Vanity Fair's Green Issue Features Material Girl

Ok, so this one's not exactly a celebrity, but Vanity Fair, tell us again: How exactly is Madonna green? Spending almost 10,000 dollars a month on Kabbalah-blessed hydration, she's more the Queen of Bottled Water than the Queen of Pop. Some even blame her for starting the trend in the 1980's, with her promotion of Evian. She also invests in oil exploration, and her carbon footprint could squash us flat, at 100 times the average British citizen's. And no hybrid for this gas-wallowing diva: Her fleet includes a Mercedes Maybach, two Range Rovers, Audi A8s, and a Mini Cooper S.

7.) Cold Play Frontman Chris Martin and the Dead Mango Trees

He's probably the least green of those on our list, but Coldplay frontman Chris Martin (husband to #5) gets kudos for his fight for fair trade, eco-themed lyrics, and his aversion to meat. In 2005, he was named PETA's World’s Sexiest Vegetarian. Yep, the intentions were good when he launched his scheme to offset CO2 emissions created by 26 million in album sales by planting 10,000 mango trees in southern India. Bummer we never saw the fruits of his labor. Most of the trees died in 2006. v

Green Livin Miley Cyrus 'eco-anthem'

Green Livin Wake Up America

Green Livin Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) wants America to wake up and deal with global warming ... though she's not quite sure what that means. At least, that's what she admits in a song -- dubbed an "eco-anthem" by some, though I'm curious what qualifies it as an anthem -- on her new release Breakout.

It may seem not to fit on an album whose title track whines "Every week's the same/Stuck in school's so lame/My parents say that I'm lazy/Getting up at 8 a.m.'s crazy/Tired of bein' told what to do/So unfair, so uncool." But once you listen to it (or read the lyrics), you may agree with the Entertainment Weekly reviewer who suggests Miley "talks about our troubled planet as if it were a needy adolescent." In which case, perhaps the song fits quite well.

No word yet on whether she'll be touring by biodiesel bus, releasing the CD in ecofriendly packaging, or really doing anything more than singing about doing something. But as many artists have found recently, singing eco-songs is one step in the right direction.

Listen to Miley's "Wake Up America" here and check out the full lyrics below:



Wake Up America

Oh, can you take care of her
Oh, maybe you can spare her

Several moments of your consideration
Leading up to the final destination

Oh, the earth is calling out,
I wanna learn what it's all about,
But everything I read -- global warming, going green
I don't know what all this means, but it seems to be saying

Wake up, America, we're all in this together
It's our home so let's take care of it
You know that you want to
You know that you got to wake up, America
Tomorrow becomes a new day and everything you do
Matters, yeah, everything you do matters in some way

Stand up, I'll try if you will
Wake up, it's not a fire drill
All she needs is a little attention
Can you give her just a little attention?

Uh oh, it's easy to look away
But it's getting harder day by day

Everything I read -- global warming, going green
I don't know what all this means, but it seems to be saying

Wake up, America, we're all in this together
It's our home so let's take care of it
You know you want to
You know that you got to wake up, America
Tomorrow becomes a new day and everything you do
Matters, yeah, everything you do matters in some way

I know that you don't want to hear it
Especially coming from someone so young

But in the back seat, yeah, they want to hear it (they want to hear it)

So come on (turn it up)
Come on (turn it up)
So come on (turn it up)

Wake up, America, we're all in this together
It's our home so let's take care of it
You know that you want to
You know that you got to wake up, America
Tomorrow becomes a new day and everything you do
Matters, yeah, everything you do matters in some way

Green Livin Celeb's Gone Green

Green Livin Leonardo DiCaprio's Eco-Charity. Plus Tommy Lee's Rockin' Green Life and Jesscia Alba's A Green Mom

