http://portlandroots.com Everything green and sustainable in Portland, Oregon and the Northwest. Another green tree-hugging blog Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:04:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In 2009 over 14,798 lbs of fruit was collected and given to those in need, saving it from falling and going to waste on the sidewalks.  The Portland Fruit Tree Project is an amazing idea that both helps fight hunger and waste, while increasing urban sustainability in a very green ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/12/21/donate-to-the-portland-fruit-tree-project/ In the year 2010 900 Seattle area residents are going to become the lucky new owners of the Nissan Leaf.  The Nissan Leaf is poised to become the most affordable all electric car available at $28,000 to $35,000 before a $7,500 government kickback.  The Nissan Leaf has zero emissions, and ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/12/10/seattle-gets-a-look-at-the-nissan-leaf/ 47.597988406097926 -122.33100414276123 Joining Toronto and Stockholm, Hawaii is soon going to be cooled by cold water from the depths of the ocean.  Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning LLC is installing seawater cooling in 40 buildings before 2012 when the first ones go live.  The deep sea water is transported through the buildings to ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/12/08/hawaii-to-use-cold-ocean-water-for-ac/ 21.3069444 -157.8583333 Walkscore is a website that ranks the walkability of a location based on what is around it and how far away it is.  A high Walkscore means that you live in a walkable neighborhood with close access to everything that you need.  A low Walkscore means that you are going ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/12/03/walkscore-transit/ Calling it the PlantBottle, Coke is changing all of their bottles to include 30% plant material.  The plant material is molasses and sugar cane which are leftovers from sugar making processes, which reduces the overall waste of the sugar refining process as well as giving Coke the perfect recyclable plant ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/11/16/coke-upgrading-all-bottles-now-30-plant-material/ Utah just went live with their largest wind farm yet, 203MW of clean pollution free electricity is now being generated in the first phase of what will become an even larger project.  203MW is enough to power 45,000 homes with clean renewable energy.  Though Utah will be getting $86 million ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/11/12/wind-farm-in-utah-goes-live-203mw/ 38.60828592850559 -112.906494140625 Finally!  Cars are going to become more efficient and safer than ever before thanks to a new European technology.  The most dangerous part of a car, and the part that causes 99.999% of all accidents is the human behind the wheel.  Humans are imperfect creatures that are distracted, emotional, and ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/11/10/frickin-finally/ 12 companies forming the Desertec Industrial Initiative have put together a $555 billion (yes, billion with a 'b') idea to supply 15% of the total power needed by the entire continent of Europe by installing solar concentration farms in Saharan Africa.  The plan also includes seawater desalination plants that are ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/11/05/saharan-solar-farms-to-power-europe/ 25.48295117535531 18.017578125 The Solar Heart by Colorado's Cool Energy Inc is a special generator that creates a lot of electricity in a very creative way.  Using a special chambered system that creates energy when Hydrogen is heated and cooled.  The system needs the controller (the brain), low heat solar panels on your ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/10/08/solar-heart-keeping-you-warm-in-colder-climates/ From October 5th to November 8th drop by the Portland Bureau of Transportation to give your two cents on the bike plan for 2030.  Portland started its bike plan in 1996 and has gone through several revisions.  The plan paves the way for changes to the city to make it ... http://portlandroots.com/2009/10/07/portlands-bike-plan-to-2030/ 45.51501762703998 -122.67894834280014