January 2010

This is an era where many are thinking about switching out that big SUV for a car that’s better for the environment. But what about switching out your family pet for a nice indoor plant?

A new book called Time to Eat the Dog? by a husband and wife team in New Zealand argue that every aspect of life should be put under the microscope of sustainable living, along with pet ownership.

Dogs that require a meat diet, according to the authors, have a surprisingly large ecological paw print. It takes more than two acres of land to keep a medium size dog fed. In contrast, a Land Cruiser needs about half that.

I agree that feeding dogs a dried meat diet is not a good idea – and could even be called irresponsible from the earth’s perspective. But couldn’t you say the same thing about a man or a woman with a high percentage of meat in their diet, especially if it travels long distances to reach a dinner plate?

Jobs … health care … national debt … education … and … and … am I missing something?

In his 7,000 word State of the Union speech last night, President Obama mentioned the climate a mere three times. And each time, it was in passing.

To see the contrast, he mentioned business 30 times, jobs 23 times and health 14 times. Even education was verbalized five times.

He made sure to come out with strong new ideas on how to bring forth new jobs through tax incentives, create better schools through reforms, bring down the deficit through limits. But climate change? All it got was a hearty laugh.

When Obama said “I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change,” the room bubbled with laughter. While the president attempted to find the middle ground on a multitude of other issues, all he could do is acknowledge the great divide between believers and nonbelievers on climate change and move on.

Electricity is the universal catalyst that makes gadgets possible in our lives. iPhones and iPods already command legions of satisfied customers and Apple is looking to up the ante even further by tapping into our universal power source: the sun.

Portable solar panels stowed underneath the touch screen of future iPhones and iPods would enable them to absorb energy while leaving the chic form factor intact. Nothing is certain yet but some Apple employees have filed a patent that outlines the idea of making the entire surface area of a touch screen receptive to converting sunlight into electricity.

Until now most devices that integrate solar panels have placed them on an open surface with obvious intent. However, that would be untenable for Apple customers who are accustomed to a sexy looking device that performs with grace and top notch speeds.

Green is a buzzword for everything from LED TVs, cosmetics, and the Olympic Games. The organizers of the Vancouver Winter Olympics have made an effort to make these the greenest games ever but have gotten mixed results.

BC Hydro and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) united to make smart energy choices a goal. With help from green tech company Pulse Energy, organizers can monitor power usage at a number of venues in real time. By observing the data quickly managers can take action by tweaking various issues like turning off lights that aren’t in use.

Amazon’s Kindle has long held the title of the most popular e-reader against big competitors like Sony. Apple’s looming tablet launch has Amazon shaking in their boots and changing course. What are their plans for holding onto their market share against Apple and their PR juggernaut? Copy them, naturally.

One of the flaws of the Kindle is its lack of functionality outside of being an e-reader. That’s why Amazon's new Kindle Developers Kit (KDK) wasn’t that shocking. The KDK is set for limited beta access next month to help developers create what Amazon calls “active content.” Developers will get sample code, documentation, and a Kindle simulator for multiple platforms.

Without question, the success of the plug-in car is riding the initial plunge of the Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius (plug-In), Fisker Karma, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster into the US market in 2010 and 2011. Each manufacturer is going out on a limb with highly priced plug-in vehicles in the hopes of eco-friendly, gas-saving enthusiasts wanting to avoid trips to the pump.

One car specifically, the 2010 Chevy Volt, may hold the key to the legitimacy of the plug-in car and further yet, the fully electric car. With a release date already scheduled, Chevy will unveil a car that will no doubt excite audiences with its 40 miles to the charge battery life, smartphone remote control, and sleek, sporty body. Chevy believes it will have at least 50,000 buyers ready to invest when it is released.

This took guts to do in China, where law officials are often harsh about displays of flesh in public, but about 20 Chinese men and women took off their pants during a subway commute to promote sustainable consumption. China hasn’t been particularly receptive to international pressure regarding green living and business practices but some citizens, like these, are making their voices heard.

The symbolism may not immediately be clear, but the activists were removing one item of clothing to point out the carbon that pants and skirts create, about 7kg. None of those involved knew each other and it was organized through local bulletin boards online, which indicated that they might be confronted by police. An online sales manager organized the event and wanted to do something that would draw attention without violence.

On the weekend we celebrate with pride the legacy of Martin Luther King Junior, it’s worth a look back at some of his famous remarks, this time from an environmental perspective.

