jkraft's blog

Charge it to the Earth

jkraft — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:21:26 -0400

For a conscious consumer, there is no end to the ethical dilemmas of credit cards. Not only do they facilitate the massive over-consumption that our nation is criticized for, but they are tools of self-destruction for insatiable shoppers caught in the trap of predatory lending practices. And then there are the ecological effects of the millions of plastic PVC cards produced each year, and the massive paper waste that credit card bills create. But now there are some eco-friendly and socially-conscious options for those of us who choose to charge.

Some banks are offering cards that allow customers to earn points that can be redeemed for donations to charitable environmental organizations. With the HSBC ecosmart MasterCard you can choose to contribute to the Earthwatch Institute, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Arbor Day Foundation, or Wind Power Renewable Choice.

“Affinity Cards” are dedicated to a specific nonprofit organization whose logo is featured on the front of the card. The charity gets about half a percentage of the total purchases you make on the card, which can add up and become a profitable revenue stream. MBNA even offers a PVC-free WWF card, but (bummer!) only in Europe so far. Wells Fargo now offers a credit card that allows customers to contribute their earned points to invest in a corresponding amount of kilowatt hours produced by renewable energy projects. But if pure altruism isn’t what you’re after, some cards offer discounts on eco-friendly products in addition to charity contributions.

In Europe, many credit card companies see carbon offsets as the new airline miles. Instead of earning free trips, you can earn your green halo with a GreenCard, which neutralizes your carbon emissions by contributing to CO2 reduction initiatives like forest replanting. The greenhouse gas outputs of all of your combined purchases are calculated using a complicated algorithm, and then appropriate offsets are purchased in your name. These cards also help you understand which of your purchases are more carbon-creating, so you can analyze your statement for ways to shrink your carbon footprint.

But taking on a new card isn’t always the best choice for all of us, depending on our credit ratings, so we can still go green by signing up to receive only electronic statements.

Eliminating Capitalism?

jkraft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:16:42 -0400

Archaeologists from the future might think that the most valuable product from contemporary society is our garbage. The Egyptians and Incans horded gold in royal tombs, and we horde our plastic refuse in giant landfills! But what if we could literally turn our garbage into gold? What if we could create products, services and energy from the stuff we discard? 16 billion tons of annual waste in America could be put to work for us and for the earth.

Terracycle makes products out of garbage. Everything you can imagine—from old fax machines to soda bottles to moldy orange peels are re-blended, re-fashioned and made into home, garden and office goods.

Their first, and flagship product is Terracycle Plant Food™-- . a nutritious fertilizer. It’s made entirely from organic waste materials fed to worms. When the worms chow down, their, for lack of a better term, poo is then boiled, bubbled and treated to make a rich plant super-fuel. It’s packaged in soda bottles taken from schools and offices around the country—a perfect re-use. Instead of melting down and recycling the plastic bottles, they simply adapted their filling machines to accommodate multiple sized bottles. Terracycle is the only company in the US to do this, but they won’t be the last. Re-using old containers makes economic sense and extends the life of the original plastic. Since its inception in 2001, the company has been profitable, probably because they have cut out an entire side of the typical business balance sheet—no raw materials expense.

Along with plant pots made of the plastic from old electronics, school backpacks made of used juice-paks and trash cans made from crushed computers, Terracycle co-founders Co-founders Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer are developing a fire log made from 100% waste byproduct. In the production of bio-diesel, a lot of unutilized glycerin is collected, and it’s a fantastically combustible material that doesn’t produce particulate matter or other pollutants when it burns. Combined with wood chips and shredded milk cartons, and wrapped in old newspapers—this garbage will light up the night, producing 2-3 times more heat than traditional firewood.

Your Rubbish is Someone's Gold

jkraft — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:00:00 -0400

Even though you don't want that lumpy old chair from Grandma's country house anymore, someone else might!

As any city-dweller knows, sometimes all you have to do to get rid of something is to put it out on the street where, sometimes seconds later, some opportunistic neighbor harvests your old stuff for their own use.

