Okay, so it was a minor upset but the Patriots did have a slight edge going into last night’s game.  I won’t bore you with any more news, analysis, breakdowns or talk of the slightly disappointing crop of Super Bowl ads.  Instead, let’s take a look at how Super Bowl XLVI tried to reduce the environmental impact of such a waste-laden event like the Big Game.

According to a press release sent from the Super Bowl XLVI host committee:  “The NFL Environmental Program, now in its 18th year, develops projects each year to address solid waste, food waste, material reuse, the needs for books and sports equipment for children in need and the overall climate change impact of Super Bowl events.”

A recycling initiative was active throughout all the Super Bowl events as well as a food recovery program to benefit Second Helpings.  1700 trees will be planted in the urban Indianapolis and once grown, according to the committee, will produce enough oxygen each month to sustain all 70,000 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Super Bowl game.  But the largest impact was made through the purchase of renewable energy certificates.  Specifically, 15,000 megawatt-hours supplied by Green Mountain Energy which is as much energy as the 25 million flat screen TVs playing the Super Bowl game.  The wind energy produced by these offsets will displace fossil fuel emissions that weigh as much as 33 million NFL players.

For those unfamiliar with carbon offsets, they are a purchase individuals or groups can make that fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   Some projects may promote and enable reforestation projects and some projects update power plants.  Green Mountain chooses wind turbines as their weapon of choice and since its inception claims to have “helped avoid more than 14.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.”

Renewable Choice Energy is another such company that sponsors a variety of renewable energy and carbon projects through carbon offset purchases.  Renewable Choice are also fans of wind turbines along with solar panels.  They host a School Power Program that seeks to install wind turbines on campuses across the nation to provide energy for students (Electricity that is.  Students will have to fend for themselves for coffee and other energy boosters.)  Renewable choice also outfits local power plants with the capability to produce energy using local landfills and the gases they produce.

While innovative programs like these are to be applauded, the effectiveness of carbon offsets is yet to be determined.  As with any emerging market, the long-term effects will take years to measure what impact they will have and the quality can vary from project to project.

And while some people do purchase them responsibly, in order to offset necessary travel, there is concern that people will use them to justify any excessive pollution or lifestyle choices instead of working to reduce their carbon footprint.  (I liken that to folks who sin 364 days a year but figure if they get to church on Christmas Day, they’re just fine.)  It’s important to remember that carbon offsets do just that, offset. And we started this game in a significant environmental points deficit.

For more on living a greener lifestyle, make sure to visit Green Earth News Green Is Grand section.

Super Bowl 2012: Upsets And Carbon Offsets is a post from: Green Earth News

Every one of the remaining GOP presidential candidates utilizes national debt rhetoric as a way of decrying government spending, but paradoxically each one of them champions extensive tax cuts for the wealthy that can only serve to worsen the debt even in the event of a commitment to powerful austerity.  The necessary consequences of an insistence on both debt reduction and the preservation or extension of needlessly low tax rates for the upper class are drastic sets of spending cuts and the virtual inability to invest in the emerging needs of the future.

Talk of financial responsibility wins political points for Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and Paul, but evidently the concept of responsibility to our children and to society as a whole doesn’t do the same.  Given that fact, a Republican presidency in coming years would mean government revenue being reduced even below current levels while entire broad categories of policy are ignored.  Chances are that these would be the same subjects that are already ignored on the campaign trail and that thus don’t serve the political ends of either the current candidate or the would-be elected official.

Environmental issues achieve very little traction in the current campaign cycle.  The subject of the Keystone XL pipeline, for instance, provides a fairly good view of the existing emphasis in public debate.  Media Matters reports that in broadcast television coverage of it, 67 percent of stories mentioned job creation potential, while only 17 percent referred to environmental issues.  In cable coverage, job creation was addressed in 77 percent of stories and the environment in 34.  Given that the topic is decidedly an environmental issue, these facts rather clearly indicate an expectation that the public is not as likely to be swayed by reference to the environment as by reference to certain other concerns.

