By Paul Smith •
May 7, 2009
With so many sources of information on sustainability and green living choices, you’d think it would be easy for you and me to live a greener lifestyle. And yet, how many times have you found yourself out there, doing errands, going out, or traveling, and you have no idea how and where to make greener choices?
3rdWhale is a bridge between talk and action, with an iPhone app that allows you to search for green businesses in proximity to you, plus submit your own finds that aren’t already on there, all listings filtered by 3rd Whale and then rated by users, ala Yelp. An Android version is on its way.
But here’s where it gets interesting: As seen first in Mother Nature Network 3rd Whale are joining forces with Creative Citizen, a hub for crowdsourced, specifically measurable sustainable choices. Each is broken down to how much energy, waste, water, emissions you’ve saved, and in what I think will help it bridge to a broader segment of the population, money. When you have this kind of clearly tangible benefit laid out for you, and it’s on something that you carry with you, action is much for likely.
By Paul Smith •
April 16, 2009
As the auto industry as we know it continues to crumble, a new model is emerging out of the Netherlands, known currently as c,mm,n. Open source design has proven itself successful in a number of arenas from software to restaurants. But a car? Yes, one where the design will be made available to the public, with the provision that their design be likewise made open to the public to do their own revisions and modifications on it.
Even with yesterday’s stock market rally, we’ve all got the economy on our minds… and, for the most part, we’re worrying about it. Our retirement accounts are shrinking, our jobs are less secure, and buying or selling a home seems like a fantasy. An injection of cash into the markets is welcome; an injection of new ideas is absolutely critical.
As I’ve noted in previous [...]
Just over two weeks ago, we announced the Red, Green and Blue/ReframeIt scavenger hunt for details and background on Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s energy and environmental policy proposals. Then the economy went to hell… so we’re offering a little economic stimulus of our own.
By Autumn Wiggins •
July 20, 2008
He deserves it more than your boyfriend, and you don’t have to worry about the dreaded break-up curse.
Al Gore has been all over the airwaves recently proposing a challenge for America to eradicate the use of fossil fuels by 2018. I’m picking up what he’s putting down. It’s like dealing with that friend who’s always late by telling them to meet you 15 minutes earlier than when you plan to arrive.
Alternative energy is the top priority of the environmental agenda, and rightly so. It slightly dwarfs the significance of making snow globes out of baby food jars. However, after we all start driving electric cars and installing affordable solar panels on our roofs, more intense focus will turn to how stuff is made, and I think green crafting is worthy of a slide or two on Mr. Gore’s next Power Point presentation. That is, if we can get his attention.
You may be thinking “Uh, Jeff, why are you asking? Just write about it!” Yeah, that’s how we’d normally do things here. I ask for a reason, though: we’re participating in an experiment in “community funded reporting” with Spot.us, a new journalism initiative in it’s very early stages.
Spot.us is the brainchild of David Cohn, aka DigiDave. The concept: “Spot Us’ is a nonprofit that allows an individual or group to take control of news in their community by sharing the cost (crowdfunding) to commission freelance journalists.” The project has been funded by a Knight Foundation “News Challenge” grant.
So, where do we come in? We’re going to be among the first publication venues to test the system out. We’ve agreed to ask for your support for an article by Wired.com staff writer Alexis Madrigal. The pitch:
California’s biofuels usage is expected to jump nearly 600 million gallons over the next couple of years, but the ethanol supply is already stretched to its limits. Almost all of California’s ethanol runs through a single terminal. If there were a disruption at that terminal — via accident or intent — the state’s gasoline infrastructure could grind to a halt. And even with that terminal, there are serious questions about whether the terminal could meet demand. (More details available at the Spot.us wiki)
With so many sources of information on sustainability and green living choices, you’d think it would be easy for you and me to live a greener lifestyle. And yet, how many times have you found yourself out there, doing errands, going out, or traveling, and you have no idea how and where to make greener choices?
