:: Make your coffee break as eco-conscientious as possible.

:: Get in the running for a 2008 Toyota Prius by entering Tom's of Main's 'River Stories' contest.

:: Indulge in Emeril's Rustic Cheesecake with Praline Sauce.

Image credit: RecoilRick

The Big Cheese behind TreeHugger, Graham Hill, hit the Arctic as part of Cape Farewell's 2008 Disko Bay expedition to witness the direct environmental effects of climate change. Packed in snugly on a science research boat with over 40 artists, scientists and rock stars, Graham recounts his journey and the unforgettable moments that made it so meaningful.

On my trip to the Arctic, we spent many a night leisurely dining over good conversation--just one of the perks of being stuck on a boat with a crew of dynamic personalities.

One night, Lori Majewski of dosomething.org discussed a quandary she had found herself in. A well to-do friend was to be married and owned a private jet. She needed to buy him a wedding gift and was considering carbon offsets for his plane. However, she was originally leaning towards not giving the offsets as she thought that that would be effectively giving him permission to keep flying his private jet.

So, dear reader, we pose the following question to you...

Recent Comment by Sisyphus : "If you want to loose a friend buy the offsets. That would be like a slap in the face, n..." [read]

Photo via Red Ferret

How I didn’t hear about this sooner, I’ll never know. Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, went into water filtration awhile back.

Apparently this year he has unveiled the Slingshot, a filtration system for turning any water-containing liquid, including pee, into drinkable water. Not only that, but it can be run on cow poo.

Sound too good to be true? Maybe it is, or maybe Kamen doesn’t want it to take a giant belly flop like the Segway.

Read on for some interesting details about this product, and watch a video of Kamen on the Colbert Report.

Image: Raw chocolate or gasp - hashish? (Garry Choo on Flickr)

Absurd but true – Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis, two owners of the Toronto-based raw food and beauty care company Living Libations were arrested last month at the US-Canadian border on their way to Arizona, after drug-sniffing dogs found their 2.5 pounds cache of raw, unrefined chocolate – which officials mistook as hashish. After hours of intimidating interrogation tactics and threats of “life in jail” by Canadian enforcement authorities, a drug test returned a false positive, identifying the raw chocolate as hashish.

photo: Poncho Ferguson

British organisation Partnership for Renewables has announced a plan, to be done in conjunction with British Waterways, that aims to turn canal and riverside locations across the UK into renewable energy power stations. The plan is claimed to save in excess of 100,000 tonnes to CO2 annually. All income from the project will be reinvested into preserving the historic canals and waterways of the UK. Here are the details:

Cars Down, Bikes Up
While high oil prices and an economic recession are hitting carmakers hard, bicycle makers are selling more than ever. "Giant Manufacturing, the world’s largest bicycle-maker, sold a record 460,000 units last month and is heading for its best year ever."

Demand is so high in certain places that there are even shortages. For example, it happened it New York City earlier this year, and in Taiwan, people pay deposits before the bikes are even off the assembly line. Read on for more details on why bikes are so hot.

Eurasian milfoil weeding machine being used in Wisconsin. Photo: Ed Luschei.

A few months back the idea of using kudzu for biofuel was receiving a good deal of attention, with one entrepreneur attempting to market ‘kudzunol’. Now another invasive species in the US Northwest is being investigated for use as a biofuel: Eurasian Milfoil. The water plant has been infesting rivers and lakes for three decades now, and a good deal of money is spent removing it every year. What if that plant could be put to better use? That’s the question that was asked by a couple from northeast Washington asked:

Solar Powered Hospital: Healthy & Clean
Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital in Sacramento, California, is part of the Sutter Health organization, a not-for-profit group of hospitals and other health care service providers, has decided to go solar. Or at least, half-solar. 50% of its electricity needs will be provided by a 736-kilowatt solar array installed over the employee parking lot (probably shading the cars, reducing the need for air conditioning) and with a ground-mounted tracking system on the adjacent property.

Read on for more details.