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

The Nano: 14 Million New Cars on India's Streets

Image courtesy of Flickr user B. Balaji

If you drive a car, or even have to take a bus in any sort of major city you know that traffic is a terrible thing. When I went to India I was shocked to see that the streets there are at least three times as packed as the streets of Toronto, not to mention they’re usually smaller streets too. People get into grid locks that are near to impossible to break out of. The last thing that needs to be on the street is more cars. It’s bad enough that somehow the Western countries have been convinced that “hybrids” and environmentally friendly cars are a smart choice. The dumbest bike is still smarter than the smartest car.

Yet still for some reason people are praising the new car that is to be released this July in India. Boasted as the “people’s car” The Nano is said to bring new opportunities for families in the lower income bracket of India. Costing only $2000/USD or apx 1 000 000 rupees because of its lack of airbags, radio, electric windows and other luxuries it is definitely something feasible for these families. Currently the only options for them are bicycles, scooters and walking. With this new “cheap” car nearly anyone will be able to afford a motorized vehicle. And people will buy it. Economists have speculated that this new car will boost India’s car sales by 65%.

More »

Dose of Reality: Happy New Year

“The science is beyond dispute… Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.”

I never thought I’d see the day when the President of the USA would be considered “more green” than the prime minister of Canada. I’m happy to say, that I truly believe Obama is just that. (Although…to be fair – being “more green” then the Canadian government isn’t super hard right now.)

The future looks mostly friendly with Obama on leading the way. Originally there was some skepticism over his support for “clean coal” support – but won the environmentalists back with his incredibly aggressive and undeniably ambitious plan for climate change and renewable energies. This plan focuses on an attempt to reduce 80 % emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 along side auctioning 100 % of the pollution permits. If he holds true to his plan it will also include a $150 billion investment for green jobs and clean energies.

He is calling for 30% of all the government’s electricity to come from renewable energy within the next 11 years, and 25% of ALL U.S.A electricity to come from sustainable/renewable sources by 2025. All “new buildings” would be carbon neutral by 2030 and U.S oil consumption would drop by at least 35%. He opposes oil drilling in the Arctic, supports Nuclear energy (although doesn’t want it stuck under Yucca - but did accept $159 800 in contributions from Exelon) and supports labeling foods for GMOs and country-of-origin.

So it looks as though that America is rolling into a new year with some bright light ahead of them. To the east Spain is putting forth intense efforts to start a competition for the biggest and baddest solar energy device this world can offer. They’re not even going to keep it to themselves, but have said that they will export the technology to places such as Algeria and Morocco.

The 20MW solar tower is also a forerunner for an even more ambitious idea, one that Abascal [Abengoa’s CTO] hopes will become a standard for CSP plants in future — a 50MW version that could generate electricity around the clock. “During the day, you’d use 50% of your electricity to produce electricity and 50% to heat molten salt. During the night you use the molten salt to produce electricity.”

Molten salt technology is in its early stages but Abengoa is testing the idea at a power plant in Granada. So far the company has demonstrated that it is possible to store up to eight hours of solar energy by heating tanks containing 28,000 tonnes of salt to more than 220C. “This will make it possible to have almost constant production or at least it will be able to produce energy for most of the day,” said Abascal.

India is doing it’s part by introducing such technology as the solar rickshaw!

The solar version reaches a pretty impressive speed of about 15 kilometres per hour and, fully-charged, the battery can keep going for 50-70 kilometres. The goal is to develop the current four Soleckshaws into more advanced models in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Hopefully these sorts of technologies will only keep going so that the everyday rickshaw driver can afford one. But for less costly environmental efforts we can turn to Japan where they’re using recycled bottles to save people’s lives.

All over the world there are people devoting their lives, or simply just doing their best to help save the environment. I look forward to this new year, when I suspect that we’ll see many changes in America, Canada and all over the world. Although some of the governments may not have the best plans, at least they’re starting to have plans at all. And it’s going to take the effort, passion and devotion of every single person to see some major changes starting to take place.

So Happy New Year! I hope this coming year brings you lots of green-filled surprises and cool new technologies for us all to try out. Throughout the year I’ll keep you updated on coral reefs, endangered species, deforestation, pollution and the hardships that people are facing because of global warming and other environmental disasters.

“We are not acting as good stewards of God’s Earth when our bottom line puts the size of our profits before the future of our planet.”
— Obama Oct. 14, 2007, in a speech at an interfaith forum on climate change

What's Wrong With This Picture?

In a country with a population of 1 billion and the average individual income less than $500 USD per year, it might seem sort of perverse to parade around a group of impoverished people holding expensive designer accessories and then photograph them for a fashion magazine layout. In fact, that is exactly what Vogue India did for their August 2008 issue.

Over half of India’s population lives on less than $2.00 per day. Yet, here in the glossy pages of this so-called “fashion” magazine, are images of a toothless old woman in traditional Indian dress holding an infant in a $100 Fendi bib, and an old man with holes in his dirty shirt holding a $200 Burberry umbrella.

The editor of Vogue India, one Ms. Priya “let-them-eat-gulab-jamin” Tanna was quoted in a New York Times interview saying, “You have to remember with fashion, you can’t take it that seriously. We weren’t trying to make a political statement or save the world.”

Ms. Tanna, I respectfully disagree. Welcome to the new world of Sustainable Fashion. This is precisely the kind of exploitation that has managed to rile so many fashionable people and launch a movement toward fair labor practices, ethical manufacturing, fair trade, and ecologically sound products.

