It’s a familiar refrain here at Love Tomorrow Today: optimism is an important part of what shapes our views on sustainability. No good and necessary change was ever achieved by a fatalist. But just as important is a balanced, sober assessment of the state of things. We need to know just how bad things are (or will be without appropriate action) in order to make the right choices for tomorrow. A new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report offers just that and suggests the short-sightedness of the government and private sectors that contributed to the recent global financial meltdown should stand as a warning to help avoid a similar (and more devastating) ‘eco credit crunch.’  According to the Living Planet Report 2008, the Earth’s natural resources are being used up to 30%  faster than they can be replaced in a reckless environmental spending spree.

The report offers a caution to world leaders that they must consider the problems of depleted ecosystems in the same way they have coordinated efforts to revive financial institutions.

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The Philadelphia Phillies happen to be both this morning. After beating the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays in the rain-delayed fifth game of the World Series, the Phillies are baseball’s champions for the first time since 1980. But earlier this year, they were leaders in another area entirely. In late spring, the Phillies purchased 20 million kilowatt-hours’ worth of renewable energy certificates to offset the team’s electricity use at Citizens Bank Park for a day. The purchase of Green-e certified renewable energy certificates was the largest renewable-energy buy in professional sports to date, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The offset was estimated to be the equivalent of planting 100,000 trees.

The move reflected the groundswell of green thinking in baseball, as other teams are joining Major League Baseball’s Team Greening program to incorporate environmentally sensitive practices at each ballpark. Minor League Baseball is making a green push as well, including the Lake Elsinore Storm which kicked off its ‘Goin Green’ campaign last season. In one game, the team had its players wear hemp jerseys then auctioned them off to support the team’s environmental initiatives. As Storm team president, Dave Oster, explains, “the beauty of what we’re doing is that, because of who we are, we have the power to influence thousands and thousands of people each night,” he said. “We can make real changes in our own community, and those changes will spread to other communities as well. This is something that is growing from a grassroots level, and it’s only going to get bigger.”

My San Francisco Giants were…not good this season, but I’m thrilled to see a team that’s willing to take a lead on green initiatives win the World Series! Congrats to the Phillies!!

Does eating right mean you’re eating…right? Since long before Joni Mitchell was singing about D.D.T. and spots on apples, people have been concerned about how their food is grown and cultivated. But no longer confined to  the Canadian folk singer crowd or to that aisle in the supermarket with British cereals and Australian vegemite, organic food has gone mainstream. Organic food is the fastest growing food sector in the United States, averaging a 20% annual growth rate each year since 1990. Wal-Mart now offers a line of organic food. But maybe we should be more concerned with where the food originates than how.

A few weeks ago, after biting into a delicious organic apple purchased at our neighborhood grocery store, I noticed that the label said ‘Grown in South Africa.’ Let’s assume it had been grown without the use of pesticides and employing the very latest in sustainable agricultural techniques, the apple still had to travel from an orchard in South Africa to my kitchen table in New England. In an earlier post, we considered the concept of an ecological backpack. This tiny apple had a big ol’ backpack!

The concept of buying and eating locally is part of a broader sustainability approach, where food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic development and well-being of a particular community. Eating locally almost always equates to eating healthy. Consider the benefits of what some refer to as the ‘100 mile diet‘ (choosing to eat food produced within a 100 mile radius); food is fresher (therefore richer in nutrients and taste), and its relative environmental impact is much lower.

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Talk about rebirth! Buddhist monks at a temple in Thailand are considering the cycle (recycle?) of life in a new way. Located in Thailand’s Sisaket province, about 600 km (370 miles) northeast of Bangkok, the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple was built using an estimated 1.5 million glass bottles. The temple’s construction is a novel example of the growing involvement of religious communities in the conversation on environmental issues. Increasingly, religious leaders of different faiths are encouraging their followers to view environmentalism as not just consistent with their beliefs but an important component of their faith. In February 2006, for example, a group of 86 evangelical Christian leaders from across the United States unveiled a campaign for environmental reform and put out a statement calling on all Christians to push for federal legislation that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions in an effort to stem global warming. Similarly, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s political and spiritual leader, has long been an outspoken advocate of environmental initiatives. While the Dalai Lama has admitted he never uses the world “sustainability,” he has said “we have a responsibility to take care of the environment. It is our only home.” In the case of Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple, this is quite literally the case. Here are some more photos of the temple.

