Daily Green Wrap-Up 6.February, 2012

A new smartphone app made by the folks at CORA may soon be available to eco-savvy individuals and businesses who are looking to make use of, or donate, old materials in lieu of sending them off to the local landfill. The new app lets users type in what kind of trash they are tossing and in turn shows them if someone nearby would like it, where they can recycle it, and it even offers a list of super cool upcycling DIY projects that make use of the trash! This app will certainly make people think twice before throwing out their seemingly unwanted items.
Boulder Electric Vehicle just sold the first commercial electric truck capable of hitting 70 mph to Precision Plumbing and Electric. The company’s new fleet will use only one half-kilowatt hour per mile (2-5 times better than a diesel engine), generate zero local emissions, and find a savings of $5,000 per truck per year. Not only do these 2-ton capacity work-horses get 120 miles on a charge, but they are designed and made in the USA! How’s that for green economy?
New York City’s Department of Transportation and Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. will be opening the largest bike share system in the country by summer of 2012. Ten thousand bikes in 600 stations around Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the surrounding burroughs will be available 24 hours a day throughout the year for short bike rides.
Working to create a sustainable world hasn’t been easy. One reason for this is that people are highly capable of knowing something but acting as if they didn’t. It is epitomized by the attitude, “I know I should, but I don’t.” We know we should eat local, bike more, etc. etc., but so few of us actually live up to what we know.
An MIT scientist has developed a quick and dirty way to harness solar power using “anything green, even grass clippings.” So basically, solar panels made out of yard waste.
This technology is way, way, way, way below the efficiency of commercial solar panels: It converts 0.1 percent of solar energy into power. Commercial solar panels clock in around 10 to 15 percent; the most advanced lab models are pushing even higher.
Want to learn what it is really like living off the grid in a solar and wind-powered straw bale house? Want to try your hand at organic gardening and building a sauna with natural materials? This summer, you can have your chance at life off-grid at Gooseberry Farm in northeast Missouri, a family homestead demonstrating the modern low impact lifestyle!

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