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Gaea recently sent my family some samples of its extra-virgin olive oil to sample.  The premise of their operation is simple: grow great tasting olives, produce high quality olive oil, and offset their carbon emissions.

We’ve used the olive oil for a week or so, cooking with it (excellent flavor for meats and veggies) and using it in our recipes.  The verdict?  Delicious.  Whether you’re making a salad dressing, sauteing veggies or chicken – you can’t go wrong.

Gaea offers a variety of olive oils: Sitia-Crete, Kalamata, Organic, and several flavored versions.

There are also whole olives, tampenades, appetizers, roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, grape leaves, and a line of sauces that I’d love to get my hands on.

Now, to the claim that Gaea is the “first extra virgin olive oil in the world to be certified carbon neutral”.  A google search turns up some smaller olive farms that have attempted to achieve similar carbon reductions and offsets.  I’m really not too worried who was the first to be certified, but I am interested in how Gaea achieves those claims:

Carbon or Greenhouse Gas offsetting is the funding of climate protection
projects by an individual or a company, such as GAEA, in order to
compensate for the carbon emissions it produces as a result from its
operations and/or products. GAEA calculated the amount of carbon
emissions produced per kg of olive oil and compensated it by funding
climate protection projects through the myclimate foundation.

Ok, so it’s through offsets, then.  Well what kind of offsets you ask?  Gaea provides the details in this brochure.

Let me get on my soapbox for a minute:  I am happy to see when companies are interested in reducing their environmental impact, though I wish that the website went into more detail about their carbon calculations.  I also wish that Gaea provided a description of the other methods that they are using to reduce their environmental impact.  Are they reducing fertilizers and pesticides?  Preventing soil erosion?  I have been and will continue to be skeptical about companies who pay for carbon offsets, do little to make real on-the-ground changes, and call their products climate neutral.  To be fair, I requested this information from the company and this is their response:

Gaea is leading the way in the international olive oil industry with their green ‘rev-oil-ution’ to reduce the environmental impact of their operations from cultivation to the shelves of the supermarket. Gaea is committed to preserving the Earth’s natural resources with our non-depletion policy on wild products, recycling policies, Integrated Crop Management and Organic Farming techniques. With a name that literally stands for ‘Mother Earth’, Gaea has been committed to environmental sustainability since its inception. Care and respect for the environment remains at the core of our company values.  This information can be found on the Gaea website at http://www.gaea.gr/1/gaeaStory2.html.

I’m not sure what “non-depletion policy on wild products” means, but it does sound like the company is attempting to minimize its environmental impact.  I do know that a more complete disclosure of their carbon emissions inventory and farming practices would go a long way for environmentally conscious consumers.

If you are in the market for some extra virgin olive oil, or Greek specialty products – Give Gaea a try!

[ed note: the following post is written by Alison Bayne.  Check out her blog at alisonbayne.blogspot.com]

The Book of Rubbish Ideas is anything but rubbish. It is FULL of excellent tips to help eco-newbies and hard-core Greens see rubbish as a resource, cut down on waste, and save time, money and resources as a result.

Don’t be put off by the quirky cover; author, Tracey Smith, a contented downshifter, aims to take the freaky out of eco, and her book is accessible, practical and positive. There’s no holier-than-thou attitude to reusable nappies, washable sanpro and chicken-keeping; we are encouraged to ditch the guilt for what we are not doing and start feeling good about what we are doing.

Tracey takes you on a tour through the average family home, from bedroom and bathroom through to the kitchen and out into the garden, including the Usually Male Domain of shed and garage, which so often get missed out where decluttering’s concerned.

Tracey’s project boxes at the end of each chapter include creating an art/craft box for your very own Make Do And Mend moments, a luscious His & Hers body scrub for a sticky night in, and (back down to earth) how to clean all sorts of household items – from grubby grout to wooden chopping boards – without using chemicals. Her practical advice is backed up with case studies from every day folk who are making their personal contribution to waste reduction through their own downshifting initiatives, and there are contributions from several celebrity greens, such as Wayne Hemmingway and Kim Wilde.

