The Green Wrap-up 27.December, 2012

Nissan has announced that it is going to offer a bit more security to Leaf owners than soothing words and lemon buybacks when it comes to degrading battery capacity. In a note published on My Nissan Leaf (and available below), Andy Palmer, Nissan’s executive vice president, writes about a new enhancement to the “warranty coverage of the battery system that powers the Nissan Leaf.”
The world of eco-fashion world really impressed us this year with amazing, innovative creations and some mind-boggling stories! From an extreme minimalist who owns only 16 items to a real-life Harry Potter-esque invisibility cloak to newly unearthed lingerie from the 15th century, 2012 was definitely a year to remember in weird and wonderful eco fashion stories. Read on for the top 7 most popular stories of 2012 on Ecouterre, Inhabitat‘s eco fashion site, and vote for your favorite!
  • (Ally)GreenJoyment: These are some really neat stories! I voted for the minimalist, mostly because he reminds me of my fiance, who only buys an article of clothing if he thinks it will last him at least 10 years.
An emerging market for solar cells integrated into rooftops, windows and other building facades is poised to quadruple in value in the next five years, according to a report from Pike Research.
New Year’s Eve is around the corner, and you probably have a celebration planned that includes your little ones. Children love to ring in the New Year as much as adults do — given the excitement of staying up late, the fun noisemakers, and watching all of the countries across the globe commemorate the arrival of 2013 on television, and of course counting down as the ball drops in Times Square!
…And, though it was hard, we narrowed all our articles published this year to our 10 favorites. We honestly wish we could include them all here, but that would feel a little like replicating the entire magazine in one post (though I considered it for a brief second). I realized that might be a little overwhelming, and so, without any further jabber, our top 10 articles (in no particular order) of the year. Do you agree? Any that we missed?
Forget about the iPhone, the mason jar, patented in 1858 by John Landis Mason, might be man’s greatest achievement. The humble glass jar has remained relatively the same as the world around it has changed, and yet finds itself very much in vogue. Beyond home canning, the mason jar has many uses. Here are a few of the ways hackers, makers, crafters, and eaters are putting their jars to use.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formally granted a California Air Resources Board (CARB) request for a waiver of preemption for its Advanced Clean Car (ACC) regulations. (Earlier post.) The ACC regulations revise California’s Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) program (which includes both criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards) as well as the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program.
An October 2012 report by Pesticide Action Network North America examined dozens of recent studies and concluded that the influx of pesticides in our society — omnipresent in the air we breath and the foods we eat — is taking a heavy toll on our children’s health and intelligence.

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