I’m personally quite certain that that doesn’t mean that people don’t care about clean water, biodiversity loss, climate change, and so on.  It only indicates that those topics don’t seem as immediate and aren’t as likely to manipulate people’s votes as are things like fears about an out-of-control debt and concerns over national security.  Both of these are crucial to Republican platforms and in fact Mitt Romney’s stump speeches frequently pair an emphasis on debt reduction with the promise of a military that is so large and powerful that “no one would think of challenging it.”

There are other issues that may fall in the middle ground, that a Republican president would not be quick to spend money on but might sometimes find politically useful, but environmental issues have no place whatsoever in the existing campaign, so it is hard to imagine them ever being viewed as significant or popular enough to warrant exceptions to the usually expedient commitment to avoiding government spending.

But political popularity and expedience says little to nothing about the objective importance of a policy issue.  In the long run, few things are as important as key environmental issues, which speak to the health and longevity of our very planet.  The fact that they seem less immediate than the nation’s credit rating or the potential for new foreign wars only means that they aren’t as easily exploited.  It doesn’t mean that citizens wouldn’t respond favorably if it they were told that careful investments in bamboo, green technologies and the like would create jobs and generate future income at the same time that they would help to curtail climate change and preserve the planet for our children.

But unfortunately modern politics and the Republican Party in particular are not all that concerned with patient explanations of responsible choices.  All too often, politics is not something that’s practiced for the good of a constituency, but rather something that’s utilized for the good of the politician.  And coming from that climate of candidacy, we can expect that a Gingrich or Romney presidency would mean no spending on anything that isn’t easily exploitable, even if it could save the world.

Republican Tax Policy: Consequences For Taxpayers And Mother Earth is a post from: Green Earth News

JC Penney has announced some interesting changes to its pricing structure.  It is effectively eliminating sales, except for seasonal price reductions on certain types of items and clearance for things that haven’t sold after a certain period.  I think this kind of move is long overdue.  I’m not much of a shopper, but I’ve noticed the tendency for many retailers to wildly mark up their prices and then try to move merchandise in large batches by offering sale prices that better represent the actual value of the product.

Oddly, most of the consumers I’ve encountered seem to revel in this situation.  It gives the impression that when they spot sale items they are securing tremendous discounts over the expected price.  But as JC Penney is tacitly admitting by changing its pricing structure, retailers never truly expected merchandise to move at those prices in the first place.

I don’t know exactly what market research or projections Ron Johnson, CEO of JC Penney’s parent company Apple, based this decision on.  It could be that the company has determined that more consumers are interested in reliable pricing than are interested in the illusory feeling of having scored a great deal.  Or maybe they are gambling on this transition on the expectation that if they can get customers used to that change it will be better for their bottom line in the long run.

Either way, I personally hope that this signals a positive change in consumer behavior – a shift away from making purchasing decisions based on savings and towards making them based on value.  Consumers risk allowing themselves to be manipulated if they get excited over buying something at fifty percent off, when the normal price was double what it should have been.  The thrill of discovery can override the rationality that might otherwise make you stop and consider whether what you’re paying for was worth the inflated price, and whether it’s even worth the price of the sale.

If you want to buy something, it should be based on what the product is, not on how the momentary act of acquiring it makes you feel.  It is the same with bargain hunters as it is with some people who choose to buy sustainable products or items touting themselves as being green alternatives.  If you make such a purchasing decision because you derive a sense of superiority or individuality from the tags and buzzwords attached to a product, you’re doing it for the wrong reason.  If you buy green on the basis of feelings rather than information, you risk being manipulated by greenwashing of products that do nothing, or that do harm.

Whether you buy sale items or take advantage of new, more reliable pricing structures, you’d better have a sense of the true value of the product.  Similarly, if you buy green, you’d better make sure that the specific products you spend your money on will do legitimate good for the environment.  Don’t buy bamboo just because it seems new and because the people in your social circle are all buying it.  Rather, buy it because of what its growth rate says about its sustainability and the amount of output possible with limited use of arable land and relatively little energy.  Buy it because of the ability of the crop to help reverse global warming.  And once you’re confident in those reasons, buy it because it’s also a great product.

