*BONUS Article* — Scientists Discover Unknown Lizard Species At Lunch Buffet

It may be an old menu standby to Vietnamese diners, but it's turned into a smorgasbord of discovery for scientists. (And you thought the Commons & Regatta's food was bad! I feel nauseous...)

Researchers have identified a previously undocumented species of all-female lizard in the Mekong River delta that can reproduce itself by cloning, and the story of how it was discovered is almost as exotic as the animal itself.

'Leiolepis ngovantrii' is a small lizard found only in southern Vietnam.  A Vietnamese reptile scientist who came across tanks full of the remarkably similar looking reptiles at small diners in rural villages in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province became intrigued when he noticed that all of the lizards appeared to be female.

So the scientist, Ngo Van Tri of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, contacted an American colleague, a herpetologist at La Sierra University in California, who immediately dropped everything to come out and assess the find.

After the long flight and a grueling two-day motorcycle trip out to a restaurant where the owner promised to set aside a stash of the creature for study, they were faced with a little problem, says Grismer:

"Unfortunately, the owner wound up getting drunk, and grilled them all up for his patrons... so when we got there, there was nothing left." ---> To which I reply: LOL =)

After contacting local cafes for the rare delicacy and hiring children to track down as many lizards as possible, they had a surplus of about 60 and were able to perform DNA sampling.  Little did they know that this rare species packed another surprise: all of the lizards were female and clones of their mother! ---> To which I reply: STFU!

For the full article, click here to clone your mom =)

'Faith in Food' Program Seeks to Get Religions Involved in Sustainable Farming Food Systems

An international program seeks to marshal the hearts, minds, and buying power of the world's religious faiths to change farming and food systems seen by many as bad for the planet and people's health.

The goal is to "shift a billion people into eating, growing, purchasing, investing, and praying [toward] a proper relationship with their food and land," asserted Martin Palmer, the secretary general of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, which is spearheading the Faith in Food program.

According to Palmer, the world's religions are major economic and environmental players as property owners, investors and consumers.  As much as 8 percent of the world's land surface is controlled by religions from farms to shopping centers to office buildings!  Religious institutions are the world's third largest investing group.

Many have long withheld investment in businesses that didn't match their moral interests, Palmer asserted.  Now, many are beginning to specifically invest in businesses that do things they like, he added, and 'people of faith' have the power to influence food and farming practices that don't deplete the soil and are more sustainable.

For the full article, click here to say a little prayer.

Whale Poop Pumps Up Ocean Health

Whale feces generally conjures images of whale-scale hunks of crud and heavy lumps that sink to the bottom.  But most whales actually deposit waste that floats at the surface of the ocean, "very liquidy, a flocculent plume," says University of Vermont whale biologist, Joe Roman.

And this liquid fecal matter, rich in nutrients, has a huge positive influence on the productivity of ocean fisheries, Roman and his colleague, James McCarthy from Harvard University, have discovered.

Their discovery, published Oct. 11 in the journal PLoS One, is what Roman calls a "whale pump."

Whales, they found, carry nutrients such as nitrogen from the depths where they feed back to the surface via their feces.  This functions as an upward biological pump, reversing the assumption of some scientists that whales accelerate the loss of nutrients to the bottom.

"We found that whales increase primary productivity," Roman says, allowing more phytoplankton to grow, which then "pushes up the secondary productivity," he says, of the critters that rely on the plankton.  The result: "bigger fisheries and higher abundances throughout regions where whales occur in high densities," Roman says.

For the full article, click here.

Rare Bat Found in Indonesian Forest Fragment

Conservationists say the discovery shows that even small remnants of forest are worth protecting since a rare bat has been found in a tiny fragment of a rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Conservationists from the UK discovered the Ridley's leaf-nosed bat in a 740-acre fragment of forest during a biodiversity survey in West Sumatra, Indonesia.  Ridley's leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros ridleyi) roosts in the cavities of trees (in hollows and cavities of standing trees, under fallen trees and logs) and is listed as 'vulnerable' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

The forest fragment is surrounded by a palm oil plantations.  These plantations are often created on former forested area, and can encroach into areas that are important habitat for endangered species.  Many other species were also found by the biodiversity survey, including the sun bear, tapir, agile gibbon and banded langur, all of which are also of conservation concern.

The effectiveness of emphasizing conservation in small forest fragments has been in doubt, but the researchers say the discovery agrees with an earlier study suggesting it could be a tool for conserving certain species.

"Protecting large areas of connected forest will always be a priority for wildlife conservation, but if ambitious future plans for oil palm expansion are realized, conserving forest fragments within oil pal landscapes will also be important for maintaining Indonesia's biodiversity," said Sophie Persey of the Zoological Society of London.

For the full article, click here.

Banning the Bottle

Students' new green cause: promoting the most quotidian of beverages -- tap water.  According to the Earth Policy Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles in the United States end up as garbage.  Not to mention the $2 students shell out for a bottle.