And they would probably be willing to pay something for your discards, too. Last year, eBay users sold and bought $52 billion worth of goods! Craigslist isn't far behind for greasing the wheels of the second-hand economy, one that is local and helps people connect in person. If you haven't set up an account on eBay, it's quick and simple and you can be selling your old items within minutes.

Of course the old-fashioned yard sale can be a quick way to liquidate your junk, and if you pad your stock with some new flashy items bought for cheap at places like Target and Costco, your customers are likely to linger and poke through all of the offerings, increasing your end-of-day profits. Wrap their purchases in leftover newspaper and used plastic bags and use the opportunity to praise them for buying secondhand-- it's the greenest way to shop. Anything left over from your sale can be taken to GoodWill or other charity shops for which you can take a big tax write-off (make sure to keep your donation receipt).

And the next time you need to buy a couch, a new coat or some knicknacks for Grandma's birthday, first check out the thrift stores and yard sales in your area before running to Macy's-- you may just find a hidden gold-mine!

Questioning Carbon Offsets

jkraft — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:48:14 -0400

As everyone knows, greenhouse gases are causing Earth’s climate to change and warm, which will have catastrophic results if we do not take action now. Although the US is only 4.5 percent of the world's population, it's responsible for 25 percent of global greenhouse emissions. So as Americans, we are more responsible for reducing these emissions than other world citizens.

The concept of “offsetting carbon” lets you underwrite activities that actively reduce global CO2 emissions, thereby balancing out your personal emissions. Typically, there are four ways that they do this: 1) Carbon offsets support renewable energy projects in solar, wind and biofuel technology. 2) they promote energy efficiency in housing, lighting, heating, etc... 3) They sequester carbon using the natural photsynthesis of trees and the preservation of endangered green spaces. 4) They buy up carbon credits on the global market so that companies that are legally required to reduce their emissions are forced to do so.

In other words, because some enlightened nations have actually signed the Kyoto protocol, they are legally bound to reduce their carbon emissions by certain dates. Companies that aren’t able to meet these Kyoto emissions targets can still pollute, as long as they buy the surplus carbon credits that less-polluting companies are offering on the carbon market. But if all the carbon credits have been bought by individuals, then the companies won't be able to offset their pollution, and they'll have to develop new emissions-reduction strategies.

Some of the best offset copmanies combine poverty reduction with climate protection. For example, a 4.5 megawatt biomass power project in Malavalli, India, produces electricity with agricultural waste that used to be burned off or just left on the fields to decay. The project created 500 new fulltime jobs. And despite the ick factor, Terrapass sequesters methane—another greenhouse gas-- from dairy farms by capturing its release from manure and making fuel out of it.

Critics have likened carbon offsets to a papal indulgence, and one British parody website, Cheat Neutral likens carbon offsets to trying to deny an extramarital affair. If you just buy enough fidelity credits, they snarkily advocate, then you can cheat on your partner until the (methane-burping) cows come home. But despite its drawbacks, carbon offsetting is making a real difference in funding clean energy projects that might not have gotten off the ground otherwise.

So check them out yourself: the leaders in the field include the aforementioned Terra Pass, Live Neutral, and NativeEnergy, which is a Native American-owned company that develops farmer-owned, nonprofit renewable energy projects. Across the pond, Germany's AtmosFair, Oxford-based Climate Care and the Dutch GreenSeat are doing the most brisk business among the dozens of offsetting companies.

New Energy Source: From Pond to Pump

jkraft — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:00:00 -0400

In the language of investment, diversity is the golden rule.After our flawed fossil-fuel focus of the last 150 years, the best strategy for 21st century energy will be to take a portfolio-approach to fuel. From wind and solar to biodiesel and tidal power, cultivating multiple energy sources can protect us from shortages, hedge against disasters, and decrease political conflict.

Algae is the newest fuel that has been getting some buzz because of its hyper-productivity. One acre of live algae can produce 50 times more fuel oil than an acre of soy, and 30 times more than switchgrass. Some analysts predict that its starting cost could soon be $40 – 50 per barrel. Algal fuel is biodegradable, non-toxic and produces no sulfur byproducts, unlike other biofuels. Algae production plants can also remove carbon dioxide from the air because utility smokestacks can be piped into algae growing ponds. And unlike corn-based ethanol, algae for fuel doesn’t threaten our food markets

Critics caution that production of algal fuel requires too much water to be sustainable, and that genetically modifying the organisms to produce more oil leaves them vulnerable to harmful microorganisms.

