Green Options » Massachusetts http://greenoptions.com/tag/massachusetts Posts tagged 'Massachusetts' Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:37:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Wood-Gas Truck At Last Week’s One-Gallon Challenge http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/wood-gas-truck-at-last-weeks-one-gallon-challenge/ http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/wood-gas-truck-at-last-weeks-one-gallon-challenge/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:37:48 +0000 Christopher DeMorro http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/wood-gas-truck-at-last-weeks-one-gallon-challenge/

No doubt many of you have read or heard about David Nichol’s woodgas F-150. I came across it during a media hailstorm a few months ago (which has since petered out). But while I was doing research on the One-Gallon Challenge, I saw that David’s truck was going to be participating. I gathered up my camera and notepad and my best friend (who I sort of tricked into coming) and took the drive to Greenfield Mass. last Wednesday night to get a look at this truck, and other fuel-sippers in person.

I learned a whole lot more than I bargained for.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/wood-gas-truck-at-last-weeks-one-gallon-challenge/feed/ 7 Car Mods That Get 100 MPG Or More http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/7-car-mods-that-get-100-mpg-or-more/ http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/7-car-mods-that-get-100-mpg-or-more/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:41:10 +0000 Jerry James Stone http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/7-car-mods-that-get-100-mpg-or-more/ Hand-built, eco-modified, and wood-powered cars raced across the Bay State this weekend driving 100 miles on just a single gallon of fuel. Aptly named the One Gallon Challenge, the event was part of a four-day long festival in Boston that celebrated clean technologies. Welcome to GreenFest 2009!

Garage-Built Car Gets 105 MPG, Cost $2,500 To Build

Frustrated with the price of filling up his Toyota, Jory Squibb built the Moonbeam. It has been to the Altwheels Festival in Boston twice and has traveled over 10,000 miles. It is powered by a 150 cc gas engine and carries two passengers “if they are on good terms,” he says.

15 Students Turn A ‘76 Porsche Into A Fully Electric Car

The car was converted into a electric vehicle using 18 U-Charge® XP Lithium Phosphate batteries…and 15 MIT students. The electric version has similar driving performance to the original vehicle, with the added advantage of regenerative braking. It has a range of about 100 miles on a full charge.


Hybrid Trike Uses Diesel, Electric, And Pedal-Power

The Tri-Hybrid Stealth is a two seat, 3-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a diesel engine, an electric motor and the driver’s legs. For reals. It’s also the first hybrid trike to offer exclusive hand controls and an automated extendable seat for handicapped drivers.

Biomass Powered Truck Runs On Wood And Cardboard

Dave Nichols , a 42-year-old home builder and auto shop owner from eastern Connecticut, modified his 1989 Ford F-150 pickup truck to run on wood, leaves, cardboard and other “biomass” with a fuel system that he says expels virtually no pollution. Dave’s entry was the only truck in the competition.

Diesel-Powered Trike Built Almost Entirely Of Aluminum

The super-light Roopod, built by an Industrial Designer from western Massachusetts, is powered by a 2-cylinder diesel engine. Inspiration for the car came when he realized his V-dub weighed 3,000 pounds. “For every gallon of gas that I put in, 90 percent of it is being used to drive the car, and 10 percent to drive me, and that’s just stupid,’’ he said.

Three-Wheeled Green Grand Prix Winner

Built by Bill Buchholz, the Dirigo is a three-wheeled diesel two passenger vehicle that has a top speed of 72mph and does 0-60 about 30 seconds. It recently won its class in the Green Grand Prix, averaging 90 MPG. Um, can you tell it was designed by boat builders?