None of this is intended to say that you shouldn’t feel good when you buy something.  But that should be secondary to a rational assessment of a product’s value.  And doesn’t that make the good feelings all that much more gratifying?  If you find a sale price and you’re sure that the item is worth much more than that, wouldn’t you feel better about your savings?  If you bought a green product that you know really does for the planet what its packaging claims, wouldn’t you feel better about yourself?  Making intelligent purchasing decisions and feeling good about them should never be mutually exclusive.  A consumer should feel best buying what really is best.

It’s my hope either that this new JC Penney pricing structure indicates that consumers are already starting to shop based on rationality instead of feeling, or that it pushes them towards doing so.  If you’re a customer of theirs, I don’t quite know which to expect, or how quickly you’ll come around to a better way of shopping.  However, if you’re a customer of Green Earth Bamboo, I like to think that you already know the true value of the things you buy.

JC Penney: New Pricing For New Consumer Trends is a post from: Green Earth News

Do we have a spiritual responsibility to help the environment?  No matter your faith, is there a moral obligation stated in the scripture to live sustainability and pursue environmental justice?  Religions believe, naturally, that their God did create the world for us and while we’ve already managed to evict ourselves from Eden, are we also ignoring our role in this world as stewards of the earth.  After all, of all God’s creature, humans are the one with the power to disrupt Creation.

GreenFaith Fellowship, an interfaith organization, believes so, and has developed environmental training programs based on diverse traditions of every faith.  Citing the scriptures of major world religions, GreenFaith translates environmentalism into a religious value and makes environmental stewardship a moral responsibility.

And for every faith, there is a reference to environmental stewardship:

Lutheran theologians, Joseph Stitler and H. Paul Santmire, wrote in Caring for Creation:  Vision, Hope and Justice:  “Christian concern for the environment is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth.”

The Atharva Veda states:  “Let there be peace in the heavens, the Earth, the atmosphere, the water, the herbs, the vegetation, among the divine beings and in Brahman, the absolute reality. Let everything be at peace and in peace. Only then will we find peace.”

And in the Torah, wasting resources violates the mitzvah of Bal Taschit, “Do not destroy.”

His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef reminds Muslims that they are “Allah’s stewards and agents on Earth.”  Continuing, he says:  “We are not masters of this Earth; it does not belong to us to do what we wish. It belongs to Allah and He has entrusted us with its safekeeping.”

In Buddhist teachings, the Reverence for Life by Thich Nhat Hanh pledges:  “Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I undertake to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.”

GreenFaith Fellowship has a mission “to inspire, educate and mobilize people of diverse religious backgrounds for environmental leadership.”  Citing the scriptures of major world religions, GreenFaith translates environmentalism into a religious value citing that environmental stewardship is a moral responsibility.

The three core values of the organization are Spirit for which leaders are trained to lead environmentally-themed worship to strengthen members’ connection with the earth; Stewardship which teaches that consumption habits can play a key role in restoring the earth; and Justice which encompasses the social justice belief that ALL people, regardless of race and income, deserve a healthy environment.

No matter where your pew is located, perhaps it’s time to take a spiritual look at our responsibility to the environment.  For living green tips and ideas, make sure to visit Green Earth News Green Is Grand section.

Faith Saving The Environment is a post from: Green Earth News

With the official results contradicting the original reports in Iowa and a candidate who had seemed discounted now winning South Carolina it looks like we’ll be enjoying an extended stay from the circus that is the Republican Primaries.  It will come complete with more character assassination, negative advertising, and vitriol.  In fact, let me do my part to contribute to it with this mean spirited takedown of the subject of the Republican Party’s latest short-term win.

Everyone’s speaking ill of Newt Gingrich since his second wife’s television interview.  I hate to merely jump onto a bandwagon, but in cases like this I worry that people get caught up in their morbid fascination with the details of a story and neglect to give fair time to thinking about the potential implications, or to reading into the story and thinking of it as a metaphor.

