Go Green In Stages

The BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has shown us that as our search for oil requires greater and riskier feats of engineering things can go very very wrong.

The common belief is that we are so dependent on oil that no other energy source can hope to offer a viable alternative. A number of people have started to question this belief. Strategies are being proposed where solar, wind and geothermal alternatives can effectively replace our addiction to oil.

Here is a short video entitled “Kicking the Fossil Fuel Habit” outlining some oil replacement strategies including a deep geothermal solution.

Tags: alternate sources, deep geothermal, fossil fuel, oil, solar, wind

For Earth Day here is a short 2 minute video on sustainability.

Tags: nature, sustainability

Cycling is a healthy, cost effective and eco-friendly alternative mode of transportation to automobiles especially within a city. Montreal has recently introduced a wide scale public bike sharing system in an effort to promote an alternative means of transportation within the city center.

The BIXI Bike System was developed by a Montreal organization and had its first full scale test in 2009. The system has been so successful that other cities including Boston, Minneapolis, London and Melbourne are planning to introduce it in their cities.

How does BIXI work?

The BIXI system is a series of bicycle stations strategically placed around the city where people can borrow and return bicycles with relative ease. The stations are located close enough to each other that no matter where you are in the city core you do not have to go far to either borrow a bike or return one. The bicycles do not need to be returned to the same station were they were borrowed from. The cost to rent a bike is relatively inexpensive and if you only need to run a quick errand the cost is free for the first 30 minutes.

Each station has an automated system where you can rent or return a bike and locate other stations in the neighborhood. Each bike station is easy to install and solar powered so it can be placed anywhere without much trouble. The bicycles have been specifically designed for heavy urban use.

You can find out more about the Bixi Bike system by going to the Bixi System website.

To see how Montreal has implemented the system visit the Bixi Montreal website.

Here are a few videos to give you a better idea of how the Bixi System works.

Tags: bike sharing, Bixi, Montreal

Understand What Everyone is Talking About at the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

One of the solutions being proposed to solve the global warming crisis is to implement a carbon cap and trade system.

The basic idea is to grant every company a set allotment of carbon credits. This is the amount of carbon emissions the company is allowed to produce. If a company doesn’t use its quota (ie. it operates more efficiently from an environmental perspective) it can sell credits to companies that need more carbon credits. The theory is that with such an economic incentive companies would search out greener solutions.

Here is a short video explaining the system in greater detail and pointing out some of the problems this solution presents. It was created by Annie Leonard who is also the creator of the popular The Story of Stuff video.

You can also download the text of the Story of Cap and Trade video as well as answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Cap and Trade.

Tags: Annie Leonard, Cap and Trade, Climate Change, environment

Whether by economic necessity or due to an increase in social awareness, more of us are giving greater thought to the types of gifts we buy our family members, friends and colleagues this Christmas season. People are realizing how our planet’s resources are limited and that the era of unrestricted consumption is coming to an end.

Giving green or environmentally friendly gifts is a very popular choice this year. Virtually every company or store is promoting Green Gift Giving this Christmas. Here are some ideas, and not just in terms of gift giving, on how you can make this holiday season more environmentally friendly.

Organize a Gift Exchange

An easy and economical way to go green is to organize a gift exchange where people buy for only one family member or friend instead of getting a gift for everyone.

• It reduces the amount of stuff people buy.
• The gifts could be of better quality.
• Shopping will cost less.
• Less time will be required to shop.

Remember to set some guidelines as to the price range for the gift.

Eco-Giving: Ideas for Earth Friendly Gifts

If you’ve made a conscious decision to go green this Christmas then here are a few suggestions for gift giving.

• Books focused on the environmental movement or tips on Going Green
• Compost Bins
• Reusable Lunch Bags or Water Bottles
• Fair Trade Gifts such as organic coffee and handicrafts
• Energy Saving Gifts like battery chargers and Rechargeable Batteries
• Organic food delivery subscription

Instead of giving a physical gift you can choose to give gifts that create memories instead:

• Tickets to a local sporting event or concert
• A gift certificate to a restaurant
• Museum, theater or movie passes
• Lessons in a sport activity

Eco-Causes: Donations to Charities

A donation to a charity in someone’s name is eco-friendly and supports a worthy cause. Most likely you’ve never given a goat or chicken as a gift. What about a pound of porridge? There are places in this world where people would be unbelievably grateful to receive such gifts. To find these and other worthy gift ideas start with these sites that have charitable gift giving programs.

• Ten Thousand Villages
• World Vision
• Canadian Hunger Foundation
• Plan Canada
• Unicef
• World Wildlife
• WWF - World Wildlife Federation
• Jane Goodall Institute

Eco-Frugal: Low Cost or No Cost Gifts

Perhaps you’re on a really tight budget or want to limit the exchange of material goods.

With everyone being so busy, what better gift to give than the gift of your time. You can create a gift certificate for a specific skill you are good at or just offer plain simple labor. Here are a few suggestions that won’t tax our resources or your wallet:

• Tutoring services
• Baby sitting
• General repair work
• Making dinner or Sunday brunch
• Organizing a photo album
• Offering to clean the house (with natural, non-toxic products)
• Organizing the garage or basement
• Providing lawn and gardening help

Or you could be creative and make something like:

• Home made gifts such as cookies, breads or crafts
• A Photo-Album of memories
• A Collection of family recipes

There’s always re-gifting if all else fails. Do gifts have to be new? You can offer vintage items, classic toys, books, etc. Remember the idea is to find eco-friendly solutions.