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[Bono, delivering a speech at last week's California's Women Conference]

No one was cooler than Paul Newman! When the screen legend passed away earlier this month, the world lost a powerful advocate for social responsibility. Thankfully, the world still has Bono. As I sit here writing this, I’m struggling to think of anyone alive that’s even in the same realm of coolness as Bono. While bands like The Who and The Rolling Stones are still together (for the most part) after nearly 50 years, Bono’s band, U2, continues to actually produce new and relevant music, four decades into their career. But Bono’s unique coolness comes as much from his ability to leverage his celebrity to enlighten, encourage and enrich the world as from his over-sized sunglasses and unrivaled stage presence.

Unlike countless other activist-entertainers, he’s managed to be political without being annoyingly preachy, persuasive without being manipulative, thoughtful without taking himself too seriously. Through his ONE Campaign, a U.S.-based, nonpartisan, non-profit organization which aims to increase United States government funding for and effectiveness of international aid programs, Bono is driving a global initiative to fight extreme poverty. While there is no overt sustainability component to the One Campaign, we at Love Tomorrow Today share that belief in the power of inspiration, the reality of inter-connectedness and the imperative of investing in tomorrow’s world.  Like the One Campaign, we believe in the urgency of simple change and the power of one. Check out their Keep Our Commitments petition.

During the era of the Space Race, the popular conception of the 21st century was one of flying cars, moon colonies and robot butlers. Next year will mark 40 years since man first walked on the moon- we stopped going there in 1972, and I’m still waiting on my robot butler and my flying car. The modern car runs on essentially the same technology as it has for a century. Shai Agassi thinks it’s time for the 2nd century of the car industry to commence, and he (and his company Better Place) are working to make that happen, leading the way towards clean-green transportation technologies.

Agassi, who has an impressive track record for shepherding successful innovation and has made a fortune as a software entrepreneur, believes the greatest obstacle for green transportation is infrastructure. Scientists, auto makers and consumers will never commit themselves to the electric car without the necessary network of supporting technologies. As he explains, “the ability to drive [an electric car] is not limited by the battery or range of the car. It’s limited  by the range of deployment of the infrastructure.” In other words, just as owning a car that runs on unleaded gas wouldn’t make sense without roads on which to drive that car and gas stations at which to refuel, investing in electric car technology without developing the necessary infrastructure doesn’t make sense. With that in mind, Better Place and its partners are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in building electric-vehicle networks powered by renewable energy to give consumers an affordable, sustainable alternative for personal mobility. Development is under way to build these ‘electric highway networks’ in Israel, Denmark and now Australia.

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Odds are, if you’re reading this blog, you don’t really need to be reminded to recycle. Odds are, your reward is in knowing you’re doing your part. But then again, what’s wrong with getting an actual reward for your responsible behavior? That’s the thinking behind RecycleBank, a New York-based startup that is making sure households get rewarded for recycling. With operations in nine east coast states (and plans to expand throughout the country), RecycleBank sends out garbage trucks that can accurately determine, using a sophisticated sorting machine and a high-tech scanning system, how much each household is recycling. That information is then transmitted to a web site, where households are awarded points that can be redeemed for discounts at stores like CVS and Rite-Aid and on brands such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Coca Cola, Dick’s, Green Mountain Coffee and more. So far so good!

In Wilmington, DE, recycling rates have jumped from 3% to 32% since RecycleBank’s launched its program there. In Everett, MA, recycling has seen a tenfold jump since the program began there in July. Nationwide, the recycling trend is on the up-swing, though only 32.5% of Americans actively recycle. Perhaps RecycleBank has hit upon the right way to inspire higher participation. Investors certainly think so, with $40 million of new capital invested in the company in the past year.

For more info, visit: RecycleBank, Newsweek

Last night, when I changed the ink cartridge in my printer, placed the old cartridge in a pre-addressed envelope (no postage necessary) and sent it off to Hewlett-Packard, I thought, ‘this is a company that is putting its money where its mouth is!’ Already a leader in corporate sustainability, Hewlett-Packard has just announced plans to double the amount of renewable energy it uses to power its operations, through a combination of green power purchasing programs and renewable energy projects on its facilities. Its current levels of green energy (50 million kilowatt hours) had already secured HP a high spot on the EPA’s Green Power Partnership. The company has long been at the forefront of corporate environmental responsibility, leading the way on product recycling and reuse, eco-transparency, efficient PVC-free packaging and more. In 2007, HP reached its goal of recycling 1 billion pounds of computer hardware and print supplies. Its efforts to reduce packaging, increase hardware efficiency and use fewer toxics in manufacturing have earned HP an EPEAT Gold ranking for an entire line of workstations.

