Image credit: Planet Green Babies babies babies. Looks like this episode of The Fabulous Beekman Boys is all about babies. I love babies. Doesn’t everybody love babies? How can you not love a baby? Even a goat baby . Looks like this is going to be fun. As usual, I will rank the events depicted on the show using a scale of goats. Five goats is good. One goat is bad. At the end, the number of goats will indicate whether I am more or less likely to follo… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Babies, Recovery and No TV on The Fabulous Beekman Boys

Greenwashing is defined as “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service” and every so often, even the savviest among us can occasionally get the wool pulled over our eyes. Even though there’s now a handy website called the Greenwashing Index that empowers hoodwinked consumers to blow the whistle on the worst offenders, the reality is that some companies are incredibly skilled and even underhanded regarding the way in which they create seemingly genuine eco-campaigns that in reality shroud the truth. Here’s a sobering reminder that even well-intentioned planet-loving celebrities can succumb to major greenwashing, as apparently was the case when everyone from Sandra Bullock, Blake Lively and John Goodman to Emeril Lagasse , Dave Matthews and Lenny Kravitz appeared in the recent ‘ Be The One ” public service announcement promoting Gulf coast restoration. The cast of famous faces were simply trying to spread awareness and urge the public to sign a petition demanding that our government bankroll oil clean up efforts. Seems reasonable enough, right? Unfortunately, it turns out that the whole thing was the work of Shell oil-funded front organization America’s Wetland Foundation which was designed to take the heat off of big oil’s fiscal responsibility and instead convince consumers that the BP aftermath should be funded by our government…i.e. taxpayers . Those with a ‘benefit of the doubt’ frame of mind might be tempted to believe the following claim posted on Shell’s website just two years ago by their president Marvin Odum – that “respect for the environment is integral to how we conduct our business….Shell is proud to help preserve and protect this unique environmental treasure (the Louisiana coastal area) for citizens today and generations to come” – if it weren’t for the current oil spill mess that we’re facing. According to various eco-sleuths, Shell isn’t the only corporation hiding behind America’s Wetland Foundation — add BP, Chevron, Citgo and ExxonMobil to the sludgy mix. Wisely, Sandra Bullock has just pulled her support of the murky campaign until this whole tangled mess can be verified with hard cold facts, but it’s all incredibly suspicious and more than a few well respected media outlets are crying foul play. Do any of us need another good reason why we should be riding our bikes or hoofing it on a full time basis? Via Fail Drill

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Sandra Bullock Pulls Out Of Gulf Greenwashing Campaign

Looking back one, two and five years ago today on Worldchanging: 2009 The Real Green Building Challenge: Creating Policy That Works Sarah Kuck argues that the time for heralding each new green building as a symbol of sweeping change is over. To get our greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption under control, it’s time to make green building the norm… 2008 Visualizing Social Networks…in Excel Ethan Zuckerman reflects on the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit conference and shares information on Marc A. Smith’s research on social network mapping and user groups, which he identifies as coming in three types: Answer People, Reply Magnets, and Discussion People… 2005 Stick It In Your Ear Jamais Cascio reports on three new hearing augmentation devices for the hearing able, from the “Mute” that samples and silences selected noises, to the “Goldfish” that can playback recorded sounds from the last 10 seconds… Other recent “look backs”: July 26 July 27 July 28 Help us change the world – DONATE NOW! (Posted by WorldChanging Team in Urban Design and Planning at 10:00 AM)

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Compelling Policy, Answer People, and a Goldfish in Your Ear

Photo by Anne Toal You’re likely familiar with the way a caterpillar works its way up a stem or across a leaf — that move-the-front-then-move-the-back process is one of their charms. But what you might not know is that a caterpillar actually moves its internal organs forward before moving its legs. A team of researchers at Massachusetts’ Tufts University is working on soft-bodied robots and has looked to this quirk of caterpillars as biomimetic inspiration for their designs. The future of robots could lay with the comical blobs of colo… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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"Gut-Sliding" Movement of Caterpillars Inspires Soft-Bodied Robots

Image credit: Peak Moment I’ll admit it. I may advocate peeing in public , stopping showering (quite as much), and I am a big fan of dumpster diving and the moneyless man . But despite these nods toward the crunchier end of green living… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Is Being Uncivilized Sustainable? Keith Farnish on Disconnecting (Video)

