Green Options » Scott Cooney http://greenoptions.com/tag/scott-cooney Posts tagged 'Scott Cooney' Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:55:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Affecting Behavior Change in the Slow Adopters of Sustainability http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/11/20/affecting-behavior-change-in-the-slow-adopters-of-sustainability/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/11/20/affecting-behavior-change-in-the-slow-adopters-of-sustainability/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:55:48 +0000 Scott Cooney http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/11/20/affecting-behavior-change-in-the-slow-adopters-of-sustainability/ In yesterday’s Sustainable Industries Economic Forum, keynote speaker Paul Hawken discussed the political will it would take to avert global catastrophe. An underlying elephant in the room, however, was the behavior change that we would need to see from more citizens than just the progressive element, the early adopters.  This may be a crucial element missing in the sustainability sphere, as beautifully put by Phil Micheal Williams, one of the excellent panelists on SI’s discussion panel following Hawken’s talk. 

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/11/20/affecting-behavior-change-in-the-slow-adopters-of-sustainability/feed/ Best Counterargument to Price on Carbon Hurting Jobs? http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/best-counterargument-to-price-on-carbon-hurting-jobs/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/best-counterargument-to-price-on-carbon-hurting-jobs/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:25:19 +0000 Scott Cooney http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/best-counterargument-to-price-on-carbon-hurting-jobs/ At yesterday’s Sustainable Industries Economic Forum, keynote presenter Paul Hawken was asked, “What is the best counterargument to the argument that carbon caps will raise energy costs and hurt our economy?”  In typical Hawken style, his earlier speech was well done, inspiring and insightful.  In typical Hawken style, his off-the-cuff answers to audience questions was where he really shone.  And this answer was perhaps his shining moment of the day.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/best-counterargument-to-price-on-carbon-hurting-jobs/feed/ Paul Hawken on Being a ‘Doomer’ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/paul-hawken-on-being-a-doomer/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/paul-hawken-on-being-a-doomer/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:09:11 +0000 Scott Cooney http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/paul-hawken-on-being-a-doomer/ During yesterday’s Sustainable Industries Economic Forum, keynote speaker Paul Hawken suggested that it will take a somewhat monumental effort to get back to 350 ppm in our atmosphere (we’re at 387 right now). His list was daunting.  We’d need one new olympic sized pool of bioalgae fuel production every second for 25 years, for example.  He said that while being a ‘doomer’ has a negative connotation, the facts are the facts, and that there is a role for this kind of startling statistic.  An audience member asked the question that was on all our minds:  “It seems untenable.  Do you have hope that this can actually happen?”

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/paul-hawken-on-being-a-doomer/feed/ Viewing the world as a system will help us establish sustainability http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/20/viewing-the-world-as-a-system-will-help-us-establish-sustainability/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/20/viewing-the-world-as-a-system-will-help-us-establish-sustainability/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:56:06 +0000 Scott Cooney http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/20/viewing-the-world-as-a-system-will-help-us-establish-sustainability/ Paul Hawken was the keynote speaker at the Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in San Francisco on Thursday. He had some inspiring talking points (the forum’s goal was to ‘reinspire the inspired’), but one of the key takeaways was in how we should be viewing sustainability.  He started by saying that sustainability should be viewed as a easily defineable.  Sustainability means we survive.  Living unsustainably means we don’t.  But it was how he suggested we view this that was really interesting. 

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/20/viewing-the-world-as-a-system-will-help-us-establish-sustainability/feed/ Brighter Planet Bribing Us For Our Opinions…How Lame…Me First, Me First! http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/18/brighter-planet-bribing-us-for-our-opinionshow-lameme-first-me-first/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/18/brighter-planet-bribing-us-for-our-opinionshow-lameme-first-me-first/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:44:47 +0000 Scott Cooney http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/18/brighter-planet-bribing-us-for-our-opinionshow-lameme-first-me-first/ A Vermont-based company called Brighter Planet seems to think the green consumer will just give away our opinions for the chance to win $200.  Since I just completed the survey, I’m going to go ahead and guess they’re right! 

