Green Daily

GreenDaily's new Green Toolbar is here, it's awesome, and it's available to download. And I know, you're wondering how a toolbar is supposed to help you be more eco-conscious, right?

Easy peasy. It includes the Green Wizard Utility, which is an optional component that will help you fine-tune your computer to save energy. Additionally, it'll give you daily eco-tips, right there in your browser -- getting your green on was never so handy.

Go on and download it today -- it's fast and free, and a great way to make the time you spend on your PC echo the way you live the rest of your life!

(Photo by Getty Images)

I've had my iPhone for more than a year, but I've been slow to load up on apps, mainly depending on my friends to tip me off to hidden gems.

Then last week I saw an Earth Day commercial for green iPhone apps (or a commercial on Earth Day for iPhone stuff ... it could have been a coincidence) and suddenly had an urge to find out more.

At this point there's no good way to search the iTunes store -- or if there is, I'm not smart enough/young enough to figure it out. Instead I did some internet research and read a bunch of reviews. These are some of the highest rated green iPhone apps, with the biggest buzz and in some cases the most potential to grow:

• greenMeter ($5.99) -- do you know how fuel efficient your car is? How about your driving? This app measures how much fuel you're using, and your driving style. Then it gives you feedback to help you reduce your fuel consumption and impact on the environment.
• Get Green ($.99) -- get daily reminders delivered to your phone every day.
• iGreen ($.99) -- all the green news, all in one place, right when it happens.
• GasBag (free) and GasBag Pro (a little faster, no ads, $.99) -- find the closest and cheapest gas station in your vicinity. Worth it if you've ever driven around outside of an airport, looking for a gas station before dropping off a rental car. It will also help you avoid the extra emissions and gas guzzling of making the rounds of your local gas stations.
• 3rdwhaleMobile (free) -- a location based directory that helps you find green businesses. You can also rate and add reviews. It's in beta, but it's the kind of app that has a lot of potential as it grows.

FYI, I didn't include any of those dumb apps that let you grow a tree on your phone, and they plant one (!) tree when you buy it. That just seems dumb. If you want to donate money to plant a tree, go right to the source and donate to something like the Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees. Your phone doesn't need to get involved.

Sure, iPhone apps are cool, but sometimes the old fashioned way still works best.

(Photo by Ed Yourdon on flickr)

Ideally, to celebrate Earth Day, I'd have my computer turned off and unplugged. However, like many of you, that's just not a possibility -- my job sort of calls for a computer to be used all day, every day, you know? But there is something really simple you and I can do to green our machines.

AOL's new Green Toolbar is here, it's awesome, and it's available to download. And I know, you're wondering how a toolbar is supposed to help you be more eco-conscious, right?

Easy peasy. It includes the Green Wizard Utility, which is an optional component that will help you fine-tune your computer to save energy. Additionally, it'll give you daily eco-tips, right there in your browser -- getting your green on was never so handy.

Go on and download it today -- it's fast and free, and a great way to make the time you spend on your PC echo the way you live the rest of your life!

On Sunday I was reading the paper about a couple who did an amazing green remodel to their home. It was their third renovation, so they have loads of experience. I envy the whole project, but one choice in particular jumped out at me -- they're using insulation made from old blue jeans.

This reminded me of a story a good friend told me, that the new California Academy of Sciences building in Golden Gate Park is also insulated with blue jeans, using material donated from San Francisco-based, legendary jeans company Levi Strauss.

What a cool idea! You can replace a toxic material (fiberglass) in your home and upcycle another material (the jeans) that is safe enough for your kids to be near. And get great results. Plus, the eco-cool factor is high!

UltraTouch from Bonded Logic seems to be the insulation of choice. If you're planning a renovation, or just thinking about planning a renovation someday, you can learn more about it at Building Green.

Ouch. The news just keeps getting worse for GM. Even though the Volt has enjoyed unprecedented hype for the last 2+ years, and Jay Leno thinks its a superior ride, President Obama's new car task force is not super impressed by the long-range hybrid. They've begun questioning the Volt's commercial prospects as they take a good hard look at GM's sustainability plan. From their report:

"GM is at least one generation behind Toyota on advanced, "green" powertrain development. In an attempt to leapfrog Toyota, GM has devoted significant resources to the Chevy Volt. While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable.