...A genuine go-to-green guy, Leonardo DiCaprio always takes time for the environment. Now, the actor is selling his $300 thousand Jaeger-LeCoultre watch to benefit his eco-charity, the Leonardo Dicaprio Fund. DiCaprio teamed up with the Swiss watch-maker to sell his and another $400 thousand time-piece in the fall of 2008 - 100% of proceeds will go to his fund. A big chunk of cash to drop on a watch - no doubt! But, at least the "crazy" money spent on these luxury items will go to a worthy cause.
Check Out: Leonardo Dicaprio Fund


Tommy Lee's Vegetarian Diet:



...It must be love! The hard-living rocker says he's gone veggie in an effort to rebuild his relationship with ex-wife and PETA fave Pamela Anderson. "I just went vegetarian and I dig it, I feel lighter, I like it. I figured that this is something I hadn't done yet but wanted to," reveals Tommy Lee. And I'm sure Tommy's show on Planet Green, "Battleground Earth," also taught him a go-green trick or two. Watch Tommy Lee talk about going vegetarian.



Jessica Alba Thinking Green Vaccines:





























...Just like all new moms, the actress is worried about her child's health. She's already greened her daughter's nursery, wardrobe, and diet - now she's concerned about vaccinations. "I've been reading a lot about kids and infections, autism and vaccinations," adds Alba. According to ecorazzi, the average child receives 24 vaccines to protect against 16 different diseases. Opponents think kids' today receive too many, too soon and many of these vaccines are toxic. Read about How To Green Your Baby.


Julianne Moore's A Natural Beauty:

























...Love an actress who keeps her beauty real. At 47, Julianne is happy to look her age. "I don't know why women do botox," reveals Moore,"It doesn't make them younger, it just makes them look like they have had work done." Moore's secret to a youthful glow? Living away from Hollywood (she's in New York) and a happy home life with her husband Bart Freundlich and their two kids.

Green Livin Graywater

Green Livin What is Graywater?

“waste water that does not contain sewage or fecal contamination (such as from the shower) and can be reused for irrigation after filtration.”

Graywater Central, from Oasis Design, defines it in a slightly different manner:
“Any water that has been used in the home, except water from toilets, is called graywater. Dish, shower, sink, and laundry water comprise 50-80% of residential waste water. This may be reused for other purposes, especially landscape irrigation.”

As part of ways to save the planet, we recommend the re-use of water, but what are the benefits of using graywater? Again, Graywater Central lists a few:

Lower fresh water use
Less strain on failing septic tank or treatment plant
Graywater treatment in topsoil is highly effective
Ability to build in areas unsuitable for conventional treatment
Less energy and chemical use
Groundwater recharge
Plant growth
Reclamation of otherwise wasted nutrients

Greywater.com is a great source of information that provides step-by-step information on how to set up an irrigation system, how much water you could save, what to do about pollutants and so on.

Advanced Greywater Treatment

Green Livin The Sun Lounger

Green Livin Solar Sun Chair

It seems an obvious idea, doesn't it? By their very nature, sun loungers spend an awful lot of time soaking up rays, so why not turn that energy into something more than just a whole lot of sunburn for you?

This chaise lounge has a panel over the head made of solar panel fabric that acts as a sunshade and moves to protect you from the sun. At the same time it collects solar energy. This is converted into electricity that can be used to charge all those essential gadgets needed for the beach such as a dock to download your digital camera pictures and load up MP3 players and even a GPS in case you get lost. It has a sliding laptop table so that you can read Green Livin at the same time. Of course there are speakers and long-range WiFi antennae. Called the "Tech Chair", the humble sun lounger has been transformed into an "advanced technological hub of summer entertainment".The concept, perhaps surprisingly, is the brainchild of designers at PC World.

Green Livin 17 Electric Cars You Must See

Green Livin Electric Cars

Over the past 3 years, TreeHugger has wrote about many electric cars. We think it's time to look in the rearview mirror, so here's an overview. If you see anything you like, just follow the links to see the original articles.

