Hybrid Living: Selling Green Lifestyle to the Lexus Crowd


If you want to see how to make "eco-design-lifestyle" sexy and aspirational, have a look at Lexus's gorgeous website "hybrid living". It "explores new ideas of how we can experience our lives in such a way that minimizes our impact on the earth without sacrificing comfort and luxury" with the emphasis on luxury.
Evidently if you drive a Lexus hybrid, you will want to live in Steve Glenn's Living Home, and you will want to tour San Francisco, LA and New York, dining in fine vegetarian restaurants and going to organic spas. The green lifestyle never looked so good. Nor expensive.

Jin Yanni

(Resource:　http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/hybrid_living_s_1.php)

Technology Course


One aspect that makes this photo eye-catching is the lovely layout and plant diversity -- much more appealing than the usual green roof monoculture found in North America. Who's behind the mystery roof? Did architects and engineers suddenly get into plants? Nope, this is in the Horticulture Department in Penn State University.
Here's an excerpt from the course syllabus for Penn State's course EcoRoof Technology: "The course objective will be to examine the fundamentals of green roofs their origins, installation, maintenance, and relationship with other green building technologies. Their use in stormwater mitigation as well as their ancillary benefits will be discussed. Practicum periods will be hands-on, with field trips to local green roofs as well as the installation of a green roof on a small building".
Get a look at some student "hands on" below.

Students propagating plants for a green roof project.

Resource:　http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/center_for_gree.php

Jin Yanni

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things.

Cradle-to-Cradle is a new housing competition aims at turning ideas of sustainability into reality. Designs of C2C will lead to actual construction with the goal of achieving the new standards of sustainability set up in Cradle to Cradle: Remarking the Way we Make Things.
The honor of the first cradle-to-cradle house is given to the architects from a Seattle-based team led by Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum who are passed over in favor of a design that would be more economically viable.
"The result is a house that conjures images of mom and apple pie, backyard barbecues and front porch swings. There is nothing about this house that says 'gray water treatment happens here'" says the author Allison Milionis, and that's exactly the point, according to Gregg Lewis, the C2C Home organizer "We want to show that a green home doesn't need to cost more or look different from its neighbors," he says in the article.
For more about the C2C competition: http://www.c2c-home.org/#

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/first_cradletoc.php)

EU Governments threatened with Legal Action over Climate Change Plans

According to the Associate Press, 15 EU nations are facing potential punishment for not being able to submit their environment plans.
The European Commission threatened its 15 member states with legal action recently if they do not provide full information on plans to reduce pollution emissions.
All 25 EU nations must get their greenhouse gas reduction statistics into the EU's head office for approval but 15 states including France, Germany, Italy and Spain have given only partial information on pollution plans.
The European Commission said it sent warning letters to these nations, urging them to inform the EU of its environmental measures and to explain why they missed a June deadline. The EU head office warned it would take them to the EU high court, where they could face fines for failure to implement the climate change law.
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said reporting the plans is a "crucial part" of fighting climate change.

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11426)

Greater Diversity of Life in Tropics


In past centuries explorers found that the further you go from the tropics, the fewer different kinds of life there are. The question became, is it because more species originated in the tropics or because older ones can persist there longer?
A team of paleontologists who studied a large group marine animal recently gave the answer: it’s both.
About three-quarters of today’s types of these creatures originated in tropics and spread toward the poles, while only one-quarter originated at higher latitudes.
As they traced the marine animals back in time, the researchers found that only 30 varieties had lived in tropics went extinct in past 11 million years, while 107 outside the tropics died out.
“The tropics are the engine for global biodiversity,” said co-author Kaustuv Roy. “What this means is that human-caused extinction in tropics will eventually start to affect the biological diversity in the temperate and high latitudes.”

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11396)

Eco Expo Asia @ Hong Kong
27 - 30 October 2006


Companies from Hong Kong and all over the world are due to exhibit at Eco Expo Asia, Hong Kong's first environmental protection trade fair.
Issues on environmental systems and technologies will be discussed during the three-day Expo which will be divided into three main areas of Green World, Green Enterprise and Green Living.
Organizations exhibiting from 19 countries and regions such as Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the UK and the US will exhibit wide range of products and services including solar heating, recycled stationery, composting techniques, biodegradable food packaging, biochemical oil, air purifiers, waste water treatments, solid waste solutions etc.
Eco Expo Asia will run from 27 - 30 October 2006 at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong.

