greenivate

Two stories of unintended consequences.

Try this chemical-free trick to clean up after a BBQ, plus get more great grilling tips.

15 one-of-a-kind designs from Etsy.com.

A drink chock full of healthy berries — not to mention great taste. Enjoy more delicious cocktails.

Archeologists say that digging through a civilization's garbage can reveal more about peoples' lifestyles than just about anything else. Take a minute to look through your trash -- items you're recycling as well as sending to the landfill -- and learn how you can save money and the Earth's resources at the same time. Dryer Lint Dryer lint represents the life of your expensive clothing being beaten and cooked out of them by an electric dryer. Save hundreds of dollars a year by drying your clothes on a clothesline instead; they'll last much longer, and you'll save on electricity and appliance costs, too. Packaging Too much packaging in your trash can be a sign that you need a smart-shopping intervention. Afterall, packaging costs money, which consumers pay for in the end. Buying in bulk and larger sizes is usually cheaper and saves resources. Sometimes shopping at "big box" stores can even be a greener choice.

Summer photos from The Daily Green community. Like what you see? Send us your summer photos.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States reiterated on Friday that it was committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 even though the Senate has failed to pass legislation.

Pall Corporation , a leading global filtration solution provider, recently announced that it has secured a contract to supply filtration and purification systems for the Habshan-5 natural gas treatment project being developed by Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Limited .

Hurricane Earl is still a powerful category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it approaches the North Carolina coast September 2. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite observed the high rates rain was falling within Earl in some areas more than 2 inches per hour. Hurricane Earl became the most powerful hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season early on September 2 when its sustained winds reached 120 kts (~138 mph). It was still intensifying when the TRMM satellite passed near its location on 2 September 2010. The TRMM Microwave Imager data were used in the rainfall analysis that showed heavy rainfall, particularly in the northwest quadrant of Earl's very distinct circular eye.

More than 80 percent of agricultural expansion in the tropics between 1980 and 2000 came at the expense of forests, reports research published last week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study, based on analysis satellite images collected by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and led by Holly Gibbs of Stanford University, found that 55 percent of new agricultural land came at the expense of intact forests, while 28 percent came from disturbed forests. Another six percent came from shrub lands.

Corals, big mammals and many tropical species could all go extinct in the not too distant future, predict scientists who are attempting to forecast the fate of today's animals by studying what happened to those in the distant past. Mammal - Earth - Animal - Extinction - Paleontology

MANTEO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hurricane Earl slapped North Carolina's coast with rain, winds and heavy surf on Friday and swirled up the U.S. eastern seaboard toward New England and Canada as a weakened but still potent storm.

Both capitalism and democracy improve a society's quality of life, measured by such things as infant mortality and literacy.

Bjørn Lomborg may not be a household name around here, but that's through no fault of his. In November 2001, this Danish environmental author and economics professor was selected "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum. Controversy may as well have been his middle name, especially after his book The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World came out in 2001. However, Lomborg has a new book entitled Smart Solutions to Climate Change: Comparing Costs and Benefits in which he proposes an aggressive $100 billion annual fund specifically targeting global warming solutions...

Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July. Gulf of Mexico - BP - Business - Energy - Oil and Gas

The number of threatened vultures in Cambodia is on the rise according to a new survey by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other members of the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project.

Half-a-million "friends" are calling for Facebook to cut its ties to coal-fired power. Will the Greenpeace-led initiative leave a black mark on the world of cloud-computing?

France’s Champagne industry is trying to cut the carbon dioxide it emits transporting billions of tiny bubbles around the world.

If there were any doubt that there is gold in garbage, Waste Management Inc. has dispelled it.

It's safe to say that the humble camera trap has revolutionized wildlife conservation. This simple contraption—an automated digital camera that takes a flash photo whenever an animal triggers an infrared sensor—has allowed scientists to collect photographic evidence of rarely seen, and often globally endangered species, with little expense and relative ease—at least compared to tromping through tropical forests and swamps looking for endangered rhino scat . Now researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are taking the utility of the camera trap one step further: a study in Animal Conservation uses a novel methodology, entitled the Wildlife Picture Index (WPI), to analyze population trends of 26 species in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. While the study found a bleak decline in species, it shows the potential of camera traps for moving conservation forward since it marks the first time researchers have used camera traps to analyze long-term population trends of multiple species.

A surprising number of GOP officeholders and candidates are on the record as skeptical of climate change or in downright denial that the science is conclusive enough for the government to act. So advocates' best shot may be to wait until the heat of the campaign dies down to push for a bill. Climate change - Environment - Newsweek - Republican - Activism

Photo via qmnonic Nothing like a flood of minks loose in a country's already fragile ecosystem to put environmentalists in a tough spot. Two fur farms in northern Greece were raided, the results of which saw 50,000 minks running for the hills. Fortunately for everyone (except the minks) the problem could solve itself in a short time. UPDATE: An animal rights group has claimed responsibility for the raids and a photo of the unfortunate outcome of the action, after the jump. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: After Gutenberg When I posted a video of a mainstream farmer trying to green his operations, commenter Adam suggested that he was just doing it for economic reasons. That's an observation that gets bandied about a lot here at TreeHugger—that this company, or that individual, is not really interested in true sustainability. They are just in it for themselves. I guess the big question is this—does it matter?...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via National Geographic We've got a new regular slideshow here on TreeHugger: The Week in Animal Photos. Catch a glimpse of what the animal kingdom has been up to this week, from a tiger cub disguised as a stuffed tiger rescued from an international smuggling deal to a newly discovered pea-sized frog perched on a pencil tip. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Images unless noted: Findhorn Foundation While following the development of small green prefabs, It has become increasingly clear that you cannot separate the home from the context, and that what we really need is a sort of green trailer park, where people can own their unit but share common resources. It turns out that it exists, and has since 1962; Dr. Graham Meltzer just built his own home, the ecomobile, in the Park at Findhorn, a "growing eco-village and spiritual community." in North Scotland...Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Dave Parker via flickr In the tug of war over whether organic farming is really better than conventional chemical-laden farming, a new study in the online peer-reviewed journal PLoS One comes out solidly in support of the benefits of organic. Self-described as the most comprehensive study of its kind, researchers from Washington State University found that commercial organic farms produce was more...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: MASONS via The Telegraph From police on Vectrix electric scooters to cycling proficiency courses for cops, the British police are clearly willing to think outside the box when it comes to more efficient, and effective, transportation. But when Lincolnshire police unveiled a 25mph police tractor, complete with blue flashing light, m...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image by Erin Hanson Erin Hanson's outlet is the Recovering Lazyholic, and she has some great ways of pinpointing the unfortunate condition of so many of us folks, who give in to our slovenly side a little too often. One of her projects is "Need to Want Less," a series of graphics that smartly and succinctly sums up the choices we're given about consumerism. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image Credit: Nucho via Flickr Bamboo gets used in a lot of ways, from underwear to flooring to windmills. But this summer, the roof of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to a forest of bamboo that is an aesthetic end in itself. Since April, artists Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image via YouTube video A really neat time lapse video put together by Oregon State University alum Don Pettit shows footage from his time on the International Space Station. This one shows Earth from day to night, and you can spot everything from auroras to city lights. Check it out after the jump. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

From Mexico City to Malta, Berlin to Hong Kong, Greenpeace created impressive protests against environmental injustices this summer. Protesters wore hazardous waste uniforms, drenched themselves in mock oil, doused ducks in chocolate syrup and dropped banners from rooftops all in the name of green peace. Check out our slideshow roundup of this summer's Greenpeace protests. Vote on your favorites and, as always, tell us what you think in the comments.