One of the biggest concerns is that GM's 'leapfrog' strategy relied on selling the Volt at a loss, not exactly great for sustainability in the near term. While no official price has been set for the Volt just yet, all signs seem to indicate a price tag right at $40K. At that price, the Volt will be competing with the very sporty, very classy-looking Tesla Model S all-electric sedan. What do you think about the Volt's commercial appeal?


[via Treehugger]

Along with a new, supposedly more youthful and hip logo redesign, Pepsi is launching an energy-conscious effort to keep themselves relevant to the Pepsi generation -- energy-sipping vending machines. The cola giant is rolling out 30 test machines in the Washington DC area to field test the greener vending machines with a 15% lighter energy footprint than current machines -- which are already 44% more efficient than those from six years ago.

Will your Pepsi be as cold and refreshing from a machine that uses only 5.08 kWh per day, rather that 6 kWh? That's what Pepsi hope to find out with these tests. The machines, which will generate 12% less greenhouse gases emissions will get the title of being the first green vending machines in the US (although Coca-Cola operates HFC free machines in the UK and at the Beijing Olympics). If successful, the energy efficient vending cola incubators will go worldwide over the next few years. Pepsi operates about 5 million vending machines globally.

A few weeks ago I wrote about office supplies from Terracycle, the company that makes cool things out of garbage. TerraCycle tracked me down and offered an advance copy of their founder, Tom Szaky's, new book, Revolution in a Bottle.

I actually read the whole thing, which is rare for a business book. Usually you just read the first two chapters, skim the middle, then read the last chapter. But this is such a wacky ride -- and at 200 pages, doable in an evening -- that you will keep reading to see what happens next.

It's a fun read, mainly because it's the story of how Tom dropped out of Princeton to make and market worm poop and somehow created a successful, cutting-edge green company while sticking to his principles.

Tom turned down a million dollars in funding. He took orders for product he didn't have. He kicked down the door to big box stores like Walmart and Home Depot, despite the green conventional wisdom that you should market through coops and small local stores. And he refused to charge the "green premium" that is the hallmark of eco-friendly products, keeping TerraCycle products affordable and competitive.

Somehow, by doing everything "wrong", Tom invented a better -- more successful -- way to do business. In the process, he proved that doing what's right for the planet and right for people is also a good way to make a profit.

Pick up a copy of the book -- and then pass it along to a like-minded friend -- and get inspired by the creative, almost desperation-driven solutions Tom and the company find for every challenge. You may even decide to start your own company after reading it!

By the way, if you can't get enough of Tom, you can also check out his blog the Eco-Capitalist. This is the kind of thinking that will get us through these freaked out economic times. New ideas, creativity, fearless experimentation. And some worm poop.

When it comes to squeezing the maximum mileage out of your ride, every little thing counts -- just look at the Aerocivic. Spurred on by last year's huge hike in oil prices and the development of a new generation of fuel sipping cars, tire makers are doing their best to fuel the hypermiling frenzy. Last month, Goodyear announced that their low resistance tires would be partly responsibly for boosting the Volt's range. Now, it appears that Michelin and Peugeot are doing a little bragging about their fuel friendly partnership.

According to a recent press release from Peugeot, the Michelin Energy Saver tires already installed on Peugeot and Citroën vehicles are reducing carbon emissions by 15,000 metric tonnes (16,534 tons) a year. The tires are also credited with reducing emissions by 4g/km and saving drivers an average of .2L per 100km, or .053 gallons per 62 miles if you speak American. I know, the numbers sound much better at the macro scale. Still, the idea that tires companies are focusing on efficiency is exciting, especially when you consider that it could one day significantly extend the range of an electric car.

[via AutoblogGreen]

If you notice a school of menacing-looking metallic carp pass by you while you're snorkeling off the coast of Spain, don't freak out. You're most likely not going to get to name a previously undiscovered species. A group of scientists from the UK-based BMT Group have developed a school of robo-fish that will soon be released into the sea to monitor pollution levels. Their first mission: monitor the Port of Gijon in nothern Spain.

Since leaving the Tonight Show, Jay Leno has apparently been investing lots of time into his garage -- and thus, he's become a kind of quasi-authority on alternative fuel vehicles. He owns a 1909 Baker Electric and drives a fuel cell Equinox daily. In an interview with GM-Volt.com this week, Jay Leno reportedly said: "I think you'll find that the Volt will be a superior package to the Prius." Oooh, diss. I have no idea how much he got paid to say that.

