Archive for Leisure Travel
Green Gazette (Issue 38) Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Posted by: | CommentsHello again, regular readers might be familiar with the Green Gazette and perhaps thought your author had retired or exhausted his supply of eco-tales of innovation and improvement. The truth is I was otherwise engaged but now I’m back - if that all feel a little bit Leno vs Conan please don’t cast me in the role of Jay. I do however have a few stories to share if you can stay a while.
It has been a horrible few months for Toyota, it seems that you can’t watch the news without learning more about safety and design issues that are impacting the giant (world’s largest) auto manufacturer. Correctly using the word irony is not always my biggest talent but it seems that the top brass at Toyota are now admitting that the root cause for many of the errors was success, that they grew too rapidly for their infrastructure to properly assess design faults and correct issues as they arose. 2010 will be a telling year for the company as they need accomplish three 
things really rapidly - explain how these things got through the cracks, make appropriate repairs to all vehicles on the road and improve their internal processes so that it doesn’t happen again. I think that they need to hit home runs on all three to remain on the top of the world auto buyers shopping list. In light of that it’s remarkable that the Prius has just won Consumer Reports award for best eco-friendly car. The Prius is a testament to the innovation at the company and the results were compiled after the current dark clouds settled over Toyota. Here’s hoping they resolve these critical issues and continue to lead the industry in making eco-friendly vehicles that benefit us all.
Would you believe that the combined amount of waste created by airlines in the US is in excess of 880 millions pounds of waste per year? More importantly they could (emphasis mine) be recycling some 75% of that total. The sad reality is that only about 20% of the waste created by our airlines is actually being recycled, that is not even a decent effort in my opinion. Perhaps we need to know more to hold airlines more accountable and a report that has just been published empowers you with exactly that information. The entire report is very alarming but I wanted to bring your attention to the following:
While airlines acknowledge the importance of recycling waste, no airline recycles all the major recyclables: aluminum cans, glass, plastic, and paper. No airline has a comprehensive program for minimizing or composting food waste or waste from snack packages, provides good public information about their recycling program, or reports out on progress in relation to any stated goals.
The good news I guess is that a lot can be done, I would highly recommend taking some time to look at the overall report it might just make you change your preferred airlines. The waste is borderline insulting to anyone who is committed to recycling I’ll just share some numbers if I may. Annually the airlines simply throw away:
- 9,000 tons of plastic
- Sufficient aluminum cans to build 58 Boeing 747 jets
- Sufficient newspaper and magazines to cover a football field 230 meters deep
Shouldn’t the airlines be interested in trying to offset some of the 600 million tons of carbon dioxide per year pumped into the atmosphere by commercial jets alone? The full report is available here, and if you want to take part in the ongoing survey the link is right here.
We have planes and automobiles in the post so I wanted to share something recent about trains. Not much out there to be honest, but as part of the Green stimulus in the US the plans for expanding/beginning high speed rail links look to be on track to a certain extent. I hope sooner rather than later as the thought of avoiding airports for journeys of up to 500 miles would have huge appeal to many in my opinion. If a train went from Phoenix to Los Angeles in 2.5 hours versus the 1 hour flight and all the hassles that go with flying were on offer I know I’d prefer the train. Not to mention that it is a radically greener way to transport people or freight.
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Green Gazette (Issue 36) Teletubbies, Eco Golf Balls and Legoland
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome back to the Planet Forward blog. Don’t forget with Valentine’s Day coming up soon you can say I love you to your partner and the planet by purchasing him or her a stainless steel water bottle or thermal. I’ve found some interesting environmental news items since my last post so if you can stay a while please read on.
Teletubby house?
So what do the worlds most valuable sports franchise, teletubbies and eco-friendly home construction have in common? Until today I’d have been unable to answer that question partly because I have no great love for the first two things on that list (especially Manchester United) but now there is a connection. It seems that the Man Utd defender thug Gary Neville is seeking planning permission for a eclectic looking hilltop home that is extremely eco-friendly. The design laid out is very unique in that it is primarily underground but the images are somehow familiar - yes that’s right it looks like the dwelling of the teletubbies. Please have a look at the images in the UK Newspaper the Daily Mail to see if you agree. Once you get past the funny part of the design, to be fair it is a very green construction with a wind turbine and solar power making the property carbon neutral.