Electric Roadster by Tesla Motors

The electric car that made a lot of people do a double-take (in a good way). Yes, it's expensive, and yes, it's only a two-seater, but it can make people want it like few other green cars, and someone has to pay the early-adopter 'tax'. Our first post about it was in two years ago. Since then, we've written about the opening of the first Tesla Motors store in California, about what happens to a Tesla battery pack at the end of its life, and recently about Tesla's hiring of a new VP of Engineering and Manufacturing. Update: The Tesla electric Roadster has just started shipping to customers and Martin Eberhard Blogs About Getting his Tesla Roadster.

Model S by Tesla Motors

We don't really know much about Tesla's second car yet, so no picture. It used to be known as the 'Whitestar' but is now the 'Model S'. A 5-seat, 4-door sporty sedan in the vein of the BMW 5. Should sell for about $60,000 and manage 225 miles on a charge.

E6 Electric Car by BYD

BYD is China's biggest battery maker, and that gives them an edge over most automakers when when it comes to electric cars (the battery's always the big challenge). The E6 electric car was introduced at the 2008 Beijing International Auto Show. We don't know yet when the company will start selling it, but its F6DM plug-in hybrid is scheduled for 2010 (probably to be followed by the F3DM plug-in hybrid). Range for the E6 should be 300 km (186 miles).

XS500 Electric Car by Miles

When we first wrote about the XS500 by Miles, it generated quite a bit of excitement because of its relatively low price tag for a highway-capable electric car: $30,000. We then got more information about the XS500 and confirmation that the target price was now "$30,000 to $35,000" for the 2009 XS500 in the US. The XS500 should have an all-electric range of about 120 miles.

i MiEV Electric Car by Mitsubishi

We've written a lot about the cute little i MiEV electric car by Mitsubishi. It seems relatively close to commercialization. Mitsubishi even announced that it was 1 year ahead of schedule, and it has plans to sell it globally. For more, you can see photos of the i MiEV at the New York Auto Show and three Japanese commercials.

R1e Electric Car by Subaru

The R1e by Subaru is kind of a cross between the i MiEV above and Toyota's iQ urban car (spy shots of the Toyota iQ here). For more, you can see photos of the Subaru R1e driving around New York City, and more info about the two R1e electric cars that will be tested by the New York power authority. Our guess is that the R1e won't be commercialized - it's probably a learning platform for Subaru - and the Subaru G4e electric car has more chances of making it to market.

Electric Supercar by Hybrid Technologies

This one is still a concept, and who knows if it will ever be sold, but we're told that a prototype should be on the road next Autumn. It was designed by Hybrid Technologies and doesn't seem to have a name yet. They have planned two version: All-electric, and plug-in hybrid. The latter will try to compete in the Automotive X Prize.

Electric Minis by PML and BMW

This is actually two different electric cars. The first one is a normal Mini that was modified by PML (pictured above). They added electric motors in the wheels and it could apparently do 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds! The second version of the electric Mini has been announced by BMW, but unfortunately they're only going to sell them in California, and they're only going to make 500.

EV1 Electric Car by General Motors (RIP)

Next we have the now defunct EV1 electric car that was manufactured by General Motors between 1996 and 1999, and leased in California and Arizona. A good way to get more background info on it is to watch the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?. Some people have questioned how good it actually was, but even if it had big flaws, that's a little beside the point. It was a first, and should have opened the floodgates for more. Instead, the cars were crushed and even removed from museums.

Electric Car by Mercedes (2010)

We don't yet know what this one will look like (pictured above is the F700 concept), but Mercedes has announced ambitious plans to eliminate fossil fuels from its car lineup by 2015, and that includes an electric car in 2010. We'll have to wait and see.

Electric Car by Nissan (2010-2012)

Similarly to Mercedes, Nissan has announced an electric car to be introduced in 2010 and mass-produced in 2012. We don't know yet what it will look like or what it will be called. Pictured above is Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in front of a test-car (not electric).

REVA Electric Car

When we dig a bit deeper in the archives, we find the REVA electric car. It's not exactly going to set the mainstream car market afire, but it has the benefit over many other electric cars to be available now. In fact, you can probably see some driving around London.

