Our Green Streets Blog

Innovative new ways of including lush and visually intoxicating gardens in homes or buildings are surfacing – no longer on plots of land but on sections of vertical walls.

Vertical garden on French building from Patrick Blanc Photo: Blanc

Credit for inventing the vertical wall goes to French botanist and inventor, Patrick Blanc,  shown in this building photo.  According to Blanc’s website, the vertical garden was conceived from watching natural environments – many in jungle locations – and watching how plants can grow without soil. The vertical wall can also functions as an air purification system.

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I wish to thank Dan Grifen for contribution this story about Chicago following a greener path. – GRM

Post from D Grifen
– Supporter of all things green and progressive

With some of the brightest young engineers coming straight out of  the University of Illinois, it’s no wonder why the city is involved with major green initiatives. This includes the development of land conservation efforts driven by the Chicago Department of Environment, and some significant advances in Green Space/architecture during the 21^st century.

Chicago’s demand for greener jobs is being answered by companies like the West Pullman Plant, the largest urban solar planet in the U.S. In a report filed by the Chicago Sun Times, Jim Amedeo, Lead Supervisor, states “Solar plants are only going to get smaller and more efficient, and solar energy will get cheaper to use.”

Residential areas are progressively doing their part to ensure a smarter, energy efficient planet by exploring solar alternatives. With the housing tax credit extension, homeowners are definitely more inclined to enhance their efficiency and find new ways to go green. Reports substantiated by NBCNC of Chicago find that American homes generated twice as much power from rooftop solar panels. This is especially true in Chicago; hopefully with the expansion of plants like West Pullman, we’ll see an increase in solar powered homes and renewable energy.

Leading the way in green civil design in large is Niranjan Shah, CEO of Globetrotters Engineering Corporation out of Chicago, IL. Globetrotters has been granted monies in excess of $13.7 million, all for city consulting and engineering contracts since March 1994. “For over three decades, the firm has provided a full range of professional architectural and engineering consulting services we have also been active in program management, construction and energy management; property and facilities operation and maintenance; and technology integration and development.” (GEC) In building, the firm abides by USGBC guidelines; further promoting sustainability.

The rest of our nation keep an eye on the initiatives being taken in Chicago. Miniscule Individual lifestyle changes, such as brushing your teeth with the water off, are a step in the right direction. With the implementation of land conservation and Green Space, Chicago, along with the rest of the nation will effectively see costs go down in the long-term. This will in turn lead to a relatively fast economic incline.

News from Environmental Leader:

Safeway has become a founding member of the Sustainability Consortium, the group launched in support of Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Index.

The goal of the consortium is to develop guidelines and promote innovations as the supply chain seeks to reduce its energy use, emissions and packaging. The consortium made headlines in January when Wal-Mart and Best Buy, together with electronics suppliers Dell, HP, Intel and Toshiba, officially launched the effort.

The consortium is administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas, with financial support from Wal-Mart.

The consortium has courted Safeway, in hopes that it would become involved in what could be an industry wide sustainability metric system.

Safeway made its involvement in the initiative public March 1, reports Supermarket News. Safeway is the first grocer to join the group, according to a press release.

The retailer will use life cycle assessment data to create a company-wide supply chain policy encouraging sustainable purchasing and manufacturing practices throughout the organization’s direct and indirect buying.

I have not met Barry Cohen, executive director of the National Algae Association, based in Woodlands, Texas, nor discussed with him any of the challenges facing his nascent industry. But the challenge he made to his membership caught my attention:

“I am issuing a challenge for the year 2010: Build out a 100 acre turnkey algae production facility (growing, harvesting and extraction) without any local, state or federal grant funds.”

Mr. Cohen’s greeting to all for the beginning of 2010 is well worth reading, especially by all who want to see alternative fuels gain more solid footing on the American (and world) energy charts.

The accounting of his challenge ias worth the read:

“When this (American oil production) all started in 1859, nobody had all of the answers. 150 years later, the oil industry is still looking for answers. A 100 acre turn-key commercial-scale algae production facility will allow algae producers to look at real commercial algae production and operations as well as economies of scale issues. It will give algae researchers a much better understanding of commercial-scale algae production issues to work on as opposed to small raceway ponds and desk-top lab photobioreactors. It is, at this point, useless to continue to fund algae research without seriously funding commercial-scale algae production farms. As some have already learned, intellectual properties have no practical use if there is not an industry to use them. In order to create any value in existing algae technologies, we must have commercial-scale algae production facilities that can use them!

“Commercial-scale algae production is key to our industry and is one solution that helps to reduce dependence on foreign oil, to create new jobs and reduce CO2 emissions. The NAA challenges the algae industry to build a 100 acre commercial-scale algae production plant without any local, state or federal grants – this will be the true test of algae production farming and algaepreneurism at its finest!

“I would like to see the first 50 acres of production with proven benchmarked results – totally designed, developed and put into production without a single dollar of government money. The next 50 acres can be improved by making minor changes based on what was learned from the first 50 acres. I know it can be done, and you know it can be done – it´s time to do it!”

The entire document can be read at the association’s website .

Not too surprising for those who made it through last year, Environmental Leader & The New York Times report  clean tech investing fell by 33 percent in 2009.