Continuing the sporting theme let us now head over to golf and a company just a few miles from me who are marketing what they are calling the world’s premier eco-friendly golf ball. Dixon Golf have created the first high-performance eco-friendly golf balls. Other golf ball brands that use harsh heavy-metal pollutants like tungsten, cobalt, lead or contain non-renewable synthetic materials and compounds; Dixon’s are rather different. They are 100% recyclable and made from renewable materials. Even the packaging is made from 100% recycled material. Sounds like a good strategy to me…now if only I played golf. Check out the video below:
This is an interesting read with a happy ending. It seems that Cypress Gardens, Florida’s huge botanical gardens that became a strange hybrid of an amusement park/nature has been shut down and is going to be transformed into the world’s largest Legoland. The famed gardens were world famous and would have celebrated their 75th anniversary next year, instead Florida is adding another large amusement park to the already intense tourist market that fuels the state’s economy. Naturally enough some are concerns that the eco-impact of converting the gardens to a plastic paradise will have negative consequences on the beautiful flora of the park. This article raises many of those concerns and has found a reasonably optimistic reply from the Merlin Entertainments CEO (the owners of Legoland)
“…their botanical gardens are safe with us.” The company plans on keeping and reopening the beloved botanical gardens”
That’s a story worth keeping an eye on. It would be nice if the giant theme parks made a concession to a remote parking area and green transport to the park itself…..oh for Disney’s monorail to have become the future like we were promised all those years ago!
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Green Gazette (Issue 29) Penguins outnumbered and U2 guitarist in eco-debate
Posted by: | CommentsHello again and welcome back to the blog for last few days of 2009. Wherever you read this and however you celebrate the season I hope you are having a safe and happy holiday. In the interests of the festive spirit I’ll save what I want to write about Copenhagen and the Climate Summit until the next post, in summary the results from Denmark were not good enough and arguably a step backwards. Not the eco-news we really need to take into a new decade which in essence heightens the importance of making good personal choices when shopping, using energy and looking at the way that we live. If governments can’t take matters as seriously as they should then we need to be sure we educate ourselves and those around us about the state of the planet and how to safeguard its future. I’ll keep looking for developments, inventions and ideas on the Green Gazette and ask that you consider our site for ways you can participate in sustainable practices.
This story from the Daily Telegraph shows that eco-tourism can potentially have the very opposite impact intended if planning isn’t as thorough as it should be. Eco-Tourism is a growing proposition globally with the emphasis being on the opportunity to visit places off the beaten track and
vaction in a style that is as green as possible. While many resorts are successfully accomplishing this it seems that tourism to Antarctica is having a impact that is more costly than the benefits of increased awareness harvested by those who visit the frozen wilderness. This relatively new destination saw over 40,000 visitors travel to the bottom of the earth last year in what is now becoming a procession of ships through waters that normally saw nothing more than the occasional scientific expedition. Ship fuel and assorted trash from the new convoys are placing the delicate eco-system of the Antarctic under increasing pressure and imbalance. This in tandem with wildlife being disturbed by the near constant curiosity of the eco-sensitive tourists. Talk about best laid plans going wrong. Hopefully a solution can be found where awareness is raised without in turn raising the complexity of the problems that the South Pole (and by default all of us) faces.
Outrageously famous Irish band U2 are making some eco waves due to a project that guitarist The Edge (do you think he’ll stick with that name into his 50’s?) is behind on the California coast in Malibu. If you review the website behind the project it seems that the five unique homes that 
will be carved into the mountains above the coast are at the cutting edge (unintended pun) of eco-friendly design in terms of both construction and visual appeal when completed. ‘Leaves in The Wind’ isn’t a new U2 song but is the name of the development. Truth be told the features of the five homes incorporate as much and probably more of all that you could ask from a responsible manufacturer in our current climate. Energy efficient heating and cooling, LEED certified and the best of environmental exterior design should all be considerations that would make this project be endorsed by the beach community of Malibu. If you’ve ever driven through the town you know that there are decades of ugly and inefficient buildings standing in every direction as zoning seemingly wasn’t the concern it is today. So when the L.A. Times published this article today, you wonder how this has escalated into a war of ideas, principles and debate. At this juncture the project has not been approved for construction and it seems The Edge and the website are doing their best to ensure that it is viewed as a very green development and that if more of the California coastline looked like this it would be a better place for everyone.