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://earthhopenetwork.net/News.htm)

There's No Such Thing As Eco-Tourism

You pack up your baggage, take off on the plane, get abroad and begin the trip in mysterious unknown countries and come back bearing photos of sharks and storms and sunflowers bigger than your head. "Man, it was great." maybe you say.

But here, Anneli Rufus, who’s an author for several books, tells us stop these kind of "eco-tourism" or "adventure travel". These planes transporting 207 million of us to giant-flowerland are causing global warming, Anneli says. Carbon emissions from aircraft into the higher atmosphere are thrice as potent as those rising from ground level. "We would need to ration the carbon dioxide produced by traveling to an allowance of no more than half a ton a year for every human being alive today." That translates to 1,000 kilometers by car a year with a round-trip international flight once every 15 years.

And as a result of the tourism boom and globalization there's "nowhere left to go," Anneli says, because "tourism has made the planet into a uniform spectacle".

(Resource: http://www.alternet.org/story/40174/)

Jin Yanni

A New Bird Species Is Confirmed in India
A new bird species has been found in India, the first such discovery here in more than 50 years.

The multicolored bird, Liocichla bugunorum, was named after the Bugun tribe which lives in the area by Ramana Athreya, who first spotted the bird in May. The bird has a black cap, a bright yellow patch around the eyes and yellow, crimson, black and white patches on the wings.

“We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed,” Mr. Athreya said to the New York Times. “With today’s modern technology, we could gather all the information we needed to confirm it as a new species. We took feathers and photographs and recorded the bird’s songs.”

Though the bird was discovered in May, the news was kept under wraps until the bird was confirmed as a new species. Mr. Athreya said he first spotted the bird in 1995, “but it was only this year I had a sufficiently good look that we could move into the matter.”

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/13/science/13bird.html?ref=environment)

NASA Scientists See New Signs of Global Warming
Scientists have long suspected that the recent melting of Arctic Ocean ice in the summer might be a result of heat-trapping gases. But recently NASA scientists reported that higher temperatures and a retreat of the sea ice over the last two winters offered new evidence that the gases were influencing the region’s climate, according to the New York Times.

While the summer melting could be a result of a number of phenomena like the flow of warm water, the scientists said, the reduction of winter ice two seasons in a row is harder to find an explanation other than the human-caused warming.
In the past two winters, the peak of sea ice growth in the Arctic has been 6 percent below the average peak since the satellite observations began. Some Arctic experts say the most open water in the Arctic in a century probably happened last year.

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/science/earth/14climate.html?_r=1&ref=environment&oref=slogin

School of the Future

A paperless environment; high-tech tools to support hands-on instruction; and a sustainable architecture designed to save thousands of dollars in energy costs—with all these innovations, the School of the Future in Philadelphia opened its doors to students on September 7th.

Technology is integrated into every aspect of the school building design, aiding the building upkeep and energy consumption. The school building, which is described as “smart, smart, smart” works in several ways to cut down cost. A water "catchment" system stores and reuses rainwater while a solar energy system makes use of sunlight, and a unique cooling system stores air on cool days and reuses it during warmer ones.

Concerned that continuing instability in the Middle East may lead to escalating increases in oil price, many schools are actively searching for sustainable solutions. The School of the Future has set a good example for them.

Jin Yanni

(Resources:
http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6579
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=5922)

Garbage into Electricity

According to the AP, a company in Florida has a grand plan to generate electricity by vaporizing garbage. Geoplasma, a sister company of Jacoby Development Inc, says the $425million plasma arc gasification facility in St.Lucie County will be the first in the nation and the largest in the world.

While trash to power is not a new idea, supporters say the process is cleaner than traditional trash incineration. The facility, which is expected to be operational in two years, will generate heat hotter than part of sun's surface and will gasify and melt garbage by using high pressure air to form plasma. It's a process similar to how lightning is formed in nature.

The 100,000-square-foot plant is planned to vaporize 3,000 tons of garbage a day. County officials estimate their entire landfill of 4.3 million tons of trash will be gone in 18 years.

"It addresses two of the world's largest problems -- how to deal with solid waste and the energy needs of our communities," an official said. "This is the end of the rainbow. It will change the world."