ZENN Low Speed Electric Car by Feel Good Cars

According to the makers of the ZENN electric car, the name is actually an acronym for "Zero Emissions, No Noise". It is a "low speed neighborhood vehicle" with a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 40 miles.

Tango Electric Car

Mostly known as "That small electric car that George Clooney drives!", the electric Tango is faster than you might think: With a 0 to 60 time of 4 seconds, it can smoke quite a few sports cars. Bonus: You can park 3-4 of them side by side in a regular parking spot.

Eliica Electric Car by KEIO University

A few years ago, this 8-wheel electric monster got segments on evening news all around the world. Even Japan's then prime minister went to have a look. The Eliica electric car is a true speed demon. In the right conditions, it can do 400kph (250mph), and 0 to 100km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 4 seconds. It is powered by li-ion batteries, and the only thing is can't do is go back to the future.

Wrightspeed X1 Electric Car

The fastest electric cars mentioned above can do 0 to 60 mph in about 4 seconds. That's fast, really fast! But that's not enough, apparently: The X1 can do 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, leaving the competition in the dust. There's even a popular video of the electric car beating a Ferrari and a Porsche.

Saturn SP1 Electric Car Conversion by Students of Napoleon High School

It's no the prettiest of most high-tech electric car featured here, but we've got to give some kudos to teachers and students of Napoleon High School in Jackson, Michigan. This 1995 Saturn SP1 was converted to run on electricity as part of a school project for the automotive-technology students. Now that's the kind of homework we wish we had in high-school!

Green Livin Flying Pigs ?

Green Livin Radioactive Pigs

Las Vegas -- It hit 117 degrees here. But what's heating up longer term is another kind of heat -- radiation. The Department of Energy applied for its long-sought permit to open a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. DOE proceeded, as it always has on this project, with reckless disregard of the fact that isn't nearly ready to answer the questions that will arise. Just before the filing, the State of Nevada revealed that it had identified between 250 and 500 legal flaws in the permit process, any one of which could be the basis for a legal challenge.

Steve Frishman, technical policy coordinator for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, warned: "We believe there should be real designs….The whole license application is whether the NRC can say whether there will be reasonable assurance the repository is safe. How can you have reasonable assurance when you don't know what the (radiation) doses are to the public?"

More evidence of the hard-wired sloppiness that has plagued Yucca from the start popped up a week after DOE filed for its NRC permit. Holtec International, one of the nation's largest manufacturers of nuclear waste storage systems, called Yucca a "doomed undertaking" and said the safety procedures proposed by DOE were a "fool's errand."

Normally outsiders have a hard time grasping the technical issues at Yucca, but this latest recklessness is simplicity itself. Yucca lies near earthquake faults and is expected to experience quakes of up to 6.5 on the Richter scale. DOE rejected Holtec's proposal that the nuclear waste casks undergoing the four-year "cool down" period before being storied permanently should be tied down with seismic anchors. Now in San Francisco, where I live, gargoyles on office building are seismically anchored. It seems abundantly clear that nuclear waste casks should be as well. But DOE wants to save money and, as Holtec said, in an earthquake "pigs will fly before the casks will stay put." Again, this is not the opinion of Greenpeace -- it's a company that stores nuclear waste as a business.

So how does this play out politically? Nevada is a Presidential battleground state, and has a closely contested Congressional seat as well.

Sixty percent of Nevadans continue to oppose Yucca. More than half say that a Presidential candidate's stance on Yucca will influence their vote in November. John McCain supports Yucca. Barack Obama opposes it. More troubling for Nevadans, McCain favors an investment of hundreds of billions of dollars in constructing at least 45 new nuclear power plants, and perhaps as many as 145. These new plants if built will need storage -- and Yucca, as presently designed, will be full. But the pressure will be enormous to just ship the added waste to Nevada, on the grounds that it is already at risk.

As Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid put it during McCain's most recent visit to Las Vegas, McCain "believes Nevada is a wasteland."

