Green Daily

Despite my deeply held personal belief (it's a fact y'all) that dolphins are the rapists of the deep, I understand that there is a mystical appeal to swimming with dolphins. Also, that celebrities, being less smart than regular people, are all the more susceptible to this appeal.

In November Misha Barton was photographed frolicking with a dolphin at the opening of the Aquaventure water park in Dubai. Because of course you can swim with dolphins in Dubai. What else would a civilized rich traveler do after skiing the desert, and before the unicorn hunt? Go for a quick dip with Flipper!

And while you might think there is something sort of environmentally off about putting dolphins in captivity for the enjoyment of celebrities and other well-to-do tourists, noted "Green Actor" and Entourage star Adrian Grenier spent New Year's Eve "in the tank" at Sea World in Australia.

What do you think? Is it okay to swim with dolphins?

If you or your children are gamers, you may already be familiar with Fable 2 from Microsoft's Lionhead Studios. The game is set in an open-ended, consequence-based fantasy universe and is available only on the Xbox 360. According to PETA, it is also a vegetarian's dream come true.

In their 2008 year-end awards, PETA awarded Fable 2 their prestigious Game of the Year honors, citing pro-vegetarian themes that teach gamers the real-life benefit of a vegetarian diet. Apparently, in the game your character can eat a plant-based diet to rack up "purity points", whereas eating meat will make your character fat and evil. PETA is certainly no stranger to gaming as they've recently caused a stir with their Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals Flash game, poking fun at the Nintendo game Cooking Mama which uses predominantly meat-based recipes.

They say, that the first casualty of war is the truth, and from the accounts given by both sides in the now infamous Whale Wars -- between the Sea Shepherds and the Japanese whaling crew -- that is plainly evident. Unfortunately, there's been a actual human casualty in this year's expedition as well. The crew of the Kyoshin Maru #2 is accusing the Sea Shepherds of disrupting search efforts as the Japanese attempted to locate a crew member washed overboard.

Maybe you got a new video game system for Christmas or perhaps you already had one. Either way, you need to keep an eye on the power button. Video game systems use as much power annually as the city of San Diego. Yikes!

As shocking as that is, it's old news here on Green Daily. What we haven't told you, is how to fix the problem at your house. Some tips, from Planet Green:

• If you don't have a gaming console yet, go for the Nintendo Wii. It uses around 1/10 of the energy as the other guys.
  
• If you have an Xbox 360, you can set it to use a power save mode.
  
• Like many appliances, turn it off when you aren't using it.
  
• If your system can play movies, using it for that purpose probably uses more energy than just using the DVD or Blu-Ray player.
  
• Always recycle used systems properly. They contain toxic chemicals and should definitely not be thrown in the trash.

Ever seen the pieces of a wind turbine up close? Let me tell you, they're freaking massive. The gear housing (called the nacelle) is about the size of a small condo, the blades are hundreds of feet across, and inside the 300ft tall base there's a super long ladder to climb. Needless to say, servicing one of these bad boys isn't for the faint of heart -- or anyone with a fear of heights.

Starting in late 2009, if you want to be a turbine mechanic on Britain's Greater Gabbard wind farm, you'll have to be one notch crazier. That's because the maintenance staff for the ginormous 3.6MW turbines will be lowered onto the top of the turbines by helicopter. Rather than visit the 140 offshore windmills by sea, Bond Air Services has purchased a EC135 from Eurocopter to shuttle mechanics back and forth to change the oil in those giant things. Apparently, the chopper will save the crew some travel time and a lot of climbing. Craziness.

[via GroovyGreen]

Need a Cup? Pull One Out of the Trash!

No Impact Man Colin Beavan uses a glass jar for his coffee when out and about and when he forgets the jar, well, no coffee for him. Well, he forgot the jar and came up with another strategy; he reached into the trash, pulled out a barely-used disposable cup, washed it and asked the barista to pour some coffee in it. That's commitment.

Brooke Shields Talks About the Joys of a Chicken Kebab

At Healthy Child, Healthy World, Brooke Shields talks about being green and being a mom. Interesting tidbit about having to have a chicken kebab while pregnant and the bliss that ensued upon giving in.

Compromise on CPSIA for Handmade Toy Makers

This is good news. The Soft Landing Blog reports that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) is proposing an exemption for unfinished toys from the stringent CPSIA testing requirements.

Here's a way for PETA to continue to receive more press -- kick a teenage girl, who's had to be scrutinized and ridiculed in the eye of the media through no fault of her own, while she's down. This time PETA gets the claws out for Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah.

The worst part is that they're all over her for something her mom said. That's right, this isn't even a direct consequence of Bristol opening her mouth. PETA's clearly using desperate tactics.

Think cooling the earth down with a super-sized refrigeration unit sounds expensive, counter-productive, and just generally unfeasible? An inventor/geo-engineer named Ron Acer doesn't think the idea sounds so far-fetched. He's come up with a scheme to cool down the planet that's relatively simple -- and far cheaper than bailing out US financial industry. Apparently, all we have to do is spray a few gigatons of seawater up in the air.

In his patent petition for "a colossal refrigeration system with a 100,000-fold performance multiplier," Acer proposes we kickstart the planet's natural cooling infrastructure by spraying water into the atmosphere -- mostly in the Northern Hemisphere -- and let the earth take care of the rest. And get this, according to Acer, it would only cost a few billion bucks to bail humanity out of our existential crisis -- since we seem to be in the bailing out mood. "The Earth has a giant air-conditioning problem," contends Acer "I'm proposing to put a thermostat on the planet." Think it could work?