But many companies are betting they’ll be able to resolve these dilemmas with more intensive R & D. Mucking about in this new pond are American startup companies such as LiveFuels, GreenFuel Technologies and Solazyme, which has plans to roll out a consumer fuel within 2-3 years in consultation with Chevron. Their greatest competition comes from Israeli companies Eco Energy, Algatech and Seambiotic, which is developing ways to feed algae production with coal power plant emissions. So although algae as a super food never quite took off, algae in its pond-to-pump incarnation may be the super crude of the future.

Paperless Banking is Good for your Green

jkraft — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:26:52 -0400

I was an early adopter of online payment services, so I’m excited that more and more people are switching over to paperless billing for their banking statements, credit card payments and utility bills. Back in 2000, I decided to try an online back and I’ve never looked back. The convenience and ease with which I can check my balance, reduce clutter and safeguard my accounts were my chief reasons for going paperless. But of course it turns out that e-banking is also much greener than regular banking.

PayItGreen is a coalition of financial services companies including Citibank, Bank of America and Capital One, that advocates paperless billing and online banking for the aggregate environmental impact. So say you go paperless—you’re only saving a couple dozen sheets of paper in one year, right? So what’s the big deal?

According to Dove Consulting, 19 billion bills, totaling 533 million pounds of paper were delivered to American households in 2006. Delivery required nearly 235 million gallons of fossil fuels and created more than 1.3 million tons of CO2 emissions. There are also uncalculated costs to our waterways from all of this deforestation and pollution. So if we could reduce these numbers even just by 20%, we’d have a significant positive effect on the environment!

And if you add to that the time you save by carrying out online transactions, (2.5 minutes per bill!) the money you save on postage, and the benefits of more immediate access to your account (less fraud and identity theft)—paying it green is good for everyone’s—even Mother Nature’s accounts.

New Devices Measure Your Carbon Footprint

jkraft — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:13:52 -0400

It’s fashionable these days to measure your carbon footprint using any number of online calculators. But most of these rely on your guesstimates about how often you travel and the cost of your energy bills. Once you know your carbon footprint, you may choose to buy offsets, but you might not know exactly how to reduce your emissions.

But new technologies will soon change how we track our impact on the planet and will allow us to instantly green our behavior. By hooking up household appliances to a domestic dashboard, we can see real-time energy use and change our patterns of consumption. Like a speedometer in the car or a scale in your bathroom, household measuring devices are the best way to maintain control over your energy consumption. Visualization can lead to big savings on energy costs, too!

The Palo-Alto based company Agile Waves has recently launched the Resource Monitor, which constantly tallies up electric, gas, and water consumption of a home or office and reports your consumption on a built-in touchscreen interface also available on the web. The device accumulates data over time, so you can compare one day to another, and judge the performance of certain appliances.

British company Onzo has also produced a device as sleek as an iPod that helps you think about when to turn your lights off, how to change your cooking methods, and how to switch your energy supplier. Onzo also has an online interface where you can compare your house’s stats with your friends’. Their beta testing has revealed that consumers can save between 6.5% and 26% on energy costs just by staying in tune with Onzo.

Wind Turbine Power: Farmers Turning the Wind into Gold

jkraft — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:32:43 -0400

Europe has long led the local wind power movement, starting in the middle ages, when Dutch farmers put up wind mills to grind grain and pump water. They’ve also managed to avoid the corporatization of wind power. In Germany, much of the nation’s wind capacity was built by local landowner associations.

US wind farms, on the other hand, usually require rural landowners to lease their land to external wind developers for an annual royalty. These massive fields of hundreds of turbines connect to far-away electric grids with long transmission lines.

But now, farmers in the Upper Midwest are banding together to turn the air over their blustery pastures into gold. National Wind is a community-based wind development company in Minnesota that shepherds local wind co-ops through the often arduous process of harnessing wind power, assisting them with financing, siting issues, zoning approvals and installation. The developments range in size, but often the turbines are installed as single units or in small clusters so that the energy doesn’t have to travel far.