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Scientists at Ohio State University claim to have inadvertently discovered a new solar cell material that could signify a massive breakthrough in solar technology. The new material, the scientists suggest, is capable of absorbing all of the sun’s visible light energy, translating into the potential of almost 100% efficiency. The two major (and related) drawbacks to solar technology have been cost and efficiency. Average photovaltaic panels in commercial use today hover around the 20% efficiency mark. While OSU scientists caution that commercial application of this new discovery is still years away, the mere suggestion of nearly 100% efficiency is remarkable. The researchers found the new material “not only fluoresces (as most solar cells do) but also phosphoresces…[where the electrons can] be ’siphoned off’ as electricity over 7 million times longer than those generated in fluorescent state.” We’ll be watchcng this space with great interest to see if this discovery is as groundbreaking as the OSU team claims.

One of our readers sent us this note: “Hey guys- I was at the Boulder-Kansas State game this past weekend and was impressed by Ralphie’s Green Stampede…check it out!”

Thanks, we did, and we’re impressed as well. Ralphie’s Green Stampede is Colorado University-Boulder’s initiative towards a zero-waste football stadium. With this sustainability drive, named for the school’s buffalo mascot, university officials claim it’s the first of any major collegiate and professional sports programs to undertake such an ambitious green initiative. Stadium officials anticipate recycling or composting at least 90% of all waste generated from events at Folsom Field by season’s end. Student volunteers collect and sort recyclables and compostables at 50 trash drop off locations throughout the stadium, with campus ROTC units providing additional assistance. Sponsors, including White Wave Foods, are helping to offset 100% of the electricity used during the games. The stadium provides free valet parking for all fans arriving on bicycles, in an effort to promote lower carbon emissions outside the stadium as well.

The school’s mid-season review of the program indicates a resounding success.

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God Save The Queen (Green)! Defying expectations that ambitious carbon emissions standards would be among the first victims of the recent global economic meltdown, the UK has announced its commitment to cutting 80% of its emissions by the year 2050. Rumors abound that the United States and its G-8 allies, having finally agreed to a deal to cut emissions 50% by 2050, would be back tracking due to growing economic concerns. Just last week, The Guardian reported that the European Union would likely use the economic crisis to weaken its stance on carbon controls. Still, the UK chose to accept the recommendations of the government-appointed Climate Change Committee, which said last week that the UK ought to commit itself to an 80% reduction from 1990 levels for all greenhouse gases. Britain’s new Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Millband, said that the current standard of 60% would be raised and argued that, despite economic uncertainties, now was not a time to back pedal on a strong commitment to the environment.  “In tough economic times,” he said, “some people ask whether we should retreat from our climate-change objectives. In our view it would be quite wrong to row back and those who say we should misunderstand the relationship between the economic and environmental tasks we face.”

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Just as Ben & Jerry’s has made eating ice cream a bit more guilt-free (with it’s cleaner, greener freezers), Pepperidge Farm is making those cookies a little better for you. Ok, maybe not for your waist line, but having teamed up with FuelCell Energy Inc. and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fuel Fund, Pepperidge Farm is looking out for the environment. Together, they’ve created the nation’s largest fuel cell at Pepperidge Farm’s Bloomfield, CT bakery. The fuel cell can provide the 260,000 square foot facility with 57 % of its electrical needs. Combined with a smaller, existing fuel cell, the bakery will see 70% of its power needs met through this technology. So, if you’re wondering whether you really need another Milano cookie, let’s just say it’s for the environment!

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In a follow up to our post about high speed trains (Would A Bullet Train Fly In The U.S.?), voters in California will decide on the fate of a proposed $45 billion bullet train project. On November 4th, Californians will be asked to vote on Proposition 1A, which would authorize a $10 billion down-payment for the 800 mile rail network. Proponents of the rail plan tout the 220 mph bullet train as a game-changing and viable alternative to the car culture that dominates the Golden State. Many argue that, after decades of stops and starts, a high speed rail network is just what is needed (considering CA’s commitment to lowering emissions, encouraging green alternatives to cars and planes and today’s rising gas prices). Others point to the recent economic crisis, the annual state deficits and the recent Metrolink train accident as reasons why it doesn’t make sense to focus on what Eric Bailey of the LA Times calls “the most ambitious public works effort since completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.”

Construction would begin in 2011, with service expected to commence 2020. A trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco would take a little more than 2 hours and cost $55. Sign us up! But something tells me it’s the wrong time to be asking voters to think about $45 billion rail projects.

