It's almost ironic that Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley was born on Arbor Day. He's pledged to try to restore the Windy City to the "urban forest" he remembered as a kid, and he's succeeded in making Chi-town one of the greenest cities in the U.S. -- all thanks to a little mulch.

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There is mulch around the 30,000 trees planted annually. There's mulch along the 70 miles of green medians. There's mulch in the open space that's required to accompany new homes and offices. And there is mulch on top of the energy-saving green roofs of 200 buildings. 

Daley's report card is coming up pretty green as a result -- he's put in 500,000 trees, is putting in the most energy efficient and environmentally sensitive municipal buildings in the country, helps fast-track building permits if they're for green buildings, and promises that 20% of the energy used by the city will be from clean and renewable sources.

Read more about Daley's green efforts in this NYT article .  

 

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Whatever is a conscientious ecogeek to wear? You can't just hop in your hybrid wearing sweatshop clothes, oh no. The ecogeek has to wear his or her values as well, and last weekend a group of ethically minded designers got together in Paris to put on the Ethical Fashion Market .

 

The goal of the  event was to bring the eco-minded players in the fashion industry together to focus on fair trade and sustainable development in fashion. 

 

All fashion shown over the weekend complied with the International Labor Organization rules, used elements of recycling, often worked with local artisans, and reinvested itself in community events. Pretty impressive for those of us that like to wear what we preach.

 

Via: Treehugger .  

There is one thing, and only one thing, that a true geek needs. I'm not talking about just computer geeks, or just academic nerds. I'm talking about any of us that are passionate about one subject to spend way too many hours on it. {mosimage}

 

We drink energy drinks. We're not proud of it, but we do.  Myself, I've tried Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star. I've tried low-carb versions and sugar-free versions.

 

Now if you're an environmental geek you're about to get the best of all worlds -- Syzmo Energy Drink is the first 100% organic energy drink. That's right, not one artificial flavor, color, and not one teeny little preservative have made it into this can.  

 

Syzmo touts on its Web site that it not only has less calories than the other leading energy drinks, it also has more vitamins and uses organic blue agave nectar as a sweetener.

 

Syzmo gets its buzz-enhancing ingredients from guarana, yerba mate and caffeine, which is naturally derived from coffee.

 

You can get the drink at Whole Foods, Exxon or order it from Amazon . 

 

Via: Goto Reviews .  

Let's just say it: the Shell Eco-Marathon   -- the finals of which are this weekend in Nagaro, France -- is simply adorable. Competitors toodle up in cars that look like they're designed by the Pixar team and compete with the cartoonish dream of getting great mileage.{mosimage}

 

That's right -- the only goal is to drive as far as possible using the least amount of energy.  

 

And this isn't just a biodiesel fiesta. Teams can use any conventionally available energy source, including petrol, diesel, propane, solar, electric, hydrogen or biomass. 

 

255 teams from 20 countries are revving up to compete -- 163 are using gasoline, 21 are using diesel, 19 will use propane and the remaining 52 will use alternative materials. The results have been fairly astounding in the past -- in 2003 a French team achieved fuel consumption of 10,705 miles per gallon. 

 

Via: Treehugger . 

It's wind and sun that will soon power the hybrid ferries that will take tourists out to look at Alcatraz. The National Park Service has paired with Hornblower Cruises and Events to create these green ferries in a ten-year multi-million dollar contract. {mosimage}

 

The use of solar and wind energy will lead to zero emissions at the wharf, and the ferries have been touted to get much better mileage and pollute half as much as the previous vessels. 

 

The first ferry will be built within the next two years, and the second will be built by year five.  

 

Water vessels are making big strides going green -- Canal Boats, Inc. has launched a bio-diesel/electric hybrid ferry named "Clay Shaw." These ferries are powered by a 100KW John Deere bio-diesel Genset 6068 TFM that uses an 80/20 mix of diesel fuel and vegetable oil. 

 

Via: Ecofriend . 

The Scuderi Group has recently gained a lot of publicity with its “Air-Hybrid” engine that can double the fuel effciency of a car and decrease toxic emissions by as much as 80%.

The engine is a 'hybrid' in that it extracts energy that is normally lost, stores that energy, and then reuses it. The energy that is normally lost is airpressure, and it is stored for only an extremely brief moment before being forced into a combustion cylinder. The increased air pressure in the combustion cylinder effectively super-charges the engine cycle. The fuel burns hotter and more fully, and the Air-Hybrid engine is able to use more of that energy.

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The engine is remarkably simple and very efficient. We're looking forward to seeing these things in mass-market cars.

Great story on these things at AutoBlog, I found it via GizMag .

For more information see this video on how the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Engine works.

EcoGeek is Hiring!