Gaia, The 300 MPG Trike

Built by Ken Fry, he says the vehicle will deliver 300 mpge with an electric range of about 30 miles and a top-speed of 90 mph. How? Well the car only weighs 540 pounds.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/08/24/7-car-mods-that-get-100-mpg-or-more/feed/ The One-Gallon Challenge; 100 miles on a gallon of gas http://gas2.org/2009/08/17/the-one-gallon-challenge-100-miles-on-a-gallon-of-gas/ http://gas2.org/2009/08/17/the-one-gallon-challenge-100-miles-on-a-gallon-of-gas/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:46:16 +0000 Christopher DeMorro http://gas2.org/2009/08/17/the-one-gallon-challenge-100-miles-on-a-gallon-of-gas/

Global warming. Climate change. The greatest threat to continued human survival. The rhetoric these days can be awfully scary regarding new energy and oil. Sometimes it feels like we’ve all been doomed already by a hyper-active media always looking for the “next big story” to terrify us with. But I don’t really take anything seriously, so I am always on the lookout for a fun twist on a real problem.

What could be fun about climate change, you ask? Well, besides the fact that my home might end up as beach front property one day if we don’t mend our sins, how about a race? One that challenges contestants to go 100 miles on a single gallon of gas? That is the goal of the One-Gallon Challenge, where six contestants and their very different vehicles have to make the journey from Greenfield, MA to Boston in three hours using as little fuel as possible.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/08/17/the-one-gallon-challenge-100-miles-on-a-gallon-of-gas/feed/ Weatherizing the Nation: States to Receive Recovery Act Funding http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/07/07/weatherizing-the-nation-states-to-receive-recovery-act-funding/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/07/07/weatherizing-the-nation-states-to-receive-recovery-act-funding/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:41:14 +0000 Ruedigar Matthes http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/07/07/weatherizing-the-nation-states-to-receive-recovery-act-funding/

Oh! The weather outside [can be] frightful, which is why Stephen Chu of the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday that 7 states (Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire) will be the recipients of more than $288 million dollars, which will be put toward weatherization projects.

The funds will go toward weatherization projects benefiting more than 91,000 homes. And with the money and subsequent weatherization comes lower energy costs for low-income families that need it, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and creation of green jobs across the country - all part of the Obama administration’s green vision.

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]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/07/07/weatherizing-the-nation-states-to-receive-recovery-act-funding/feed/ Massachusetts Scouting for Wind Power Sites to Meet Goal http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/15/massachusetts-scouting-for-wind-power-sites-to-meet-goal/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/15/massachusetts-scouting-for-wind-power-sites-to-meet-goal/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:04:24 +0000 Dave Tyler http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/15/massachusetts-scouting-for-wind-power-sites-to-meet-goal/ State officials are looking for unique ways to boost the number of wind turbins in Massachusetts, citing this turbine on Jiminy Peak as an example

The state of Massachusetts is hunting for unusual places to put wind turbines as it looks to meet an ambitious goal of producing 2,000 megawatts of windpower by 2020.

The Associated Press reports that state officials are encouraging municipal planners to look at using capped landfills as potential wind farm locations. Plans were also just announced for a military reservation on Cape Cod.

The state is hoping to jump start development, because right now, the AP reports, there are only 11 commercial scale turbines in the state. But, ther are dozens of smaller ones installed and nearly 200 other projects in various stages of planning.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/15/massachusetts-scouting-for-wind-power-sites-to-meet-goal/feed/ Put Down the Books, Pick Up the Caulking Guns http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/19/put-down-the-books-pick-up-the-caulking-guns/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/19/put-down-the-books-pick-up-the-caulking-guns/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 18:53:29 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/19/put-down-the-books-pick-up-the-caulking-guns/ MIT Sloan School of Management Dean David Schmittlein uses caulk to seal up the windows in E52 to help conserve energy. (Photo credit, Sarah Foote, MIT)Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management do more than study issues like carbon footprints and energy consumption … they’re ready to tackle such subjects hands-on.

That’s what a group of students, faculty and staff did last week when they put down their laptops and picked up some caulking guns.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/19/put-down-the-books-pick-up-the-caulking-guns/feed/ MIT Students Win Grant to Deliver Off-Grid Solar Power http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/15/mit-students-win-grant-to-deliver-off-grid-solar-power/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/15/mit-students-win-grant-to-deliver-off-grid-solar-power/#comments Fri, 15 May 2009 17:52:29 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/15/mit-students-win-grant-to-deliver-off-grid-solar-power/ STG International, MIT)Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have won one of six U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants for economically sustainable programs that protect the environment.