Forget diamonds on the soles of your shoes! As if that sounds comfortable anyhow. While we might have to wait a while before Paul Simon is singing ‘recycled rubber on the soles your shoes,’ you’ll only have to wait until next year to be able to walk into a Payless ShoeSource store and pick up a pair. The discount shoe retailer will begin selling a line of ‘low impact’ shoes, made from organic cotton, linen, hemp, recycled rubber and biodegradable glues. The shoes will be cheap too, retailing for less than $30 (on average), available at select stores and on line at Payless.com. The move is the latest in a growing trend of footwear manufacturers and retailers offering environmentally considerate options and a further indication that mainstream businesses are responding to their customers’ concerns about the environment.

“The sustainability movement is pervasive today and is touching so many elements of consumers’ daily lives and they are interested in more and more green product options being available to them,” said Matt Rubel, CEO of Collective Brands, Inc., the parent company of Payless ShoeSource. “But green items are often expensive and inaccessible to so many,…we are in the best position and proud to bring forward a green footwear line that is affordable and accessible to all.”

We’ll be watching this space, as big players (like Nike and Converse) roll out their green footwear and accessories.

Following up on our previous post about the problems of ‘leaking electricity,’ we saw this post on PSFK, a ‘trends & ideas’ blog and one of our favorite sites. Dan Gould reports on the ‘Remote Controlled Socket.’ Remote controls have long been game-changers for the lazy. We’ve all been there, right? You’re on the couch, unable to find locate the remote, stuck watching Married With Children (I’m sorry, I just never thought that show was funny). Sure, you like the idea of changing the channel, but it’s so nice here on the couch. Similarly, you might think about reaching behind televisions, under desks, behind computers, contorting your body in an effort to unplug your appliances to avoid ‘leaking electricity,’ but how many of us actually take the time. Remote Controlled Sockets might be for you.

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Like most Mac geeks, we were checking various feeds for news on the MacBook updates unveiled today. Always amazing looking, but nothing wild, we were surprised by the environmentally responsible tone lent to the product unveiling. The changes - glass and aluminum construction, LED-backlit display, PVC and BFR free, ENERGY STAR compliant, EPEAT Gold status - lead to a mostly recyclable, toxin-free machine. See the design specs here.

The Pepsi Bottling Group released it’s first ever CSR report this month, and the results of a packaging change are significant -  reducing the amount of material in bottles saved 16,000 tons of plastic in 2007. They also highlight their energy and water conservation efforts, as well the benefits of a lighter trucking fleet. This comes on the heels of the Pepsi Eco Challenge launch we recently reported on. Whereas big brands were engaging the “power of design” as a renewed part of their DNA in 2007, it is clear that 2008 is about establishing sustainability.

Pepsi Bottling Group

When the Boston Children’s Museum reopened its doors on April 14th, 2007, after a $47 million expansion and renovation project, it was a clear step forward for sustainability in education. The museum has received LEED Gold certification by US Green Building Council and will undoubtedly serve as the standard bearer for other leading museums. In addition to a compelling list of temporary exhibits that highlight issues of sustainability and environmental stewardship, BCM has a number of permanent green projects and exhibits. The Recycle Shop is an area where kids and their parents can learn about (and buy) reusable items (fabrics, paper, plastics, string and other materials) to use in arts and crafts. The museum offers regular ‘Green Fairs,’ an on-going series of educational and creative sustainability events, with the most recent one focusing on teaching kids about ‘The 3 R’s’, recycling, reusing and reducing.

Sean Leow of PSFK Shanghai and Neocha blogged recently on Shanghai’s new bike sharing program, launched in preparation for the 2010 World Expo - “Better City, Better Life.” Currently set-up as a trial outside a Metro station in Pudong, they hope to expand it to 800 Metro stations, and 2700 residential and business sites by 2012. The bikes are supplied by Shanghai Forever Bicycle Company, whose famous “Flying Pigeon” once dominated the roads before cars became more prevalent.

Also, we’ll be blogging from Asia October 21st through the 29th, so drop us a line with any more stories like this.

PSFK

Metrobike

Been thinking your car is too wide? Maybe you like the Mini Cooper, but you’ve been holding out for something a little skinnier. I joke, of course, mainly because I don’t have the $108,000 needed to buy the new Tango, from Commuter Cars. Essentially advertised as the all-weather motorcycle, the Tango is small enough to drive between lanes in stopped or slow-moving traffic (assuming you live someplace where that sort of thing is legal- California, Europe, Asia- and can stomach the insults and honks certain to come your way). Like the SmartCar, the Tango can park perpendicular to the curb. With over 1,000-ft-lbs of torque, the Tango has some pep, accelerating from zero to 60mph in about 4 seconds. According to Commuter Cars’ site, “the Tango can accelerate from zero to over 130mph in one gear. Without needing an energy-robbing transmission or differential, it…finishes the standing 1/4 mile in about 12 seconds at over 100 mph.” If that means anything to you, you know more about cars than I do, but we can agree that it sounds fast. Here’s a video of GreenTech Media’s test drive.

