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Jan 28
The boys went to B's swimming lesson today so I decided to do the grocery shopping to get it out of the way so Joe didn't have to go and do it tomorrow. I brought my grocery bags with me but I completely forgot my produce bags at home. I realized it as I picked up Joe's oranges. So instead of using a plastic produce bag I just put the fruit into my cart. You should have seen the looks I got. It was like I was putting babies and poisonous snakes in my cart (which I wasn't because everyone knows you can't get either of those at a legit grocery store). I did have to use some plastic bags for some things I bought, like the bulk popcorn kernels. Because those I can't just dump in the cart and I think the cashier would have been pissed if I just pulled handfuls out of my pockets for her to weigh (plus who wants to pay extra for the pocket lint that would have been mixed in with the popcorn).

I was on the hunt for brown paper bags so we can make popcorn in the microwave without all the chemicals in microwave popcorn bags. I had no idea what aisle they were in so I went up and down all of them. You know what....the cleaning aisle really fucking stinks. I mean seriously how does anyone walk down that aisle and A. not pass out from the fumes, B. not get a perma migraine and C. pick anything up off the shelf?  It is sensory overload with all the fragrances messing together. If it is that strong of a smell when the bottle is unopened imagine when it is opened. Note to self - never go into the aisle again because I feel like I lost 5 brain cells doing it today.

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Jan 27
Renmatix Super Converter
What is the future of BioFuels?

From algae to switchgrass and wood waste to sewer grease, many advances in next generation biofuels are being made today. But what is realistic and how do you cut through the hope and hype to get at viable solutions?

The US military is one of the largest investors in advanced biofuels development and is in a position to make the market ripe for commercialization on a massive scale. Can it do for biofuels what it did for GPS and the Internet?

I'll be moderating an informative and lively dialogue with industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors on the current state and future potential of this emerging growth sector.

Featuring:
Mike Hamilton, CEO, Renmatix, Inc.
Sam Gabbita, Partner, Element Partners
Steve McCracken, Director of Strategic Marketing & Sales, AMERIgreen Energy

A Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology & Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic event, it takes place Thursday, February 16, 2012, at the offices of Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia.

You can register today at: The Future of Biofuels


(Full disclosure: I am a co-founder and board member of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, a business network for cleantech entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers.)


Jan 26
This is just so perfect. On the way home I was thinking about Wordless Wednesday and hoping I could catch Joe in this situation. A perfect follow-up to our discussion on Monday. As Joe was cleaning up the kitchen the exact situation I was thinking about played out. This is what happens in our house. The water is running on full (and hot) and he is no where near the sink. In fact he is unloading the dishwasher which requires 0 water.


Jan 23
Speed Bumps
icon1 Go Green | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 23rd, 2012| icon3Comments »
Sometimes on our green journey we encounter speed bumps. Little things that slow us down or even take us on a completely different path. We aren't perfect and that sometimes means that we have to chose something that is not as green as we would like or heck not green at all. I try to not let it bother me when this happens but it is hard to not be a bit disappointed. 


Speed Bump #1 - Food
I love me some food. And Joe loves meat. We (okay I) try to make sustainable choices for us but its hard yo. Organic and local is easy compared to non-GMO, no HFCS, No Nestle, and Fuck Monsanto. How does we even know what is GMO and what isn't? How do we know if Monsanto is linked to our food? HFCS is in everything and all the delicious stuff. No Nestle has been easy for me as long as I read all the labels closely. Joe on the other hand is not on board with it...because he loves Smarties.

Solutions to Reduce our Impact
* We buy local and organic as often as possible. 
* We don't eat meat every night.
* We have a garden.
* We buy brands that we have investigated to ensure they are legit (as far as we can tell).
* HFCS, non-GMO and Fuck Monsanto are work in progress for me. Solutions are welcome.