It’s obvious that King was a man who respected the earth, just like he respected it’s people. He preached a philosophy of responsibility, unity and nonviolence: Three valuable lessons for anyone trying to make an impact in and on the environmental world.

Responsibility

King: Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

I wish I had a count of the number of times friends and family members have asked me to stop talking about factory farming or environmental degradation because they just didn’t want to think about it. If we would only let our mind get the facts straight, our consciences would do the rest.

Unity

We shouldn’t be surprised when a major hurricane wreaks havoc on a defenseless nation like Haiti, just 700 miles off the coast of Florida.

Efforts to help Haiti, its people and its land are long, long overdue. This is this side of the world’s poorest nation, where 4 out of 5 people live in poverty.

Because of Haiti’s poverty, the people have had no choice but to strip the land of everything worth anything. Less than 100 years ago, most of Haiti was covered by forest. Now, it’s down to 2 percent original forest. So instead of a varied, healthy landscape, Haiti is a desert with exceptionally poor farmland.

Arizona State University (ASU) recently ran a test placing some textbooks on the Kindle 2 platform and handing them out to students. The goal was to understand how using an eBook reader would impact student behavior while also exploring the economic and environmental ramifications.

Being a public institution put ASU in a unique circumstance where it touches a wide cross-segment of people, some of which are blind. The Kindle 2 has text-to-speech built in but activating that function requires a few on-screen navigations that a blind person wouldn’t be able to facilitate independently.

GM has been banking on the Chevy Volt for some time now, hoping the plug-in hybrid would give the company a needed boost in public image and profit. New GM chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre hopes than an earlier launch will help their cause.

The Volt was slated to be on sale in November but sources tell the Detroit Free Press that a late September or October target is more likely. Many have speculated that the Volt will cost about $40,000 before tax credits. Whitacre has basically confirmed the rumor stating that it will be about $32,000 after the credits, still higher than the Toyota Prius.

Former Greenpeace foe Apple jumped from 9th to 5th in the latest “Guide To Green Electronics” unveiled at the  Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The guide rates companies on whether their wares like laptops or LCD TV’s are earth friendly.

Apple and Greenpeace aren’t known as best buddies. Greenpeace went after Apple and headlines with mock sites, store stunts, and protesting outside product launches like the iPhone. They irked Steve Jobs so much at the event he suggested the group should "get out of the computer business [and] go save some whales."

Perhaps Apple was tired of Greenpeace nabbing headlines or thought it made business sense to be responsible on all levels. It looks like they’ve taken some steps to change their practices.

Smartphones like the iPhone, Motorola Droid, and Blackberry Storm have, from the moment they arrived, packed a whole lot of smart into one little device. With thousands of apps, unlimited html browsing, constant access to media, and unique sleek designs and interfaces, smartphones have revolutionized the way the world does business and play.

Now, the iPhone, Droid, and Storm are brightening their IQs a little more with the ability to remotely control the Chevy Volt.

Hybrid car enthusiasts have high expectations for the 2010 Chevy Volt. Its 40 mile fully electric range, smart engine, and plug-in technology have made the Volt an industry leader.

Just in time for the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a variety of new gadgets are surfacing including a rumored Apple tablet, the Google Nexus One phone and now the Skiff Reader. This eBook reader promises to be different from the Kindle 2 in that it provides a larger reading area with a super thin, bendable form factor.

The Skiff Reader will have an 11.5 inch display (measured diagonally), be .268 inches thick and weigh 498 grams. Like the Kindle 2 it will still only show books in black & white but seeing an eBook reader with the familiar bendiness of paper is sure to turn heads. Skiff has a challenging journey in front of it though, if it expects to be a real contender.

Need a back light inverter? Looking for an IR remote sensor?

Most of us don’t even know that these are internal parts of a television set. And most of us are much more likely to go out and replace a TV rather than fix it. But hopefully that mentality is shifting.

Just imagine how many TVs end up in the garbage because of one or two bad parts. Even the best TV repairman can’t help you if a part is no longer available.

That’s where http://shopjimmy.com comes in. The business started as one guy buying, fixing and reselling TVs through eBay. But now broken TVs come into Shop Jimmy’s Minnesota location by the truckload. They are mostly TVs that are damaged while being delivered, from what I gather.

The sets are stripped of any usable parts, which are then sold on the Internet or through Shop Jimmy’s growing number of stores.