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone.” -John F. Kennedy, 1961

At Love Tomorrow Today, we’re interested in exploring simple, realistic change, achieved on an individual level. But if that individual commitment to realistic change can be viewed in the context of a wider, more ambitious movement, led by government and the private sector, we can set our sights on the ‘impossible.’ Imagine an ‘Energy Race,’ like the ‘Space Race’ of the 1960s, spurred on by national pride and global concern. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced before a joint session of Congress an extraordinary and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. At the time of this declaration, the technology required to achieve this goal, quite literally, did not exist. Like the Manhattan Project before it, the race to the moon mobilized an entire generation of the best and brightest minds to focus its energy and skill towards a single and common purpose. Bi-partisan support in Congress and strong leadership in the White House focused the nation’s determination to achieve what many felt was impossible. When, in July of 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong stepped off the lunar module and onto the Moon’s surface, it capped a remarkable period of innovation and commitment to progress. 

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If America runs on Dunkin‘, the #1 coffee-by-the-cup joint in the country and the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world, it’s exciting to see the Massachusetts-based company ramping up its green credentials. With nearly 8,000 locations in 30 countries worldwide, Dunkin’ Donuts boasts tremendous brand loyalty and, subsequently, has the opportunity to bring a genuine eco-message to a broad customer base.

Earlier this month, the company celebrated the grand opening of its first ‘green’ store in St. Petersburg, Florida. The LEED-certified restaurant includes a number of test run green initiatives, such as an on-site earthworm casting facility, a collaboration between Dunkin’ Donuts and local company Mother’s Organics. The solar powered tank houses 80 lbs. of small red earthworms that will eat the waste produced by the store, such as coffee grounds and paper products. The worms’ waste will then be converted into fertilizer for local farms and gardens.

Other initiatives include rewarding customers for bringing their own reusable mug, serving hot drinks in paper cups made from renewable resources and donating leftover baked good to Feeding America, a local food bank.

Rumors abound that they plan to more aggressively chart a more sustainable path, so we’ll be following their efforts.

If you could track your energy consumption and its related costs in real-time, you might be less inclined to run that dishwasher during peak hours. You might think twice about running the air conditioner, if you could see that electric bill rising. At least that’s the thinking behind the ‘Smart Meter,’ the latest and greatest in home energy efficiency. A growing number of power companies are replacing old meters with these new dynamic, networked ‘Smart Meters’ that allow two-way communication between the consumer and the grid. Using a web-browser interface, the ‘Smart Meter’ makes it possible for the customer to track energy consumption, costs and habits. Viewing a variety of charts and graphs, the customer can determine how much a particular appliance costs to run at any given time. (Car manufacturers have been tweaking this concept for decades. In a pre-digital age, before cars like the Prius offered real-time Miles-Per-Gallon analysis, car makers offered something called a vacuum gauge. The theory holds that the higher the vacuum reading, the less air- and therefore less fuel- is getting into the engine and the more efficient the car is running.)

The technology also offers the power companies more dynamic pricing, as it allows utilities to adjust prices based on constantly updated metrics of supply and demand. ‘Smart Meters’ have already been embraced in Europe, with an estimated 80 million installed units expected there by 2013.

For more info, check out Erik Olsen’s piece in the NY Times.

Ok, you got an iPhone and downloaded Cro-Mag from the Apps Store, but it’s not as fun as it looks on that commercial. How about an App that can help you be greener?  Jayme Heimbuch and the good folks at TreeHugger have scoured the Apps Store for the ones that are most likely to help you travel cheaper and more efficiently. They list 20 iPhone Apps that will help save gas, energy, time and money in four main areas of life: Gas, Driving and Car Maintenance, Traveling, Carpooling and Mass Transit, Home Energy Use, and finally, Greener Shopping. Happy downloading!

Their claim is guilt-free dinner ware, and they list their attributes as: all natural, chemical and bleach free, no plastics, no waxes, non-toxic, 100% compostable, made from 100% renewable plant material, biodegrades naturally in 2 months, microwave/oven/refrigerator safe, reusable, they recapture 80% of the water they use, and no trees are cut down. Oh, and they create fair-wage jobs in developing regions of South Asia . Through fallen leaves and steam, founder Michael Dwork has created something truly innovative. Check them out:

https://www.verterra.com