TreeHugger

Peepoo Bags Promise to Clean Up a Lot of Global Crap

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:00:38 -0500

lack of sanitation and clean water -- 2.6 billion people don't have access to toilet facilities -- the smart folks at Pee Poople will soon start distributing in Kenya and Bangladesh a "biodegradable" bag called Peepoo that has an inner lining that disinfects the poo so that bag can be help fertilize soil instead of polluting precious water supplies.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Carbon Nanotube Sponge Can Absorb Toxic Oils and Solvents up to 180x Its Weight!

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:14:26 -0500

Photo: Peking University and Tsinghua University Is There Anything We CAN'T Do With Carbon Nanotubes? Cleaning up toxic spills has always been a problem. It's hard, and it's expensive, and you have to be thorough. But things might have just got easier: Scientists from the Peking University and Tsinghua University h]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

'Road Train' Autopilot Driving System Cuts Fuel Consumption, Travel Time

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:35:00 -0500

Image via Earth2Tech It's one of those ideas that crosses your mind while you're stuck in never-ending stop and go traffic on some ugly stretch of the highway: what if there were some sort of a sensor that could put all of those cars into lockstep? Some sort of automated driving system that would keep that SOB from cutting you off and wedging himself into your lane--something that would make the whole process more efficient, help control the traffic flow, and even let you ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Tech Chest Turns Luggage Into Hide-Away Computer Case

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0500

Photos via The Pixel Junkie We love finding computers in unique spaces that make them more of an heirloom item than a disposable tool. And here is one where you'll have no idea a computer is inside until you pop it open. One part neat upcycling, and one part late-1800s James Bond, this PC case is fantastic. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Garmin Eco-Route Add-on Turns Your GPS Into a Green-Driving Teacher

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:07:08 -0500

Image: Garmin Knowledge is Power Most of us probably don't realize that over the past few years our cars have turned into computers on wheels. There are tons of sensors everywhere, but most of that information isn't available to the driver. That's a shame, because if it was parsed through a user-intuitive interface, it could provide very useful feedback that could help people drive more efficiently (the Prius LCD effect). Well, this is exactly what Garmin is trying to do with a new add-on cable that can plug into your car's diagnostics communication port and feed that real-time data to your GPS dev]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

LG's TV Recycling Program: Hip or Hype?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

A whole lot of these, getting recycled. Photo via freakapotimus Switching over to digital TVs has caused a lot of e-waste. Last week we pointed out how it has been responsible for a 70% rise in tossed televisions in the UK, and similar concerns abound here in the US as we switched to digital. But it's not just homes that we need to think about, but also hotels. LG is helping hotels upgrade old TVs to energy efficient flat panel TVs, and has instituted the first TV recyclin]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Coal Country: Enter to Win the Book, Sign Up to See a Sneak Preview

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:04:14 -0500

My hope is this superb documentary will shock Americans and create a surge of urgency that stops the atrocity of mountain top removal coal mining immediately. -- Ashley Judd I know it doesn't work as literally as this, but what would you do if you knew that ancient mountains were being destroyed and communities torn apart every time you turned on a light in your home, or flipped the switch on your sound system, or heated up water for tea? There are a few more steps in the mining-to-lightswit]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Sunlight-Propelled Spacecraft to Launch in 2010

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:33:44 -0500

Image via Planetary Society The first Solar Sail spacecraft met an untimely end, crashing into the ocean instead of making it into orbit. But now, in 2010, a new, improved version of that craft--an entire spaceship that's propelled only by the sun's rays--is set to launch. And scientists will be see if this unique spaceship will become the prototype for long term interstellar travel.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Koalas Extinct in 30 Years as Climate Change, Habitat Loss, Sexually Transmitted Disease Take Their Toll

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:56:00 -0500

photo: Drewe Zanki via flickr. New figures from the Australian Koala Foundation paint a dark picture for the future of the iconic marsupial. Just completed research shows that the current koala population is somewhere between 43,000-80,000 individuals, a decline from an estimated 100,000 in 2003, and without better conservation efforts they could all be extinct within 30 years:]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The 5 Best High Flying Wind Power Projects

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:54:00 -0500

Image via IO9 The Kites, Blimps, and Copters that Could Power the World Tapping into the jet stream--the fast-flowing air currents in the atmosphere--to harness high speed wind power is one of the most compelling ideas in the renewable energy world. How compelling, you ask? Some researchers figure that by successfully tapping into just 1% of the jet stream, we could power all of civilization. At about 6 miles up, the jet stream creates some 200 trillion watts--world energy demand is estimated to be between 2 ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

New Ocean Carbon Sink Blooms as Antarctic Ice Retreats Rapidly

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:55:00 -0500

photo: Wikipedia. There aren't too many good un-anticipated consequences when it comes to climate change, but here's one: Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have discovered that in areas of open water left exposed by rapid ice melting around the Antarctic Peninsula, large new blooms of phytoplankton are occurring. As the blooms die off they sink to the bottom, ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Five Hundred Oil-Industry Geologists Vote on Peak Oil

