Green Options

In the constant push for ever newer and greener technology and energy, we sometimes forget that it is often both simpler and cheaper to revisit old techniques in new ways. And that’s exactly what a group of researchers in California has done.

We paid a visit recently to one of my favourite toy stores in the whole world, Hot Toads.  The physical store itself isn’t all that impressive — it’s a small, concrete-floored basement room in a medical building, with sparsely-stocked wooden shelves, draped with puppets and stuffed toys hanging by clothespins from simple lines strung across the room.  The back wall features a working 10-foot long model train table made entirely out of Lego.

But it’s not about the decor — it’s what they carry that makes this place special.  Plan Toys.  HaPe.  Schylling.  Plastic toys made from recycled milk jugs.  Non-toxic wooden toys.  Toys intended to enrich the mind and body of your children, not just feed into consumerism and branding.

And for me, it is a local store, within driving distance, right here in Atlantic Canada.  Unfortunately for my American friends reading this, while they do take online orders, Hot Toads only delivers within Canada.  Sorry, eh?

One of the many cool items they have is a line of large toy cars called E-Racers, from HaPe’s Bamboo Collection.  I had a nice chat with the fellow working there, and learned that apparently these were the first toys to be made from bamboo.  I was surprised that, while bamboo has been used for clothes, cutlery and dinnerware, flooring and even wallpaper for some time, the idea of bamboo toys was still relatively new.

He also filled me in on a fact I had previously been unaware of.  Of course, bamboo is the new golden child of the eco movement: it grows easily and quickly without pesticides, and is therefore a readily renewable resource with low environmental impact.  Bamboo wood is attractive and sturdy, and bamboo cloth is soft and has natural antibacterial properties.  As worldwide consumer demand for bamboo has increased dramatically in recent years, some companies have taken to clear-cutting hardwood forests in order to make room for bamboo plantations.  And despite bamboo’s rapid growth, difficulty in seed propagation combined with over-harvesting has even threatened some species to near-extinction.

Ugh.

PLA stands for polylactic acid, which is a biodegradable polyester fiber made from renewable resources like corn starch or sugar cane.  The amazing PLA fiber is used to make everything from food packaging to batting. This relatively inexpensive fiber is a great eco-alternative in the craft world for conventional polyester fiber fill.

Although PLA fibers are biodegradable, it is important to note you can’t just toss them to the side of the road or put them in a land fill.  The FAQ site for Ingeo™, the trademark name for PLA made by NatureWorks LLC, states the PLA products can be physically recycled, industrially composted, incinerated, or chemically converted back to lactic acid through hydrolis.  Ingeo™ is actually classified as compostable rather than biodegradable in the US.

The $700 billion bail out bill the House of Representatives just passed — and President Bush signed — includes tax credits for solar, wind and biodiesel.

Yahoo! News reports:

“The legislation would extend for one year the production tax credit for wind energy, with an eight-year extension for investment tax credits for solar energy projects.

Buyers of plug-in electric cars would receive tax credits ranging from $2,500 to $7,500.

The bill also provides incentives for the use of biodiesel. However…it promotes…a loophole where companies mix foreign biofuels with U.S. biodiesel to receive the U.S. subsidy, then sell the fuel at a discount to European markets.”

The Scotsman reports ScottishPower Renewables is planning to apply for planning permission to develop three tidal energy projects, the world’s first, off the coast of Scotland.

The projects, the first two with 20 turbines each, would be constructed for installation in Pentland Firth, the Sound of Islay and off the North Antrim Coast. The turbines are expected to be 30 meters (approximately 100 feet) in height, with 20-meter blades working at least 10 meters below the water surface.

Sidestepping a major concern common to wind turbines — harm to birds — ScottishPower says, based on tests conducted in Norway, the tidal turbines turn slowly enough to avoid harmful incidents with sea life.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a Google Earth-based interactive website that pinpoints opportunities for solar, wind or biomass siting on contaminated properties. The site combines the Google Earth platform with an EPA database that lists each property’s attributes for renewable energy development.

According to the EPA, many lands tracked by the agency, such as large Superfund sites, and mining sites offer thousands of acres of land, and may be situated in areas where the presence of wind and solar structures are less likely to be met with aesthetic, and therefore political, opposition.