Not to put the blame entirely on Vogue India, however; it seems that luxury brands are clamoring to get at the top 1/10 of Indian households which hold the majority of the country’s wealth. While millions of people sleep in filth with no access to running water, billboards and magazines full of Western status symbols taunt them, and at the same time, entice the Indian elite to own all the right logos.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a socialist. I don’t think everyone on earth should have the same amount of money or property or Gucci. I’m saying that, if by chance, you have been lucky enough to receive more than your fair share of this world’s luxuries, try not to humiliate and exploit the less fortunate just for the sake of “fashion”. As they say in India, that’s just bad karma.

Cell Towers and Health Effects: Cellular Disservice?

This past week a local in my town contacted me to see if I would be interested in discussing the issues surrounding a potential cellular tower that would be constructed within one mile of my house. Some of us from the town had the chance to voice our concerns to the Connecticut Siting Council, which is the governing body that determines zoning for these towers in our state.

Having written about microwave energy and electromagnetic fields a few years ago, I remembered interviewing Carl Blackman, a research scientist in the Environmental Carcinogenesis Division of the EPA, and asking him about cell phones and cellular base stations in relation to electromagnetic fields and the possible health impact. Blackman was one among quite a few scientists and researchers I interviewed who reiterated the same sentiment: “We just don’t know yet. The science is not in.” The fact that the jury is still out on this vast topic, in a field (pardon the pun) that is ever-expanding, is enough, for some, to warrant grassroots action.

The subject is controversial and highly debated, although the issue is one that people are dealing with world-wide. The fear is that without mobile phones and cell towers covering every inch of land, emergency services will be left without connection, leaving us, “with a hole big enough to drive a hearse through…” as I recently read in a concerned citizen’s letter to the NYTimes. One concern is that the proliferation of these towers and devices has gone largely unmonitored, unregulated, and, according to some scientists, could potentially lead to serious health issues.

The World Health Organization has advised that the “precautionary principle” be enacted as a preemptive move before certainty of harm is verified by science. This essentially means that when any new technology is evolving beyond the scope of scientific research, it is advisable to protect oneself through risk management. So, while some still think that those who discuss this topic with seriousness are delusional and should be stuttering through the park, wearing a tinfoil hat, others, including the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, and member countries of the European union feel it is worth serious discussion.

In Europe, some governments have set exposure standards below those of the standardizing agencies, in order to try to protect their citizens. In India, towers were recently banned from school and residential areas to protect people following studies that showed potential harm to the brain. The United States Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section 704(a) removes environmental considerations from the tower siting process, which denies citizens the opportunity to protest based on ecological concerns (zoning) or health issues.

In 2006, the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF,) the largest union of first responders in North America, passed a resolution banning cellular towers from firehouses until more research is done, because firefighters were suffering from ill health. Internationally, the concern regarding the exponential proliferation of wireless devices and base stations to support them has provoked scientific studies and prompted legislators to err on the side of caution when it comes to regulations. Many scientists are discussing the potential impact on DNA, neurological function, and human health while others study migratory birds and the reproduction patterns of all animal populations in the vicinity of strong electromagnetic fields.

In my town, in NW Connecticut, we are currently experiencing the battle. The cellular tower has been proposed to be on Route 7, a scenic highway that runs parallel with the Appalachian Trail. The AT park manager has sent a letter in response to the proposed tower stating that they had no problem with it, so long as Cellco/Verizon makes the tower look like a tree and plants 25 white pines along the trail.

The tower site is also within one mile of two schools and is next door to the largest employer of the town. The site abuts a friend’s property. Both he and his wife are cancer survivors and fear the tower could affect their health. At the public hearing, where town members were allowed to voice their opinions to the siting commission (who ultimately decides whether the tower goes up or not,) people expressed various concerns:
More »

Cure-All for Modern Life: Green Tea!

Tea is harvested by real people like this woman, so choose organic, fair-trade leaves when you’re at the store. 

While I’m practically allergic to the caffeine in coffee (though I so love the taste), some days I couldn’t get by without a little green or white tea to perk me up. As we’ve all heard ad nauseum fo the past few years, antioxidants, which are found in high levels in green tea, chocolate, pomegranates, blueberries and other foods are cancer fighters ’cause they attack free radicals (which are plentiful in our polluted air and water, even if you live in the middle of nowhere).

But you don’t want to drink just any tea, especially not one made with tea leaves that are of dubious quality (which don’t taste great) or Some great green teas to get you started include:

Srina Green Tea is delicious, with clean, earthy taste and a tidy brew. I got sent some as a sample a few months back and it perks me right up. Their farming eco-credentials are impressive:

Srina™ (pronounced, shrih-nah) is 100% organically grown green tea, hand-plucked and packaged using natural fibers. We grow our green tea on a distinctly high mountainous region of Sri Lanka located on a 90-acre rainforest called Paradise Farm.

Yogi Teas makes most of my favorite teas. All of them are mostly organic, and they have a huge variety of green teas (including non-caffeinated and chai). The teas have their origins in the 1970′s, when followers of Yogi Bhajan, served it in vegetarian restaurants and expanded from there.

Choice Organics green teas are all-organic, harvested sustainably from China, India, Japan and Nepal. They also have a huge selection of green teas; try a couple and figure out which ones are your favorites!