The green case for Kindle
Local powerhouse the Cleantech Group released a report finding that using an e-reader such as the Amazon Kindle or the Sony Reader results in lower carbon emissions than buying new books. Photo from...
View ArticleWill Cal. pull the plug on flat screen TVs?
California’s flat energy demand is a point of much pride, and the rolling blackouts of the heady Enron days a matter of shame. Pretty pictures of nature belie the massive footprints of flat-screen TVs....
View ArticleNaughty, naughty techie
Technology, at times, offers a magic key into the environmental garden of Eden, where humans can use energy and feel good about it. But, at times, it can be the serpent tempting us to eat the apple...
View ArticleAre smart grids too smart?
Smart grids—loosely defined as electricity networks that provide consumers and utilities with detailed information about electricity use, allowing them to make more informed choices and thereby reduce...
View ArticleAiring dirty laundry
Here’s a green issue on which California is not toeing the line: clotheslines. At least since the energy crunch in 2001, residents seeking to save money and/or reduce their carbon emissions have looked...
View ArticleYes, you can
A new study published by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that a handful of behavioral shifts, if adopted in all American households, could result in an 8 percent reduction of...
View ArticleLet’s talk leaf blowers
It’s autumn and leaves do fall. Many people turn to gas-powered leaf blowers. The machines create noise and carbon emissions with the dubious trade-off of sparing human elbow grease. But how bad are...
View ArticleEarth to cell phones
Some environmental problems, like the state’s water supply, are thorny problems with no easy answers. But other problems have such a straightforward solution the only question is, why haven’t we...
View ArticleTV Guide
If you’re buying a TV this holiday season, you’ll get it just before California’s ban of the real energy guzzlers takes effect. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images All tubes are not created equally when it...
View ArticleIs your iPhone or Pad poisoning Chinese children?
When you buy the iPhone 4, you’re buying not just from Apple but from the Taiwanese company Foxconn, at whose mainland China factories the phones (and pods and pads) are made. The company’s labor...
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