Got2BeGreen

Green Props: SC Johnson’s Green Cause Contest

2008-10-07T14:06:35Z

SC Johnson has teamed up with Discovery Channel’s Green Planet to give you a chance to win $10,000 for your own Green Project. It’s called “Give Green to Your Green Cause” and it’s aimed at supporting grass roots efforts in protecting and improving our environment.

To enter you need to submit a essay, 300 or less, about you project. All entries must be received by October 31st, 2008, so you need to hurry. The essays will be judged based on the following criteria:

Content (40% of total score)
Uniqueness of cause/project (30% of total score)
Sincerity/credibility (20% of total score)
Adherence to contest parameters (10% of total score)

So be sure to read the official rules before submitting your essay. The winner will be notified on or about November 21st, 2008. They don’t say how it will be publicized but you can be it will be. You can find the information you need and the entry form at http://planetgreen.discovery.com/sweepstakes/give-green/.

Good luck and don’t forget, if you have Green Project you are working on, we at Got2BeGreen.com would love to hear about it too!

Green Web: Nickelodeon’s Big Green Help

2008-10-04T23:55:53Z

Imagine LeBron James and SpongeBob Squarepants teamed up to help the environment. It’s true! Visit them at Nick.com and see for yourself.

Nickelodeon has created a fun and creative way to teach kids to be more eco-conscious. At one of their “mini sites”, The Big Green Help, kids will find games, quizzes, videos and more! It seems the site is fairly new but they already have a lot to offer.

Check it out an see for yourself! www.nick.com

Atlanta’s “Greenabulous” Affair!

2008-10-01T16:50:10Z

Atlanta’s “Greenabulous” Affair

Presented by Swap, Meet, Cocktails and Shoes

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Mason Muer Buckhead

7PM-11PM

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “GREENABULOUS”?

Being “Greenabulous” is a trendy new movement that supports the “Go Green” initiative. Swap, Meet, Cocktails and Shoes defines “Greenabulous” as a woman that recognizes that what she buys, what she recycles, what she “throws away” has an impact on her everyday environment. The “Greenabulous Affair“ is the beginning of an important new shift in the way we treat our world and ourselves. It is about becoming exposed to new trends in fashion, beauty, health products and services that are eco-friendly. Women will walk away with an experience that leaves them not only feeling fabulous but “Greenabulous”.

WHAT WILL WOMEN EXPECT AT THE GREENABALOUS AFFAIR?

The “Modern Luxury” woman will be escorted into a room dressed with vendors consisting of Atlanta- based exclusive and upscale companies whom represent an area in fashion, beauty, and/or health. Women will have the opportunity to visit each vendor and participate in a hands on experience whether it may be a receiving a makeover or engaging in massage therapy. Vendors of The Greenabulous Affair will be carefully selected based on strict guidelines that products and services must reflect the GO GREEN initiative. VIP guest will also be invited to the pre-event GO GREEN diamond lounge mixer.

The ambiance of the room will be filled with live music, butler served hors d’oeuvres and a wine/martini bar. Guest will also walk away with souvenir bags filled sample products and services highlighted during the event. Guest will also walk away with a complimentary “Greenabulous” Gift Card”, which will entitle them to receive discount on eco-friendly products and services throughout Atlanta.

ABOUT SWAP, MEET, COCKTAILS & SHOES

Swap, Meet, Cocktails and Shoe’s mission is to create an exclusive pampering nightlife experience aimed to engage and empower “The Modern Luxury” woman to look and feel beautiful. This monthly event will expose “The Modern Luxury Woman” to the latest trends in fashion, health, and beauty as well as present an opportunity for business and social networking. Our motto “Stepping Into A New You” signifies the idea that event commodities will empower women to continue evolving into a better version of themselves. This event exemplifies this very concept.

For information on being a vendor or purchasing tickets, contact Yakita Wilkinson - 404-849-5991 or yevents@gmail.com.

New Atlanta Mall Uses Rain for Irrigation

2008-10-01T16:50:50Z

The Sweet Apple Village open-air mall in Roswell, GA has $400,000 of landscaping in its construction plans. There is one problem. Georgia is in the midst of a historical drought. Between the lack of rain and state-wide water restrictions, developer Robb McKerrow of Cornerstone Development Partners, LLC, had to make sure that the nearly a half million dollars of foliage will survive. To remedy this, McKerrow built a 60,000 gallon cistern and gray water filtration system before the foundation of the $21 million project was poured.

Besides the 60,000 gallon cistern, Sweet Apple’s water collection system features two water retention areas. Before the reclaimed water is used to irrigate the mall’s landscaping, it will be cleaned by large water filtration system.

Sweet Apple’s cistern will be filled by water that is collected by the 71,000 square foot roof. The rainwater collected by the roof will be carried to the filtration system by a series of gutters and piping. After the water has been cleaned, it will be stored in the cistern until it is used in the irrigation system. McKerrow says that just 1 inch of rain will yield enough water to fulfill a week’s worth of landscape irrigation needs.

McKerrow estimates that using rainwater for landscape irrigation will save Sweet Apple Village approximately $80,000 per year on water. In addition to the money savings that this system provides, it will reduce Sweet Apple Village’s demand on the municipal water supply by about 2.2 million gallons a year. With a total cost of $160,000, this rainwater collection system is going to pay itself off in only two years and help the entire City of Roswell for years to come. Sweet Apple Village is expected to be open in May of 2009 and is located at the corner of Hardscrabble and Etris Roads.