Launched by doctoral candidates Amy Mueller and Matt Orosz, the MIT project aims to bring cheap and eco-friendly energy to parts of the world that are now off the grid. The focus of their efforts: Lesotho, in southern Africa, where many people now get their energy from highly polluting diesel generators.

The students’ alternative comes in the form of solar energy. Not the expensive, photovoltaic-dependent kind, but the affordable and easy-to-harness concentrating solar kind. Their energy generator uses a parabolic trough to concentrate the sun’s energy to heat water to provide steam energy as well as hot water.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/15/mit-students-win-grant-to-deliver-off-grid-solar-power/feed/ Connecticut and Massachusetts Could Get EV Charging Network http://gas2.org/2009/04/09/connecticut-and-massachusetts-could-get-ev-charging-network/ http://gas2.org/2009/04/09/connecticut-and-massachusetts-could-get-ev-charging-network/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:36:02 +0000 Dave Tyler http://gas2.org/2009/04/09/connecticut-and-massachusetts-could-get-ev-charging-network/

Hey, hold on a just a minute Chicago, San Francisco and Portland. Connecticut and Massachusetts want in on your race to be the country’s EV hotbed.

Northeast Utilities wants to build a 575-outlet EV charging system in the Nutmeg and Bay States, The Hartford Courant says. The pilot project would take two years to complete and the outlets would be built at private homes, businesses and public spots. Total cost: $1.4 million, helped out by a $694,000 federal grant.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/04/09/connecticut-and-massachusetts-could-get-ev-charging-network/feed/ 1/4th of World’s Atlantic Right Whales Gather Off Cape Cod http://ecoworldly.com/2009/03/29/14th-of-worlds-atlantic-right-whales-gather-off-cape-cod/ http://ecoworldly.com/2009/03/29/14th-of-worlds-atlantic-right-whales-gather-off-cape-cod/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:27:40 +0000 Jake Richardson http://ecoworldly.com/2009/03/29/14th-of-worlds-atlantic-right-whales-gather-off-cape-cod/ whale and calf

There are only about 325 North Atlantic right whales left in the world, and approximately 80 of them have assembled in the waters near Cape Cod.

They have come together to feed on an unusually huge population of zooplankton. The whales normally follow zooplankton from Canada as they are moved with ocean currents down to the Massachusetts coast. This year the extra numbers of zooplankton are attracting a record congregation of North Atlantic rights, which are one of the most endangered species in the world.

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]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2009/03/29/14th-of-worlds-atlantic-right-whales-gather-off-cape-cod/feed/ Changents Teams Up with Down2Earth to Promote Grass Roots Action for a Greener Boston http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/03/13/changents-teams-up-with-down2earth-to-promote-grass-roots-action-for-a-greener-boston/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/03/13/changents-teams-up-with-down2earth-to-promote-grass-roots-action-for-a-greener-boston/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:40:19 +0000 Tom Schueneman http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/03/13/changents-teams-up-with-down2earth-to-promote-grass-roots-action-for-a-greener-boston/ The City of Boston and Down2Earth, a sustainable living expo coming to the city this April 3rd through 5th, have teamed with Changents.com to help the final nine semi-finalists tell their story and get backers for their ideas as they compete for first price in the “Pitch the City” contest.

Changents is a truly innovative online platform where individuals and grass roots organizations can grow, nurture and expand their own mission for change and is uniquely suited to the task.