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/11/18/brighter-planet-bribing-us-for-our-opinionshow-lameme-first-me-first/feed/ Is the Green Economy the New Dot Com Bubble? http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/11/12/is-the-green-economy-the-new-dot-com-bubble/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/11/12/is-the-green-economy-the-new-dot-com-bubble/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:39:49 +0000 Scott Cooney http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/11/12/is-the-green-economy-the-new-dot-com-bubble/ Bryan Welch, publisher of Utne Reader, Mother Earth News, and Natural Home Magazine, gave the keynote address at Green America’s Green Business Conference in San Francisco. (Take a look at TriplePundit for my 5 articles over the last few days on the hot topics of the conference).   His guidelines for a sustainable future are simple and beautiful.  As was his slideshow of his goats he raises in a humane manner on his Rancho Cappuchino (a tongue-in-cheek reference to being called a Cappuchino Cowboy by a more traditional rancher) in Kansas.

But one particular question in the Q&A session gave him pause:  is the green economy the latest in the dot-com bubble mold?

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]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/11/12/is-the-green-economy-the-new-dot-com-bubble/feed/ What Non-Profit Donation Would Be the Most Effective In Combatting Environmental Calamity? http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/21/what-non-profit-donation-would-be-the-most-effective-in-combatting-environmental-calamity/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/21/what-non-profit-donation-would-be-the-most-effective-in-combatting-environmental-calamity/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:10:59 +0000 Scott Cooney http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/21/what-non-profit-donation-would-be-the-most-effective-in-combatting-environmental-calamity/ We all give to environmental non-profits for different reasons.  Sometimes, with local groups, it’s to fight a certain development or to protest a local company’s toxic emissions.  With national groups, it’s usually to fight policies we don’t agree with that come from governments or multinational companies.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t.  And even when we do, there are often compromises that make our hard fought victory less effective.  It seems there is never a sure bet.  Or is there?

There is one surefire way that donations will result in decreased emissions, decreased consumption, and slowing of environmental degradation.  Can you guess how? 

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/21/what-non-profit-donation-would-be-the-most-effective-in-combatting-environmental-calamity/feed/ Is Condensed Water the Salvation for Developing Countries? http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/17/is-condensed-water-the-salvation-for-developing-countries/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/17/is-condensed-water-the-salvation-for-developing-countries/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:37:41 +0000 Scott Cooney http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/17/is-condensed-water-the-salvation-for-developing-countries/ Yesterday, I wrote about the new DH9 from DewPointe, one of the cool eco-innovations to be showcased at West Coast Green October 1-3 in San Francisco.  The DH9 is capable of extracting water vapor from the air and converting it to (very) pure drinking water, at a rate of about 6.5 gallons per day.  The technology is inspiring, in that this is a free-standing water manufacturer, needing no water supply, and conjures up images of moisture farms and growing forests where once there was desert.  Indeed, even in 30% relative humidity, which is akin to some of the driest deserts in the world, the DH9 can produce 4 gallons of water per day from the air.

The big drawbacks are the cost ($1600 retail price) and the need for electricity.  While standing, the DH9 uses 80 Watts, and while actively filtering, it uses 500.

Researchers in Stuttgart, however, have solved one of those two problems:  their system is completely based on renewable, on-site energy. 

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/17/is-condensed-water-the-salvation-for-developing-countries/feed/ Oatmeal Kids (Of All Ages) Will Love http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/14/oatmeal-kids-of-all-ages-will-love/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/14/oatmeal-kids-of-all-ages-will-love/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:11:36 +0000 Scott Cooney http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/14/oatmeal-kids-of-all-ages-will-love/ Oatmeal has gotten a bad rap.  Kids (and adults) may view it as a health food with all the flavor of drywall.  There are a lot of ways to get kids of all ages to wake up and WANT oatmeal for their breakfast of choice.

Of course, the health benefits are clear.  I’m 34, and while I don’t worry about this kind of stuff, my family history of very high cholesterol had me wondering about the claim Wilford Brimley made about Quaker oats removing cholesterol from your bloodstream.  So I decided to run a little self-experiment.  In one year, my cholesterol dropped from over 300 down to 164.  Call me a believer.

But what about that drywall?

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]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/14/oatmeal-kids-of-all-ages-will-love/feed/ As Fisheries Deplete, Sea Veggies Offer Sustainable Nutrients to Our Diets http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/13/as-fisheries-deplete-sea-veggies-offer-sustainable-nutrients-to-our-diets/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/13/as-fisheries-deplete-sea-veggies-offer-sustainable-nutrients-to-our-diets/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:17:43 +0000 Scott Cooney http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/13/as-fisheries-deplete-sea-veggies-offer-sustainable-nutrients-to-our-diets/ Depending on which studies you read, it appears that we will run out of fish, at least the plentiful bounty of diverse fish we’re getting all-to-accustomed to eating regularly.  According to the book and upcoming documentary called The End of the Line, most of the fish we’re used to seeing:  tuna, halibut, snapper, and the like, will effectively be gone from the world’s oceans by 2050. 

