Earlier this week I had a chance to meet with the co-founders of E-Fuel, a company with a paradigm shifting product that could change the way we think about fueling our cars. It’s called the EFuel100 MicroFueler, and it makes creating and pumping your own ethanol fuel at home about as easy as running the washing machine. Hook-up the plug-n-play MicroFueler to a water source and a power source – just like the washing machine – dump in the pre-packaged combination of sugar and yeast, and then carry on with your day while the MicroFueler goes to work producing renewable, affordable & clean fuel for your car. Once it’s ready, place the fuel pump in your fuel tank and let it ride.

So say goodbye to futile searches for gas stations offering the elusive E-85 fuel (a blend 85% ethanol & 15% petroleum). You no longer need the pump. In fact, you no longer need a flex-fuel car to run on higher levels of ethanol blended fuels. Researchers have found that standard cars can perform well on blends of up to E-55 or E-65 (see Motortrend.com for details). The power to create your own ethanol fuel and run it in your current automobile is now right in your hands.

The MicroFueler embodies the original vision of Henry Ford. When the Model-T first rolled off assembly lines in the United States about 100 years ago there were no gasoline stations. Ford envisioned car owners fueling up with homemade ethanol, which is exactly what they did. That is, of course, until an oil baron named John D. Rockefeller successfully got prohibition laws passed through Congress and made making Ethanol for any kind of consumption, including fuel consumption, a crime.

Those days are long gone now, but the dream is back. The MicroFueler empowers consumers to make a healthy choice for their wallets and for the planet. Producing a gallon of ethanol using the MicroFueler costs about $1. The list price for the machine itself is $9,995, no doubt a little on the steep side. However, consumers who purchase one receive the same federal tax breaks as corporate ethanol producers which knocks about $3,000 off the price. Score one for the little guy.

Visit E-Fuel’s website to learn more.

As lazy environmentalists we like to go green in ways that are easy, stylish, and affordable. That’s because the more green choices fit our lifestyles, the more likely we are to actually make them. For Earth Day I got together with Wal-Mart to show consumers a few simple ways to go green in easy, affordable style. Our satellite media tour enabled us to chat live with local morning talk shows around the country from our television studio in NYC. Check out the video and visit Walmart.com/earth to discover numerous eco-aware products that will fit just about any budget.

Water may cover four fifths of the globe, or less (I actually have no idea how much of the globe water covers), but the stark reality is that fresh water scarcity is becoming a major environmental challenge for communities worldwide. Populations in both developed and developing nations are being affected. Effectively addressing the looming challenges requires hundreds if not thousands of strategies, some that can be coordinated on a global scale and others that can be implemented locally. Fortunately, those solutions are already underway.

Check out this sneak preview clip of "Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Water" airing tomorrow night on the Sundance Channel, and tune in to see what activists and visionaries are doing to provide for the long-term abundance of this vital resource.

From G-Spotting:
“All praise the t-shirt gods for inspiring American Apparel to release more colors in their organic cotton collection. We were beginning to think we'd have to wear oatmeal v-neck tees for eternity.” Read More…

This Thursday evening I’ll be co-hosting a green event here in New York City with the fabulous Celia Chen of Notesonaparty.com and an all-star lineup of green lifestyle experts, event planners, and entrepreneurs. The evening will emphasize how easy, attractive and downright decadent throwing your own environmentally aware event can be. The city’s top event planners, social home entertainers, green change agents, and press will be on hand to experience gourmet organic catering, eco-friendly cocktails, beautiful tabletop and stationery design, modern green décor, digital music styling, online invitations, and all other must-haves required to throw a stylish and sustainable party!

For more information visit Notesonaparty.com and check out newly launched Pingg.com to see the future of online invitations.

