Green Options

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While high gas prices are not the most effective way to combat environmentally degrading driving patterns – unless you grow all your own food, chances are likely that high gas prices are going to translate into higher food costs – high gas prices are starting to encourage the sorts of commuter behaviours that environmentalists have been attempting to mainstream for years. But if gas prices start to decrease, are we going to witness a return to the behaviour that brought [...]

This post, by our own Cassie Walker, was originally published on Friday, August 1, 2008

Over 80 million children and adults are enrolled in schools across the nation, representing about one-fourth of the population age three and older. With all of these students headed back to school, it’s no wonder that this period has become so important to retailers. August clothing sales, alone, are second only to the holidays in terms of dollars spent.

But before you head off to the mall willy-nilly, stop to think about how you can make choices to reduce your environmental impact.

You are what you wear (in junior high, at least)

First, the most important category to many kids: clothes. Of course, the greenest thing to do is to wear last-year’s clothes. Exaggerated eye roll. Hand-me-downs? Irritated stare. Thrift stores? “Gah-ross!” (Hint: try calling it “vintage”–much cooler.) And so the challenge begins.

Sheesh. It seems that everybody and their brothers are ethanol experts these days. But what drives me nuts is that when people are talking about ethanol, they don’t seem to know what type of ethanol they’re talking about.

It’s sad because the widespread misinformation and misunderstanding is killing popular opinion for biofuels in general right now and, in particular, mercilessly destroying the good name of the second generation of ethanol — cellulosic ethanol.

The truth of the matter is that cellulosic ethanol will be made from non-food sources (miscanthus, switchgrass, wood waste, and even garbage) that can be grown on marginal land or is already a waste byproduct of society.

The production of cellulosic ethanol could have huge benefits beyond energy independence:

Joke all you want about politicians’ hot air contributing to global warming, but at least the folks attending the Democratic and Republican National Conventions this summer will have a chance to limit their greenhouse gas emissions off the convention floors.

That’s because both Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul plan to use their respective conventions to kick off a new bike-sharing program called “Freewheelin.” Created by the health benefits company Humana Inc. and the not-for-profit Bikes Belong, Freewheelin will bring 1,000 bikes to each city during the convention. Convention-goers will be able to use the bicycles free of charge to get around town without the need for cars.

Imagine a grass crop, grown on marginal, non-food bearing land without pesticides or much fertilizer, that, when harvested, produces an oil that needs almost no processing to be substituted for diesel fuel.

Much attention has been given to producing ethanol from non-food crops like grasses, but the ability to produce something indistinguishable to diesel from grass could be a game-changer. It would require almost no infrastructure change and could fuel all of the existing long-haul trucks on the road without modification.

The latest edition of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) rolled through St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 2.

It was the first year for the Gateway City to join the fun that’s been happening around the world since the summer of 2004. There wasn’t a whole lot of nudity, though, at least not by comparison to many of the WNBR rides which have taken place in several dozen cities in 20 countries on six continents.

But such is the evolution of a protest movement. St. Louisans were testing the water – and law enforcement – with the ride. Next year? I’m guessing it will grow, assuming the event coordinators make it a recurring ride.

In other places, hundreds of full-on nekkid riders rail against the machine. They paint their bodies with artistic musings and general messages of protest, not unlike one St. Louisan who’s back was painted in vivid green lettering, saying: My clothing $ went for fuel.

Scientists from Australia’s Monash University have made what one professor is calling the most important development in fuel cell technology in the last 20 years. The scientists have managed to redesign fuel cells, so that in the future, they will make hybrid cars more reliable and cheaper to build.

And the breakthrough component in their design comes from Goretex, a popular outdoor and sporting clothing brand.

Applied to the layer of breathable fabric that Monash University’s Dr Bjorn Winther-Jensen says has revolutionized the outdoor clothing industry, is a newly designed and tested air-electrode that acts as both the fuel cell electrode, and catalyst. The layer is applied at just 0.4 of a micron in thickness, which measures out to be about 100 times thinner than a human hair.

The movie title Gas Hole likely conjures varied humorous, if not-quite-sure-where-this-movie- is-headed, ideas in the minds of prospective viewers.

Maybe then it is highly suitable that the term came from the angelic mind of a child, simply trying to put a term to that hole-thingy where we insert gas pump nozzles to fuel our cars.

Suitable – and an unwittingly appropriate description of what has been happening in recent decades of oil pricing and auto manufacturing.

In Gas Hole , the girl’s uttering of the name that became the film’s title is one of the few that breaks the movie’s queasy sense of tension. It is an otherwise mind-boggling documentary of the history of oil prices, the attempts to develop alternative fuels and the related efforts of government and corporate interests.

The discomforting questions…

According to a survey commissioned by Cars.com during July, about 50% of US consumers don’t believe that Obama or McCain has a magic rabbit up their sleeve that will lower prices at the pump any time soon

Turns out, 50% of people in the US are wiser than I thought: there is no quick fix or simple solution.

Another interesting result from the survey: 48% of consumers don’t see McCain or Obama as having a particular advantage when trying to work with the auto industry to bring more fuel efficient or plug-in vehicles to the market in the future.

As the date for the 2008 Games rapidly approaches, Beijing struggles to improve air quality for the “green games.” By closing factories, limiting vehicle use, and halting all construction projects, Chinese authorities are trying to make last-minute improvements that rely on wide-spread compliance. Athletic performance, health, and China’s reputation could suffer if the smog doesn’t clear.

China has implemented a variety of emergency measures to tame the haze, which will have a significant impact on all levels of society. Personal vehicle use is limited from July 20 to September 20. Drivers in Beijing can only drive on alternating days and high emissions vehicles are banned completely. Meanwhile, mass transit is being expanded and work hours staggered to help ease transportation woes.

Okay. Let me get this one out of the way: gas hasn’t been all bad. In fact, gas has allowed us to accomplish some pretty amazing things. To be clear, when I say “gas,” I’m using the term as an easy way to loosely refer to all liquid fuel products made from buried and fossilized hydrocarbon deposits.

Ooooh… I can hear the flamers’ keys clicking away furiously already. But, before you type that horribly thought out gunslinging response, hear me out.