Here are the most-read stories of 2008 from Green Right Now:

1. Germany and France ban pesticides linked to bee deaths; Geneticist urges U.S. ban
2. Green collar jobs: solving environmental and economic troubles?
3. Five vegetarian entrees for the Thanksgiving table
4. Catch the spirit of giving: Recycle, reuse and reduce by donating at the holidays
5. Food waste in America, a growing concern
6. BPA: Steering away from a risky plastic
7. Health fears about BPA plastic spread with Canada pushing for a ban
8. Amtrak — Brimming with passengers and green potential
9. Hydrogen fuel cell cars: clean, green and not quite ready for retail
10. Green governors fight climate change from coast to coast

The Green Right Now team went looking for holiday gift ideas that help us all to consume less. Here’s what they found — and go to greenrightnow.com for the full details on each selection:

• The Sodastream Penguin – make your own soda, bypass plastic bottles
• A reusable water bottle – a waste-trimming stocking stuffer
• The Voltaic Solar Panel Messenger Bag – portable solar power
• SolarGorilla – power your laptop
• A bamboo utensil set – a sustainable stocking stuffer
• Digital Shower Timer – a water-saving stocking stuffer
• Soy candles – symbolically burn your addiction to foreign oil
• Cookware – authentic earthen pieces from LaChambra
• Market baskets and kids’ totes – reuse, reuse and reuse them
• Rainbarrels – for the gardener on your list

1. Locally grown food tastes better. Food grown in your own community is usually picked within the past day or two. It’s crisp, sweet, and loaded with flavor. Produce flown or trucked in from Florida, Chile, Mexico, or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. Several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles. In a weeklong delay from harvest to dinner plate, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality
2. Local produce is better for you. Studies showed that fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Locally grown food, purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients.
3. Local food preserves genetic diversity. In the modern industrial agricultural system, varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment; for a tough skin that can survive packing and shipping; and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, because they taste good.
4. Local food is GMO-free. Although biotechnology companies have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables, they are currently licensing them only to large factory-style farms. Local farmers don’t have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them wouldn’t use it even if they could. A June 2001 survey by ABC News showed that 93% of Americans want labels on genetically modified food – most so that they can avoid it. If you are opposed to eating bio-engineered food, you can rest assured that locally grown produce was bred the old-fashioned way, as nature intended.
5. Local food supports local farm families. With fewer than 1 million Americans now listing farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing breed. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middle man and get full retail price for their crops – which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing what they love.
6. Local food builds a stronger community. When you buy direct from the farmer, you are re-establishing a time-honored connection between the eater and the grower. Knowing the farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the weather, and the miracle of raising food. In many cases, it gives you access to a farm where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture. Relationships built on understanding and trust can thrive.
7. Local food preserves open space. As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. You have probably enjoyed driving out into the country and appreciated the lush fields of crops, the meadows full of wildflowers, the picturesque red barns. That landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.
8. Local food helps to keep your taxes in check. Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas suburban development costs more than it generates in taxes, according to several studies.
9. Local food supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife. A well-managed family farm is a place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good stewards of the land grow cover crops to prevent erosion and replace nutrients used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help combat global warming. According to some estimates, farmers who practice conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry. In addition, the habitat of a farm – the patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds, and buildings – is the perfect environment for the many species of wildlife including owls, hawks, blue herons, bats, and rabbits, and foxes.
10. Local food is about the future. By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow so that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful, and abundant food.

See all Food and Health stories at Green Right Now.

Green Right Now reports that a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, shows that 1,141 (and possibly nearly 2,000) of the world’s 5,487 mammals are known to be threatened with extinction. The real situation could be much worse as 836 mammals are listed as Data Deficient. With better information more species may well prove to be in danger of extinction.

The threatened mammals include:

• Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) — has a population of just 84-143 adults and has continued to decline due to a shortage of its primary prey, the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
• China’s Père David’s Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) — listed as Extinct in the Wild. However, the captive and semi-captive populations have increased in recent years and it is possible that truly wild populations could be re-established soon.
• Cuba’s Little Earth Hutia (Mesocapromys sanfelipensis) — not seen in almost 40 years.
• Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) — the global population declined by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years due to a fatal infectious facial cancer.
• The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) — found in Southeast Asia, moved from Vulnerable to Endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands.
• Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) — its population has declined by 90 percent in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation and is still decreasing.

