Urban Ecoist

Am I the only one who sees the Nano from India’s Tata Motors as both a blessing and a burden, and yet, as an American, I feel guilty about pointing out that this little car that could could increase the total number of cars on the road by say 750 million, the approximate population of India. Ok, that number is far-far-fetched, but my point is that even a small relatively gas-efficient car will create more emissions overall, especially when the vehicle is being priced to attract first-time car-owners. And yes, I am aware how selfish I am by saying that, as I do own a car.

It’s kind of that same feeling I got when I read this article in the New York Times today about stimulus money building a toll-road through a Texan prairie outside of Houston. Even the best intentions has undesirable consequences, and unfortunately these consequences are getting more and more dire as we pump more and more carbon into the atmosphere.

I realize that we Americans have had our cheap cars for about a century now, and we did way more than our fair share of contributing to the current carbon crisis, so how is it fair to criticize affordable individual transportation options in other countries? It is not fair, but yet, fair has little to do with this, unfortunately. We are all going to suffer the affects of climate change, and the poorest among us will be hurt the most. How is that fair? The poor pay for the environmental degradation needed to provide us all with luxury goods that we perceive as necessities. Ah, but I am being rather pessimistic today.

Luckily, the cheap car that India’s growing middle class is clamoring for (and thanks to the low price of about $2000 USD, even the lower classes may be able to afford the Nano) has a small engine that is fairly fuel-efficient at 20-26 km/liter, or approximately 47 to 61 miles per gallon, which beats the US average by a lot.

So, yes, I applaud that India is becoming wealthy and more people are moving out of poverty and into relative affluence through hard work and innovation. And I appreciate that the People’s Car gets good gas mileage. I just hope that the flip side of that wealth will also look at responsible transportation options. It is nice having a car around for some things, but it is better to use public transit or a bike for everyday commutes. It just worries me that the US has exported it’s rather toxic culture to the rest of the world for so long that it might be too late to change the lens.

Tata Motors, Tata, India, Nano, cheap car, People’s car, transportation, cars, vehicles, carbon emissions, US

Ok, so a little insight into me…I like watching cooking competition shows. You know, like Top Chef or Iron Chef. And I really like watching shows that pit restaurant against restaurant, like last year’s Last Restaurant Standing on BBC or this year’s The Chopping Block.

Terrible, just terrible...

Anyhoo, while watching The Chopping Block last night, there was quite a little to-do over Chilean Sea Bass. The restaurant’s client did not approve of serving Chilean Sea Bass as it is severely over-fished (thanks to a brilliant marketing decision to rename the Patagonian Toothfish). The “chefs”, and I use that term loosely in this case, had already ordered 25 pounds of the Chilean Sea Bass. They quickly tried to get a different fish, halibut, but that did not last the night. When a lady’s order for halibut could not be made, the kitchen suggested the Chilean Sea Bass. The client actually went into the kitchen to express that she did not want Chilean Sea Bass served…at all. Bravo to you, Nicole Miller. But alas, the “kitchen” (now that is loose too) sent out farmed-raised salmon. Another no-no.

And on top of that a few days ago, I found out about a campaign to stop the unregulated swordfish trade. Which makes me cringe as I wrote my very first newspaper-published article back in 1997 about how swordfish were being overfished and responsible chefs were taking off their menus. Sigh.

Which leads me to my topic today. Do you know what fish is safe and responsible to eat?

...Patagonian Toothfish or Chilean Sea Bass?

I know there are some people out there that think that if a restaurant has it on the menu, it must be okay to eat. Wrong. You see, the thing about Chilean sea bass is that is brings in a really good price due to its growing scarcity. Same with tuna. Same with swordfish. And if something brings in enough money, it doesn’t matter if it is harvested in a responsible manner or not. Think of fish as the tar sands of wild foods. It may still make money for people, but at what cost?