I tend to not care a bit about a politician’s personal life if I believe he can still govern effectively, but I’m not sure that the two can be separated in the case of Gingrich.  I find myself wondering what his private behavior says about how he would treat his duties and responsibilities if he were elected to high office.

I don’t think that I’m particularly inclined to be unfair to Newt Gingrich.  I took the fact that he wrote the book, A Contract with the Earth to mean that he was the only Republican candidate who might actually take environmental issues seriously.  I guess I thought that maybe we’d find he wore a bamboo t-shirt under his ridiculously expensive suit, and that even as he championed many of the same detestable Republican causes he would at least be genuinely committed to promoting sustainable resources and the like.

But now my concern is that even if he was in earnest about our responsibilities for the environment, we couldn’t possibly trust him to abide by a contract with the Earth, because we’ve been afforded a sense of just how earnestly Gingrich treats the contracts into which he enters.  It’s not sufficient that a Republican simply fail to ignore the seriousness of environmental issues.  If he does no more than pay lip service to them and neglect them later, he may as well have kept silent with the rest of his party.

I sometimes find it meaningful to anthropomorphize the world and think of global warming as a fever.  Between that and overall pollution, population crisis and so on, our planet is sick, and any person who enters into a position of power upon it ought to recognize exactly what a solemn duty he has for its care and to give it terrific respect even in its uncommonly fragile state.  Precisely what we do not need in our present ecological situation is a man who has the gall to take up with a new woman and leave his wife in a hospital bed, recovering from cancer.

It wouldn’t do us any good to have a man in power that can pretend at commitment to a relationship and to vows, but then years later ask to be permitted to cheat with impunity, especially if such behavior stands in direct opposition to his public rhetoric.  If a man can so readily turn his back on a spouse, how much harder could it be for him to turn his back on his ideals or his other, less concrete responsibilities?

What is so bothersome about Gingrich’s behavior is not just the personal distastefulness of it, but rather what it says about how little his constituency should trust him.  A man for whom betrayal is such second nature is a politician who is prone to make a career-long promise to bamboo forestry, but then immediately leap into bed with oil pipelines and unregulated automobile and logging companies.  Granted, these are not things that Republican voters would tend to care about, but just like anyone who wishes to see their interests represented in government, they ought to care deeply about trustworthiness and sincerity.

Gingrich And Mother Earth: Contract Is Void is a post from: Green Earth News

A study recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters explores the trends towards colder winters that have been occurring throughout certain parts of the Northern Hemisphere.  Reuters’ coverage of this study describes that observation as “counter-intuitive.”  The article also begins with a reminder of the extreme cold that visited parts of Europe and the United States during the previous two winters.  This, the author says, led some people to question the reality of global warming.

Yes, recent cold winters have had that effect on some people, namely people who don’t know the difference between climate and weather.  Some people decry global warming as a hoax perpetrated by liberal fascists and bamboo farmers every time it snows, or every time the temperature dips below fifty degrees.  Some people still think that the only way global warming could be real is if it never gets cold again at any time of year anywhere on Earth.  That, of course, is utterly ridiculous.  Climate is different from weather.  You can observe changes in the weather by looking out your window.  You can only observe changes in the climate through analysis of data for large geographic areas over an extended period of time.

It is terrifically disappointing to me that anyone would describe the simple presence of low temperatures in certain regions for part of the year as counter-intuitive with respect to global warming.  It’s not.  Unfortunately, the language in the Reuters article parrots the language used by the researchers themselves, which unfortunately could lead global warming deniers toward renewed claims of confirmation bias.

The press gives the impression that what is unexpected about this study is the recognition that winters have remained severe in much of the Northern Hemisphere.  And the study does indeed point out that current global warming projections expect warming trends in those areas.  However, once it acknowledges that these are flawed, the goal of the study is not to force colder regional winters into line with global warming theories, but rather to explain the mechanism by which this cooling is occurring.

