The Deets

Guy Kawasaki toured a new building on the Stanford campus last week that was built with some Yahoo bucks from Yahoo co-founder (and current CEO) Jerry Yang.

This shot jumped out at me:

The shelf is the innovation. It serves dual purposes. First, it shades the inside of the building during high sun summer months while allowing light in lower sun winter months to shine further into the building. Second, it reflects light off the top of the shelf up against the ceilings of rooms, thus dispersing the light within the rooms, making it more user friendly than intense direct sunlight on the floor or nearby desks would be.

As I understand it, this provides plenty of light while reducing cooling needs in the summer, while providing direct light to reduce heating needs in the winter. And, ideally, it cuts down on artificial lighting.

There are many other examples of eco-friendly design worth checking out in the post on Guy’s site if you’re into that sort of thing.

Packer fans are still recovering from their playoff loss. But thanks to Wisconsin Environment, they now have a new justification for their less than stellar seasons in recent history: the environment.

“As if we needed another reason to tackle global warming, now even the Green Bay Packers could be affected,” said LuCinda Hohmann, Field Organizer with Wisconsin Environment. “Congress and the state legislature must get serious about global warming before rising temperatures fumble away the Packers home field advantage.”

National trends from recent seasons suggest that a home field advantage for cold weather teams over their warm weather rivals may truly exist. Wisconsin Environment pointed to the National Football League’s 14 cold weather teams having won 65 percent of their home games played after Halloween against warm weather teams from 1998 through 2005.

But wasn’t Green Bay’s playoff loss one - if not the - coldest playoff game in the history of the NFL? Don’t let an outlier like that get in the way of the larger trend:

The Green Bay Packers had the largest temperature increase during the last seven seasons, a 4.1 degrees Fahrenheit increase as compared to the previous thirty years. This is significant in comparison to the next highest temperature rise of only 2.9 degrees.

As far as I can tell, global warming really started impacting the Packers after the 1998 season. You can’t blame the 1998 Superbowl loss on global warming, but you could blame the next 10 seasons on it.

In America, we generally play a game of Majority Rules. But when America participates in games on the world stage, different rules apply.

For example, check out this chart from Inhabitat showing a breakdown of which countries have signed on to the Kyoto protocol and which ONE hasn’t:

Odds like that make me think, “Is the rest of world really that stupid? Don’t they listen to Rush Limbaugh?”

It’s taken just under 10 years (Dec 11, 1997 treaty) for all but one country in the world to agree that it was time to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Will it take another decade for the last country, the United States, to grudgingly do the right thing? Or will it only take until January 20, 2009?

via Platial

TerraPass is rolling out a series of posts on green gifts for the holidays.

One that I’ve never seen before is a surge suppressor called the Smart Strip that lets you fully turn off power-sucking products that unnecessarily draw power 24-7. For example, if you’re computer’s turned off, it probably makes sense that your printer and scanner aren’t going to see any use, so they don’t need to be hovering around waiting to fulfill an assignment on a moment’s notice.

I decided to pick up a Kill-A-Watt. It’s a meter that helps you figure out how much energy your electronics are using. Maybe I’ll find out that our refrigerator is an energy hog, or that a stereo is costing us a bundle in sleep mode? I’ll report back on that once I’ve had a chance to try it. For $20, I have a feeling this will be a solid eco-investment.

As Kate pointed out in the comments, there is an open house at the YWCA at Lake & Hiawatha tonight to update the community on the state of the clean-up funding and efforts.

Minneapolis Council Member Gary Schiff emailed out an update as well:

EPA to announce major expansion of arsenic cleanup

For information regarding soil sampling or for a copy of a property’s results contact Tim Prendiville.

The south Minneapolis arsenic cleanup that began three years ago is about to get much larger, Environmental Protection Agency representatives will tell residents at a public meeting on Tuesday, October 30th at the YWCA, 2121 East Lake Street at 7:00 p.m. Cleanup managers will discuss the results of a recently completed health risk assessment, and take input on future cleanup which could eventually extend to another 541 residential properties. Total cleanup costs have exceeded $3 million to date.

Designation of the site to the Superfund National Priorities List last month resulted in eligibility for the cleanup of properties with soil contamination below an arsenic concentration of 95 parts per million. Approximately 130 properties with concentrations greater than 95ppm have already been cleaned up, with 36 more slated for 2008. “As a result of Superfund status, more properties may now be eligible for cleanup, depending on the final concentration level chosen.” Council Member Gary Schiff said. “Our hope is that we won’t have to carry our concern for our children to our grandchildren. However, unless the EPA can cleanup more than 70 properties per year, the process could take a decade to complete.”

The EPA will also hold general open houses to give residents an opportunity to talk to EPA representatives about the project. The open houses are on Tuesday, November 13 from 4:00 to 6:00p.m.at East Lake Library located at 2707 East Lake St., Wednesday, November 14 from 2:00 to 4:00p.m.and 6:00 to 8:00p.m.at Powderhorn Park located at 3400 15th Ave. S. and Thursday, November 15 from 2:00 to 4:00p.m.and 6:00 to 8:00p.m.at the Franklin Avenue Safety Center located at 1201 E. Franklin Ave.

My reading of this tells me that the most contaminated properties today have more than 95ppm concentrations of arsenic. By the end of 2008 all properties known to have 95ppm or higher will be cleaned up. However, this doesn’t account for unknown properties outside the current testing boundaries that could test at that level.

The good news is that it looks like we’ll be receiving additional funding to clean up more properties below the 95ppm level. How many? That depends on what level of arsenic in the soil is deemed safe by the EPA for Minneapolis residents. Here is where they’ve set the bar in the past:

The question to ask tonight is, “What is the arsenic concentration of the 541st property that could eventually be cleaned up?” Then check to see where it would fall on the above chart.

