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Brave New Leaf
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A green newbie trying to assess her impact and transform her lifestyle to be more sustainable. Covers green projects and products.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'Seattle'
Wrap-Up
The Seattle Green Festival was a blast. I still have a ton of notes from speakers that hopefully I'll have the time to write up in the next week or so. But thanks to all of the sponsors and participan...
Misinformation at Seattle Electric Vehicle Booth
I swung by the Seattle EVA (Electric Vehicle Association) booth to chat with some of the folks over there. The conversation went something like this: Me: So, does it really make sense to get an electr...
John Perkins - Confessions of an Economic Hitman
I've been excited for this one. John Perkins, a respected member of the international banking community, wrote a great book called "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" covering his job of trying to con...
The Card that encourages local shopping
I just signed up for a cool program called the PCC Puget Sound Community Card. The purpose of the program is to encourage consumers to shop locally and share locally, while benefiting the community at...
Jim Hightower at the Green Festival
Sat in on Jim Hightower's presentation yesterday. Jim has been the Agricultural Commissioner for Texas twice, and does a bunch of books and radio work. My first impressions? Jesse Jackson has nothing ...
30,000 people at the Seattle Green Festival
This place is packed! We just stood in line for twenty minutes to get an organic, meatless burrito. In fact, none of the food vendors will serve you meat. There is a sausage stand, but I think they're...
Mr. Ellie Pooh's Elephant Dung Paper
When we first walked by this booth, we thought this might be a joke: a clever skewering of recycling extremes. But, it turns out that this stuff is legit. There is actually paper that is made out of 7...
Planet Green bikers look tired
We're only a few hours into the all-day festival, and already the bikers that are powering the Planet Green booth are starting to look a little bit tired... Here's hoping they get some folks with fres...
Green Festival Kick-Off
Global Exchange and Co-op America, the co-sponsors for the festival, kicked things off at about 11am this morning. Some of the highlights of their speech: The event industry is the second worst waste-...
Liveblogging Seattle Green Festival
Greetings from theSeattle Green Festival! We're excited to be here, taking in the exhibitions, speakers, and bringing you the highlights on Brave New Leaf. C'mon down and join us if you can. We're at ...
Liveblogging the Seattle Green Festival
Brave New Leaf will be at the Seattle Green Festival this weekend, listening to the speakers, taking in the exhibitions, and capturing it all here at Brave New Leaf. The line-up of speakers and exhibi...
New incentives for Puget Sound Energy customers
Puget Sound Energy, in the wake of bad press about their rates increasing, has launched a new series of energy efficiency programs. Starting this summer, PSE will offer Energy Advisors, who on request...
Seattle to impose disposable bag sin tax
A little over a year ago, San Francisco made headlines by banning plastic bags and styrofoam containers from restaurants, grocery stores, and pharmacies. This week, Seattle proposed that they similarl...
First rubber roads, now rubber sidewalks?
Last month, we discussed how oil-heavy street asphalt contributes to our nation's carbon footprint, and how a new development in road technology using recycled tires is making our roads quieter, more ...
Seattle Turns off the Lights To Fight Global Warming
Seattle is one of many cities across the world that will be participating in Earth Hour tonight from 8-9pm. Seattle City Hall will go dark, along with the Seattle Municipal Tower, the Central Library ...
Seattle to provide "wood waste" energy to Sacramento
The City of Seattle has announced an energy trade between Seattle and Sacramento. Seattle will offer regular renewable energy to Sacramento in exchange for some normal power to help Seattle cope with ...
Nordstroms transitioning to eco-friendly boxes and bags
Seattle company Nordstrom has announced that they are introducing environmentally-friendly packaging options for customers. Nordstrom's is famous for their trademark silver gift boxes, which cannot be...
Want to convert your car to electric? South Seattle Community College will show you how.
Looking for an intense, but awesome summer project that will be fun and good for the Earth? Want to be the envy of all of your eco-friends? Look no further. Starting June 16th, South Seattle Community...
Tap Project raises money for third world water
This week, the Tap Project invites you to pay $1 for tap water at your local restaurant. Why? This money will go to UNICEF to aid third world access to sanitary water. For every dollar raised, a child...
Bellevue rolls out the "Carbon Yeti" to schools
In a case of only-in-the-Pacific-Northwest, the City of Bellevue has rolled out an animated carbon footprint mascot called the "Carbon Yeti". I'm not really sure why they chose the Yeti, which is the ...
City of Seattle to end purchasing of bottled water!
The Mayor of Seattle announced today that they will no longer be purchasing bottled water for facilities and events. Instead, tap water will be used. Not only will this save them about $55,000, but wi...
Seattle sets Recycling Record
Seattle businesses and consumers are recycling more than ever before. Congratulations Seattle! In 2006, 47.5% of your waste went to the recycling facility instead of the landfills. Just who do we than...
801 U.S. mayors pledge to fight climate change
801 mayors of cities across the United States have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ (USCM) Climate Protection Agreement. The Agreement came to pass in 2005 when the United States failed to sign...
Seattle ahead of the curve on water planning
Free toilets! In case you haven't heard yet, if you live in Seattle and make less than 60k a year, you should swing by Seattle Public Utilities and get a free water-efficient toilet. If you make under...
Do you know your area's climate change plan?
As I've been greening my own life, it's become increasingly important to me to understand how my city, county, state, and nation are addressing the issues of peaking oil and climate change. Most of th...
Seattle ups the ante on recycling
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced a number of improvements to Seattle's recycling program yesterday. As much as I was hoping it would be more people in costumes of recyclable items, the changes ins...
Andy Wappler exchanges weather for climate
Yes, it's true. Andy Wappler is hanging up his raincoat. Seattle residents, myself included, are a bit bummed. Not just because between Andy and his dad Harry, there has been a Wappler weather forecas...
Greg Nickels pledges to make Seattle "Green Building Capital"
Seattle is already a world leader in new green buildings, but what about the buildings that already exist? Today, in his "state of the city" address, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels rolled out a plan to im...
Taxing Cars to Tax the Fuel?
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels recently announced a system for taxing Washington automobiles according to their fuel efficiency. Senate Bill 6923 proposes that consumers would pay a yearly surcharge for t...