Today's Green Minute from Creators Syndicate

Shark Fin Soup for 07/06/2009

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In many parts of Asia, shark fin soup is served at weddings and other auspicious occasions. As a symbol of wealth and status, it's a traditional banquet item, roughly equivalent to westerners serving champagne.

With rising affluence in East Asia, the consumption of this delicacy has risen sharply, and the shark populations have dropped to levels where 20 percent of shark species are enda ...

Updated: Mon Jul 06, 2009

Space-Based Power for 07/13/2009

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Forty years ago, Dr. Peter Glaser developed a revolutionary idea for energy that is attracting attention again today. Glaser proposed placing gigantic photovoltaic arrays in geosynchronous orbits 22,000 miles above the Earth to harvest solar rays — and beaming the harvested electric power to Earth using either microwaves or lasers.

Of course, there are major funding and logistic pr ...

Updated: Mon Jul 13, 2009

Salons of Green for 07/20/2009

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Because of aerosol sprays and the chemicals in perms and dyes, hair salons haven't exactly been considered eco-friendly businesses. But now a beautician's materials and workspace are beginning to move in a green direction.

One shop owner is delighted that when customers walk in, they're greeted not by the smell of harsh chemicals, but instead by natural flowers and coconuts. Other shops ...

Updated: Mon Jul 20, 2009

Reflective Crops for 07/27/2009

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

There appears to be a great difference in the reflective properties of certain crops, and that difference might help in turning down the world's thermostat — so say a group of British researchers.

When vast areas of crops are considered, reflectiveness has massive ramifications because more solar energy reflected into space translates into cooler air temperatures. An increase in re ...

Updated: Mon Jul 27, 2009

U.S. Postal Service's Green Roof for 08/03/2009

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

You may not think buildings are particularly green in New York City, but the city's largest green roof has been built on top of the U.S. Postal Service's 2.2- million square foot Morgan mail processing facility.

It's the U.S. Postal Service's first green roof, which is part of a larger program to decrease its energy use by 30 percent by the year 2015. Reducing polluted runoff by 75 perce ...

Updated: Mon Aug 03, 2009

Burials at Sea for 08/10/2009

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Just off the Miami coast, in some 40 feet of water, there exists a construction unlike anything else on the planet. Called the Neptune Memorial Reef, it is a submerged collection of structures that form a 16-acre "Lost City."

Three things make the location special: one, it is an undersea burial site for people who want their bodies cremated and interred under water; two, the st ...

Updated: Mon Aug 10, 2009

Whale Mecca for 08/17/2009

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

You may not be able to spot East Timor on the map, but if you're a whale and dolphin lover, you may want to look it up. That's because researchers from East Timor and the Australian Institute of Marine Science have discovered what's been termed a "Global Whale Hot Spot." (The researchers have been working from a low-tech, traditional, 20-meter wooden Indonesian boat.)

The area ...

Updated: Mon Aug 17, 2009

Vertical Farming for 08/24/2009

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

England's Paignton Zoological and Environmental Park is the site of a new era in urban food production. That's where the first full scale VertiCrop High Density Vegetable Growing System has gone into production. According to its developers, it's the first moving vertical growing system that will produce over 11,000 heads of lettuce (or red chard, mixed leaves, herbs, edible flowers, wheat grass ...

Updated: Mon Aug 24, 2009

Solar-Powered City for 08/31/2009

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Walt Disney, always a big thinker, imagined building a Florida community that was carefully planned to provide an optimum living experience. The Epcot Center, which emerged many years later, is a mere shadow of the visionary's idea, but Florida is finally on its way to getting an entirely planned city. And it's coming with a wrinkle that Disney never imagined: all of its power will be derived f ...

Updated: Mon Aug 31, 2009

Solar Roadways for 09/07/2009

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Scott Brusaw is working on using the roadways as a giant grid of solar collectors that can, he says, "produce three times as much energy than this country uses on an annual basis." Brusaw sees replacing traditional petroleum-based asphalt — there are 25,000 square miles of it in the lower 48 states — with a series of three-layer panels that have a base of power and data li ...