Speed Bump #2 - Hair Care
I have had zero success with green hair products and I am terrified to try no-poo because I know I would have greasy hair for like 2 weeks. So I continue to use semi-green hair care products and some not so green. ::hangs chemical laden hair in shame::

Solutions to Reduce our Impact
* I found a recipe to make my own hairspray
* I will keep looking for shampoo/conditioner options for myself and Joe

Speed Bump #3 - Diapers and Wipes
We tried cloth diapering and it just did not work for us or for B. There were so many factors at play but it came down to the fact that B broke out in a horrible rash from them. It may have been the diapers from the service we were using but regardless it meant we switched to disposables. We planned on switching back when he hit 6 months (and was going through less diapers each day) but our daycare provider wouldn't do cloth so we had to stick with disposable. 

Solutions to Reduce our Impact
* We looked a lots of options for diapers and settled on Nature BabyCare based on what their diapers are made from (plus they work awesome)
* We use Nature BabyCare again because of what they are made from but recently tried out Jackson Reece wipes and OMG they rocked our socks off. They worked so good we only had to use half the amount we normally used to, they are made from natural ingredients AND they break down in your composter.

Speed Bump #4 - Water Usage (not mine)
Joe uses a lot of water sometimes...pretty much the entire time he is in the washroom or the kitchen the water is running. I don't know why he does it, I don't think he knows why he does it. I have come to the conclusion that there is no changing this and thus it is not worth my energy to try and fight it. DISCLAIMER - I reserve the right to turn the water off when I walk by.

What are your Speed Bumps? Do they keep you up at night or are you all cool with them?

Check out other blogs and what their speed bumps are as part of Change the World Wednesday.

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Jan 23
Hackers hacking at Cleanweb Hackathon, NYC.
What if you put a bunch of developers in the room, gave them access to datasets and APIs and set them loose on the planet's resource problems over a weekend?

Well, the folks behind Cleanweb Hackathon did just that on Saturday and Sunday in New York City.

The result may just be the start of a revolution in cleanweb solutions. The cleanweb, as defined by the hackathon's organizers, uses information technology, the Internet, and social media to address the issues of energy, transportation, and smart grid.

"Information technology is the most powerful lever we have to address resource constraints," as Sunil Paul of Spring Ventures told the audience at NYU's Tisch Center of the Arts before Sunday's project presentations.

Some of the intriguing projects from this weekend include TripWatchers, which founder Ryan Rzepecki calls the "Weight Watchers for vehicle owners," allows drivers to log their routes, track vehicle-related expenses and receive suggestions for how to reduce the impact of their travel such as potential car pooling and public transportation alternatives.

The audience choice award and best overall hack went to Econofy "E-Star," a web-based rating system of consumer products that allows for visual comparison shopping around energy efficiency.

Another cool hack was NYC BLDG, which tracks the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of city buildings in real-time and puts them into competition.
Hackers will hack for food.

And building on the "Occupy Rooftops" theme of its community solar day back in November, SolarMosaic created Mosaic Map, a web app that maps solar projects socially and in real-time. The idea is to allow project developers to find financing and generate leads for financiers such as, well, SolarMosaic.

The original Cleanweb Hackathon was held last September in San Francisco and another is planned for later  this year. There's even a Bay Area-based business incubator for the cleanweb called Greenstart.

Dave Graham, founder of Greenstart, said "If Y Combinator had a love child with IDEO at the intersection of energy and IT, it would be Greenstart." Greenstart has invested in nine companies so far, putting them through a 12-week intensive program. Graham noted there is a March 5th deadline for the next round of applicants.

I've long argued for more focus on the killer apps that will make a difference today in the cleantech and energy space. Cleanweb drives us closer to a more capital and energy efficient model. Events like this one may be the start of a cleanweb revolution.


Jan 22
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Tekon, Environmentally friendly water based cleaner/polisher

Tekon has developed the first lifetime clean glass coating process for architectural applications and is specified by leading architects for major projects, exclusively.

Tekon advanced technology opens a new chapter in the maintenance cost, visibility, appearances and life of architectural glass products.