Hong Kong's Clean Air Network has decided to ditch the frighteningly serious approach to raising awareness about the health concerns of air pollution, and is instead opting for a new hilariously sardonic method to draw in a younger generation. In their new '80s-style commerical, actor Daniel Wu touts the wondrous qualities of "Fresh Air," a new product that allows Hong Kong citizens to "experience breathing like the rest of the world does" with a portable can of oxygen. Wu says the product will help you master awesome new skills -- like balloon animals -- and it even comes in a variety of flavors, including the randomly amazing "horses." The satire forecasts a comedic hyperbole of what could become reality if nothing is done to address toxic air pollution. WATCH:

As summer comes to a close, what better way to celebrate its end than to dine at a farm. Honor summer's bounty by eating a tomato that has been picked just hours before or enjoy homemade pancakes topped with fresh berries from a bush right beside you. When considering that most produce travels 1,500 miles before reaching your plate, why not travel to the farm for your meal instead. Better yet, take a fieldtrip and tour the farm before you dine. While many have visited wineries, most have yet to trek to a favored farm for a meal. So get going and partake in a farm feast. Check out our slideshow of 8 farm to table restaurants. As always, we want to hear from you. Tell us what you think in the comments. But first, don't forget to vote on your favorite from farm-to-fork dining spots.

For starters, the Recovery Act is the most ambitious energy legislation in history, converting the Energy Department into the world's largest venture-capital fund. It's pouring $90 billion into clean energy, including unprecedented investments in a smart grid; energy efficiency; electric cars; renewable power from the sun, wind and earth; cleaner coal; advanced biofuels; and factories to manufacture green stuff in the U.S. The act will also triple the number of smart electric meters in our homes, quadruple the number of hybrids in the federal auto fleet and finance far-out energy research through a new government incubator modeled after the Pentagon agency that fathered the Internet. (See TIME's special report "After One Year, A Stimulus Report Card.")

BUXTON, N.C. — A weakened Hurricane Earl delivered only a glancing blow to North Carolina's Outer Banks early Friday on its way up the East Coast, flooding roads on the narrow vacation islands and knocking out power but staying farther offshore than feared. There were no immediate reports of any injuries. But the storm remained very much a threat as it swirled up the Eastern Seaboard toward Cape Cod. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts to make it easier for the government to provide disaster relief. Earl sideswiped North Carolina before daybreak, a less menacing storm than it was just a day earlier. Its winds had dropped to 105 mph from 145 mph. And at its closest approach, its center passed about 85 miles east of Cape Hatteras – up to 50 miles farther out than forecasters feared. Hurricane-force winds, which start at 74 mph, apparently did not reach the Outer Banks, the National Hurricane Center's chief forecaster James Franklin said. "We still think it will be a hurricane when it passes by Cape Cod," Franklin said. On the Outer Banks, 1 to 2 feet of water covered roads in the community of Buxton on Cape Hatteras, pushing around plywood, a convenience store ice cooler, a garbage bin and other debris. A Jeep driving down the road had water up to its headlights. Carol Dillon said her home in Hatteras was surrounded by water and her daughter lost two cars in a flooded garage. Thousands of people on the coast lost electricity. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said there was no serious damage and urged people to get back out for the Labor Day weekend to "have a little fun and spend some money." "Swiping the coast was always better than coming ashore," said Mark Van Sciver of the North Carolina Emergency Operations Center. "We're very grateful that the brunt of the storm passed us by." North Carolina authorities sent teams out at daybreak to assess the damage. Some 35,000 visitors and residents on the Outer Banks been urged to leave the dangerously exposed islands at the storm closed in, but hundreds of hardy souls chose to wait it out in their boarded-up homes. Nancy Scarborough of Hatteras said she had about a foot of water underneath her home, which is on stilts. "Once it goes down, it shouldn't take long to get things back together," she said. As of 8 a.m. EDT, Earl was about 130 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, moving northeast at 18 mph. Forecasters said it would stay 100 to 200 miles off New Jersey and New York's Long Island but pass very close to Cape Cod and Nantucket Island, Mass., late Friday as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm could have a punishing effect even from a distance: Earl's hurricane-force winds extended 70 miles from its center, and tropical storm-force winds of at least 39 mph radiated out 205 miles. At midmorning, Earl buffeted Virginia with rain and gusts up to 45 mph as it passed farther out to sea. Officials in the Maryland beach resort of Ocean City advised people to secure trash cans, lawn furniture and other loose objects. One hotel took the tops off the fake palm trees around its swimming pool. The city of Rehoboth Beach, Del., removed lifeguard stands from the beach. In Maine, two cruise ships made for the shelter of Portland harbor up to a day early. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick urged people living in low-lying areas prone to flooding to consider leaving their homes by the afternoon, though no evacuations had been announced outside of North Carolina. Officials on Nantucket Island planned to set up a shelter at a high school on Friday. "We're asking everyone: Don't panic," Patrick said. "We have prepared well, we are coordinated well, and I'm confident that we've done everything that we can." Forecasters said much of New England should expect strong, gusty winds much like a nor'easter, along with fallen trees and downed power lines. In New York City, officials were on alert but said they expected to see only side effects of the storm – mostly rain and high winds, with possible soil erosion on the beaches and flooding along the oceanside coasts of Brooklyn and Queens. During its march up the Atlantic, Earl could snarl holiday weekend plans, with several flights already canceled and Amtrak service suspended in places. ___ Associated Press Writers Christine Armario in Miami; Martha Waggoner, Emery Dalesio, Tom Foreman Jr. and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Tom Breen in Morehead City, N.C.; Bruce Smith in Jacksonville, N.C.; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C.; Mark Pratt in Boston; David Porter in Trenton, N.J.; Sara Kugler Frazier in New York; and Frank Eltman in Stony Brook, N.Y., contributed to this report.