The project to assess the world’s mammals was conducted with help from more than 1,800 scientists from over 130 countries. It was made possible by the volunteer help of IUCN Species Survival Commission’s specialist groups and the collaborations between top institutions and universities, including Conservation International, Sapienza Università di Roma, Arizona State University, Texas A&M University, University of Virginia, and the Zoological Society of London.

For more on the study, see Green Right Now.

Green Right Now went to LEED-accredited architect and building scientist Peter Pfeiffer for advice. Along with partner Alan Barley, Pfeiffer founded Barley & Pfeiffer Architects on a commitment to environmentally responsive green building more than two decades ago. GRN sat down with Pfeiffer in his Austin office to tap his experience and posed the questions: ‘How can I make my existing home greener? What’s the smart approach?’ His recommendations follow.

• Tighten up your home — There are little things you can do that make a big difference — reducing air leaks in your house is huge. Weather strip your doors and make sure your windows close tightly.

• Block solar radiation — Stop radiation before it comes in through the glass by shading the windows and the roof.  Take a house with a flat roof or no overhanging eaves. You can reduce solar radiation two simple ways: Put solar screens on the windows, which block solar radiation, or install awnings above the windows. Awnings are probably the best solution. And there are more contemporary-looking awnings today; they don’t have to look like those you’d get out of a 1950s Sears, Roebucks catalog.

• Choose a white or metal roof — If you’re replacing your roof, go with white or unpainted galvalum metal. A white car collects less heat on a summer afternoon than a dark car; it’s common sense. If you lay down wood strips to create an airspace beneath it, a metal roof will make your house much cooler and more comfortable. And it will save you more energy than $25,000 worth of solar collectors can produce.

• Install fluorescent lighting – Traditional fluorescents have changed radically over the past few years. With the new types of light bulbs and ballast, they’re fantastically efficient, generate much less heat and last seven times longer. They make really skinny tubes that light up immediately, put out flicker-free light and give you great color rendition.

• Select energy-efficient appliances — A refrigerator runs all the time, making it the second largest consumer of energy in your home after the air conditioner. Be sure to get an energy efficient model, one that’s earned the Energy Star®. The ones with ice maker dispensers on the door aren’t as efficient, because they have less insulation and use more energy. Also consider an induction cook-top. They put to use 85% of the energy that goes into them, whereas a normal gas cook-top uses only 15%-25% of energy in the cooking process. Microwave ovens are much more efficient than electrical and gas ovens.

• Conserve water — Water conservation is much more effective than trying to be your own rainwater collector or gray water re-user. Come up with ways to use less water before investigating the cost of putting in a rainwater collection system. Low-flow showerheads, front-loading washing machines, ultra-low-flow toilets, drought-tolerant landscaping — those things alone can save you 5,000-10,000 gallons a month.

For more tips on how to retrofit your home, go to Green Right Now.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Frustrated trying to find natural products at boutique nurseries and big-box retailers that have a patchy selection of organic products and whose sales staff don’t know much about them? Try finding a local feed and seed store. Many stock just what you’re looking for. Why? Because organic farmers use an array of organics and also because farming has a long history of employing natural treatments. How do you think they got things to grow down on the farm before all those chemical concoctions were created? So here’s a list of useful landscape products we found at our local feed store:

1 – Chicken Manure – It may be poop, but it’s a premium fertilizer that’s higher in nitrogen than cow manure. However, because it’s so rich, it can burn plants. Organic gardeners recommend composting it first. Dairy cow manure is less rich and can be spread around and used as a top dressing on lawns and beds. For the straight poop on this topic see this excellent article: Manure Matters by organic gardener and author Marion Owen at PlanTea.com.

2 – Cottonseed Meal – Also a good nitrogen feed for lawn or gardens and it won’t burn turf, even if it’s liberally applied. It also supplies phosphoric acid and potash. No room to ruminate about those ingredients here. Suffice it to say that they’re nutrients your grass needs. One downside, because cotton is notoriously pesticide-heavy crop, this can contain pesticide residues.

3 – Alfalfa Meal – Another nitrogen source. Good for working into beds and amending soil when planting. For a comparison chart on organic fertilizers, see Rodale’s All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.

