Green Options

Total, a French oil company, recently agreed to give the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $4 million for a 5-year research project to develop stationary batteries that can more efficiently store solar energy.

More efficient energy storage has been a difficult issue for scientists to crack. It is a major issue preventing more widespread use of renewable energy, and solar energy in particular.

Is this project, one funded by a true oil giant, the one that will make it happen?

From bicycle lovers to lovers on bikes, bike art to art on bikes, the largest bicycle sharing program in the world to some of the smallest bikers, enjoy this bicycle city photo tour of Paris, France!

Paris doesn’t have a long history as one of the best bicycle cities, but with the introduction of the largest bicycle sharing program in the world, bicycling in Paris has boomed and the city is becoming commonly associated with the bicycle now. Its whole culture is changing due to the bicycle’s increasing relevance in the city’s daily life.

With the numerous distressing stories on the plight of so many species, its heartening to hear of a positive development in one of the largest cities in Europe.

A century ago the Seine, which flows from the north of France, through Paris to the English Channel, hosted a large flourishing population of Atlantic salmon. The salmon migrated from the sea to their freshwater birth place to reproduce from December to June every year.

Batucada is a hot new brand offering eco-plastic jewelry from Paris. “Neither rubber nor silicone, the silkier, more durable formulation is eco-friendly certified, manufactured accordingly and packaged in recycled in paper. Go from the morning surf to afternoon spin class to an evening out– and never do away with jewelry. Wear it tight against the skin for a tattoo effect.” ~aplusrstore.com

These lovely eco accessories are designed to connect two bracelets to form a choker or to strap one around your ankle.

In Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the most prestigious avenue in Paris, France, famous for its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, cigarette butts sit at the streets. When the authorities here banned smoking inside cafes, little did they know they were creating another hazard: the wanton disposal of cigarette butts, propelled mainly by the absence of public ashtrays.

When smokers toss away cigarette butts onto street pavements or out into the open landscape, little do they know how much damage that can inflict onto the environment. Apart from harm to the environment, many minors tend to experiment with smoking on cigarette butts which makes it all the more important to dispose them away properly.

Environmentally-Friendly Car Service is the New Black

A new Parisian company called Verture would like you to take a green turn away from your standard taxi service. If you’re tired of uncourteous service, an invasive musical environment, torn seats and an overwhelming sense of guilt for the 3.5 minutes you just stood still in bumper-to-bumper traffic, then Venture is for you.

Venture’s fleet of all black hybrid electric/gas Toyota Prius offer similar prices to regular taxi fare, without the regular hassles. Flat screens, TV’s, DVD players, IPod hook-ups, a laptop with Internet access, a baby seat and a universal battery for recharging your must-haves are just a few of the accoutrements that Venture has to offer. And how ’bout those carbon neutral journeys? The Toyota Prius emits 1/2 the carbon dioxide of a regular car, and Venture works with Climat Mundi to offset the miniscule amounts of carbon dioxide that do manage to slip out to fund international eco-projects. 

 Oh-là là Organic

Have you ever rolled around in dew-kissed blades of grass in a haute couture ballgown made out of organic muslin with the prince, or princess, of your most intimate dreams? Well, I haven’t either- but I plan to, and when I do, I will be wearing a perfume by Honoré des Prés. Composed of five different scents, each one more evocative than the next, Honoré des Prés is the first 100% natural, organic French perfume to hit the American market.

Have style, will travel: I ♥ Lumi Yoga Bags 

I used to have a yoga bag that I was pretty proud of. It was shaped like a hot dog, with a drawstring opening and a comfy shoulder strap and it made me look like a hunter with a bouquet of arrows on my back. The problem was, I couldn’t find a darn thing in it. Everything sunk to

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 Traveler, painter, and a mean hand with a sewing machine, Chantal began practicing Yoga in Miami and went on to study Iyengar yoga with Vladimir Ferrerio Gonzalez while she lived in Havana as the Hampshire College Cuba Program Coordinator. She is currently teaching yoga at the Centre de Yoga du Marais in Paris, while continuing her studies under Rod Stryker in the Tantric Hatha lineage to complete her Para Yoga certification.

Here, Chantal talks with us about the difference between Miami and Parisian mindsets, the eternal debate over audible sighs, and how to get your hubby to come to a yoga class. 

How did you come to teach yoga? What else might you be doing if you weren’t a yoga teacher?

I  worked at the front desk of Prana Yoga in Miami off and on between college and traveling/working in Cuba. I had just come back from Cuba and my cousin was leading the teacher training at Prana Yoga. I had always wanted to do it, and it just seemed like the next step.

If I weren’t teaching yoga, I would be teaching something else. Probably painting or working with disabled children and teens. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but “yoga teacher” was not always the image I conjured up as I played “teacher” with my imaginary students. My make-believe took place in the form of detention with forms and grades, not straps, blankets or blocks.

Did you always follow a vegetarian diet, or did you go veggie when you discovered yoga?

When I was younger, my mom didn’t eat any red meat or anything with bones in it except for fish, which I never liked.  I learned first about veganism, then vegetarianism while I was in college learning about the planet and how much waste goes into the whole “raising of animals for human consumption” thing. It just seemed that it was more logical to eat closer to the earth.

 What’s up with all those bikes?

If you’ve been to Paris in the last year and a half and you didn’t spend your entire visit slugging back Côtes du Rhône and camembert, you might remember having seen a whole lot of bikes. Like, loads and loads of them. Huge, industrial looking, cumbersome, with standard metal baskets? These curious contraptions belong to a new form of transportation known as the Vélib. A combination of “vélo” (bike), and “liberté”, (freedom), the Vélib offers tourists and locals just that: bikes and freedom. 

The Green Way to see Paris

As long as you have a credit card or an ATM card (is anyone still using traveler’s checks these days?) you can rent a bike for a day, a week, even for a year! The way it works is this:  

The French government announced today that it has earmarked a massive €400 million ($549 million) in state support for the development of electric and hybrid cars.