Protective treatment, Tekon , is applied to new or installed glass. This chemical process links oxygen with carbon in the porous surface, blocking hydrolysis, making it super hydrophobic and repellant. Water beads up and runs off like quicksilver.

Tekon consists of multiple co-polymers that prevent hard water, soap and other stains from adhering to the surface. Dirt rinses away leaving the glass sparkling clear and streak-less. Cleaning is far less frequent and much easier, without “harsh cleaners” of any kind.


Under a microscope, new glass is seen to be very rough and porous. Contaminates, oil, hard water deposits, finger prints, even dust cling to the surface. Water spotting can become permanently part of the glass.


Tekon transforms glass at the molecular level creating a highly hydrophobic smoother surface that is slick, impervious to moisture, thereby blocking corrosion and permanent spots.

TEKON bonds and seals to almost all hard surfaces such as:

GLASS
FIBERGLASS
PLASTICS
GRANITE
MARBLE
STONE
PORCELAIN
CERAMIC
VINYL
ALUMINUM
CHROME
STAINLESS STEEL

Tekon products come in a variety of home kits: the Bath Kit, Countertop Kit, Stone Care Kit and Stainless Steel Kit.  They can be used on sliding glass doors, shower doors, kitchen counters, sinks and floors.

The product has been on the market for a while but there is no reason why it cannot be brought to your attention now. Especially if you can get rid of the harsh chemicals in your home when using Tekon.

Tekon …. as the green future unfolds.

Jan 21
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of MatchBook for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. Everyone knows, collage education is expensive these days. So,if you’re paying for college or know somebody who is, you know what I’m talking about. Paying tuition is just part of the financial strain, that forces many [...]
Jan 20
This morning I sat down with Charles Payne on FOX Business's Varney & Co to talk tar sands, the Keystone XL pipeline, and environmental victories.

My opinions shouldn't surprise you if you're a regular reader of The Green Skeptic.

Here's the video:

Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxbusiness.com">video.foxbusiness.com</a>

And here is a link in the event that your browser doesn't accept the format:

The Green Skeptic on FOX Business



Jan 20
I am frickin tired. And not just end of week kind of tired...this is the kind of exhaustion that comes from running in heels. Taking stairs 2 a time...in heels. Commuters don't seem to wear running shoes to/from work like the ladies in Toronto do. 

 That's right ladies....it's on.

I'm still in London this week and each day I take the train to work. Usually I get my ticket on time and am standing there waiting a few minutes before they announce which track the train is on. But some days...like today I leave my hotel room 2 minutes later than normal and I am hauling ass through the station to get to the train on time. 

It is the trip back to the hotel that wears me out. My shuttle leaves 10 minutes before the train arrives. Everyone else in the shuttle is somewhat calm but not me. Nope on the inside I am always screaming OMG MAKE THE LIGHT. Or WHY ARE YOU STOPPING FOR THAT BUS. I'm pretty sure I have the door to the van open before we even stop and then I (and everyone else on my train) sprint into the station. Of course our train is not right beside the station...we have to climb stairs and run across a bridge over the tracks and then down more stairs. Again...3 of the 5 days I have been in heels while doing this.

I have a whole new respect for anyone who takes public transit to work. My brother has been riding the Go Train (Toronto commuter train) for a decade and he is now a God in my books. How does he handle this kind of stress??? I don't want to say it because this is counter to my crunchy ways but it is way less stressful sitting in a car in traffic. I wonder if that is why so many people do not take public transit? If the stress of catching the train or the bus or the tube (hahaha already picking up the lingo) is just too much to do every day. Some days I have to stop what I am doing and quickly pack up so I can catch the shuttle to get the train. Sure I could wait for the next shuttle and next train but that one isn't express and for some unknown reason that pushes me to get out the door in a mad rush to get the express.

Now having said all of this I do enjoy the little commuter community that I have seen going on. I see the same people on the train each day and we do nod to each other or roll our eyes if we are running late. And people have been super kind in helping me out if I have that 'where the fuck am I going' look on my face. 

