Archive for October, 2009
Inspirational Eco-friendly Quotes From Actors, Activists and World Leaders
Posted by: | Comments
The reality is that anyone in the limelight has the media attention or political relevance to get their opinions heard so why not exploit that with a worthy cause like the environment? Awareness is essential to help combat climate change and if Leonardo DiCaprio has to say it for it to resonate with people, then I say talk it up Leo. Ed Begley Jr. has been doing it for years and he is the pioneer for many actor/environmentalists out there today to aspire to. We searched around for some eco-friendly quotes from famous actors, environmental activists and world leaders and the results were both insightful and motivating:
“If we want to move towards a low-polluting, sustainable society, we need to get consumers to think about their purchases.” (David Suzuki)
“By employing the intelligence of natural systems we can create industry, buildings, even regional plans that see nature and commerce not as mutually exclusive but mutually coexisting.” (Brad Pitt)
“The supreme reality of our time is…the vulnerability of our planet.” (John F. Kennedy)
“We all have to do our part to raise awareness about global warming and the problems we as a people face in promoting a sustainable environmental future for our planet.” (Leonardo DiCaprio)
“I feel more confident than ever that the power to save the planet rests with the individual consumer.” (Denis Hayes, Chair, Earth Day Network)
“Recycling just seems like the right thing to do, I mean really, it makes us responsible for the messes that we make. It’s all about just picking up after yourself, not shoving our trash in our oceans and streams. We might as well reuse it before we lose it.” (Ed Begley Jr.)
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
“The best way to make a contribution in fashion is to promote the idea that a fundamental interest in preserving the environment is itself fashionable.” (Giorgio Armani)
Trick Or Treat With An Eco-friendly Halloween
Posted by: | CommentsThe Ecolectual Wishes you an Eco-friendly and Happy Halloween! I love Halloween so I thought I would share some helpful tips and tricks sure to make for an eco-friendly Halloween. Where should we start? I say we start with the pumpkin.
There are great free printable pumpkin carving templates available at www.ehow.com. If it is a Wizard of Oz pumpkins you are after, you can go to www.wendyswizardofoz.com. No matter what design you choose here’s a great tip: rub cinnamon on the inside of the lid of the pumpkin (when using a candle) as it will make the area around the pumpkin smell of cinnamon. What better way to welcome trick-or-treaters or friends to your door on Halloween then with the inviting scent of cinnamon. Another helpful hint is to cut out the bottom of the pumpkin so you can simply place it over the candle or light of your choice. That saves you from having to cut the top off and your pumpkin has an untouched look.
Now that we have carved our pumpkin, what do you do with the seeds? First off, there is an easy way of separating the “guts” from the seeds – simply soak them both in a bowl of water and the seeds will separate on their own. Want to make those seeds more interesting than just clean, wash, dry and toast with a little oil and salt?
Here are three links to recipes courtesy of Rachel Ray that are sure to kick those seeds up a notch:
1) a sweet and spicy pumpkin seed recipe that is like a candied version of the popular snack
2) a smoky chipotle pumpkin seed recipe
3) a curried pumpkin seed recipe
Remember these snacks are an eco-friendly alternative to packaged snacks and there is no waste because you are using everything from the pumpkin. It all can be either consumed or composted.
When it comes to decorating for Halloween, I know it’s hard not to give in to allure of giant inflatables with flashing lights and other energy wasting decorations but please try. A great way to have an eco-friendly Halloween is to make your own decorations. If crafts are not your thing be cognizant try to buy decorations made of sustainable materials that can be reused and don’t consume excessive energy.
Most people throwaway the cotton they use for a home-made spider web after Halloween but it actually can be reused year after year. Seeing as how reuse is one the big three R’s you know it’s an eco-friendly practice.
What’s left? Ah yes, the costume. Here are some interesting and easy costumes for you to make with stuff you may already have at your disposal:
1) First up we have one inspired by the musical The Sound of Music, more accurately the famous song “Doe a Dear”. Just wear all black then cut out a tear drop shape of yellow construction paper, pin it to your shirt and you are Ray a drop of golden sun.