Beginning this fall, Seattle University and the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, join six other colleges and universities with a campus-wide ban on selling bottled water, reports the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.  Washington University in St. Louis started the movement last year.

Campaigns to curb consumption, though, have been hindered by contracts with beverage suppliers.  Last year, Cornell students were thwarted by the university's multiyear contract with Pepsi, which owns Aquafina.  After a full ban was rejected at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, the student-led Just Tap It initiative won a concession: no bottled water on the meal plan.

For the full article, click here.

Scott Naturals: Tube-Free Toilet Paper -- When It's Gone, It's Gone

In the 'what will they think of next?' category, Scott Paper Company just announced the introduction of a new tube-free toilet paper.  The innovation, which is the result of a proprietary winding process, eliminates the cardboard roll that has formed the core of the roll since 1880.

According to information from Kimberly-Clark, a parent company of Scott Tissue that also makes Kleenex, 17 billion paper toilet paper tubes are produced every year in the U.S. -- that equates to about 56 rolls per person.  All those tubes result in eighty thousand tons of trash, or enough to make one tube a million miles long.

For the full article, click here.

*BONUS Article* — Consumers Say Biodegradable Chip Bag Is Too Noisy

Frito-Lay hopes to quiet complaints about its noisy SunChips bags by switching out the biodegradable bags for the old packaging on most flavors. [Say whaaaat?! *Smirk* C'mon son!]

The Plano-based company is switching back to original packaging, which is made of a type of plastic, for five of the six varieties of the chips.  It will keep the biodegradable bags for its sixth variety, its original plain flavor, which is the second best-selling after Harvest Cheddar.

The snack maker said the switch started in the middle of September and should be complete by the middle to late October.  The bags were launched in April 2009 with a big marketing effort to play up their ability to compost because they're made from plants and not plastic.

But the technology Frito-Lay used to make the packaging results in a bag that's stiffer than the plastic packaging -- and louder.  Customers complained and created abounding Facebook groups entitled, "I wanted SunChips, but my roommate was sleeping..." and "Nothing is louder than a SunChips bag."

Spokeswoman Aurora Gonzalez said the company received complaints about the noise form the bags, although it also received thanks from customers who liked being able to recycle them.  So the decision was made to remove the bulk of the biodegradable line.

"We need to listen to our consumers," she said. "We clearly hard their feedback." [LOL!]

Frito-Lay, a unit of PepsiCo Inc., based in Purchase, NY, is developing its next generation of biodegradable bags and will use what it learned withe SunChips effort, she said.

For the full article, open a SunChips bag while your roommate is sleeping.

Save The World In Virtual Reality One Click At A Time

Ever wondered how one person could save the planet from effects of climate change?  A British-made computer game on trial release creates different ways of doing just that.

'Fate of the World' puts the Earth's future in players' hands, placing them in charge of an international environmental body which could save the world from the effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions or let it perish by continuing to rely on emissions-heavy fossil fuels.

Through different scenarios, players can explore options such as geoengineering and alternative energy sources to save the planet from rising temperatures, dwindling natural resources and a growing population over the next 200 years.

A rough cut of the game will be followed by a three-month feedback period from players, with final release due in February next year.

For the full article, click here.

Levi's Introduces 'Water Less' Jeans

Levi's announced its new 'Water<Less' jeans -- made using significantly less water.  The average pair of jeans uses 42 liters of water in the finishing process.  The Water<Less collection reduces the water consumption by an average of 28% and up to 96% for some new products in the line.

During the production process, a typical pair of jeans are "finished" in large washing machines and dryers to create a unique look and feel.  Using traditional garment washing methods, the average pair of jeans undergoes 3-10 washing cycles -- adding up to approximately 42 liters of water per unit.

Levi's Water<Less jeans have reduce the water consumption in the finishing process by making simple changes to the process including:

• Reducing the number of washing machine cycles by combining multiple wet cycle processes into a single wet process
• Incorporating ozone processing into the garment washing, and
• Removing the water from the stone wash

The first collection of Water<Less products will be available in January of 2011 and will include over a dozen classic Levi's jeans, including the Levi's 501 jeans and the popular 511 and 514 jeans, as well as the Levi's trucker Jacket.

The Levi's Spring 2011 product lines will contain more than 1.5 million pairs of jeans with the Water<Less method, saving approximately 16 million liters of water.  The line will also include jeans made with brand's traditional rigid finish, which, by its nature, utilizes virtually no water in its production.

For the full article, click here.

Jellyfish Cells 'Diagnose' Cancer

York scientists say that luminous cells from jellyfish can be used to diagnose cancers deep inside the body.  The process used the green fluorescent protein (GFP) enabling jellyfish to glow in the dark.

Researchers in North Yorkshire found it can be targeted at cancer cells allowing them to be spotted using a special camera.  A team from the Yorkshire Cancer Research Laboratory at York University has developed the procedure.

The team's leader, Professor Norman Maitland, believes it will revolutionize the way some cancers are diagnosed.  He says, "Cancers deep within the body are difficult to spot at an early stage, and early diagnosis is critical for the successful treatment of any form of cancer.