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:32:54 -0500

Photo: Zazzle Guess What the Results Were The theory of peak oil itself is fairly non-controversial. But saying that we're close to this absolutely peak in oil and gas production is still debated by very knowledgeable people on both sides. A few years ago, it seemed like the balance was tipped in the direction of the "peak oil is not a problem for the near future" side, but lately, it seems like things might be going the other way. At the Petroleum Geology Conference in London, 500 geologis]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Smog Could Cause 2.5°C+ Warming, Even With Strong Global Climate Deal

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:46:00 -0500

Smog in Los Angeles, photo: Al Pavangkanan via flickr. We've written about the increasingly acknowledged impact of black carbon, soot and smog in global warming, but here's a sobering thought on all that: Dr Veerabhadra Ramanathan of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography says that even with a strong climate change agreement next month at COP15 we still co]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Harnessing Bacteria to Grow Custom Packaging

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:06:38 -0500

Some things have no business being packed up and shipped at all, like software serial numbers. But until we learn to teleport fragile objects, we're going to have to protect them for the journey. This ambitious concept called Bacs harnesses the bacterium acetobacter xylinum to self-assemble around an object, encasing it in a biodegradable paper-like shell. For this innovative notion, designer Mareike Frensemeier took third place in Read the full story on TreeHugger

Another Benefit of Smart Grids: Fewer Utility Trucks Spewing CO2

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:48:13 -0500

Photo: Flickr, CC The Difference Between Snail Mail and Email One of the benefits of smart grids that we too often overlook is the fact that they'll greatly reduce the need for power utilities to send trucks (and often big ones) out in the field to gather data and fix problems. The most obvious example of this is the remote reading of meters instead of having to send people to read meters, but it will also help with maintenance and repairs since]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Beautiful Wood iPhone Skin Helps with Reforestation

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:43:00 -0500

Image via Vers It's no secret we like gadgets covered in wood - something about the feeling of permanence. Plus, wood makes for a solid protective cover for something like an iPhone. While not all wood cases are sustainable - like the un-TreeHugger zebra wood case we saw awhile back - Vers is a company that is working to make this wood iPhone case one of the most sustainable on the market. They've joined up with The Arbor Day Foundation to create an offer tough ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Bio-Plastics Could Replace Up to 90% of Plastics, But Not in Short Term

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:12:23 -0500

270 Million Tons of Plastics in 2007 Bioplastics are certainly not a panacea - they have their problems - but if we are to someday move to a world free of fossil fuels (by choice or by necessity), we'll need something to make plastics. Researchers from Utrecht University conducted a study that was commissioned by the associations European Bioplastics and the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE), and their findings were pretty interesting.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How the Bushmen of Africa Can Save Us from the Global Water Crisis (Video)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0500

Images via YouTube and Amazon I started in on a book about a month ago titled Heart of Dryness, which discusses how the bushmen of the Kalahari can teach us what we need to know about how to live in dry climates, something we're all increasingly finding ourselves in as we drill ourselves further into a global water crisis. However, due to political turmoil, the bushm]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Sneakers for Geeks and Hackers Are Made form Recycled Computer Chips

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:10:00 -0500

Images via Gabriel Dishaw Are these the dream sneaks for green geeks? Maybe. They're at the very least a cool creation by Gabriel Dishaw, junk-metal artist extraordinaire, who fashioned these shoes out of pieces of computers and typewriters, with only glue and metal bending techniques to keep the pieces held together. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ask Pablo: Refrigerator Water Dispenser or Refrigerated Bottles?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:13:00 -0500

Image Source: Alex Muse Dear Pablo: We drink a great deal of water all day long and wondered which uses more energy: opening the refrigerator door to get a bottle of cold water or using the water dispenser on the exterior of the unit. Also, does it take more energy to get ice from the mechanical dispenser (which also uses energy to make ice) or more by opening and closing the freezer door to get some cubes? The big picture answer is that it probably doesn't matter. Simply the fact that you are filling your own water bottles rather than Read the full story on TreeHugger

Choose a Name for Vancouver's Baby Beluga Whale, Quickly

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:01:05 -0500

Image from Vancouver Aquarium Veteran (as in since 2007) readers of TreeHugger may remember the earth-shattering and controversial competition to name Greenpeace's humpback whale. Mr. Splashy Pants was voted the most popular choice. The suggestion that this was a dubious moniker prompted 206 irate comments from readers who disagreed. Now whale watchers have another chance. This adorable little baby beluga was born at the Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia on June 7th. The aquarium is looking ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Japan Space Solar Plans: Of Laser Beams and Solar Streams

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:27:53 -0500

Image: Japan USEF, SSPS project Space Solar Power System Closer to Reality Japan's space agency, USEF, is in the news again with their plans to build a space solar power station, equivalent to a medium sized nuclear plant, by 2030. Inspired by hope that such a sci-fi vision becomes reality, we have some advice for the Japanese space agency, some wisdom learned in the trenches of the fight against global warming. The nugget of knowled]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Mavizen's 130 MPH TTX02 Electric Motorcycle Runs on Linux