Besides just sheltering you from the hazards of nature while you wait for a bus to take you home, a bus shelter in the City of Corona will also play –sun-juice-drinker and act as a little power station. Unveiled recently, this solar bus shelter is green and eco-friendly, using a roof rigged with highly efficient solar panels, which will be one of the first grid-connected solar system for bus shelters, designed and installed by Solade Concepts, a firm based in Corona, California. Using six SANYO HIT-210NKHA6 210-watt HIT Power® solar panels with six Enphase Energy M210-84-240-S12 micro inverters and a LED lighting system, this bus shelter will soak in the sun’s rays during the day, store the energy, and use it to power up the shelter at night. With bus shelters lining city streets, imagine the lot of them turning into eco-friendly one’s, like this. The load taken of the grid will surely be appreciable! [ RenewableEnergyWorld ]

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Solar powered bus shelter in the City of Corona

Well the environment conscious and nature lovers probably have a tough time shopping, selecting from brands and trying to figure out just how dark a carbon footprint did the apparel in their hands leave during production. Figuring this out isn’t going to be rocket science anymore, thanks to a new software tool that will help manufacturers compare and find out how much impact the manufacture of a particular good has had on the environment. At the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, the Eco Index will be unveiled. Though it will be a while before consumers actually get to see the ratings the brands have got, taken that the companies seem shy to immediately bring out their facts of production. 100 major apparel brands, including renowned Levi Strauss, Nike, and Target, have helped in the creation of this tool. Luxury brands haven’t played sport though and have chosen not to pay too much attention to this one, which is probably because they do tend to stamp a pretty dark spot of carbon footprint every time the manufacture. For those who participated, three green cheers! [ WSJ ]

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Eco Index software tool to help judge environmental impact during apparel manufacture

One of the many companies that showed up at the Plug-In 2010 conference, Schneider Electric showed up too with its electric vehicle charging solutions, that the firm hopes can take on a higher level in a world that is welcoming electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Business director of final distribution, Rich Korthauer, proudly pulled the veil of a range of Square D smart charging stations by Schneider Electric. Among these were Level 1 and Level two chargers for home use, and Level 2 chargers for commercial use. Part of the range was the Level 3 fast chargers that juice up your EV quickly. That’s not all. The company has also learned some valuable lessons like the fact that one can’t really sell electricity in the US. The best way to make people use electric cars and chargers is to use a pay and park system where a person parks near one of these stations, pays the parking fare, and juices up his car for free. Way to go Schneider Electric! We hope to see Square Ds around soon enough! [ Autobloggreen ]

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Schneider Electric unveils Square D charging stations for electric vehicles

One of the many companies that showed up at the Plug-In 2010 conference, Schneider Electric showed up too with its electric vehicle charging solutions, that the firm hopes can take on a higher level in a world that is welcoming electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Business director of final distribution, Rich Korthauer, proudly pulled the veil of a range of Square D smart charging stations by Schneider Electric. Among these were Level 1 and Level two chargers for home use, and Level 2 chargers for commercial use. Part of the range was the Level 3 fast chargers that juice up your EV quickly. That’s not all. The company has also learned some valuable lessons like the fact that one can’t really sell electricity in the US. The best way to make people use electric cars and chargers is to use a pay and park system where a person parks near one of these stations, pays the parking fare, and juices up his car for free. Way to go Schneider Electric! We hope to see Square Ds around soon enough! [ Autobloggreen ]

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Schneider Electric unveils Square D charging stations for electric vehicles

Ever tried growing a potted plant at home that has always wound up dead, due to the unavoidable reason of “not knowing when the little green thing needs watering”? Well, that is now an event of the past, thanks to this illuminating pot for your little green buddy. Known as the Tulipe pot, this one lights up every time your plant is thirsty and needs watering. It does so when sensors detect that the temperature, light or moisture is not at optimum levels and glows bright red to show its water needs. Designed by 22 year old Natalie King, the pot isn’t on store shelves yet, though hopefully for King and our dying plants, it does show up soon enough. An innovative idea to encourage people to grow plants and keep the green alive and breathing, the Tulipe pot would work just fine on our window sill making sure the green throats of our plants are never parched. [ Dailymail ]

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Tulipe pot glows red to indicate plants need watering