"What we have developed is a process which involves inserting proteins derived from luminous jellyfish cells into human cancer cells.

"Then, when we illuminate the tissue, a special camera detects these proteins as they light up, indicating where the tumors are."

The team expects the procedure to be ready for clinical trials within five years, if the research continues to go according to plan.  A United States company is the only one which has so far designed and built a camera system which allows the jellyfish proteins to be seen with the desired resolution so deep in the body.

For the full article, visit here.

Crime-Fighting Trees

Many people already know that city trees are highly desirable to make a neighborhood more attractive.  It's also common knowledge that shade from trees keeps temperatures on the ground cooler, can help buildings lower their overall energy usage, and their roots absorb storm water runoff efficiently.

What people may not be familiar with is that trees also aid in fighting crime! Yes, trees can lower crime rates.

Researchers from the US Forest Service's Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Southern Research Stations have published a study on this issue in the journal Environment and Behavior.  Their theory is that certain types of trees can reduce crime in a given area.  Their study focused on the neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon.

They looked at many factors such as the number and size of trees per lot and trees in the surrounding area.  They also factored in canopy size of streets and yard trees.  They concluded that large trees were associated with a reduction in crime.  Meanwhile, numerous small trees were associated with an increase in crime.

For the full article, click here.

French Fried Fuel: Bio Taxi Offers A New Kind Of Transportation

Bio Taxi is a Richmond-based company that offers a new kind of transportation service to the Richmond metropolitan area.  By taking grease obtained from local restaurants and converting it to bio-diesel, Bio Taxi provides Richmond with a fully sustainable, luxurious transportation service and nearby pedestrians can enjoy the smell of cooked French fries being emitted from the tailpipe instead of the normal petroleum diesel stench.

Bio Taxi was formed by two brothers, Jeff and Joey Anderson.  After working many hours in a fast-food restaurant growing up, they came up with the idea of using grease as fuel.

Biodiesel is a clean-burning, alternative fuel source that is produced from vegetable oil, soybeans, algae, and any other renewable resource -- in short, all natural biological ingredients instead of petroleum (or crude oil).

Biodiesel is produced through a chemical process called transesterification (organic chem. anyone?) or ester interchange where glycerin is separated from fat or vegetable oil.  The byproducts of this process are 90% biodiesel and 10% of a glycerin product, which can be used in soaps and other products -- meaning virtually no waste products at all!

For more information, visit www.richmondbiotaxi.com.

*BONUS Article* — New Way to Help Chickens Cross to the Other Side

Shoppers in the supermarket today can buy chicken free of nearly everything but adjectives.  It comes free-range, cage-free, antibiotic-free, raised on vegetarian feed, organic, even air-chilled.

Coming soon: stress-free?

Two premium chicken producers, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary's Chickens in California, are preparing to switch to a system of killing their birds that they consider more humane.  The new system uses carbon dioxide gas to gently render the birds unconscious before they are hung by their feet to have their throats slit, sparing them the potential suffering associated with conventional slaughter methods.

"Our system is designed so that we put them to sleep without stress and we kill them without stress," says Scott Sechler, the owner of Bell & Evans.  This is sure to appeal to a segment of the chicken-buying public -- but telling them about it presents a marketing challenge.

"Most of the time, people don't want to think about how the animal was killed," said David Pitman, whose family owns Mary's Chickens.

The trick, he said, is to communicate the goal of the new system, which is to ensure that the birds "[...] not have any extra pain or discomfort in the last few moments of their lives."

For the full article, click on these nuggets.

Ads Urge Wineries to Stick a Cork in It

The 100PercentCork.org website features a section that explains why consumers should insist on "100% cork," offering reasons like the fossil fuels consumed to produce "artificial plastic stoppers and aluminum screw caps."

The website also offers factoids about the Portuguese cork forests -- the second largest bio-gem after the Amazon rainforest -- the harvesting process ("Cork oak trees are not harmed or cut down to produce corks; the bark of the tree is sustainable harvested") and other advantages to cork ("Cork preserves the local Portuguese tradition and provides jobs for thousands of skilled workers").

The website also asks visitors to sign the "100 percent cork petition" and "tell wineries you won't purchase wines with artificial stoppers."

"Cork is not only a better closure for wine," the site declares, "it is the only organic, biodegradable and renewable choice."

For the full article, click here.

Microbes Rapidly Consume Methane from Gulf Oil Disaster

The Deepwater Horizon spill was a horrible environmental disaster which caused the release of massive amounts of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  Methane, a natural greenhouse gas, was also released during the catastrophe.  However, researchers have found that the methane is being consumed by microbes at a rate 10 to 100 times faster than previously believed.  These microbes are essential in bringing the Gulf back to a healthier state.

Special microbes have evolved to digest and thrive off the methane, a carbon-based organic compound.  During normal conditions, most of the methane that permeates the sea floor is consumed before it can reach the surface.  The explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig caused a massive outflow of methane, creating a sort of feeding frenzy for the deep sea microbes.  The new methane caused a population explosion, as they constantly ate and multiplied.