Part-year cooling in specific areas of the Northern Hemisphere was never a threat to the reality of global warming.  The study’s conclusion is not that global warming is happening despite these trends, but rather that the variability of site-specific weather patterns, which has always been recognized as a feature of the overall climate, is not the only thing that’s responsible for the seasonal cooling.  It could just as well have been that the Northern Hemisphere has been going through a peculiar cold spell, and that wouldn’t have meant a thing for the truth or falsity of global warming.  Conversely, the average winter temperature of the same regions could have climbed fifteen degrees over the past ten years, and it wouldn’t prove global warming, either.  The only bases for conclusions about changes in the global climate are observations of the globe instead of any particular section of it, and of the climate instead of just weather.

As it turns out, this latest study’s lead author, Judah Cohen concludes that summertime warming has led to more moisture in the atmosphere and thus more widespread snowfall in winter, leading to greater cooling.  Despite his poor choice of words, such a conclusion does not strike me as at all counter-intuitive.  And if anyone believes that it is, I would simply attribute that fact to his insufficient imagination with respect to the complexity of weather patterns within the global climate.

No one should expect even the most up-to-date models to be completely accurate and comprehensive either as to what climatological changes a region will experience over the course of the coming decades or as to what changes in weather it will experience in the next week.  Our understanding of these things is constantly evolving, but that doesn’t mean we lack understanding of basic trends or the explanations behind them.

However the change plays out at particular latitudes, there can be no serious doubt about global climate change, because although the science behind the interaction of diverse weather patterns is stunningly complicated, the logic of global warming theories is remarkably simple.  Anyone who has taken eighth grade earth science ought to know that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap radiative energy from the sun, raising the temperature of the Earth.  Anyone who has ever seen a smoke stack or driven a car ought to know that since the Industrial Revolution we’ve been pouring increasingly large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

No observations of the weather from year-to-year or season-to-season will either prove or disprove global warming; but if it isn’t happening, either the greenhouse effect doesn’t exist or the Industrial Revolution never occurred.  If you can’t prove either or those things, you can’t disprove global warming, no matter how hard it snows in your neighborhood this month.  If you realize that, you’ll be much closer to accepting the more specific, and still developing science, which is coming to indicate that new technologies, conservation, bamboo forestry, and changing lifestyles will help to save the northern latitudes not only from oppressively hot summers, but from increasingly harsh winters as well.

Global Warming And Winter Cooling is a post from: Green Earth News

The phrase “clean coal” is an oxymoron.  No matter how much the polluting emissions from coal are reduced, it can never qualify as “clean,” and that fossil fuel will have no place in the infrastructure of a truly sustainable future.  However, current news from the Philippines illustrates a growing trend in the production of alternatives that can either replace coal in coal-fired power plants or stand in for a portion of the coal utilized in them, so as to reduce the environmental impact of coal in the short term and ease the transition away from it.

As distinguished from “clean coal,” which is just dirty coal made slightly less dirty, green coal or bio coal is not coal at all, but rather processed, energy-dense biomass that can be burned as fuel without producing the polluting emissions of even the cleanest versions of traditional coal.  Ordinarily, bio coal and less versatile biomass pellets are created from waste products of lumber operations or the manufacture of wood products.  But the demand for biomass fuels has exceeded the supply of wood waste products, necessitating that producers branch out into other materials.

Bamboo is one such material, and a particularly suitable one.  It has been found to be especially energy-rich, comparable to high-quality coals, but entirely clean burning.  Additionally, given its fast rate of growth, it is a sustainable option that can go a long way towards preventing consumption of additional trees to meet the demand for biomass fuels.

But in the Philippines, they have put emphasis on another source of biomass that could even further extend the positive ecological impact of the new industry.  There, a Belgian company has committed $27 million for the development of a factory that will produce green coal from ordinary trash, thus addressing two problems at once: coal pollution and the management of elevating amounts of solid waste.

According to Robin Post van der Burg, director of business development at Dutch clean energy technology company Topell, if you take into account the carbon dioxide emissions throughout the processes of production, shipping, and utilization of biomass pellets and green coals, the potential improvement is on a par with wind and solar energies, but can be achieved at less expense.