Tonight is the first of 6 open houses, as Council Member Schiff mentions in his press release. I’ve added all the dates to the Deets Calendar.

The Other Mike found a story on Biking Bis where they explained that 40% of commuting is done within 2 miles of home. With that in mind, why not try using something other than a car for such short trips?

Before committing to it, I decided to figure out what 2-miles from my house looks like on a map, and here that is:

After making my map on Map24.com, I realized that it’s easier to do on the 2 Mile Challenge website.

Here’s what I’m seeing:

- Groceries: I can bike to Cub, Rainbow, and the Seward Coop. Lunds in Highland is just past 2 miles.

- Dining: There are at least 50 restaurants within 2-miles of my house.

- Desert: There are at least 4 ice cream shops, including 2 Dairy Queens, Izzy’s, and that place on Franklin in Seward.

- Caffeine: There are probably a dozen coffee shops in this 2-mile radius.

- Hardware Stores: There are stores on Lake, Franklin, Minnehaha (pretty sure that’s still there), Grand Ave, and a Menard’s on University Ave.

And this falls within a no sweat, no special clothes, just roll distance. That’s workable.

Carly spotted an article on Yahoo by Move.com that ranked Minneapolis among the Top-10 Greenest Cities in America. The factors used to describe greenness sound pretty good to me:

The Top 10 Greenest Cities - Yahoo! Real Estate

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Named one of the top business districts in the nation for by the Environmental Protection Agency, Minneapolis is a commuter’s paradise where more than 60 percent of downtown workers use public or alternative transportation to get to the office. Free parking for registered van and car pools, an extensive bike path and bike lane system and employer-sponsored showers and locker rooms not only add endorphins but make a significant dent into auto-based air pollution. On the way to work, commuters thread their way among scores of lakes and parks and ponds and greenbelts and more than 200,000 trees. With great drinking water, active community organizations and the Minnesota State Department of Commerce nudging businesses and residents to hook solar systems up to the city’s grid, it doesn’t take Mary Tyler Moore tossing her beret into the air to let you know this is a great place to live.

This got me thinking about why city people get so worked up about suburban car commuters. If you live in a place that’s surrounded by arteries designed to enable people from outside the city to get in and out of the city, eventually you start thinking, “Why are all of these people driving alone, causing us to pay for so many lanes through the city and damaging the air we breathe? Are parking ramps and lots a good use of downtown space?”

There has to be a better way to do this.

Katie Weddle Langer turned me on to this sustainability quiz at from America Public Media. It’s an eye opener.

It walks you through major energy consumption behaviors together with how you deal with trash to figure out how many Earths it would take to support everyone on the world, assuming everyone lived like you.

I did well on the housing test since our house is relatively small. Recycling and use of wind energy kept me at 1 Earth through the first three steps.

But then things got ugly when I got to travel. It asked how many hours a year I fly in airplanes. I said 50, which may be a bit low. That seems to have doubled the number of Earths needed to support my work and leisure air travel.

My daily commute cost me almost a full Earth.

My dining habits cost me an additional Earth.

And my shopping habits cost me another Earth.

Here’s the breakdown:

How did you score?

Norway has banned the use of terms like “clean, green, and environmentally friendly” in car ads:

Norway outlaws “green” cars

The rationale for the ban is simple. All cars pollute, even fuel-efficient cars, so calling a car green is a bit of a stretch. It’s like referring to filtered cigarettes as healthy. Norwegian government-type person Bente Oeverli explains, “Cars cannot do anything good for the environment except less damage than others.”

Adam Stein from Terrapass thinks environmental terms have already been bastardized by marketers, so it’s not something to get worked up about.

Personally, it seems like a strange step since as long as people are not prepared to give up their cars, they may as well be able to figure out which cars are the most “clean, green, and environmentally friendly.” It’s all relative.

It seems like a better approach would be to prohibit the use of those terms in cars failing to exceed a certain mileage level.

When it comes to making eco-friendly buying decisions, here’s how I roll:

- When a light bulb burns out, I replace it with an energy efficient bulb.

- When it’s time to buy a new car, I consider energy efficient models.

- If I had to buy a new toilet tomorrow, I’d look for an energy efficient model, but not too energy efficient in case Jeremy stopped by sometime in the future.

I define this as making passive environmentalism. Sure, I could replace incandescent bulbs with CF bulbs right away, but that takes more work and money more up front. Instead, I let the eco choices come to me.

However, I wouldn’t make good eco choices without being aware of what’s possible.

Which brings me to this upcoming bus tour being put on by the Longfellow Community Council. The morning bus tour (and lunch) is a good way to find out what’s possible so when it’s time to make eco choices you can make informed ones.

The focus here is on commercial property, so if you have some influence over this sort of this, consider taking a ride on teh Stormwater Express:

Stormwater Bus Tour: Rain Gardens, Green Roofs, and more!
Friday, September 28th
8:30 am - 1 pm

Longfellow Community Council brings you this free tour of commercial sites
around Minneapolis that have used best management practices to handle
stormwater on site. Corrie Zoll will be our guide as we view rain gardens,
green roofs, rain leader disconnects, and other practices at a mix of urban
sites from large to small. Lunch and discussion follow. Learn how you can
make changes to your property to earn credits on your stormwater bill.
Geared for businesses, commercial property owners and developers, but
open to all. Pre-registration required.

For more information or to register contact Hillary Oppmann at
hillary@longfellow.org or 612-722-4529.