Eco-mmunity Map is intended to help people post and find “green resources” so that individuals can attain a sustainable lifestyle, and so that society can collectively lower its carbon footprint. In order to use Eco-mmunity Map effectively to help green the world, it is important to define what is meant by a “green resource.”

Green resources could be many things to many different people but here are a few of the basic categories:

- People Interested In Helping The Environment (Team up with people making a difference or share knowledge on personal techniques for improving the environment)

- Organic Restaurants

- Farmers Markets

- Any store that sells environmentally friendly products

- Green related events like (Earthday Celebrations, Environmental Conferences and Environmental Fund Raising Events.

- Used Merchandise or Pre-owned Shops (Second Hand Furniture, Clothing, Electronics, Book Stores, Flea Markets, etc…)

- Green Investment Firms

- Hybrid Car / Electric Car Dealerships

- Recycling Centers

- Pollution Sites (We have to identify where the environmental problem is, what causes it, and only then can we actively fix the problem)

- Biofueling Stations

- Gardens, Parks, Camping Sites, Swimming Holes, etc… (It is important to enjoy nature and also to bring commerce to botanical gardens, nature preserves and other places where appreciation for nature can generate supportive and restorative activities)

- Green Construction Companies, Green Building Supplies

- Green Buildings (The more popular they become, the more of them people and businesses will build)

- Green related websites, podcasts and community centers

- Alternative energy suppliers and power companies

These are just a few of the potential green resources that can help society become more sustainable. If you know of any green resource, then search the map [www.sundancechannel.com] to see if it is already there. If you find it on the map, consider adding a comment about the green resource. You will find the “comment” button at the bottom right corner of every map marker. If your green resource is not on the map, then we invite you to create a marker now [www.sundancechannel.com]. Keep in mind that you must be logged into Sundance Channel with a user profile in order to create markers. If you want to become a member of Sundance Channel then head over to our Member Sign Up Page [www.sundancechannel.com] and join today.

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].

This post provides more details on a recent party thrown by the organization LVHRD (Live Hard). LVHRD is trying a new approach to spreading the sustainability message. The organization has mounted several recent events for their membership and the public. The hope is to educate people about sustainable lifestyle options. The latest was event held on Tuesday, April 24th.

The event was called Bi-Fold III: GRN. [www.lvhrd.org] In this event LVHRD invited two designers to discuss their work within the context of sustainability. Colin Beavan, the “No Impact Man”, [noimpactman.typepad.com] who has sworn to live a year without toilet paper, was the host for LVHRD’s Bi-Fold III: GRN. Colin, along with his wife, daughter, and dog, are attempting to live in the middle of New York City without making a net impact on the planet.

What made the Bi-Fold III: GRN party look Green? Perhaps the “green” look came from LVHRD’s solution to reduce the waste materials used at the party. As LVHRD stated: “for at least one night there will be no little red beer cups and no plastic wine glasses cluttering up the garbage. This means, of course, that your cup can be whatever you choose. If you’re a water connoisseur, strap on a Camelbak: [www.camelbak.com] NYC local, Fred Water [lovefred.com], will be on hand to keep you hydrated…We want to see hollow skulls, ceramic goblets, and coconuts. You could even line your pockets with plastic bags, or better yet, double up: come with a friend and bring two bendy straws.” I wanted to bring my “conflict-free” [en.wikipedia.org]diamond covered “pimp cup” [www.urbandictionary.com] to imbibe the complementary beer from the, wind powered, [www.brooklynbrewery.com] Brooklyn Brewery, but I thought this may be a bit over the top for a “green” party so I opted for a stainless steel mug from my desk at the office. Reusability is one the most effective ways to lower waste, and you would be surprised how much trash gets left outside the average club every night, even on a slow one.

Russell Robertson’s Taxi-Cab Models

The first invited speaker was Russell Robertson, Co-Founder of Hybrid Product Design and Development. He discussed the future of urban mass transit and how, in 2005, he participated in a concept project with the Design Trust for Public Space in NYC. His team was challenged to create a new kind of sustainable, purpose built, taxi to replace the aging fleet of 8 mpg, yellow, Crown Victoria sedans. (We will try to tell you a bit more about each if these people in a future blog post).

The second creative individual that LVHRD highlighted was Marci Zaroff, Founder of Under the Canopy. [www.underthecanopy.com] Marci, who is said to have coined the term “eco-fashion,” presented a fashion show to showcase her newest line of organic and socially-just fashions.

Marci Zaroff

In any case, the event was, “standing-room-only”, and a big success, bringing out several hundred people with re-useable cups-in-hand. It was great to see so many people come out to learn about the innovative designs of people who are working to help us move toward a sustainable future. I also hope the “bring-your-own-cup-to-get-in” rule, catches on with other promoters and venues in Manhattan. I wonder how may plastic cups from parties, ball games, concerts and festivals [www.besmart.org] go into landfills each year?

A big part of ‘being green’ or engaging in a more ’sustainable lifestyle’ is making the most efficient use of the resources and materials that are readily available. Though useful in the right situations, there’s often no need to employ new ideas or technology to up the ante and engage in green behavior; some ideas just make sense, and it just takes a little forethought (and a little creativity, sometimes) to make them work.

So, what exactly are we talking about here? How about when restaurants that give their fryers a daily workout use their waste oil for fuel (that’s right, just like on The GREEN [www.sundancechannel.com] last week), like Burgerville [www.treehugger.com], this British chippie [www.treehugger.com] and even McDonalds [www.treehugger.com]. Other ideas are a little more conceptual at this point, but worthy nonetheless: solar-powered air conditioners [www.treehugger.com] (so practical and intuitive that we mention it again [www.treehugger.com] and again [www.treehugger.com] top this list. Think about it: you run air conditioning in the hot sun, when the solar rays beat down and essentially go to waste, heating the building you’re trying to cool; why not use the power for good?

Other ideas, like regenerative braking on hybrids, are out there, but waiting for improvement; as we noted here [www.treehugger.com], much of the energy from current regenerative braking systems can’t be absorbed quickly enough by the chemical batteries and is lost; it’s a great idea, and, by using ultracapacitors (suggested in the article), can be made even better; someday, cars could be a totally closed system, generating their own power through regeneration from all the moving parts. More generally, ideas like integrating biomimicry in design [www.sundancechannel.com] and using gas released by landfills to create energy [www.treehugger.com] (and power renewable energy projects like this biodiesel plant [www.treehugger.com]) put this idea to work on both ends of the product and design lifecycle: using the gas created by the breakdown of waste in landfills cycles energy back into a useful form (similar to Bill McDonough & Michael Braungart’s Cradle-to-Cradle idea that waste=food [www.treehugger.com]), while biomimicry takes a note from nature and cuts back on waste from the start. Makes sense to us.