The great thing about this green energy alternative is that it is being integrated into existing infrastructure.  Older coal power plants can utilize biomass pellets in place of twenty percent of their traditional fuel, and many have been doing so for years.  Updated technologies are capable of producing energy through the burning of biomass pellets only.  What’s more, the process of torrefaction, by which ordinary pellets are turned into true bio coals, allow even older boilers to run entirely on the new, clean alternatives to coal.

This is an instance where the transition to a much more sustainable practice is relatively easy, cost-effective, and free of negative consequences.  As technologies and popular pressure develop, there will also be other cases in which virtually all that is needed for us to move towards a more green society is to let go of the older ways of doing things.  Even if we feel somehow married to coal-fired power plants, we can keep exactly what we’ve got, except the coal.

It should be about as easy for society to make this change as it is for an individual to take off a worn-out inorganic cotton shirt and put on a new one made of sustainable viscose from bamboo.

They Have Clean Coal But It’s Just Not Coal is a post from: Green Earth News

A new year, a new you and many common resolutions include how to improve one’s fitness.  From quitting smoking to quitting drinking to reducing stress and working out more, each New Year brings a new opportunity to better ourselves and of course, that brings more trends to coincide with our goals.

After the gluttony that is our holiday season, getting in shape and losing weight remain high on our resolution list.  Before you take advantage of any of the fitness trends for 2012, make sure you have the right gear!  Bamboo clothing is not only incredibly soft but it also has amazing wicking properties to keep you comfortable during your workouts.

2012 Fitness Trends include:

Boot Camp – Intense and uniquely-challenging, boot camps are popping up around the country to ask fitness fanatics if they are being all they can be.  Be prepared though – if you’re not a fan of heights, the ropes course might do you in.

Yoga – While Pilates is declining in popularity, yoga remains a mainstay on many fitness plans. Maybe it’s for the flexibility it offers (no pun intended) from beginning to advanced and traditional yoga to modern styles like Bikram Yoga.  No matter what your desire, there is a yoga class for you.  Take advantage of this gentle bamboo yoga tank top and womens bamboo yoga pants to help you breathe and stretch a little more easily.

Functionally Fit – The least trendy of the fitness trends, this movement utilizes real world everyday movement from lifting to stooping to work on balance and strength. 

No one too young or too old – Fitness programs are expanding beyond their 21 – 35 demographic to include more school-age children and retired adults.  Kids are battling a national obesity epidemic and many are also facing lost recess time on top of too many sedentary online gaming options to keep them occupied.  Retirees, on the other hand, are looking to spend their discretionary income on staying fit and healthy for as long they can.

Strength Training – It’s not just about aerobics anymore.  More and more, fitness experts are touting the benefits of weight training.  It increases the metabolism, improves posture and like aerobics, improves our cardiac health.

ZUMBA – The Latin invasion continues with this high-energy, fast-paced interval training dance class set to Latin dance music.  Get ready to sweat for this class!

Working out at Work – With rising health care costs, employers are taking preventative measures to keep their employees healthy and out of the doctor’s office.  While some companies are offering incentives to keep in shape, many are also going on one step further and bringing the fitness classes to the conference room to encourage participation.

No matter what your fitness goal is this year, there is a workout calling for you.  Good luck!

2012 Fitness Trends is a post from: Green Earth News

Sunday’s New York Times included on the front page of its Arts & Leisure section an article by Michael Kimmelman declaring that “it’s time to take parking lots seriously, as public spaces.”  It’s a worthwhile but perhaps unfamiliar consideration for environmentalists or anyone who is interested in an overall improvement of the American landscape.  Parking lots are such ugly byproducts of American civilization, and yet they’re certainly not going anywhere soon.

The Times article indicates that estimates of the number of parking spaces in America range from 105 million all the way up to 2 billion, with about a third of them being clustered into parking lots.  The text is accompanied by a photograph of a handsomely landscaped parking lot, and an aerial view of another that is broken up by large islands filled with trees.  Spaces like these are, of course, uncommon sights.  But it would be meaningful progress if real estate developers began looking to such examples in the future.