OPPONENTS OF PROP23 IN CALIFORNIA FACE A DAUNTING NEW OPPONENT San Francisco, September 2 Late Thursday night, those who support progress on climate & energy policy received bad news that we expected, but did not want to believe would actually happen. The billionaire Koch brothers, one of clean energy's most effective national opponents and funders of the increasingly influential Tea Party, contributed their first $1 million in the fight to overturn California's climate and energy laws in this year's election. No doubt there is more to come. Reports on September 2nd also showed that Tesoro Oil Corp. contributed $1 million to bring the total that they, Valero Energy, and other out of state oil companies have given to win Proposition 23 to more than $8 million. That's more than most races for senate and governor in other states. An impressive coalition of public health, environmental, and clean tech leaders has spent the last few months fighting against Proposition 23 in California, the statewide ballot initiative that will overturn a slew of climate and energy policies -- from the state's cap on carbon pollution to its 33% renewable energy standard to building efficiency and low carbon fuel standards. The Clean Economy Network published a report in July, "Going Backwards", that combines with other studies to lay out the real threat to investments we have made and companies we have started. Unfortunately, we have now reached the point where everyone must get into this fight in a real way or the other side's tens of millions of dollars will convince Californians to vote for Prop23. This is not theory. Polling makes it absolutely clear that Californians are evenly divided on turning back progress for clean tech because of their anxieties about a continuing weak state economy. And the Koch's, as a New Yorker article two weeks ago made clear, are avowed and aggressive opponents of anything that threatens their oil refining empire. Brothers Charles and David Koch own virtually all of Koch Industries, a conglomerate whose annual revenues exceed a hundred billion dollars. They operate oil refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and control some four thousand miles of pipeline. Koch Industries also owns Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among other products. Forbes lists it as the second-largest private company in the country. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace has issued a report labeling the company as a "kingpin of climate science denial." From 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. So now, with 31 days until early voting starts on Prop23 in California and only 60 days until the election, talking needs to turn into action. That means if you live in the state, tell your friends and vote early. It also means raising the money to deliver our story to California's voters. After losing in the U.S. Senate this summer, climate & energy supporters can't afford to have the clock turned back in California. Those who think one state does not matter -- and who hold out hope that wavering Senators will find courage in a post-election "lame duck" session on energy -- do not understand that a loss in California will create momentum and political risk that none of these politicians will resist. So here's the proposition: Take a stand. Here. Now. We can say that our competitive spirit and innovation apply to public policy and politics in a way that moves things forward. We can tell the oil and coal companies that enough is finally enough. Because we have to. It's in the economy's interest. It's in our country's interest. And, yes, it's in our planet's interest. --- No on 23! Stop the Dirty Energy Proposition www.stopdirtyenergyprop.com The Success of California's AB32, the Bipartisan 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act www.cabrightspot.com

When Maddy Cerra caught sight of an endangered species photo at school, she insisted that orangutans like the one in the picture needed her help. The Diamond Valley Leader's Raelene Morey reports the Maddy, a four-year-old Australian native, is the region's youngest crusader for animal rights. Her mother, Danielle Cerra, says she explained the process of palm oil production and the resulting deforestation to her daughter. The burgeoning activist began to understand that this deforestation meant the destruction of orangutan habitats. Maddy now carries laminated photos of orangutans with her everywhere, spreading the word about the problems created by the unregulated harvesting palm oil. In doing so, the miniature advocate joins the larger movement headed by groups like the Australian Orangutan Project, a nonprofit organization that supports habitat conservation efforts.

Whether Dad is outdoorsy or needs a little prod, here are eco-friendly gifts to get him back to nature.

The fire Thursday at an oil platform off the Louisiana coast may not, in the end, do much harm to the Gulf of Mexico. But it could still mean trouble for both the Obama administration and the oil industry - by raising new questions about the gulf's oil fields.

A new documentary about the Baltimore Public School lunch system shows the possibilities.

Magnetic minerals in 15-million-year-old rocks appear to preserve a moment when the magnetic north pole was rapidly on its way to becoming the south pole, and vice versa.

  When you walk into a cafe on a hot day to buy a refreshing smoothie the last thing you want to see is a menu with foreign ingredients as optional add-ins. Spirulina, wheatgrass, lucuma, guarana, mesquite, maca root...where’s the translator when you need one? Don’t let these words send you running to the nearest vending machine for familiarity's sake - they’re really not that scary once you get to know them.  

In his SoHo salon, John Masters shows us what a good hair 'do really means.

Mariner Energy Inc. has dealt with a history of fires, injuries and safety violations, including on the platform that caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday. But such problems aren't unusual in an industry that sees hundreds of safety and environmental problems every year.

Winner from the Bravo show will have his meal prepared for future launch missions.

The uncharacteristically snowy weather that hit Northern Europe and North America in the winter of 2009 to 2010 was caused by a rare combination of two separate weather oscillations in the Atlantic and Pacific, claim meteorologists.

Sometimes, I ask myself that question and as I am braving the cold winter air, wind lashing me in the face during my morning run, I come up with absolutely nothing in the answer category. Except for, “Yeah, why am I doing this?” And on other days the exercise answers for me. What do I mean by that you, my dear blog readers, ask? A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Aspen, Colorado as a part of my job as a weekend nanny. Yes, yes, I know, I am lucky. It was my first time visiting Aspen and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on the exercise home front. Would I be able to brave the cold mountain weather? Would my lungs feel like they were caving in as a result of the increased altitude (uh-huh)? Well, I wasted no time finding out. On day one, I was shown the running stroller (to tote along one of the adorable children I babysit) and on the running shoes went. I started out with the intention of walking, but soon found myself running along the trails that surrounded the town. It was breathtaking and, while it’s not usually my style to stop during a run (something has to be bleeding or breaking), I couldn’t help but take pictures of the scenery with my phone (see above photo). The rest of my week was spent squeezing in walks and runs throughout Aspen while pushing my trusty partner, Charlie (good thing he loves to exercise!). I even had the opportunity one day to climb Smuggler Mountain (yes, mountain) while pushing the jogging stroller. I am not going to lie – it was hard. But when I got to the top, I couldn’t help but do a little bit of a victory dance (OK, I imagined myself doing one). I felt pretty darn good, and, of course, the encouragement from others along the trail – “You must be really strong!” and “That’s definitely a first!” – also gave me a huge “Yay, me!” boost. Of course, it’s not every day that I have a mountain to remind me of the reasons why I exercise. On normal days, like today, the positive reminders of why I put time in at the gym or endure an extra hot yoga class may be a little bit tougher to spot. But they are there. Whether it’s an extra pep in my step while I get ready in the morning or the sense of accomplishment I feel when I walk into work and know I have already done something for me that day . . . well . . . that’s why. Because I am my best "me" when I am taking care of my personal health. And that's just too good an offer to pass up.   I want to know: Why do you exercise?   ___________________________________________________________ Caroline Shannon has been a professional journalist for six years, working for several publications, including Redbook magazine, Ideal Bite, Entrepreneur.com, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and First30Days. She is a certified Pilates instructor and takes a long, hard run just as seriously as she does several scoops of Purely Decadent's Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl vegan ice cream. She can be reached at www.carolineshannon.com.

