In the quest for more efficient, green energy sources, a group of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have made a breakthrough: batteries made out of paper.
Environmental concerns are slowly seeping into all aspects of consumers' lives, and travel is no exception. As with most green awareness campaigns, however, just how concerned travelers are is a gray area.
Recently, there has been an uproar over a new show on Viacom's BET originally called "Hot Ghetto Mess", which was based on a popular underground website of the same name.
As a result of an unexpected consumer backlash against the name/show, it has been redubbed "We Can Do Better".
Which is better for the environment - paper bags or plastic bags? Lawmakers in various parts of the country are betting on paper. In many cities, politicians are considering banning plastic bags in grocery stores because they are not biodegradable and can be harmful to wildlife.
In case you hadn't noticed, celebrities have focused a lot of attention on the environment lately. Fans and critics alike are still talking about Live Earth, and the Discovery Channel just announced a new Planet Green network to launch in 2008 with programming produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Not to mention all the Hollywood A-listers who act as unofficial spokespeople for the Prius. Ostensibly, all this media attention has galvanized all us regular folk to do more to help the environment.
Today marked the New York release of Anya Hindmarch's cultishly popular canvas totes which emphatically state, "I'm NOT A Plastic Bag." Said bags, which are made in limited numbers and sold for $15, have already been released in England (where they sold out by 9am), Hong Kong and Taiwan (where those in line were privy to both fights and stampedes).
…but what about green cars? A recent column on Wheels.casuggests hybrid vehicles may be a passing fad. Sales (or lack thereof) of certain models seem to indicate just that, as does a survey published in a New York Times article last week: it found a large portion of Prius owners' number one reason for buying the car was the statement it made about them.
That America continues to look inward is no secret. While Americans may be among the most info-saturated people in the world, their knowledge of the world around them continues to dwindle. Few Americans have traveled the globe, fewer still have worked in the global marketplace. In the inaugural post of this column, I urged readers to make 2007 the year to go global. My focus was on the business drivers of globalization. After reading “God and Country” in the July 8 Boston Globe, I now know that the need to go global extends far beyond Main Street and Wall Street.
7 PM
I've had a few issues with uploading some video, but I'll take care of that when I get back home tonight. Anyway, some updates:
Dave Matthews just took the stage. He's having a fine time here, and was rather amusing at the mini-press conference earlier (video to come). "We're aware of a certain amount of hypocrisy" about using fossil fuels when going on tours, he says, but the awareness coming from a concert of this size outweighs it. Like the energy it's taking to cool the media bubble, which is literally the size of a football field. And it's hot outside.
11:20 AM
The Live Earth concert has now been going for more than 10 hours now, if you're measuring everything by one time zone. Sydney started at around 9 p.m. on the East Coast of the U.S. It was preceded by Al Gore giving a little Warm up webcast about his intention to run for pre...just kidding. It's all conservation, all the time.