Consumer Reports recently came out with a list of the top 18 most fuel-efficient new cars which are currently being sold.
With rising gas prices, even people who don't care so much about being green are looking into finding less gas-guzzling options. And even for the eco-friendly of us, walking or relying on public transportation is not always realistic. (Especially when much of the country doesn't have reliable public transit!) Luckily there are plenty of options for fuel-efficient cars, as evidenced in the Consumer Reports list!
I thought this infographic was pretty interesting. It answers some important questions, such as which countries and states consume the most energy, which household items consume the most electricity, and how to save energy. Some of the info surprised me...for instance, I had no idea that a hair dryer uses as much energy as an air conditioner!
Plug-in electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, available, and popular. Leading “green” city, San Francisco, passed legislation to help increase the convenience of electric vehicles in hopes of enticing residents to purchase the green cars. The city is challenged with the task of installing 80 public charging stations at 20 locations by 2012.
The city has been working for roughly two and a half years to implement the charging station policy and necessary infrastructure. ... read more
Based on recent EPA estimates, over one billion cell phones are sitting around houses nationwide, unused. Most will probably be thrown in the trash and end up in landfills, instead of being reused or recycled.
Back in May, the United Nations Environment Programme put out a report on recycling metals. It concluded that less than one-third of 60 metals studied have an end-of-life recycling rate above 50% and 34 are under 1%. The UN recommended boost waste management in developing economies and cease keeping old cell phones and other antiquated electronics lying around the house. Read the report here.... read more
Growing up outside of New York City, my sister and I used to always talk about things being "as tall as the Empire State Building." Nowadays, we can also ask: "Is this as green as the Empire State Building?" The Empire State Building recently got a green makeover, and you may be surprised and impressed by how green it has become. While things were seldom as tall as the Empire State Building, we can strive to be as green.
Here are 10 quick facts about the eco-friendly upgrades --... read more
Golden Gate Solar Tech is a solar distribution company located in San Francisco, California that aims spread sustainable practice around the globe. They are a 100% women-owned and minority company that sells solar panels, solar inverter boxes, racking systems, and solar raw materials. While they are based in San Francisco, they have provided solar panels to remote areas to enhance lives in third-world countries.... read more
Join KeenForGreen at a night of fun in support of greentech, cleantech start-up businesses! The Environmental Business Cluster (EBC), a non-profit, cleantech business “incubator” in San Jose California hosts their annual Casino Night Fundraiser on May 12, 2011 in the heart of Silicon Valley. KeenForGreen readers receive a 30% discount by registering here!... read more
Just when I thought it was safe to love technology, now this. Recent articles show that using e-readers (like Kindles or iPads) may harm the environment more than reading paper books. Since I fancy myself as a green consumer I did some eco-bean counting (better known as calculating your environmental footprint) to see whether I’d go green or brown if I bought an e-reader.... read more
I've recently had the opportunity to correspond with Tacoe Bell, the inventor of the Cardeo Mobile, a human-powered vehicle that steers like a car.
Read what Tacoe has to say about the Cardeo Mobile.
How did you come up with the idea for the Cardeo Mobile?
A few years ago I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and my doctor suggested that I need some type of cardiovascular exercise. I was told that I need to walk, run, or ride a bike. Needless to say, none of those options were appealing to me. I began brainstorming and wondering what I should do and one night it came to me in a dream. A bike that had the same form and functions as a car. The next day I sat down and started to sketch out the rough draft of what is known as The Cardeo. After I was satisfied with the rough draft I began to construct and The Cardeo was born!... read more
A while back Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick reinstated the Incinerator Moratorium. The Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has had in place a moratorium on new municipal solid waste combustion facilities since 1990 (greenfutures.org). Incinerators that produce energy are also known as waste to energy facilities (WTE). These facilities burn solid waste (garbage, trash, etc.) and produce energy from the incineration of trash. Many hope this moratorium will increase and expand recycling efforts.
In a perfect world we wouldn’t need incinerators or landfills. The Governor is pushing towards a zero waste society. No society like this currently exists.
Trash still exists even without new incinerators being built. The trash is instead many times being trucked out of state to landfills. This is far from environmentally friendly. Large trucks hauling trash far distances create a large amount of emissions from the diesel trucks exhaust.
Incinerators automatically get a bad rap from people. They're not as evil as most people think. Modern incinerators create energy and power themselves. Most modern incinerators create enough energy to put back into the grid. In Pittsfield, MA a waste to energy facility powers itself and helps power a paper making facility down the street from it.... read more
Based on recent EPA estimates, over one billion cell phones are sitting around houses nationwide, unused. Most will probably be thrown in the trash and end up in landfills, instead of being reused or recycled.
Just when I thought it was safe to love technology, now this. Recent articles show that using e-readers (like Kindles or iPads) may harm the environment more than reading paper books. Since I fancy myself as a green consumer I did some eco-bean counting (better known as calculating your environmental footprint) to see whether I’d go green or brown if I bought an e-reader.
I've recently had the opportunity to correspond with Tacoe Bell, the inventor of the Cardeo Mobile, a human-powered vehicle that steers like a car.