But this is more than a book of eco tips. It also helps readers get politically active and involved in environmental issues, by providing templates for letters to supermarkets, local schools and political representatives. There’s even an invite to send to your friends when hosting a Clothes Swap Party. So not only can you make changes within your own home, you can take steps to affect the wider world. The resources section is thorough and will have you hooked to the internet for days – there are websites, organisations and eco-products galore and a bibliography that is bound to fill up your amazon wishlist. One person’s rubbish may be another person’s treasure, but The Book of Rubbish Ideas is a gem for everyone.

[ed note: also check out the Book of Rubbish Ideas blog]

[ed note:] This post was sent to us by Tammy Roberts, from West Yorkshire, UK:

I’M GIVING UP MY CAR

I didn’t learn to drive until I was 30.  Up until that point, I hadn’t seen the point of having a car or even having the ability to drive, as public transport was convenient enough.  However, 2 months before my 30^th birthday, I moved to Plymouth for a new job and for the first time, I discovered how difficult it was to do my outreach work without a driving license – my job covered the whole of Devon and Cornwall.  Within 6 months, I passed my driving test and around 4 months later, I bought my first car – my beloved Fiat Tipo.  Yes, it was cheap and a bit of a banger and had all the quirks and faults that are found on most Italian cars (it’s a standing joke on Top Gear), but I loved it nonetheless!  And, my goodness, did I love the freedom that being a car owner gave me!  I was off to the beach at weekends and I drove back home to Yorkshire once a month to visit family and friends.  No more sharing my personal space on a 7 hour train journey, and trying to carry my own weight in luggage.  It was fantastic!  I even moved back to Yorkshire with my car full of my belongings, with a friend following behind, his car equally laden with my stuff.  I could not believe that I hadn’t learned to drive sooner and found that I needed my car for work more and more as I moved from job to job  When I had my son, 4 years ago, having a car was a bonus.  I remember a childhood of long bus journeys to shopping destinations with my mum, gran and my sister and it was so nice to be able to jump in the car with William in his baby seat and set off on day trips or to visit friends.

Now my son is almost 4 and I no longer need my car for my job.  I also only travel 1 mile to work now, instead of 24 each way that was my daily commute in a previous job.  Yes, the car is convenient for popping to the gym or supermarket, but it’s no longer a necessity and, with the cost of tax, insurance and increasing petrol prices, it’s no longer a commodity that I can afford.  And so I made the decision to get rid of the car.  My son’s school is 10 minutes walk from our house, we have a supermarket within a 20 minute walk, and the walk to work takes about 40 minutes, although there are plenty of buses from our village too.  Luckily, this has coincided with my parents’ need for a new car and, as my car is 8 years younger than theirs, so the decision was to ultimately benefit them too.

It’s scary though – I have to admit.  As lifestyle changes go, this is a biggy! How will I just pop to the rubbish tip to do my recycling, or drive to Aberdeen or Plymouth to visit friends for a break?  It’s daunting to think that my freedom will be limited and I will, once again, be reliant on buses and trains for all my transport needs.   However, I will lose weight and get fit from doing more walking, have more of my disposable income at my disposal and help the environment – what could be simpler?  I can’t ride a bike, as I never had a bike when I was young.  Perhaps, I’ll learn now, side by side with my son…….

[ed note: any other GG readers out there who've gone car-less?  I'm sure that Tammy isn't going it alone.  Great job Tammy!  I hope you keep us informed of your progress.]

We’ve seen mega-turbines before — but never one with an output of 10MW, and certainly not one that floats!

When completed, the world’s largest turbine will stand at roughly 533 feet with a rotor diameter of 475 feet. At three times more powerful than current turbines, it will be able to power over 2,000 homes. From Treehugger,

It will be built by the Norwegian company Sway and tested first on land in Oeygarden, southwestern Norway. Unlike most offshore wind projects where turbines rest on the seafloor, Sway turbines float. This means further offshore development where winds are stronger and more consistent.

The floating tower is a pole filled with ballast beneath the water creating low center of gravity. Anchored to the seabed with a single pipe and a suction anchor, it can tilt 5-8°, and turn around with the wind.

It’s expected that the prototype will cost close to $70 million and be completed sometime in 2011.

We’ve seen vertical gardens on the side of buildings before — but never one this, um, HUGE.