Environmentalist interests can’t be advanced solely by focusing on narrowly idealistic goals, like preservation of natural lands.  The parts of the American landscape that represent counter-environmentalist trends shouldn’t be treated as lost causes.  They can be made into the most ecologically responsible and naturally aesthetic versions of themselves.  Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the measure of our environmental future will not be how many national parks we have set aside from the rest of the modern world, but rather how well we integrate care for the environment into all the trappings of a post-industrial society, including our usually sprawling and monotonous parking lots.

Environmentalism, with respect to economic growth and other concerns, is not a zero-sum game.  As a society, as individuals, we can do things that advance one end, and make up for the harm they cause elsewhere.  Even those of us with very green consciences tend to create waste and leave behind carbon footprints.  It’s merely a consequence of living in the developed world.  But we can demonstrate our interest in reducing that impact in everything we do, even wearing that commitment on our backs in the form of bamboo clothing.

Accepting the imperfections of our current lifestyles doesn’t diminish the value of our efforts to improve them.  Quite the contrary, it strengthens that value, because it shields both the environmentalist and the developer from the accusation that he is willing to sell one cause down the river in order to advance his own short-sighted ends.  That shouldn’t be our aim, no matter on what side of the divide we fall.  Everybody’s goal should be the same:  Not a future that seems to limit the freedom of movement that we enjoy now, but one wherein, when we must rely on our cars, we can tuck them away amidst clean consciences and natural beauty.

Parking In A Greener World is a post from: Green Earth News

With 2012 comes a slew of predictions – what will be new in technology (rumors of iPad 3 abound), what fashionistas will be wearing this year (I, of course, hope for sustainable choices like bamboo clothing) and what will the presidential elections hold for the changing course of our country.  2012 also brings “green” predictions based on eco-friendly trends and reactions to 2011’s many natural disasters. 

Here are just a few predictions to ponder for 2012:

Trend #1 – Alternative building materials for houses – Not so much on a domestic level as there are importing issues at hand but internationally bamboo continues to grow in popularity for not only its  abundance but also for its tensile strength in buildings.  With more earthquakes lighting up the Richter Scale in the United States, including one on New Years Day in Ohio, the flexible strength of bamboo is one that should not be ignored. 

Trend #2 – Less throwaways, more focus on repair – The value of a dollar is evident in 2012 and our throw-away culture is slowly transforming to more repair of older items and DIY projects with salvaged materials.  While this may be done with a different kind of green in mind, the investment in restoration and repurposing is also lightening the load on our landfills. 

Trend #3 – The Problem of Electricity – It’s never a simple solution.  Yes, electric cars keep pollutants out of the air and yes, we are a more knowledgeable public with the ability to plug into news 24/7 with our iPhones and iPads.  However, with this comes a huge demand on existing, and in some cases outdated, power grids.  How to obtain more electricity without offsetting the environmental benefits gained by electric cars and falling behind in technological trends is a great challenge for 2012 and will force us to take another look at solar energy and wind power projects. 

Trend #4 – Keep it local, Keep it sustainable – More communities will continue to keep farmer’s markets in business and more community gardens will pop up as folks take a stand against rising grocery costs and processed foods.  Look for a throwback to the communes of the 60’s too as cluster housing and community co-ops rise sprout up around the country.  (For a great example, check out the Urban Farming Guys!)

Trend #5 – The Acknowledgment of Global Warming – This may sound like a no-brainer but with presidential hopeful Rick Perry recently referring to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” as a work of fiction, obviously there is some more work to be done.  Maybe we need more scientific evidence or maybe a simple acknowledgment that when an ice cap melts (not an ice cube, but a gigantic mass of ice), we should start taking global warming seriously.

For more environmental predictions for 2012, visit Inhabitat. And all the best in 2012 from Green Earth News!

2012 Environmental Predictions is a post from: Green Earth News