If there was better public transit at home I would consider taking it to work. I would just wear something other than heels for the journey (and I would always have wine in the fridge because lets be serious...wine cures all).

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Jan 20
“Who Cares About This Planet?” – Challenge Back on November 1, 2011, I wrote this post entitled “Who Cares About This Planet?” -Challenge.  The challenge was announced by Planet People, inviting you to enter your own environmentally friendly and innovative projects or ideas, that could make an impact your community, and show Who Cares About [...]
Jan 18
Stop SOPA/PIPA
icon1 Linda | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 18th, 2012| icon3Comments »
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The Online Piracy Act (SOPA)/The Protect IP Act (PIPA)

I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to vote “no” on cloture for S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, on Jan. 24th. The PROTECT IP Act is dangerous, ineffective, and short-sighted. It does not deserve floor consideration. I urged my representative to vote “no” on SOPA, the corresponding House bill.

Over coming days you’ll be hearing from the many businesses, advocacy organizations, and ordinary Americans who oppose this legislation because of the myriad ways in which it will stifle free speech and innovation.

Please view the video and make your decision. Your blog and/or website depends on it.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Jan 18
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For more information, go to Google


Jan 17
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The Greenest Energy is the Energy That We Do Not Use

It seems like everyone is complaining about the size of their monthly electric bill, from companies to homeowners to renters. But how many people actually have an idea how they accrued their kWh (kilowatt hours), and even more importantly, what they can do about lowering them?

The solution is getting insight and control over our plug loads – the amount of energy consumed by our plugged-in devices. In the United States an estimated $10 billion (100 billion kWh) per year is wasted on appliances that are left on, or that are left plugged in, all the while consuming energy. Standby power consumption single handedly contributes to 10% of residential use nationally, and more than half of all the energy used in buildings is outside of office hours, which tells you that our systems and habits are simply not efficient.

In 2007 Plugwise launched their first smart-plug in The Netherlands, and buildings and houses using the devices were quickly seeing plug loads drop by up to 50%. Although widely used and praised throughout Europe, Plugwise products have not been available to Americans until now, via their California distributor kWh Power.(http://www.kwhpower.com)

“We don’t realize what it costs to leave devices plugged in. From phone chargers to home entertainment and lighting systems – even when you are not using them they are consuming energy. People are basically burning money without realizing it,” says Derek Fehmers of kWh Power.

Plugwise products help consumers and businesses save money by using a simple interface accessible via smart phone or browser that shows how much energy appliances are using and what this costs per hour. The user plugs their device into a Plugwise smart-plug, and a wireless system relays all information to the software. The software then allows users to program the plugs to turn off automatically when in standby-mode, or on set schedules. The plugs will be available at major retailers and can be purchased on the kWh Power website at a cost of $50 per unit, yielding a return on investment of 4-8 months.

In the next couple of months new products will be released that work together with the smart-plugs, including motion detectors that can trigger plugs and lights to turn on or off, wall switches that wirelessly communicate with the plugs, as well as temperature and humidity sensors that can trigger A/C and space heater units based on occupancy and presence in a room.

All of you that have solar panels installed for your home. The combination of generating your own power, knowing the amount of energy you are producing, and seeing how that energy gets distributed amongst the appliances in key to understanding your system. Plugwise has the unique ability to measure in-and-output, so it will tell you what your plugs are using in terms of energy, but also what is coming in if you are generating your own power.

Plugwise …. as the green future unfolds.

Jan 17

There's no question that the energy infrastructure is ripe for disruption. Outmoded, inefficient systems and distribution, and an entitlement mindset has ruled the day in the utility industry for decades.

Enter the CleanWeb Hackathon. Its founders propose to apply information technology to resource constraints, building apps and hacks that combine new, sustainable business models and leverage the mobile and social web.

For 24 hours this weekend in New York attendees will tackle utility, transport, and smart grid datasets and see what they can "hack" out of them.