Architects and federal officials are planning a series of 250-foot-tall trellises designed to shade the west side of the remodeled Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building. The added greenery is just part of a $135 million project that will also feature elevators that generate electricity on the way down, solar arrays on the roof, smart lighting systems that adjust to the daylight available, among other advances. From the article,

Eggleston’s firm, SERA Architects, is working on some questions that weekend gardeners never have to figure out: what plants will grow readily at more than 200 feet in the air and how to water, fertilize, weed and prune at that height. The pruning might be done in much the same way windows are washed, he said, with workers hoisted and lowered on platforms. Rainwater collected on the roof, supplemented by city water, will be piped for irrigating the green wall, he said.

Construction is expected to take 30 to 40 months.

This will truly be a stunning addition to the Portland cityscape if constructed as planned — and we’re thrilled to see other buildings adopt vertical gardens, as well as sustainable features. Check out the full article for more!

Photo credit: Scott Baumberge

A lot of people are comparing this beautiful treehouse in Portland, Oregon to a hobbit dwelling. Personally, add a little black paint and it looks like something Darth Vader would retreat to when things get a little to hectic on the Death Star. It also looks like it would double as a swanky TIE fighter. From the architect,

Located on a flag lot, a steep sloping grade provided the opportunity to bring the main level of the house into the tree canopy to evoke the feeling of being in a tree house. A lover of music, the client wanted a house that not only became part of the natural landscape but also addressed the flow of music. This house evades the mechanics of the camera; it is difficult to capture the way the interior space flows seamlessly through to the exterior. One must actually stroll through the house to grasp its complexities and its connection to the exterior. One example is a natural wood ceiling, floating on curved laminated wood beams, passing through a generous glass wall which wraps around the main living room.

Check out some more pics here.

Wilkinson House via Boing Boing

From CNNMoney.com:

Lutz was asked if that means he would favor higher gasoline taxes, as in Europe where taxes drive fuel to more than $5 a gallon. He said he couldn’t speak for GM, but he said he saw a lot of value in a steady tax rise to much higher levels.

“You either continue with inexpensive motor fuels and have to find other ways to incent the customer to buy hybrids and electric vehicles, such as the government credits,” he said. “Or the other alternative is a gradual increase in the federal fuel tax of 25 cents a year, which in my estimation would have the benefit of giving automobile companies a planning base, and giving families that own vehicles a planning base.”

Lutz continued, noting that if families knew that the price of gasoline were going to steadily increase over the next few years, they would change their buying habits and lean towards more fuel efficient vehicles.

However shocking this admission may be to those that have followed “Maximum” Bob Lutz and his typically anti-global warming, pro-muscle car point of view (and magazine articles reporting that he regularly takes a helicopter to work).  He is realistic about the prospects of such a gas tax:

“Fuel taxation is the third rail of politics,” he said.

I was given the opportunity to speak with Bob Lutz after the reveal of the Chevy Volt.  He genuinely seemed to care as much about the Volt as he did any of the GM models that were produced that year – which is to say, a lot.  Whether the man believes in global warming (he doesn’t), or thinks that future vehicles will be run on alternative fuels (again no) – one can tell that the winds of change are blowing if I start agreeing with his sound bites.

My graduate school advisor, Charles Hall, is a very intelligent man, though he frequently defers to his doctoral advisor’s talent and knowledge.  Howard Odum explained the first and second laws of thermodynamics concisely and in a manner easy to understand:

The quantity of energy within a system is maintained (first law).  However, the quality of that energy degrades over time (second law).

Entropy is defined as

a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, that is a measure of the energy that is not available for work during a thermodynamic process. A closed system evolves toward a state of maximum entropy.

or, over time, a system evolves from a state of order (low entropy) towards disorder (high entropy).

Why the rudimentary physics review?  Well, I came across a series of photos of the Biosphere 2 project by Noah Sheldon (BLDGblog, via boing boing), which in my mind, embodies the concept of entropy.

Biosphere 2 was designed to test man’s ability to construct, maintain and live in a completely isolated biosphere to research and develop space colonization technology.  From b2science.org:

Two missions, between 1991 and 1994, sealed Biospherians inside the glass enclosure to measure survivability. Behind this highly public exercise was useful research that helped further ecological understanding.

A more detailed history of the site and its missions can be found here.

