More on green cars from The Union of Concerned Scientists

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I imagine that if you were to ask just about anybody on the street what car manufacturers they think of when you say green cars, the answer would most often be Toyota. Honda would be my guess as the second most often heard manufacturer. That could change if GM does in fact produce the Volt, or maybe not if Honda produces their new hybrid and Toyota continues to refine their Prius. I don’t imagine that Honda or Toyota are just waiting for competition from other companies either. Well, if I am right about people’s perceptions regarding Honda and Toyota, they are backed up by The Union of Concerned Scientists. As we have mentioned before, Honda has won the award of the greenest manufacturer of automobiles a few years running now. According to Treehugger, the award is not just based on their fleets of vehicles, but on all of their manufacturing facilities and overall practices.

[Source: The Union of Concerned Scientists via Treehugger]

 

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Formula One could have biofuel turbo V-6s in 2011

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The sanctioning body for Formula One racing, the FIA, is currently examining options for new engine rules for 2011 and beyond. Over the past year they’ve been throwing out various proposals including hybrid powertrains. The latest proposal is a switch from the current 2.4L V-8 formula to 2.2L turbocharged V-6s.

The current engines have no rpm limit and many are thought to run at speeds approaching 20,000 rpm although the new proposal would limit that to 10,000 rpm. The new engines would also switch from running on 102 octane “gasoline” to some kind of biofuel. The FIA wants to reduce costs and make the engines more environmentally friendly. Since a switch to ethanol could end up with even more powerful engines due to the turbocharging, maybe they will make the jump to biodiesel instead. Formula One could have some very interesting times ahead.

[Source: F1-Live]

 

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Tip o the Day: Light Up Safely

A little candle light can go a long way in creating a nice atmosphere for any occasion, but many candles are made with paraffin, a petroleum-based product. Brighten up your party with beeswax or vegetable oil based candles instead.

The main problem with paraffin and synthetic fragrances is the fact that they're made from oil (you know, that stuff we're addicted to.) It pollutes when burned, just like other fossil fuels. This candle soot can result in black marks on walls and ceilings, and can even be harmful to your health. A study by the Environmental Protection Agency found a random selection of petrol based candles contained twenty different chemicals, compounds and particulate matter.

The good news is there are a lot of alternatives to choose from. Beeswax and soy based candles abound in a variety of scented and unscented options.

Seattle-based Big Dipper Wax Works has a wide selection of hand-dipped beeswax candles in all shapes and sizes. Bluewick has decorativley (and responsibly) packaged, fragrant, soybased candles. Other candle makers include companies include Bluecorn Naturals and Vermont based Way Out Wax.

Of course this tip should include the obvious candle disclaimer: don't leave a burning flame unattended, and use caution if you're taking the flame outdoors, especially if it gets a little windy. (I line my backyard area with votives for summer gatherings.)

Amy says: Candles make great housewarming or thank you gifts, and they travel well. When presenting a soy or beeswax candle to my host I always make sure to explain the benefits of the paraffin alternative.

More on green cars from The Union of Concerned Scientists

Filed under: ,


I imagine that if you were to ask just about anybody on the street what car manufacturers they think of when you say green cars, the answer would most often be Toyota. Honda would be my guess as the second most often heard manufacturer. That could change if GM does in fact produce the Volt, or maybe not if Honda produces their new hybrid and Toyota continues to refine their Prius. I don’t imagine that Honda or Toyota are just waiting for competition from other companies either. Well, if I am right about people’s perceptions regarding Honda and Toyota, they are backed up by The Union of Concerned Scientists. As we have mentioned before, Honda has won the award of the greenest manufacturer of automobiles a few years running now. According to Treehugger, the award is not just based on their fleets of vehicles, but on all of their manufacturing facilities and overall practices.

[Source: The Union of Concerned Scientists via Treehugger]

 

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Will Land Rover go diesel-only in the UK?

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Already, 95 percent of the vehicles that Land Rover sells in the UK are diesels, so why not just go the whole ten yards? That move is not on the board quite yet, but the possibility has been discussed, according to Land Rover’s UK managing director John Edwards, speaking to Just-Auto (subs req’d). One of the benefits would be a “more effective production process,” he said. The other big plus is the nice, pro-green publicity such a move would create. As Edwards told J-A, “People have this idea that Land Rover just makes gas-guzzlers, but it’s not true. The average fuel consumption of our fleet in the UK is over 30mpg. However, moving to diesel-only in the UK would obviously be a very strong message in terms of the environment.”

Edwards said the only diesels it sells in the UK right now are pretty much for special orders. Gasoline versions for the US and other markets would continue unchanged.

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[Source: Just-Auto]

 

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Green Business 101: Are You a LOHAS Consumer?

Well, if you’re reading this, you probably are.

LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. Representing an estimated 50 million American adults, the name LOHAS is now synonymous with the “Cultural Creatives” segment of the population originally identified in 1996 by sociologist, author, and market researcher Paul Ray, Ph.D. Ray, along with psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson, described the segment in their 2000 book, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World.

So what’s so special about the LOHAS segment? Usually, market segments are identified using things like lifestyle, buying behavior, and demographics. But here’s where the LOHAS consumers diverge: they are distinguished solely by their values, as they care strongly about issues like the environment, social justice, sustainability, and health. Is this starting to sound familiar?

As the segment grows, more and more businesses have begun to take notice – the marketplace for LOHAS consumers is now valued at over $220 billion. This means that more products and services, meant to serve our needs, will be coming to the market. Good news for anyone tormented over having to buy a product that is no friend of the environment, due to the lack of an alternative.

I got to learn about and even sample some of these alternatives this week at the 11th annual LOHAS Forum, held in Marina del Rey, CA. Though some established brands, like Burt’s Bees, were in attendance in the exhibit hall, many were new to me. I especially liked Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate and VeeV, a spirit made from Brazil’s açai fruit and billed as “a better way to drink.” Count me in!

Of course, the Forum wasn’t all about food and drink. The program featured a variety of speakers and break-out sessions designed to educate and inform LOHAS companies. My favorite session, “Giving Sustainability More SIZZLE”, focused on the shift of the LOHAS segment from a small niche to the mainstream, and some of the keys to making that jump as a company. Not surprisingly, communicating with authenticity was at the top of the list. LOHAS consumers can see through greenwashing a mile away…even through a chocolate haze.

For those unable to attend the conference, session videos will be posted on the website: www.lohas.com

Green Schools Education Program

Earlier this week, an article in the local paper noted that a local school had been recognized as one of 18 "Green School certified" schools in the state of Michigan. I wasn't familiar with the program (in part because this is the first year of the program), but I quickly found that rather than a building program, it is instead an educational program for the students.

The Green School program requires a degree of involvement from the school's students in a variety of green projects in order to obtain the certification. A school is eligible for this certification if it completes at least 10 criteria from a list of programs including such obvious green steps as recycling paper, reusing magazines from the library, and holding an Earth Day event. But the list also includes more ambitious projects such as establishing a natural Michigan garden project with native plants, holding solar power presentations or experiments, such as a solar cookout, doing energy audits of their classrooms, and even making improvements to their classrooms as a result of the energy audits.

Participating in a printer cartridge recycling program or a cellular telephone recycling program (both of which can also help the school to earn money) are also suggestions on the list.

All of these programs help to bring environmental awareness to the classroom, and provide practical examples the students can learn from. Students take leadership in getting the programs adopted in their schools.

"With all the environmental stuff that has been going on, all the rising problems, I just wanted to chip in and do my part for the community,'' Pendleton said. Individual efforts, such as recycling plastic, can add up, he said. "It's all the small things that people could do but sometimes just don't take the time to do.''

For Donahue, global warming is the thing to worry about. "We need a big focus on global warming – anything that can help that,'' Donahue said.

The state webpage with information about the program (PDF) is less than two pages long but has a list of 20 programs for students to participate in. Teachers looking for ideas for introducing some green programs to their classes may find this a useful list to work from. There are also a list of resources attached. A number of them are specific to Michigan, though corresponding sites (such as state conservation districts, state endangered plants, etc.) for other states should be easy enough to find.

Live from the Personal Democracy Forum

I am here at the Personal Democracy Forum conference at Pace University in New York City. In between sessions I wanted to share some insight from some of the great speakers that have present so far today.

danah boyd, who is a doctoral candidate at the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley, is focusing her dissertation on how youth engages in networks like MySpace, Facebook, etc. She had some great insights on social networking that could help progressives use these sites to push their issues and gain supporters. A digital handshake is important – you can’t just create a site, add friends and then do nothing. You need to pull these people in and make them feel like they matter and you have respect for them. Comment are underutilized. When someone comments on your page, comment back – take a moment to learn who they are. Collecting friends can be important because it helps shape who your organization is, but you have to really know who these supporters and friends are. Social networking sites and other online organizing is where the younger generation is nowadays, vs. rallies and other in-person meet-ups.

danah’s blog is Apophenia.

Seth Godin had a few thoughts on technology and how it’s being used today. There is too much clutter and too much noise. People are being inundated with too many candidates, too many organizations covering the same issue and they need a way to find out who they relate to and want to support. This is why it’s so important to make your organization stand out and why you can’t just constantly overload your supporters with email and other information. They’ll just tune out. Seth explained you can acquire someone’s email address, but as soon as you misuse it, they’ll block you or remove themselves from your list.

Seth touched on the ideavirus and how you have to go beyond word of mouth. Your idea, issue, or campaign needs to stand out and get easily spread like a virus. Flip the funnel. Magnify your voice and get heard. If you be remarkable and tell your story to your sneezers, they’ll sneeze and spread it along to the next person.