Other bacterial microbes have been discovered that rapidly degrade oil anaerobically in the Gulf, but some researchers have found that the microbes only degrade gases like methane and propane, and not the oil.  Either way, it will take some time for the Gulf to return to its state pre-Deepwater Horizon incident.  Man-made solutions like dispersant are not nearly as efficient as deep sea microbes, Earth's natural water filtration.

For the full article, click here.

Island Nation Announces Mongolia-sized Sanctuary for Whales & Dolphins

Dolphins, whales, and dugongs will be safe from hunting in the waters surrounding the Pacific nation of Palau.  The establishment of a marine mammal sanctuary covering over 230,000 square miles (60,000 square kilometers) of the nation's waters, an area the size of Mongolia, was announced at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan.

"Palau's dugongs are the most isolated and endangered population in the world. [...] This sanctuary will promote sustainable whale-watching tourism, already a growing multi-million dollar global industry [...]," says Palau's Minister of the Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism Harry Fritz.

Although many populations of whales are rebounding after centuries of commercial whaling, some are still threatened by whaling by Iceland, Japan, and Norway, as well as the pollution.  Dolphins are often killed as by-catch and suffer from widespread marine pollution.

For the full article, click here.

Fuzzy Critters' Crystallized Pee Changes Climate Record?

A guinea-pig-like mammal's prehistoric urine may be one of the best tools for understanding climate change in arid regions, scientists announced Tuesday.  Already analysis of crystallized rock hyrax pee appears to contradict some results of current climate models.

Looking like a rodent, but more closely related to elephants and manatees, the roughly rabbit-size rock hyrax has, for tens of thousands of years, lived in colonies of up to about 50 individuals in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

The animals use communal 'toilets' called middens, where rock hyrax waste slowly crystallizes into a layered, amber-esque, smelly substance.  Like amber, the middens can contain valuable evidence -- in this case, traces of how much grass the animals were eating and isotopes indicating how dry the grass was.

The ancient waste is especially prized because the evidence of ancient climate change is hard to come by in arid regions.  For example, current climate models suggest that, as the Northern Hemisphere became drier about 5,500 years ago, the Southern Hemisphere got wetter.  But traces in the hyrax-urine samples suggest that the southern part of Africa also dried out during this period.

For the full article, click here.

New Facebook App Helps Promote Timberland's Commitment to Plant Five Million Trees in Five Years

The Timberland Company believes it can help alleviate hunger, create jobs, protect wildlife and preserve the environment, all through the simple act of planting a tree -- make that five million trees, in five years.

It's a bold pledge in support of a bold vision.  And although the notion is pretty simple -- plant some trees, do some good in the world -- Timberland's global reforestation program recognizes that success doesn't come quite as easily as that.

In China, where desertification is a critical issue, Timberland has partnered with GreenNet (a Japan-based NGO) since 2001 to restore the barren land of the Horqin Desert by planting shrubs and trees, while educating local residents so that they can maintain and continue the planting efforts.  In Haiti, Timberland is partnering with nonprofits Trees for the Future and the Yéle Haiti Foundation on Yéle Vert, a community-based agroforestry and environmental education program.

To engage a broader audience in its reforestation efforts, Timberland is launching a new 'Timberland Earthkeepers Virtual Forest' Facebook application.  Consumers can help Timberland plant additional trees in Haiti by creating a virtual forest on Facebook -- the larger the virtual forest, the more real trees planted.  Virtual foresters can name their forest, add messages to friend's trees, and see how they rank against other users.

The application also features videos that introduce the farmers participating in Yéle Vert and provides in-depth information about Timberland's reforestation efforts -- helping users to get better educated about and connected to how their online actions are contributing to the company's programs.

The real-world tree planting component of the virtual forest program is capped at one million trees or the end date of October 31, 2001, whichever comes first.

For the full article, click here.

To start growing your own virtual forest, visit www.Facebook.com/Timberland.

*BONUS Article* — Dagobah in New Guinea? New Yoda Bat Found in Remote Rainforest

A team of scientists from Conservation International, partnered with A Rocha International and Papua New Guinea's Institute for Biological Research, has revealed more than 200 new species of life that they discovered in a remote region of Papua New Guinea.  The findings include new mammals, frogs, insects, plants, and more than 100 arachnids -- some of the species are so distinct that they now belong to new genera.

Most photogenic of the discovered animals is a tube-nosed fruit bat that bears a startling resemblance to the Jedi Master Yoda of the Star Wars films -- no word yet on whether LucasFilm plans to sue the bat for copyright infringement.

"[The new species] should serve as a cautionary message about how much we still don't know about Earth's still hidden secrets and important natural resources, which we can only preserve with coordinated, long-term management," says Conservation International's Leeanne Alonso.

For the full article, click your face.