Eco-Action: Make your holiday preparation greener this year.

Don’t restrict your eco-friendly activities to just gift giving for the holidays. There are many things you can do in preparation as well.

• For decorations, use high efficiency LED lights instead of traditional ones.
• Buy recycled wrapping paper, reuse what you have, or even wrap gifts in newspaper. You can also use reusable bags or fabric.
• Use e-cards instead of mailing paper greeting cards to express your wishes. If you feel that greeting cards are a must then find cards printed on recycled paper.
• Be prepared with reusable batteries for any children’s toys or electronics that people receive.
• When shopping for gifts don’t accept shopping bags for your purchases. Grocery bags are not just for groceries.
• Consider the cost of driving from place to place when shopping. Plan your trip to get many things done at once, choose times where shopping mall parking lots will be less crowded and car pool with someone.

Office or Home Holiday Parties

For your office or home Christmas party here are a few quick tips.

• Purchase locally whenever possible
• Buy in bulk to save packaging, cost and travel
• Recycle
• Use reusable dishes instead of plastic and Styrofoam tableware.
• If you can’t use reusable tableware then at least choose compostable, biodegradable tableware instead.

More Green Holiday Ideas

If you have any more green ideas to share for the holidays please leave us a comment.

Tags: gifts, green, holiday, home, office, party, suggestions

Many people believe that the oil reserves on our planet are virtually limitless. They claim that as technology gets more sophisticated we will be able to discover more oil reserves and extract a greater amount from existing ones.

In fact that is not exactly how things work. Much of the oil that exists has already been discovered and is being extracted or is so difficult to extract that it makes it economically unfeasible.

Are we at Peak Oil?

The concept of Peak Oil recognizes that the rate of oil extraction in any given oil field will increase until it reaches some maximum level then start to decrease as less and less oil is left in the ground.

Many scientists believe that we have reached that point for all oil that is available on the planet. Essentially we have passed the halfway point and the amount of oil we will be able to extract from the ground per day or year will start to decrease until there is no more oil left.

Here are two videos featuring Richard Heinberg, a recognized expert on Peak Oil, covering the topic of Peak Oil and what it can mean for our future.

Peak Oil Interview - Richard Heinberg (part 1)

Peak Oil Interview - Richard Heinberg (part 2)

Peak Oil - How Will You Ride the Slide?

Here’s a short (less than 2 minutes) animation showing the history of our oil use and what may possibly lie ahead.

Tags: environment, Peak oil, Sustainable Energy

Talk about a public relations nightmare.

The issues and concerns about the presence of BPA (Bisphenol-A) in water bottles and children’s sippy cups have been at the forefront for several years now.

This month SIGG has finally admitted that the coating on the inside of their aluminum bottles contained BPA.

Although SIGG announced a year earlier that the coating used on the inside of the bottles was going to be reformulated to remove any BPA they only stopped shipping the bottles containing the BPA coating this month.

This means that SIGG bottles recently purchased, currently in the distribution pipeline and on retail shelves most probably were made using the old coating.

Sigg has not recalled the bottles that contain a BPA coating so it is up to the consumer to identify those bottles with the new coating versus the ones made from the old BPA material.

If you own a SIGG bottle you can verify which type of coating you have with a visual test. Check out the links at the end of this article for more information.

Why choose quality stainless steel bottles

There is no doubt that the SIGG water bottles are a very popular choice. Our preference however has always been to offer only quality stainless steel bottles.

Unlike bottles made from aluminum, no coating is required on stainless steel bottles and therefore the presence of BPA is not an issue.

Although you can get cheaper stainless steel bottles, sometimes paying as little as three to five dollars, you have to wonder where costs are being cut. Things to consider when choosing water bottles include the type of stainless steel used, the thickness of the steel, how it was manufactured and the level of quality control that goes into making the bottle.

Each of these points add cost to the bottle but result in a safer, higher quality and more durable product. After all, isn’t safety and health a key driving force for people to switch to resusable BPA-Free bottles.

More information on BPA in Sigg bottles:

• Read an article providing an overview of the BPA in Sigg Bottles issue.
• Find out what this product review site ZREC and readers have to say about how SIGG is handling this problem.
• Sigg bulletin from CEO Steve Wasik explaining the company position on the BPA Liner Problem.
• How to tell whether your Sigg bottle includes a liner containing BPA: Which Liner Do You Have?

Tags: BPA-Free, Reusable Water Bottles, Sigg

Here’s a short video segment from the NBC Today show summarizing the latest findings on bottled water.

If you’re ready to switch back to tap water start by getting a high quality stainless steel bottle to make sure you can have a drink whenever and wherever you need it. Some examples of quality bottles include Klean kanteen and Purica.

Tags: bottled water, BPA, endocrine disruptors, plastic, product labeling, safe bottled water

Here’s a short video to watch that may help you remember to bring your own reusable bags the next time you go shopping.

Tags: oceans, plastic bags, reusable bags