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Weekly Greenhouse Round-Up

Sally Hill | 09.07.10

It has been a week of exciting events and developments for sustainable transport.

Here in the UK, Greenhouse kept a close eye on the Eco Rally, which showcased a hoard of new alternativelly-fuelled vehicles.

And more fascinating still, there was news of a solar-powered plane which took a 24hr flight in the darkness. The story was first reported here by Inhabitat that the plane, the Solar Impulse, was about to embark on a trial journey. The plane successfully completed the trip and landed in Switzerland 26 hours later.

The flight will progress investment in solar-powered aircraft, with particular emphasis given to the fact that the plane was able to store enough energy to fly in darkness. While a commercial solar flight is still a long way off, this is a trail-blazing design and a huge step forward, and shows that the seemingly impossible can be done. You can follow Solar Impulse flights in real time on Solar Impulse TV.

Here are the links we loved this week:

'Glastonbury's Call to Eco-Conscious Arms'
Daisy Dumas seeks out 'eco-ness' at the festival and discovers it is built into the design of the festival.
(The Evening Standard)

'Eco Rally: A Green Car Race from London to Brighton'
Profile of Dale Vince's wind car entry into the 2010 Rally.
(Greenhouse)

'Healthier Office Spaces Benefit Everyone'
The 'Living Office' at the Chelsea Flower Show designed around research that shows the link between plants and fresh air and productivity.
(Treehugger)

'What Does the UK Public Want to Drive?'
Gap exists between those who want to be sustainable and those who would be willing to buy an electric vehicle.
(Eco Rally)

'Greenpeace Names, Shames Companies Over Deforestation'
Tesco named among those responsible for large scale forest destruction and species loss in Indonesia
(Yahoo Finance)

'Take Up of School Lunches Rises in 2009-2010'
Release of figures shows uptake growing in both primary and secondary schools
(School Food Trust)

'Eco Rally Sparks Conversation About the Future of Transport'
What participants had to say about the 2010 Eco Rally and what it means for transport.
(Greenhouse)

'European Union Could Cut Emissions by 95% With Renewables - Greenpeace'
Report from Greenpeace says savings would easily outweight investment in renewables.
(The Guardian)

'Gordon Brown's Vegetable Patch Goes to Seed'
The Brown's beloved vegetable patch has been overlooked by David and Samantha Cameron.
(The Telegraph)

Oh My God What Happened
'The Book for Everyone Who Wants to Move Into the Digital Era of Awesomeness'

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green, green living, eco rally, solar, greenpeace, social media, deforestation, plane, cars, glastonbury

My favorite friend on Twitter: A talking tree

Kenneth Hill | 08.10.10

In a charming example of using social media to make science and environmental awareness accessible, the folks at EOS magazine have given voice to a 100-year-old tree which tweets, facebooks, youtubes, and flickrs its feelings out to its friends.

Outfitted with a range of instrumentation, the Talking Tree monitors readings from the edge of Brussels using an ozone meter, light meter, dust meter and other gadgets, then translates the data into a social media stream of clever thoughts and observations:

"Turning nasty CO2 into some delicious O2. You can thank me later - http://bit.ly/9mkTf0"

"The air is getting a bit dirty. Do me a favor, take your bike"

"The days keep getting shorter. Need to prepare for winter"

A webcam captures the sights around it, which become status updates complete with video-log:

"My leaves are dancing in the wind:"



The loveliest form of sharing might just be the sounds the tree hears, which it captures via a microphone and uploads to its stream on Soundcloud.

Happiness Brussels did the creative, delivering a knock-out web site from which you can access the menu of social media outlets.

Impressive. Fun. Smart. The campaign supports EOS's “Low Impact Month” in November 2010 to encourage people to further participate in reducing their individual environmental footprints. Follow the Talking Tree on:

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Flickr | Soundcloud | TalkingTree Home Page

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social media, eos, talking tree

Eco Hero: Chris Smith

Esther Freeman | 25.02.11

Ecotube founder, Chris Smith, believes the internet is the key to spreading eco-awareness. Through his social media consultancy and Green Marketing forums he advocates change. And if that wasn’t enough he ran as a parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in 2010.

How would you describe yourself?
I’ve recently started referring to myself as a social activist. I don’t like using the word ‘Green’ anymore (the Green Party is an exception!) because I feel it is too vague and is often used deceitfully. A Bodyshop campaign used the term ‘Eco-Aware’ recently, and I prefer that.

What is your mission?
I see myself as an agent for change. I want to simplify the language used by the academics and specialists and make campaigning more accessible to the general public.

What's your next project?
I’m putting on another of my Green Marketing Seminars in March at the Kyocera showroom in London’s West End. This is the third one I’ve organised, looking at ethics, marketing and consumer psychology. We get a very wide mix of participants, from corporates to NGOs, and I see them as a catalyst for open discussion rather than a platform for me to go in with my own agenda.

What’s your greatest achievement?
Giving a speech for the Green Party in front of 500 people!

What green principles do you live by?
I’m very conscious of reducing my impact, within what’s reasonable in a modern society. I’m quite anal about not binning anything that can be re-used, and I collect batteries and lightbulbs. I hate seeing people leave supermarkets with hundreds of carrier bags.

Is organic important to you?
Yes, we put enough toxins in our body every day! I’d rather not buy the supermarket brand organics though, and have been known to sneakily shift the smaller branded products up to the middle shelves where people can see them – little acts of subversion!

What one thing do you wish everyone would do?
I get murderous tendencies when I see people dropping litter.

What would you like to pass on to your children?
I hope the next generation will develop a collective consciousness, and will learn from the mistakes of our generation. I think the internet will help with that.

How can we spread the green message?
By instilling a sense of individual responsibility. We need to counter the message of ‘buy more and you’ll be happy’ by helping to develop a sense of self-awareness about the effect their choices are having.

What cheers you up?
Watching Frasier! Laughing provides the counter-balance...

Who is your Eco Hero and why?
Caroline Lucas is great. She’s one of the few politicians who’s not ego-driven. For her, it’s principles not personalities, and she seems very down-to-earth.

Chris can be contacted at chris@eco-tube.com

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green party, social media, chris smith, eco-tube, green marketing