Welcome to LIME's Organic Living blog, where organic lifestyle expert Eliza Sarasohn - author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living - tackles your questions on the ins and outs of living la vida organica. This week, Sarasohn shares gardening inspiration. Gearing up to start an organic garden this spring? Great! Good gardens begin with good plans, and you’ll want to start your organic garden off right with careful planning. If you already have an established garden plot, your planning process will focus more along the lines of what you need to do with your soil and what you want to plant. If you’re starting from square one—no established garden—you’ll need to consider the following:       •   Your overall goal. What do you want to accomplish with your garden? Do you want to grow vegetables? Fruit? Both? Do you want to augment an already-existing landscape by adding to current beds or creating new ones?       •   The lay of the land. Garden areas should work in harmony with your yard (remember biodynamics?). If you haven’t already done so, now’s the time to make a sketch of your yard. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it doesn’t even have to be to scale, but it should show the location and relative size of existing elements, including property lines, fences, trees, shrubs, structures, pathways, etc.       •   Your yard’s ecosystem. Every yard has its own mini-environment—its own ecosystem—that will factor into how well things will grow in it. Spend some time observing what goes on in yours. Consider how the light moves across it, where the sunny spots and the shady spots are, how the wind moves through it, if there are wet spots and dry spots, etc. In an organically planned garden, you want to work with all of these elements, not against them. In other words, you’ll want to put them to work for you. Studying other yards that you like and which have elements similar to yours can be extremely helpful, especially when you’re first starting out. There’s always much to be learned by walking in the footsteps of those who have gone before you. Once you have a good idea of what you have and what you want to do with it, it’s time to decide what you want to grow. The amount of space you have to work with and your yard’s ecosystem will both play key roles in this process. Other factors to consider include:       •   What your family likes to eat. There’s no sense in growing veggies the kids simply won’t touch.       •   What’s easily available and affordable locally. Farmers’ markets and other local sources for organics are often heavy on the basics—tomatoes, onions, potatoes, beans, etc.—as supply and demand for these items are usually fairly steady and consistent. If they’re abundant in your area, you might want to focus on the less available choices.       •   What you can easily preserve/store. Putting up the bounty from gardens used to occupy people for weeks at a time at the ends of growing seasons. These days most people don’t have the time or the inclination, but there’s usually produce at the end of the summer to deal with. Did you know tomatoes can be frozen whole? Choose varieties that lend themselves well to this—paste tomatoes are the top choice, but any fleshy tomato will work—and you’ll have a quick and easy use for your end-of-season harvest. Many other veggies also lend themselves to the quick and easy approach.       •   What you can easily grow. If you’re new to vegetable gardening, stick to the basics—tomatoes, peppers (hot or mild), squash, beans, corn—they’re all good choices for novice gardeners.       •   What you can trade with others. Growing crops that complement what others have in their gardens is a great way to expand the selection of organics at hand.       •   Plants that fit your growing area. If you’re confined to containers, you’ll want to choose more compact varieties—even the smallest corn varieties need barrel-sized containers to do well. When you’ve figured out what you want to grow, sketch out your garden plot. Now’s the time to draw it to scale; doing so will make it easier to determine exactly where everything will go and if you have the space to grow everything you want.    Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living by Eliza Sarasohn and Sonia Weiss

It may seem like the dawn of a new era with the new decade, but it’s still flu season so it’s a good idea to stay on top of your cleaning and keep the germs at bay. One cleaning project that can make a real difference in whether or not you make it through the season without succumbing to the virus is to target your telephones. We talk, breathe and spit (yes, even you) on these gadgets all day long, yet when’s the last time you included them in your cleaning routine? Since our phones have such direct access to our respiratory systems and skin, you’ll definitely want to avoid using pesticide-laden antibacterial wipes or any cleaner that leaves a residue of toxins for you to breathe and absorb. Instead, try these green steps to a clean phone. 1. Unplug your phone so that you can clean it with a damp cloth without risking the phone. 2. Add a squirt of non-toxic dish soap to a small bowl of warm water. 3. Dip a clean cloth (an old t-shirt will do fine) in the sudsy water. Squeeze out excess water so you can avoid drips. 4. Wipe the base of the telephone and handset. Use cotton swabs to access tight dirty spaces such as crevices and between the buttons. 5. Run the cloth down the length of the cord to get rid of any dust or grime that has accumulated there. 6. To disinfect your phone, dampen a cloth with distilled white vinegar and wipe down the entire handset. Do the same with any headset or earpiece you use with your phone.  To disinfect your cell phone, dampen a cloth with distilled white vinegar. Squeeze out any excess. Wipe down the back, sides and keyboard or dial pad. Do not wipe down the screen with this cloth. For the screen, just use a dry microfiber cloth to avoid scratching it. Do this once a week for heavily used phones. Cleaning your phones without pesticides or other toxins is easy and you’ll be healthier for it. This way even if you did want to talk dirty on your phone, it isn’t because the phone’s covered in grime and germs!   Kimberly Delaney is the author of Clean Home, Green Home: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Eco-Friendly Homekeeping, published by the Knack imprint of Globe Pequot Press.  

Americans are under a lot of stress right now. Job losses, salary cuts and fear about the economic state of our nation are leaving no one untouched. As many of us are feeling overwhelmed and working harder than ever, we are making economic adjustments to our personal lives. What was once a "necessity" has now become a "luxury." The first things to go when we cut back are the “extras” like our gym memberships, personal trainers and the more expensive quality foods. 
 When we are stressed, instead of keeping up with the gym, many of us forego it because “there are so many other more important things to do.” As stress cuts into our time, we run out the door in the morning or arrive home late in the evening, turning to empty calories and processed foods that are quick and easy.  And as our minds race and we worry about what tomorrow will bring, nervous energy can increase our emotional eating. Now is not the time to abandon yourself! Sure money might be tight and fancy gym memberships and personal trainers might not be financially possible, but that doesn’t mean you quit working out all together! Working out is going to make you feel better — it is a guarantee. Getting out of your head with exercise will help you forget about life for a while. The most important outlet for stress is exercise. You don’t have to exercise every day or even an hour a day. Just 15 minutes will do. Finding time to exercise might mean waking up a little bit earlier. Or it might mean walking everywhere, riding your bike to and from work, or resigning to only take the stairs. If you no longer have a gym membership, use the outdoors as your gym. As the spring approaches, walk or go for a run and come back home to do some body resistance exercises for strength training such as lunges, squats and push-ups. For ideas on fitness trends that won’t break the bank, click here. Stressful times are when we need to put even more effort into taking care ourselves making sure to eat right. Keep up with fresh fruits and vegetables and wholesome meals. Try cooking on the weekends for the week ahead, ensuring healthy meals for the week. Avoid emotionally eating by keeping trigger foods out the house. Aim to eat three meals and two snacks a day, 3-5 hours apart, remembering to stay within the caloric intake that is ideal for your body. During these difficult times, seek comfort in family, friends, hobbies, exercise and other enjoyable activities, rather than in a pint of ice cream.  

If you're in the Los Angeles area (or you're willing to make the trip), we've got a special offer for you! Wipe the slate clean and welcome in the New Year with a revitalizing one-day yoga and wellness retreat at a private ranch in the stunning hills of Malibu. January 16th, join YogaWorks and Green Bliss Eco Spa for a soul-satisfying day of yoga with green yogi Sara Ivanhoe, Ayurvedic cuisine from chef Cristina Urioste of Rasa Foods, eco-luxurious spa treatments courtesy of Green Bliss Eco Spa, workshops, eco-fabulous goodie bags and much more! Regular cost is $450 but LIME.com readers will receive a special discounted price of $375. Indulge in the experience of a sleep-away spa retreat at a fraction of the cost—an amazing offer for today's brutal economy. Get all the retreat details here. Register here, and use the code lime10 when paying! AND AND AND... the deal gets even sweeter! ((Drumroll please...)) One lucky registrant will be chosen to win FREE admission to the retreat for a friend! Make the day extra special by spending it with a loved one.

You have to hand it to the New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. After raising awareness about trans fats, smoking and hidden calories, they are now taking aim at salt. The good news is that the food police aren't too worried if you happen to have a heavy hand with the salt shaker at your own table.  Instead, their targets are food companies that make processed foods and mass-marketed meals. According to them, those products are responsible for something like 80 percent of our collective salt intake. The foods high on the list include bread, cereal, soups, condiments and prepared foods. The plan, put forth by health department chief Dr. Thomas Friedman, calls for packaged food producers and restaurant chains — all of them in unison — to voluntarily scale back the salt content of their products by 25 percent during the next five years and another 25 percent in the five years after that. The idea is that Americans won't notice a gradual decline in salt use, as our tastebuds adapt to lesser and lesser amounts. If the companies refuse to comply, he has suggested the possibility of legislation. According to health experts, a high-salt diet worsens — or perhaps causes — high-blood pressure, which is linked to the nation's number one killer: Cardiovascular disease. In the past, Friedman's policies on smoking and trans fats start in New York, then serve as model for major cities across the United States. In this case, however, experts anticipate a tougher battle, because salt's effect on heart disease isn't as clear-cut as smoking or trans fats, according to an article in the New York Times. Personally, I'm always staggered by the salt content on the labels of some foods. It's eye-opening — and troubling — to realize that a can of otherwise healthy soup contains something like 70 percent of the day's recommended allowance.  The Times article mentioned that around the city's health department, the war on smoking, trans fats, and now salt are called "stealth health." I know a lot of people don't like the food police interfering with our diets. Personally, it doesn't bother me much. I'm more concerned about other things — like improving health care across the board.          