And unfortunately, with fish, there are fewer and fewer good choices out there. I’m pretty nerdy about this kind of thing, and yet, I even have a hard time keeping up with what’s ok to eat. I pop by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website (click here to go) a few times a year to check out their handy guides (paper or mobile) about not only which fish are overfished or unsustainably harvested, but which fish tend to carry heavier burden of ocean pollution (i.e. mercury and other heavy metals) and pass them onto their devourer in a sort of poetic justice.

I know what a a pain it can be to be picky about the species of fish you will and won’t eat. But trust me, all chefs are total whores for your approval. The kitchen may make fun of you for bitching about farm-raised salmon, but not for long. They will know that you are right, and I bet they’ll change that menu as soon as they run out of the product.

The Chopping Block, farm-raised salmon, chilean sea bass, overfished, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch, seafood, fish, restaurant, pollution, mercury, responsible fishing, sustainable fishing, unregulated fishing, swordfish, tuna, patagonian toothfish

This week is National Poison Prevention Week, as if you didn’t know. But you may not know that this is the 48th of such weeks, and National Poison Prevention Week is one of the longest running public health campaigns.

In fact, did you know that 30 children a year die in the United States from accidental poisoning? Thanks to the National Poison Prevention Week, that number is down from a high of 216 in 1972. What I think is even more impressive is that the numbers of accidental poisonings are down despite the increase in household poisons we keep around our typical American homes. Good work, NPPW!

And it’s not just cleaning products or drain openers that are poisoning our kids. Half of all accidental poisoning in very young children involve prescription drugs and dietary supplements.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission offers tips on preventing accidental household poisonings, including not referring to your medicine as candy in front of kids. No kidding. Also, keep an eye on your kids when any hazardous material is present. Keep everything dangerous out of reach or better yet, locked up. Also, and I thought this is a good one, do not have colorful lamps and candles that have lamp oil in them. The stuff may look like Kool-Aid to kids, but even more deadly.

I’m going to go you one better and suggest that instead of keeping lots of chemically-delicious household cleaners around the house, explore other ways to clean your house with natural ingredients. Not that a tummy full of borax would be good for your child upon ingestion (it really wouldn’t), but it cannot be as bad as some of the stuff that may be under your sink.

poison, poisoning, National Poisoning Prevention Week, Consumer Product Safety Commission, children, health, death, chemicals, household cleaners, prescription drugs, medicine, dietary supplements, natural, borax

Owned by Heinz now...

I ran across an excellent article today on AlterNet (alternet.org). Usually, I am not one to simply phone it in and copy and paste an article onto this site, and I won’t do that, but I will paraphrase the article a bit and urge you to click here to go to the source article.

The writer, Andrea Whitfill, is a kindred spirit in that she also reads lots of labels to see whence our consumer products come (wow, not often I get to correctly use whence in a sentence). This annoying habit has plagued me for years. So much so, that my boyfriend won’t buy toilet tissue without checking with me about the producer and whether “we” support them or not.

However, sometimes there are no good choices.

Ms. Whitfill decided to look beyond the labels, as many a label is downright misleading, to see who was really behind some of those “crunchy” eco-sustainable-green brands that we (suckers) have come to love and support religiously (but in an atheistic way). And for many of us that think of ourselves as Earth-lovers, we may not want to met the “man behind the curtain.”

In summary, so as to encourage you to read the source, almost every company that you like to think of as “small” or “family-owned” or “natural and organic” is in reality a small subsidiary of a much, much larger corporation.

Clorox owns the Burt’s Bees brand. Tom’s of Maine is owned by Colgate-Palmolive. Coca-Cola bought Odwalla (also HonesTea) and Pepsi owns Naked. And there’s more in the article, and in the graphic below. Click here to see larger version.

The only upside to Big Corporations owning those specialty brands is that yes, those brands can now reach a bigger stage in the major grocery chains, so maybe more people will make the choice to go organic or natural (if those brands are still organic and natural — I have a hard time trusting that a major corporation wouldn’t tweak a “natural” brand to cut costs).

And maybe I am too much of a Pollyanna here, but maybe the parent corporations will learn something from their granola-lovin’ stepchildren…eh, probably not.