The first CleanWeb Hackathon, held last September in San Francisco, generated such ideas as Dr. Wattson, which helps you sleuth-out energy plan savings, GroMunity, an online community for sharing and trading home garden crops, helping out neighbors, and ridding your community of food waste, and Toxicslayar, a mobile app that shows toxic chemical releases from thousands of US facilities.

Not many of these ideas survived past the weekend incubator, but the concept of applying the innovation of the web and mobile technologies to energy, transportation, and smart grid is a good one.

Sunil Paul of Spring Ventures, the brainchild behind the CleanWeb Hackathon, describes the concept as marrying information technology with green initiatives.

"Information technology is actually going to prove as valuable as the application of new materials and nano-technology and bio-technology have been for the environment," Paul told an audience last year.

It's not just about apps, however. Other examples of CleanWeb innovations include sharing services such as AirBnB, ZipCar, Spride, and even NeighborGoods, which all help reduce an individual's consumption of resources and impact on the planet.

Now CleanWeb comes to New York and taps into the tech ecosystem here -- 24 hours in the city that never sleeps should yield some innovative ideas.

For more information about the CleanWeb Hackathon or to register to attend, go to CleanWeb Hackathon.


Jan 15
Need Plastic?
icon1 Linda | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 15th, 2012| icon3Comments »
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When Too Much Plastic is Way Too Much Plastic

Fact: 20-25% of landfill weight is plastics. Landfills are one of the most common waste disposal methods in the United States today, with an overall increase in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) consistent with population increase.

In the 1960s, about 1% of MSW was made up of plastics. This has increased by 12% (30 million tons) in 2008. 43% of this is made up of plastic packaging, 22% made up by non-durable goods, and 35% consists of durable goods. Total? 11.3 million tons of just containers and packaging end up in landfills each year.

Plastic is going into landfills in alarming amounts, and is one of the hardest materials on the planet to break down properly. It doesn’t biodegrade – which means that natural bacteria are unable to break it down. What happens instead is a process called photo degradation, wherein the sun breaks it apart into smaller and smaller pieces – still plastic, by the way – eventually becoming individual molecules of plastic that just sit there and do absolutely nothing, still too tough for anything to digest. Landfills are filling up fast, and soon there won’t be any space left as the planet goes about wastefully and irresponsibly using plastics in everyday life.

Most people agree that the sensible solution to this problem is to reuse and recycle, and to do it well. By maximizing the use of plastics in our lives, using them and reusing them as many times as humanly possible, we lessen the amount of waste volume we throw out, thus lessening the amount going into landfills. Recycling the products by turning what plastic materials we already have on hand into ‘new’ products achieves more or less the same effect.

Another option is to use biodegradable plastic products in lieu of non-biodegradable ones. These are made from natural material and can be broken down naturally. Yet still another, but far more drastic, option is to live completely plastic-free, but most people find that this lifestyle is an exercise in futility, as plastic is literally everywhere nowadays.

In the end, the best solution is still to use plastic as responsibly as we can. Single-use plastic products like packaging, plastic straws and other disposable items are things that we can live without with a little ingenuity and some common sense. If we can somehow lessen the waste volume of these products being brought to the landfills, we’re probably doing the planet a bigger favor than we think. So think twice before you pick up that straw on your way from the counter at your favorite fast-food. Use reusable cloth bags to carry your purchases in. Mother Nature will thank you in the end. PlasticPlace.net makes garbage bags that are made out of 80% recycled material, doing its best in helping to preserve our environment. Make the responsible choice today, use Plastic Place. Visit their website at http://www.plasticplace.net.

Jan 12
I have stayed in 3 hotels in the last 4 days. 2 of the hotels have been major chains and 1 is a smaller local run hotel. To my surprise each has a whole host of green options available to their guests. Not just the typical 'we don't wash your towels if you leave it in xyz place' kind of stuff either.