The other day as I was putting groceries away, I made an unpleasant discovery: there was no more room in our freezer. We have one of those drawer freezers in the bottom of our refrigerator, which is supposed to be more energy-efficient than a top freezer. The trouble is, the drawer is so deep that once I put something in it, it seems to sink to the bottom and I forget about it.   Looking at all of the packages of frozen vegetables, meats, leftovers and more, I made a decision: This month will be "Clean Out My Freezer" month. This doesn't mean emptying out the freezer and throwing away everything so I can start from scratch. No, I am challenging myself to take stock of my crowded freezer and try to incorporate the various packages of food into my meal planning each week. Along the way, I'll also try to clean out some of the stuff that has piled up in my fridge and pantry. Day one of this effort was actually a great success, and it wasn't even my doing: my husband found a package of leftover rice, which he made into a sort of stir-fried rice that used up a few frozen chicken thighs and some odds and ends of frozen vegetables (for some reason we seem to have more than our share of opened bags of frozen vegetables, each of which only have a cup or so left; not enough to use on their own for a side dish). He seasoned his stir-fry with soy sauce and the rest of a bottle of Asian marinade, and broke a couple of eggs into it for a little more bulk and protein. A few days later, we made chili, which is another terrific use of frozen odds and ends and leftover vegetables. Part of a red pepper and even a couple of chopped carrots went into our chili, as well as the rest of a bag of frozen corn, and a half-bag of meatless crumbles that were found in the bottom of the freezer. My biggest success came a few days later, and for once, I was almost thankful for our overstuffed freezer. With dinnertime fast approaching, I hadn't yet make it to the supermarket. I rummaged in the freezer and found two chicken breasts. Using the running-water defrost method they thawed as I assembled the rest of my meal. I ended up baking the last of the sweet potatoes from our CSA and mashing the flesh with a little honey and ginger, and steaming some frozen broccoli along with the remainder of red pepper, which I diced up and sprinkled over the broccoli. I drizzled the cooked broccoli with sesame oil and topped it with a handful of sesame seeds. As for the chicken, once it had thawed, I sautéed it along with some leeks leftover from a weekend egg dish my husband had made, and deglazed the pan with a splash of white wine from a bottle we'd opened last week. Rather than having a thrown-together feel, the meal was one I really enjoyed preparing, and both my husband and daughter raved over everything. And the freezer and fridge were just a little bit emptier for my efforts. And finally, while I was at a yoga class and my husband was on dinner duty, he found some frozen hot dogs and buns, and used that chili we'd made a few days ago to make chili dogs. We were glad to finish off a Costco-sized bag of frozen sweet potato fries to serve alongside of the dogs. The freezer is getting more manageable, my grocery bills are blessedly lower, and both my husband and I are really getting into the challenge and the creativity of creating meals from the ingredients we fish out from the depths of our freezer. Come to think of it, maybe we have the makings of a good new reality show for the Food Network? If you want to play along at home, here are my tips for taking this month to clear out your own freezer, fridge and pantry: Don't get overwhelmed. Take small steps by incorporating one or two leftover items into your meals each week. And don't force yourself to make an entire meal based on leftovers or what's in your freezer; instead, plan to use up leftovers with just one dish. If in doubt, throw it out. It can be hard to tell if frozen foods are still good. But after you thaw it (or even after you cook it), if it smells strange or tastes weird, trust your instincts and don't eat it. You don't want to risk food poisoning just for the sake of being frugal!  Disguise freezerburn. Meat, bread or vegetables that have freezerburn are still usually safe to eat; it just means that frost crystals have formed on the food and, in the case of meat, the surface may be dried out in patches. This is usually because the food wasn't wrapped tightly enough before freezing. Use meats or vegetables in stews, soups or some sort of sauce to return moisture to the food and to disguise a dried-out texture. And you might be able to freshen bread by putting it in a warm (250˚F) oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is soft. Combine odds and ends. If you have a bunch of half-used bags of frozen vegetables, like I have, use them to assemble a vegetable soup, or in a casserole or a stir-fry. Make smoothies. Leftover frozen fruit can be combined with yogurt to make a delicious breakfast smoothie. Frozen fruit is actually better than fresh fruit for making smoothies because it will make a thicker, creamier drink. What are some of your favorite meals to make from leftovers from your freezer? Image courtesy stevendepolo.

ENER1, Inc. has agreed to sell $55 million of senior unsecured notes, together with shares of common stock and warrants, to certain investment funds, led by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. In addition, the company also announced the sale of $10 million in senior convertible notes to strategic partner ITOCHU Corporation. This follows a $65 million investment from principal shareholder Ener1 Group in June of this year, and a $20 million investment from ITOCHU Corporation in December, 2009. The sale of the senior notes is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed on or before 8 September 2010. Ener1 will use these funds along with its grant from the United States Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for general operating expenditures and to help pursue its intended manufacturing plans to install 260 MW, or capacity for 11,000 electric vehicle battery packs, at its three Indianapolis facilities. The principal of the notes is payable in 10 equal quarterly installments with a coupon of 8.25 percent. The first such installment is due on January 2011. The notes provide Ener1 with the option of paying principal and interest entirely in cash or, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, in stock, or a combination of cash and stock. The company is required to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the resale of shares of common stock delivered in payment of principal and interest installments. JMP Securities LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent for the transaction.

The environmentally destructive coal mining practice, for years a target of shareowner activists, faces new regulatory restrictions and limited financing from major banks.

Waste Management purchased a majority stake in Garick this week. For Garick, the deal will give it the opportunity to expand geographically, giving it access to WM’s customers in even more markets. And while having a greater reach on WM’s coattails is a shot in the arm for Garick, the real winner could be the firm that now has majority ownership.

RWE, Linde and BASF report that tests in a pilot plant at RWE’s Niederaussem power station near Cologne of new chemical solvents for capturing carbon dioxide from flue gas reduce the required energy input by about 20%. (Earlier post.) The new solvents also feature clearly superior oxygen stability, which reduces solvent consumption significantly. The practical tests met all of the expectations we had after lab-testing the new solvent. This paves the way for scaling up the process to large power plants. —Dr. Andreas Northemann, Business Manager, Global Gas Treatment, BASF Intermediates division. The three companies started up the pilot plant in August 2009; it is part of the Coal Innovation Center of RWE Power. BASF is testing the newly developed carbon capture process based on improved solvents in the course of this cooperation announced in 2007. Linde was responsible for pilot plant engineering and construction. Now the partners are working on solutions for demonstration and large-scale power plants. First demonstration plants are scheduled to come on stream in 2015, and CO2 capture is expected to be used commercially in coal-fired power stations by 2020. This technology should allow more than 90% of the carbon dioxide contained in the waste gas of a power plant to be captured for subsequent sub-surface storage or for chemical transformation, for example to give fertilizers.

