The first Earth Day was the result of Gaylord Nelson, Pete McCloskey, and Denis Hayes

“This planet is threatened with destruction — and, we who live in it, with death.” This were some of the first words associated with Earth Day when it started — way back in 1970 — and despite being depressing, the… Continue Reading

Arturo Vittori, Andreas Vogler, and whether Warka Water could be the future in the developing world

The state of running water and sanitation in the world isn’t great, and while big names like Bill Gates and Matt Damon have donated time and money to the efforts, they can still be costly. The newest version of the Gates toilets… Continue Reading

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Could a Boston-based company called XL Hybrids help change the world (and the climate)?

XL Hybrids is a company out of Boston that, right there on their homepage, will promise a 20 percent reduction in urban fuel consumption. The business media is on board: Fast Company just had them as the third-most innovative energy company in… Continue Reading

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The shipping industry appears to be in trouble, environmentally and financially

I’ve seen Season 2 of The Wire — “dead girls in a can!” — which is about the extent of my knowledge on international shipping topics, but I do find it broadly interesting. You could argue (and many have) that shipping is… Continue Reading

If you have $340,000 and can move to Sri Lanka by 2016, you could basically live in a 46-story-tall forest

Milroy Perera was previously the architect of note on the Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka (video profile above), which is carved into a rock face and faces out towards an ancient jungle. (“You’re not a guest; you’re part of nature.”) Now he’s… Continue Reading

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Brief thought exercise: if you knew conclusively what happened when you died, would you treat the world better right now?

This isn’t a full-fledged post by any means; ’tis just a thought exercise. If you believe that things like overpopulation and peak oil and food supply and over-dependence on fossil fuels and the future of the oceans are all concerns we could be addressing more now, then… Continue Reading

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Could Andre Broessel and the spherical solar energy generator be the answer in the solar energy world?

Cool fact: every hour, the Sun provides the Earth with enough energy to power civilization for a year. Uncool fact: only about 34 percent of all sunlight hitting a solar cell can actually be converted to electricity at this point, meaning it’s not… Continue Reading

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On 60 Minutes and the cleantech / Vinod Khosla story

The above piece aired on 60 Minutes last night. It was part of an overall interesting show that profiled volcanoes, clean tech, and Kim Dotcom (who has 60 lush acres in New Zealand and thinks of himself as James Bond for some… Continue Reading