Bicycle advocate and rapper Paul Freedman (a.k.a. Fossil Fool) gets his kicks by turning pedal power into sound waves. As emcee of the Pedal Powered Stage at the Maker Faire, Make magazine's annual event showcasing creative inventions, Freedman asked audience members to take turns riding specially modified "soul cycles," powering the microphones and speakers onstage. Freedman's company, Rock the Bike, promotes safe bike travel and sells cool products like bike-powered blenders.
If you needed another reason to dream about moving to Hawai'i, how about this: it's about to get greener. Residents there already use less energy than almost anyone else in the country. Now the island state may become the first to require solar water heaters in new homes. The state legislature yesterday approved the mandate, which now heads to Governor Linda Lingle's office for signature.
By requiring developers to use solar, the legislature says it would shift the burden of investing in solar technology from government (via tax credits) to the private sector. If passed, the law would take effect in January 2010, but tax credits would remain in place for people who buy solar systems for homes built with pre-2010 permits.
The Aloha State has good reason to take the lead on this kind of law. In addition to facing some of the most pressing consequences of climate change, Hawai'i has electricity rates among the highest in the country. The Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter, which backed the bill, calculated that the water heaters could shave off as much as $1,000 from Kauai households' annual utility bills.
Now that you know that it's better to turn your computer off before leaving work, test your green PC knowledge with a special "binary" true/false "How Green Is My PC?" quiz. Sharpen your cursor and test your knowledge of how your PC affects the environment.
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Less than one-fifth of obsolete computers are reused or recycled. Find a responsible recycler for your old PC or Mac at www.computertakeback.com.
Then why don't you just come right out and say it?! On October 15 (that's tomorrow), some 14,000 12,000 bloggers are going to be writing about the environment for their collective audience of more than 12 9 million readers. Sure, we do that every day, but it's going to be great to see what bloggers who usually focus on tech, books, music, or martial arts bring to the conversation. If you've got a blog, add your voice to the mix. We'll round up some of the most interesting entries on Tuesday.
C'mon now, don't be shy. We see the clever tips you submit to our mailing list and we know there have got to be other ReadyMade and Make aficionados out there in Green Life land. So if you've got an eye for the DIY, why not share your brilliant, environmentally friendly ideas with the world? Instructables, Popular Science, and Treehugger are sponsoring a "Go Green" contest and they want to know "how you're reducing your environmental footprint, and hopefully saving some cash in the process! Are you modding your gear, simplifying your life, or building something awesome? Tell us what you're doing to go green, and teach us how." Enter by August 19 for your chance to win a Breezer bike or a Solio solar charger. We'll be rooting for you!
The makers of the Solio portable charger have a new trick up their sleeves: Now, in addition to powering up your iPod with the rays of the sun, you can protect it in an ecofriendly way too. This cool-looking TREAD iPod Nano case is made from discarded truck tires. (They make laptop cases the same way.) If you've tried one out, let me know how it works.
...keeps global warming at bay. (And other environmental problems too!)
Want to start living a lower-impact, higher-quality lifestyle? Not sure where to begin? Sign up for our new Green Life newsletter and receive an easy tip every day about a small change that can make a big difference. Simple steps like replacing conventional lightbulbs with more efficient ones, keeping your car tires properly inflated, or adjusting your thermostat a degree or two can save you money, reduce waste, and help save the planet. Don't delay, sign up today!
After its dismal showing last month in Greenpeace's "Guide to Greener Electronics," Apple announced some sweet news: a phase-out of two particularly nasty types of chemicals, brominated fire retardants and polyvinyl chloride, in all of its products by 2008--a year before Dell and other competitors have planned to get BFRs and PVC out of their PCs. While heralding the move, Greenpeace plans to keep up its campaign until Apple gets even greener.
Ouch. While I've been following my boyfriend around our apartment, turning off lights and recycling things he puts in the trash (he's getting a lot better about that), he may actually have been being the better environmentalist--at least when it comes to our respective choices of computers. As a devoted Apple partisan for more than two decades (ah, the memories), I was none too pleased to see the maker of my favorite machines come in dead last in Greenpeace's recent ranking of electronic manufacturers' policies on recycling and toxic contents. My better half's employer, Dell, was a respectable #4 on the list, and his boss got props for "challeng[ing] the entire industry to adopt a worldwide takeback policy."
Fortunately, I'm not the only one feeling a little pain. The Greenpeace folks admit to being Apple fans too, and have started up a "Green Apple" campaign to get the company to offer safer products and better recycling. I'm off to write my letter to Steve Jobs now...
One person's trash is another's treasure: Trade not-quite-right holiday gifts at eswapit.com, swapthing.com, or throwplace.com.
Find a new cell phone under the Christmas tree? Show off your love for animals by downloading some free wildlife ringtones from the Center for Biological Diversity. Instead of "My Humps" or the Super Mario Brothers theme song (seriously? that's the most popular ringtone in the country?), you can be alerted to calls by the urgent screech of the barn owl, the rhythmic rumble of the Yosemite toad, or the otherworldly call of the orca.
And once you've got the new one all set up, don't forget to recycle your old cell.
High-definition TVs use up to 64 percent more electricity than similar-size conventional sets (pdf link; see Table 5).
Belated kudos to Washington state for sticking electronics manufacturers with the cost of recycling their obsolete (and often toxic) products. The new law, which Gov. Christine Gregoire signed late last month, is the toughest e-waste legislation in the country. But don't start hauling out your old TVs, computers, and monitors just yet--it doesn't take effect until January 2009.
Washington isn't the only state following in the footsteps of the European Union, where the three-year-old Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires retailers and manufacturers to recycle their products. Maryland, Maine, and California have similar laws, though the latter two require consumers to pay small disposal fees. According to the Associated Press, 19 other states and New York City have electronic recycling bills pending this year.
If all the old cell phones, television sets, and microwave ovens you ever dumped came back to haunt you, the specter might look a lot like the WEEE Man (left). Created out of 3.6 tons of high-tech trash--the amount the average British citizen discards in a lifetime--the robotic figure stands 23 feet tall. It was built to raise awareness of the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, which will require manufacturers and retailers to recycle their products. Find out more at weeeman.org.
(Photo by David Ramkalawon)
Americans toss out more than 100 million cell phones every year. Recycle yours through CollectiveGood.com.
"The Green Life" was launched in the November/December 2005 issue of Sierra magazine as a place to showcase trendsetting people, cool products, and empowering ideas. Quickly we saw that there was too much happening, too fast, to limit our coverage to a few bimonthly pages, and thus this blog was born.
When we devoted our January/February 2005 issue to the burgeoning green-lifestyle movement, we saw there was a huge interest in earth-friendly options for living well. What we wear, where we live, how we get around, and how we spend our money affects not only our own quality of life, but the quality of our environment. Fortunately, style and sustainability increasingly go hand in hand, reaffirming our belief that the best things in life truly are green.
What's your favorite green product? What ideas have made your life a little easier and the Earth a little happier? Share your rants, raves, tips, and questions with other readers and us.
--Jennifer Hattam, editor
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