Here are some of the things that I have seen:
* Your lights don't work unless your key card is in a slot on the wall (common in Europe) and it means that you can not leave your lights on when you leave!
* The lights and fan in the bathroom turned off automatically after 15 minutes. When I walked back in they turned on.
* Room service menu's feature all local foods.
* Environmental commitments posted right on the wall
* Fair trade tea and sugar in the room
* Lots of vegetarian options on the menu
*

But of course there have been some non eco items in these hotels.
* Soap wrapped tightly in plastic
* Heated towel rack (had a switch to turn it on though)
* Intensely strong water in the shower (am I an elephant?)
* The TV turns on automatically when you enter the room

I know there is much room for improvement and we can't possibly see all that a hotel is doing behind the scene's. So are the small things like this just a way for a hotel to green wash us into thinking they are really green when in fact they are not?

Related Posts - Check them Out
Green Hotels - The Bad
Green Hotels - The Good
Green Hotels - Eco Rating Program
Jan 12
Electric ATVs
icon1 Linda | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 12th, 2012| icon3Comments »
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Australia’s Urban ATV 100% Electric Quad Bike

For those of you who have ATV (all terrain vehicles), why not check this one out. I mean, if you want to utilize atvs for your enjoyment, why not do it environmentally sound. Not only does it run on batteries but is silent enough to not have the gas guzzler, smoke generating and noisy machines you own today.

It is powerful and silent, climbs hills with ease and works exceptionally well around warehouse complexes, farms, outlets, hotels/motels and anywhere else you may need a quiet workhorse. It is also outfitted with a hitch that can tow either a two or four wheel trailer behind it.

Urban ATV also have other atvs that are much cheaper than the ATVs that are being sold here in the states.


Pretty cool, right? Would you like to own one? I think I would. I know it would be very beneficial around the farm.

Atvs …. as the green future unfolds.

Jan 11
What We Talk About When We Talk About Protecting and Saving
icon1 The Green Skeptic | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 11th, 2012| icon3Comments »
This post originally appeared on The Green Skeptic in March 2008, when I was about to speak at the Aspen Environment Forum. It's reprinted here as I am on hiatus from writing the blog. I promise to be back at it soon. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this piece. --Scott

##


Everything we think about saving or protecting ecosystems and habitats is wrong.

This week, I'm at the Aspen Environment Forum, where tomorrow morning I'll be on a Panel called "Nature's Place: Saving Ecosystems and Habitats."

For the better part of 15 years I worked with The Nature Conservancy to save some of the world's "Last Great Places" around the world (I left in August; see my posts reflecting on my career at TNC
and here.

I consider myself a conservationist, not an environmentalist. What I mean by that is a conservative and prudent approach to our use of resources that requires us to manage them for the long-term -- for the benefit of people today and for future generations.

The Green Skeptic grew out of an increasing concern about our relationship to the natural world and how we protect it. I am a skeptic in the sense that I believe we need to constantly challenge the assumptions we have about "saving ecosystems and habitats."

In my view, we operate under four basic assumptions:

1. We can continue to "save" or "protect" ecosystems and habitats from harm in perpetuity;
2. We can ignore basic human needs and treat poverty alleviation as a separate issue from the environment;
3. We can entrust protection to governments and corporate NGOs;
4. We can't trust human ingenuity and community to manage its own resources.

First, I need to step back and look at the words we use. (I am a poet, so words matter to me.) Specifically, "protecting" and "saving."

Both imply we need to keep ecosystems and habitats from something. The American Heritage Dictionary defines protecting as "To keep from being damaged, attacked, stolen, or injured; guard." When we use the word protecting in terms of ecosystems and habitats, we are guarding nature from something or someone, presumably humans.

Saving is a little less problematic, as it implies a conservative approach to the future (as in saving seed corn for next year's sowing). Still, the AHD's first definition is "To rescue from harm, danger, or loss." It's not until definition number three that we get to the conservative impulse: "To avoid spending (e.g. money) so as to keep or accumulate it."

The question is not about what we should save, but how and for what purpose.