I first spoke with Changents co-founder Deron Triff last July for a post in TriplePundit.com called How to Be a Rock Star Agent of Change.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/03/13/changents-teams-up-with-down2earth-to-promote-grass-roots-action-for-a-greener-boston/feed/ Boston Teen Files Bill to Ban ‘Debarking’ of Cats and Dogs http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/02/04/boston-teen-files-bill-to-ban-debarking-of-cats-and-dogs/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/02/04/boston-teen-files-bill-to-ban-debarking-of-cats-and-dogs/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:15:36 +0000 Andrew Williams http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/02/04/boston-teen-files-bill-to-ban-debarking-of-cats-and-dogs/

Fifteen-year-old Bostonian Jordan Star has emerged as the surprise driving force behind a bill to ban the cruel practice of ’surgically silencing’ cats and dogs by removing their vocal cords.

Star, a freshman at Needham High, decided to take action after coming across a dog that had been debarked and abandoned. “It was just horrible,” he said of the dog’s struggle to get his attention. “It was just like a hoarse, wheezy cough. In a shelter, all they are is a mutilated animal, which makes them harder to adopt.”

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]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/02/04/boston-teen-files-bill-to-ban-debarking-of-cats-and-dogs/feed/ New Site Finds Wind Energy Gold http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/31/new-site-finds-wind-energy-gold/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/31/new-site-finds-wind-energy-gold/#comments Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:07:12 +0000 Sean Sullivan http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/31/new-site-finds-wind-energy-gold/ Searching for renewable energy goldThere’s gold in them thar hills!

But to mine it you first must find it, and a revamped website now provides an extremely easy way to do just that. While all that glitters is indeed not gold, this precious resource is far more valuable – wind.

3Tier’s website tool FirstLook allows average Internet users to mine their neighborhoods for wind power potential. Users familiar with Google Maps will feel right at ease with the software, which offers wind assessment for all of North America. For those of us fooled by intentionally vague oil and gas ads, that region includes the US, Canada and Mexico.

Users can type in their town and state, and the site will direct a cursor to the spot. The wind prospector then zooms in for a more detailed view of the resource’s potential for that area.  For greater precision, coordinates can be fed into the search in lieu of a town or state. FirstLook essentially puts a push pin in the area of the user’s choice, providing detailed reports of wind resources at that site.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/31/new-site-finds-wind-energy-gold/feed/ Favorable Breezes for Cape Wind http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/17/favorable-breezes-for-cape-wind/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/17/favorable-breezes-for-cape-wind/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:02:34 +0000 Sean Sullivan http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/17/favorable-breezes-for-cape-wind/ Offshore Wind TurbineSomeday, the Cape Wind story will become a major Hollywood blockbuster.

Or at least a two-part television miniseries starring Ed Begley Jr. On the Discovery Channel.

The effort to build an offshore wind farm - it would be the US’s first - has thus far been a roller coaster ride for advocates and opponents alike.

If that movie is ever made, this Jan. 18 will occupy a turning point in the story’s script, the day the jury levees its verdict before a rapt courtroom. Here and now, the date stands as a milestone in the life of the Cape Wind drama, marking the release of the farm’s final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The report is an exhaustive seal of approval of sorts, the final official analysis of how the wind project would likely affect its environment.

The federal Minerals Management Service assembled the report, an 800-page tome touching on every aspect of the wind farm - from expected effects on local economies and energy supply to its influence on bat and bird populations.

Adverse effects according to the report, would be mostly negligible or minor with a few moderate effects expected.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/17/favorable-breezes-for-cape-wind/feed/ Massachusetts OKs 10% Wind Power Requirement http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/17/massachusetts-oks-10-wind-power-requirement/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/17/massachusetts-oks-10-wind-power-requirement/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:37:55 +0000 Timothy B. Hurst http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/17/massachusetts-oks-10-wind-power-requirement/ windy beach dunes

In the same week that the U.S. Interior Department released the long-awaited environmental impact statement of Cape Wind, the planned offshore wind farm near Cape Cod, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced a plan to get ten percent of the state’s energy from wind energy by 2020.

According to The Boston Globe ’s Green Blog, officials say the Massachusetts wind power target is intended to guide the incentives and policies made by state agencies. “It helps to motivate the bureaucracy,” said Ian Bowles, the secretary for energy and environmental affairs.

