The Inspired Economist

The last time you went to the grocery store or the local Walmart, did you count the number of cleaners, soaps, and detergents that labeled themselves “green.” At Target last week while attempting to find the laundry detergent that was supposed to be on sale, I was boggled by all the new green chemicals that I’d never heard of before my shopping trip. I wasn’t certain what most of them did — much less exactly how “green” they really were.
Read the rest of this entry »

A bridge is about to open up that will make things easier but safer for people who want make their investments consistent with their values.

Just like a bridge makes traveling between two islands easier, the new rating system to be unveiled at Socap09 will be like taking a train instead of having to paddle through choppy waters.

The bridge, called GIIRS, is being built for people who are trying to make sure their investments have a positive social and environmental impact while they also try to earn a financial return. It’s a tool that makes it easier, safer and clearer for those investors who want to make a difference.

Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers at the University of York

have recently come up with a method of recycling that seems like it fell from the pages of a science fiction novel. They want to turn discarded television screens into components for biomedicine.

Read the rest of this entry »

At one point, it seems as though virtually everyone has sat in front of washing machine and watched the soaked clothes tumble through the suds. That tradition may be a thing of the past if a new “virtually waterless” laundry machine finds its way to the mainstream.

Although only in prototype stage, this new machine may be able to save up to 90% of water compared to a conventional machine and will also cut carbon emissions. Created by Xeros, this machine replaces the old school idea of cleaning clothes. The technology goes with full on chemistry advances by replacing the majority of the water with reusable nylon polymer beads, the machine can clean clothes in less time than traditional machines, and we see these waterless wonders then you can thank Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, from the University of Leeds who made the discovery that certain types of polymer beads could be used for cleaning. Read the rest of this entry »

The last time you visited an aquarium, you probably saw one. With their zebra-like stripes, multiple spines, and elaborate fins, they’re quite beautiful and incredibly distinctive. But red lionfish are also voracious carnivores that breed like rabbits and are poisonous to boot. And they’re invading the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Read the rest of this entry »

What do CarrotMobs and sugar cubes have in common?   Other than finding their way into your Easter basket, they are the businesses and tools developed by Virgance to create change through consumer organizing.

Thus far, businesses dedicated to “doing good” have been the purview and passion of big names and big businesses.  Bono launched DATA and (RED).  Bill Gates started the Gates Foundation and Home Depot has become synonymous with Habitat for Humanity.   However this past Tuesday Virgance, a San Francisco start-up, threw a little party to celebrate the next stage of their Activism 2.0 model, the acquisition of Green Options Media Network.

Virgance was founded in San Francisco by two business partners interested in elevating activist efforts by connecting them with social networking tools and access to funding.    Not convinced that “for good” had to mean not-for-profit, President and serial entrepreneur, Steve Newcomb began “looking at activism as a potential start-up industry” because he wanted to do more than just start another technology company. Read the rest of this entry »

Boulder, Colorado, an idyllic college town notorious for its health conscious population, has again shown its progressive spirit by voting for county Issue 1A last November, authorizing the government to sell bonds to fund loans to homeowners who want to make energy-efficient upgrades.  This week, lawmakers met to decide upon details of this new local “stimulus” package.  

These ClimateSmart loans represent a $40M program for the county, which hopes to fuel job creation through its broad scope and easy application process.  It is estimated that 800 new construction sites will be created by this program – and now, there are 17 out-of-work construction workers for every one job available in Boulder County.

Read the rest of this entry »

President Barack Obama’s environmental-friendly plans have gotten a lot of publicity, but there’s another green part of the nation’s capital that fits the bill.

The National Building Museum is featuring Green Community, an exhibit open through Oct. 25, that according to the museum’s Web site, “explores the origins of our precarious ecological situation and introduces communities large and small where citizens, political leaders, planning and design professionals, developers, and government agencies are working together for a more sustainable future.” Read the rest of this entry »

Think Globally – Act Locally.

Green Municipal Bonds offer the opportunity to rescue the economy and the environment.  Local governments are needlessly watching their economies disintegrate, waiting and begging for handouts from Washington D.C., while all along the power to save their economies and help the environment lies in their hands – Green Municipal Bonds.

Traditional Municipal Bonds are debts issued by local governments to pay for schools, hospitals, mass transit, and many other projects that benefit local communities.  Citizens vote to approve a bond investment, agree to pay a property or sales tax to fund the bond measure, and the bonds are then sold to investors to raise the capital for the project.  Municipal Bonds are very similar to U.S. Government Treasury Bonds.  Both offer investors relatively safe investment vehicles with special tax advantages.

Green Municipal Bonds, are similar to their traditional cousins, they offer relatively safe investments with special tax advantages.  However, their are several differences that make Green Municipal Bonds far superior for the taxpayer, investor, and issuing local governments. Read the rest of this entry »

Ah, the smell of coffee wafting through the evening air. Except this time that aroma doesn’t come from our French press but rather our fireplace. No, we haven’t thrown can of perfectly unacceptable canned, non-fair trade supermarket java into the fire, but rather a firelog partially made from coffee grounds. Sounds rather sustainable, huh?

Okay, we probably won’t often claim that burning anything is sustainable as the CO2 wafts into the atmosphere. However, some firelogs present a greener way to warm up a room while creating that sexy atmosphere that only fire can offer.

We checked out some firelogs to see what makes up these bad boys.

What’s in a name? The Java-Log contains recycled and spent coffee grounds and all-natural vegetable wax. Historically, fire log makers used wax derived from petroleum – paraffin wax.  Many firelog makers have gotten with the program and switched off the petroleum base.

We like the industrious thinking to use coffee grounds for create this log instead of using the grounds for compost (or yikes) the dreaded landfill. Better yet, the coffee Java-Log grounds are post-industrial (not post-consumer: e.g. coffee shops) that come from companies that manufacture coffee flavored beverages, ice creams, syrups, etc.

The Pine Mountain log comes from more traditional recycled sawdust and 100 percent natural vegetable wax which, although isn’t as creative as the Java-Log, still cuts the emissions release by up to 80 percent versus natural wood.  About a year-and-a-half ago Duraflame took the smart step to dump their petroleum base wax in favor of a bio-wax. They also use recycled sawdust for their firelogs.

Since we’re not scientists we checked out some of the results by Omni Environmental Services that studied many aspects of the various logs including the fact that dioxin/furan emissions (g/hr) from burning Duraflame firelogs in a fireplace are significantly less than burning Douglas fir cordwood. But what about versus other logs?

Their study of emission rates indicated that the Duraflame Easy Time and Xtra Time products produced about twice as much carbon monoxide as the Conros Northland and Pine Mountain products.  They noted that the Conros Northland (which we could not find in our local stores) product is about half the size of the Duraflame Easy Time and Xtra Time (1.4 kg vs. 2.3 kg), however it produced the same level of CO as the other Conros product, while Pine Mountain eqauled the same size as the Duraflame products.

The study noted that Biowax-fiber firelogs reduce Green House Gas emissions by more than 63 % and 82 % as compared to either natural gas or Liquid Propane Gas burned in dedicated vented gas fireplaces or vented gas firelogs installed in open-hearth fireplaces, respectively.  Biowax-fiber firelogs also emit 22% fewer green house gases than equivalent cordwood fires.

For esthetics, most people like to warm their tootsies in front of a fire. On the health side, these non-oil based firelogs in general released less emissions than burning pure wood, but the amount of metals such as aluminum, barium and copper varied from log to log which can’t be good.  There’s proabaly no winning to buring anything but if we want to sit with a glass of single malt by a fire, we will proabaly take our chances with one of these non petroleum based bad boys.