Burger King has become the latest company to stop buying palm oil from Sinar Mas, an embattled Indonesian company its critics accuse of deforestation.

Sparkseed is a social venture that supports other social ventures -- but does it work?

Salt Lake City’s Salt Palace Convention Center could be getting the largest rooftop solar facility in the United States. NexGen Energy and Bella Energy have been chosen to develop a solar installation on the roof of the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City. The team presented a plan [...]

PACE financing is a potentially revolutionary way to retrofit commercial, residential, and industrial properties with energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The program overcomes one of the largest hurdles to investment in clean energy -- the upfront cost. This post, the first of a three-part series, looks at how the fate of PACE programs could determine the future of the clean energy economy.

Eco Seed reports that oil giant Shell International Petroleum Company Limited and Brazilian sugarcane producer Cosan S.A. have sealed a $12 billion joint venture to produce and commercialize sugarcane-based ethanol and power. The partnership would make them one of the world’s largest ethanol producers, with an estimated annual production capacity of more than 2 [...]

Weekly podcast covering top cleantech and environmental news.

I'm not much of a web guy, but I'm terrifically impressed with Twitter these days. For one thing, after I posted a pretty critical take today on a book I'd just read, it was a new experience to have the author (Vinnie Mirchandani, "The New Polymath") pretty immediately reach out to me to ask why I felt that way.  That launched a good online dialog between the two of us.  We agreed that cross-disciplinary innovation is huge for cleantech in particular.  We agreed on the need for significantly more resources to be put behind it, and to be put into the sector in general.  We disagreed on the level of demonstrated effectiveness shown by IT entrepreneurs and investors crossing over into cleantech (at least so far)... In any case, I enjoyed "virtually meeting" Vinnie and appreciated that we had the opportunity to connect. And today Twitter also delivered to me this message, from Vinod Khosla: "Lomborg: $100b/yr needed to fight climate change. Wrong before & wrong again! Brute force won't work. Need R&D not huge $." Which I found very interesting.  Vinod is a smart observer and thought-leader in the sector.  The above message is illustrative of a line of thinking I've been seeing lately from several such very smart thinkers, which basically makes the argument that what's really needed is bold innovation.  That we need to be thinking very much "out of the box" and coming up with new technologies that will out-compete incumbent technologies, even with all the advantages incumbent technologies hold in the marketplace, and even with all of the market inertia to overcome.  As Vinod puts it, we "need R&D not huge $." And yet I've been looking over the available evidence and reaching an entirely opposite conclusion.  Making a significant impact on climate change, I think, is indeed going to need some huge dollars, and not on the R&D side of things. Certainly I believe we always need more innovation, and the appeal of doing more to promote disruptive technology development is obvious.  Yes to R&D spending! But it's not enough.   Let's look at the evidence: 1. There's a lot of innovation already out there.   At one point last year, Eric Wesoff of Greentech Media had counted up over 200 venture-backed solar startups.  Many, perhaps a majority, of these were backed by investors who believed they were potential breakthrough innovations.  Just focusing on solar for a second, let me ask one basic question:  At this point, is an additional solar R&D effort going to by itself significantly accelerate the pace of adoption of solar technology?  As one solar CEO put it to me last week, "it's not about innovation now, we're totally focused on manufacturing." Solar's an interesting example because it IS growing quickly.  But from a climate change perspective, it's not growing nearly quickly enough, its impact remains miniscule as a portion of the overall global power generation mix.  And that industry growth that we've seen has been largely NOT from breakthrough innovations at the panel level -- in fact, it remains a challenge for second generation thin film players to gain acceptance from a market that prefers to go it safe with tried-and-true poly-si panels. Not to mention the fact that the rapid growth of the solar industry has been predominantly a result of the significant incentives being provided by various governments' policies.  Significant incentives, which basically means "huge $"... Essentially, an investment being made by these governments to help the industry scale up and drive down the cost curve.  I'll return to that point later. 2. In many areas of cleantech, markets have been highly resistant to adopting new technologies even when they make compelling economic sense. Whether it's efficient lighting, or residential energy efficiency retrofits, or lower-cost solar panels, or recycled materials, or alternative fuels, there's a long history in cleantech of compelling value propositions failing to achieve the market potential that would be expected by looking just at supply and demand curves. In many cases, it's just the customer's lack of adequate information about the available options.  They don't want to purchase the new product, even if it promises compelling paybacks, because they haven't tried it and haven't seen others try it before, and they can't guarantee it will work as promised.  Or maybe it's just basic lack of awareness.  Or simply the confusing morass of competing and obfuscatory claims made in many of these marketplaces by all the vendors pitching their product or system as the very best one to get.   In many other cases, it's a structural issue that makes it difficult for even "winning technologies" to make strong headway in the market.  For example: Anyone attempting to sell energy efficient products into the office building market quickly learns that the owner-tenant relationship is a huge complication that means even compelling cost savings don't necessarily translate into compelling payback periods for the purchaser.  Another example is the slow utility adoption cycle driven by multi-year public utility commission rate case cycles.   Or it might be that the customer would find a 4-year payback period attractive but they don't have the capital budget to support making any investment with more than a 2-year payback period.  And regulatory incentive programs often push people into sub-optimal purchasing decisions (investment tax credits and cost-based rebates, for example, reduce the delta between an older more expensive solar panel and cheaper, newer options).  And project or equipment financing lenders often require going with very proven technologies, not new entrants. In other words, just having a superior innovation doesn't guarantee market success in cleantech markets.  And in fact, the more disruptive the innovation, the more the market will be reticent to adopt it quickly. 3.  Incumbent commodity prices are low... and can go lower if necessary. Even when -- as appears to be happening now -- new solar technologies become cost-competitive, all things being equal, with current grid provided electricity prices, coal-fired power generation remains much more heavily subsidized in aggregate than any subsidies the adopters of solar are getting.  Ditto in vehicle fuels.  Not only does this mean that nascent clean technologies would have to be INCREDIBLY low-cost in order to provide compelling differentiation versus the status quo... it also means that those incumbent fuels have a lot of margin they could sacrifice to compete at even lower prices versus any new offering.   I see startups all the time in the fuels space who make the argument that "we're cost-competitive with oil at $x per barrel market price, and everyone expects oil prices to remain up at $y per barrel for some time to come."  Which is fair enough.  But to truly make an impact on climate change will require such alternative fuels to achieve a strong enough market penetration rate that they start affecting market pricing, they're not just price-takers anymore.  And as the chart in this column shows, major oil production areas have a lot of room between current market prices and current production costs.  Not to say we won't see costs increase as the lower-cost resources get tapped out.  But alleviating supply challenges by introducing significant new supplies of alternatives would also likely somewhat mitigate those effects.  In the long run, fossil fuel prices must rise, unless demand for them goes down significantly.  But of course, "in the long run we are all dead." An appropriate price for carbon, of course, would address this point well.  But the other two points would still stand.   So what exactly is being talked about when a luminary like a Vinod or a Bill Gates declares that what's needed first and foremost is truly disruptive additional innovation, as a higher priority than putting significant resources into other activities?  I suppose the hope is that we can uncover something so TRULY disruptive that it sells itself.  That, even in the face of all of the above obstacles, the customer value proposition is so stupendously compelling that everything kind of sorts itself out.  That would be wonderful. But it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.  I would be quite pleased to be wrong about this, but from what I've seen the cleantech R&D deus ex machina is largely a myth. If I've learned anything from investing in this sector for the past six years, and having worked with large companies on these issues well before that, it's that even "no-brainer" innovations and customer value propositions are still hard sells into these markets.  The obstacles I describe above create so much market inertia that I've seen it feel like pulling teeth to get some customers to agree to buy things that provide 1 year paybacks and less.  And the ever-increasing number of technology options, thanks in part to so much increased R&D in the sector over the past decade, only further slows down market adoption as customers have even more trouble figuring out their choices, and become even more wary of purchasing a 20-year product only to discover it's obsolete in a year. So let's go back to that solar market.  What has that taught us?  That if you provide the money to drive implementation, people will indeed implement.   There are deep, deep needs for capital elsewhere in cleantech than just in the R&D lab.  So-called "first projects", the first production facilities for a new product, are infamously difficult to finance.  Elsewhere, customers may balk at a 3-year payback period but would gladly take on the cost-saving product if it was offered as a lease (thus saving money from day one), but that requires the vendor to provide the financing.  Services -- the businesses that would actually be doing the installation of the hoped-for disruptive innovations -- remain very difficult to raise capital for. And because of these gaps... because of the challenges in the marketplace... no matter how compelling an innovation you can create, it will have very little real-world impact without additional impetus on the implementation side of things.   It can be government-provided demand creation via subsidies for installations.  It can be additional project financing for clean energy and energy efficiency, in a format that perhaps we haven't seen yet.  Or it can even be venture capital financing into the innovating companies at very expensive prices, with such corporate equity being then directed into implementation activities (cleantech VCs tried that; it hasn't worked out so well so far).   I understand the PR and political calculus:  Saying governments need to spend a hundred billion dollars per year on anything, no matter how important, is politically unpalatable right now.  So there's a need to provide an alternative.  And if that alternative ends up being more directly supportive of the advocate's day job, well, so much the better. But sooner or later it comes down to this:  Especially in the absence of an appropriate pricing for carbon, in order for cleantech to make a significant impact on climate change, we will need to see significantly more dollars being put into implementation than into R&D (and in fact, we already are).  At very least it would be good to put significant implementation dollars into the existing technology innovations we already have that would make compelling economic sense at scale.  "Brute force" or not, implementation is just as critical as innovation, and takes significantly more capital to do.  It just doesn't fit very well with venture capital as currently structured.  Which, perhaps, is why some VCs in the sector make a point of putting R&D on a pedestal.  Tech development is what VCs do.  Implementation, generally speaking, isn't.     It's worth re-emphasizing that I'm definitely in favor of more resources devoted to innovation, and that I'm constantly energized by the entrepreneurs and inventors I meet who are striving hard to make "crazy dreams" become a reality.  The above thoughts are intended to drive pragmatic attempts at disruption, not an abandonment of big thinking.  The need for big, massive change is why I chose this area we now call "cleantech" as my career way back when.  I'm excited whenever I see thought leaders like Bill Gates and Vinod and others turn their attentions to these really big problems and conclude that something really big can be done.  But it has to be done right, or it won't be done at all.  I just think it's a mistake to take a faith in the power of innovation so far as to imply that implementation will take care of itself.  I suspect there are very few people making such statements who would truly profess, if pressed, that energy and water are markets where "Build It And They Will Come" holds true. But hey, comments and flames welcomed at @cleantechvc! After all, Twitter is proof that SOME big market shifts really can happen pretty quickly... 

