Photo of Fairfield University
Photo credit to WalkingGeek
Good news travels in pairs and today we have two stories from two separate universities who have taken the steps to reduce their carbon footprint through various program initiatives. The first green effort comes to us from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, which has eliminated trays for their students in their food halls.
Fairfield University
When I first got my reviewers copy of the Encyclopedia of Earth, I thought, what a dumb idea, nobody uses encyclopedia anymore with Wikipedia or Google around. In fact, there already is an online version with the same name. Why bother?
Then I opened it up and memories of my childhood flooded back, the hours spent poring over every page of the Life Science Library and the Golden Book encyclopedia that I loved, or the time spent in Eyewitness Books when my kids were little. It may be designed as a reference book, but it tells the story of our planet like a great novel.
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If profound statements are said to issue from the mouths of babes, then it may be that important and significant innovation springs forth from the pens and computer mice of design students. At least that is the view of the Society for Responsible Design.
:: Beat the back to school blues with a splash of green! Consult our How to Go Green: Back to School guide.
:: Take comfort food to healthier heights with this fresh-from-the-farm Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes recipe.
:: Follow these five uplifting and energizing tips to give green conferences, parties and gatherings more zest.
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Image: Getty Images
Just in time for the next round of college applications, the Princeton Review announced its latest round of college ranking guides, but this year the guides will include a green ranking of universities, among the other rankings like best program for a particular degree category, as well as colleges with the best campus social life. 534 schools were included in this ranking, with most progressive campuses earning Honor Roll status....
Better, Cheaper LEDs
The incandescent lightbulb that wastes 90% of the electricity as heat is dying, we all know that. But a new breakthrough in solid state lighting might also kill compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) faster than some expected. Scientists at Purdue University have figured out how to manufacture LED solid-state lights on regular metal-coated silicon wafers (more details below). What this means is: much lower costs.
10% Reduction in Total Electricity Use
Image credit: Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS
Aerogel was invented in 1931. But at $3000 per kilogram, it's use has been limited to visionary projects and unique structural applications like reinforcement of tennis raquets. But that could change soon. Halimaton Hamdan, a Cambridge-trained professor of chemistry at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Technical University of Malaysia), has announced the discovery of a cheap process for turning waste rice husks into aerogel. Actually into "Maerogel", as Hamdan has dubbed the "Malaysian aerogel"....
Factory Green, a new online eco-store, run by pre-med college students Jack Short and Daniel Lyons at the University of Missouri in their “free time.” The store is full of men’s and women’s tees designed by fellow college students and geared for college students. Thanks to tipster Adam, and a recent Sprig article for passing along this fashion tidbit....
"Revolutionary." That is the word Oswald Schmitz, Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, uses to describe the conclusions of research into how predators influence ecosystems. Pre-revolutionary logic: the soils -- and plants' interaction with soils -- determine the types of plants that grow. This in turn determines the types of herbivores present, thereby indirectly determining the population of carnivores. So effectively...
TreeHugger loves to see green student design (and we want to see more!); since they'll be designing the next generation of products we use, the greener they can be, the better. These examples are from a project called "Re-Furnished" from the University of Idaho; students were challenged to create functional furniture out of found or used cardboard, and they came up with some pretty compelling final products.
If you live in a democracy, then your vote helps to decide how politicians should act to curb carbon dioxide emissions and achieve energy independence. But how can the average voter make sense of it all? The IPCC says we must act now or we miss the window of opportunity to spare future generations from untold suffering. The climate change denialis...
Climate crisis. While alternative energy options grow, the nuclear option is also back on the table. In spite of the complexities of permitting, hazards of nuclear energy and challenges that the investment and construction timelines pose in the race for solutions, humanity's growing energy hunger may require reliance on this well-established greenhouse-gas-emissions-free technology.
Photo: Donna Coveney
Any reader of these pages knows that batteries are key to the future of alternative energies. Light, high energy batteries to power electric cars. Cost effective batteries to store solar power at night or wind power when the air is still. So it is an exciting step that MIT has announced a success which could result in the development of batteries with 3 or more times the energy density of current batteries. But their method involves genetically modified viruses. Can an electric car catch a cold?...
It just goes to show you how much the environment has become a sign of the times. Al Gore is set to fly into Israel in May to collect a cool $1 million dollar cash award presented by the Dan David Foundation, housed at Tel Aviv University.
The foundation awards $3 million in cash prizes every year, with Gore taking a third of the prize pie for his work in the environment. He said in a video conference recently that he will donate it all to organizations working to stop climate change. (Get your proposals ready!)
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