Wednesday, December 15, 2010
sobuka visits Mount Pleasant Co-op in DC
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Our favorite green gifts
Our favorite green gifts
Posted on December 14th, 2010 by Sulaiman
As the entire Sobuka staff scours the interwebs and malls in search of gifts for loved ones, we decided to do a blog on some of our favorite green gifts. These aren’t just great gifts but they are also excellent for the environment. Well, without further ado, here they are in no particular order:
Plan Toys Eco Town – What’s the best way to prepare our kids for a green future? By educating them of course! …or letting them have fun with play sets like this eco-friendly town. The Eco Town features green technologies like solar panels, a wind turbine, and a grey water system (grey water is indoor waste water that doesn’t include toilets). The play set comes with cars, a doll house, and trains. Kids are exposed to the concepts of public transportation, biking, and recycling. It even has a charging station for electric cars… we’re kinda jealous (via Treehugger).
Windstream Bike Power Generator - If you’re living in the DC metro, you know how cold it is outside.Some die-hard bikers still hit the streets, but what to do for the rest of us? Enter the Bike Power Generator. This cool gizmo easily hooks up to the back wheel of your bike and generates electricity while you’re pedaling in your garage or condo, picturing a warm spring breeze running through your face. The result? hopefully a nice workout, and enough electricity from the generator’s 12V battery to power your TV (via Treehugger).
Citizen Eco-Drive Watch (His/Her) – The Citizen Eco-Drive watch for him or her is a beauty and guess what, it’s eco-friendly as well. This watch really doesn’t use a traditional watch battery because through a solar panel under the dial, it can convert light energy from the sun or any other light source into electrical energy. The electrical energy is then stored in a special energy storage cell and the charging is done in a more efficient manner than was ever before thought possible. In addition as an added benefit to the environment, the energy cell contains none of the chemicals used in ordinary watch batteries.
Zipcar Gift Certificate – The “Zipcertificate” is an awesome green gift because you can surprise someone with “wheels when they want them”. Zipcar is a sustainable car-sharing transportation solution that promotes green consciousness. Zipcar contributes to fewer cars on the road which means less congestion, less pollution, less dependence on oil, and cleaner, fresher air to breathe. Drive around town in style and green at the same time. A perfect combination.
LED TV – A Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV is a super gift not only for the person you are giving it to but also for the environment. They are the most efficient type of flat-panel TV’s available today because they use less energy than a Plasma TV’s or a standard Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TV’s. The average plasma uses 301 watts, the standard LCD uses 111 watts, and the LED version uses 101 watts.
GNC Eco-Friendly Stainless Steel Water Bottle – This water bottle is a great gift for people you know who live at the gym, an avid runner or friends who just love the environment. It’s made from food grade, high quality stainless steel; it’s 100% recyclable and dishwasher safe. In addition, it will eliminate the need for buying packaged plastic water bottles which simultaneously saves you money and help the planet.
And it’s a wrap! Do you have any favorites? We’d love to hear from you so please let us know!
Tags: christmas, Green Gifts, holiday gift guide
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 at 11:57 am and is filed under Featured Content, green products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Environmental Film Festival
Environmental Film Festival Picture by Jill Clardy
About: The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital has become one of the world’s largest and most influential showcases of environmental film and a major collaborative cultural event in Washington, D.C. Each March the Festival presents a diverse selection of high quality environmental films, including many Washington, D.C., U.S. and world premieres. Documentaries, features, animations and shorts are shown, as well as archival, experimental and children’s film at venues throughout the city. Films are screened at partnering museums, embassies, libraries, universities and local theaters and are attended by large audiences. Selected to provide fresh perspectives on global environmental issues, most Festival films are accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, environmental experts and special guests, including national decision makers and thought leaders, and are free to the public. The Festival’s Web site serves as a global resource for environmental film throughout the year.
Event Time and Contact Info:
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
1228½ 31st Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20007P: 202-342-2564
F: 202-298-8518Email: info@envirofilmfest.org
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Green Photo of the Month contest
Photos From Kumar Photography
Rather than using big and heavy duty backdrops, Kumar Photography believes keeping things simple and natural. That’s why we use natural backdrops.