AlterNet, organic food, sustainable agriculture, food processors, natural food, health food brands, Clorox, Burt’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, Odwalla, HonesTea, Pepsi, Naked juices, major corporations

“Smart Grid” is quickly becoming a buzzword among politicians, environmentalists, and utility companies. But what exactly is a Smart Grid and how it is going to save the planet?

The “smart grid” is not a single thing, but rather a whole host of technologies that can be used to create or upgrade an electric grid using digital devices to keep track of usage and monitor peak usage as well as controlling the usage within a home or building to ensure that high-energy devices are switching on during off-peak times when possible. A smart grid may include monitors within buildings that allow users to better manage their energy usage. Smart grids will also become necessary to allow individual sources of energy, like home solar panels or geothermal systems, to upload to and feed the grid. And electric cars that you plug in at home? Yeah, those will need smart grid technology to work.

It’s not like a Smart Grid will solve all of our problems, but it may help us use energy more efficiently, and that is something that is becoming extremely important as the world’s thirst for cheap power grows. Even a small percentage of efficiency in a major city’s electrical grid means big savings in terms of carbon emissions. The US’s electricity grid was first developed and built in the early part of the 20th century, so yeah, that’s not outdated or anything.

Leave it to the Dutch to take the lead in converting the first major city to full smart grid technology. The city of Amsterdam may provide us with a useful case study on how a large city can install and benefit from a smart grid. Amsterdam is currently restructuring its energy infrastructure to be “smart” and hopes to have it all done in the next few years.

All told, the municipality, energy outfits, and private companies are expected to invest more than $1 billion over the next three years. That figure includes a $383 million investment by local electricity network operator Alliander in so-called “smart grid” technology that uses network sensors and improved domestic energy monitoring to trim electricity use. Also part of the plan: up to $255 million to be spent by local housing cooperatives on boosting household energy efficiency, and $383 million from companies including Phillips (PHG) and Dutch utility Nuon to be invested in other energy-efficient technology.

“In the next year and a half, we expect to be the leading smart city in Europe,” says Ger Baron, senior project manager at the Amsterdam Innovation Motor, a public-private joint venture that is overseeing the project. “We’re in the right place at the right time.”

The focus on cutting cities’ emissions could have a major impact on the battle against global warming. As of 2006, more people now live in urban areas than in the countryside, and the sprawl surrounding megacities such as Mumbai and Saõ Paolo is only likely to increase. Consultancy Accenture (ACN) reckons cities produce almost two-thirds of total global carbon dioxide emissions through a combination of car fumes, household energy use, and industrial manufacturing. In the coming years, policy shifts from the U.S. and elsewhere will put even more pressure on controlling carbon output.

“Until now, there’s been an underemphasis on what cities can do to cut emissions,” says Mark Spelman, Accenture’s global head of strategy. –Business Week

Global technology companies like IBM and Cisco are also getting in on Amsterdam’s plans to change the way the city uses energy. And Dutch banks are going to provide small loans to homeowners to purchase and install green improvements around the house, with the intention that the costs saved from energy efficiency will pay for the cost of the loans.

The Business Week article also mentions that Xcel Energy is working in the city of Boulder, Colorado to connect 60,000 homes to a smart grid.

Considering that in most cases, smart grids are being pushed by energy companies and that is a positive move. Whether it is just to make more money or not, moving forward in innovation is what this world needs, rather than trying to squeeze more money from the planet’s dwindling resources.

Smart Grid, electricity, energy, Amsterdam, technology, efficiency, homes, usage, solar panel, geothermal, electric car, IBM, Cisco, Xcel Energy, Boulder, Colorado

File this one under dire news…

Less than two weeks after the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger (who despite all my fears has turned out being one of the better governors out there — I may just yet change my mind about actors going into politics) declared a state of emergency in the state of California due to drought, a new report details that California will be hit hard by rising sea-levels in the next century.

Maybe California should start building more desalination plants like the proposed Poseidon desalination plant below.