Jin Yanni

(Resource: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/10/ap/tech/mainD8K1N66O2.shtml)

Baby Boom for World’s Rarest Rhinos
According to the BBC, scientists have found indications that four new Javan rhinos were born recently in Indonesia. The discovery in Java's Ujong Kulon National Park has raised hopes for the survival of the rarest of the rhino species and one of the rarest mammals in the world.
Park officials were first alerted to the new-born rhinos by tracks made by a mother and calf - a set of small footprints alongside larger ones. In the following days, they found two more such tracks - too far away from each other to be made by the same family. Then, in another location, they spotted a fourth calf alongside its mother.
A WWF manager at the park described it as a remarkable achievement for conservation.
Since 1970 the world's rhino population has declined by 90 percent (WWF). Poaching and habitat loss has reduced the total world rhino population to under 18,000 individuals today. According to the AfRSG & the IUCN, there are currently roughly 60 Javan rhinos.

Jin Yanni

(resource:
article, photo2: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5305906.stm
photo1: http://www.1770.co.uk/rhinoclimb/index.html)

Paying to Pollute
According to the New York Times, you can atone for the environmental sin of spewing heat–trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when driving. New York drivers are turning to groups on the Internet that offer pain-free ways by paying for the pollution.

There, you can buy a carbon offset in one of these Web sites. The money collected is used to help fund the production of clean electricity. Just go to one of several carbon-offset Web sites, for example www.terrapass.com, calculate the amount of carbon dioxide produced when you drive, and then buy an offset that pays for an equivalent amount of clean energy.

Compared to the old-fashioned ways of being green---driving less, turning off air-conditioners and etc---paying for the pollution decreases the sacrifice. Though it is not clear whether the system works, at least these environmentalists are spreading the ideal of “being green” in a new way.

Jin Yanni

[Ed: Unfortunately, you need to subscribe to New York Times to access the article. The good news is that subscription is free.]

Yum-yum! Delicious Architecture.
Remember the magic house made of cookies in “HANSEL AND GRETEL”? Well, we invite you to that fantastic world now.

South Koreans are enjoying this summer with “yummy” architectures in the “Yum-yum! Delicious Architecture” exhibition which is held from 22nd July to 20th August in Sejong Art Museum. 60,000 boxes of crackers are now reborn as the famous Chung-gie River with traditional Korean houses and the royal palace. 13 architectural students and lecturers of Kewon University contributed to the surprising work.

The exhibition also runs a workshop in which children can make cookie houses themselves. [The original text is in Korean but you can get a Google translation here.]

Jin Yanni

The aesthetics of recycling?
Is a new aesthetic awaiting us as we venture into the world of environmentalism? The artwork of Christine Tarkowski seems to suggest so. US born Ms Tarkowski admits to being influenced by Russian Constructivism. Quote:

"With the Constructivists, you had fine art artists getting involved in industrial design, integrating politics, decoration, and utility. It's like wearing your politics, your art, on your teacup. Decorative propaganda arts within industrial goods."

Pity it is all screenprint wallpaper. On the other hand, why not? It is probably cheaper and less environmentally destructive (the actual materials can probably be recycled for more useful purposes). The days of using recycled materials for anything handy are numbered, as they should be. In any case, truthful expression of materials is so yesterday.

ongboonlay

Earth Day in Singapore 2006
According to the Earth Day 2006 calendar, Singapore is marking Earth Day 2006 with a close-up of avian influenza, otherwise known as bird-flu. Somewhat sobering, eh? But perhaps appropriate.

But all is not lost. There is also an Earth Day picnic with the Nature Society at the Botanic Gardens. Actually, they began marking earth day since 12 March. Good on them. The Substation, Singapore's first and most beloved independent contemporary arts centre, is celebrating Earth Day for the Asian elephants. If you are driving, you can have your car cleaned the eco-friendly way at $8 per car whilst you're attending the talk and proceeds go to "Friends of the Asian Elephant" - to quote Wild Singapore. Go visit the website for the lowdown.

Of wind turbines and birds
From Gizmodo: quietrevolution's elegant vertical-axis wind turbine is, as its name suggests, quiet but can be made avante-garde with the help of LEDs. A bit of programing and you have images, perhaps even moving ones. Sorry, but ecodes is into peace and quiet...and this applies to the other senses as well as the ears.

And then there's this: Magenn Power supplies an inflatable turbine based on the magnus effect. Among other claims - more efficient, cheaper, lada, lada, lada - it is supposed to be safer for the birds.

Talking about which, if you are worried about wind turbines and birds, you can get the lowdown at treehugger. The short of it is: "small blades, low surface area, lots of dead birds possible; very big blades, with large surface area exposed to wind, very few dead birds." Go read it yourself.