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]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/13/as-fisheries-deplete-sea-veggies-offer-sustainable-nutrients-to-our-diets/feed/ A Little Foresight on Health Care Could Go a Long Way http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/10/a-little-foresight-on-health-care-could-go-a-long-way/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/10/a-little-foresight-on-health-care-could-go-a-long-way/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:37:36 +0000 Scott Cooney http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/10/a-little-foresight-on-health-care-could-go-a-long-way/ Eight billion dollars.  It’s what we currently spend in the National School Lunch program.  It’s not currently part of the health care legislation being debated, but some, including Ann Cooper and Beth Collins, co-founders of the Lunch Box Project, think it should be. The Lunch Box Project is tool for schools and their various stakeholders to bring healthy food to their cafeterias.  Cooper and Collins claim that when fully developed, the toolkit will include a multi-faceted approach that can help any school transition from processed food to a “whole foods environment where food is procured regionally and prepared from scratch for the student population.”

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/09/10/a-little-foresight-on-health-care-could-go-a-long-way/feed/ Myths About Raising Chickens in Your Backyard http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/02/myths-about-raising-chickens-in-your-backyard/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/02/myths-about-raising-chickens-in-your-backyard/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:34:31 +0000 Scott Cooney http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/02/myths-about-raising-chickens-in-your-backyard/ Just like many other social phenomena that are good for the environment, the exploding trend of people growing their own chickens in the backyard has its naysayers.  Naysayers come in a wide variety of stripes.  For example, the widespread understanding that global warming is real and that we’re causing it has its naysayers, many of whom stand to lose a lot of money when their oil and coal has to internalize the cost of the pollution they’ve been making us pay for since their inception.  Or those that say that electric cars are not realistic…sure there are naysayers…wait, is there a trend here that the oil industry is against everything good?  Hmm…

But I digress.  Suffice it to say, there are naysayers who don’t want us to live well, to live with a lower carbon footprint by producing our own food.  Kimberly Willis and Rob Ludlow, co-authors of Raising Chickens for Dummies, can be counted among those that are dispelling these myths and empowering the people. 

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]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/09/02/myths-about-raising-chickens-in-your-backyard/feed/ Hey Red States, Get With the Freaking Program! http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/27/hey-red-states-get-with-the-freaking-program/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/27/hey-red-states-get-with-the-freaking-program/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 11:06:04 +0000 Scott Cooney http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/27/hey-red-states-get-with-the-freaking-program/ Republicans are not just talking about slowing progress on clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate change, they’re doing it…by doing nothing about it.

I’m over it.  There’s a lot of phooey balooey about compromising, reaching across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats working together, a spirit of bipartisanship, a ‘new kind of politics’…

I’m done.  Republicans have made it clear they don’t care.  Nope.  Not one iota. And they won’t compromise, even though they’re an ever-shrinking minority with no leadership, national vision, unified agenda, or interesting alternatives to Obama’s progressive agenda.  No way they’re going to let us wacko, socialist lefties have our way.  Ain’t gonna happen, Bubba.

We have to move on.  We don’t need the few dwindling hangers-on of Rush Limbaugh’s angry white man culture of hate, mistrust, and relentless pursuit of global environmental destruction.

“But wait, Scott,” you say, “we’ve worked so hard to get them to buy in, and now everyone’s paying attention to environmental issues.”  Phooey, I say.  It’s a ruse.  Let’s look at the facts.

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/27/hey-red-states-get-with-the-freaking-program/feed/ Bay Area Organic Farms Benefitting from My Broccoli Stalks http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/05/14/bay-area-organic-farms-benefitting-from-my-broccoli-stalks/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/05/14/bay-area-organic-farms-benefitting-from-my-broccoli-stalks/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 00:04:28 +0000 Scott Cooney http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/05/14/bay-area-organic-farms-benefitting-from-my-broccoli-stalks/ San Francisco has a wealth of…well, it seems like everything.  Great views, amazing beaches, the best quality municipal tapwater in the country, day hikes within the city, bike lanes, good public transit, fantastic restaurants, art, museums, great weather, nightlife…perhaps the only thing lacking is backyards.  With real estate at a serious premium, backyard space is likely deemed too costly.  Most people simply don’t have yards in this town.