4 – Corn Gluten – The gold standard among organic gardeners for pre-emergent weed treatments. Some people also use it as a fertilizer. It comes in flake and granule form. You’ll pay more for granule, but it will stay put better too. For more info on why and how corn gluten meal works see the corn gluten website at Iowa State University, the leader in developing this natural weed fighter.

5 – Liquid Seaweed – Where’s a rich source of nutrients? Oh yeah, the oceans! Dilute and use as a foliar feed. Also works diluted in a couple gallons of water as a perk-me-up for flowering plants and shrubs. Cousin is Kelp Meal, considered a good soil conditioner.

6 – Expanded Shale – Not everyone needs this, but if you do need it, you need it badly. Expanded shale in tiny pebble form helps break up hard, clay soil, improving the drainage and aeration for plants. This rock also soaks up extra moisture and then releases it when the surrounding soil is dry, a minor miracle not to be celebrated in hot climates.

7 – Green Sand – A green-blue sand for “greening” and fortifying flowering plants and vegetables with potash. It’s rich because it’s derived from marine sediment rock. Also effective in loosening clay soils.

8 — Molasses – Don’t get organic gardeners started on this topic, they have a zillion versions of how to mix and use it, perhaps because the bag comes with instructions for feeding livestock, leaving open the question of garden applications. We say just a dab, like two or three spoonfuls does great things in a watering can. Molasses also works as a soil amendment, raising the level of microbe activity. Sweet.

For more information on organic gardening and green living, go to Green Right Now.

Copyright © 2007-2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The Ethisphere Institute, publisher of the quarterly Ethisphere magazine, has announced a list of what it calls the “Global Sustainability Centers of 2020.” Listing 10 large and 10 mid-sized cities (a population of 600,000 was the dividing line), the report honors municipalities who have built “strong and principled foundations” and long-term city planning. While environmental and sustainability considerations are listed first among the criteria, they weren’t the only factors considered; the think tank also evaluated quality-of-life issues like arts and education, transportation, and business planning.

Large Cities

• Toronto, Canada — Population: 2,480,000
• Singapore, Singapore — Population: 4,600,000
• Hyberabad, India — Population: 9,200,000
• Cape Town, South Africa — Population: 2,480,000
• Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — Population: 1,400,000
• New York City, United States — Population: 8,200,000
• London, United Kingdom — Population: 7,400,000
• Melbourne, Australia — Population: 3,592,000
• Curitiba, Brazil — Population: 1,800,000
• Frankfurt, Germany — Population: 660,000

Mid-Sized Cities

• Copenhagen, Denmark — Population: 509,000
• Doha, Qatar — Population: 339,000
• Edinburgh, United Kingdom — Population: 430,000
• Helsinki, Finland –  Population: 564,000
• Oslo, Norway — Population: 560,000
• Portland, United States — Population: 568,000
• Reykjavik, Iceland — Population: 115,000
• Victoria, Canada — Population: 78,000
• Wellington, New Zealand — Population: 190,500
• Rotterdam, The Netherlands — Population: 596,000

For more on the report, go to Green Right Now.

With the eco news streaming like ticker tape from the big office stores this year, we thought it would be an easy assignment to find what we needed in recycled versions. We were surprised that this was not the case. The stores we sampled (Office Depot, Office Max and Target) offered only a handful of green notebooks and non-toxic pens. However, online, even the Big Box stores that had failed us in person had the environmentally good goods. Read about the full findings at Green Right Now:

OFFICE DEPOT

• Recycled Index Cards (pack of 500 $2.89).
• Foray Recycled Groundwood Construction Paper (9 x 12 colors, pack of 50, $1.49).
• Office Depot Brand College Ruled Filler paper, pack of 100, (50 percent recycled content with minimum of 30 percent post consumer content; $2.49 each).
• Costa Rica Natural Banana Paper Recycled Notebook (2-subject; 70 sheets, $5.99).
• Banana Paper notebook is made of 100 percent post-consumer waste – it doesn’t get any more responsible than that – in Nicaragua using some banana waste and local labor. Shipping zaps a little of its low-impact appeal, but Nicaragua isn’t much farther than South Dakota from where we reside. Another green notebook offered is the New Leaf 100 percent Think & Smile Postconsumer Recycled Notebook (80 sheets, $5.99; pictured) with nifty bird and tree graphic designs on the cover. Pricing on both notebooks is steep, perhaps due to economies of scale?
• For tadpoles the Office Depot website offers the 70-sheet Foray Recycled Newsprint Writing Tablet with a 1″ Rule ($2.19)
• Pens? We finally found ‘em. Zebra is the brand to look for here. They make pens from plastic casings from old car headlights and compact discs and from plastic shopping bags ($15.59 for a dozen).

