YouTube Offers Green Tips

Meredith Grey in shades of green: Click me, choose me, love me…and you might just get yourselves some tips for greener living while you’re at it. Hit the pic for some Earth Day fun, complements of YouTube and GreenEffect.com.

EcoEntertainment: Samsung LED TV

The seventh generation Samsung LED TV was created with three things in mind: improved picture quality, sleek design, and the environment. Maybe it’s because I have a thing for brilliant color (blame it on the Disney lover in me), or maybe it’s because I know that my American Idol addiction ups my energy intake (especially during audition season). Either way, I’m happy to hear – as I am sure California lawmakers will be – that there’s a T.V. company that’s sparing Mother Earth some parental pain. (People don’t like to see their children suffer.)

Actually, I think the hummingbird‘s got me hooked. And kudos to the Golden State’s Energy Commission for attempting to cut the state’s TV energy intake in half.

Fall Back, Sunshine: Obama Considers Global Cooling

The Obama administration announces that global warming is worse than ever and that it plans to take some radical action in an attempt to reverse the damage. One drastic option is to shoot pollution particles into the air to reflect the sunshine. Talk about progressive.

They’re calling this new chemical and physical science combination geoengineering, the controversial science of tinkering with the climate to save the ice, and the polar bears while they’re at it. Since the consequences of avoiding the issue can be “really intolerable,” says John Holden, a concerned physicist, now is the time to act. The British Parliament is also considering the idea. 

Holden does warn us against going to extremes. While he agrees that geoengineering should be kept on the back burner just in case, he thinks some ideas go a step too far – like one Nobel laureate’s concoction of a faux-volcano. Still, he admits, desperate times may call for desperate measures.

Do you think we have to reinvent the environment to save it?

XO, The Green Gamine

Empire State Building Glows Green

For anyone who’s been trying to defy the gravity of this economic recession, this will come as a pleasant surprise to you. Wicked day at the Empire State Building all year round!

Jokes. Though the Empire will continue to glow green on the anniversary of the Broadway phenom (i.e. Halloween), the green I’m talking about is something you can’t see.

The building, completed in 1931 (in the midst of another notable depression), is finally getting a $500 million facelift. One fifth of that has been set aside to green the building. The Clinton Climate Initiative, founded by President Bill “Al Gore” Clinton, has agreed to foot the first $20 million. The Clinton Climate Initiative helps cities cut greenhouse gas emissions and is secretly chaired (shh!) by none other than Mr. Gore.

The Empire‘s energy-saving model should lower the energy intake by 38 percent, ultimately saving the 102-story building $4.4 million a year. “What Is This Feeling?” It’s the feeling of your heart “Defying Gravity” because you know this plan will be so “Popular” among treehuggers and people with common sense alike. “No one mourns the…” energy inefficient!

Sorry. End of the Wicked references.

XO, The Green Gamine

Fast Facts: The New Mac mini

(apple.com)

Our favorite fruit in the form of a computer is notorious for its silent treatment. Sure the product is green, but how about the means of making it? Steve Jobs ain’t in the mood to dish. (Fishy? Perhaps.)

Still, here is what Apple did share with its loyal, dedciated (…obsessive, and that includes myself) fan base about its new Mac mini.

• This Mac mini is more energy efficient, using up to 45 percent less electricity when idle than its pint-sized predecessor. 
• It met the Environmental Protection Agency’s low power standards, meaning that it is Energy Star Certified. 
• Determined by its design, its use of energy, and its recyclability (did I just make that up?), Mac mini has earned the highest Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) rating: Gold. 
• Apple claims they have a better control of their carbon footprint since they oversee the entire engineering of their products, making ingredients easier to trace. 
• This mini’s box is 31 percent smaller, and the volume of its shipping box is down by 60 percent. Smaller boxes mean more room in the FedEx van for a more efficient and eco-friendly delivery system. 
• Its casing is made from recyclable aluminum and polycarbonate. And it only uses 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 cubic inches of the mix per product. 
• Removed toxins include flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), common elements in computer manufacturing that got the cut in order to imitate Mac’s “greenest family of notebooks”.

There’s the short list. There’s a bit more we’d like to know, such as just where they have traced their product materials back to, not just that they’re proud to be able to trace them. Still, the Mac mini is a smaller carbon footprint in a greener direction. Thoughts?

XO, The Green Gamine

Treehuggers, Start Your Engines.

In attempt to maintain my one-sided love affair with Al Gore, I regularly receive updates in the form of e-mails from Repower America, a sub-sect of the Alliance for Climate Protection. Today, I received a “personal e-mail” from Ms. Cathy Zoi, the organization’s CEO. 

As a member of the We Campaign, I have been called upon to write a note to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking them to fight the good fight and honor California’s waiver request for higher eco-standards in cars. Fifty thousand messages have been sent thus far – the goal was to send another 50,000 today. 

 Here’s a note from Deirdre, hailing from the Golden State:

“I support Repower America because I care about the future of the Earth. Because I love my 8-year-old daughter, who asked me tonight ‘Mama, will there be enough trees to give us air in 100 years?'”

My pledge.

California is not the only state fighting against those four-wheeled polluters. Thirteen other states are also on board.

Some have argued that this should not be a state effort. Others believe that the auto industry doesn’t need encouragement to go green – just look at the Prius! But Repower America won’t stop fighting until every American car drives au naturale.

