Phish Greening Site

I wrote recently about how I've tried to contact the Phish organization to see what their doing about reducing the environmental impact of touring. Now that they're embarking on their first tour in five years, I'm happy to say that they've put up the Phish Greening Site. A lot of people spend a lot of time and energy traveling with this band from city to city, using a lot of fuel and creating a lot of waste along the way. Phish is recognizing the environmental impact of their tour, not just of the band, but of the swarming hordes that follow them around.

The website offers tips on "Traveling Light," and has a Rideshare program for interested carpoolers. Furthermore, it seems that the band will be taking a number of steps to reduce their own footprint, from biodiesel in the buses and Green Crews that clean up after the show to buying carbon offsets. It looks like a lot of time and effort has gone into the site and into Phish's efforts to be green.

I'm curious if any other bands are taking similar steps. Radiohead has always been vocal about their steps to reduce their touring footprint, and I'm sure others are doing the same. If you are doing any amount of traveling to see live music this summer, it's worth looking into what your favorite artists are offering to help make the trip a green one.

128-floor vertical farm?

How about this for fantasy? This concept for a 128-floor vertical farm in New York City looks like the stuff of science fiction. Or maybe the nighttime vision of an urban planner who keeps a pad and a pen by her bed so she can scribble down her strangest dreams. Maybe it's just the bizarro Dubai -- the eco-friendly version.

According to the architect who came up with the plans, the "Dragonfly" is built using "bionic and energetically self-sufficient architecture." The building is supposed to contain housing, office space, reserach labs, and whole lot of farms. Plus it's powered by solar and wind.

Strange? Yes. Is it something I expect to see in the near future? Not exactly. But you gotta admit, it's much better vision of the future than, say, Blade Runner.

Do it Yourself

My sister, who has been environmentally conscious since the days when only Kermit the Frog was claiming to be green, sent me a great article this morning about a group of young Pakistanis. Tired of a lot of talk from the government that never seemed to go anywhere, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They formed a group called Responsible Citizens, and every Sunday, they pick up garbage in the city. It couldn't be more simple. There's trash on the streets -- what do we do? Instead of waiting for someone else to solve the problem, they did it themselves.

It's a great example of how doing the little things can make such a big difference. While this group of kids probably weren't thinking explicitly about the environment, their actions are already having a ripple effect that will create a cleaner and more livable community. The feeling that things can change, that they won't always be the same, is not easy to bring about. But once it takes hold, it can be unstoppable.

Spreading the word

Whenever a friend of mine gets invovled in a green project or business or hobby, I like to call attention to it. Actually, if it's something to do with the environment and sustainable living, I'll probably write about it. And you really don't even have to be a friend -- simply leave a comment here or email me and I'll be happy to spread the word about whatever it is you're doing.

The above preamble is just a wordy way for me to link to http://www.rebekahgreen.com/Blog/Blog.html. Appropriately named for the job, Ms. Green has done a lot of great work in helping to create affordable green housing. You can also find both video and audio podcasts on her site. Clearly a lot of work has gone into these -- can you beat an interview with Tim Gunn about sustainable fashion? No, I didn't think so. We need more people to take the initiative like this and get involved in the green economy, for both economic and environmental reasons.

Did somebody say "Bees"?

It's taken me several days just to calm down from my previous post.  In fact, several times I started a follow-up post that so I could continue my rant.  I had another YouTube clip about light bulbs lined up, and I had even thought up a too-clever Pynchon reference to go with it. Fortunately, I didn't post it.  Sometimes the best thing to do is just move on and not give attention seekers what they're looking for.  

Enough of that... instead, let's talk about something Albert Einstein once said.  Perhaps you've heard this famous quote before: 

"If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live."

Actually, many people think that Einstein probably didn't actually say that, even though you can do a simple internet search for that quote and get thousands of results -- shocking, I know, that there might be false information on the internet.  

Whether it was Einstein or some other uncredited soul who muttered those words, the quote itself is right on the money.  Colony collapse disorder is a frightening problem in the US.  Many crops, from nuts to fruits and vegetables, are pollinated by honeybees.  No one knows why so many honeybee colonies are dying off, but it's a serious problem.  Many theories point to irresponsible human behavior as the cause, but as of yet, no one really knows.

All of this is my way of welcoming back the bees.  Here in Boston, we just had our first weekend of summer weather, even though we're not quite out of spring yet.  As a result, many bees have emerged from their slumber.  Although most people don't celebrate the bee, I'm going to take it as good sign whenever I see one bouncing from plant to plant.  Sure, they sting sometimes, but as Einstein (or whoever) said, we kinda need them around, don't we?  Even the friendly bumblebee, more goofy than scary, is not so bad when you think of it that way.