As you dig deeper you begin to wonder if this is political, anti-celebrity or a community saying thanks but no thanks. Having studied both sides of the equation I’m not yet sure where I stand. I don’t really think Malibu needs any more construction, but if you must build at least do so to stringent eco-standards. It appears the proposal reaches those standards until you read the counterpoints. More/wider roads would need to be built, driveways as long as 1,800 feet would weave their way up the mountainside that is currently unspoiled. Sewage and water lines would need to be plumbed and so the list goes on. I do know this, there are uglier, less efficient, non eco-considerate dwellings throughout the hills and mountains of Southern California. If new home construction will inevitably continue for the elite, surely a home that has the specs of these ones is preferable? Wouldn’t Malibu be a more beautiful place without a 4 lane road full of traffic plowing within 50 feet of the coast be a bigger thing to focus on. We’ll learn what happens with this in the months ahead - I’m positive there are bigger transgressions daily but the price of fame is making sure that the guitar player from a band famed for their global awareness is casting a brighter spotlight on this particular matter.
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Green Gazette (Issue 15) Eco Friendly Toys, Green Hospital Energy, Sustainable Sites
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome back to a new edition of the Green Gazette. As I type this I noticed the date is Nov 5th, this used to be my favourite night of the year as a kid. A drizzly rain and standing in the cold looking up at the sky waiting for colour and noise. If you wonder what I’m rambling about just check this link to Guy Fawkes night. Anyway enough of that, let’s see what Green news is worthy today….there are some good ones!
Well with it being November it’s a good reminder that Christmas is just 8 weeks away and if children are part of your world then some toys are in 
order (for the well behaved). Reuters published this list of the top ten eco-friendly gifts for children which is worth your perusal. The full list has a number of good ideas but amongst my favourites are:
Desert Hothouse: This kit includes seeds for Cacti and Succulents, gravel, sand and a mini greenhouse. The price is right and your child can have an eco-friendly slice of Arizona wherever they might live.
Hugg-A-Planet: Pretty much as it sounds, a soft educational ‘earth’ which helps little ones learn about islands, oceans, rivers and more. Educational if not as appealing as a furry bunny.
Recycle Truck: Little lads and lasses love a truck at the best of times, so this one is a recycling truck made entirely from recycled milk containers. Activism can start as young as age three! The truck has a sortable container and no metal parts.
From there we head to New York City where the NY Presbyterian hospital has officially transferred it’s power source to a green one. With the 
addition of the power from the new plant, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center will generate between 60 percent and 100 percent of its own electricity. Hospitals (like factories) are huge energy consumers and the changes made at this facility equate to reductions in carbon emissions equivalent to taking 3,600 vehicles off of the streets. The 7.5-megawatt power plant burns natural gas in a turbine to generate electricity continuously for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Heat from the turbine, which is usually wasted as exhaust gas, is captured and reused to generate steam for heating and cooling.
I enjoyed this article as it’s both a fantastic idea but also a topic I find truly interesting. Living in the desert southwest people often mistake a perfect green lawn and well maintained shrubs 
as a sign of an eco-friendly home or business. The reality is that a green lawn can take so muc maintenance in energy and chemicals (golf courses take note) that nothing could be further from the truth. This article in the Washington Times brings awareness to a new organization that will make a true and impact driven assessment of a property to establish how well it performs/can perform on a ‘green scale’. Part of the initiative’s mission is educating the nation about little-known sustainable-landscape practices. The ‘Sustainable Sites Initiative’ will rate and benchmark a variety of locations that are eligible. It’s bold, ambitious and can make a real change in the way a landscape (even if it’s our own garden) can be more efficient. According to a 2008 survey conducted by the American Society of Landscape Architects, 96 percent of U.S. adults have instituted some type of sustainable or energy-efficient measure at home, but just 58 percent use energy or water-saving techniques in their yard or garden.
A final quick story that I will expand upon soon as I think it is really useful for those who travel often. The Sutton Place hotel in Toronto has just become the 1,000th hotel certified under the ISTAYGREEN program. More about this soon…it’s really cool.
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