Marriott is expanding its green hotel program

‘Tis the season to travel as people get ready to hit the road for Thanksgiving celebrations, book ski trips, plan beach getaways to escape the winter, and prepare to get together with family and friends for Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or holiday festivities. We love to travel, but hopping on a plane or driving long distances can have a negative impact on our carbon footprint.l

So it’s nice to see hotel chains take climate change and environmental protection seriously. Marriott has recently been running a “green hotel” trial project, testing out the viability of greening their accommodations. The program involved initiatives to reduce water and energy consumption, cut waste, and lower toxicity and improve indoor air quality by choosing greener products used in the facilities.

There were 30 hotels in the initial trial, but Marriott just announced that it will be expanding its eco-friendly hotels by 1,000 percent to cover 500 hotels! But the move isn’t completely altruistic. In this depressed economy, the massive hotel company is also motivated by the bottom line. It seems that they achieved some sizable financial savings through their green hotel program , both in constructing and running the greener facilities.

That’s good news for the hotel industry as a whole, and hopefully Marriott’s ambitious plans will be a signal to their competitors that being green is better for business. So, as you plan your holiday travel, keep green in mind. Choose hotels with a green stamp of approval, ask about your preferred chain’s green policies, and leave comments when you check out encouraging conservation.

Marriot hotels now recycle in-room and beyond

Marriott is saving energy through a varieyt of initiatives

Livestock and climate change via Flickr - Sunfox

Want a simple way to reduce your impact on climate change without a lot of hassle or cost? Cut back the amount of meat and dairy you’re eating. That’s the conclusion of a recent Worldwatch Institute analysis of the impact of raising livestock and poultry entitled Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are…cows, pigs, and chickens? In it, they discount the figures from a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report that estimate greenhouse gas emissions from raising livestock at 18 percent of the total annual worldwide amount.

Instead, the WorldWatch Institutes report puts the damage at a whopping 51 percent! That’s 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide that gets dumped into the atmosphere every year simply because of our dietary choices, which is less than any other source.

But where does it all come from? Well, apparently 13.7 percent comes as a result of livestock respiration. During their normal existence, livestock animals add a lot of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Slightly less is the impact from inefficient land use. As land is converted from tropical forests—tremendously valuable sources for carbon sequestration—to grazing land for sheep and cattle, we suffer a double whammy. First, we lose the carbon-sinking ability of the trees, and second, the rotting biomass (trees and underbrush) release a lot of carbon dioxide into the air. This accounts for 4.2 percent of all livestock-related emissions.

Next, there’s the methane gas—a greenhouse gas that’s 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its ability to trap heat in the atmosphere—that livestock emit during normal digestion. This equals 7.9 percent.

There are more ways to count our meat- and dairy-eating habits’ effects on climate, but those are the main sources. Needless to say, it would be easy to make a change here to benefit the planet. Simply adopting an eco-friendly diet by cutting back on the quantity of dairy and meat we eat every week—have one meat free day, for instance—would make a big difference. And choosing an environmentally friendly veggie diet might actually save you money, too.

Peaches Via Flickr - ellievanhoutte

If you’re an avid gardener with too much of one type of produce at the end of the season—zucchini, potatoes, beets, peas, or lettuce, for instance—you might find this new site a great resource (started four months ago, actually). Veggie Trader is a free online resource that can be used by gardeners and produce seekers to procure local, sustainable fruits and vegetables from those in their own community.

Functioning much like the bargain ads in your local newspaper or Craiglist online, the Veggie Trader allows veggie growers and veggie eaters to sell, purchase, and barter their way to more sustainable meals.

Carrots Via Flickr - Robert Couse-Baker

The system is quite simple. You register to become part of the community and then get started! You can offer to purchase, offer to sell, or offer to trade, and then wait for others to chime in when their supply/demand fits yours.

Need to get rid of some crabapples before they all go bad on your lawn? Log on and offer these up to your neighbors. Want some beets to can for the winter? Sign in and ask the community who’s got the extra produce you’re looking for. It’s free to join and costs nothing to post a listing.

In time, the site hopes to expand its offerings to include other types of food, including dairy and eggs, though those are heavily regulated and will require some additional rules and policies to be in place first.

This new site has the potential to do many great things for the environment: reduce organic waste, cut carbon emissions related to the transportation of produce, encourage local, organic farmers to  sell their wares locally, and foster good green community. So get trading-selling-buying-bartering!

A Drop of WAter - watering can included

Looking for a rain barrel solution that’s both highly useful and attractive to the eyes? Dutch designer Bas Van Der Veer may have just the right solution for you. His new “A Drop of Water” rainwater collector combines form and function into a completely new way of collecting and using “free” rainwater.

“A Drop of Water” is an elegant, stylish solution for anyone wanting to attach a rainbarrel to their home that won’t detract from the exterior appearance.  The system has a watering can built in that fills with water as it rains (overflow goes into the barrel). No more having to store a watering can nearby with this rainwater collection device!

Plus, it comes with a small tap at the bottom of the barrel so when the watering can is empty, the user can just refill it again and go. These can even be installed by apartment-dwellers. And remember: saving water also saves energy. Moving and filtering water throughout your local community requires power. Collecting and using water onsite reduces these energy demands, although won’t likely reduce your own energy bill directly (your water bill will be smaller, however).

These water collectors are made with a coated wooden mold into which is applied a colored epoxy gelcoat to create the outer layer of the barrel. Following the gelcoat, the designers then apply several layers of glassfiber and epoxy resin. The barrel is finished after the epoxy resin is dry—the two halves are glued together with super strong glue. The rough edges are then removed to create a super-smooth outer appearance.

