Understanding the importance of saving the world from global warming is important, but that does not mean you will have fun being green. Sundance Channel wants “being green” to be a fun process and therefore, we try to present environmental information in new and exciting formats.

You already know about Sundance Channel’s new weekly programming block THE GREEN [www.sundancechannel.com]. Shows like BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET explore the personalities and innovative strategies of cutting edge businesses that are tackling green issues in excitingly new ways. ECOISTS portrays candid interviews of celebrities like Woody Harrelson, Daryl Hannah, Ben Harper and others as they ask motivating questions about humanities’ role in assuring a healthy environment.

The fun begins On Air but continues on Sundance Channel Website. When you sign up as a member of Sundance Channel, you can also get the Greenzine [www.sundancechannel.com], a fun collection of stories and opinions that you can only find on Sundance Channel. You will receive a couple Greenzine issues each month, so you can be sure the fun will be lasting.

If you are looking to test your knowledge of environmental info, then take the Green Quiz [www.sundancechannel.com], a fun activity full of zany pictures and quotes.

Now that you have entertained yourself with all this green information, and have already learned some techniques to reduce your carbon footprint, check out Sundance Channel’s Green E-cards. Send one of your friends a silly or serious note using our colorful online Green E-card [www.sundancechannel.com].

Thanks for checking out what Sundance Channel has to offer. Please comment on this article and spread the word about how much fun it is to be green.

ECOISTS: Daryl Hannah

Daryl Hannah has been leading a sustainable lifestyle for some time. She uses solar panels for her home, drives a biodiesel car, adopts animals and in general strives to be a sustainable member of the world.

Daryl works tirelessly to further environmental changes. To this end, she created a website that is fabulously ingenious. You can browse a lot of specially prepared environmental content at this website [dhlovelife.com] and come away feeling more hopeful than before.

Here is the Daryl Hannah clip from ECOISTS

ECO BIZ: Cameron Cole

Riva Krut (on left) divined that environmental consulting was a needed aspect if one wanted to help businesses become more sustainable. What better way to lure CEOs and business owners into doing the right thing for the environment than to tell them you can make them more profit and also cut down on their manufacturing costs. Please log in to THE GREEN discussion boards and let us know what kinds of businesses could benefit from some environmental consulting. Who knows what strings our Eco-mmunity could pull?

Here is the ECO BIZ episode for this week, we hope you enjoy.

For more information on Cameron Cole, you can also check out their website [www.cameron-cole.com].

We’ve been spending most of this week chatting about fuel, and biofuels have been hogging the spotlight. That’s okay; they’re a viable way to power our cars and other forms of transportation in a greener, more renewable way than petroleum products, and they’re available today. Biofuels have even gotten big enough to pick up some valuable celebrity endorsements; these are a great way to market the new fuel to a new crowd, since some people just won’t listen to TreeHugger, no matter how easy, fun or hip we make going green seem.

Some pretty big-name musicians have hopped aboard the biofuel bandwagon as well; they’ve discovered that it’s a great way to green their tours (by using it to fuel their buses) and walk the green walk. While some celebrity endorsements can feel disingenuous, forced or self-righteous, we’ve been impressed by the commitment of these folks, who don’t just endorse the idea, but use it themselves. Check out a quick list of some of the celebs who are touting petroleum alternatives and helping bring the idea further into the mainstream.

