Portland Ranks 3rd Least-Wasteful U.S. City!

Keep up the good work, Portland. In a rundown of the 25 largest cities in the U.S., Portland, OR ranked as the 3rd least-wasteful city. The survey ranked cities with categories weighted by importance, from "reusing wrapping paper" (low) to "taking public transportation" (very high).

Portland's high rankings:

• Using reusable containers in place of single-serve bottles of water/soda or other beverages - 1st
• Using reusable containers in place of disposable food storage items - 1st
• Buying bulk food to avoid extra packaging - 1st
• Not buying bottled water - 1st
• Shopping at local markets that carry locally grown food - 1st
• Using a reusable grocery bag - 1st
• Buying second-hand clothing, electronics and furniture - 1st
• Throwing out less than two bags of trash each week - 2nd
• Saving leftover meals and food to eat again - 2nd

They also link to the City of Portland sustainability website, which covers many of the city's green initiatives and provides resources for residents.

Via Climatebiz

What is Earth Hour? (video)

"Vote Earth! Your light switch is your vote."

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.
For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Read more at the Earth Hour website or via Google News.

World's most efficient web server now uses ZERO watts!

Some tech-savvy students have entered the Lexus Eco Challenge with their supremely power-efficient server. The web sever runs on an iPod Touch and serves webpages to the internet over its WiFi connection. Due to the power efficiency of the iPod Touch, the server has a maximum power requirement of 0.5 watts. They then connected it to a solar panel which provides all the energy needed to power it - effectively running the server with zero watts!

Their website has a video (below) and some great articles (7 Ways To Charge Your iPod Without an Outlet, anyone?) and links to useful resources.

Sign the Power Down for the Planet Pledge!

ATTENTION STUDENTS, FACULTY, and STAFF - SIGN THE PLEDGE and SAVE SOME ENERGY

Today is the FIRST day you can sign the Power Down for the Planet pledge! PSU is competing with universities from all over the country to see who can get the most students/faculty/staff member to pledge to save energy. Simply pledge to enable your power management features on your computer (desktop or laptop). Follow up by changing enabling those settings, and soak in that happy feeling you'll have knowing you are reducing your greenhouse gas emissions and saving some money.

Click here for step my step directions on how to quickly and easily change your settings to save money and energy! Go Viks!

For more info on PSU's energy saving efforts, please call the PSU Energy Conservation Outreach Specialist @ 503.725.8951!

Green in the Office

Scientific American has an interesting article which addresses the notion that adopting "green" practices in the workplace ammounts to an expensive hardship, noting that the cost-cutting effects alone can often make being energy and environmentally responsible worth the initial effort and expense.

The section on reducing energy use is also very applicable to the home office, and the home in general.

PGE's plans

check out this pdf document about PGE's future plans

Solar Paint!

By simply painting solar paint on buildings (even if it isn't painted in direct sunlight) energy could be created. The technology is there, people just need to promote it in order for it to be actually utilized in practice.

So, if more people know about solar paint, hopefully it can be implimented and we can start making energy from buildings and reduce our carbon footprint. Hypothetically, if enough buildings were painted with solar paint, buildings would no longer drain the power supply but generate enough energy to create more energy than they consume!

Check out this article on Solar Paint published March 24, 2008 by Jorge Chapa entitled: Paint on Solar Power!

Greener Gadgets Design Competition

Solar energy-illuminated Venetian blinds and a modified power meter that sends daily KWH consumption data to your Twitter feed -- check out these and 48 other finalists for the Greener Gadgets Competition grand prize. 

Tasty green geeky goodness.

The meaning of DST is energy savings?

Daylight Saving Time is upon us again, and once more the question of its usefulness arises. Most of us have a general understanding that it was invented by Benjamin Franklin, but why?

Because the sun rises earlier during the summer (the farther you get from the equator), we get up an hour earlier to take advantage of the extra energy - or so goes the theory. The truth is, studies have shown little to no energy savings, with some studies even showing an energy loss (via WebExhibits):

The argument in favor of saving energy swayed Indiana, where until 2005, only about 16 percent of counties observed Daylight Saving Time. Based on the DOT study, advocates of Indiana DST estimated that the state’s residents would save over $7 million in electricity costs each year. Now that Indiana has made the switch, however, researchers have found the opposite to be the case. Scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, compared energy usage over the course of three years in Indiana counties that switched from year-round Standard Time to DST. They found that Indianans actually spent $8.6 million more each year because of Daylight Saving Time, and increased emissions came with a social cost of between $1.6 million and $5.3 million per year.

Read more about the history of Daylight Saving Time at WebExhibits' site. Be sure to check out the interactive DST graphic that shows the length of day throughout the year depending on your latitude - very cool.

Yahoo! picks up on Vampire Energy

Now it seems that Yahoo! is following us around (after National Geographic and Good Magazine, I'm starting to wonder). They just posted an article about some of the myths of Vampire Energy (once again, Phantom Load is more widely accepted) and where it really is hitting the consumer pocketbook. Check it out to see if what you believe about Vampire Energy is true!

The Electicity Vampire!

The Electricity Vampire Strikes Again! @ Yahoo! Video

Energy Conservation doesn't always have to be so serious. This hilarious song teaches you about Vampire Energy (Phantom Load is the more accepted term, but we won't knock 'em) and about unplugging your unused electronics.

Static Electricity House

Hilarious video created by Alliance to Save Energy, learn more media on energy efficiency check out this link

National Geographic Talks Energy Conservation

The March 2009 issue of National Geographic, has a great article about the struggles with energy conservation. The article tackles the question, "how much can one person really combat climate change and will I REALLY make a difference?".

It Starts at Home is a narrative article chalk full of useful energy saving tips - from housing foundation to double paned windows to professional home energy audits - and conservation tips are illustrated by some awesome thermo-geographic photos. Read the full article here.