African Ministers Pledge Support for Wildlife

African environment ministers pledged to set up an international research body to study and protect the continent's wildlife, aiming to reverse the loss of its biodiversity.  Africa is famed for the lions, elephants, rhinoceroses and leopards that attract millions of tourists each year, but its wildlife is threatened by population pressure, poaching and deforestation.

The declaration would draw on scientists from around Africa.  The United Nations environment program says Africa houses 1,229 species of mammals, a quarter of all mammals on earth, and about 2,000 bird species, a fifth of the world total.

For the full article, click here.

Prisoners Turn Over a New Leaf with Eyes on the Environment

One would think it is some new designer eco-hotel where the rich and environmentally conscious can be pampered free of guilt:
     -The organic vegetable travel a short distance form the well-tended garden to the
      table where they are eaten
     -Waste is carefully picked through and recycled, saving thousands of dollars
     -The close-cropped lawns are maintained by push mowers to cut down on carbon
      emissions and gas expenses.

Designer hotel -- no.  Prison -- yes.

At the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, a few yards from the garden where strawberries and cucumbers grow looms a tower where guards watch inmates, high-powered rifles at the ready.  A jungle of razor wire surrounds the facility.

Hundreds of inmates not only have a positive impact on their prison environment, but on the world beyond the walls confining them.  Washington state inmates are restoring local protected, yet disappearing grasslands by hand planting thousands of seedlings in a prison greenhouse.  Inmates at another state prison raise an endangered species of frog.

The inmates work for less than a dollar an hour and, as a result of their incarceration, are able to take on time consuming labor intensive projects.  Both ecologists and prison officials have been surprised by the passion and seriousness of the prisoners involved with the project.  The inmates raising the frogs had better results than a group of scientists conducting a similar project in a lab.

For the full article, click this.

Recycling Comes Of Age

It seems the perfect match -- the nation that consumes the most has built itself a large and growing recycling industry.  What comes in the front door, new and shiny, eventually goes out the back as trash to be thrown aside or hopefully used again in another life.

The United States now has a recycling industry with annual sales of $236 billion.  By an amazing comparison, U.S. auto sales in the recession-ravaged year of 2009 reached an estimated $250 billion.  Auto sales should eventually increase as the nation's economy recovers.  However, the recycling industry is set to grow no matter what happens to the economy.

High cost, scarcity and growing demand for raw materials as well as job creation and new recycling technologies all combined will continue to aid the growth of the entire recycling industry.  Someday the world's largest consuming nation could become the world's largest recycling nation and build an even greater recycling industry than it has now.

For the full article, click here.

Bee Mystery Solved by Scientists and Soldiers

Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States have suffered 'colony collapse.'  Suspected culprits ranged from pesticides to genetically modified food.  Now, a unique partnership -- of military scientists and entomologists -- appears to have achieved a major breakthrough: identifying a new suspect, or two.

A fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One.

Exactly how that combination kills bees remains uncertain, the scientist said -- a subject for the next round of research.  But there are solid clues: both the virus and the fungus proliferate in cool, damp weather, and both do their dirty work in the bee gut, suggesting that insect nutrition is somehow compromised.

For the full article, click here.

Dog Poop Lights Up City Park

Environmentalists are going gaga for a street lamp in Cambridge, MA that is powered by dog poop.  The lamp, a shining example of how humans can make use of an underutilized and perpetually renewable energy source -- feces -- is the brainchild of Matthew Mazzotta, a conceptual artist who studied at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who wanted to give back to the community.

The lamp is located at a dog park and uses a device known as the methane digester.  Folks whose dogs do their business there simply collect the poop in a plastic bag, put it in the device and turn a crank to help the methane in the tank rise up to the top so it can be piped to the gas-burning lamppost that is attached.

For the full article, click here.

*BONUS Article* — How To Make Your Cell Phone Greener

Cell phones have become one of the most ubiquitous hallmarks of life in the 21st century, but they aren't necessarily good for the environment.  From plastics to the rare, powder precious metal tantalum, cell phone materials present a variety of environmental and even human rights issues.  Then there's energy use: smartphones are especially notorious energy hogs, with most models rarely getting more than a day of usage without some pretty drastic energy-saving strategies.

In addition to the power needed to charge any cell phone, smart or otherwise, there's also the power required to transmit calls, text/media messages and data across wireless carrier networks.  All of this electricity consumption adds up to greenhouse gas emissions.

Ways to have a 'greener' cell phone:

• Keep your used cell phones out of landfills.  You can also make money by selling your used cell phone for reuse, either directly through Craigslist or eBay or through a service.
• An even greener and generally cheaper option is to buy a used cell phone rather than a new one.  You can probably get a good price on a model in good condition that's a year or less old.
• There are several new models claiming to be greener than most such as Samsung's Blue Earth feature phone, slated for a U.S. launch later this year, which features a built-in solar panel for charging. Also, several phones, like the LG Remarq, tout that they, or their packaging, are made of recycled or recyclable materials.
• Keep in mind that texting is the most energy-efficient, and thus eco-friendly, communication option.

For the full article, click here.

