The White Roof Project does one, simple thing: It coats buildings’ roofs with a paint-like, white, reflective coating. Traditional roofing materials (like black tar), convert sunlight to heat — dramatically raising the interior temperatures and increasing cooling costs. Coating a roof white reflects the sunlight, drastically reducing its temperature and that of the building’s interior and surrounding environment. Building roofs with interior temperature in mind is not a new idea; sod-thatched roofs in Europe, for instance, have been around for centuries. But in recent years, people have turned their attention to roof modification as a way to potentially reduce man-made climate change. White Roof Project founder Juan Carlos and board member Heather James first heard of the potential for white coatings at a Sierra Club meeting. After organizing just one painting event, which attracted more than 100 volunteers, they formed the nonprofit. The White Roof Project focuses on buildings with low-income residents — coating them for free using private donations and teams of volunteers. One challenge, says volunteer Geoff Brock, is that since it’s the tenants — not the building owners themselves — that are usually the beneficiaries of reduce cooling costs, it takes a forward-looking landlord to get behind the idea. But as environmental and energy awareness grows, more people are realizing that sometimes it is the simple solutions that can create the most tangible change.
Category: Preserving the Environment
Why This Bridge Has No Vehicles Driving on It
Portland’s landscape is teeming with bridges — connecting the east and west parts of the Oregon city over the expansive Willamette River, which makes it no surprise that the northwestern city would support building another structure that reaches an up-and-coming area in an industrial neighborhood.
But with more transportation options comes more traffic, which is partly why TriMet, Portland’s local transporation agency, decided to design the Tilikum Crossing without room for cars. Instead, the bridge will cater to buses, light rail trains and street cars, with bike and pedestrian paths flanking it, making it the first multi-modal design of its kind, Fast Company reports.
The new 1,700 foot-long construct will be the nation’s longest carless bridge, and TriMet officials contend it’s a model that can serve elsewhere.
“We need to think multi-modal,” says Dave Unsworth, TriMet’s director of project development and permitting. “Streetcars for central city circulation, buses to connect to neighborhoods, and light rail for regional destinations …and bike and pedestrian connections to the nearby trails.”
Unsworth argues including cars would have been more costly, due to the need to expand the bridge in size to accommodate two lanes of traffic for each direction, plus reducing potential redevelopment on land nearby.
Thanks to a comprehensive public transit system, Unsworth also believes adding a car-centric bridge is unnecessary.
“With so much transit service on both sides of the river — light rail, streetcar, buses, and the Aerial Tram on the west side of the bridge — adding through traffic would have been unsafe and wasn’t necessary given the quality transit access,” he says.
The 7.3-mile stretch of light rail will provide access to a new area of housing as well as a new university campus branch, connecting north Clackamas County, Milwaukie and inner South East Portland to the downtown area and regional MAX System, according to TriMet.
The massive structure will feature lights that illuminate the cables and piers, mimicking actual water flow in the Willamette River below.
And while Portland has no plans to eliminate car transport altogether, city officials are encouraging other urban communities to consider alternative modes.
“Not everyone can use transit, but we need to continue to make it more convenient by doing a great job of connecting to where people want and need to go,” Unsworth adds.
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How You Can Join the Largest Climate March in History
Global warming is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity, and during one week in September, you have the perfect opportunity to press for positive change.
On Sept. 23, heads of state from around the world will gather at the United Nations in New York City for a summit on the global climate crisis. President Obama is expected to be there.
Two days before the summit, Sept. 21, 100,000 people are expected to descend into the Big Apple for the People’s Climate March to show these politicians that they care about the planet and demand action. Organizers are calling it the “largest climate march in history” as it will coincide with similar demonstrations around the world — including in Paris, London, Melbourne, East Asia and more.
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As Think Progress writes, more than 1,000 organizations have pledged support for the People’s Climate March in New York City, including the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation and the Earth Day Network. Students from more than 300 colleges and universities are expected to attend.
So how can you take part? The two-mile march starts at 11:30 a.m. on the 21st at Columbus Circle on the south end of Central Park. You can fly to New York City, but there are also less carbon-intensive modes of transport via bus, train or ride-share (click here to learn more and be sure to check back frequently because more spots will pop up as the day approaches). You can also get involved in several events leading up to the march, as well as help out as a volunteer on the day of the event.
