Posts Tagged ‘sustainability’
June 1st, 2010 by chelsea
In San Francisco, trash is the exception — not the rule.
The city approved an aggressive recycling law more than a year ago that required homeowners, business owners and residents to spearate food from trash to improve composting, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Most received the law with kicking and screaming, but the goal of removing compost from landfills and incinerators by 2020 prevailed.
“People are dealing with it just fine,” said the spokseman for the City’s environmental department in the article. “For most people, the green composting bin is just another part of life in San Francisco.”
The amount of scraps collected in April is up 22 percent from that time last year — and more than 63 percent of residents and 75 percent of the city’s restaurants are in compliance.
Things happen when we’re all on board!
Photo via sfgate.com
Tags: compost, law, recycling, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, sustainability
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 21st, 2010 by chelsea
The Portland-Metro area is teeming with local breweries, but only one boasts Portland State’s sustainable logo.
Rogue Ales is dressing up its IPA with the school’s eco-friendly bicycle image as part of both organizations’ missions to engage the community, according to an article in The Oregonian. The brand union emphasizes the power of local–a fitting goal, with Rogue Ales getting its start from two U of O fraternity brothers. The Newport-based brewery sources its grains from Wasco County and has its bottles made from Owens Glass in Portland.
“We’re being associated with a local brand, but also with a quality brand,” said PSU President Wim Wiewel in the article.
With PSU’s reputation as a center for sustainable practices and urban studies, Rogue Ales honors the school’s commitment to these values.
We’ll cheers to that!
Photo via oregonlive.com
Tags: logo, Newport, Portland, Portland State University, Rogue Ales, sustainability, U of O, University of Oregon, Wim Wiewel
Posted in Portland | No Comments »
May 17th, 2010 by chelsea
Some athletes are born; others are made — that’s why Google Bike Maps allows you to choose your route’s difficulty.
The recently developed Beta version is just in time for National Bike to Work Week, providing routes for 150 U.S. cities and 15,000 miles of off-street bike trails, according to an article in Netted.
The new feature is especially convenient in the eco-minded Northwest where bikes aren’t just a mode of transportation — they’re a lifestyle. Simply select “bicycling” from the drop down menu in the directions section, and you’ll see a color-coded list of trails that specify whether it is for bikes only, if it is shared with cars or if it’s preferred for bicycling.
An added bonus: you can choose to avoid hills, too.
Now that’s energy efficient.
Photo via http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com
Tags: bicycle, eco-friendly, Google, Google Bike Maps, green, National Bike to Work Week, Netted, Northwest, sustainability
Posted in L.A., Los Angeles, Orange County, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle | No Comments »
April 15th, 2010 by chelsea
San Francisco is getting greener.
GreenFinanceSF will give homeowners money up front to pay for green projects like installing solar panels or energy-efficient appliances, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Berkeley originally championed the idea years ago, and now the financing model has taken off nationally.
Homeowners pay the city back in installments on their property tax bills — and project funding can range from $5,000 to $50,000. The first step is visiting the website and choosing a vendor.
Doesn’t sound too hard.
Photo via www.mnn.com
Tags: Berkeley, green, GreenFinanceSF, project, property tax bills, San Francisco, solar, sustainability
Posted in San Francisco | No Comments »
March 28th, 2010 by chelsea
Sending FedEx in LA is more than express — it’s electric.
By June, FedEx, Corp. will set its four electric trucks on the road to deliver packages in an eco-friendly way according to an article in Sustainable Business Oregon. But this isn’t a new initiative for the company. FedEx has been testing the trucks in Europe in an effort to increase vehicle efficiency by 20 percent by 2020.
Navistar, a market and technology company, designed two of the trucks using the Modec design currently in Europe. All four trucks will be able to travel for an 8-hour shift before needing to recharge.
Talk about energy efficiency.
Photo via www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/
Tags: electric truck, energy efficiency, FedEx, green, L.A., Navistar, sustainability
Posted in L.A. | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2010 by chelsea
Most plants need water to create energy, but one power plant from a San Francisco start-up is generating clean energy all on its own.
Bloom Energy recently revealed its “power plant in a box,” which is essentially a metal box that creates clean electricity from fuel cells, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. The “box,” or energy server, is made mostly from sand and can produce the same amount of energy day and night. The electricity can be used to power homes, offices and even entire villages.
“Like everyone says, it sounded too good to be true,” said the Cox Enterprises chairman in the article. “So we sent some people to check it out, and they said, ‘It could be true.’ “
We think it’s a bright idea.
Photo via sfgate.com
Tags: Bloom Energy, Cox Enterprises, energy, power plant, San Francisco Chronicle, sustainability
Posted in San Francisco | No Comments »
February 18th, 2010 by chelsea
Portland is paving more paths to sustainable transportation with plans for a new streetcar.
This week the city was awarded $23 million in stimulus funding for this elaborate project — making the city one of 51 national recipients, according to an article in The Oregonian. Each of the 1,400 applicants were evaluated on their economic contributions, their current transportation system and their role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the article said.
The streetcar will be strategically located along the Waterfront district on SW Moody Avenue to encourage economic activity in the area. Here, the street layout will promote different forms of transportation with three traffic lanes, two streetcar tracks and bike and pedestrian facilities.
Let’s keep moving forward.
Photo via midtowncommunityworks.org
Tags: Moody Avenue, Oregonian, Portland, stimulus funding, streetcar, sustainability, transportation
Posted in Portland | No Comments »
September 23rd, 2008 by admin
That’s what one PGE VP said in a story on PGE’s four new electric charging stations for plug-in vehicles, or “filling stations of the future,” in Oregon, according to Yuxing Zheng’s article in The Oregonian.
Some facts:
There are 3.3 million passenger cars in Oregon compared to about 270 all-electric passenger cars and 26,338 hybrid vehicles, according to The Oregonian.
One of the filling stations in Lake Oswego is expected to draw shoppers to L.O.’s downtown shopping district.
Think Wizer’s Fine Foods and Wine.
Tags: hybrid, lake oswego, oregon, pge, plug-in vehicles, Portland, sustainability
Posted in Portland | No Comments »