First, it is true that California is suffering under drought conditions. The US Drought Monitor shows an improvement this past week, but that improvement is from “exceptional drought” to “severe drought.” Click here to go to a nifty 12-week animated drought map of the US. But for the month of January and February, the northern “ice cap” of the High Sierra’s presented a dangerous situation for a state that must support not only a huge population, but also a major agricultural region in the Central Valley.

California’s state water board is busy crunching the data on conservation efforts underway, including the Governor’s request for voluntary residential reduction in usage and if need be, the state may have to impose water rations.

Secondly, the Pacific Institute has released a report on possible impacts of sea-level rise on the California coastline, a popular spot for not only residential areas but also waste dumps. If the dire predictions of the IPCC come true, California could expect losses in the billions when it comes to property and infrastructure lost.

And the bad news is that most of the available climate models used by the Pacific Institute do not take the possible melting of Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets into account, so the estimates of a 1.5 meter rise in sea levels may be a little on the low side.

Geez, poor California…If an earthquake doesn’t destroy the coastline, global warming will.

governator, California, Schwarzenegger, drought, state of emergency, sea levels, global warming, agriculture, infrastructure, climate change, Greenland, Antarctica, water, rationing, Pacific Institute, High Sierras, earthquake

Ok, so normally, I am not one to count on celebrities to either a) do something or anything important enough for me to care about or b) tell me how to think about things that I may already care about. However, as this is a site with a focus on all things sustainable, I have made an exception in Mr. Brad Pitt’s and Make It Right NOLA’s case.

So, in my first installment of “green” celebrity news…I bring you…Brad Pitt.

Enough about making grandchildren envious already, and nice shiny suit there, Brad. Oh, and you forgot that top button, too. Ok, I got that out of me…

Visiting D.C. within just a few weeks of his frequent co-star, George Clooney’s visit, Pitt’s star power was kept as secret as humanly possible in the cesspool of Washingtonian politics. But according to the AP story about the visiting “dignitary”, “The Power of Pitt drained entire congressional offices of their female employees and quite a few male aides as well, all of whom could be picked out by the way they suddenly appeared in the Senate’s doorways and halls, nonchalantly cupping cell phones and cameras at their sides and hanging around waiting news crews.”

Pitt was in Washington (Angie is also shooting a movie there, so he was in town already) to talk with the people in power about affordable, sustainable housing. If you didn’t know, Pitt is the starpower behind an effort in New Orleans called Make It Right NOLA (click on that link to read more about Make It Right). MIRNOLA is working to design and build green housing in the Lower Ninth Ward, an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina and an area home to a predominantly low-income minority population.

While on the Hill, Brad Pitt met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about “nationalizing” Make It Right’s ideas and designs for more American cities that have been afflicted by disasters, both natural and man-made (hello, Detroit, Michigan).

Brad Pitt, NOLA, New Orleans, Make It Right, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Lower Ninth Ward, affordable housing, sustainable housing, George Clooney, green building, green design, low income

Within days of getting my email from the Great Sunflower Project asking me to confirm my mailing address for my free sunflower seeds, I also get news that the Natural Resources Defense Council is campaigning to get the EPA to suspend use of and review its approval of the pesticide imidacloprid, a “moderately” toxic pesticide that works on the neurotransmitters in insects.

If you are a regular reader, you know that I often lambaste the EPA for its shortsightedness when it comes to approving chemicals for use in industry and agriculture (and pharmaceuticals and consumer use) without any true long-term testing. And in the case of imidacloprid, the NRDC is asking that something as simple as multi-generational studies on how this pesticide affects honey bees.

Imidacloprid was first patented and put into use in the late 1980’s. The pesticide is a neonicotinoid, which is based on the chemical makeup of nicotine. Imidacloprid works on a an insect’s nervous system, after the insect ingests the chemical after feeding on a plant’s sweet juices. A neonicotinoid blocks a receptor in the brain and causes an excess amount of acetylcholine. The excess creates paralysis and then death in the victim.