If you can’t get to New York City but still want to be involved, you can watch the U.N. Summit live and or be a part of one of the many events happening in the country outside of the Big Apple. Or join in on the conversation with the hashtags #climate2014, #ClimateMarch, and #PeoplesClimate on Twitter.
After all, it’s not every day that you can help save the planet and be a part of history.
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Eco-Friendly Products Often Aren’t as Popular, But This Successful Startup Found a Winning, Green Formula
More and more people may be concerned about the environment, but when it comes to buying green products, there’s much less of a frenzy.
Even though they are better for the planet and work just as well (sometimes arguably better) than conventional products, there’s not much of a market for them. Take Clorox’s Green Works, a eco-friendly housecleaning line introduced in 2008. The products, which claim to be 99 percent natural and have an endorsement from the Sierra Club, sold $100 million in their first year. However, sales fell sharply by $60 million each year thereafter.
Why the dip? Sure, green products tend to be more expensive (because natural ingredients usually cost more). But surprisingly, it’s not the higher sticker price that causes consumers to avoid eco-friendly goods. According to a study, many of us reject green products because we think the quality is inferior to chemically-laden conventional products.
It’s simply a problem of perception.
However, a green beacon has emerged from the fray. The Honest Company, which sells nontoxic baby, cleaning, health and beauty products and was co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, recently made headlines after raising $70 million as it looks toward an IPO. The company is now worth almost $1 billion.
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The reason for its success? Fast Company suspects it’s because the company has “nailed the formula for eco-friendly products,” in that the items are green — but don’t look or feel like they are.
As the publication reports, the company’s chemical-free baby wipes are superior to any other wipe on the shelves, but because they were “too thin” consumers thought the quality wasn’t as high.
In response, The Honest Company decided to change their wipes to the market standard of 60 grams per square meter. Parents seemed to love the reworked wipes (even though they cost more: $4.95 for a box of 72, compared to $2.37 for 62 Pampers wipes.)
We’re not saying you must put your hard-earned dollars exclusively towards green products. But if you have the extra cash, it’s an investment that could be worth it, especially for the environment.
As Alba tells Sierra Magazine,“all of your purchasing and consuming choices are going to affect the planet and the people around you in some way, be it positive or negative. Just being a thoughtful, conscientious consumer is the first step.”
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What the Latest Technology Means for the Farm-to-Table Movement
There really is nothing quite like a vegetable picked fresh off the vine – the taste, texture and smell are all one-of-a-kind. While those with gardens are very familiar with it, the vast majority of us probably aren’t — and we certainly wouldn’t expect to encounter it in a supermarket or restaurant.
Until now. The business Fresh with Edge is closing the gap between farm and table by redefining the traditional farmer/consumer experience.
Through the use of hydroponics and aquaponics, Fresh with Edge grows their herbs and greens on five feet vertical towers inside a greenhouse system, according to Sustainable Cities Collective. When the greens are ready, the towers are simply transferred to the designated location where they’ll be consumed (think: a grocery store or eatery).
This Rochester, Minn. business is owned by Chris and Lisa Lukenbill, who started it back in 2011 because of an overwhelming urge to know where their food came from. Although both work in computer science and neither of them grew up on a farm, the couple used agricultural knowledge they had from aunts and uncles to get the business rolling.
It wasn’t an easy start. In between working full time and raising their two children, Chris and Lisa were learning how to run Fresh with Edge through a series of trial and error.
That all changed, however, after Chris attended an aquaponics conference in 2012. There, he met Nate Storey who operates Bright Agrotech, manufacturer of the ZipGrow vertical farming tower. Storey offered his assistance, and after a local food co-op let them sell onsite, the Lukenbill’s business began to grow.
Currently, Fresh with Edge has 300 towers in its facility and is connecting with consumers across the Rochester area. Its greens and herbs are sold at two local restaurants – Tonic in the Midtown district and Rainbow Café in Pine Island. It can also be found at the People’s Fund Co-op where its produce is sold by the ounce.
While Fresh with Edge used to actively participate in farmer’s markets, it’s taking a break to explore other avenues.
One of those is home sales, which will allow customers to purchase their own towers complete with fully grown greens and herbs, such as lettuce, bok choy, kale and chard. Additionally, the Lukenbills look to add more fresh, local and nutritious foods to their business, and they’re also looking into a way to use waste heat from electricity production to heat the greenhouse, which is currently only in operation from April to early November.