Some things to think about.

More when I return to DC.

-Yvonne Archer

Ford sponsoring new Chicago public art project: Cool Globes

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Over the course of the last dozen years goofy public art projects have become a staple of major North American cities during the summer months. You know the ones, where a hundred or more fiberglass sculptures of something, each with an individualized paint job, pop up to dot the landscape. You might find multi-colored cows, horses, cartoon cars, or moose scattered everywhere.

This year Chicago is hosting just such a project with a message about the environment. The theme for the event is Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Plant and Ford is sponsoring one of the 122 globes that will be scattered along the windy city’s waterfront to promote awareness of global warming. Ford chose Peta Kaplan-Sandzer to paint their globe with a theme of green fleets, highlighting natural and renewable fuels. The globes will be on display from June 1 through September, and are likely to make as much impact on global warming as the painted moose in Toronto did a few years ago.

[Source: Ford]
FORD TELLS ITS GREEN STORY THROUGH A “COOL GLOBE”
Artist’s rendition of Ford’s “Cool Globe: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Plant” on display in Chicago this summer.

CHICAGO, Ill., May 16 – How many creative ways can an environmental story be told? “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Plant,” has come up with 122 unique visions for viewing this summer in Chicago and Ford Motor Company is among the organizations telling an environmental story through the eyes of an artist.

Ford is sponsoring a globe for the “Cool Globes” campaign, a public art project designed to increase awareness of and promote solutions to global warming. The project unites corporations, government, non-profit organizations and the community to learn about global warming through public art, Internet information and special events. More than 100 globes will be displayed from June until September along Chicago’s lakefront to showcase global warming ideas and solutions.

Individual artists were assigned a “solution” by the Cool Globe organizers. The artists started with a clean sheet of paper or, in this case, a plain five-foot tall orb on which they developed a visual theme.

Artist Peta Kaplan-Sandzer, selected to paint Ford’s globe, says she is on a “global” mission, “I am a committed environmentalist and the Cool Globes project is all about global warming, the environment and coming up with solutions for problems in the environment,”

Peta chose the theme of green fleets. She painted images that focus on natural and renewable fuel sources such as corn, sugar cane, jethropa and switchgrass because they are elements that can be used to make alternative fuels.

Ford is moving toward a more environmentally sustainable future every day. The company’s vision is to provide sustainable transportation for our customers that is affordable, socially responsible and delivers features they demand. Ford is advancing its vision with a variety of technologies such as hybrids, flexible fuel vehicles, clean diesels, bio-fuels, hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen combustion engines.

“We feel the science is certain. It’s no longer time to debate global warming. The responsible thing for us as an auto manufacturer is to act as stewards of the environment: build vehicles that will help meet improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions” said John Viera, director, Sustainable Business Strategy for Ford Motor Company.

The art project is the brainchild of marketer and environmental activist Wendy Abrams, executive director, Cool Globes. “For Ford to be making more fuel efficient cars and using E85 is great,” said Abrams. “We live in a society where we’re going to drive cars and fly planes and use electricity, but if we can find better ways to do that with even incremental change, then that should be applauded.”

If you’re in Chicago this summer look for Ford’s globe and all the others displayed along the lakeshore from the Field Museum to Navy Pier beginning June first. 122 globes…122 different suggested solutions for a major global challenge.

Look for Ford’s Internet Video News Release about Cool Globes at YouTube.

 

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Which hybrids are – and are not – welcomed in the the HOV lane

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As we mentioned yesterday, the EPA’s list of HOV-lane-friendly hybrids has seen the light of day. The official draft list is now out, and it’s pretty much as expected (you can download the PDF here). There’s no blanket exemption for hybrids in the HOV lanes, as vehicles like the Lexus GS450h, Dodge Ram Hybrid and Saturn Vue Greenline still get to sit in traffic. CNN has the list of acceptable vehicles:

  • 2004-07 Toyota Prius
  • 2006-07 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
  • 2006-07 Lexus RX400h
  • 2006 Mazda Tribute Hybrid
  • 2005-07 Ford Escape Hybrid
  • 2006-07 Mercury Mariner Hybrid
  • 2003-07 Honda Civic Hybrid
  • 2003-06 Honda Insight
  • 2005 and 2007 models of the Honda Accord Hybrid
  • Natural gas versions of the 2003-05 Honda Civic
  • Natural gas versions of the 2003-2004 Ford Crown Victoria

The hybrids that end up being exempted will continue to be classified as such until at least September 30, 2009, as that’s how far out Congress has authorized such exemptions. While the EPA’s guideline allow hybrid vehicles with 25 percent higher combined mpg ratings in city and highway driving (compared to similar gasoline-fueled vehicles) to zip down the HOV lanes, nothing in the proposal will stop states from applying stricter standards. The EPA is accepting comments on this draft list for 30 days.

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[Source: CNN]

 

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