ReGeneration Roundup - 2008-03-13
Hypermiling 101
Hypermiling is driving in such a way as to maximize your automobile’s mileage, and I can attest from experimenting with it on my recent trip to the San Luis Valley in Colorado that it really works. AutoblogGreen has once again tipped us off to an excellent article, this time from EcoTrekker, that lays out everything you need to know about hypermiling. The article covers 100 hypermiling tips, and includes many that I was not familiar with. Give it a shot on your next road trip. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results and will save more than a few bucks from the practices they share, no matter what kind of car you drive.
The Earth Hour Goes Global
Last March, the city of Sydney, Australia, organized an event that cloaked the city in darkness for an hour. Called the Earth Hour, it was intended to demonstrate how people could fight global warming by simply switching off their lights when they weren’t using them. 2.2 million people in the city participated in the event, culminating in a 10.2% energy reduction in the city (that’s equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off the road). Needless to say, it was a tremendous success. This year, the Earth Hour is going worldwide, with cities like Chicago, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, Manila and Toronto leading the charge. There will even be a live acoustic concert in Toronto to mark the event. On March 29 between the hours of 8-9pm, you too can become a part of the Earth Hour event by turning off your lights for an hour. If one city could make that much of a difference, imagine what the world working together can accomplish!
New Nike Shoe Puts Trash to Use
Nike has just produced a shoe made from manufacturing waste. Called the “Trash Talk,” the upper part of the shoe is made from genuine and synthetic leather taken from the factory floor. The mid-sole uses scrap ground foam from factory production, and the outsole uses rubber that reduces toxins and incorporates material from footwear-outsole manufacturing waste. All this and the shoes are packaged in a fully recycled cardboard box. Will a shoe made from waste perform as well as one made with conventional methods? Ask NBA All-Star guard for the Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash. He wore them in a game against the Dallas Mavericks in February. Phoenix won that game and Nash scored 24 points!
Fourth-Generation Fuels: Turning CO2 Emissions Into Fuel
In a move that is certain to raise a few eyebrows, one of Time Magazine’s 2007 most important people and mapper of the human genome, Dr. Craig Venter, said in a talk that his scientific institute is 18 months away from producing fourth-generation fuels. Put simply, fourth-generation fuels will be the crude oil waste products of genetically engineered bacteria. To further add to excitement over this announcement, these organisms will need high concentrations of CO2, the sorts of which we see emitted daily from coal-plant smokestacks, to convert it to oil at maximum efficiencies. If successful, this process would effectively kill two birds with one stone by producing a renewable source of energy and finding a use for all the CO2 that is put into the atmosphere. The implications of this, both scientifically and ethically, are staggering. We’re interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, so feel free to share your thoughts in our comments section. Thanks to EcoGeek and AutoBlogGreen for keeping us in the loop about this.
Les Paul SmartWood Exotics: Guitars Tuned to Sustainability
Gibson has added a new line of Les Pauls that has the ReGeneration Team brushing up on their power chords and rock stances. The SmartWood Exotics series are made from rare and highly-valued tropical hardwoods that are harvested from well-managed and renewable forests certified by the Rainforest Alliance. A portion of sales of the SmartWood Les Pauls will go to the Rainforest Alliance. For those about to rock with SmartWood Exotics, we salute you!
The new Les Paul SmartWood Exotics are made from six of the world’s most prized and rare tropical woods.
by Ninja / March 31, 2008
Ninja, that raised my eyebrows a bit too when I read the source materials, but then I had a look at the Rainforest Alliance’s site and how they certify Smartwoods. They are a solid organization and they do good work.
Have a look when you get a chance:
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/forestry.cfm?id=council_certification
by Todd Dwyer / March 31, 2008