Bowles added that about one-tenth to one-quarter of the governor’s wind power target could be reached with municipal-scale projects, but that “Offshore wind is going to need to make up a substantial part of it.”

After Friday’s big news about Cape Wind, it seems the Governor’s plan should work out nicely. Cape Wind is expected to provide enough electricity for three quarters of the residents of the Cape and Islands, or, 800,000 homes.

Image: CC licensed by flickr user whyowhyowhyo
Hull is a little peninsula of a town on Massachusetts’ south shore. Small in stature, the community yet looms large in its renewable energy ambitions.  The town’s two turbines currently provide up to 20 percent of its electrical power. Adding four more towers would bring that to over 100 percent.

Hull has been model for communities hoping to take control of their own energy future and assume responsibility for climate change.

While the rush for real gold has been a romanticized part of our country’s history, it’s effects on the environment are an often untold story. Boom towns sprung up in the west and settlers flocked there as reports of gold filtered eastward. While many a prospector patiently panned for nuggets in streams and rivers, mining companies sprung up also, and with them came strip and hydraulic mining.

Gold Rush PosterThe wind resources communities and states are now seeking to mine all over the country couldn’t be a starker contrast to the gold sought after nearly 150 years ago. Wind power’s effects on the surrounding environment are counted in nature’s debit column; it provides a clean and renewable power source, replaces dirty fuels and stymies climate change.

Many boomtowns that were a symptom of the gold rush inevitably went bust as their nuggets dwindled. Wind power may ebb and flow at a given site, but will never disappear. Therein lies another value of this resource, the sustainable jobs that appear and remain with the wind towers.

3Tier’s improved site now offers individuals and communities a better tool with which to strike it rich for the environment and job creation.

3 turbines credit : Iberdrola Renewables NREL/DOE http://www.nrel.gov/data/pix/searchpix.cgi?getrec=40046&display_type=verbose&search_reverse=1

Gold Rush Poster http://flickr.com/photos/waterkant/249056739/

Prospector http://flickr.com/photos/tooliver/497511638/

Single Turbine insert http://flickr.com/photos/robyn-gallagher/232609277/

]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/17/massachusetts-oks-10-wind-power-requirement/feed/ Planning Underway for Boston GreenFest http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/10/planning-underway-for-boston-greenfest/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/10/planning-underway-for-boston-greenfest/#comments Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:08:36 +0000 Sean Sullivan http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/10/planning-underway-for-boston-greenfest/ logo for Boston GreenfestMark the date.

Planners and volunteers met yesterday to brainstorm for this year’s annual Boston GreenFest, a celebration and education of all things environmental. The fair at City Hall Plaza, which will take place Friday and Saturday this August 21 and 22, includes hundreds of exhibitors and sponsors and promises to be the greenest and fullest showing yet for the Massachusetts festival.

Bright, abundant sunshine and strong winds pervaded the city during the late-morning meeting, natural resources that seemed good omens for the summer festival and that will undoubtedly be featured in solar and wind power exhibits there.

The informal Boston GreenFest committee, comprised of occupations and talents as varied as insurance professional, fundraiser, student and community activist, discussed the character and message of the event, as well as its participants.

“The broadest scope possible is the answer,” said Dr. Karen Weber. “We believe the message has to get out in the broadest sense possible.”

Weber heads Foundation for a Green Future, the organization hosting Boston GreenFest.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/10/planning-underway-for-boston-greenfest/feed/ Prius Powers Home During Ice Storm http://gas2.org/2009/01/02/prius-powers-home-during-ice-storm/ http://gas2.org/2009/01/02/prius-powers-home-during-ice-storm/#comments Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:53:11 +0000 Susan Kraemer http://gas2.org/2009/01/02/prius-powers-home-during-ice-storm/ Ice Storm Victim Improvises Prius-to-Home Energy Generator

