MetaFilter posts tagged with green

Want to change the world? There's nothing to it.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:15:08 -0800

This YouTube video seems to break my browser. Does it play alright for anyone else?

How Green is My Home?

jefficator — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:01:14 -0800

“Oh, it’s all bullshit. The high design? That has nothing to do with reality. That’s just architectural self-indulgence.” The greening of architecture is quite a contentious subject. Because of a renewed emphasis on traditional home-building methods, The Green Home of the Future is in many respects not dissimilar from The Green Home of Yesterday. A tornado in Greensburg, Kansas provided the impetus for a vote to decide on what green methods would define the movement in that small town. The competition's results stymied many architects' conceptions of what "green" should mean. But in New Orleans, larger-scale destruction by Hurricane Katrina has provided a unique opportunity for proponents of distinct conceptions of green innovation to bring their ideas to life. Opinions among residents are mixed.

Always Listen To Structural Engineers

mannequito — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:50:21 -0800

It will be the site of 12 medal finals this February, but Richmond's Olympic Oval has already won gold in one event: on October 9th, it was awarded top honors for a sports or leisure structure from the Institution of Structural Engineers, beating out Wimbledon, the Copenhagen Zoo's Elephant House, and another Olympic venue, Beijing's Birds Nest. The Richmond Oval won largely on the strength of sustainability, including a 2 hectare roof built out of salvaged lumber from the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. Also nominated for the David Alsop Sustainability Award, the building lost to South Africa's Mapungubwe National Park Interpretive Centre but was given a special second place commendation.

2009 Solar Decathalon

thewalrus — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:20:07 -0800

For the second time in two years a team from Germany has won the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathalon. This year's entry was a cube shaped house entirely covered in 300W and 70W solar panels generating a peak of 11.1kW. The DoE has published a complete product directory of all the subsystems and components used to build each house. Another notable design is the Canadian Team North house designed for optimal solar+insulation performance in high latitude climates.

A PATH TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY BY 2030

kliuless — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:41:37 -0800

Wind, water and solar technologies can provide 100 percent of the world's energy, eliminating all fossil fuels. HERE'S HOW (via) BONUS -Earthships - "what the world needs now is 1 billion of these immediately" (previously) -A safe operating space for humanity -Reasons to be optimistic? -Everything is OK

Cidade Maravilhosa

msali — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:03:00 -0800

Seeking to be the first Green Olympics, Brazil wins its bid to be the first ever South American nation to host the 2016 games. For your listening pleasure, two songs about Rio, an acoustic version of Cidade Maravilhosa by Caetano Veloso, and Aquele abraço by our man, Gilberto Gil.

Chimera Apple

HotPants — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:32:23 -0800

Million to one apple is half red, half green. "Fruit grower Ken Morrish was left stunned when he found a golden delicious apple on his tree split exactly half green, half red down the middle." Favorite Quote: "If there was a whole branch of apples with the same colouring then fruit experts would get even more excited."

Green Revolution

Grangousier — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:07:45 -0800

Many UK FreeCycle branches have suddenly broken away from the American parent, as a response to what they see as increasingly centralised (even dictatorial) management. Apparantly this has been boiling for a while. Now, they are calling themselves Freegle. I realise you probably won't believe me, Metafilter being above all else Skeptical* but I've never had any dealings at all with FreeCycle (I tend to use things until they fall to bits), and until I read a link in a friend's Twitter feed this morning, I thought the only problems were with second-hand dealers grabbing all the good stuff and greedy people asking for free Ferraris. I find all this fascinating, partly as a study of the corrupting effects of power, partly as a celebration of British bolshiness. It will be interesting to see what happens next. *With a capital S and a k.

Yesterday's Energy of Tomorrow...and more

Miko — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:05:33 -0800

Peak Oil, 1925. In 2000, 20% of new buildings will be solar equipped. By the late 1990s, 90% of the world's energy will be nuclear-generated. These and other erroneous projections are being collected as part of the Forecast Project on the website Inventing Green: The Lost History of Alternative Energy in America.

Just one word - Plastics

Antidisestablishmentarianist — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:26:51 -0800

Even if cars soon start running entirely on electricity or hydrogen, they'll still need 100 gallons or more of oil to make their plastic parts...

Lengthy Lantern Lifeline

GavinR — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:51:30 -0800

Over at Comics Should Be Good! Greg Hatcher outlines the history of Green Lantern to show how changes in a storytelling property eventually requires a "reboot" and why that occurs. And also, there is that movie adaptation coming out in 2011, but there's also an animated direct to DVD movie coming out this year. Want your own ring? Make one out of paper, or you could cast one out of resin.

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow.

Antidisestablishmentarianist — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:36:52 -0800

Honda insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid: "So here goes. It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more."