For Chris, though, the towers are a way of bringing people closer to the roots of the food they are eating.
“The towers help restaurant customers make connections with their food,” Chris tells Sustainable Cities Collective. “There is lots of opportunity for more growth.”
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Correction: An earlier version of this article misreported the name of Nate Storey’s business, Bright Agrotech. We apologize for the error.
This Coal Capital is Going Solar
West Virginia is one of top coal producers in the United States, but it’s a distinction that just cannot continue following last February’s devastating coal slurry leak — and especially if the country wants to solve its carbon crisis.
It’s clear that renewable energy is the way forward. In an incredible sign of promise, 100 residents in the small West Virginia town of Shepherdstown in Jefferson County decided to band together to spread some sunshine in a first-of-its-kind community-funded project.
As Think Progress reports, a local church was able to install 60 solar panels on its roof for a single dollar instead of the $55,000 it would have cost.
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How did they do it? Well, it literally pays to be green. According to Think Progress, nearly 100 families and businesses installed demand response controllers (which act like a virtual power plant) from Mosaic Power on their water heaters. The Maryland-based company then sells the electricity created by the heaters back to the power grid. Mosaic also pays participants $100 a year for installing the controllers. Instead of keeping the $100, the Shepherdstown participants generously put that money toward solar panels for the church. The panels will reportedly generate half of the church’s annual energy needs.
This innovative idea was pioneered by nonprofit group Solar Holler, who aims to help “non-profits and municipalities can go solar with no cost — upfront or in the future.”
It appears that the Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church members had been interested in solar panels for several years, but didn’t know how to fund it until Solar Holler came along. “There’s certainly a common understanding that we’ve got to be good stewards of the environment — it’s a Christian value, but it’s really a human value,” Than Hitt, a member of the church who worked on the solar project, tells Think Progress. “It’s something that resonates with people, and it’s something that we know we need to do, especially in West Virginia.”
Encouragingly, the church project is only the first of many more crowd-funded solar installations at nonprofits in West Virginia. Solar Holler founder Dan Conant tells Think Progress that there are about seven more projects lined up with the goal of hitting each of the state’s 55 counties within five years.
If America’s coal heartland can go solar, so can the rest of the country.
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6 Common Environmental Culprits That Need Regulation
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about California being the first state to ban plastic bags (even though Hawaii arguably deserves the title). This news is undoubtedly fantastic, but it’s really just a small victory in light of much larger environmental problems.
Adam Minter writes on Bloomberg View that the ban — now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature — is much more symbolic than real: “Gestures such as these can be important in inspiring broader, more meaningful environmental reform. But they risk fueling a self-congratulatory complacency that distracts from more serious challenges.”
He’s got a point. As Minter says, the 3.4 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps thrown out in 2012 is just 10 percent of the 31.8 million tons of total plastics thrown away, or a mere 1.3 percent of the 251 million tons of solid waste generated annually.
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Plastic bags are just a start. Here are six other big, wasteful household items that deserve our attention, and more importantly, what can be done about them.
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Can Tiny Seeds Be the Answer to This Big Farming Dilemma?
Diversity isn’t just a hot topic when it comes to race relations. It’s also important when talking about seeds.
Currently, our country suffers from a lack of seed diversity. Four companies control 50 percent of the entire commercial seed supply and many crops are highly genetically homogenous, according to Fast Company. For instance, American corn only stems from three or four parent lines.
And while this isn’t a problem in normal situations, it’s very dangerous if there’s an outbreak of disease, pests or extreme weather. In the event that one of these situations were to occur, American crops would be extremely susceptible to widespread loss due to the lack of diversity.
“An insurance policy against climate change is breeding for diversity,” Dillon tells Fast Company. “As we get a more chaotic climate, it’s very important to have greater diversity in our food crops, so they are resilient enough to withstand unpredictable diseases that are already starting to appear.”
That’s why Dillon started the advocacy group Seed Matters: to spread the news about seed diversity and its benefits. And thanks to the $1 million donation from the Clif Bar Family Foundation, Seed Matters was able to hit the ground running. Since its formation, 15 other companies have joined forces with them, including the supermarket chain Whole Foods and clothing company Eileen Fisher.