Like parks that beautiful trees. Pictures (100 and 101) were taken at “Lake Waterford Park” in Pasadena, Maryland.
In picture 100, Christina softly put her face next a beautiful texture tree. This natural texture of the tree really gives this photograph whole new dimension. Which couldn’t have been captured with a regular backdrop.
In picture 101, Joey is standing next to well texture tree and in the background there are some green leafs. And there is a golden natural sun light on his hair. Which makes the photograph amazing.
Picture 102 was taken at Moyock North Carolina. In the photograph, Erica is standing between these vibrant green branches full of leafs with her gorgeous necklace . In the background, there is well cut grass.
Kumar Photography doesn’t think that you can find backdrops like these. Therefore, we utilize natural scenery to create stunning images.
Website: http://www.KumarPhotography.comSpecialize:
-Weddings
-Portraits
Environmental Film Festival
Environmental Film Festival Picture by Jill Clardy
About: The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital has become one of the world’s largest and most influential showcases of environmental film and a major collaborative cultural event in Washington, D.C. Each March the Festival presents a diverse selection of high quality environmental films, including many Washington, D.C., U.S. and world premieres. Documentaries, features, animations and shorts are shown, as well as archival, experimental and children’s film at venues throughout the city. Films are screened at partnering museums, embassies, libraries, universities and local theaters and are attended by large audiences. Selected to provide fresh perspectives on global environmental issues, most Festival films are accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, environmental experts and special guests, including national decision makers and thought leaders, and are free to the public. The Festival’s Web site serves as a global resource for environmental film throughout the year.
Event Time and Contact Info:
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
1228½ 31st Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20007P: 202-342-2564
F: 202-298-8518Email: info@envirofilmfest.org
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Smart Meters. Bad Meters?
Smart Meters. Bad Meters?
Posted on November 30th, 2010 by Daniel
We previously informed you about the benefits of smart meters, the most important one being efficient power management for utilities and consumers. However, we didn’t cover the rising opposition to the smart meter roll-out, as recently shown in the New York Times Green blog. Why should we oppose smart meters?
The Problem
A number of advocacy groups throughout the nation have been fighting against smart meters, voicing concerns on things like health risks and interference problems with other equipment; even though we live surrounded by electronics that more or less have the same risks. From the microwave oven to the cell phone, a lot of electronics emit small doses of radiation to simply do the work we ask them to do.
The chart below shows the radio-frequency power density (micro-watts per square centimeter) for various common devices. You can see that exposure from smart meters is relatively low. This chart was obtained from a Utilities Telecom Council study [PDF] refuting the health risks.
Looking from the consumer’s point of view, there are several studies for and against radiation exposure risks from cell phones for example. Such reports always seem to end up in constant dispute of each other, leaving the consumer puzzled.
As far as equipment interference is concerned, I can say from experience that getting a bunch of wireless systems near each other opens the door for potential interference. A cordless phone system can interfere with the wireless router etc. All these wireless products were completed with varying testing practices, using during different stages of communication technology, with an urgency to get the product out to the customer. If that is the case, then any new product is deemed to have some technical issues.
The Solution?
At Sobuka, we believe in the importance of having a healthy and eco-friendly environment. We do not have all the information to make a decision, nor do we fully back the conclusions of one organization over another. All we know is that consumers are confused, if not scared. As such, the only smart thing the average consumer can do is say “too much of anything is bad for me” and use things in moderation, or wait for some general consensus and then make a decision.
The utilities rolling out smart meters must successfully address the concerns of the consumer, and deploy high-quality products. And we’re not the only ones saying that: the Washington D.C. Office of the People’s Counsel submitted a petition in September, to local utility company PEPCO, asking for a delay on the deployment of smart meters until consumers are better educated. One of the posts linked above mentioned the use of different methods to get smart meters to transmit information safely. If alternate methods work better and address all the consumer’s concerns, then utilities should move in that direction.
The bottom line is that utilities with vested interest should not force the technology on the consumer without addressing some of the debatable issues. Similarly, consumers should make the phone calls and ask the questions to better educate themselves. That’s the only way we can move forward.
Tags: pepco, radiation, smart grid, smart meter
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at 11:56 pm and is filed under Featured Content, Green Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