Infrastructures / Networks / Environments

netbros — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:47:21 -0800

The globe’s networked ecologies of food, water, energy, and waste have established new infrastructures and forms of urbanism. While these ecologies exist at the service of our contemporary lifestyles, they have typically remained hidden from view and from the public conscience. Infranet Lab is studying the shifting / changing conditions. Recent articles include Greening of Prison Infrastructure where you'll find solar fields used to power the prisons and gardens and greenhouses for nourishment. A three-part article about salt mining (1, 2, 3). About 50% of industrialized salt production is used in cold-climate regions for de-icing. Along with that massive seasonally dependent harvest, is the need to store salt (or sand) in a distributed fashion and at a municipal level. Like little salt banks or mail drop-off boxes, salt facilities dot the highway landscape. The recent volatile nature of the stock market has incited a new type of investment — in farmland, deemed ‘getting rich slow.’ Further, continual land development which encroaches on arable land, coupled with a rising world population — makes farmland an increasingly precious resource. It is currently estimated that 25 million acres of farmland are lost each year.

Okay, everybody takes a drink whenever Isabella Rosselini says the word "penis"...

miss lynnster — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:57:03 -0800

Sundance and Isabella Rosselini present season two of Green Porno. Most definitely NSFW. Previously.

For a New Green Society

kldickson — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:58:02 -0800

For a New Green Society Manifestos on bright green environmentalism. Bright green environmentalism, which is comparable to technogaianism, stands in contrast to light green environmentalism, which focuses on lifestyle changes, and dark green environmentalism, which focuses on political changes; sustainable technology. [via mefi projects]

Shine on, friend. Goodnight.

hifiparasol — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:12:28 -0800

The Big Picture has photos taken during Earth Hour 2009. Click the photos to go from "lit" to "unlit." (Earth Hour home, wiki, previously)

My New Nano Won't Charge On My MacBook Pro.

Xurando — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:18:11 -0800

Today marks the launch of the Tata Nano. Some see this car as the next Ipod. Some have grave environmental concerns. (previously)

Iron Curtain, Ribbon of Life

nam3d — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:24:03 -0800

When communism crumbled in 1989 it created an opportunity for wildlife. The Iron Curtain that divided communist Eastern Europe from the capitalist West had created a no-man's-land protected by barbed wire and minefields - a last haven for many rare animals and plants.

The Guide to Highly Efficient Things

netbros — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:01:49 -0800

Meta-efficiency is the analysis of efficiency at a more comprehensive level. Metaefficient Review assesses products considering not only their energy efficiency but also the embodied energy, toxicity, affordability, and usability. In the architecture and building section you can find articles such as The Largest Building In The World To Be Green. The renewable power section includes information about Solar Canopies For Parking Lots that provide shade for customers, while generating up to a half-megawatt of electricity. New zero emissions electric scooter bicycles can be found in the transportation section. Metaefficient has been at this for five years, so there are hundreds of articles and product reviews in the archives. Metaefficient is the brainchild of Justin Thomas.

Brown thumb no more!

miss lynnster — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:45:29 -0800

Now even your plants can twitter you. Awesome!

Sustainable Development or Green Menace?

JVA — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:16:50 -0800

Apparently some members of the far-right have figured it out! Environmentalists are communists! Being green is tantamount to an attack on "Western culture, and the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions". Think this is just an American phenomenon? Think again...

succinct

plexi — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:42:59 -0800

If you're feeling guilty about that long flight from San Francisco to Berlin you can use EcoFonts (which is created by omitting parts of the letter) to assuage your carbon-heavy guilt.

Gasification.

gman — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:55:49 -0800

Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash.

The Linguistic Banhammer Falls Again

wendell — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:29:38 -0800

How am I gonna introduce my annual post about the annual LSSU Banished Words List when "It's that time of year again" has itself just been banished? Maybe with an assortment of links not-very-related to the words on This Year's List... (Going) Green Carbon Footprint / Carbon Offset Maverick First Dude Bailout Wall Street / Main Street -Monkey <3> Icon/Iconic Game Changer Staycation Desperate Search Not So Much Winner of X Nominations It's That Time of Year Again

メリー・クリスマス with ふろしき

armage — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:53:18 -0800

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a not-for-profit company sponsored by the UK government, urges you to cut down on waste paper this holiday season and wrap your presents with furoshiki, the traditional Japanese wrapping cloth. Furoshiki (風呂敷, literally "bath-spread") date back at least to the Edo period, and continue to be used for all occasions to this day. The Japanese government has also been encouraging the use of furoshiki through its recent "Mottainai Furoshiki" campaign. There are many ways to fold a furoshiki, and if you don't have one you can use a bandana or other square cloth instead of a proper furoshiki -- or simply make your own. Furoshiki are a great opportunity to be both creative and green this holiday season.