09/02/2010 - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to issue its inaugural Clean Energy Bond to support its clean energy projects in Asia and the Pacific...

Tom Konrad CFA Many investors find the prospect of selecting individual stocks simply too daunting.  For those investors interested in investing in peak oil, but uncomfortable with the risks and moral dilemmas inherent in oil company stocks, there is another option: Powershares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio (PTRP).  I've been researching and writing this series about investments that will benefit from peak oil for half a year.  If you've read the 20+ articles in the series so far, you've learned about several stocks that should be well positioned to benefit from rising oil prices, and you should also have a good idea about which sectors are best to avoid. On the other hand, if you are just coming across my writing now, you're about to learn about a single investment that should not only benefit from peak oil, but it will give you diversification at a fairly moderate cost. The Powershares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio (PTRP) is an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that invests in companies that "the Index provider believes stand to benefit substantially from a societal transition toward using cleaner, less costly and more efficient means of transportation.  These companies focus on technologies for utilization of greener, more-efficient sources of energy for transportation. These technologies are designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce the costs for fuel or time in transit and include renewable energy harvesting or production, energy conversion, energy storage, improvements in energy efficiency, power delivery, energy conservation and monitoring of energy information."  In short, the ETF is a collection of many of the same stocks I've been writing about in this series. Why Use an ETF? There are several benefits to using an ETF.  One of the most commonly cited is diversification: a single investment gives you a small slice of forty different companies.  My reading leads me to believe that this is more diversification than you are likely to need, given the fact that the ETF itself will only be a fraction of your portfolio.  (I discuss optimal diversification in detail here.)   I was recently speaking to an investment advisor who made the case for diversification this way: if any individual stock is only 1% of your portfolio, if one of them fails, you will only lose 1% of your portfolio value.   What he was not thinking about was the fact that, the more companies you own, the more likely you are to own a company that goes bust.  For instance, even many "socially responsible" mutual funds had relatively large stakes in BP.   Second, with today's low brokerage commissions, most investors will pay more to own even relatively low-cost ETFs than they will to own stocks.  If a fund's expense ratio is the price you pay to avoid large blow ups, PTRP's 0.75% annual expense ratio, is the same as having one out of 133 stocks in your portfolio guaranteed to fail every year, in addition to any real company failures. On the plus side, global exchange traded funds like the Powershares Global Progressive Transport Portfolio allow access to foreign-listed companies that many investors might find difficult or expensive to buy.  My analysis of PTRP's holdings found that over 60% of the fund's portfolio does not trade on US markets. Sector Allocation Another aspect of an ETF like PTRP is that its holdings are based on an equal-weighted global index of stocks.  That means that if there are not very many publicly traded stocks in a specific sector, the index will give a low weight to the sector, and if there are a great number of publicly traded stocks, the exposure to the sector will be high.  I prefer to weight sectors that have a low degree of investor interest much more heavily than those that have drawn a lot of investor attention.  As I've discussed in this series, my favorite progressive transportation stock are alternative forms of transportation such as bike stocks, mass transit stocks (especially bus stocks such as New Flyer Industries (NFI-UN.TO), a long-time favorite), in addition to IT-based Smart Transportation.  Below is the sector breakdown of the holdings of PTRP from early August.  For companies such as FirstGroup PLC (FGP.L) which have both rail and bus operations, I split the fund's stock holdings between the relevant sectors. For my own portfolio, I would like to see a much higher allocation to buses, a higher allocation to bikes and mopeds, and a lower allocation to natural gas vehicles.  The sizable allocations to "Other Alt-energy" and "Non-green" are the inevitable result of the fact that many companies have operations both inside and outside the transportation sector. Stock Discoveries Despite my quibbles about PTRP's sector allocation, combing through its portfolio holdings is almost always a useful exercise.  In this case, I found another bicycle stock that I had missed in my previous list of bike stocks, Merida Industry Co (9914.TW), a Taiwanese bicycle maker, as well as London-listed bus manufacturer Stagecoach Group (SGC.L), both of which I've added to my list of companies I plan to research further, given that they are in my favorite progressive transport sectors. Conclusion While not without its faults, The Powershares Progressive Transport Portfolio (PTRP) is a good option for investors looking for a one-stop shop of non-oil related stocks that are better prepared to cope with rising oil prices than the vast majority of the companies that comprise our transportation system.  If you want to invest in the sector, but you do not have much time to devote to stock picking and the complications of purchasing foreign-listed stocks, PTRP is a good choice for you. DISCLOSURE: Long New Flyer Industries DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Full Circle has some exciting household products which use green materials and combine them with modern industrial design to create both functional and sustainable items for consumers. I've tried a number of dish brushes over the years and many of them I don't like either because of the design or the materials used.  Often these products are made entirely from plastic and are designed to be disposable.  That isn't very green. Along comes the Laid Back brush from Full Circle.  The first thing I noticed was the design and ergonomics of the wooden handle.  The angle is ideal for cleaning dishes.  The handle is made out of bamboo which has been triple coated using vegetable-based oils to protect it from water.  The interesting thing about the Laid Back brush is the part with the bristles is designed to be removable allowing consumers to replace the bristle head after it wears.  This makes the brush different from many others on the market in that it isn't designed to be disposable. The removable head is made from the plant-based plastic Bonterra and the bristles are also plant-based.  So when the bristles wear you remove and replace the head, not the whole brush.. Full Circle also makes a number of other products which like the Laid Back brush combine elements of modern design with green components. One of their other products i'm particularly fond of is the stick 'em magnet kitchen towel.  This super absorbent towel is made from bamboo and organic cotton and has a magnet inside so it sticks to a refrigerator or other metal surface. Full Circle's products are available online at retailers like GreenFeet and others even Amazon.    