This designer has developed several other innovative garden tools such as the Bioplastic Planter and the Multiculti (planters). He’s even developed a Paper Table and a Shower Flower.

A Drop of Water - rain barrel

A Drop of Water - manufacturing process

e-Cycler online recycling swap service

If you’ve got room in your recycling bin, you may just be able to rent out a portion of it to one of your neighbors or a family member—or whoever! Likewise, if your bin is threatening to overflow onto the lawn next door, or you’re lacking recycling pick-up altogether, you may want to find someone willing to take your recyclables away for you. With e-Cycler, a new online service, whether you’ve got extra room or are collecting extra recyclables, you’ll be able to swap, collect and recycle trash, while perhaps making a bit of extra dough for yourself. Everyone wins!

Curbside recycling Via Flickr - g_kat26

Here’s how it works. Regardless of whether you’re giving or taking recyclables, you simply start by registering as a member of the e-Cycler community. You next state whether you’ve got extra room or extra trash and then look for appropriate connections in your area (look for ones closer to your home or on a regular travel route to avoid adding additional greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere to transport your goods, of course).

The receiver/collector of the recyclables can then decide how they want to handle extra funds they receive as a result of recycling the extra goods. They can either decide to keep 100 percent of the profits for themselves, or if they like, they can opt to share the profits by sharing 40 percent of the profits with the giver and keeping 60 percent for themselves. It’s up to the collector ultimately.

Recycling drop-off Via Flickr - AGeekMom

Of course, because e-Cycler also want to make a bit of money, they are charging a small fee to collectors for every connection they make. It’s definitely a great system for helping to send trash in the right direction while saving power (making goods from recycled materials uses less energy than manufacturing with virgin materials), and as long as the connections don’t require enormous amounts of driving, it should have a positive net effect.

Tokyo Station, Japan

Train stations in Tokyo are implementing power-generating floors, allowing passengers to contribute energy back to the station itself. Although this process is complicated, it will not alter the transportation process. The entire station would be outfitted with power-generating mats that will sense vibrations and convert them into electricity.

In two Tokyo train stations, steps are under way to generate electricity from the floors of the ticket gates and staircases. If successful, passengers could help provide the train stations with 1,400 kilowatts per second each day.

The Tokyo station and Shibuya station is used by about 2.4 million people on an average week day. This will generate approximately  10 watts per second, and helps to reduce the energy needed by the building by 90%.

When the test period ends in February 2009, the makers – Soundpower Corp.and East Japan Railway Company (JR East) – hope the floors have improved to the point that they can provide all the electricity needed to run the automatic ticket gates and electronic display systems.

This technological development is working on being implemented into mall floors, sidewalks and roads.

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E-WERK Bicycle Charger

We always like to cover chargers for portable devices since our lives are so tech-heavy, especially on the go. From cell phones and PDAs to laptops and GPS devices, we’re wired for work everywhere we go, and all of this technology requires some sort of energy to keep it going.

There are all sorts of charging technologies on the market today, including solar, wind, fuel cell, and more. But today’s gadget charger is one that uses your own human energy. Attached to your bike as you cycle to work, take a leisurely ride with your kids, or whatever, this E-Werk device is a universal power supply and recharger made by Busch & Muller KG in Germany.

E-WERK Bicycle Charging Tools

With your own muscle power as you ride, the E-Werk will generate up to 16 W of power and recharges as quickly as the average plug-in charger. It weighs about 53 grams and comes with two cables as well as a USB connector so that you can hook it up to almost any device. You can use a stylus that’s mounted at the bottom of the E-Werk to adjust voltage and current so that you can use it to serve a variety of applications. It can be used to power anything from your GPS device, PDA, cell phone, bike lights, music player, and more.

The E-Werk was awarded the esteemed Eurobike Green Award for a product that “exhibits particularly significant ecological and sustainable value.” It will be available for purchase starting in October for £139.

People are packing their backpacks to head off to school, and so it’s a good time to talk about how you can charge your gadgets and things using the power of the sun. Here’s a run-down of a few great options available from the solar world today.

Solio Charger

Portable Solar with Solio

A standard in any green backpack, the Solio Charger from Solio will charge devices anytime (there’s a battery on board for storing energy) from anywhere.  It’s small and versatile.

Cost: $50

Voltaic Systems Solar Backpack

Solar-powered anything with Volaic Systems Solar Backpack

A favorite with greens for many years, this Voltaic solar backpack can charge nearly any device (comes with 11 standard adaptors) as you walk to work or hike a mountain. There’s also a battery back that will store energy until you need it.

Cost: $249

NovoThink iphone-solar-skin

Sun-powered skin for the iPhone or iPod Touch by NovoThink

Available by the end of September, the NovoThink Solar Surge will make it a whole lot easier for iPhone or the iPod Touch owners to power-up their portables with solar. According to the literature, the Solar Surge will provide 30 minutes of talk time on 3G networks and 60 minutes on 2G networks with just 2 hours of charging in direct sunlight. The battery built into the skin will also hold 120 percent of the iPhone 3G’s capacity, too.

Cost: $70

Brunton SolarRolls

Roll-away solar charging is convenient, compact

The SolarRoll by Brunton is made to be packed pretty much anywhere—in your car, your backpack, or your briefcase—because it’s lightweight and compact. It’ll charge most hand-held devices and comes with three watt capacities for added flexibility.

Cost: $295-$480

SolarGorilla Laptop Charger

High Wattage with SolarGorilla Laptop Charger

From PowerTraveller comes the SolarGorilla, a portable solar charger that’s big on power. It’s compact, fold-up design is rugged and easy to use, and will power most devices, including laptops. Comes with many attachments for maximum usability.

Cost: $276