The Sundance Channel is back with another season of the the GREEN. This coming Tuesday at 9pm, I’ll be profiled as a Sundance film crew follows me from the radio studio, to the Brooklyn workshop of Brave Space, one of our favorite green furniture designers, and finally back to the Vivavi sustainable furniture showroom. You can also view the video directly at Sundance’s website. The image is of me and my boy Sam Kragiel of Brave Space.
Watch The Video

Here’s an interview I gave for National Geographic Magazine while at the Aspen Institute last week. The Aspen Environment Forum crystallized for me my thoughts about why creating positive environmental change is such a tremendous opportunity to improve our personal lifestyles, economy, and society based on the values we hold today. “Green” is as much about solving environmental challenges as it is about recognizing that environmental innovation can make our lives better not just in some theoretical future but right now.
Watch The Video

A few of the participants were asked to present our “big ideas” to open the plenary session. Here’s a video of what Majora and I had to say.

Next week over 50,000 art and design fans congregating in New York City for the Armory Show will have the opportunity to experience green furniture collections from design houses such as Molo Design, Brave Space, Knu, and Rhubarb Decor. For the second year in a row, Vivavi will design and furnish the ARTFORUM Public Lounge to give visitors a chance to chill out and recharge in a setting that demonstrates the possibilities for merging great design with environmental responsibility. Over 150 international galleries will be exhibiting new works during the four day event, which will be held on Pier 94 from March 27th to 30th. See the Armory’s website for more details. See green furniture designs from last year’s ARTFORUM public lounge.

[Stagger Server by Brave Space made from bamboo]

[Knu Desk 4 by Knu Furniture made of FSC certified wood]

This Monday, March 24th I’ll be in Dumbo, Brooklyn to moderate one of the most exciting and authoritative panels I could imagine about how to make healthier, more environmentally responsible choices for our children. The all-star lineup features:

Marisa Belger: “GreenDAY” columnist for TheTodayShow.com, Marisa also collaborated with me on The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide To Easy, Stylish, Green Living.

Lynda Fassa: Founder of Green Babies, author of Green Babies, Sage Moms and consultant to Whole Foods on implementation of green standards for non-food items.

Alexandra Zissu: Co-author of The Complete Organic Pregnancy, Kids’ Editor at New York magazine, and "Ask An Organic Mom" blogger at TheDailyGreen.com.

The event is open to the public. Click Here for details and to learn more about the exciting green initiatives being spearheaded by Tucker Reed and his team at the Dumbo Improvement District.

Read The Interview…

Today there is ample opportunity to drive fuel-efficient cars that don't cost a fortune. Fortunately for lazy environmentalists, the only correlation between a car's cost and its fuel efficiency is an inverse relationship, i.e., the more you pay for your car, the more you're likely to pay at the pump. Often it’s the most affordable cars that get the best fuel economy.

Consider the latest series of sub-$15,000 hatchbacks from Japan. The 2008 Nissan Versa (MPG: 26 city/31 highway), 2008 Honda Fit (MPG: 27 city/34 highway), and 2008 Toyota Yaris (MPG: 29 city/36 highway) deliver best-in-class gas mileage (MPG ratings based on new EPA testing measures implemented in 2008). They are also versatile, stylish, fun to drive, and capable of fitting a lot of companions who want to come along for the eco-friendly ride. It’s pretty easy to understand why they have such tremendous youth appeal. Not only can you plug-in your iPod and chill with your friends en route, but you get to do it while avoiding the gas pump and making low monthly lease or finance payments.

Top-flight fuel economy is largely achieved in two ways. First, these cars trade power for efficiency. They still get off the line pretty quickly (see review in Green Car Journal) but probably aren’t the best cars to use for robbing banks when needing to ditch the cops on long straightaways. Second, these cars are significantly lighter than many others on the road. They are still safe to drive but weigh about a ton less than beefier sedans and station wagons. Remember what it was like in grade school when the fat kid made you give him a piggyback ride? That’s how a car engine feels when it has to lurch forward under the weight of the typical luxury sedan or station wagon. It expends more energy, consumes more fuel, and releases more greenhouse gases than when tucked inside a nimble, lightweight, lower-priced vehicle.

