China Plans to Make Plans to Address Climate Change
by: fast company, 2011-03-03 22:40:56 UTC
Climate change, water conservation, and pollution top the agenda of the emerging nation.
China says it wants 15% of its energy sources to be renewable by 2020. And at Saturday's annual Parliament meeting, they'll have a chance to put those desires in writing by dedicating a chunk of the country's upcoming five-year-plan to climate change targets.
"The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the deterioration of the environment have become serious bottlenecks constraining economic and social development," environment minister Zhou Shengxian said in a statement.
The true test will come as individual industries come up with their own five-year plans--the government is anxiously looking to the heavy steel and aluminum industries to clean up their act. Individual provinces are also set to launch their own emissions trading schemes later this year, so it seems that stakeholders from both the public and private sectors are being called to the table.
Water will take a special focus in the plan--both for its energy generating capacities and for the effect pollution has had on China's rivers.
"We understand thousands of key heavy metal polluters will be put under tightened monitoring and this is important," said the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs' Ma Jun. "But there is a lack of transparency and we believe public scrutiny could generate the motivation to cut their emissions."
And China's infamous dams are causing another wave of questions, as the resources required for dam construction and operation are sometimes at odds with environmental goals.
"We need to realize that large hydro by itself has such a large environmental impact that it shouldn't be considered a renewable energy," said Ma. "In 2004, China overtook the United States as the world's largest hydropower capacity but the plan is to more than triple that by 2020--that means in many of our rivers there won't be running water."
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[Image: Flickr user hughrocks]
Massive Fish Retailer Costco Goes Green; Does It Matter?
by: fast company, 2011-03-03 22:33:57 UTC
Greenpeace hopes that Costco's decision to halt sales of unsustainably farmed fish will impact the industry.
Maybe it was shame. Maybe their corporate social responsibility heart grew three sizes last Friday. Whatever the reason, Costco, the nation's largest retail fish buyer, will halt sales of 12 varieties of fish, certified as unsustainably farmed by the Marine Stewardship Council. The decision has Greenpeace congratulating itself for pressuring yet another targeted supplier to buckle under its annual shaming (er, report). As the latest big name to adopt sustainable practices, Costco stands to impact the majority, if not the entirety, of the $31 billion U.S. industry.
Costco has consistently placed near the bottom of Greenpeace's annual fish sustainability report. And the environmental group created one of their colorful campaigns against the retail giant, dubbed, "Oh no Costco." (A snarky campaign against Trader Joe's a year earlier titled "Traitor Joes" coerced the specialty grocery retailer into changing its buying behavior.) According to the campaign website, "Over the past two-and-a-half years, Greenpeace has repeatedly asked Costco about its seafood policies and practices, both in preparation for our original Carting Away the Oceans report and for subsequent retailer performance updates: The company has failed to respond to any of Greenpeace’s inquiries."
Fast Company also reached out to Costco. The company doesn't clearly post media contact numbers and calls seeking a spokesperson were directed to a voicemail at Costco HQ. Messages were not returned by post time.
Not content with simple digital shaming, Greenpeace chartered a blimp adorned with the spoofy campaign phrase, "Costco Wholesale Ocean Destruction." Eight months later, voilá, Costco issued a sweeping decree to eliminate all varieties of unsustainably captured fish--although we were unable to confirm a direct connection between the campaign and the decision (again, calls were not returned).
The billion dollar question is, will it make a broader impact on the industry? Both Costco and Trader Joe's are known for their liberal vibe. At Trader Joe's, employees in Hawaiian T-shirts stock selves full of vegan-friendly products, such as Hemp milk and soy chicken nuggets. Costco, previously profiled by Fast Company for its sterling social conscience, gives employees a generous health care package and powers its warehouses (partly) with solar panels.
Greenpeace is optimistic the trend of big name brands has some moral momentum. "No one wants to be at the bottom of the list," Greenpeace researcher Kurt Davies tells Fast Company.
As a comparison, Davies pointed to the success of their anti-PVC campaign to rid plastics of a compound thought to damage development in children. A decade ago, Mattel was pressured into removing the compound from its toys. Today, Apple boasts a range PVC-free electronics, and Dell has pledged to follow suit by the end of this year.
Greenpeace senior markets campaigner, Casson Trenor, is confident that nature gives the seafood campaign a unique advantage. "There are some species, by their very physiology, that cannot support industrialized fishing on a large scale." Overfishing will ultimately cause those fish to "disappear, and with them, so will the seafood departments, so will the seafood industry." Thus, buyers have a vested interest in thinking in the long term.
Sustainability is especially important for Trenor, as a sushi restaurant owner in San Francisco. "If we abuse the ocean through sushi, we will lose both."
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giha woo: plug and player mp3 device
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2011-03-02 11:30:00 UTC
plug and player mp3 concept device that can be charged without any extra cables.