As an avid composter and gardener, this puts me, like many city dwellers, in a pickle. 

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]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/05/14/bay-area-organic-farms-benefitting-from-my-broccoli-stalks/feed/ What Advice Does Ray Anderson Have for Barack Obama? http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/07/what-advice-does-ray-anderson-have-for-barack-obama/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/07/what-advice-does-ray-anderson-have-for-barack-obama/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 18:39:55 +0000 Scott Cooney http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/07/what-advice-does-ray-anderson-have-for-barack-obama/

During the Sustainable Industries Economic Forum this morning in San Francisco, keynote speaker Ray Anderson, Founder and Chair of Interface, a true green business pioneering company, was asked what his best three pieces of advice for Barack Obama would be.

First was to shift the economy, and federal subsidies, from old technology to new and high tech industries.  It’s estimated that 50% of coal power plants would be unprofitable without subsidies.  “It’s time to shift the equation”, he said.

Second was to get a price on carbon.  “By hook or by crook,” Anderson said.  “It needs to happen, and I think a carbon tax is probably impossible politically, but cap and trade is possible.”  Anderson went on to say that “Carbon has been getting a free ride, and it’s time to change that.”

And third, Anderson cited the controversy over nuclear power.  Saying that our legacy of poison for future generations will be tough to justify, given that nuclear waste will outlast the lifespan of any language on the planet, so how can we possibly put good warning signs on our waste?

Scott Cooney is the author of Build a Green Small Business:  Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill).

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/07/what-advice-does-ray-anderson-have-for-barack-obama/feed/ Sustainable Industries Economic Forum to Feature Ray Anderson, Several Other Ecopreneurs http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/06/sustainable-industries-economic-forum-to-feature-ray-anderson-several-other-ecopreneurs/ http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/06/sustainable-industries-economic-forum-to-feature-ray-anderson-several-other-ecopreneurs/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 16:05:06 +0000 Scott Cooney http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/06/sustainable-industries-economic-forum-to-feature-ray-anderson-several-other-ecopreneurs/

The Fourth Annual Sustainable Industries Economic Forum will feature ecopreneur Ray Anderson, founder and Chairman of Interface, a company specializing in sustainable carpets and other industrial products.  The event will showcase a panel discussion with rock stars of the green business world, representing a broad swath of green industries.  The timely discussion for this year’s event will focus on the current economic realities of the green business sphere.

Other speakers and panelists including Anup Jacob, founding partner of Virgin Green Fund, a consulting and venture capital firm affiliated with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Laura Rodormer, Division Manager of Green Construction for

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]]> http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/05/06/sustainable-industries-economic-forum-to-feature-ray-anderson-several-other-ecopreneurs/feed/ Eco-Driving Technology http://cleantechnica.com/2009/05/04/eco-driving-technology/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/05/04/eco-driving-technology/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 07:20:30 +0000 Scott Cooney http://cleantechnica.com/2009/05/04/eco-driving-technology/ Last week, in an experiment some cast aside as a PR stunt, several drivers drove a Ford Focus Hybrid car 1,445 miles, approximately double how far Ford estimated it could go, on a single tank of gas using Eco-Driving techniques.  The drivers were well versed in Eco-driving methodology, making the results of the test far less likely to occur in the general public.  They averaged just above 20 miles per hour over their 4 day test, which is 3 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes longer than the average American’s patience driving without speeding.

Eco-driving technology might help keep people from losing patience–and interest. 

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/05/04/eco-driving-technology/feed/ CARB States to Dictate Tailpipe GHG Emissions for Nation…(It’s a Good Thing) http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/04/03/carb-states-to-dictate-tailpipe-ghg-emissions-for-nationits-a-good-thing/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/04/03/carb-states-to-dictate-tailpipe-ghg-emissions-for-nationits-a-good-thing/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:50:01 +0000 Scott Cooney http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/04/03/carb-states-to-dictate-tailpipe-ghg-emissions-for-nationits-a-good-thing/ California has been able to set its own emission standards for years.  One might wonder why we are so special?  The rule harkens back to the days of LA smog being a daily headline across the nation, when air quality was so poor in some parts of California that drastic measures were needed here well before anywhere else in the nation.

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