Do You Ever Feel Like a Plastic Bag...Ready to Start Again?

going with the green chem theme. (Thanks Rosh!)

Masdar: "Source" of Hope in the Middle of the Desert?

Street Design in Masdar

Masdar, loosely meaning "source" in Arabic, is a city in Abu Dhabi that was formed in hopes of creating "the world's first zero-carbon city". While Masdar will probably never reach that status, the city's designers have some solid plans on how to make the city more sustainable. In order to decrease automotive traffic and increase walkability, the architects have employed traditional Arab design. Narrow streets surrounded by permeable walls limit direct sunlight while also allowing cool winds to circulate. A new twist on the traditional Arabic wind tower also helps distribute ambient air through the streets. The combination of these things is supposedly capable of reducing street temperature to 70F. Windows have angled shades so that buildings can be naturally lit with minimal heat gain. In order to reduce Masdar's energy footprint, they've enlisted an incredible amount of solar panels.

However, in order for Masdar to become energy efficient, residents will have to do the same things as the rest of us: change their behavior. A 50% reduction in energy use means everyone in Masdar needs to up their thermostat to 77F.

Green Weddings: How to Make Your Big Day More Sustainable

As a Punjabi, a wedding isn't a wedding unless it has the 3 F's: food, family, and most importantly, fab. This past summer, I went to my first wedding in India, where low prices easily transform a grand wedding into something other-worldly. My cousin's outdoor wedding was by far the most luxurious event I've ever attended. Think Indian princess fairytale straight out of Platinum Weddings:1000+ guests, 3 elegantly adorned stages (one that rotated), a marching band, unrelenting dhol players, a disco-esqe dance floor, fireworks, mendhi sessions, and food stalls that served everything from fried-in-front-of-you samosas to kulfi and gulab jamun. If the US added as many jobs as my cousin's wedding, it would mean the end of unemployment. As if that wasn't enough, scattered around the grounds were live feed LCD monitors showcasing guests and activities and large misting fans offering respite from the sweltering Indian summer. The whole affair gave me an inferiority complex. Even the horse was decked out of my price range. Luckily, the camera and video crew, with their blinding lights, didn't fail to make me feel like a movie star.

Entryway to an Indian wedding. Although not my cousin's, it's a good representation.

I wouldn't blame you if you want that. Katy Perry and Russell Brand were all over it.

Despite how amazing the wedding was, it made me feel guilty. The cost of luxury is not simply monetary. Lights, fans, and screens require loads of energy. Flowers require water, land, and transportation. Leftover food and decorations end up in landfills. Fireworks pollute. The ultimate lesson? Less is more.

Here are some things you can do:

1. Reuse your grandmother's ring. Diamonds come with immense social and environmental costs. Have you seen Blood Diamond? If you don't have a heirloom, buy your ring from an eco-conscious supplier.
2. Buy local. This includes food, drinks, and decorations. See if there is a green caterer in your area.
3. Make it an intimate affair. Inviting fewer guests will have the greatest impact in terms of reducing your footprint. Fewer people means less of everything, particularly transportation.
4. Use less paper. Start a website as a way to spread information, and send e-mail invitations. Another, more traditional option is to use unbleached paper printed with eco-ink.
5. Location, location, location. Transportation can give an otherwise green wedding a sasquatch-sized environmental footprint. Skip the destination wedding, and choose a place that is close to the majority of your guests. Also, minimize travel by selecting a hotel near the wedding venue. Finally, consider a local bachelor/bachelorette party.
6. Honeymoon Road Trip. In terms of carbon emissions, flights are awful. Try honeymooning somewhere that is accessible by car or train.
7. Go outdoors. Daytime, outdoor weddings eliminate the need for lighting and air conditioning.
8. Avoid disposables. Trade paper plates and plastic knives for rentable plate-ware.
9. Eat vegetarian. In the US, livestock is responsible for 35% of methane emissions, which is 20 times more powerful than CO2 as a global warming gas.
10. Donate leftover food. Find a shelter, church, or community kitchen in the area, and help some people out.
11. The gift of giving. - Don't register for gifts you don't need or want. Instead, plant some trees, or ask for donations to a cause you believe in.
12. Decorate with fruit or paper flowers. Flowers are often imported (lengthy transport) and laden with pesticides. They're expensive, too. By decorating with fruit, you have something guests can take home. If you want to go traditional, try organic local flowers.
13. Try recycled. Why not buy someone else's used decorations? It might be too much to ask, but consider buying a used wedding dress, too. No one will notice, and it's like prom: you'll only wear it once.
14. Invest in renewable energy. Work with your area energy provider to see if you can use renewable energy for the event. Some providers, like ComEd, offer credits for a small fee.

Ready to judge your wedding?
-Calculate the carbon footprint of guest travel, or, get more in depth with a comprehensive footprint calculator.
-Here are some testimonials of couples who've tried to green their own weddings.

Waste Fuels an Entire Swedish City

Kristianstad

Kristianstad, a Swedish city of around 80,000, has succeeded in its effort to eliminate fossil fuel consumption. Agriculture and food processing, which generate a large amount of organic waste, dominate the city's industry. This waste is converted to biogas (primarily methane) through anaerobic digestion (AD). AD occurs in landfills, which produces some of the city's biogas. The rest is generated at the local anaerobic digestion facility, which collects waste from farms, industry, and the local wastewater treatment plant.

The resulting biogas:
1. Heats homes and provides electricity: The biogas is incinerated. Some of the heat is used to generate electricity while the rest is distributed around the city through district heating (an efficient method of providing heat to a large population).
2. Fuels vehicles: The biogas is pressurized as compressed natural gas (CNG) and used in municipal, cars, trucks, and buses.

Kristianstad's "The Best Eco-cycle"

Cost
In Germany alone, there are 5,000 biogas plants operating. How many are there in US -- a country where agriculture and livestock cover vast tracts of land? 151. These 151 facilities are mostly limited to the cattle industry and are fed solely with manure. High capital costs and lack of infrastructure are the largest hurdles facing biogas in the US. However, efforts are being made in California and Wisconsin to expand the industry.

In Kristalstad, high capital costs were heavily offset by government subsidies. Either way, biogas has a siginificant payback time. They've cut their annual fuel costs in half, saving around $3.8 million/yr.

Carbon footprint
Methane emissions from manure and landfills are reduced and redirected to energy use. This could reduce a city's greenhouse gas emissions by 2-6%. Remember though, that although waste-to-energy technology doesn't use fossil fuels, it still emits a significant amount of CO2.

Test Driving Cap and Trade

Currently, 10 New England states are participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is a carbon cap and trade system that began in 2008.

Participating States: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont

Quick Description: RGGI auctions off allowances to the power sector, monitors emissions, and fines companies that fail to meet requirements. Companies are permitted to trade credits and purchase additional carbon offsets. Auction money and fines are collected by the states and then invested in energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. Four auctions are held each year. The goal is a 10% reduction of emissions by 2018.

Last year, New York Governor Paterson used $90 million generated from the initiative to reduce state debt. He claimed it was a one-time deal. I hope it is. The state claims that today, 80% of revenue is invested in green initiatives, such as EmPower New York, which funds home energy audits. In a recent auction, New York received $16.9 million. Hopefully, it goes to the right programs.

While RGGI’s failure would kill cap-and-trade forever, its success could be a stepping stone to national policy.

Let’s hope it works.