The Green Life

Grapevine: Elephant Seal Surveyors

Scientists mapping the ocean around the Antarctic enlisted deep-diving elephant seals last winter to gather data on water pressure, salinity, and temperature. The animals carried glued-on surveying equipment and delivered 30 times more data than had been collected without their help, filling what the researchers called a "blind spot" in sampling coverage. The video above shows how and why a separate group of scientists with the Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz, California tagged elephant seals for the Tagging of Pacific Predators project.

EU Carbon Caps and California Lawsuits

In June, European Union Parliament reps voted to limit airline greenhouse-gas emissions. Caps are slated to begin in 2012 and extend to any carrier flying to or from Europe.

California's attorney general sued Avalon Natural Products, Beaumont Products (owners of Citrus Magic), NutriBiotic, and Whole Foods Market after their "organic" body-care and household-cleaning products tested positive for high levels of a possible carcinogen.

Keanu Reeves: The Day the Earth Stood Still

"Instead of being man against man, it's more about man against nature. My [character] Klaatu says that if the earth dies, you die. If you die, the earth survives. I'm a friend to the earth."
--Keanu Reeves describing his role as Klaatu in the remake of the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, due out in December

Royal Aston Martin Running on Ethanol

The next time Prince Charles plans to zip around England in his 38-year-old Aston Martin, his staff can skip the petrol pump. As part of a personal greening effort meant to lead the national move to cut carbon emissions, the Prince of Wales has had his car converted to run on fuel made from wine. "It just happened that our bioethanol supplier makes the fuel from surplus English wine," the Prince's top aide explained. No word yet on a Pinot-fuel crisis to rival the food-fuel conflict raging around corn-based ethanol.

Source: This is London

What do you think about Prince Charles trying to shrink his carbon footprint? Who do you see setting a good--or bad--example when it comes to treading lightly on the planet?

The Buzz

I highly recommend sharing a bath, hitting yourself on the head with a ladle if you need to boil the kettle twice, and turning your heating down by 2 degrees."
-- Rock star KT Tunstall on the little things music fans can do for the planet

Grapevine

China's new ban on plastic bags goes into effect on June 1. The law could save 37 million barrels of crude oil each year. * A power system planned for Sweden's Stockholm Central Station will capture body heat generated by the traveling masses and use it to heat water that warms a nearby 13-story building. * Walking has new power, thanks to a high-tech knee brace that produces enough electricity to juice ten cell phones. --Lea Hartog

The Buzz

"I changed all the lightbulbs to energy-safe lightbulbs, and I'm buying a hybrid car right now. Little things that people can do every day make a huge difference."
--Paris Hilton

Grapevine

*  Peter Garrett, the former lead singer of rock group Midnight Oil, was named Australia's environmental minister in late 2007. 

*  Kettle Foods opened a LEED-certified potato-chip factory with 18 rooftop wind turbines in Beloit, Wisconsin, while Frito-Lay announced that its chip plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, will run on recycled water and renewable fuels by 2010.

*  Target will phase out all products containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a potentially harmful chemical compound. 

*  Automaker Daimler AG unveiled the first U.S. version of its compact, fuel-efficient Smart car in January. 

*  Transit planners at the University of California, Davis, have teamed up with the AAA auto club to give plug-in hybrids to 100 Northern California households for an eight-week trial period. 

*  Mayors from five of Texas's biggest cities have called for a new "state lightbulb"--a compact fluorescent. 

*  Ten dollars from each online DVD sale of Out of Balance, a new documentary about global warming (worldoutofbalance.org), will go to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

--Lea Hartog, Sierra

Arctic Blogs

Ever wondered what it's like to live and work in Antarctica? Save yourself lots of time and money traveling that far south by getting the scoop on the following Arctic blogs (As seen on Kottke.org):

Antarctic Journal
Big Dead Place
British Antarctic Survey
John Bean's Antarctica blog
U of Delaware blog
Nathan Duke
elisfanclub
Concordia Base
Base Dumont d'Urville
Mr Rose Géophy CZT45

Grapevine

Former Talking Heads front man David Byrne is writing a book, Bicycle Diaries, about urban cycling. * Nissan is installing real-time mpg displays in all its new cars. The company predicts they will cut gas use by 10 percent. * UPS is bolstering its delivery fleet with 300 new vehicles that run on cleaner-burning propane or compressed natural gas. * Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand are racing to be the first airline to test-fly a biofueled jet. * Tully's Coffee has started an in-store collection program for cups and other compostable waste. * The Israeli embassy in the United States is switching its fleet to hybrid-electric vehicles. * California utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company gave away a million CFLs last fall.