A Massachusetts man - faced with no power in the recent ice storm, powered up the family Prius to create electricity: The hybrid car made enough electricity to run the essentials; the fridge, the lights, the TV, the wood-stove fan. During the power outage, it supplied 17 Kilowatt hours of energy to his home for three days.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/01/02/prius-powers-home-during-ice-storm/feed/ The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Bees, Stimulus Checks, and Biodynamic Wine http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/19/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-bees-stimulus-checks-and-biodynamic-wine/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/19/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-bees-stimulus-checks-and-biodynamic-wine/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:21:11 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/19/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-bees-stimulus-checks-and-biodynamic-wine/ fireworks off Waikiki Beach, Hawaii2008 was a banner year for sustainablog, and we want to end it as strongly as we started.  So, for the next twelve days, I’ll take a look back at some of the best and most memorable posts from the past year.

Let me start off, though, by expressing my immense gratitude to all of the writers who contributed during 2008. This was our first full year as a multi-author blog, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way it turned out. Some of the writers I’ll mention have moved on; others on coming on board. I’m grateful for the inspiration you’ve all brought to the blog over the past year, and look forward with anticipation to what the new year brings us.

January 2008

Like New Year’s fireworks, January started off with a bang.  Here are a few great posts to remember:

  • Jason Phillip’s post on Chicago’s bottled water tax was one of our most popular ever… it’s still getting pageviews!
  • Maria Surma Manka wrote a very thorough (and also very popular) review of Scientific American’s “Solar Grand Plan.”
  • I took a look at an innovative South African whose developed a low-cost, high-yield method of generating energy from chicken poop.

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    ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/19/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-bees-stimulus-checks-and-biodynamic-wine/feed/ Meet Ben: A One-Boy Recycling Industry http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/12/11/meet-ben-a-one-boy-recycling-industry/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/12/11/meet-ben-a-one-boy-recycling-industry/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:33:28 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/12/11/meet-ben-a-one-boy-recycling-industry/ Marcello Casal Jr/Agância Brasil at Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons license)Here’s a heart-warming story about a great kid with an eco-conscience: “Recycle Boy to the Rescue.”

    Featured on the blog at Modern Eco Homes, the story describes how a young boy in the Boston area has become a one-kid recycling industry.

    Ben, a fifth-grader, spends his post-school afternoons and weekends bicycling around his neighborhood in search of bottles and cans. He’s become such a regular sight in the area that some residents put out all their recyclables in their backyards until Ben can come and pick them up.

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    ]]>     http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/12/11/meet-ben-a-one-boy-recycling-industry/feed/     Project FROG Unveils Zero-Energy, Quick-to-Build Classroom of the Future http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/12/project-frog-unveils-zero-energy-quick-to-build-classroom-of-the-future/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/12/project-frog-unveils-zero-energy-quick-to-build-classroom-of-the-future/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:02:12 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/12/project-frog-unveils-zero-energy-quick-to-build-classroom-of-the-future/ //www.projectfrog.com/)When the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo opens in Boston next week, many members of the public will get their first glimpse of Project FROG’s revolutionary, zero-energy and fast-deploying FROG Zero classroom.

    Based in San Francisco, Project FROG plans to showcase the FROG Zero structure in Greenbuild’s “School of the Future” exhibit.

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    ]]>     http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/12/project-frog-unveils-zero-energy-quick-to-build-classroom-of-the-future/feed/     Contest Proves Clotheslines Can be Cool http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/16/contest-proves-clotheslines-can-be-cool/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/16/contest-proves-clotheslines-can-be-cool/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:49:51 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/16/contest-proves-clotheslines-can-be-cool/ BrokenSphere at Wikimedia Commons under a GNU Free Documentation license.)Yes, drying laundry outdoors is becoming acceptable, even desirable, again. So it was only a matter of time before creative green types started looking for something more attractive than a commercially produced metal drying rack or plain old rope clothesline.

    That’s why Groton, Massachusetts, resident Katharine Bell came up with the idea for a Clothesline Design Contest. The Groton Grange and Groton Local, a group that promotes sustainable living, ran with it, and the contest ended up 20 entries, including one from Australia.

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    ]]>     http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/16/contest-proves-clotheslines-can-be-cool/feed/