Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Celebrate New Year's, 2009 at Greenhouse

For those looking to add a dash of green to their winter holiday partying, the Greenhouse in New York City is throwing a New Year’s Eve bash!  The L.E.E.D. registered nightclub and event space is manufactured from recycled and recycleable materials and was conceived as the first eco-friendly party spot by its owner Jon Bakhshi.  High efficiency heating, LED lighting, green living wall panels as well as bamboo and FSC-certified wood flooring and wall paneling have been incorporated into the club’s design.  The dramatic decor of the bi-level 6,000 square foot club also includes bars made of recycled glass, which display panoramic landscapes, and a streaming chandelier composed of 5,0000 crystals.  

The club staff wear togs by the organic clothing brand Edun (founded by Ali Hewson and Bono) and attention has been paid to equip the space with eco-friendly brand products (including bathrooms stocked with Kiehl’s Aloe Vera Biodegradable Liquid Soap).  The Greenhouse even participates in a carbon offsetting program to counterbalance the energy used during its construction and operation.

Other events around town, like the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run [yup, that is what it is called] or Jivamukti’s 20th Annual New Year’s Celebration, also offer healthy options to go out and play while still staying grounded and contemplative.  New Year’s Eve is a special time to set intentions for the future and close the past all the while reflecting on where we are in the present moment.  It’s not often that we are so conscious of the day, hour, minutes, and even seconds as we collectively count down around the globe from 10 to 1.

New Year’s ‘09 at Greenhouse

General Admission $125
Seated VIP $185
Ultra VIP $215
Platinum VIP $250
After 12:30 General Admission $40

For More on the New Year’s Options at Greenhouse, go to the next page.
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Green Schools 101

Green schools are inarguably the right decision for our children and the environment. Though up-front costs are higher, green buildings save enough in operation and maintenance expenses to pay for their original construction in a matter of months. The money saved on energy bills (the annual energy savings from a single green school is generally in the 6-digit range) can be reallocated to pay for important school initiatives, additional teachers, better computers, or thousands of textbooks. Green schools also prevent the unnecessary production of millions of tons of CO2. Overall, buildings are the largest contributors to US CO2 production. Renovations and new school construction represent the largest construction sector in the U.S.—$80 billion in 2006-2008, about 27% of the US construction market (source: McGraw-Hill).

Given the enormous financial and environmental benefits, green schools seem an obvious choice, but red tape, laws and up-front costs often prevent their construction. The highly localized nature of school budgets creates a bureaucratic disconnect between capital funds (used for construction) and operating funds (used for utility bills). The difference in funding sources makes it difficult for schools to realize the potential operating-cost savings of a green building investment.

To help school boards realize the financial and environmental benefits of green building, The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched the “Green Schools Advocate” Program. The program will select and train national volunteers to advocate green schools to local school boards and state boards of education.

About 75 advocates will be chosen and will be invited to attend a two-day training camp at the USGBC’s headquarters in Washington, DC. Training camp will cover the benefits of green schools, LEED for Schools certification, and tactics to propel the decision-making process of building, renovating, and maintaining green schools. Advocates will learn to present the case for green schools to district governments, the local media, and other stakeholders including PTA groups.

The “Green Schools Advocate” program is a rare opportunity to make an impact in a range of causes. Green schools provide healthier learning environments for our children and reallocate money squandered on energy bills for better educational initiatives. To boot, green schools act as community exemplars, teaching tools and levers for mainstreaming green building practices into homes and offices around the US. Most of all, green schools would save millions of unnecessary tons of CO2.

If you want to get involved or think you might make a stellar “Green Schools Advocate” email The United States Green Building Council at buildgreenschools@usgbc.org. Or visit the USGBC’s Green Schools Website buildgreenschools.org for more information.

The 11th Hour, A.K.A. Leo's Movie!

As almost anyone who reads this site knows, we are at a critical point in human history, and I truly don’t think its hyperbole to write that we are utterly screwed if we don’t make some seriously smart choices regarding our environment in the next few years.

This conceit is the same tack that 11th Hour, the doc produced and narrated by Leo DiCaprio takes, and makes no bones about the destruction that humanity has wrought on the planet. The film looks at the whys and the wherefores, and I have to say, for the first 1/3 of the movie, I was sad and uncomfortable to be human. BUT though I can’t say I ‘enjoyed’ it, it was a comprehensive look at exactly the kinds of issues we’re facing. Going beyond global warming, the film documents and explains species’ extinction, the oceans crisis, deforestation and rainforest destruction, and how these are all connected to not just saving the planet, but ultimately saving us.

The second part of the movie is the search for how we are going to solve these problems, and it actually brought tears to my eyes (OK, I cried a bit during the first part too, out of frustration and sadness), but these tears were those of hope and excitement. Showcasing EXACTLY what humanity needs to do, how we need to do it, and how we need to change the way we think about, well, everything, the latter part of the film was nothing short of incredibly hopeful and forward-looking. Changes and more wholistic views of design, architecture, and business were highlighted of course (and readers of this blog or any of the other ‘green’ blogs will know about most of it and more already), but even better was the discussion, by all the amazing folks that got together to lend their perspectives to the film, about how we have to change the way we think about our relationship to our home planet. I won’t say much more, because even if you’re an enviro-head and think you know all this stuff you should definitely go see this movie. It’s nothing short of a call to humanity to save itself.