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NL architects: power flowers
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2011-03-01 12:30:00 UTC
featuring a vertical axis design that can produce energy with wind from any direction, the reconfigured turbine is ideal for densely populated and domestic environments.
read more
Gone With The Wind
by: Yanko Design, 2011-03-03 15:24:34 UTC
Have you ever opened a window and said to yourself, “damn Gina, it’s windy.” Harness that energy with the AERO E. Energy is converted from wind to electricity and transferred wirelessly through induction. Place your cellphone on the charing pad and be the envy of your tree hugging neighbors! The accompanying app allows you to connect to your turbine and track wind patterns and charge times too.
Designer: Lance Cassidy
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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs - Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store - We are about more than just concepts. See what's hot at the YD Store!
You Are Not Stuck in Traffic... You Are Traffic
by: TreeHugger Transportation, 2011-03-03 20:06:13 UTC
Image: Antoine at BFNS, used with permission. High-resolution version here.
Break Free!
Great artwork! As commenter 'Lisa' said on
Bike Friendly North Shore, this would make a great billboard on the side of the highway. Cars have a role to play, especially if we can clean them up
a lot by powering them with
Read the full story on TreeHugger
Annie Leonard Derides Corporate Influences on American Democracy [Video]
by: fast company, 2011-03-01 23:02:51 UTC
Annie Leonard is a whiz at tackling tough topics (bottled water, the cosmetics industry) in viral video-sized spans of time. Her latest, The Story of Citizens United v. FEC, is no different. The video explores "the inordinate power that corporations exercise in our democracy," according to Leonard, and begins to explore some of the reasons why corporations can dodge the blame for mucking up the environment.
It's certainly a contentious video--one that is likely to peeve viewers who appreciate the major role that large companies play in democracy. It could be argued that some corporations even wield this outsized power for good (see this Treehugger post on how Walmart is becoming the new EPA). Check out Leonard's video below.
[youtube k5kHACjrdEY]
Follow Fast Company on Twitter. Ariel Schwartz can be reached by email.
Pepsi, Greenopolis, D.C. Launch Recycling Kiosks With Rewards [Updated]
by: fast company, 2011-03-02 22:03:32 UTC
PepsiCo and our nation's capitol are teaming up in a public-private partnership that will bring 363 of Pepsi's "Dream Machine" recycling bins to downtown Washington, D.C.
The kiosks aren't like the regular recycling receptacles you usually see on the street--they offer discounts and coupons at places like Dominos, Johnny Rockets, and Marriott hotels.
Here's how the kiosks work: patrons insert bottles and cans into a chute, wait for the machine to calculate how many points the trash is worth, and grab a receipt that can be redeemed at Greenopolis.com for rewards. In addition to discounts and coupons, the receipts also can score users Pepsi products and free admission to concerts, among other things. Registered Greenopolis members get access to a rewards catalog.
And D.C. isn't just getting Pepsi's kiosks; it will also receive a number of other, normal-looking recycling bins (emblazoned with the Pepsi logo, natch). With those bins, instead of offering rewards to recyclers, Pepsi will donate cash to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, a program offering business training to disabled veterans. The amount of cash donated will depend on how many bottles and cans are collected.
Will Pepsi's Dream Machines increase recycling in downtown DC? They undoubtedly will, if for no other reason than having 363 new recycling receptacles makes it easier to refrain from dumping cans in the trash. And offering prizes sure should help. We'll see if the incentive works.
Update: Pepsi isn't installing any electronic kiosks in downtown DC; only the bins will be available. Kiosks are available at other locations around the country, however.
Follow Fast Company on Twitter. Ariel Schwartz can be reached by email.
Super Batteries Made From ‘Frozen Smoke’ May be Here Soon
by: Inhabitat , 2011-03-02 22:49:57 UTC
Over the years we’ve seen batteries made from an incredible range of materials – from mud to coffee to water. However researchers from the University of Central Florida may have found the lightest (and most bizarre) battery material yet – ‘frozen smoke’, also known as Aerogel. One of the world’s lightest solids, aerogel contains multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) which each one several thousands thinner than human hair. The researchers, Associate Professor Lei Zhai and Postdoctoral Associate Jianhua Zou, believe that this material could soon become the best energy storage material for capacitors and batteries.
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Apple Unveils Thinner, Lighter iPad 2 – But is it Green?
by: Inhabitat , 2011-03-03 00:06:34 UTC
Since its release almost a year ago, the iPad has spurred a technological revolution in the realm of personal gadgets. Today Apple unveiled its hotly anticipated iPad 2, which is 33% thinner, lighter, boast a longer battery life, better graphics, a faster cpu, front and rear facing (720p recording), cameras as well as a HDMI output. It sounds like they’ve made some notable improvements, but ultimately how much greener will the iPad 2 be?
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Post tags: apple ipad 2, apple releases ipad 2, eco friendly gadgets, environment and the ipad 2, green gadgets, green technology, how green is the ipad 2, iPad, ipad 2, ipad 2 thinner faster, ipad released, new ipad 2
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