March 27, 1992—Six months into its two-year closure, the Biosphere 2 crew surpassed its first major milestone and set several world records—living inside closed ecological life support system longer than any predecessor…

April 24-27, 1992—Space Biospheres Ventures hosted the Third International Workshop on Closed Ecological Systems. Presentations and workshops were given by more than 30 different participants representing universities, research institutions, and government agencies from Russia, Europe, Japan and the United States. The symposium explored the dynamics and modeling of carbon dynamics in natural and engineered ecosystems underlining the potential importance of carbon research in Biosphere 2 in our understanding of issues involved in global warming.

I was a teenager in high school when Biosphere 2 was constructed and the experiments were carried out.  I remember hearing about it in science class and on the news.  At my age in the 1990s, the dream of colonizing the moon or Mars seemed entirely possible.  Unfortunately, the project suffered numerous setbacks, including declining oxygen levels, the “extinction” of many species – while others grew rampant, high nutrient levels in the water, and an unsafe build up dinitrogen oxide in the atmosphere.  Approximately 18 months into the experiment, oxygen had to be pumped into the closed system in order for the experimenters to remain for the full 2 year stay.  Politics and personal differences led to the project’s closure.

Today what remains is a picture of entropy (and a dose of humility).  From order to disorder.  A noble experiment to determine the limits of human sustainability, now a stark reminder of the human dependence on the other species on Earth, and the vast amount of energy required to maintain a “world” habitable for humans.

Image source: Univ. of Arizona

We love raucous festivals like Burning Man and music jamborees like Bonaroo, but we’ve never heard of one that combines the spirit of these events with the mission to actually accomplish something. Like building a build a micro wind turbine farm.

Such is the idea behind “Villages in the Sky: DIY World Change” — a a family-friendly renewable energy and sustainability celebration located in the Ozarks and scheduled for June 2010. Unlike gatherings that strive to leave things the way they were before anyone arrived, Villages in the Sky is looking to take advantage of crowd sourcing to create a better place than existed before. Participants will help build a micro wind turbine farm and bio-mass systems as well as giant play structures (zip lines, tree houses, ropes courses, etc). The entire event is internally cash free event which promotes a volunteer ethic and strangers working cooperatively for a shared goal. In fact, the main goal is to leave behind the beginnings of a locally self sufficient eco-village. Perhaps even one inspired by the Ewoks. From the website,

“Villages in the Sky is about more than wind mills and climate change. It is a full celebration of the element of air. Everything from paper airplane contests, to bubble blowing, to frisbees, to zip lines, to tree house villages complete with connecting bridges are being considered and encouraged.”

The VIS site is a 40 acre portion of the over 1000 acres owned by host East Wind Community in the Ozark mountains of south western Missouri. In other words, bring your GPS.

Right now, the event organizers are looking for help with funding and currently are in the hunt a $5K grant over at Brighter Planet. You can check out more details on the proposed plans — and help vote them through here!

2010 will most likely go down as the year electric cars were (once again) made available to the public through Big Auto. Both Nissan and Chevy have plans to release the Leaf and Volt respectively — and both focus on getting energy from being plugged in. (Although the Volt can charge its battery utilizing its small “range-extender engine”, but then what’s the point of having an electric car?)

If you’ve got the deep pockets for one, the most conventional way of charging the vehicle will be to simply plug it into an ordinary wall socket. Charging a Nissan Leaf would take up to 16 hours, and charging a Volt would take eight. If you’re in a hurry, however, the best thing to have on-hand in the garage is a “quick charger” — which pushes a much more considerable amount of juice to your car. Instead of 8 hours, you can now have a fully charged Volt in under 2.5 hours.

Unfortunately, having a quick charger installed in your garage is not something just anyone can do. From CNN Money,

“The equipment has to be fully approved, installed by a competent professional, and in most cases, a city or state inspector will have to approve it all.”

In some instances, users had to jump through hoops that amounted to a month or more of waiting for the right installer/inspector to visit their home. “But the broader market of car buyers are likely to be turned off by any additional hassles”, said Charlie Vogelheim, executive editor of Intellichoice.com to CNN. “They all become detriments to making the sale,” he said. “That’s the type of thing that slows it down going into the mainstream.”

Companies like Nissan and Chevy are attempting to alleviate such potential issues by working with city and state governments now — so that later in 2010, when new customers attempt to order quick chargers and get them inspected, they’re not met with blank stares. As Sebastian Blanco, editor of Autobloggreen added, “Little setbacks will not be enough to hold back the tide of people who really want these cars.”