Is it hubris to assume we have protected or saved anything? We promote the fact that percentages of ecosystems or habitats are protected, but they continue to be encroached upon -- see the Amazon Rainforest for example.

What have we really saved if massive changes from climate change or the drive for much-needed economic development will have significant impact on the future status and makeup of places, habitats, and ecosystems?

Climate change will disrupt many ecosystems that exist today -- much as the Internet disrupted print media, the travel industry, TV, bookstores, you name it. It will change everything.

So the question is what are we really protecting when we talk about protecting ecosystems and habitat? Will the places we select for protection today be the same 10-20 years from now? Probably not.

Ecosystems are constantly changing, either from "external" (human) or "internal" (natural) forces. Change is inevitable and could, in the face of global warming, be dramatic.

Shouldn't we be preparing for the changes and begin to think about how we adapt to some of the most likely changes, those brought on by climate change or economic development or basic human needs, such as for food and energy?

Demand for energy and food will drive economic development for years to come and we can't continue to ignore these drivers to "save" the natural, non-human world.

This leads me to assumption two, which is about ignoring basic human needs. It's irrational for us to think that people in developing countries, many of whose basic human needs are not being met, will care deeply about the non-human natural world.

Yet, we continue to have blind faith in our cause and ignore the needs of real people.

I recently returned from India where the extreme poverty is evident almost everywhere you look. Also evident is a growing middle class that strives for the kind of lifestyle we have here in the west, specifically the US, with its inherent accelerated pace and impacts.

Who are we to say that people in developing countries have no right to the kind of lifestyle we have exported for decades? We can not convince, persuade or cajole or even pay people -- Americans as much as people in developing nations -- to "come around to our way of thinking," and yet this is what I hear whenever I talk to environmentalists.

And we can't ask poor people around the world to forgo the comforts of the lifestyle we have been living, and which they wish to copy, "for the sake of the planet" or to set aside their habitats and ecosystems for the sake of humanity. No country wants to become an ecological reserve for the world, especially if it means it cannot pursue economic prosperity.

Try floating this idea with people who go hungry every night for lack of food or money to buy food and see what kind of reaction you get.

In the end, poor people matter. And the governments of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and African countries must be concerned first and foremost with the well-being of their people. I'm not saying that human well-being isn't tied to ecosystem health; I'm a strong believer that economic growth is tied to those resources.

I believe we can no longer separate the issue of economic development and poverty alleviation from ecosystem health. We also can't expect that governments whose people aren't meeting basic needs to protect their habitats over the economic well-being of their people.

Which leads me to assumption three: increasingly, we are entrusting protection of habitats and ecosystems with the wrong people. Governments have a mandate to improve the economic health of their country and people.

Yet we continue to have faith that these governments will "do the right thing" and enforce laws protecting their forests or other ecosystems in the face of seemingly insurmountable economic obstacles.

Why do we think that is a good strategy? What indicators do we have that tell us this strategy will succeed where it hasn't in the past? Why do we think that the World Bank program to pay countries to "avoid deforestation" will be any more successful than their previous grand plans?

The same goes for NGOs. NGOs are basically corporations that serve a set of shareholders (donors in this case) who subscribe to a specific idea of Nature and a specific set of outcomes, outcomes that may not necessarily be shared by all stakeholders.

This idea of Nature has for a long time discounted the needs of people both today and in the future. To illustrate this, one only need look at the environmental community's approach to government debt.

Conservation groups (my old employers among them) have promoted using a country's debt as leverage to gain conservation protection. The debt-for-nature swap was an innovation of the past couple of decades and a noble one. But it was also painfully ignorant of the true nature of that debt -- in many cases "dictator debt" incurred by regimes that did not have its people's best interests in mind.

Now that we have a more clear understanding of how that debt was derived, and can no longer ignore its immoral origins, we need to give up or adjust the debt-for-nature swap concept and join the call for debt forgiveness. That will free some countries from having to exploit their natural resources to pay down that debt.

Yet, many in the environmental community continue to push the debt-for-nature strategy, because they can't let go of a good thing that advances their agenda.