Fish Farms, With a Side of Greens

In the lowlands of Scotland, an old fire station donated to the community of Moffat has been converted into what may be the farm of the future.  Using a new technology known as aquaponics, the Moffat farm, due to start production at the end of this month, will churn out fish and vegetable by the ton, in a space equivalent to a small factory.

Aquaponics -- a combination of aquaculture, or fish cultivation, and hydroponics, or water-based planting -- utilizes a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants.  Fish waste provides nutrients for the plants, which in turn filter the water in which the fish live.  Cuttings from plant are composted to create food for worms, which provide food for the fish, completing the cycle.

"Aquaponics is a method of delivering multiple crops with minimum input, through a closed-loop method of farming," said Charlie Price, founder of Aquaponics UK, the nonprofit organization that runs the farm.  A kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of fish food, produces at least 50 kilograms of vegetables and 0.8 kilogram of fish, he said.  "As the ecosystem become self-sustainable, the fish food comes from the worms, so the entire cycle is free."

For the full article, click here.

U.S. Education Secretary Vows to Make American Children 'Good Environmental Citizens'

"Today, I promise you that under my leadership, the Department of Education will be a committed partner in the national effort to build a more environmentally literate and responsible society."
-Education Secretary Arne Duncan

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan vowed that his department would work to make American children into "good environmental citizens" through federally subsidized school programs beginning as early as kindergarten that teach children about climate change and prepare them "to contribute to the workforce through green jobs."

"Right now, in the second decade of the 21st century, preparing our children to be good environmental citizens is some of the most important work any of us can do.  It's work that will serve future generations -- and quite literally sustain our world," Duncan asserts.

For the full article, click here.

Mimicking Nature, Water-Based 'Artificial Leaf' Produces Electricity

A team led by a North Carolina State University researcher has shown that water-gel-based solar devices -- 'artificial leaves' -- can act like solar cells to produce electricity.  The findings prove the concept for making solar cells that more closely mimic nature, specifically photosynthesis.  They also have the potential to be less expensive and more environmentally friendly than the current standard-bearer: silicon-based solar cells.

The research team hopes to learn how to mimic the materials by which nature harnesses solar energy.  Although synthetic light-sensitive molecules can be used, naturally derived products, such as chlorophyll, are also easily integrated in these devices because of their water-gel mix.

Now that they've proven the concept, NC State's Dr. Orlin Velev asserts that researchers will work to fine-tune the water-based gel and light-sensitive molecules to improve the efficiency of the solar cells.

For the full article, click here.

Lost Tiger Population Discovered in Bhutan Moutains

A 'lost' population of tigers has been filmed living in the Himalayas -- the highest living tigers known.  The discovery stunned experts, as the tigers are living at a higher altitude than any others known and appear to be successfully breeding.  Leading experts suspect that tigers may also be living at higher altitudes, following anecdotal reports by villagers suggesting that some were roaming as high as 13,000 ft (4000m).

Their presence in the Bhutan highlands has been confirmed by footage taken by a BBC natural history camera crew.  The cameras recorded a wealth of wildlife, including red foxes, jungle cats, monkeys, leopards, musk deer and even a red panda.  This is the only place on earth known to have tigers, leopards and snow leopards all sharing the same valley.

The discovery of tigers living at high altitudes in Bhutan could be crucial to one scheme proposed to help save the species from extinction by offering sanctuary from human towns and the pressures they bring.

For the full article and video, click here.

Asian 'Unicorn' Photographed for First Time in Over 10 Years

For the first time in more than ten years, there has been a confirmed sighting of one of the rarest and most mysterious animals in the world: the saola of Laos and Vietnam.  The Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, a.k.a. Laos, announced on September 15 that villagers in the central province of Bolikhamxay captured a saola and brought it back to their village in late August.  Sadly, the animal died several days later, but was photographed while still alive.

Saola are so secretive and so seldom seen -- no biologist has ever reported seeing one in the wild -- that they have been likened to unicorns, despite actually having two horns.  Today, saola occur only in dense forests of the Annamite Mountains along the Lao/Vietnamese border.  This species is classified as "Critically Endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) -- probably no more than a few hundred survive making it one of the most threatened large mammals on the planet.  There are none in zoos anywhere in the world.

The national representative for the IUCN Lao Programme, Ms Latsamay Sylvavong, noted, "This incident highlights the importance of Laos to global wildlife conservation.  Saola and several other rare endemic species are found almost nowhere else in the world [...] we need to improve protection of both the ecosystems [in Laos] and the special species they hold, like the saola.  Much needs to be done."

For the full article and a picture of the saola, click here.

*BONUS Article* — Former Playboy Playmate Vanessa Carbone Stages Naked Protest Against Japanese Whaling

Former playboy playmate Vanessa Carbone has staged a rather unconventional protest against Japanese whaling by holding a 'desnuda' -- Spanish for naked -- demonstration outside the Japanese embassy in Santiago, Chile.

