energy

Tomorrow evening, many parts of the world will go dark in honor of Earth Hour 2012, a worldwide initiative led by the World Wildlife Fund to promote awareness of energy conservation and sustainability in general. Will your house be dark tomorrow at 8:30pm?

Thought there wasn't one eco-friendly product out there to rule them all? Think again, and get Less.

GreenBottle, the UK inventors of the paper milk bottle, has invented the world's first paper wine bottle. It features a compostable and recyclable paper shell around a recyclable plastic liner that's 0.5% the size of a regular plastic bottle. They cost the same to make as a regular glass bottle, but have one-tenth the carbon footprint.

Would you drink wine out of a paper bottle?

Via Treehugger.com.

Don Shelby, the former WCCO anchor we all know and love, is building a brand new energy-efficient home in Excelsior. Read about its green features, why he's building it, and about the "inukshuk" in the front yard at MinnPost.com.
Image via MinnPost.com


Excerpt:

Building a house that will consume a fraction of the fossil-fuel electricity and natural-gas heating is more expensive than a code-minimum house. There is the solar and geothermal and the triple-pane argon windows. There's the post-consumer plastic pavers made from recycled materials, and roof shingles made of recycled tires, and wood floors that came from buildings and barns where the lumber was cut from the forest 100 years ago. We will retain rainwater in a cistern, rain-gardens and a water retention sink below the driveway.

This hobbit-like home was built for less than $5000! The owners built it by hand (with help from passers by), and from natural and reclaimed materials. They're able to live completely off the grid, with a low impact on the environment. While hobbit-living isn't for everyone, clearly it suits some. Could you handle it, for a home that rustic, beautiful, and cheap? (Not to mention environmentally friendly.)

From Grist.

This great infographic by One Block Off the Grid does a great job comparing the upfront costs, savings and payback times of various 'green' home upgrades. Obviously, solar, geothermal and other large-scale projects have the highest up-front costs and longest payback times, but there are a few winners when it comes to low investment and quick returns: high-efficiency shower heads, programmable thermostats, and sealing & insulating air ducts. These small upgrades start saving you $200-$300/year, each!

Click to see larger.

This new solar phone charger has a unique feature: a suction cup that allows you to attach the charger to any window - on an airplane, in the car, or just at home. It also has a kickstand so that it can be stood up on any other surface, and a battery that holds enough power to fully charge a cell phone. How neat!

It can be pre-ordered for $39.99 at quirky.com.

Seen at AlternativeConsumer.com.

Metro Transit is conducting a study of 11 high traffic urban corridors throughout the Twin Cities as candidates for a new "rapid bus" service. This concept would reduce boarding time, reduce waits at traffic lights, and make the overall experience more enjoyable and efficient for passengers. Read more about the concept here.

Public meetings will be held next week, so if you'd like to learn more or just get your voice heard, attend one of these three meetings:

Tuesday, Oct. 11 from 6 to 8 pm, at Metro State University, Founders Hall, 700 E 7th St, St. Paul.

Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 6 to 8 pm, at the Midtown Global Market, in the basement meeting room at 920 E Lake St, Suite G10, Minneapolis.

Thursday, Oct. 13 from 11 am to 12:45 pm, at the Central Library, Doty Board Room, N-280, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis.

Frustrated with the city's limited recycling program? Two local companies are expanding their recycling services to help all of the Twin Cities. Starting in January, Minneapolis residents will be able to recycle ALL plastics, not just #'s 1 & 2. Here's the Star Tribune's article, "Metro area recyclers set to accept more plastics", for more info. (But remember, cutting down on plastic consumption is still the best way to reduce waste!)

And do you remember when we investigated the Eastside Co-op's Recycling Program this fall as one of our Morph Adventure Videos? As a recap, the Co-op has a plastic drop-off center two days a week where you can bring all plastics #'s 1-7 (except foam). Here's the video:

Today's [GREEN]Tuesday post is just a re-post of this article from Utne.com: Exercise Machines Will Not Power the World, where the real-life benefits of gyms with electricity-generating exercise machines are examined.
The basic idea is that some gyms are retro-fitting machines to generate power, making them seem "greener" than other gyms to attract members. But in reality, the amount of power generated hardly offsets the gym's power usage, especially when considering the investment in the machines. So even if it's a small step, is it worth it? Would you join a gym if you knew you were generating power while working out?