Environmental advocacy groups like Southface and The Sierra Club are praising Cornerstone and other developers that are using sustainable solutions in their projects. It is encouraging seeing that builders in Atlanta are recognizing that we have a water shortage and taking environmentally responsible steps to help.

Source

Algae Could be Green Fuel

2008-09-30T12:19:36Z

API - Updated 4:53 a.m. ET, Sun., Sept. 28, 2008

BORCULO, Netherlands - Set amid cornfields and cow pastures in eastern Holland is a shallow pool that is rapidly turning green with algae, harvested for animal feed, skin treatments, biodegradable plastics — and with increasing interest, biofuel.

In a warehouse 120 miles southwest, a bioreactor of clear plastic tubes is producing algae in pressure-cooker fashion that its manufacturer hopes will one day power jet aircraft.

Experts say it will be years, maybe a decade, before this simplest of all plants can be efficiently processed for fuel. But when that day comes, it could go a long way toward easing the world’s energy needs and responding to global warming.

Algae is the slimy stuff that clouds your home aquarium and gets tangled in your feet in a lake or ocean. It can grow almost everywhere there is water and sunlight, and under the right conditions it can double its volume within hours. Scientists and industrialists agree that the potential is huge.

“This is the ultimate fast-growing organism,” says Peter van den Dorpel, chief operating officer of AlgaeLink, which makes bioreactors for speeding reproduction. “Algae is lazy. It eats carbon dioxide and produces oxygen.” It has no roots, no leaves, no shoots. “It grows so fast because it has nothing else to do. It just swims in the water.”

Farming algae doesn’t require much space or good cropland, so it avoids the fuel-for-food dilemma that has plagued first and second generation biofuels like corn, rapeseed and palm oil.

It can grow in fresh water, polluted water, sea water or farm runoff. It can purify a city’s sewage while feeding on the nitrogen and phosphates in human waste.

Oil-content is high
And it is rich in oil. The most common types farmed today have an oil content of 30 percent, and it can go up to 70 percent or more.

It also consumes nearly twice its weight in carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas that is discharged by vehicles, power plants and many heavy industries and which scientists say is causing climate change.

Seeking to cut its carbon emissions, the European Union last year mandated that 20 percent of Europe’s energy must come from renewable sources by 2020, up from 8.5 percent now. Originally, that plan called for a 10 percent biofuel component for road transportation, but pressure on food supplies prompted a key EU parliamentary committee to vote to scale back that target by as much as half.

Scientists estimate that airlines are to blame for at least 2 percent of man-made carbon emissions, which could be sharply reduced by algae-based aviation fuel.

One promising idea in climate change technology focuses on capturing carbon from industry and storing it harmlessly in the ground. But algae farms can put that carbon to good use.

“Capturing CO2 is the easiest element” in algae production, says Carel Callenbach, the director of Ingrepro Micro Ingredients, which operates the largest algae farms in Europe, producing 80 tons a year.

Companies have been making biodiesel from algae for years, Callenbach said, but there’s no money in fuel. It is expensive to make, and so far it cannot be produced in commercial quantities like ethanol or some other biofuels.

But now, spurred by profit-busting increases in petroleum prices, Boeing and some airlines are exploring whether algae can be refined economically to a kerosene-grade fuel to run their fleets. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has contracted with AlgaeLink and other companies to scout out prospects.

“The advantage is that it can be used in the present structure. You don’t have to totally rebuild airplanes,” said Nanke Kramer, a KLM spokeswoman. She said KLM has no results yet from its initial experiments, and it is too early to say whether aviation fuel will be feasible or when the first flight tests would take place.

Rene Wijffels, a professor of bioprocess engineering at Wageningen University and Research Center in the Dutch town of Wageningen, said he did a feasibility study last year for an energy company on algae for fuel, and was surprised by the results.

“We did not believe it would ever be possible for energy production,” he told The Associated Press. “We found the costs were high but not as high as we thought.” At $3.20 per pound, he said, “it was too expensive for a biofuel — but not that far away.”

Biofuel production is shackled by two factors: the limited availability of nutrients, and an unfavorable energy balance. “If you use the present technology, you will put in more energy than you get out,” Wijffels said. Those problems can be solved, but it will take time and investment, he said.

The Netherlands, a country twice the size of Massachusetts, has long been ahead in farming technology and has one of the world’s highest crop yields. With as many barnyard animals as its 16 million people, it is the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products after the United States.

At Ingrepro’s algae farm in Borculo near the border with Germany, the scum from the 21,500 square foot pool is filtered and processed into flaky green strips that crumble to the touch. The carbon exhaust from the steam engine used to dry the algae is pumped back into the pool.

Algae oil goes into paints, resins and bioplastics. Fuel has the lowest value of any product, said Callenbach. The key to profiting from algae farming is in the cake left over after extracting the oil. Ingrepro turns it into dozens of products, from horse feed to weed killer for golf courses. As a food additive for humans, it is a source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

AlgaeLink, by contrast, sells bioreactors rather than algae products. It nurtures the algae in a closed and controlled environment of clear tubes, speeding the reproductive process by two to four times as the water turns darker almost before your eyes.

But the process requires much more energy than open pools.

Van den Dorpel says making jet fuel will be viable within a few years if petroleum prices stay above $100 a barrel. Callenbach says algae fuel may be profitable in about five years.

Wijffels is skeptical. “Five years? I’m a little more pessimistic than that. But maybe that’s the role of a scientist.”

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