The Argentinian model was among a group of protestors demanding that the Chilean government create a whale sanctuary in the country's territorial waters.  Stripped down to nothing more than a skimpy thong, she unsurprisingly drew the most attention from passers-by.

Under existing international law, Japan is prevented from killing whales for commercial activities, but is allowed to hunt a specified number each year 'scientific purposes.'

For the full article, click aqui.

Greenbutts Unveils Flower Sprouting Biodegradable Cigarette Filters

*Disclaimer: I, Lord Gaea, in no way, shape, or form advocate cigarette smoking — but if you're going to do it anyway, might as well use Greenbutts to add some eco-friendly color to those nicotine-stained lungs, no?

Greenbutts filters are biodegradable cigarette filters that sprout grass or flowers when placed in the soil.  The filter, manufactured from organic cotton and natural de-gummed hemp, is bound together with wheat flour and water, and the filters don't contain any chemicals or additives.

This is a huge improvement over current cellulose acetate filters, which take as long as 10-15 years to biodegrade.  No actual word on how long it takes Greenbutts to biodegrade, but it's assumed to be somewhat faster.  Greenbutts filters are still in the concept stage where the company is still seeking investors and has no plans for production.

For the full article, click here.  To visit their website, click this.

Shark Victims Rally Behind the Species

Shark attacks often receive significant press coverage, but statistics show they are extraordinarily rare: in 2008, there were 59 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, according to a survey by the University of Florida.

Nonetheless, Debbie Salamone has every reason to hold a grudge against sharks.  In 2004, she was swimming at a beach in Florida when a shark bit down on her foot, severing her achilles tendon.  Pew Environment Group Paul De Gelder, an Australian Navy diver who lost a hand and leg to a shark attack, is in New York City to advocate for shark conservation.

Six years later, Ms. Salamone and nine other shark attack survivors from six countries are petitioning the United Nations to protect the very species that tried to make meals out of them.  Shark populations worldwide are under severe pressure from industrial fishing, with 30 percent of shark and ray species assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature listed as threatened or near-threatened.

An estimated 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins, which are used to make shark fin soup, and Asian delicacy.  Most of these sharks are 'finned' alive, then dumped back into the ocean to drown or bleed to death.

The United Nations General Assembly deliberates annually on policies and regional and international agreements on how to sustainably manage fisheries.  Ocean conservation groups, including Pew, are urging nations to strengthen protections for shark species worldwide.  This fall, shark advocates will press delegates to implement a strong management plan for sharks that would prohibit catching threatened or near-threatened shark species and en the practice of shark finning.

For the full article, click here.

DNA Testing Catches Up With Illegal Logging Trade

A single splinter of wood can now be traced back, via its DNA fingerprint, to the site of its parent tree on the other side of the world with a powerful new tool designed to stop illegal logging.  A Singapore company, Double Helix Tracking Technologies, is attempting to get its wood tracking method adopted by the federal government, which pledged during the election campaign to crack down on illegal timber imports.

Each tree, like each human or animal, has a unique signature, but groves of trees are usually related to each other like an extended family containing grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  This allows researchers to cross-reference one log's DNA pattern with an existing database of sensitive logging regions around the world.

For the full article, click here.

  

Biofuels from Engineered Tobacco Plants?

Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have developed a new method to increase the quantity of oil in tobacco leaves so that it can be used as biofuels in the future.  They posit that tobacco can produce biofuel more efficiently than other agricultural crops.  However, upon extraction, most of the oil is available in tobacco seeds.

Statistics show that tobacco seeds are composed of about 40 percent oil per dry weight.  Also, tobacco plants don't produce seeds in copious amounts (only about 600 kg of seeds per acre).  Despite these drawbacks, researchers seem optimistic about these new findings and aim to find ways for these tobacco plants to produce more oil by manipulating certain genes found in the leaves of these plants.

For the full article, click here.

The Organic Growth of Portland's Green Roofs

Portland's ecoroof program is enough to turn other sustainability-striving cities green with envy.  The City of Roses boasts 351 green roofs and rooftop gardens covering more than 26 acres.  By comparison, Seattle has 62 vegetated roofs totaling about 9 acres.

Ecoroofs are touted for their ability to trap and hold rainwater that would otherwise pour onto streets or into gutters, carrying pollution and potentially causing sewer overflows, flooding, and stream erosion.  The roofs can insulate buildings, cutting heating and cooling costs; provide green spaces for people, birds, and bugs; reduce heat island effects; and even lengthen the life of a roof.

The effort got a huge boost when Portland mayor Sam Adams earmarked $6 million for an incentive program that's putting ecoroofs on private buildings all across town.  the 2-year-old Grey to Green program already has awarded $1.3 million for the construction of 6 acres of new roofs.  The program is slated to last until 2013.

For the full article, click here.

Methane Reduction from Cattle

Methane is a significant green house gas that can lead to global warming.  It is also commonly produced by many wild animals including humans and cattle.

Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased b an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn state dairy scientist.

Belching (a.k.a burping) involves the release of gas from the digestive tract through the mouth, and is usually accompanied with a typical sound and odor.