France has banned imidacloprid, sold thereunder the name Gaucho, for use on sunflowers since 1999 after one-third of all the country’s honeybees dies after a season of wide-spread usage. The French further banned the chemical on sweet corn, and last year, decided not to approve its use at all. Germany banned imidacloprid and its 8 neonicitinoid cousins last year after a huge die-off of honeybees following an application of the pesticide, clothianidin. Furthermore, imidacloprid’s maker, Bayer, is being sued by various groups, from farmers to local and national environmental groups.

What you can do

You can write to the EPA calling for action. Click here for the NDRC action site to send a pre-written letter to the Office of Pesticide Programs.

Also, buy organic produce and support farmers that eschew chemical pesticides.

EPA, pesticide, agriculture, imidacloprid, neonicotinoid, honeybees, colony collapse disorder, bees, toxicity, chemicals, organic, France, US, Gaucho, corn, farming, Germany, banned, Europe, clothianidin, acetylcholine, brain, nervous system, insects, plants

This is just like the whole Clean Coal ad campaign of which I am a big fan. You can read some of my odes here and here.

Now, let me tell you something, Smart Black Lady who is ironically more at risk for the disease that high fructose corn syrup is known to cause — Diabetes.

A little history on the corn industry — think again, if you think it’s all just quaint little family farms growing corn on their daddy and granddaddy’s land. Too often, those who live in the cities have a very naive view of farming and where their food really comes from. Those little guys were bought out years ago, and now huge corporations are farming a big percentage of America’s farmland. And due to some crazy farm laws, corn growers get subsidized to grow corn. That’s right. Big corporate farms make money just to grow corn on top of what they sell it for, and then they get tax breaks that mean they make more on selling their product. And gee, I wonder how you can make even more money from this magical crop?

Yes, find more uses for corn. I mean, come on, who can eat corn for every meal, right? So, let’s process that corn and strip it down to its basic components, namely the glucose. Add an enzyme and you can make fructose. Blend that fructose with the right ratio of sucrose, and viola, you get HFCS, a fine substitute for expensive cane or beet sugar. But the problem is that by “watering down” the sucrose, you are creating a larger problem within your body. You see, it’s sucrose that helps you feel satisfied, and studies are indicating that your body does not process fructose in a way is regulated. Sucrose needs sucrase to break it down, and your body only produces so much of it. Think of sucrose like wheat bread with fibre, and fructose as white bread. Fibre helps you feel full, which in turn helps you stop eating. And Americans don’t stop eating…

Anyway, the corporate farmers figured that if they can convince American food processors to use more HFCS in place of sugars, then that is a whole new market in which to make billions. Real sugar is more expensive than sugar, so food processors and soft drink makers were more than happy to use a ready-to-mix liquid that can save them money. And guess what? The same corporations that own the farms also own the companies that make the processed food. So essentially, corporations like Cargill and ArcherDanielsMidland, grow corn to make into HFCS and then use that cheaper HFCS to make the foods we all know and love, foods that are sold with mascots and big advertising campaigns. And it’s all making us fat and unhealthy, which in turn makes us spend more on health costs, which in turn means that American pharmaceutical and insurance companies are making money.

Do you ever get the feeling that the US Government has really sold us out?

And long-term testing…what long term testing? We see it all around us. Americans not only drink the stuff in soft drinks, but with more and more people using packaged, processed ready-to-eat meals (made by the same corporations that grow the corn and make the HFCS remember), and, well, the hens are coming home to roost.

Mmm…chicken.

Don’t get me started on the Chicken Industry.

high fructose corn syrup, corn, obesity, diabetes, disease, health, American diet, soft drinks, sucrose, sucrase, enzyme, processed foods, industry, corporate farms, farming, government, subsidies, chicken, Cargill, ArcherDanielsMidland, HFCS

A very wet example of a rain garden...

I was just reading the City of Chicago’s Green Alleyways Handbook, and I came across the idea of building a rain garden to help with storm water runoff. Then I started thinking about it, and with Spring’s showers on the way, now would be a good time for us all to consider building a rain garden in our urban spaces.

