SalvaEco

Documentary film by Union of Ecoforestry in Finland and Saami Council is available as DVD. You can order your copy from Union of Ecoforestry website. Short introduction can be viewed in YouTube

Editor's note: Pets are on everyone's minds, it seems! Today, GNMParents writer Heike Boehmke-Sharp adds to the discussion with her ideas on buying pet food and waste disposal bags. Don't forget to take a look at Jennifer's contribution at GNMParents.

Pets are a man’s best friend! They can be “green” too :)…

I have a 17 year old Husky/Shepard mix, and recently we adopted a new “little” Shepard puppy into our lives. Due the sensitive skin of our Husky, I have always been aware of what kind of food I feed him. Given the recent pet food scare, I am no longer the only person reading pet food labels in the store.

You may think by buying the more expensive brands you are doing your pet a favor. The recent pet food contamination put that myth to rest. Even some of the expensive brands put unfavorable ingredients in their mix. Ingredients you want to steer away from are: animal digets, animal render, or anything with “parts” attached. There are some great brands out there that only use real ingredients and no animal left overs or slush in their food. We have recently switched to “BLUE” (BlueBuff.com), and both my senior and my puppy love it. I only feed dry dog food. Another bonus of good food that is not enhanced wth fillers is “little poops” :)…You can also make your own dog food in a slow cooker. Depending on preference you can cook beef, lamb, or chicken. Add rice, or barley and veggies. If you have a good butcher, you can ask them to save you the waste cuts to mix with a regular cut of meat. One pot is good for about 2 days.

There are also natural treats that do not contain unwelcome by-product. You can get them at doggie bakeries, and Newman’s Own also makes wonderful doggie treats that are affordable. My dogs both like carrots and veggies, so we give them those as treats :).

Photo Credit: Silicon Solar Inc.We are pretty familiar with most of the ways solar energy is collected. There are photovoltaic panels (PV) which directly convert sunlight into electricity. Solar hot water systems are another widely known system. Water circulates through a series of tubes or through a pipe to be heated by sunlight. And solar concentrators use mirrors to focus sunlight on a narrow area, either for direct heating, or to boil water to make steam for electrical generating purposes.

Evacuated tube heaters are another method of collecting solar energy. Rather than running the water through a long circuitous course, each tube is a separate heat collector. It is made of a clear glass cylinder which allows sunlight to pass through, and a central heat collector tube. The evacuated tube insulates the collector element, which makes it more efficient in colder environments. The collector itself is typically filled with an antifreeze mix rather than just water. The top of the tube has a heat exchange element which is prevents contamination of the water being heated. The tubes are collected together in an array, with a manifold across the tops, containing the heat exchangers.

Google Transit was already the best thing that ever happened to online public transit trip planning, and now it’s grown to a whole new level. Even better, it’s starting to be incorporated into the default Google Maps and Google Earth. The new features and the integration into normal map queries will make public transit more accessible and easier for everyone to understand; and in doing so, it will certainly increase transit ridership and reduce driving.
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(Posted by Jeremy Faludi in Transportation at 10:31 PM)

There are a lot of small, easy things you can do to get the most out of your AC and lighten the energy load for savings in your energy bill.

Don't touch that thermostat
The magic number is 78 degrees. In most climates this is a comfortable temperature setting. Each degree higher than that will save you 6 to 8 percent in cooling costs. You can also set it a couple degrees higher when you're not home.

Lowering the set temperature won't cool your place any quicker and will only wind up costing you more energy. Keep it at a constant temperature. The AC unit will regulate itself as designed.

Fair Trade is certainly not perfect, and I think in the honest interest of bettering the global economy, we are obligated to highlight its failures when they become apparent, and offer suggestions for improvement. We've discussed some other failures in previous posts and comments but a recent allegation in the UK highlights one of the major shortcomings of the movement in accomplishing its goal of a fairer trade system for the global economy's most disadvantaged citizens.

The BBC reported on May 23rd that workers at Pratt's Bananas, the UK's largest banana ripener (yes, they buy bananas, import and ripen them), and a ripener of some Fair Trade bananas, has been exploiting workers in just the ways Fair Trade attempts to stem. Workers complained of working six to seven days a week for 10-12 hour shifts, sometimes without breaks, if they did not meet strict quotas. One woman is taking the company to an industrial tribunal claiming her forced exertion caused her to miscarry.

The Ford Model T and the Chevy Volt: Image Sources: University of Houston, Edmonds.com

I was reflecting over the weekend on just how far we’ve come in the past 100 years or so, and I’d like to do some reminiscing. Old folks are prone to do that since we have so many “miles” stacked up. So humor me.

This was a little before my time, but back in the early 1900’s, Henry Ford began production of his Model T, the Volkswagen of its time. The really interesting thing about his new car was that it ran on ethanol, or gasoline, or a combination of the two. As a matter of fact, Ford was quoted as predicting ethanol was the fuel of the future. His vision was to “build a vehicle affordable to the working family and powered by a fuel (ethanol) that would boost the rural farm community.” He also became fascinated with soybean-based plastics through his relationship with George Washington Carver.

In 1942, Ford patented an automobile using a tubular welded frame and a body made almost entirely of plastic derived from soybeans. According to Wikipedia, the vehicle weighed 30% less than a steel car, ran on ethanol instead of gasoline, and could withstand impacts ten times greater than could steel. WWII was underway, and the concept was lost in the demand for war materials.

Erik Blachford is the new CEO of TerraPass, a carbon offset company. When a consumer buys a carbon offset to offset the emissions from their driving, a trip, or even a wedding, TerraPass uses that money to fund renewable energy products.

Erik has never been a full-time environmentalist, although he is member of a few national organizations. In a former life he was the CEO of Expedia, although he left the company before its partnership with TerraPass was established. Erik is excited about the new venture, explaining on a recent blog post,

“Back in Internet pre-history, at the dawn of online travel, nobody knew you could even check airline ticket prices online, much less book tickets. Now almost half of all travel is booked online. I think we’re at the beginning of another explosion in consumer awareness, this time in the voluntary carbon markets.”

I spoke with Erik by phone on May 25th.

Green Options: How do you respond to carbon offset skeptics? For example, the argument that offsets are just an easy way for people to pay off their pollution without much sacrifice.

Erik Blachford: I hear that argument a lot, but it’s not accurate as to what TerraPass does. People who buy carbon offsets aren’t just sitting back afterwards and thinking they’ve done their duty. These people are active in other ways, too: they’re very in tuned to the problem and the other solutions. Furthermore, carbon offsets are a voluntary enterprise; no one is forcing someone to buy carbon offsets.

However, there is also a lot of talk about common umbrella standards for carbon offsets, and I think TerraPass and our customers would be better served with them. Our industry needs consumer protection standards. Right now it’s unregulated, and the consumer has to be very cautious. Consumers are taking the initiative and doing the research on which carbon offset programs are legitimate, but they shouldn’t be expected to do all of the work.