The website breaks down the supporter count by state and offers its vital stats. I’ll share the New Jersey tidbit with you, courtesy of  the Center for American Progress, as I grew up on hairspray and proper beaches:

New Jersey is successfully promoting renewable energy installations in the state; however, it currently generates most of its electricity from nuclear (52%) and natural gas (25%). If New Jersey invests $3.2 billion on energy efficiency and other clean energy resources, like wind, solar and biomass, the state can gain over 57,000 new green jobs within two years.

Governor Corzine is already making significant steps towards this goal with his energy master plan, which would employ between 1,500 to 2,000 people over 6-12 months in new, clean energy businesses, cut energy demand by 20% by 2020, and create an additional 20,000 “green-collar” jobs by that same year.

Considering that my roots have contributed to destroying the ozone layer, I’m pretty pumped about the advances. Stop by the site and put in your own two cents.

XO, The Green Gamine

Coen Brothers Care About Coal

The Coen Brothers are known for the Academy Award-winning dark farce, such as Fargo and No Country for Old Men. Now they’ll be known for their unique brand sarcastic activism. 

Joel and Ethan Coen recently filmed a TV informercial, arguing that coal is not, in fact, an eco-friendly way to produce electricity. Starring a Bob Barker-esque host demonstrating the “benefits” of toxic “clean coal”, the Brothers’ short is a 50’s-themed, 30-second spoof that will sure to have you both laughing and thinking.

We can thank the Reality Coalition, a partner of the Alliance for Climate Protection, for the Brothers’ small screen directorial debut. The group states on its website: 

Coal cannot be called ‘clean’ until its CO₂ emissions are captured and stored safely. Let’s be clear: There are no U.S. homes, factories, shopping centers or churches powered by coal plants that capture and store their global warming pollution.

They argue not that clean coal cannot exist, just that it doesn’t – yet. But perhaps the bros have hit a funny bone, one that will inspire the Obama administration, a major proponent for clean coal engineering, to get on it.

The Center for American Progress released research two months ago stating that although coal companies could take strides towards carbon capture and storage – a “promising” form of clean coal technology – they have not been dishing out the dollars to do so. Again, perhaps a part of Obama’s stimulus package will help this movement along.

Until then, Coen & Coen will continue to film shorts for the Reality Coalition, and their message could only go one of two ways: coal companies will feel forced (Amen!) to implement clean coal technology into their blueprints for the future, or viewers (and coal companies accordingly) will find the task impossible. Hopefully for us, it’ll be the former.

XO, The Green Gamine

New MacBook Pro Is 17” and Satisfying

Steve Jobs wants you to know: the elongated MacBook Pro has got recycl-attitude. Watch this video to get just how green their latest notebook is.

Clearly, Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Pick Up. It’s Your Green Cell Phone Calling.

The Motorola Renew in its sustainable packaging. (CBS Interactive)

In a recent article featured in The New York Times, reporter Eric Sylvers begs the question: should we save money or save the environment? As material kids living in an economically unstable world with unparalleled technological advances, the question has become more relevant than ever before.

The newest niche green market? Cell phones. Up until now, we only demanded that our Blackberry or iPhone e-mails, texts and (I almost forgot) receives the occasional phone call.

Now, we’re starting to expect a little more from our bluetoothed friends. We want to make sure these mobile devices deliver and save. However, expensive phones (that just happen to reduce your carbon footprint) aren’t the obvious answer in an economic recession.

“People aren’t going to care about environmentally friendly mobile phones until the green products cost less than the regular ones,” said Tom Byrd, an industry analyst with CCS Insight in Solihull, England.

The idea is that if companies raise the hype now, there will be a larger demand for green phones down the road, meaning prices should drop. Still, experts expect another two to five years to pass before we see the change.

“This is absolutely a niche product and niche market and niche audience,” said Mr. Byrd, the CCS analyst. “But there is an audience out there that cares about the environment and will pay more to lower their impact.”

What impact exactly? As of now, Nokia seems to be the leader in green cell tech. Many of their phones have light sensors that detect natural light, which allow them to save energy. The phones also beep when fully charged, so you don’t shock the equipment (or yourself when you spy the bill) with extra electricity.

Later this month, Motorola will be releasing the MOTO W233 Renew. The phone is certifiably carbon free; from the product to the packaging, it’s 100 percent recyclable. Naturally, it comes in a lovely shade of green. The phone will be available on the T-Mobile network and will cost a mere $9.99.

Skip coffee for two days at Starbucks and you can easily afford this eco-friendly phone – and get in touch with your thermos.

Trees everywhere are smiling.

XO, The Green Gamine

Who’s Afraid of a Green Library?

(www.siliconrepublic.com)

Yesterday, for those of you who haven’t heard, Amazon unleashed its Kindle 2.0 on the literary world – the green answer to the printed book. It is a well known fact that chunks of the Amazon and the like have been wiped out so as to appease the wannabe wizards and teen vamps who have put the book industry back in business. Though series sales have skyrocketed, paving the way for a new breed of movie adaptations (Twilight anyone?), what price have we paid for the inimitable feel of crisp paper between our fingertips?

The Green Press Initiative conducted a study in 2006 to find out. Thanks to the 4.15 billion books printed that year, the industry left behind a carbon footprint size of 12.4. That’s 12.4 tons of metric waste. Not such an insignificant double digit anymore, huh? And that doesn’t include the daily Times you tend to toss, or those 52 issues of Entertainment Weekly you’ve been saving up from last year.

Seemingly, Amazon has found the alternative. Connected to the Sprint network, the new Kindle can download any of its 230,000 books in less than a minute. It has a longer battery life and a new, streamlined look, which is said to weigh less than the average paperback. With the newly expanded hard drive, you can toss 1,500 books into your handbag or briefcase, offering you more options for your morning commute.