So, what does the group do? Well, according to their website, they are telling the “greatest story never told.” Seed Matters sponsors organic farming research, helps start seed banks and libraries in communities across the country and spreads the word out about the importance of seeds.
While it’s impossible to deny the success of modern agriculture (because of efficient practices, food is being produced at cheap rates relative to income), the ends may not justify the means. Why? Because to achieve these results, farmers often use too many chemicals and forget the traditional farming practices that are successful and environmentally sustainable.
One such modern trend is genetically modified (GM) food. Billions of dollars are spent on GM research, while only 1/70th of that is invested looking for alternative practices.
According to Dillon, we might just want to take a step back before we venture into the land of Frankenfood and instead use practices such as plant breeding, crop rotations and a better husbandry of seed varieties to build a natural resistance without harming the environment. Basically, do things that would be a win-win for every group involved.
Dillon isn’t alone in the advocacy of seeds and alternative farming methods. Many universities, specifically Cornell University, have begun to study organic practices. And there’s a flourishing group of organic seed supporters, too. A PBS show airing this fall documents this movement with Dillon as one of its featured advocates.
For Dillon, this represents a chance to better educate consumers and improve the food we eat at the same time. “There has been a farm-to-table movement, where knowing your farmer is a good thing,” Dillon says.“But there’s this prologue to that story that consumers don’t quite know. That’s the impact that seed has on their food and the world.”
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What Toxic Chemical Can Be Used to Make Solar Cells?
How many times have you gone to use your TV remote only to find that its batteries are dead?
Another dead battery is useless, right? Well, not to researchers at MIT, which have found another way to use these lifeless objects: recycling their main ingredient — lead — to create solar cells.
Lead is a toxic substance that not only causes a multitude of medical problems but is also linked to spikes in violent crime. That’s why many governments have outlawed it from being used in paint and gasoline, as well as requiring battery manufacturers to recycle their product.
However, while the recycling process was working, there’s a slight hitch now. With the introduction of non-lead batteries, such as lithium-ion ones, there isn’t going to be as much of a need to recycle the old lead-filled ones, according to Fast Company.
So what’s going to happen to all that lead?
Fortunately, MIT researchers discovered the ability to use lead to produce solar cells from a material called perovskite, a mineral that’s incredibly energy efficient. Not only is it cheaper than the silicon used in today’s cells, but it also converts solar energy to electricity at a little less than 20 percent. To top it off, the mineral is highly flexible — meaning that the cells it makes are 100 times thinner than human hairs and can bend easily, reports Fast Company.
Normally, acquiring the lead would be a problem, but with all of these excess batteries, researchers have found their supply. From each battery, about 30 solar cells could be made.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any plans to commercialize this product. MIT researchers are leaving that to other companies, such as the U.K.’s Oxford PV, while they work on a lead-free perovskite solar cell.
But for the time being, those old batteries are being put to good use and given a second life.
Who would’ve thought something so toxic could be so energy efficient?
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See What the Next Generation of Solar Panels Looks Like
Here at NationSwell, we’ve ooh’d and ahh’d at the remarkable technology of solar panels several times. But regardless of how awesome and environmentally friendly they are, there are some people who are concerned about how “unsightly” they look on top of their neighbors’ houses.
Well, thanks to Michigan State University (MSU) researchers, the aesthetically-interested can keep their precious view.
According to a statement from the university, a team at MSU’s College of Engineering have invented a completely see-through solar panel that can be used on anything with a clear surface, such as windows and smart phones.
“It opens a lot of area to deploy solar energy in a non-intrusive way,” says Richard Lunt, assistant professor of chemical engineering who led the team. “It can be used on tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader. Ultimately we want to make solar harvesting surfaces that you do not even know are there.”
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The panel — called a “transparent luminescent solar concentrator” — uses small organic molecules that absorbs invisible wavelengths of sunlight and channels it to the photovoltaic solar cells on the panel’s edge, converting it into electricity.
It’s important to note that this current version is only about 1 percent efficient (whereas the most efficient panels can convert up to 40 percent) but the researchers are aiming for efficiencies beyond 5 percent.
But it’s clear (see what we did there?) that this is only just the beginning. As solar technology continues its rise and becomes less expensive, it’s helping our country shift away from its reliance on fossil fuels. And, yes, for those who are concerned, perhaps this future is one that isn’t clouded by those clunky panels.
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