Commissioner Reid also drew a sharp contrast between the two candidates: “While Sen. McCain wants to bury the most toxic substance known to man in our state, Sen. Obama wants to spend billions of dollars to invest in new technologies that will create 5 million new jobs across the country.”

McCain's response to Nevada was scornful. From the seemingly safe distance of California, he rejected the notion that there could be anything wrong with the Yucca site, saying “It’s not a technological breakthrough that needs to be taken; it’s a NIMBY problem.” However, it appears that NIMBY is a relative concept, depending on whose backyard we're talking about. Because when asked earlier what he thought about the safety of just shipping radioactive waste through Arizona to get to Yucca, McCain, as this YouTube clip shows, made it clear he didn't like the idea at all.

But about a half million Nevadans have moved into the state since DOE last seriously tried to move the Yucca Mountain project along. Our challenge is going to be educating those new residents about the federal plan to use junk science and rushed permits to make their state the designated sacrifice zone to revive the financial fortunes of America's nuclear power complex

Green Livin Green Spaces

Grand Canyon Adventure

Few subjects utilize Imax 3-D as fully as the whitewater rafting journey chronicled in Grand Canyon Adventure. There's plenty of bucking and torquing through the Colorado River's Class IVs, and in more placid moments, panoramas induce a sense of wonderment for the Southwest's lifeline and the gorge that it created.



This sort of grandeur hardly needs a narrative, but Grand Canyon Adventure hitches itself to one anyway by tagging along with author/photographer/anthropologist Wade Davis and daughter Tara. Narrated by Robert Redford and scored with Dave Matthews Band remixes, their trip takes place amid pleas to save it from drought, overuse, and mismanagement.



The Davises are easy to like but hard to take seriously, especially when Bobby Kennedy, chief attorney of Riverkeeper and passionate spokesman for the environmental movement, is in the next boat. Yet Kennedy receives scant screen time, perhaps because his crusade contrasts too starkly with the Davises' affecting family story.



The Colorado is as imperiled as it is spectacular. Imax does a great job with spectacle, but the peril remains as grave as ever.

Green Livin Starbucks going rBGH Free

Green Livin Udderly awesome

If you haven't been ordering that double whipped Frappuccino at your local Starbucks with soy milk, you've likely been gulping down Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). It makes cows produce more milk, but it's thought to increase the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer in humans (if only they could come up with something to make cows squirt machiatto directly from their udders).


But now, after two years of pressure from the organization Food and Water Watch, Starbucks has announced that it's going to go rBGH free by December 31, 2007.

Moo-chas gracias, Starbucks! (photo: Tami Witschger)

Whew! Now you can guzzle that cinnamon dulce de leche latte with abandon (so long as you don't mind that growing coffee generally requires cutting down the rainforest, or that Starbucks busts unions).

Starbucks spokesman Brandon Borrman says the campaign had nothing to do with the decision.
"This decision was purely driven by our customers," Borrman said. "Increasing numbers of our customers were calling and asking us to do it, and the number of customers ordering organic milk was increasing, and we wanted to meet that demand."

Food and Water Watch spokesperson Jennifer Mueller noted that much of that activity (including 33,000 emails) was generated from call-in days conducted by her organization.
If you want to thank Starbucks CEO Jim Donald for not poisoning you with milk (or ask what "doppio" really means), you can reach the company at 1-800-235-2883.

Green Livin Toyota Struggles to Meet Prius Hybrid Demand

GREEN LIVIN DETROIT - The surge in popularity for it's hybrids have left Toyota Motor Corp facing an unusual problem. A shortage of their popular models like the Prius hybrid.

The limited inventory of small cars has really hurt Toyota, which reported a 11.5 percent drop in US sales in June.

In contrast, Japanese rival Honda Motor Co reported a 13.8 percent sales rise on record demand for its Fit subcompact car and Civic sedan.

Toyota executives said a dwindling inventory of vehicles, such as the Prius, Yaris and Corolla, forced the automaker to try and keep up with demand , while US auto sales dropped almost 9 percent.