Now, obviously, some urbanites will not have the option to construct a rain garden, large or small, as they may not have any yard space at their disposal. It’s not like you can build a container rain garden (or can you?) — but you can find a way to capture your own fair share of rainwater to save from the sewer (but make sure it’s not in a copper bowl like in that one episode of Different Strokes when Dana Plato’s hair turned green), for example, in a rain barrel. But that’s another topic, another day.

...And a very dry one.

Rain gardens are not rocket science, but you do have to do some planning and a little science will come into the project before it’s done. It is best for your back if you already have noticed a spot in your yard where there is a depression where rain water already collects during storms. If you have multiple low-spots, choose areas next to paved areas like patios or roadways or by downspouts. Although remember that you will not want the water too close to your house (within 10 feet) or large trees, either. Sure, a rain garden may be dry 85% of the time, but there is still that other 15% of the time.

A great place to start your planning is a site called Raingardens.org. appropriately enough. It’s a really comprehensive site, which I won’t do justice to by gleaning pertinent info and passing it off as my own, so check it out by clicking here. The organization is based in Western Michigan, but anyone living anywhere can learn from the site’s extensive information.

Whether you have a little space or a lot of space, you give a little something back to the groundwater that supports your life by letting a bit of your garden space work to recharge that groundwater. Rain is filtered naturally through your rain garden, where it finds its way down, down into the deep soil and into the groundwater supply. If it were not for your rain garden, that same storm water may instead find its way into a swollen roadway which picks up all the leaking fluids from cars young and old and then into the sewer system, where it will meet more microbial friends, before being treated at a facility and then returned to your groundwater supply.

Maybe I’m being overly dramatic, but with the inevitable Water Wars coming…start planning now.

rain garden, garden, gardening, rain water, storm water, rain, water management, sewer, treatment, groundwater, water supply

Who drives around the city all day and all night, slowly, sometimes just idling in a park or parking lot, looking for trouble? It’s the cops, man.

Well, in NYC, those cops will be driving and idling hybrids now and hopefully more so in the future.

It’s always good to see city governments take the lead in cutting carbon emissions of their vehicle fleets, as it is such organizations that have hundreds of vehicles in use. Besides being better for the planet, it doesn’t hurt that hybrids get nearly double the mileage than traditional cars. Which leads to considerable savings in fuel costs for those cities.

The details…New York City will soon have 40 2009 Nissan Altima hybrids on the streets of the Big “Green” Apple. 18 of which will be used on regular patrol, 20 will be undercover, and two will be made to look like yellow taxis. Cute. Anyway, it’s the 18 on patrol that will be the most scrutinized, as it is unsure whether a hybrid vehicle can withstand the long days of constant patrol enough to be feasible as replacements fleetwide.

After hybrids cops, hybrid cop cars were just a matter of time...

By the way, the 2009 Nissan Altima hybrid is only available in such progressively green states as New York, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Oregon, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Jersey. It’s funny that back in the 50’s being “red” was being a communist and today a “red” state is just the opposite (though still a little fascist perhaps). Ah, you have to love the irony of history.

And get this, the Altima hybrid gets better fuel economy in the city as opposed to highway-driving. How ’bout that? The numbers are 35 mpg city and 33 mpg highway. The regular old cop cars get half that; the V-8 version of the Chevy Impala gets 16 mpg city, and the Ford Crown Victoria gets .

Although, it should be noted that Ford is not taking this threat of the hybrid cop car lying down. Ford’s website for the specialty Police Interceptor version of the Crown Victoria announces that the Police Interceptor is now offering E85 capacity. The pdf claims that the “flexible fuel” option supports “America’s farming economy.” Yeah. That’s what it does.

NYC, New York City, Nissan, Altima, hybrid, green cars, fuel economy, mpg, fuel costs, fleet, Chevy, Impala, Ford, Crown Victoria, Police Interceptor, flexible fuel, ethanol, E85, carbon emissions

Those eggheads at MIT…is there anything they can’t do?

Being an urban ecoist, it should come as no surprise that I have and ride a bike. I would love to brag about how much I ride and how easy it is to do 7 miles here in Portland, Oregon, but truthfully, I sometimes long for a little extra help in managing the rolling hills of my city. But I adore my vintage 3-speed’s style, and I don’t have the funds to buy a new-fangled electric bike…what’s a girl to do?