[via Cleantechnica]

TreeHugger seems to think so. As we work with other countries to find sustainable sources of energy, the incentive might be there for us all to switch over. Not to mention that the standard system of measurement internationally is metric for all sciences including environmental science.

I, for one, don't see us switching any time soon. Sure we might be only one of three countries that don't use the metric system but we are a stubborn bunch. The idea of converting to the metric system has been volleyed around for years. It will take nothing less than a presidential mandate to convert us and even then it could incite a riot. I mean what's next? Will we have to start driving on the left side of the street?

If it does come down to a nationwide conversion, xkcd does not want you to be left in the dark. They have assembled a handy chart telling you the average length, mass and volume of various household objects using the metric system.

If you are known as a tie wearing kind of guy, then you probably get new ties for gift-giving opportunities like Christmas. This leads to an overabundance of ties in a short amount of time. So what can you do with them besides where them with your suit for important events?

You can make a variety of things of course. Wallets. Quilts. And even guitar straps and thong panties. Other ideas? Donate to dress-up trunks of little boys you know with pre-tied neckties. If you're going to be in Japan, donate them to charity. Give them to homeless shelters or halfway houses for men who might need them for job interviews.

Not enough ideas? Check out this list which includes directions to make a coffee cup sleeve and a vocabulary game among others. There's even a blog about making things out of neckties with tons more project ideas.

Although hybrid sales across the board were down 10% in 2008, the phenomenon can be mostly explained by the the fact that the entire auto industry is in shambles. At GM, despite their pretty unimpressive fleet of hybrid vehicles, their hybrid sales seem to be the only relatively bright spot. For most of 2008, GM was selling an average of only 1,000 hybrid a month. In December, the number jumped to 2,555 somehow. Hummer sales were down 50.9% in 2008. Go figure, right?

There is just one thing. For those of you who are fantasizing about the extinction of the SUVasaurus, there's a nasty plot twist in here for you. Ironically, the top 3 best-selling GM hybrids were all SUVs -- big ones. Actually, they're basically all the same vehicle: the Chevy Tahoe hybrid, GMC Yukon hybrid, and the Escalade hybrid. Three of the most maligned hybrids to hit the road. Still, if your keeping score, it would seem like low gas prices haven't caused consumers to completely revert. Score one for alternative fuel vehicles, I think.

[via AutoBlogGreen]

If you have some lipsticks lying around that you really like but maybe have broken or are almost at the end of the tube, here is a really good idea on how to get that last little bit out.

You'll need to find a palette that can hold the lipsticks all together, and a lip brush for getting the lipsticks into the palette and applying them to your lips later. After that, all that is required is to scoop out the tubes of lipstick, give them a quick melt in the microwave and then pour them into the palette.

There are several reasons why this is a great idea:

• You can get almost 30% more lipstick from the tube by scooping out the bottom.
  
• You can mix shades you don't love into shades that you do.
  
• If you don't wear the same lipstick every day, this will keep all of your lipsticks in the same place - great for having options when you travel too.
  
• If the tubes are more cleaned out they could be easier to reuse for craft projects or perhaps even be recyclable.
  

If the instructions don't do enough for you, you can see the whole process in video too.

[Via TipNut]

As a former teacher, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 19th was one of the few holidays to break up the monotony learning between the return from Christmas and the start of Spring Break. Some people, including our president-elect Barack Obama, would like to see it become a national day of service.

Many of the things Dr. King stood for can be accomplished while serving others. Service can strengthen communities, build bridges between different people and give people power in their communities. It's also a good chance to do something green.

What if you go help clean up a park and encourage the other volunteers to set plastic, aluminum and glass aside to be recycled? Planting trees or cleaning up a vacant lot that could be used for a community garden are also possibilities.

Stay home and work together with your family to go through closets and cabinets and pull out items you no longer need to be donated to charity. Whatever you decide to do, consider your options on January 19 and try and fit some volunteer work into your schedule.

[Via EcoLocalizer]

Plymouth, Massachusetts, that sleepy little historic town known for a rock has set its sights on grandeur. At an October town meeting (how quaint) the vote was cast to build th $400 million Plymouth Rock Studios. Not only will the state of the art facility be a boon to the town but they are also intent on making it a forerunner in green building.

Dubbed "Hollywood East," the project has already notified the United States Green Building Council that they are seeking LEED certification to make them the first movie studio of its kind. The studio's goal is 100% carbon neutrality and will be built with sustainable materials, daylight capture and plenty of organic gardens.

Plymouth Rock Studios has brought Gensler firm on board as the architect. Gensler recently was awarded the first LEED silver certification handed over to an auto dealership.

With the new studio and tax incentives for production, expect to see more movies in the coming years about boats and puritans.

Many green parents have kids that lead the recycling program at home. If your child needs some more ideas or inspiration to remember to recycle, Kids Recycling Zone might be a good place to start.

The site has simple information, ideas and games to encourage kids to recycle. You can drop various recyclables into the conversionator and see what they turn in to, so a word search and learn how to be a recycling superhero.

Some sections will be easy for kids to navigate on their own but others will require some adult assistance. A link for a list of all the things plastic can be recycled in to goes to the American Chemistry Association. Good information but a little heavy for the kids without some explanation.

If your child is already very knowledgeable about recycling, they may find the site boring but if it's still new they will probably enjoy learning about being a recycling superhero.