STAPLES

• Staples has really been pushing their green side, with ink cartridge recycling programs and recycled office papers (which are becoming requisite at all office stores) so we expected them to have the goods. They came through with this Mead Five Star Spiral 3-subject, college ruled notebook. It’s a familiar brand and it’s composed of 50 percent post-consumer material ($7.99 ).

• We also found Staples College Ruled Filler Paper, a 400-count batch at a good price ($3.19 on sale) and the same Zebra pens made of 75 percent recycled material we found at Office Depot and for a slightly better price ($14.99 for a dozen in black ink).

• Both of these were listed as Eco-Easy products on the online store, but we were unclear what Staples means by that. Some Eco-Easy products are simply non-toxic, say pens with water-based or soy inks; the site didn’t explain the eco-friendliness of “Eco-Easy” paper but talked generally about how “eco-smart” products save resources.

• To help customers find items made of recycled materials, Staples uses the universal recycling symbol. So if you’re looking for either non-toxic or what might be called lower impact products, or recycled items, use the “Eco Easy” index online. We used it to find, for instance, low-odor Sharpies, which are better for kids.

• One new cool new green item at Staples turned up in our browsing, the recycled rubber bulletin board. The blurb claims it won’t crumble like cork, that’s green and it’s available in brown or black ($54.99).

OFFICE MAX

• We didn’t have great luck finding recycled school supplies here. A search for “recycled notebooks” turned up a lone 60-page steno pad. Pretty disappointing. Not willing to give up, we continued to poke around the website, finding recycled paper for printers, (but all the office stores carry that) and recycled Post It notes.

• Max has recycled pencils by Paper Mate Earthwrite, made from reclaimed wood rendered in a simple #2 pencil (12-pack for $1.09). Hurrah! But not enough to build an order around.

• The 1-inch EcoVue binder made by Aurora out of recycled plastic (no VOCs to worry about).

PROGRESSIVE KID

• New Leaf’s 120-sheet, 3-subject notebook, made of100 percent post-consumer recycled material ($6.99), is a good value measured against similar notebooks we saw.

• You’ll also find neat stuff not available elsewhere like this metal sandwich box. Sturdy, reusable, non-leaching ($24.99).

• The Spider Relocator is for brave parents modeling empathy and intent on saving insect-eating arachnids. Who knew?

For more reviews of online school supplies, read the full report at Green Right Now.

Pushed by the dwindling prospects for fossil fuels, the auto industry is undergoing changes not seen since the days of Henry Ford. Today’s innovators aren’t just looking to gear up production, they’re trying to dial back energy use, and that’s produced a bumper crop of wild and wacky (and some not so wacky) concept cars.

Here are eight of our favorites:

