Podcast: Download (Duration: 11:51 — 10.9MB)

Today’s Headlines

‘24′ Goes Carbon-Neutral
Organic Dining Guide for College Campuses
The Carbon-Neutral Generation Shift the Power
Fungus Fuel?
Green hits your washing machine!

‘24′ Goes Carbon-Neutral

Tree Hugger The Fox TV series 24 has reportedly become carbon neutral. They first reduced their massive 2,179 ton carbon footprint 40% through efficiency measures like paperless script distribution, hybrid vehicles, and replacing tungsten field lighting with fluorescent or LED equivalents. The remaining 1,239 tons of CO2 were offset through investments in carbon credits, verified and certified by an independent third party to meet the standards of the World Resource Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Groups like the Environmental Media Association have worked for years to green media production. At their site they have a list of criteria we have used to green the production of newlygreens.

Organic Dining Guide for College Campuses

The Organic Institute The guide published by The Organic Institute(available for download) opens giving readers an introduction to organic food. It goes on to include tips for working with food service, approaching issues like purchasing policy, working within budgetary constraints, and building relations with organic vendors. The guide also provides case examples from students at Yale, NYU, U.C. Berkeley and other universities who have successfully implemented these strategies to promote organic dining on campus.

The Carbon-Neutral Generation Shift the Power

Twelve thousand young leaders converged on Washington, D.C. to participate in Power Shift 09 over the weekend to demand that the President and Congress pass bold, just climate and energy policy in 2009 that dramatically reduces emissions, creates millions of green job and repowers America with 100% clean energy. Despite a snow storm that paralyzed much of the city, the four-day event concluded with a day full of hundreds of lobby visits and a rally with more than 3,000 youth on Capitol Hill. In just four years, the organizers of Power Shift ‘09, Energy Action Coalition, has grown to include 50 national organizations, over 700 local groups and tens of thousands of young people all working together to successfully fight dirty energy development and promote positive, clean energy solutions on campuses and communities around the country. For more information visit: www.powershift09.org

Fungus Fuel?

http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/61/myco-diesl-fungi-fuel/ Gliocladium roseum, a fungus found in the forests of northern Patagonia in South America, may offer an alternative to fossil fuels. G. roseum, recently unearthed during tests on ulmo trees in the region, releases gases that contain a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that become explosive when burned. The discovery has been coined “myco-diesel”. Traditionally, biodiesel must be converted into sugar before fuel is made. By contrast, myco-diesel can start with waste since G. roseum grows on cellulose, the most abundant compound on Earth. Cellulose—found in grass cuttings, leaves and straw, for example—can be used to grow the fungus, without the need for fermentation.

Green hits your washing machine!

http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/60/a-greenwash-you-can-believe-in/ Scientists in the U.K.have created a way to cut down on the waste of drinkable water by washing machines. In the U.K. alone, some 455 billion liters (12 million gallons) of water go down the drain each day thanks to washing machines. But Stephen Burkinshaw and his team at Leeds University have developed a washing machine that only needs 23 milliliters (a cup) of water per load—about 2 percent of the usual dose! The technology relies on tiny pellets made from recycled plastic. The half-centimeter-wide beads, stored in a cartridge at the back of the machine and released once the wash cycle begins, absorb dirt and stains removed from textiles by laundry soap. Since the process also leaves clothes practically dry at the end, electricity and water consumption go down. This means that users could get rid of their driers. Also, because of the way the machine works, it can wash dry clean only clothes!