Source: Cleantech Group

“Venture capital investments in green technology companies declined by 33 percent from $8.5 billion in 2008 to $5.6 billion in 2009, despite a flurry of government subsidies for renewable energy, according to a preliminary report by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte,” the Environmental Leader post stated.

As to the numbers, investments in green technology companies declined from $8.5 billion in 2008 to $5.6 billion in 2009. The decline would have been worse except for a flurry of government subsidies that were made for renewable energy.

For more detail on this report, visit either Fort Collins, CO – based Environmental Leader or The New York Times’ Green Inc. blog.

For those stumped over what things to give this holiday season, try giving a tree, then help with the planting.

www.treeculture.org

The Canada-based Tree Culture Association, founded by people who have put tree products to use — printers — is introducing new digital gift card. The gift cards are already available in different denominations through the Tree Culture website, www.treeculture.org, across Canada and the United States.This is a website worth the visit.

According to this organization, the person looking to give a unique gift simply needs to visit the Tree Culture website, choose how many trees to give, fill out some basic information, add a personal message to the recipient, and set a date to send the gift card. The recipient will then receive an email with an attached digital gift card. “They read their congratulatory message and follow a link to the world map. There they get to drag a tree around the map and place it in one of the regions where Tree Culture Association has planting projects in place. Our system registers that” says Igal Rogalsky, one of this organization’s founders.

Tree Culture Association is a non-profit initiative that was established by Victor Narynskyyi and Igal Rogalsky in Kelowna, BC. Both come from the printing industry and Tree Culture Association is a result of their efforts to make the printing businesses more environmentally sustainable. The mission of the organization is to compel producers and consumers of printed materials to plant a tree with every print order. The gift cards is their initiative to create more public awareness about their organization.

We send our hearty applause for this effort!

This commentary by Marc Stoiber can be read in its entirety at Sustainable Life Media. I believe this is a good location for connecting to a collection of sustainability oriented people, events, and ideas. The following words, copied from the October 29, 2009 issue touched me with an encouraging ping, so I chose to share some of them, adding my own emphasis:

Mark Stoiber

“Executives today are being taught about ’social innovation’, a term that seamlessly incorporates the best of the above three terms, and reaches further – bringing along collective spirit, new thinking and economic responsibility for the ride.

“How does this work in real life? Consider:

“Ford developed a plastic shipping container used to ferry parts from one plant to the next. The shipping container eliminates the use of cardboard, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces the number of shipments required, and is more ergonomic for factory workers. It is also recycled into splash shields for the F-150. Read more of this >>

Today we received word from Chris Edwards, sales coordinator at Colorado-based New Wave Enviro Products. I believed my email box contained just one more of the many green promotional pitches I wade through, until I read further, especially the last line.

Here are clips from Mr. Edwards’ letter (emphasis place by me):

“…we manufacture and distribute water products, mainly through Natural Foods Retailers across the Nation. We have been in business for over 15 years and our products offer consumers a way to live litter free and chemical free lives by filtering the water they drink,  they shower and bathe in, and a way to ease the problem with our nation’s landfills.
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Take a look below to see what appear to be some positive actions taking place under the banner of eco-terre-orism. Find intriguing notions that are being put into action, such as tossing a seed ball on a dilapidated and forlorn part of our planet:

from Open Forum

Eco-terre-orism on the Rise

Haily Zaki (Inhabitat)

Oct 05, 2009 -

The national alert is high, code level…green.  Whether we notice it or not, a group of eco-terre-orists are waging a quiet war against neglect and scarcity of public space.   From London to Berlin, Miami to San Francisco and Southern California, a new breed of free range tillers are harnessing their inner flower (and fruit and veggie) power, sewing seeds for a greener tomorrow.  They hope that their hard (and surreptitious) work will help transform derelict soil and abandoned lots into floral and food outposts.

Manufacturing an urban seed ball Credit: Los Angeles Times

Their weapon of choice?  The seed ball.

Made from clay and compost mixed with seeds, these little life mines are tossed into neglected patches of urban landscape in the hopes that they will take root and explode with green over time. Read more of this >>

Here is solid green product info from Yahoo, The Daily Green News Blog:

“Six new products have been certified by the Green Good Housekeeping Seal — a first.

“Known for decades as the authority in product testing for its Good Housekeeping Seal, the new seal certifies products that not only live up to marketing claims for efficacy, but for its sustainability. Good Housekeeping Research Institute evaluates various criteria, including reduction of water use in manufacturing, energy efficiency in manufacturing and product use, ingredient and product safety, packaging reduction, and the brand’s corporate social responsibility.

“The Good Housekeeping Seal was originally created to protect consumers from potentially dangerous products and false claims,” said Rosemary Ellis, editor-in-chief of Good Housekeeping. “Today our readers are interested in making choices that are healthier for their families and for the planet, so we’re continuing our legacy of consumer advocacy with the Green Good Housekeeping Seal, offering consumers a guide, backed by scientific research, for products making significant steps towards being environmentally sound.”

“The best part: If the product fails to live up to its claims in the first two years, Good Housekeeping will replace the item or refund the consumer.

“The first round of testing included cleaning and beauty products. Upcoming tests will include more than a dozen categories, including building products, home appliances, consumer electronics, textiles, and children’s products. Read more of this >>