Explore Edutopia's environmentally conscious teaching tools. Search for lesson plans, Web sites, and educational resources by topic, grade level, cost, or location, or add your resource to their Go Green database....

WSAC On Your Side reports that the City of Columbia kicked off its “Southern Fried Fuel” environmental initiative Monday, in which used cooking oil will be recycled into biodiesel fuel that will power a city garbage truck. Co Owner Joe Renwick says that any diesel engine can use biodiesel without needing any modifications. Once [...]

Pilot project will harvest electricity from regenerative braking systems on trains and trolleys.

Now that energy efficiency is all the rage in cleantech venture circles (note to cleantech VCs: don't pitch LPs on your firm being "differentiated" because you target capital efficient businesses...), investors have been particularly attracted to the energy efficiency plays that appear to be at the intersection of energy efficiency and information technology.  The hope being that these investments would scale like an IT play, but be accessing the large market opportunity in energy efficiency. The majority of such investments I get approached on, however, are simply information gathering and presentation tools.  A dashboard, either for the home or for a larger building, showing the user how much energy is being used and at what cost.  The idea being that the user, armed with the information, will better manage their energy use and generate savings that pay for the information tool and then some. There's plenty of evidence that this does work.  I've talked with everyone from homeowners to big real estate managers who have used such systems and recommend them to their peers.  There's some body of studies which show that such information does result in real energy savings, on average.  But not much.  O-Power, for example, talks about 3.5% savings.  Not knocking that -- aggregated, that adds up to a nice amount of saved energy.   But the problem for investors is that each customer is only willing to spend a very little amount to get those meager savings.  Aggregated, it might be a big deal.  But for each individual customer, even for large buildings, it's just not that much.  Alex Taussig has a nice recent post which includes some useful stats on typical office buildings, where he calculates that a 15,000 square foot US office building would on average spend around $30k per year on electricity.  That's a pretty small building, even if it's "typical", so let's look at the per square foot average electricity spend as around $1/yr.  So for a 20 story, 400k sqft downtown office building you're looking at around $400k per year in electricity spending.  Applying that O-Power metric of 3.5% savings means an annual savings of only $14k.  For a very large building -- that same building would consume about the same electricity as over 500 homes. And how much of that $14k can an information services provider capture from that customer?  Probably well less than half.  So the vendor has to put a lot of sales effort into winning a very large building over to their information service, all to get less than $10,000 per year in revenue.  Not to mention the fact that the most likely customers to be interested in a service like this are also the ones most likely to already be running an efficient building, so the potential savings are probably less for the otherwise early adopters.  And don't forget there's a very sizable portion of the market that just won't care, either because they have tenants who pay the energy bills, or because they simply can't be bothered.  Alex preaches in his post that the vendor must bring their costs down in order to make their margins at that level.  But even if the margins as a percentage of sales are nice, how difficult will it be to add them up to something attractive in the aggregate? Don't get me wrong, that commercial building energy information service (CBEIS) can be a very good business to own, and a useful tool for the building owner.  But from the venture investor's perspective, it's going to take a long time to scale up a business like that to something that would generate compelling returns, if that's the only service and customer benefit the system offers.  Plus, how defensible will it be when other companies increasingly offer the same thing?  I talked to one customer who's thinking about dropping one of these CBEIS vendors in favor of a pretty similar interface his utility is now offering for free... For these reasons I increasingly think about building energy information as being an unimpressive investment opportunity by itself.  But I also think of it as being a critical enabler for significant additional services and products that can be then offered to the building owner, made possible thanks to the availability of the information.  I'm not that interested (as an investor, at least) in one of the cool-looking "home energy displays" that are being offered out there.  But if it was a loss leader to pull people into a social networking/ online shopping play based around communities of energy-conscious consumers, that might be potentially interesting.  And I bet Comverge and EnerNOC would be very interested in a residential energy information company that offered such a display but ALSO cost-effectively enabled the homeowner to participate more easily and effectively in a demand response program, via integrated controls and an easy integration into as many enabled devices as possible inside the home.  And turning the information into action is really the key.  Automation is what will drive savings in these fragmented building energy efficiency markets.  And it's also what's going to make new energy efficient equipment be more attractive to customers, because automation will be what allows the customer to take full advantage of the efficiency-generating features of the new equipment.  A challenge for new types of equipment is that customers aren't used to doing the new activities they can do with it, but that are what drive the efficiency gains.  Automation solves that.  A great example is news that came out today about Digital Lumens, one of our portfolio companies.  They released a story about one of the initial customers for their intelligent lighting systems that has saved 87% on their lighting bill as a result.  About 1.7M kWh per year, or enough to power 200 homes.  Some of that savings is because LEDs are an efficient lighting source in general.  But a large part of the savings results from DL's automated controls system that makes sure the lights are being used only when and where needed, taking full advantage of the unique features of LED lighting.  DL's CEO Tom Pincince wrote up a nice column about it, check it out.   Obviously that's a specific story I'm more than happy to share.  But I hope it serves as a good illustration of my bigger point.  If all Digital Lumens was doing was gathering information about lighting and sharing that information with the building owner, would these savings result?  No.  But with the embedded intelligence and automation included in the system, such information allows the building owner to set up the settings for the system and drive some really serious savings.   THAT'S an energy efficiency story that's scalable.  So for energy efficiency entrepreneurs, the lesson is this:  Don't just show your customers what their energy situation is.  And don't just show them what they could do to improve their energy situation.  Actually do it for them, in as automated and low-cost a way as possible.  Yes, that's incredibly more difficult to pull off.  But that's what it will take to start having some dramatic market impact.