The Smart Cities program at MIT has recently started testing a new bike hub that will convert any bike to one with electro-awesome power.

Meet the GreenWheel (photo from MIT Media Lab).

This nifty little device that’s about a big as a dinner plate that’s 2 inches thick can be relatively easy to install for spokeheads or your local bike shop. The GreenWheel’s housing contains a generator, motor and batteries. There is also a throttle to be installed. The bike spokes will have to be changed out for shorter ones to accommodate the new hub. And that’s it. Pedal to charge the batteries. Coast when you need, and use the motor to help get you up hills or through those rubbery legs.

Under its current configuration, a bike powered solely by a single GreenWheel (front, rear or both wheel can be equipped with a GreenWheel) has an estimated range of 25 miles. Pedaling the bike doubles the range under electric power, provided the rider isn’t traveling at the nearly top speed of 30 miles an hour. The bike can be charged by pedaling or by plugging it into the electric grid.

…

The GreenWheel is also durable. The team estimates its range at 40,000 miles, or about eight years work of travel at an estimated 20 miles per business day. — MSNBC

According to the article, Copenhagen, Norway and South Africa are looking into having fleets of the GreenWheel-equipped bikes for visitors attending the upcoming 2010 World Cup as well as creating bike-sharing programs with the newly electrified bikes.

The batteries in the GreenWheel are also innovative in that they are lithium ion batteries rather than the traditional lead batteries used in most electric bikes.

MIT, bicycle, bicycling, biking, bike, electric bike, GreenWheel, generator, motor, lithium ion battery, lead, Smart Cities, commuting

A “green” or “living” roof is nothing new, really; Europe has been a big fan for some time now. However, the US is just starting to catch on to the idea, and again it floors me that something that is this good of an idea didn’t catch on years ago. Kinda like solar panels on the White House…

The idea is simple. Instead of traditional roofing materials, layers of materials including “soil” (it’s really more of an aggregate like in hydroponic growing methods) are installed complete with plantlife. Instead of a hard surface, rainwater falls onto the soils and the plants. The natural roof filters water naturally and slowly, rather than just rush the water off through the storm drains into the sewer system. Some green roofs go all out and actually use the space to grow crops or create a natural habitat for wildlife.

The Fairmount Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver, BC, Canada has a roof-top garden that produces about $30,000 worth of produce and herbs yearly.

The “green roof” trend is growing outside of Europe. Japan requires that 20% of all new roofs on larger buildings be “planted.” The self-proclaimed “greenest city in America”, Chicago, Illinois is encouraging green roofs on new buildings and on retrofitted roofs with tax credits.

Fors's Rouge River Plant is covered with sedum.

There are some downsides in green roofs, mostly by way of costs and the feasibility of retrofitting older buildings that were not designed to carry the extra weight of the plant-roofs. But costs can be mitigated by way of the savings that green roofs bring in terms of cooling costs. Hard-surface roofs can get mighty hot in the summer, and that heat is transferred inside to an extent. A green roof will stay around the ambient temperature, even in the middle of August.

Those cooling tendencies of green roofs also help out the area around the building, and by extension, if all roofs were green or partially green at least, the surrounding community will benefit. That is why Tokyo is pushing green roofs so hard. Tokyo’s average temperature has outpaced global warming increases by 5.

green roofs, natural roofs, eco-roofs, plant roofs, planted roofs, roof construction, sustainable roofs, green building, sustainable building, US, Tokyo, Europe, Chicago, Illinois, heating, cooling, costs, global warming, temperature

Like many cities around the world, lax land use laws have lead to what we all know and love as urban sprawl. Back in the days of cheap fossil fuels and a “what, me worry” attitude concerning our natural environment, cities grew out willy-nilly from a central area in which older buildings were abandoned for newer ones in outlying areas and suburbs. This kind of growth leads to residents living farther away from other areas that house commercial buildings where many of those residents work or shop. This in turn leads to more and more cars on the roads, more traffic, more pollution, and I think you get it so far.

