sundance

The pedicab: a low-carbon solution for a night out drinking

What’s the carbon footprint of a night out barhopping? I’m not sure anyone’s actually measured that specifically, but a developing world staple seems to be catching on as a low-carbon transportation alternative for tourists and college students who’ve had a few too many: the pedicab.

Yellowstone hotel gift shop educates shoppers on global warming, product footprints

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel gift shop

Think of a hotel or tourist destination gift shop as a place full of cheap crap likely made by underpaid workers in the developing world? In most cases, you’re spot on. At Yellowstone National Park’s Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, though, concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts is aiming for a very different kind of gift shop experience: one that educates shoppers on the effects of global warming, and the lifecycle of the gifts they purchase.

Times Square Beach

A kinder and gentler traffic in Times Square.

Finally catching up to many European cities who have made their city centers “pedestrian only” for years, New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg has closed Broadway to vehicular traffic between 47th and 42nd Streets straight through the middle of Times Square in New York City. Bloomberg says that clearing both Times Square and Herald Square (from 35th to 33rd Streets on Broadway) of motorized vehicles will lower the number of pedestrian accidents and cut down on pollution.