• Air Car — It would cost less to manufacture (and buy), less to maintain, less to fuel and there would be no emissions. The makers of this car, Air Car Factories, are either on drugs or they’ve seized the Holy Grail. Their car would run on compressed air collected by see-saw devices on the road. Each car would be refueled through regenerative driving. The Barcelona-based company expects to begin with electric models, until testing is completed on the Air Car. A green dream? We hope it’s a reality.
• Nike ONE — That’s right. This is a car designed by a shoe maker. It doesn’t much look like a shoe. More like…nothing you’ve seen before. The car is intended to be “athletic.” No joke. “An athlete training to drive the Nike ONE uses a physical resistance simulator, that mimics the vehicle’s controls, along with the digital simulation within GT4 to train their muscles and mind for specific tracks and competition scenarios,” explains Phil Frank, lead designer, who said his team was inspired by the principals of Nike founder Bill Bowerman. The long term plan is that any moment by the driver would be converted into electricity through nanotechnology using a “Spark Suit.” Frank calls it “the ultimate in convergent technologies.” We agree.
• Toyota Fine-S/ Fine-N — These aerodynamic hydrogen fuel cell cars would employ motors in the wheels, thereby opening up space in the cabin for passengers. The designs have been out for a while. No word on when such a car could be in production.
• Honda Puyo — Honda has already hit the road with a hydrogen vehicle, the FCX Clarity, a few select models of which are being test driven by celebs in California. The concept Puyo, though, still seems from another planet. This hydrogen fuel cell car actually glows in the dark, not due to any radioactive fuel on board, but because the body is luminescent to enhance maneuverability. But that’s just where the fun begins. The whole Puyo concept is to produce a cuddly car. “‘PUYO’ is a Japanese onomatopoeia that expresses the sensation of touching the vehicle’s soft body. It is meant to convey a warm, friendly impression,” Honda reports. Looks cool too.
• Chevy Volt — This much discussed plug-in is expected to be available by the end of 2010. GM promises that its lithium-ion battery will allow it to run around 40 miles on a single charge – without using any gasoline. Past 40 miles, the engine will be able to use gasoline or ethanol working along with the battery. Unlike some of the cars on this list, the Volt appears very close to production, and no wonder, GM has assigned more than 200 engineers and 50 designers to the project.
• Nissan Pivo2 — The electric Pivo 2 is not just a car, it’s an “intelligent life form design,” which means…we’re not sure what. But there is a “Robotic Agent” on the dashboard, a sort of alien friend who talks to you. The car is intended to be more like a living creature and less driven by mechanical design. One problem, though, while this three-seater can twirl 360-degrees, it’s not easy to envision a successful double date in this mini-car, unless one in the party is content atop the cabin.
• Saab BioPower100 — This turbo-charged sedan would use 100 percent biofuel in a production 2.0 liter engine, which with modifications, could produce a surprising 300 hp. The car debuted at the Geneva show in 2007. The concept explores maximizing power within an environmentally responsible vehicle.
• Toyota RiN — This literally green car remains shrouded in mystery as to how it’s green, that is, how it will be powered. Toyota has much to say, however, about how the car will work to improve passengers’ awareness of their natural surroundings, improve their posture and overall health. The car’s “meter cluster” would change colors depending on your mood, which would presumably be more “serene” in this car. And…it’s cool looking.

For more on green cars, go to Green Right Now.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Related lists:

• Worst Cars Since 1990
• Most Expensive Cars to Drive
• Most Expensive Car Options
• Least Expensive Cars to Drive
• AutoWeek’s 2008 Paris Motor Show Winners
• Best Sports Cars of 2009
• Top Fuel-Efficient Sports Cars

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The Jewish Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, formed in 1993 and now representing 29 national Jewish organizations, offers extensive information and lists of experts to help Jewish groups become better environmental stewards, including an online guide for individuals and synagogues called Lo-Watt Shabbat.

Lo-Watt Shabbat doesn’t mess around, but gets right to the specifics, asking Jews to consider eating less meat, to replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs and to use beeswax candles, instead of those made with petro-chemicals, to help stem greenhouse gases.

During Shabbat, Jews “are asked to slow down and remind ourselves that we are part of God’s creation.” It is a good time to practice conservation and “understand where our water, food and electricity come from,” according to the document.

Lo-Watt Shabbat suggests these tips:

• Move your thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two in summer – save about $98 a year and 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide

• Take shorter showers

• Run the washer only when the load is full

• Use natural light, open blinds and drapes to warm your home naturally; do the opposite to cool your house

• Use non-toxic Shabbat candles made of beeswax, which do not use petrochemicals

• Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs

• Walk, ride a bike or rollerblade as you participate in community activities on Shabbat

• Eat outside, but use recyclable or paper plates, not Styrofoam

• Use cloth napkins instead of paper

• Decorate your Shabbat table with decorations made from recyclable material such as magazines

• Consumer less meat and increase vegetarian servings (Almost one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions come from raising animals for food, according to a UN Report.)

• Buy organic or locally grown food (because it doesn’t use petroleum based fertilizers).

• Run an outdoor service

• Invite an elected official, scientist or Rabbi knowledgeable about the environment to speak during a service or Oneg Shabbat.

For more, go to Green Right Now.

Source: Green Right Now

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media