Community-based wind makes sense for communities that are feeling the impact of industrial takeover of agricultural lands. Small farmers who might be priced out by agribusiness can now reap the advantage of their wind rights in addition to their crop yield.

Additionally, these locally-owned projects allow energy revenue to circulate through local businesses and bolster rural economies. Community-owned wind power has grown from almost nothing 8 years ago to a 3.6 percent share of the wind power market today and continues to accelerate.

Want to learn more about wind power?

Inexpensive Residential Wind Turbine—Wind Power—Alternative Energy For Your Home

Can You Harness Wind Power or Not?

Home Wind-Power Turbines Going Mainstream

What YOU Should Know About Wind Power!

Can You Use Wind Turbines to Power Your Home?

Residential Wind Power

New Report: Doubts Grow about Global Warming

jkraft — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

If you thought the red state/ blue state divide was extreme in our nation’s politics, now there’s evidence for increasing polarization between green states and grey states… of mind.

How you feel about global warming these days largely depends on your demographic. The more conservative you are, the less likely you are to trust Al Gore and his cohort of climate change scientists.

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press released a report on May 8 showing that while 84% of Democrats and 75% of independents say there is evidence of global warming, only 49% of Republicans do.

The partisan divide also holds when Americans consider the cause of purported global warming. While nearly 60% of Dems and half of Independents blame human activity for the atmospheric sauna, only 27% of Republicans agree that we’re the cause.

Yet when the believers in both parties were polled about possible solutions to the problem, they both attest that we’ll be able to curb its potentially disastrous effects. But despite the optimism, nearly half the public believes that “major sacrifices” will be required to roll back climate change.

Overall, global warming seems to be slightly less of a priority concern for both parties than it was one year ago; however, Republicans put it at the bottom of the list of their top 21 issues.

Want to learn more about global warming?

Top 10 Lesser-Known Myths About Global Warming

Send an Instant Message, Fight Global Warming

Top 10 Ways to Prevent Global Warming

Global Warming Cartoons

Jared Leto Pushes Back on Global Warming

Clean, Renewable Energy: The Answer to Global Warming

What You Eat Can Affect Global Warming, New Study Shows

Want to learn more about Eco-Politics?

Check Out Obama’s Global Warming Plan

See What McCain Will Do About Climate Change

Hillary Clinton on the Environment

There’s More Than One Way to Hug a Tree

Top 10 Signs You’re Not Running a Green Campaign

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall… Who’s the Greenest President of Them All?

Banning Plastic Bags Boosts Bioplastics: Is a Biodegradable Car Coming?

jkraft — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

With the outlawing of plastic bags in San Francisco, China and other eco-minded cities and nations, shoppers are forming new carrying habits with canvas and compostable grocery sacks. It’s too bad for the manufacturers of the old plastics which languish for eons in landfills and clog our oceans, but it’s boom time for bags born from corn.

Biopolymers, which are naturally occurring polymers, and bioplastics—plastics made from organic, not fossil fuel components, aren’t new. Henry Ford actually developed a method of manufacturing plastic car parts from soybeans in the mid-1900s! Bioplastics can be made from corn, cotton, wood, wheat, soybeans and surprisingly, from bacteria, which carry out chemical reactions that result in a type of polyester. Some bioplastics can even be made out of pollution—excess CO2 binds to certain biopolymers.

Yet it takes a lot of petro-energy to manufacture these new plastics, so even though they are no longer made from petroleum-based materials, they still keep us shackled to our oil imports.

Improving efficiency in their production is a major concern, so researchers are refining the production processes used in order to make them viable alternatives to petrochemical plastics. But consumers and manufacturers are already showing their preference for compostables instead of disposables, and McKinsey & Co. estimates the field will be worth more than $100 billion by 2010.

Even Electronics makers like Sony and Fujitsu intend to use bio-polymers for portable music players, laptops and other products. Toyota has plans for a biodegradable car, and specialized medical devices like heart stents and emerging technology such as solar cells are already available in compost-ready form.