[*] Daryl Hannah [www.treehugger.com] drives a 1983 El Camino powered by biodiesel, and has even been known to lick the gas cap! Even so, she remains a passionate, educated activist for the fuel.
[*] Willie Nelson [www.treehugger.com] is such a big fan of biodiesel that he launched his very own brand of the stuff. He’s proud to support domestic farmers and a healthier environment with “BioWillie”, now available in seven states and adding locations every month.
[*] What’s better than Daryl Hannah or Willie Nelson? How about Daryl Hannah and Willie Nelson together [www.treehugger.com], as they were at the 2006 National Biodiesel Conference.
[*] Celeb chef Michael Chiarello [www.treehugger.com] is working on converting his Napa Valley farm to 100% biodiesel.
[*] Woody Harrelson [www.treehugger.com] went on The Late Show with David Letterman and chatted about his addiction to the petroleum alternative.
[*] Mandy Moore [www.treehugger.com] has also hopped aboard the bandwagon, going so far as to convert her ride to run on straight veggie oil.
[*] Musicians have taken the biofuel message on the road, including Pearl Jam [www.treehugger.com], who have been active in the green realm for a long time, including a switch to biodiesel on tour.
[*] British rockers Gomez [www.treehugger.com] partnered up with Clif Bar’s GreenNotes program to fuel their latest tour with biodiesel, among other green good deeds.
[*] Jack Johnson [www.treehugger.com] was one of the first musicians that we found to be boosting biodiesel by burning it on tour.
[*] Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young [www.treehugger.com] acked up 220,000 miles last year on tour; powering them all with biodiesel made them 78% cleaner than before, along with signing up to be carbon neutral in 2006.
[*]MTV2’s $2 Bill Tour, featuring 30 Seconds to Mars [www.treehugger.com], wasn’t left out of the biofuel fun: the 27-city tour was fueled by biodiesel as well.
[*] When not driving around in his Prius, Steven Page and the rest of the Barenaked Ladies [www.treehugger.com] will be using biodiesel on tour, along with other carbon-cutting strategies.

Now that biofuels have gone prime time on The GREEN, we’ll look for more celebs to discover that switching to oil alternatives is not only the right thing to do, but it really works well, too.

Transportation is one of the most popular, posted-on, talked-about topics at TreeHugger, and with good reason. We all have to get around, and it’s something that most of us do multiple times every day: to and from work, school, the store; shuttling kids; meeting friends…the list goes on. While there are multiple ways to accomplish this (and we’ll talk more about the options at a later date), we’ll focus today on biodiesel.

Not long ago, biodiesel was relegated to use only by who were perceived to be backyard chemists and hippies, existing in our collective conscience somewhere between tie-dye and burlap, but not anymore. Morgan Freeman, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts all actively promote the fuel; Willie Nelson even makes the stuff. Bands and musicians like Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Barenaked Ladies, Guster and Gomez have embraced it and use it to fuel their tours; in short, biodiesel has arrived.

Usually derived from vegetable oils (soy is very popular these days, but animal fats can also be used), biodiesel is made through a process called transesterification which essentially splits the oil into two parts: alkyl esters and glycerine; the esters are the fuel, while the leftover glycerine is often used to make soap and other beauty products. Both virgin and waste oil (often collected from restaurants) can be used in this process with equally good results. The fuel is non-toxic and biodegradable; read more about what biodiesel is and how to make it at Wikipedia’s biodiesel entry [en.wikipedia.org].

What a lot of people don’t know is that you can use it to power any diesel engine without any modifications; it’s a straight fill-up-and-go affair. The great thing about biodiesel is that, in addition to being produced domestically and not being derived from a petroleum source, is that it has 60% less carbon dioxide emissions than petrodiesel (and many people report a pleasant, French-fry-like smell coming from the tailpipe. Combined with the higher fuel efficiency of most diesel-engined passenger cars, and it’s a pretty good, pretty green combination.

It’s not perfect, though. Like its petrol equivalent, biodiesel tends to turn a little gelatinous at low temperatures, so it’s not always suitable for year-round use, depending on the climate where you live; this problem can be addressed by getting a mixture of biodiesel and petrodiesel (you’ll see it on the pumps: B50 is a 50/50 mix; B20 is 20% biodiesel, and so on). Biodiesel is still growing, and so it isn’t readily available all over the place, as gasoline and diesel fuel is, so you’ll have to pay attention to your gas gauge and a know a reliable source or two. The good news is that its popularity is exploding, and more stations are popping up every day. With the recent addition of ultra-low sulfur-emitting diesel (ULSD) in the US [www.treehugger.com], diesel engines will be available in more cars than ever, and we expect biodiesel production and popularity to follow suit. To learn more about biodiesel, including where to get it in your neck of the woods, click on over to the National Biodiesel Board [www.biodiesel.org] and stay tuned for more ideas on info on greening your transportation.