How is this different from any corporation -- a sector many environmentalists attack -- that advances its agenda at the expense of people here and abroad? Can we really trust ecosystems and habitats to big government or big international non-governmental corporations?

In the end, wouldn't a better approach be to put our trust in the people and the communities where these ecosystems and habitats are found? They have the most at stake in managing these resources, as their needs and livelihoods are most closely tied to the lands and waters.

I believe human beings are basically good. I also believe that, given the opportunity, communities will manage their common interests and keep each other in check. This is the open-source community approach one finds in social networks and in business models such as eBay.

I also believe that human beings are the most creative and adaptable species on the planet -- just look at the variety of habitats, climates, and conditions we inhabit. Our resilience as a species is astounding. I argue that we need to embrace this resourcefulness and apply it to overcoming ecological shifts, climate change, and loss of ecosystems and habitats.

We need to unleash the power of human creativity to find new ways to "save" those places for future use by both human and non-human species.

Unleashing this human capacity will require suspending our assumptions. We will need to focus more on community-based or "commons-based" management (as Jonathan Rowe of the West Marin Commons in California calls it in a recent essay in The State of the World 2008).

We need a people-centered conservation that addresses the real needs of real people, and to empower individual entrepreneurs and communities to manage their resources cooperatively rather than impose grand plans from Washington.

We need to clearly draw the lines connecting economic prosperity with ecological health and human well-being.

And, finally, we need to unleash human creativity to find new technological solutions as well as new ways of living with nature.

This may, in the end, be our only hope to really save habitat and ecosystems – and, ultimately, to save ourselves.


Jan 9
Leaving on a Jet Plane
icon1 Go Green | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 9th, 2012| icon3Comments »
Traveling to the UK yesterday (and this morning) was hard for me. Both as a Mom and as an environmentalist. From the Mom perspective it is because I have only been away from B for 4 nights in total since he was born. It took everything I had in me to walk away from the car with him bawling in the backseat yelling 'NO NO NO MOMMY'. From an environmentalist perspective I did what I could to reduce the impact of my trip but really there was only so much I could do.

Before the trip even started I was already in the red with this trip. I had to to break my no printing streak when I had to print an immigration letter from my company (which I was never asked for when I went through customs). I didn't technically print it because my boss printed it so she could sign it for me but still that counts as 'me' printing because it is something I needed.

I didn't print any of my itinerary but instead I kept copies on my BlackBerry and PlayBook in case I needed them. When I was checking in to my flight I did have the option to have my boarding pass emailed to me. Sweet! I took this option and the QR code it sent was scanned at each check point on the trip. 

When dinner was served on the plane it all went downhill. I had brought my bamboo spork and water bottle but when my tray arrived it was full of plastic. 
* Plastic container housing cucumber salad (with a lid)
* Plastic wrap around the bun
* Plastic wine bottle
* Plastic container with the main course (plastic film on top)
* Plastic bag with plastic form and knife
* Plastic container housing a brownie (with a lid)
* Plastic glass for the wine
* Plastic container of butter
* Bottle of water (Enviroclear spring water ::rolls eyes:: )

Based on what they gathered up independently during cleanup I would say that of all of this the only things that were recycled were the pop cans and the plastic cups. It looked like the rest maybe trash. 
I plan on reaching out to the airline to find out what would have happened if I had refused the plastic cutlery bundle or the plastic bottle of water. I know when I did a waste audit for them when I was in university these unused items went into the trash so I would like to find out if that has changed. 

How do you fly and reduce your impact?

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Jan 8
Where We Rank in Solar Power
icon1 Barbara | icon2 Member Posts | icon4 01 8th, 2012| icon3Comments »
Where We Rank In Solar Power The blog entitled 1bog, stands for One Block off the Grid.  I wanted to pass along their new infographic: The Top Ten Countries Using Solar. The graphic explores the rapid growth of the solar power market in Europe, and how we here in the U.S., rank and measure up. [...]

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