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:56:44 -0500

Why did you stop? Well, I was recompiling my kernel and got a segfault... Mavizen has decided to offer a new electric bike based on the previous winner of the TTXGP so that other teams can have a solid foundation to build on for next year. The TTX02 is based on the KTM RC8 with a Agni powerplant. The twist is that t]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Wash your clothes by pedaling your bike (with video)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:08:45 -0500

Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com. You don't need electricity to do the laundry. It's as easy as riding a bike. My wife's 90-year-old aunt still washes her laundry by hand, and dries it with a wringer. God bless her. But if you're a little busier, you can keep your clothes clean with pedal power. GreenovationTV has a segment on the low-tech solution.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ice Loss in Antarctic Peninsula Unprecedented in 14,000 Years

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:08:00 -0500

Scientists reconstructed the ancient climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands. Photo: Barry Thomas via flickr. In case you wanted another piece of evidence that current melting in Antarctica is really a product of global warming, researchers of the UK's National Oceanography Centre, Southampton say that the widespread loss of glacial ice in th]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Good News! Water Use in the U.S. Less in 2005 Than 1975

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:52:00 -0500

Despite 30% Population Growth We always hear about how we're using more of this and more of that, so it is welcome new to learn that apparently the people of the U.S. were using less water in 2005 than in 1975 despite a significant increase in population. Daily water consumption in the U.S. is 410 BILLION gallons of water, and 49% of those are being used for for producing electricity at thermoelectric power plants. Irrigation is 31%, and public use is 11%. "The remaining 9 percent of the water was for self-supplied industrial, livestock, aquaculture, mining and rural domestic uses."]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

200 of the World's Dirtiest Power Plants Revealed - 60% are in the US & East Asia

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:05:00 -0500

Full map here: Interactive: The World's Dirtiest Power Plants It's interactive map time! Forbes.com has a really cool map showing 200 of the dirtiest power plants in the world (hat tip to Earth First...) that's worth checking out. Scroll down for some highlights:]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Palm Oil in the Spotlight: Plantations Threaten Rare Cats, Peatland Emissions Increasing + A Small Victory

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:51:00 -0500

It looks like forest, but it's a palm oil plantation... photo: sampsadaily via flickr. Three stories coming in focusing on deforestation, climate change and biodiversity: Scientists point out that when it comes to carbon emissions from peatland loss SE Asia leads the way; development of Read the full story on TreeHugger

Genomic Zoo Aims to Sequence DNA of 10,000 Vertebrate Species

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:32:00 -0500

Photo via ynse Talk about a high tech zoo! A new project called the Genome 10K Project wants to collect and sequence the DNA of 10,000 vertebrate species in an effort to shine a light on recent, rapid adaptive changes among the species. By understanding the adaptive and evolutionary changes, scientists believe they'll have a better insight on how species are responding to climate change, higher levels of pollution, and new diseases. The sequencing will not only reveal current changes, but also how the animals have adapted in the past. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Smart Water Technologies To Be a $16.3B Industry by 2020

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Photo via Pink Sherbet Photography Electricity gets all the attention when it comes to the smart grid, but not to be ignored is also what a smart grid can do for water consumption. Americans consume twice the world average in water, massive amounts are wasted in households, manufacturing, agriculture, and landscaping - massive amounts that could be conserved through proper monitoring and accounting. Luckily, water footprints are getting increased attention, and a water grid is being zero]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Amphibious Architecture Gets People to Interact with River System, Includes Texting Fish

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Photos via Amphibious Architecture The East and the Bronx Rivers in New York are home to a new installation project that offers a "looking glass" into the marine ecosystems of the rivers. The Amphibious Architecture project is a way of connecting humans with the watery world upon which we depend, through an amazing lighting display that reflects the incoming information of attached sensors. As the sensors pick up data on water quality, the presence of fish, and human interest in the water system, the lights]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

NASA Turns Two Unmanned Warplanes Into Environmental Scouts

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:48:14 -0500

Photo: U.S. Air Force, Public domain I Can See My House From Up Here! The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is quite an impressive piece of hardware. It can stay in the air for more than a day, has a range of 3,400 miles, and at very high altitude (its record is 19,928 meters (65,380.6 f]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Digital TV Switch Causes 70% Rise in e-Waste

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:27:00 -0500

Photo via Esquire We worried about the rise in dumped TVs when the switch to digital in the US occurred back in June. The UK is also switching to digita]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Why a Strong COP15 Agreement Doesn't Matter... For Cleantech Investment

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:21:00 -0500

photo: David Blaikie via flickr. With all the disappointing news about the UN climate negotiation talk shifting for reaching a legally binding deal in December to one which is merely politically binding, I thought I'd share this rather encouraging piece on analysis from Cleantech Group, which says the outcome of COP15 really doesn't matter much for cleantech investment:]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Study Shows Coral Spawning Depends on Wind; Makes Local Conservation Imperative

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0500

Photo via Paul and Jill With the future of corals looking grim - grim enough for a proposal to start freezing them for future reintroduction - it's more important than ever to understand what corals need for healthy reproduction. The synchronization behind coral spawning has always been a bit of a mystery. Lunar and solar timing play a factor, but so does another weather pattern. A new study published in London in Read the full story on TreeHugger