Not that an ex-Tonight Show host talking trash about gas electric hybrids is conclusive evidence, or really means anything substantive at all (especially when they haven't even test driven the Volt yet), but Jay Leno is apparently the kind of guy that doesn't mind rattling the saber a little when it comes to the car wars ... or speaking too soon. Considering that the Volt is expected (if its ever released) to cost almost twice as much as a Prius, it sure ought to be "superior."

[via AutoblogGreen]

Just this week, HP started shipping their new Ecolabel-certified HP Enviro Series Notebook Battery, which can get 4 hours between charges and rocks a full charge for at least 3 years. The 4-hour Sonata battery pack, developed by start-up Boston Power, is easily an improvement over the somewhat disappointing performance of most batteries. Also, the Enviro Series battery boasts a charge that will fade less over time -- something you can appreciate if you have an old laptop that literally dies after being unplugged for 15 minutes.

With most consumers looking at the bottom line to guide most of their purchasing decisions -- I know I am -- do you think many consumers are willing to throw down $150 on a super efficient lithium-ion "sustainable" laptop battery? Considering that even my Energy Star laptop can only go about an hour off the cord, I think it's probably well worth the price.

[via Earth2Tech]

Move over weather radar, there's a new game in town. A dream team of developers from the University of Leicester, Satellite Technology Ltd., and EADS Astrium has come up with a new smog sensing radar that, when bolted onto a satellite, can give us a bird's eye view of atmospheric pollution ... make that a space bird's eye view. The technology would give climate reserachers unprecendented details about the gases floating above our urban centers.

The project is also focused on developing a similar ground-based system that will be used to create 3D maps of atmospheric gases. Both the ground and satellite equipment will feed data into the CityScan project, in order to allow air quality to be "easily and continuously monitored across physically large urban and industrial spaces." Hopefully, it will also feed into an awesome iPhone app that we can know exactly what's in the giant cloud of smog that we walk through on the way to work.

[via CleanTechnica]

Valcucine has come up with a 100% recyclable kitchen design, which if ever put into mass production could really make a difference considering how un-environmentally friendly the current average kitchen is. The 100% recyclability factor is achieved through innovations like a special glass cabinet system (they call it "Invitrum") and a base kitchen structure made of drawn, recycled aluminum instead of primary aluminum. Also, all the joints are made mechanically, which means not only are no toxic glues required but (if need be) it can all be easily disassembled. Very cool.

[via Trendir]

Have a screwdriver and an electrical outlet? Then you can become a solar panel installation expert. Solar Start-up Veranda Solar has been showing off new photovoltaic designs that are making condo-dwelling DIY solar enthusiasts lick their chops. Aside from looking kinda cool, Veranda's panels are super easy to install and are designed to live in all types of cramped spaces like windowsill, gutters, or balconies. All you've got to do is bolt them on and plug them in.

Oh yeah, did I mention that they're also fairly cheap? Though they're not available just yet, a 70 watt system -- inverter and all -- would cost about $600. That, along with the fact that they're about as easy to install as a small satellite dish makes me think these things are going to be hugely popular. The prototype -- developed in conjunction with Stanford University and SunPower Corp. -- won Veranda a €100,000 prize in the PICNIC Green Challenge, which is helping speed up the marketing process. They're also developing smaller add-on panels that snap on if 70W isn't enough for you.

[via Treehugger]

Unfortunately, this image wasn't taken at the parking lot behind the Aptera factory. Sorry to get your hopes up. After an announcement yesterday, where Aptera committed to getting 100,000 of their sci fi chic three-wheelers on the road over the next 5 years, one of the company's clever Photoshopists decided that they couldn't want to wait that long to see what the future might look like.

Discovered by our friends at AutoblogGreen, this image came down the pipes this morning through Aptera's Twitter feed. While I hope this is what most parking lots look like in 5 years, I'm not going to hold my breath. Deliveries of the 100 miles per charge 2e roadcraft (I don't think it can really be described as a "car") are set to begin in October of this year. With about 4,000 customers on the waiting list and a 2+ years of hype leading up to its lauch, 100,000 seems halfway reasonable.

[via AutoblogGreen]