Welcome to the Carbon Era. Now, cities are trying to reverse urban sprawl and Sydney, Australia is one of those cities. The Australia Prime Minister and his Labour party are trying to gain support for their plans to rethink Sydney in ways to increase density within areas closer to the city centre. The plan is to put in two new subway lines and develop high-density housing close to the stations. Think high-rise near-suburbs.

The PM feels that Sydney can be made to be of a similar density of people and jobs as some of the world’s largest cities that rely on efficient mass transit to shuttle their citizens around, like say, London or Tokyo. He’s so sure of it that he’s willing to spend $13 billion on the plans.

Of course, there are a number of reasons to re-envision the modern city, and ‘re-densifying” (my own word there, enjoy!) is a crucial component to making a city work. It seems counter-intuitive — to make more people live in a specific area rather than spread them and their waste out, but the more efficiently cities use space for residences and businesses, the more space that will be available for trees and nature — and less need for hour-long commutes.

mass transit, subway, Sydney, Australia, urban sprawl, urban, city planning, urban planning, urban design, space, residences, commercial buildings, city, cities, trains, London, Tokyo

Americans don’t seem all that keen on their fruits and veggies, or at least not as keen as they should be, unless we are talking potatoes. And especially when they eat out, Americans are more concerned about proteins and starches, relegating the veggies to mere side dishes, if included in the meal at all.

And then, add the seasonality of fresh fruits and veggies, and we can see that sometimes eating fresh produce is hard to do, especially if you are on a budget or if you don’t want to purchase imported produce that requires fuel and produced more carbon emissions to ship to your local grocery chain. Also, keep in mind that so-called fresh produce was most likely picked unripe (which means that it did not spend enough time “on the vine” to develop all its healthy nutrients) and has been traveling for a week or more before it even gets to your store.

What’s an urban ecoist to do?

Two options are canned or frozen vegetables and fruits. But which is better?

The canning process involves heating, which will kill any microorganisms that may be living on or in vegetables and fruit. It is very rare that a canned product will carry food-borne illness (which has become a problem with fresh produce lately). However, some nutrients withstand the canning process better than others. Vitamin C and folate are two such nutrients that can be lost during canning.

Frozen produce may be a better choice for most fruits and veggies. Produce undergoes freezing soon after it is picked, so there are less nutrients lost due to age, which may make frozen produce better than some imported “fresh” produce.

Of course, we wouldn’t be very responsible ecoists if we didn’t take some other things into consideration, such as packaging. Cans are highly recyclable and can be reprocessed almost infinitely, but more and more cans are lined with a plastic that contains Bisphenol-A (BPA), which more and more research is showing to leach into foods (especially acidic ones, like tomatoes). Scientists are finding evidence that BPA may cause developmental damage in humans. The EPA is working with some manufacturers to voluntarily reduce BPA use in cans, but I can forecast a day soon when you will be looking for a “no BPA” label on canned goods.

Frozen produce are usually packaged in plastic bags, and the plastic, usually HDPE (#2), used is not as easily recyclable and rarely included in curbside recycling programs. Unfortunately, even the cardboard packaging used with frozen produce is lined with plastic, which also makes it harder to recycle.

Another consideration is where those canned and frozen fruits and vegetables are coming from, and usually that’s a factory farm. Depending on where you live, that can of peas may have traveled thousands of miles to get to your grocery store shelves.

Geez, it’s not easy being green…but if you are serious about it, you may want to can or freeze your own veggies and fruits. When you are at your local farmers market or farm stand this summer, buy larger quantities of fresh produce and process them yourself for winter consumption. Start out freezing fruits like berries, which are easy, and as you become more comfortable and savvy, try your hand at tomatoes.

I remember the cellar at my great-grandfather’s house in Dearborn, Michigan and the shelves stocked with mason jars full of stuff like tomatoes and pickles. He grew everything in his own urban backyard. It’s too bad that as a society, we have become more and more reliant on grocery stores to bring us our produce, when really we could be providing our own — saving money and nutrients at the same time.

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