Sales of Toyota's Prius, the top-selling hybrid in the US market, fell 26 percent as dealers ran short of inventory and customers faced a six-month waiting list.

"It is very doubtful that there is going to be able to satisfy the Prius demand and that is very unfortunate," said Jim Lentz, Toyota's head of North American sales.

Toyota had a one-day supply of the Prius hybrid and a 2-1/2 day supply of its hybrid Camry sedan at the end of June.

Toyota cars also ran low in June. Dealer supply of Corolla sedans was down to a 15-day supply, while Yaris had a 7-day supply at the end of June, the automaker said. Toyota expects inventories of Yaris and Corolla to increase in August and was working on its hybrid battery manufacturing plant in Japan.

The current Prius uses nickel-metal hydride batteries made by Panasonic EV and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd.

Toyota, which put the first hybrid car on the road in 1997, goal is reaching global annual sales of 1 million hybrid vehicles by 2010, more than double last year's sales.

Toyota's Lentz said the production constraint made it hard to forecast the market for the hybrid model in the US, the Japanese automaker's largest market.
"We don't know what the top end on Prius is," Lentz said.

In the US market the 3 major Japanese automakers were mixed in June with Nissan Motor Co posting a 7.5 percent decline.

Honda skirted the downtrend in overall US light car sales, outselling Chrysler LLC for the 2nd month in June and ranked 3rd in the US market.

The 3 major Japanese automakers increased their share of the US market to 1.8 over a year ago.

The market share of the 3 Detroit automakers General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler -- fell to 45.8 percent in June from 50.2 percent a year earlier

Green Livin George W. Bush: a Funny Guy

Green Livin President Bush is a funny guy. As the G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan , Bush apparently ended a private meeting with other leaders with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

We'll let the London Telegraph, the only outlet to report this story, explain the reaction from the obviously humorless onlookers:

"Bush then punched the air while grinning , as the rest of those present looked on in shock ... One official who witnessed the scene said afterwards: 'Everyone was very surprised that he was making a joke about America's record on pollution.'"

Okay, maybe tensions were high because climate change negotiations didn't go as well as some people hoped. Some of that is because the U.S. blocked all proposals on interim emissions targets and benchmarks. But come on people, the man was just trying to lighten the mood!

Green Livin Make your Pool Chemical Free

Green Livin Green Pool Cleaners

Green Livin Swimming is a great way to stay in shape: it’s a very low-impact, total-body workout. Unfortunately, the chlorine-based cleaning systems we’ve been using in our pools for years have some very bad side effects, including acute respiratory problems. Also, these systems are not effective against all of the nastiest things you can pick up from a swimming pool.


If you’re building or remodeling a pool at your home, or if you just want the facts so you can speak with the people in charge of your gym or community pool, here is the dirt on the latest in people- and earth-friendly aquatic fitness technologies...


Make a Chemical free Pool


A variety of alternatives to chlorine are being used to keep pools clean. Salt is probably the most common today, but salt systems have their downside along with their upside. They do evaporate slower, so you save some water. And they do cut the amount of chemicals in your pool, so they’re definitely a step in the right direction.

But salt systems still use chlorine—in fact, the salt itself is turned into chlorine, albeit in much smaller concentrations than a chlorine system. But you still have many of the same health risks as you do with chlorine, and you’re still contaminating the ground and surface water sources with chlorine when you backwash your pool.

There are completely chemical-free pool cleaning systems out there, however. ECOsmarte makes systems that use copper ionization and liquid oxidation to sanitize pool water, using no dangerous chemicals in the process. Meanwhile, the company’s Filter Glass technology uses 100% recycled, post-consumer waste glass. Better yet, ECOsmarte contributes 5% of its profits to a non-profit organization (of your choosing) that works toward cleaner water and a healthier environment.

There are also clean pools known as “natural pools,” such as those made by Terravita Gardens, which use plants to keep your pool clean. Not only are they chemical free, they also use natural materials to build the pools, giving you something quite close to a naturally occurring swimming hole in your backyard. The plants can either be in the pool, out of the pool, or both, and even conventional swimming pools can be transformed into natural pools.