Green Gazette (Issue 13) Green Racing, Concrete Mushrooms and an eco ghost
Posted by: | CommentsGood evening everyone and welcome back to the greenest bulletins around. The green gazette is our twice per week posting to highlight some of the more intriguing, inspiring or incredible pieces of eco news. Inventions, ideas and issues will be tackled as we seek the online newswire for stories or blogs that are worth a quick read. So let’s get started…
A lot of people get excited about auto racing, really excited (too excited?). I’m not one of them but as with all things sports related - to each his own. Seeing vehicles race round a track (you end where you begin…hmmm) at insane speeds draws huge crowds and even bigger revenues to 
the sport. By definition it’s an extreme waste of fuel, nothing is delivered anywhere, nobody is commuting and each vehicle has but the single occupant. So how can auto racing green up? Natural gas vehicles is an intriguing answer and Volkswagen are leading the way. A recent entry into a 24 hour race VW won the ‘alt-fuel’ class in the contest. These aren’t a poor relation to traditional racing either, the vehicle offers 220hp and 202 foot pounds of torque. Bio-CNG is made from renewable resources such as grass or refined biological waste. VW claims the fuel is CO2-neutral, generating only the amount of carbon dioxide already absorbed by the source feedstock. The energy produced from a ton of organic residues equates to 60 liters (about 15 gallons) of fuel oil, or 200 kilowatt-hours of electrical power. Using this production process the yield from one hectare (2.4 acres) of cultivated land allows a vehicle to cover a distance of 67,600 kilometers (about 42,000 miles). Amazing stats from an amazing vehicle and you still get to see a car go round and round and round. If you have to race then why not do so with the 80% reduction in CO2 emissions that this vehicle delivers?
Nothing is greener than gardening you’d tend to assume and of course if you can grow your own fruit or vegetables what better way to cut down on food transportation? Besides which, nothing tastes like a strawberry, onion or an orange from your own back garden. As a result I wanted to add a link to these seven great tips for eco-friendly garden. Worth a look and really easy to implement!
As I’ve warned you before, here comes a weird story. Albania hardly ever makes the news, the small nation on the Adriatic is perhaps most famous for being the most Southwestern extremity of the former Soviet Eastern Bloc. Despite bordering Greece and being less than 100 miles off 
the coast of Southern Italy Albania was governed from the USSR from 1946-1992. The landscape (due to a combination of history, location and paranoia) is littered with concrete pillboxes or bunkers. Small concrete domes throughout the land that could be used strategically in case of invasion, and when I say scattered that’s not accurate there are over 700,000 dotting the land. The goal is to transform them into eco-friendly hostels, they are already built and the environment is not damaged further (many are in beautiful scenic locations). You can learn more about the designers and their vision and even download a huge pdf of the proposal by visiting their website. Taking something as stark as this and trying to create something positive is rather bold and creative. If you have time I’ve also included a preview video of the documentary being made about the concept. Time for me to visit Albania, I went to the former Yugoslavia to the North and it looks equally beautiful.
Finally tonight a little ghost from England especially for Halloween. Kaspa is a glow in the dark EcoGlo-Ghost that will glow for an extended period of time after switching the internal light bulb off. It’s a sweet little design and the extended glow (perfect for a ghost friendly kid) is due to the product containing phosphor. The product is winning awards for innovation and design and I must confess I’d have loved one when I was a lad. Read and view more about Kaspa here and there’s also a video of the ‘glowing’ - erm….ghost.
Happy Halloween!!
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart - An Eco-friendly Wedding
Posted by: | Comments
Here comes the Bride all dressed in… GREEN? Well, maybe the not the dress but the rest of the upcoming nuptials of Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford reportedly will be. This Hollywood power couple, who have been dating since 2002 and recently became engaged, are reportedly having an eco-friendly wedding. It is reported that at a Team Earth initiative in New York, Ford said: “I haven’t thought about greening my wedding. My wedding was always going to be green!”.
Ford is very involved in Team Earth which is an organization that “will unite businesses, non-profit organizations, scientists, educators, individuals and children in an international collective action campaign to address the most pressing environmental issues facing humanity”. On the organizations website Ford makes an eco-friendly statement writing “saving the planet won’t be easy — and it’s certainly not something you can do alone. That’s why I need your help — and that’s why I’ve joined teamearth.com. We all know that our planet is at a critical juncture: and humanity needs a healthy planet to survive.” Having an eco-friendly wedding is just one way that Ford is trying to practice what he preaches. The couple should be commended for planning an eco-friendly wedding especially because of all the media attention that the big event is bound to receive.