Many other mammals, such as cattle dogs, and sheep, also burp.  In the case of ruminants, the gas expelled is actually methane produced as a byproduct of the animal's digestive process.  An average cow may emit between 542 liters and 600 liters (if in a field) of methane per day through burping, making commercially farmed cattle a major contributor to the greenhouse effect.

In a series of laboratory experiments and a live animal test done at Penn State, an oregano based feed supplement not only decreased methane emissions in dairy cows by 40 percent, but also improved milk production, according to associate professor of dairy nutrition Alexander Hristov.

For the full article, click here.

Firestone Racing Earns Recognition for Positive Environmental Impact

Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC (BSRO) and Firestone Racing received recognition for its "Get The Lead Out" program, a joint initiative designed to reduce the amount of lead in the environment.  Additionally BSRO's Michael Welly, Environmental Compliance Specialist, was also honored for his role in the company's lead reduction efforts with EPA's NPEP Partner of the Year award.

Wheel weights, traditionally made of lead, are small clips applied onto a vehicle's wheels to help the wheels balance properly and run smoothly.  The weights can fall off and may get thrown onto the edges of roadways, possibly contaminating soil or water if they are made of lead or another environmentally harmful material.

In late 2007, BSRO became the first major automotive service provider to announce the move away from the use of lead wheel weights.  Since that time, the company has removed nearly 3.5 million pounds of lead from the stream of commerce.

For the full article, click here.

New York Yellow Cabs Go Green

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to announce that he will order the city's entire taxi fleet be converted to gas-electric hybrids by 2012.

According to sources, Bloomberg will instruct Matthew Daus, the commissioner of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, to begin a cycle of replacement that will see 20 percent replaced each year until all of the city's approximately 13,000 taxis are hybrids in 2012.

The commission has approved eight models of hybrids for use on city streets.  The vehicles include four SUVs: the Toyota Highlander, Lexus RX 400H, Ford Escape and Saturn VUE Green Line, and four four-door sedans: the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Honda Civic.

For the full article, click here.

U.S. Stadiums Go Solar: Major Pro Sports Leagues Move Together Toward Renewable Energy

The nation's major professional sports leagues are collectively sending an important cultural message in the battle against climate change by encouraging and endorsing the use of solar power and clean energy in arenas and stadiums throughout the United States.

Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer delivered a letter encouraging their teams and facilities to begin using solar power as they continue the effort to green North America's professional sports.

The leagues also distributed a comprehensive solar development guide produced on their behalf by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) outlining the work necessary for each stadium to add on-site solar power generation to its energy mix.

Having all professional leagues engaged collectively in this manner is an extraordinary event, pointing to the growing cultural transcendence of the fight against climate change.

If all arenas and stadiums had solar installation equal to the STAPLES CENTER in Los Angeles, one of the leading arenas already taking advantage of solar panels, they would:

• Reduce carbon emissions by approximately 86.6 million lbs/yr (which is comparable to taking 8,340 cars off the road!).
• Create enough electricity to power roughly 4,812 American homes for a year.
• Save the equivalent of 33,970 barrels of crude oil per year.

For the full article, click here.

Paris Metro Body Heat to Help Warm Building

The warmth generated by human bodies in the Parisian metro will help heat a public housing project in the city center, the capital's largest owner of social housing.

The calories emitted by passengers, around 100 watts per person, combined with the heat from the trains moving along tracks and the underground location of the metro mean that corridor temperatures are 14-20 degrees Celsius all year around.

The project, which is based on geothermal technology, aims to draw heat from subterranean passages and move it to heat exchangers before supplying heating pipes.  The system will complement district heating.

The project should slash carbon dioxide emissions by a third compared to using a boiler room connected to district heating, François Wachnick from Paris Habitat told Reuters.

A tender for the experimental project, which is expected to heat 17 flats, will be launched before the end of the year, and work is expected to start in 2011.

For the full article, click here.

*BONUS Article* — Eco Beer: Brews With Positive Environmental Impact

Below are brew experts who share with readers what they have evaluated as the most environmentally friendly brews:

Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune are beer connoisseurs who recommend Sierra Nevada's Estate Homegrown Ale.  Sierra Nevada (www.sierranevada.com) is a family-owned microbrewery that has placed solar panels on production to divert leftover water to an on-site water treatment facility so that the water can be reused, this minimizes waste.

Rich Tucciarone is brewmaster at Hawaii's Kona Brewing Company, which uses solar power and redesigned its bottles to weigh 11 percent less.  A lighter bottle translates to less fuel used during transportation to retail.  This beer company employs a sustainability coordinator, and produces the certified-organic Oceanic Organic Saison.  Who ever thought that the beer industry could offer green jobs?

Tucciarone also recommends Laurelwood Public House and Brewery (www.laurelwoodbrewpub.com) in Portland, Oregon.  This beer is certified organic, and Laurelwood's pubs focus on serving mostly local products.  After consumption, the compost all their food waste.

For the full article, click here.