My favorite quote? “This is all hands on deck time.”

My fave fascinating fact from the movie? There are twice as many people on the planet now as there were when JFK was president (from about 3 billion to about 6 billion). You know, I just didn’t realize that before. The idea of it is a little mind-blowing.

From the official promotions for the film:

The 11th Hour describes the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how humanity has arrived at this moment – how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. The film features dialogues with experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau, in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who present the facts and discuss the most important issues that face our planet.

If you go to the site, you can put your zip code in and they will give you info about where you can see the movie near you. If you’ve already seen it, I’d love to hear what you think!

For another perspective, check out Eco Chick blogger Olivia’s review on the Huffington Post.

The Car-free Life in Paris

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the trend toward building entire subdivisions as car-free communities here in Germany; though these neighborhoods eschew cars and roads for bikes and courtyards, they also offer a bit of storage space to house the bikes (either as covered garages or, in the single-family homes, on porches).

In larger, more compact cities, though, there often isn’t enough room for residents to keep their bikes inside and the threat of theft is too great to store bikes outside (nearly every person I’ve spoken to in Cologne has had a bike stolen – hence the preference for buying cheap, unexciting, used bikes instead of mountain or racing bikes). To keep people riding, then, cities like Copenhagen offer cycles free of charge to riders (the cost of the bike is supported by advertisements). All you need is a Euro coin as a deposit to unlock the bike; you get the coin back when the bike’s returned to a station in the city and locked anew.

photo (c) aisipos, via flickr creative commons

Lyon has a similar program, though you pay a small amount for each ride; it’s a popular way home for students after late-night dinners with too much wine. Now Paris is trying it out, too. From The New York Times:

The program, Vélib (for “vélo,” bicycle, and “liberté,” freedom), is the latest in a string of European efforts to reduce the number of cars in city centers and give people incentives to choose more eco-friendly modes of transport.

“This is about revolutionizing urban culture,” said Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of Paris’s trendy third district, which opened 15 docking stations on Sunday. “For a long time cars were associated with freedom of movement and flexibility. What we want to show people is that in many ways bicycles fulfill this role much more today.”

Users can rent a bike online or at any of the stations, using a credit or debit card and leave them at any other station.

A one-day pass costs 1 euro ($1.38), a weekly pass 5 euros ($6.90) and a yearly subscription 29 euros ($40), with no additional charges as long as each bike ride does not exceed 30 minutes. (Beyond that, there is an incremental surcharge, to make sure that as many bikes as possible stay in the rotation.)

I’m really excited that this idea is catching on; wherever my husband and I travel, we rent bikes to get around the city and these ad-sponsored cycles take some of the worry out of having the bike stolen. And as tourists, we see more of the people, the architecture, and everyday life by bike than by subway, so it’s a treat I wouldn’t want to give up. I just hope someone brings this idea to the US soon … because while it’s easy enough to make the car-free lifestyle choice in your hometown, getting around as a tourist is a bit more difficult to do and a program like this takes some of the worries away. So you can spend more time indulging in the arts and wine and not worry about hitting the wrong Metro home or trying to navigate a hatchback down one-way streets cobbled together with tiny stones.

Wind to Light in London

I’m always on the lookout for interesting eco-friendly art, or creative projects that make a comment about environmental topics. Artistic endeavors are the primary way the future will look back on our time and judge where our priorities are. Whether writing, painting, sculpting, singing, or creating mixed-media pieces, art tells us where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. Of course creativity cannot be contained in a vacuum, and the goal of most of these endeavors is to show us how to change, and give us new ways to think.

Wind to Light is another London-based installation that I wish I could hop the pond to see (but can’t really justify, considering the CO2 emissions of a flight from NYC to London!); These gorgeous images will have to suffice until they bring it closer to home.

Wind to Light is a brand new installation that beautifully illustrates alternative, sustainable ways of harnessing energy.

Hundreds of tiny wind turbines generate the power to illuminate hundreds of mounted LEDS, creating firefly-like clouds of light.

Jason Bruges, the creator says: “Wind to Light is an experimental piece, an investigation into the viability of wind power. I hope it will prove thought-provoking as well as being an art piece that can be enjoyed by people of all ages”.

Wind to Light by Jason Bruges Studio is a onedotzero / RIBA London commission in conjunction with Southbank Centre Lightlab for Architecture Week 2007.

If you want to find out more please come down to a FREE talk 7pm, Thursday June 21 2007, Wren Room, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, W1B, where Jason Bruges, XCO2 and DIY Kyoto, all creatives working in this area will be presenting ideas and answering questions. Email Kate.Waymouth@anderselite.com to save your place!

What: Wind to Light | Jason Bruges Studio
When: 15 June – 1 September 2007
Where: Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof, Southbank Centre London, SE1

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