I’ve asked before whether cycling drunk is as bad as drunk driving , but what about talking on your cell phone? Given that cyclists are one of the most vulnerable road users out there, and given that both hearing and balance are crucial to keeping you alive, it makes sense that the Guardian’s bike blog is asking whether you should be allowed to bike and phone at the same time . I am sure there will be those who argue that cyclists do not represent the sa… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image credit Panasonic If you take it for granted that bicycles are a safe and green part of the transportation system for all ages, then this makes perfect sense. Panasonic has just introduced an electric bike with 20″ wheels and a “low floor design” that makes it really easy to get on, start with a boost and stand with your feet flat. Anyone could ride this. It’s designed so that older people can maintain their mobility and get themselves to market…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Car-Dependent Suburbs May Be Slums of The Future, Says Urban Planning Report
February 7, 2011 No Comment
Photo credit: Warren McLaren / inov8 A study released by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) in late 2010 found that “Australia will be forced to rely on huge quantities of imported oil unless it radically overhauls its transport and urban policies” according to The Age newspaper who reported on the findings. They also quote Peter Newman of Curtin University, one of the study’s authors, as saying that, ”urban sprawl is finished. If we continue to roll out n… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Passive Solar Fissues in An Urban Canyon. Boston University’s New Student Residence
February 7, 2011 No Comment
Photo Credit: Brett Boardman, from Tony Owen Partners blog The childhood illness of rickets, where kids bones are softened and deformed by a deficiency of vitamin D, was rife during the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700′s. It was discovered that the suffering children lived in urban enclaves so dense that very little natural daylight penetrated. And yet sunlight exposure could cure rickets. As our urban density increases, with soaring apartments and office blocks, sunlight is again… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …The Shift is About To Hit the Fan: Two New Documentaries To Save the World
February 7, 2011 No Comment
Photo credit: still from Carbon Nation trailer Two new documentary movies are due for broader release this month in the United States. Two movies that want to save the world, but, if their trailers are anything go by, their proffered solutions are radically different to one another. Carbon Nation is about technofix, “We already have the technology to combat most of the worst-case scenarios of climate change, and it is very good business as well.” Whereas I Am is about community; “contrary to conventional thinking, cooperation and not competition, may be nature’s most fundamental operating principle.” To grossly general… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Students wear We Add Up action t-shirts. Photo: We Add Up We Add Up , a global campaign that uses organic cotton t-shirts with action messages to raise awareness on climate change, is launching a spring semester school contest, which will enlist the talent of students across the country to design their next t-shirt. The contest ends May 31, 2011. Read on for details. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: Flickr/ ndrwfgg Lowering the thermostat is a good, green thing. And I mentioned last week, it could surprisingly help you lose weight . Those of us in cold climes less in for the weight loss and more in for a cooler planet, are trying to keep the thermostat moderately set (not cranked) and arming ourselves with eco-thrifty ways to stay warm. Hot cocoa might not help shed lbs. but it will help warm–and delight–the belly. For your drinking enjoyment…my ‘
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photo via inhabitat Last month, the Park Service announced that the Solar Decathlon, one of the country’s coolest energy and design competitions, might need to find a new home. Every two years as since 2002, the Solar Decathlon, which “challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive,” has called the National Mall home, but the National Park Service says the event causes too much destruction to the Mall. Now a group of congressman are coming to t… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Turkey’s arid steppe is a threatened landscape. Photo: Jennifer Hattam. The most common landscape in Turkey today, the Central Anatolian steppe is threatened by the usual suspects: poor water management , encroaching agricultural development, and the damming of its rivers . But according to one local environmentalist, this arid nat… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: H&M H&M has had its fair share of controversy–from organic cotton fraud to destroying clothing–but the fast fashion heavyweight recognizes that they must take responsibility for how their actions affect people and the environment if they want continued growth and profitability. Enter H&M’s Spring 2011 collection, which hits stores April 14, 2011. Called the Conscious Collection, it employs, what H&M calls ‘conscious’ materials, organic cotton, organic linen, recycled polyester, and Tencel. And yes, … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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