Frankly Green

Converting Hybrids to Plug-in Electric

Hybrids trick out, plug in

    * San Francisco garage converts hybrid vehicles to plug-in electric power
    * For $7,500, Luscious Garage converts Prius, Mariner, Escape models
    * How will battery-powered vehicles change the nation's fuel infrastructure?
    * Electric cars don't pollute, but much U.S. electricity comes from fossil fuels

By Marsha Walton, CNN
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- The owner of Luscious Garage is wondering whether the electric

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Drivers of gas-sipping hybrid vehicles are increasingly interested in converting their vehicles from gasoline powered to electric, according to garage owner and lead technician Carolyn Coquillette.

While drivers of conventional gasoline-powered vehicles complain about higher fuel prices, clients of the San Francisco garage are investing big bucks to make their green cars even greener.

That's being done through plug-in conversions and adding more powerful batteries to currently available gasoline/electric hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius.

Polar Bears Resort to Cannibalism as Arctic Ice Shrinks

    * Arctic sea ice dwindled to its second lowest level on record, scientists say
    * Ice cover helps regulate and temper the climate in many parts of the world
    * Group: Polar bears are starving, drowning, resorting to cannibalism
    * Scientists believe the Arctic may be ice-free in the summer in five years

By Marsha Walton, CNN

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(CNN) -- Summer is over in the northern hemisphere, but it's been another chilling season for researchers who study Arctic sea ice.

"It's definitely a bad report. We did pick up little bit from last year, but this is over 30 percent below what used to be normal," said Walt Meier, a research scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

This past summer, the Arctic sea ice dwindled to its second lowest level. Arctic sea ice is usually 1 to 3 meters, or as much as 9 feet thick. It grows during autumn and winter and shrinks in the spring and summer.

America's Greenest City

The Rust Belt city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, takes on a green patina -- and finds that it boosts business
By Evan West, Fast Company

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I'm very proud that Grand Rapids (near my hometown) is getting some well deserved recognition for its green efforts. My cousin Sam has been been involved with the art museum and many other green renovation projects (more to come on this).

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On a sunny afternoon in Grand Rapids, a group of earnest, middle-age folks is gathered in a conference room, looking at slides of wind turbines and charts about wasteful energy use. A full-bearded man, who looks as if he's just back from a nature walk, talks about his plans to build a home showcasing the latest in low-impact design. At the front of the room, the speaker asks, pep-rally style, "What's the most effective source of renewable energy today? Conservation!"

Solar-Powered Undertaker 'Nuts' No Longer

CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports on a family-owned business benefitting from solar power.

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Report Tracks Pollution at U.S. Beaches

MSNBC.com
2007 bad year for beach closings, conservation group reports

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U.S. beaches were in poor health last year, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which said Tuesday that pollution in 2007 led to the second-highest number of beach closings and advisory days in 18 years.

Human and animal fecal matter were to blame for much of the pollution, the council said in its annual report, leaving many beachgoers vulnerable to illnesses including gastroenteritis, dysentery and hepatitis.

The council also blamed outdated water quality standards and called for more rigorous monitoring of beaches.

Converting Gas-Powered Cars to Electric

    * Switching his truck to an electric engine saved one man about $700        in four months
    * As gas prices rose, sales tripled for one conversion parts dealer
    * Some converters are fed up with spending money on gas, foreign oil
    * Others like the environmental bonus of going electric

By Curt Merrill
CNN

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Larry Horsley loves that he doesn't buy much gas, even though he drives his '95 Chevy S-10 back and forth to work each day.

Horsley, a self-described do-it-yourselfer, simply plugs his truck into an electric wall outlet in his Douglasville, Georgia, garage and charges it overnight, instead of buying gasoline refined from mostly imported oil.

Has the Bottled Water Well Finally Run Dry?

B r a n d w e e k        
S e p t   7 ,   2 0 0 8
- B y   K e n n e t h   H e i n

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The market for bottled water may be drying up. Despite massive discounting, brands like Aquafina and Poland Spring are experiencing a sales drought unlike any the category has ever seen.

After almost a decade of triple and then double-digit growth, sales volume grew less than 1% for the first half of the year, per Beverage Digest, Bedford Hills, N.Y.

The chief culprit: the economy. Shoppers are less interested in paying for a product that they can get for free.

Video: Front Fell Off (Humor)

A little humor from my friend Elicia V. about a mock interview with an Australian politician regarding an oil tanker off the coast of Australia that split in two, dumping 20,000 tons of crude oil.

Front Fell Off

Kids Konserve Waste-Free Lunch Box

Thanks to Joan K. for sending this along!

Looking for a waste-free lunch box? Check out KidsKonserve.com. The site offers many products including food grade stainless steel containers in many sizes and reusable bags and water bottles.

This is a great way to help reduce the amount of trash going into landfills and to teach your kids some good habits!

Here are some stats:
 

Honda's New Hybrid

New five-seat hybrid-only Insight will go on sale in the United States this spring.
by Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Honda Motor Co. unveiled a pure-hybrid concept car Thursday that hopes to go head to head with Toyota's wildly popular Prius.

The carmaker showed images of the Insight that will go on the sale in the United States in the spring, it said. The car, which will be sold only as a hybrid, will be a five-seat hatchback and will be priced "significantly below hybrids available today," Honda said in an announcement.

The only hybrid car now on sale here that is available only as a hybrid is the Toyota Prius.