May 7th, 2013

May is Bike Month. These videos review some of the cutting-edge options for serious bike commuters — or for people who just want to tool around town without burning fossil fuels. We’ve included an electric bike, a foldable commuter, a homemade electric bike, a three-wheeler and a surprise.

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July 29th, 2011

It’s hard to live in Texas this summer and not consider the havoc that climate change has in store for us.

In Dallas, the last 27 days have hit 100 degrees or more. People have abandoned even pools in favor of air conditioning. Longhorn cattle, bred for heat, droop under mesquite trees, and pipes have begun breaking as the cracked earth shifts underneath our streets and homes.
Like an expanding fissure across baked earth, the damage stretches across the state, encompassing the northern plains region, West Texas and the Hill Country.
Texas livestock farmers have sold off herds they cannot risk keeping for longer. Crop farmers cut their losses and stopped irrigating fields because it no longer made financial sense. Corn, hay and other crops have dried up.

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December 7th, 2010

IKEA’s American employees are getting an early Christmas present. The Sweden-based home furnishings company is providing a new all-terrain bicycle to about 12,400 employees at its 37 U.S. stores.

About 12,400 IKEA U.S. workers are receiving new bicycles this holiday season. Photo: IKEA

“It’s been a good year for IKEA, so what better way to celebrate our success than to thank our IKEA co-workers who made this happen,” said Mike Ward, IKEA U.S. President. “This is our way of saying ‘Thanks IKEA co-workers for being strongly committed to working together.’ We hope this bike will be taken in the spirit of the season while supporting a healthy lifestyle and everyday sustainable transport.”

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October 16th, 2009

By Chris Reinolds
Green Right Now

Isn’t it great when you can save green and go green at the same time?

Sopo Bike Shop

For serious and recreational bicyclists, bike cooperatives across the country are meeting that need. They offer tools to fix your bike, volunteers to teach you how and the support to keep riding. Cooperatives are located in nearly every major city and supported by volunteers, grants and donations.

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August 28th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Green things are starting to shadow us wherever we go, leaping out in unexpected places. Like at the gas station.

Yet this green creep seems so normal. Read our picto-blog and you’ll see what we mean.

This sign, touting how Tom Thumb’s gas stations are now wind-powered, pretty much speaks for itself.

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August 5th, 2009

From Green Right Now Reports

Fashion Institute of Technology student Jessica Velasquez can soon cycle in style, her own style, after winning a contest to design a jacket, poncho and bag suitable for fashion-conscious bike commuters.

Her winning designs for the “Bike in Style” contest were unveiled this week as the city launched its Summer Streets program, which promotes biking and walking.

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June 30th, 2009

By Michele Chan Santos
Green Right Now

Green-minded visitors to northern Colorado should consider a tour of the New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins. New Belgium, best known for its Fat Tire Amber Ale brand, is one of the most environmentally progressive breweries in the world. The brewery has used wind-powered electricity since 1999, and green-design methods have been incorporated throughout the company. I visited the headquarters on a recent trip and discovered that many aspects of company life are dedicated to sustainability.

New Belgium sponsors a charity bike-and-music event called “Tour de Fat” in eleven cities in the United States, including Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis and Portland, that encourages people to trade their car for a bike, at least for a day. At Tour de Fat events, beer is served in compostable cups, and performers take to a solar-powered stage. (A Tour de Fat schedule is online.)

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April 15th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler and Harriet Blake
Green Right Now

As Earth Day approaches, one of the most significant things you can do is to help a child celebrate nature and embrace a greener lifestyle. Here are ten ideas for creating a fun and meaningful Earth Day celebration.

1 – Picnic (with local food)

Get outdoors and enjoy a snack with the squirrels and ants. To really get the most out of this, take your favorite kid(s) to the market in preparation and let them search out local healthy foods. Even young kids can participate, choosing the apples, veggies and cheeses they want to include. So introduce them to the farmer’s market or local foods section of your neighborhood grocery. Look for organic and lower your impact by using reusable dinnerware and plates, or biodegradable paper plates.

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November 13th, 2008

By Barbara Kessler

Columbus, Ohio. It’s not the first place you think of when green cities come to mind. Or the second or the third.

Indeed, there’s a whole string of burgs more strongly associated with sustainability. There’s Boulder with its rock solid commitment to community gardens, organic food mecca Eugene and all wind-powered Austin. The U.S. has many traditional pockets of non-tradition paying daily homage to the green spirit.

But now here comes Columbus — and Little Rock, and Raleigh, and Sioux Falls. These regular-folks towns are getting their green groove on too. They’re setting up sustainability offices, buying biodiesel buses, hosting solar car events and designing new bike lanes.

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August 25th, 2008

By Barbara Kessler

Hazardous chemicals are on hiatus, bottled water is out and bikes are in at the Democratic Convention in Denver, where organizers are seizing the opportunity to green the festivities this week.

As some 10,000 delegates, volunteers, politicos and media people converge on the Mile High city, they’ll be quenching their thirst at “hydration stations” or water fountains serving Denver tap water (inside and outside the Pepsi Center) instead of grabbing the once ubiquitous and landfill-clogging plastic water bottles that have been the norm at big gatherings.

Yes, what’s old is new again, and conventioneers have already been drinking from the well, so to speak, at weekend events where the non-profit water utility Denver Water provided a truck of chilled agua to refill water bottles. The new approach has been “incredibly well received” by those attending the pre-Convention activities, said Donna Pacetti, the local government conservation coordinator with Denver Water. “They love it. It’s cold water. We keep it chilled so it comes out at about 38-40 degrees.”

Convention goers also will find themselves with another back-to-basics choice, with 1,000 bicycles available free-of-charge for short carbon-free hops around top, courtesy of Humana and the Bikes Belong Coalition.

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