There is honestly too much good news for us to handle! EcoGeek is currently looking for dedicated, informed and experienced writers to be part of our team. And yes, it pays.

Yesterday Texas officials announced plans for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, with as many as 170 windmills in the Gulf of Mexico. {mosimage}

 

Hold your confetti canons there, ecogeeks.  While you may be swooning over the fact that these windmills may have the capacity to provide energy for close to 125,000 homes, environmentalists aren't happy.

 

Environmentalists are claiming that the new wind farm will kill countless rare birds that fly through Texas migrating down to Central America and Mexico. In fact, Walter Kittelberger, chairman of the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, went so far as to say, "You probably couldn't pick a worse location." 

 

The only response from the project, funded by Houston-based Superior Renewable Energy, is from Chief Executive John Callaway, who responded, "Of course there's going to be some mortality, but we don't think it will be significant."

 

The fight for the birds, unfortunately, will probably be lost in a larger battle over aesthetics. Postcard-happy residents in Cape Cod, Massachusetts are fighting their new wind farm bitterly because of its unsightliness, and Superior seems more driven to assert that the new Gulf wind farm will be placed on a remote, unpopulated stretch of the shore.

 

Via: CNN . 

 

{mosimage}Way back when, it was George Lucas who invented the all-zones-flooded movie merchandising blitz. From Darth Vader Coke cups in 1977 to pudgy Bail Organa action figures in 2005, film marketers have mastered the art of leveraging children's movies to sell nasty, industrially-produced fast food (and vice versa).

 

Kids can't resist Ewoks or french fries. Together? Unstoppable.

Considering the epidemic of obesity--particularly among the little porkers formerly known as children in the U.S.--this practice seems all the more sordid these days. Not to mention environmentally irresponsible. Fast food is the opposite of sustainable and responsible.

So, it comes as welcome news, that Disney/Pixar have declined to renew a 10-year, $1 billion agreement with McDonalds to promote Pixar's CGI films.

Hmmm. Steve Jobs owns Pixar. Pixar buys Disney. Steve Jobs is pescetarian. A few weeks later, Pixar/Disney say good bye to McDonald's. Coincidence? Not likely.

This is Steve Jobs, the mercurial genius behind iPods and the Macintosh, striking an unambiguous blow for the EcoGeeky agenda. Cartoons and fast food must be de-linked.

I've watched my nephew stare, glaze-eyed, at Toy Story roughly one million times. Woody and Buzz are like Baby Crack. Powerfully addictive stuff. Except, unlike crack, Pixar cartoons seem harmless. If anything, watching said nephew activate his Buzz Lightyear wrist laser while hollering, "to infiminitee anbedond!" suggests the emergence of a fun-loving and imaginitive mind. Pixar films entertain countless persons for countless hours and incur no greater material inputs than sustenance for a handful of intensely creative minds, a little electricity, and a few DVDs. Creativity, information, entertainment--these are the very essence of the EcoGeeky way forward. Harmless human gratification with a small ecological footprint.

McDonalds is the oppposite. A vast network of industrial food production, energy-intensive logistics, dubious animal husbandry, metastasizing cultural sameness--all of which is directed toward producing  bland dog shit some call food that makes children fat, anxious, and probably stupid. Although I can't prove the latter two.

Thanks, Steve Jobs. You might be the world's most powerful EcoGeek.

Now please buy DreamWorks SKG before I have to watch Shrek and Grimace hawking Happy Meals.

 

Via ZDNEt  

Just another should-you-go-hybrid? story from SmartMoney.com. As usual, the {mosimage}answer to the headline's question isn't in the text. Instead, they list seven ways that you can save cash by buying a hybrid car.

Seven ways in addition to buying less gas, that is.

Anyway, here's my favorite part:

"Several major cities — including Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque — offer free metered parking for hybrids. Other cities are considering similar measures. Free parking doesn't mean you can't be ticketed, however, so abide by the meter restrictions — no hogging that prime space all day in a two-hour spot. You'll also need to register your car. Albuquerque asks residents to register with the city's parking office, and place an identification sticker in the vehicle window.

"Hybrid owners can also save on parking permits. Baltimore is offering discounted passes at 15 of its parking garages. At the garage on St. Paul Street, for example, you'll pay only $100 for a monthly pass, compared with $185 for regular vehicles. That's a savings of 46%. In Westchester, N.Y., hybrid owners get free parking at two commuter lots. Passes normally cost $75."

Get more of the financial side of buying a hybrid in the full article.

And before you buy your hybrid to get free parking, check with your city's specific rules for this type of thing -- I read complaints on a Prius message forum that San Jose's law, for example, may require that you buy your hybrid car in San Jose to qualify.

That is a clever way to get more people behind passing that sort of bill, though -- suddenly you've got all of the greenies united with the car dealerships on it.