There will probably be not be one cure-all solution to reliance on foreign energy and carbon emissions. Luckily, there are numerous people thinking creatively to harness energy from unlikely sources. Syngas is a process in which heat is used to convert a solid material such as coal or municipal waste into a gas. “Gasification” of biomass can reduce waste and carbon emissions since the source material is renewable and organic.

The Boston Globe did a story about one company, Ze-Gen, that heats scrap metal and captures the gases for combustion. Like many of the “new” energy propositions being developed these days, this idea is not new at all. A similar process was used to extract gasses from coal in order to light street lamps in the pre-electric days. (Via Nigel)

If you’re like me, you receive a white pages and yellow pages at least once a year and never use them. I think the last time I used the yellow pages, I was 6 years old and I tried to steal my mom’s car by sitting on a stack of them. These days, I’m too internet-connected to be bothered to flip through these huge books. For better or for worse, I’m much more likely to use Yelp or Google when trying to find a business or service in my community. Now there is an organization that gives you the option to discontinue your Yellow Page delivery. Yellow Pages Goes Green has a sign-up section that allows you to stop getting these deliveries. I haven’t heard any feedback on how well this works, but it’s definitely a good idea.

Our friends from Episode 3 are going to take over The Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco this weekend. Shuteye Unison, Carcrashlander, and other Parks and Records-affiliated bands will be making music for the benefit of the environment and your ears. This all ages show starts at 9pm, Saturday August 30th. Be there or be a drunken oil tanker captain.

This is a cool video in which Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International puts his hoe where is mouth is. Since he had been campaigning for the president to start a food garden in the white house lawn, he decided to take it upon himself to convert his own yard into a garden. Truly an inspiration to all of us who want to be the change we’d like to see in the world. (Via Justin)

Proquo is a new service that claims it can remove you from unwanted mailing lists and let you opt in to those you want to receive. I would be a little weary that signing up for such a service might lead to more junk mail. Nothing in the world is free and for Proquo to be a viable business, they must have partnered with marketing companies in order to make the service work. That being said, they do have a very explicit privacy promise that agrees to hold your personal data sacred.

The NPS has shown that it’s never too late to get into podcasting. Realizing that technology and the environment need to coexist, several parks have put together audio tours and podcasts to entice and educate the public. The survival of the National Park Service depends on an active citizenry enjoying in and voting to protect them in the future. There is no budget for TV ads, and since our nations youth are spending less and less time in front of the TV, it only makes since that the parks go digital.

One of my former coworkers from the Presidio had an idea for rangers across the National Parks to do a Where the Hell is Matt type of video campaign with different rangers dancing in front of iconic NPS sites. Still sounds like a good idea… if you’re reading this NPS.

Here is a partial list of their Podcasts:
(via Podcasting News)

Antietam National Battlefield

Everglades NP

Gettysburg National Military Park

Glacier NP

Grand Canyon NP

Yellowstone NP

Yosemite NP

Further Reading

In her new book, Elizabeth Royte tells the story of how bottled water became the drink of choice for America. Bottlemania explains how a country with excellent, free, public tap water was persuaded to buy water in plastic bottles. Anyone who feels good about recycling their plastic water bottle will learn that they’re bottle is actually “downcycled” into other materials that are then thrown out. Bottlemania explores how water has become business and the effects this is having on a global scale. So sorry Aquapodmoms, even if I am fooled by the 6-8 glasses wives’ tale, I’ll still be using my sweet metal water bottle filled with FREE tap water.