Inspirational and good news.
Sometimes all someone needs is a little hope. After seeing people loose hope in their struggles with cancer, poor health, or addictions George Ruann decided to do something about it.
Hope Cube is the result. It’s a social networking site for people who need support in their lives to tackle some difficult aspects of living. You can even ask open-ended questions to the community to solicit support and knowledge.
I don’t propose to understand how this works but apparently Ford is planning to capture the paint fumes from their Oakville plant to power a fuel cell that will convert the fumes into electricity! I knew paint fumes were strong stuff but who knew they could power a 300 kilowatt fuel cell completely eliminating NOX and reducing CO2 by 88%? I’ll tell you who knew, Ford knew.
“The Oakville installation is the first of its kind in the world to harvest emissions from an automotive facility for use in fuel cell,” said Kit Edgeworth, Ford’s abatement equipment technical specialist for Manufacturing. “It is the greenest technology and offers the perfect solution to the industry’s biggest environmental challenge traditionally.”
How much stuff do you have sitting at home right now that you don’t use….but don’t want to get rid of it cause you might need it? Why not rent it out online? The Ebay for renting is finally here with RentMineOnline.com (still in Alpha testing). When you need a thing for 1 day out of 365 rent instead of buying and save a buck and the planet.
A good example of how this can work is landmovers. Why should everyone has their own mower if they will only use it a couple of hours a week and there is a perfectly good mover a house away? I would love to see streets organize themselves and collectively buy one mover for all residents. So I emplore those of you with needs for landmovers, drills, boats, whatever it maybe to check to rent it before you buy. The more we rent instead of buy, the less environmental impact we have.
Renting your home could save you money, especially if you take advantage of this rental rebate.
Shameless promotion (but not self-promotion) of an event happening in Toronto that looks to be really good:
The Box is a quarterly salon night that aims to bring diverse communities and audiences into an environment of artistic and social intermingling. On September 15th, the Box goes to rare heights. We’re perching atop the Wrigley building and you’re invited to a roof-party with words, performance, humour, and music. Featuring: Claire Jenkins avec band, Jess Dobkin, Karl Mohr, Motion, Mike Hoolboom, Leanda Quinquet (About the Music, CIUT 89.5 FM), Josh Thorpe, Tomboyfriend, Bryen Dunn & Jeanette Cabral (Sex City, CIUT 89.5 FM) and Steve Venright. Beverages courtesy of Mill Street Brewery.
Saturday September 15th
7 pm
The Wrigley Building235 Carlaw, 6th Floor (just north of Queen and Carlaw, accessible by the Queen Streetcar and Pape Bus)
$10-$15 scale donation
no one turned away
Google.org is looking to fund a lot of companies that are looking to improve cars to run off of electrifying technologies. Google sees a lot of promise in getting people to use plug-in cars because it would greatly reduce energy consumption in the USA.
Today, Google.org has issued a request for investment proposals (RFP) to the tune of $10 million in order to advance sustainable transportation solutions. We are inviting entrepreneurs and companies to show us their best ideas on how they can contribute to this important cause. We need catalytic investments to support technologies, products and services that are critical to accelerating plug-in vehicle commercialization. That is why we have structured this RFP to offer investment dollars to for-profit companies to promote social and environmental change.
This initiative continues Google’s adventure into trying to be super-green.