Adding further credence to the notion that sub-$28,000 hybrids are within reach of the average Joe and Jane is a survey by Autobytel.com that appeared in the New York Times in the summer of 2007. It found that 35% of hybrid owners or serious buyers say their household income is under $40,000. Over half (52%) say their household income is below $60,000. To put this in context, the latest Census Bureau data for fiscal year 2008 indicates that average U.S. income for a household of four is $67,019. Hybrid cars are more accessible than one might think. Interestingly, the survey also found that hybrid drivers are slightly more likely to be Republican than Democrat, nearly half don't have a college degree, and only 16% live on the West Coast. The rest are spread out relatively evenly across the U.S., attesting to the broad, universal appeal of cars that are substantively better for the planet than the conventional choices.

For Additional Fuel and Budget Friendly Car Options See FuelEconomy.gov.

Monica Hesse wrote a thoughtful article a couple of days ago in The Washington Post - "Greed In The Name of Green." She voiced the frustration that many within the environmental movement share – that green consumerism is not really environmentalism and in fact may be doing more harm than good. Hesse questions whether people really need all these new green products that are coming to market. She quotes several experts who say that the real way to go green is to use less, not buy more “less worse” stuff. She questions whether people really need luxurious products like Anna Sova organic cotton towels and whether those that buy them are really doing anything at all in the name of the environment or are simply couching their desire for luxury behind a veil of environmental integrity. Essentially, she is questioning whether our capitalist, consumer-based society is capable of righting itself. Putting it another way, perhaps what she is really asking is can our modern, capitalist system be made to function in balance with nature? Is that possible?

I would offer that what is absolutely vital is to bring our way of life back into balance with nature. That means we solve Global Warming, ensure abundant access to clean drinking water, improve air quality, and address hundreds of other issues that have thrown our relationship with the planet out of whack. And we do it not just for the developed world, but for the entire planet. On this score, I think most environmentalists would agree with me.

However, unlike Hesse and other environmentalists, I do not believe that the only socioeconomic model that can bring our way of life back into balance with nature is one predicated on sacrifice. I believe we are smarter and more capable than that.

I do not believe that the capitalist system is broken beyond repair and, I do not believe that green consumerism is an oxymoron. Green consumerism is one of several vital tactics that must be folded into a larger environmental strategy if we are to get really serious about addressing environmental challenges. That strategy requires that we be not only conscious consumers but active citizens demanding that our local and federal government act on the environmental challenges confronting us. It means supporting non-governmental organizations that do the critical environmental work that does not get assigned value in the capitalist marketplace or fall under government auspices. Consumers, businesses, non-profits, and government must all be marching in step if we are to succeed.

And success need not look bleak. Can we imagine an abundant, thriving economy in balance with nature? Can we imagine well-paying jobs with good benefits that contribute to the solutions? Can we imagine healthy schools, hospitals and homes? Can we imagine enjoyable, alternative transportation systems? Can we imagine a way of life that is better precisely because we have embraced a green strategy that encompasses all aspects of society? I believe the answer is yes, not simply because I’m a dreamer, but because I actually see it happening today in thousands of communities, on hundreds of college campuses, inside some of the largest corporations, and in the basements and work-shops of a veritable army of green inventors, designers, and entrepreneurs.

People are creating 21st century environmental solutions. If we are to embrace and implement them then we must move beyond narrowly defined definitions of environmental action, develop broader constituencies and welcome all those to the table who want to participate.

One of our favorite hotels, Kimpton, has created a catalog that allows you to re-create the luxury hotel experience in your own home. The new site, Kimpton Style, features an eco-friendly product section in which 100% of the profits go to the Parks for People Campaign of the Trust for Public Land.

The G2 Gallery in Venice Beach, CA will be opening its doors starting March 11th, Tuesdays through Sundays from 11:00a.m. to 7:00p.m. In a new green economy, G2 provides a fresh, sustainable model for an art gallery. The space will promote environmental appreciation, education, and conservation through the exhibition of photography and other mediums, starting with the work of distinguished wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen.

As an added bonus, eco-activist Maud Adams, best known for being the only actress to play a leading female role in two James Bond films, including “Octopussy” and “The Man with the Golden Gun" will be at the event, and is a spokesperson for G2.