Save Water and Energy

No matter what kind of pool you have, there are a number of things you can do to lessen its impact on the environment and your health. Here are a few handy suggestions:

1. Pool covers save water, decrease energy expenditures, and can help to keep your pool from polluting the air. In hot, arid areas, pools can lose more than 5 feet of water a year to evaporation. That water must be replaced from limited resources that are already in high demand.


2. Worse yet, as pool water evaporates, it carries the harmful chemicals in your pool into the atmosphere. Installing a pool cover therefore not only saves water, it prevents pollution. Installing a pool cover can also help to retain heat in colder areas, saving energy that would have been spent heating your pool.


3. For the lowest impact, look for pool covers made of recyclable or organic material. A company called Heatsavr has developed a liquid pool cover: when added to your pool, it forms a layer one molecule thick on top of the water that does not need to be removed before swimming and will reform itself when the pool’s water is still.


4. Chlorine becomes toxic and even carcinogenic when it combines with organic matter—like dirt, leaves, skin, or hair, for instance. Showering before you get into the pool helps to reduce the amount of organic matter present in your pool that reacts with the chlorine.


5. If possible, set your pool's filter and sweeper systems to run only during off-peak hours. When demand gets too high during peak hours, energy companies can be forced to use backup generators that are not as efficient as their main generators, and they’ll probably charge you more for the privilege, too.


6. Don’t run your filter and sweeper as long during the fall and winter months when you will not be using your pool anyway. A pool cover will help to keep it clean enough, and you'll save on energy costs.


7. Getting creative with the landscaping around your pool can have aesthetic benefits and keep your pool cool in the summer and warm in the winter. When designed as a windbreak, landscaping can even help to prevent evaporation.


8. If your pool needs a professional cleaning—wherein the entire pool is drained and the sides scrubbed with acid—make sure to use a green pool service that recycles your old pool water. This can save as much as 30,000 gallons of water!

If you live near an unpolluted lake, pond, or swimming hole, you’re one of the lucky ones because you get to swim in a pure, self-cleaning body of water. For now, city-dwelling swimmers will often have to settle for man-made pools, and hopefully these will all be as clean and clear as pristine mountain lakes some day. And if that’s what we hope for in the future, the future is already within our grasp...

Green Livin New York Times Building's Sunscreen Removed, Emissions Increased, Thanks To Frenchman Climber "Fighting Carbon Emissions"

Green Livin When Alain Robert climbed the sunscreen on the New York Times building. Alain Robert may claim to have climbed it for environmental causes, but in fact he has done the environment a huge disservice- it will be a long time before architects put exterior shades on buildings again. Thanks for nothing, Alain." Robert had written that his climb was "a peaceful way to create support for far greater and urgent action from world leaders on global warming. Emissions are still climbing. So am I."

Two copycats later, the New York Times is removing the ceramic tubes. Now the system which cut down the heating load by almost 50% is being removed from the lower portion of the building, directly contributing to the use of more fuel and contributing to global warming. Once again, Thanks for nothing, Alain Robert.

David Dunlap writes in the Times:

The alteration of the facade designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop amounted to a very public and visible admission of defeat, at least temporarily. One of the aesthetic and functional elements that had garnered worldwide attention for The Times’s building at 620 Eighth Avenue was being transformed in the name of security.

It was unclear how far the removal would extend: eight feet, nine feet, 10 feet from the canopy that had offered inadvertently easy access to the three climbers who have scaled the tower.

The screens of ceramic rods that float in front of the clear glass curtain wall are in many ways the building’s signature. “The complexity comes from the skin, the surface of the building actually vibrating, working with the weather,” Renzo Piano, the architect, said in 2001. Likening it to a “fabric of ceramic,” he called the screens a “suncoat” — as opposed to a raincoat — that would cut the transmission of light and heat into the interior, thereby permitting the use of clear, rather than tinted, glass. ::New York Times