Updated: Mon Sep 07, 2009

Bicycle Valets for 09/14/2009

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you're traveling in Charlotte, N.C., and can afford to stay at the Ritz-Carlton, you'll witness the green movement reaching even the upper crust of hotel chains. This brand new LEED building — Charlotte's first and the Ritz-Carlton's first — features a green vegetated roof, employee uniforms made from recycled plastics as well as an in-house Natura water filtration system. But th ...

Updated: Mon Sep 14, 2009

Algae Power for 09/21/2009

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Let's compare the yields of certain biofuel sources: the amount of fuel that an acre of palm yields in one year is 650 gallons. The number for an acre of canola is 150 gallons, and the number for an acre of soy is only 50 gallons. Now consider the number that some companies say that algae — yes, algae — can produce: 6,000 gallons.

There are enormous technological hurdles to p ...

Updated: Mon Sep 21, 2009

App For Recycling for 09/28/2009

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Maybe you're one of those people with a good sense of social responsibility and want to recycle that old fax machine; however, it turns out that finding a recycling center is a bigger hassle than your sense of responsibility. Well, now there's an "app" (application that is used on the iPhone) that can help you fulfill your green intentions and get that old electronic equipment where i ...

Updated: Mon Sep 28, 2009

Reused Boxes for 10/05/2009

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Maybe you've suffered a pang of guilt when you've received something in the mail and had to throw away the perfectly good shipping box. Packaging waste is indeed a big concern among green consumers, and retailers are becoming sensitive to their needs. Columbia Sportswear has responded by initiating an innovative program in which online consumers can choose to receive their order in a box that's ...

Updated: Mon Oct 05, 2009

Eco-Friendly Furniture for 10/12/2009

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

As the country looks for ways to break its addiction to petrochemicals, one innovative manufacturer in North Carolina has discovered that furniture — chairs, sofas and mattresses — can be made far more eco-friendly. Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co. produces springs and hardware out of recycled steel and webbing from recycled yarn, but their big story is the foam they're putting ins ...

Updated: Mon Oct 12, 2009

Bay Power for 10/19/2009

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

There are over 50 methods of capturing wave power, and San Francisco officials are looking at all of them. Their quest is to light up San Francisco with power generated by ocean movement near the famed Golden Gate Bridge. The city's tidal energy project hopes to produce at least 10 megawatts of energy, with a potential of producing up to 100 megawatts.

Methods under consideration include ...

Updated: Mon Oct 19, 2009

Green Brides for 10/26/2009

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The average wedding creates 400 pounds of garbage and spews 63 tons of carbon dioxide. Multiply that times 2.2 million weddings a year, and it's easy to see that the wedding business has a big environmental footprint.

Kate Harrison, an environmental educator and government environmentalist on state and national levels, noticed how few eco-friendly choices existed as she planned her own w ...

Updated: Mon Oct 26, 2009

LED Price Reduction for 11/02/2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Panasonic's LEDs have been the recipient of some nice buzz at the Japanese electronics fair, CEATEC — and it all centers around price. Last year, Toshiba highlighted a 60-watt equivalent LED that ran for $90 and a 100-watt equivalent for $360. That's steep for lighting, even considering that LEDs consume a fraction of the power required for standard bulbs.

This year, Panasonic brou ...

Updated: Mon Nov 02, 2009

Follow that Bus for 11/09/2009

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York City is at the forefront in the use of hybrid buses. Of its fleet of 4,500 buses, 850 are hybrid, and the number is growing. In the mid-'90s, the transit system took some heat for its impact on air quality, and officials looked for inexpensive ways to quickly bring down the amount of emitted particulate matter. Compressed natural gas buses were the first choice, but back then the cost ...

Updated: Mon Nov 09, 2009

Brewery Power for 11/16/2009

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The green movement has brought together some strange bedfellows — people, agencies or firms that ordinarily wouldn't work together — but this one takes the prize: A hospital and a brewery are joining forces to create electric power.

Gundersen Lutheran Hospital, with Wisconsin campuses in La Crosse and Onalaska, has joined together with local brewing company, City Brewery, in ...

Updated: Mon Nov 16, 2009