Kayakas!

In an effort to help persuade federal regulators to raise fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, Environmental Defense released a report entitled “ Global Warming on the Road’. Their findings suggest that cars driven in the U.S. are responsible for roughly half of the global greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. This is true, despite the fact that the nation’s vehicles account for 30% of the roughly 700 million cars operating worldwide. Environmental Defense attributes this to more miles driven, lower fuel economy standards, and the use of more carbon intensive fuels. According to the report, “U.S. cars and light trucks were driven 2.6 trillion miles in 2004, equal to driving back and forth to Pluto more than 470 times”. Surprisingly, small cars were found to emit more carbon dioxide than SUVs. The lead author of the report suggests that this is due to the fact that there is a greater number of older small vehicles with higher emissions still on the road. See also ::Biobutonal: A Superior, Renewable Substitute for Gasoline and ::Who Killed the Electric Car?, ::THTV: Who Killed the Electric Car?

When I can”t get to sleep at night, I fire up a PDF of “LEED-NC Version 2.2. The rating system lists the intent, requirements, submittals, and technologies/strategies for each credit and includes the LEED-NC Checklist. ” Lets face it, LEED is boring. It is a prescriptive checklist of items that you put in your building and get points for. The more points, the better the rating. It is mind-numbing. It is design by spreadsheet, the victory of Excel over the pencil. Buildings that we would not have looked at twice get splashed everywhere, it is distorting our view of what is important about architecture and design.

That is why Inhabitat”s new series on Green Building 101 is so remarkable and important.

The “Archetype for the Living City” competition winner was announced this week: the Toronto design team comprised of

The food”s been flying in the blogosphere lately as Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and food writer Michael Pollan engage in a respectful, passionate and very through blog-based debate about Pollan”s portrayal of the Austin-based grocery chain in his recent book The Omnivore”s Dilemma.

Summer is here and as you go out the door, after “do you have your keys”, the most common reminder is: “don’t forget the sunscreen and your hat”. We all know that sunbathing is bad and that we should wear hats and cover ourselves with sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. But rates of skin cancer are not declining. Many people stay out in the sun too long, don’t apply the lotion as often as they should, and don’t cover up. But what about the sunscreen? There is some concern that the chemicals in the suntan lotion itself may be harmful. Ethical Consumer has analysed and identified some ingredients such as parabens, PABA, and synthetic perfumes that are skin irritants and potentially dangerous. It has rated the brands on the market that it considers to be the best, based on a number of criteria including environment, politics and employees” working conditions. Their conclusion–the organics win out– Dr. Hauschka–a well-respected German brand, Urtekram Sun Lotion ( a Danish company) and Weleda Edelweis are the best buys, followed by Green People and Lavera. At the bottom of the list: Nivea, Piz Bruin, Body Shop and Ambre Solaire. ::Ethical Consumer

Tiffany Threadgould is no stranger to the TreeHugger pages.

If you didn’t catch sight of her here, maybe you glimpsed Tiffany’s Umbrella Skirt in one of the first issues of ReadyMade a few years back (issue 6)? Perhaps she taught you how to make a tote out of them on HGTV? No? It’s never too late, people. Learn how here and here.

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Unless you’re living in the Arctic (and even then) you’ve probably noticed that summer is here. But your melting popsicle and soaking brow aren”t the only indicators: with each rising notch of the air conditioner dial, you might also notice the electric bill soar, or Greenland’s ice sheet—part of the earth’s natural “air conditioner”— sink. Feeling too sluggish to even pull myself over to the A/C from my sweat-soaked keyboard in this sweltering Beijing apartment, and sorely lacking that classical Asian air conditioner, I called out to my fellow Treehuggers for their advice: how, I asked, can I stay cool without switching on the A/C, that expensive energy eater whose drips are the summer scourge of every city dweller, whose chills can make us sick, and whose numbing hum can be heard around the world, from the U.S. to Brussels, from Qatar to China to even (yes) the Arctic?

It turns out that there are plenty of cheap, easy, and fun ways to beat the summer heat without beating the environment or your wallet. Green isn’t just cool: cool is green. Here are some ideas from Treehugger…

According to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), TreeHugger has been right to promote the use of compact fluorescent (here and here as well) and other energy-efficient lighting: a global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world”s electricity bill by nearly one-tenth. The carbon dioxide emissions saved by such a switch would, it concludes, dwarf cuts so far achieved by adopting wind and solar power. Wow. According to Paul Waide, a senior policy analyst with the IEA and one of the report”s authors, “19% of global electricity generation is taken for lighting — that”s more than is produced by hydro or nuclear stations, and about the same that”s produced from natural gas.” For the individual TreeHugger, the report concludes that the easiest, most obvious switch to make is from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent systems, and to watch out for the LED revolution, just around the lighting corner. ::BBC News via ::Gristmill

Image couresty David Hobby at Strobist.com

Engadget has a duo of articles heralding new responsible electronics recycling programs that are worth a look. Apple started it, and now Dell is following up their big world tour by raising the bar for the industry. Dell owners can now arrange for free-pickup of any Dell-branded product, anytime — no purchase required. Just enter the asset tag into their website, print their pre-paid air bill, follow the instructions to pack it up, schedule the collection of your junk, and watch it ride off into the sunset. The lack of guesswork, and effort at all, will be enough to help everyone with a working internet connection recycle their old Dell, we hope. Second, California continues to bust out legislation to keep junk from going where it doesn”t belong. This time, it”s mandatory cellphone recycling, and it”s also easy on the consumer end. Recycling will be free; you can visit the “Keep California Beautiful” website to get a postage paid box that”ll send your old phone to a responsible resting place from the comfort of your own home. Dell: [CNET] via ::Engadet and “Keep California Beautiful”: ::PR Newswire via ::Engadget