The Green Issue Climate Change Environment Energy Efficiency Consumption Live

CHARGE THYSELF: When Freeplay’s windup radio came out in 1996, it set the standard for eco-tech purity. Originally meant to deliver information to isolated populations lacking electricity, the Freeplay was a shortwave radio that ran only on human power. Thirty seconds of winding time produced 40 minutes of listening time. And now it’s starting to gain allies in its heretofore lonely battle against the battery (which Americans currently consume at the rate of three billion a year). An Idaho start-up called M2E Power is in the forefront of kinetically charged consumer electronics. Having just secured million in venture capital, M2E (“motion to energy”) expects to introduce a biomechanical-energy harvester within 12 to 14 months — a device about the size of an iPhone that, when carried by a “low-active person” during the course of a couple of days, will generate a charge sufficient to power your cellphone for an hour or two. The ultimate aim is a self-charging cellphone. Bad news for the battery industry, yes — but M2E isn’t all about moon-eyed idealism: half of its business model is devoted to military applications. Sony’s Odo products, on the other hand, are a line of toys — camera, music player, etc. — that run when you crank, twirl or shake them. There are, alas, no plans to sell them. But when they started appearing at future-design shows this year, they resonated deeply with trend bloggers, an influential and conflicted group that is dedicated to ecological correctness but also likes really cute gadgets. No less fantastic is the equally conceptual Bamboo Phone imagined by the Dutch designer Gert-Jan van Breugel. Powered by a hand crank and made of bamboo, it also contains seeds, so a tree will shoot up in the landfill where it’s buried. WM. FERGUSON

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Greener Pit Stops

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GREENER PIT STOPS: Even the most grease-stained “turnwrench” acknowledges that auto racing may be difficult to justify in the climate-change era. Driving endless miles around a track for spectacle may soon be looked upon as a capital offense. Nascar and the other racing disciplines are aware of this and are taking steps to prevent a reaction. While ethanol-based fuels may not be the magic bullet that politicians describe when campaigning in Iowa, for motor sports they represent a great leap forward from the leaded gasoline that Nascar phased out just last year. The Indy Racing League (for open-wheel cars, not the stock cars of Nascar) switched to 100 percent ethanol last season. The American Le Mans Series is into the next biofuel generation, with the Corvette Racing team using a cellulose-based blend derived mainly from wood waste instead of corn. Nascar is the big dog, though, and a switch to ethanol would not only be a P.R. coup, but it could also inspire the sport’s fanatically loyal and brand-specific fans to look into alternatives to gasoline. Brian France, the C.E.O. of Nascar, says he is looking into moving away from gasoline, despite the great cost of re-engineering the cars’ fuel lines. Still, for a sport that is all about going in circles, it’s nice to see some new turns. ROBERT WEINTRAUB

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SWEAT EQUITY: Many people go to the gym to become more powerful. But at California Fitness in Hong Kong, an Asian-based subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, exercisers are actually powering the gym. The program, “Powered by YOU,” was conceived by Doug Woodring, a Wharton grad, and Lucien Gambarota, a French inventor, who run an alternative-energy company in Hong Kong. When a member begins to exercise, the machine she uses captures the energy she creates as electricity (which would otherwise be lost as heat) and uses it to run a light above the machine. Gambarota says that a person can produce 50 watts of electricity per hour working out at a moderate pace. “If you spend just an hour per day on a machine annually, you could generate 18.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity,” he says. That’s the equivalent of powering a three-bedroom home in New Jersey for 14 hours. Since the program made its debut last year, 13 exercise machines have been hooked up; the chain plans to extend the project to its 24 other clubs throughout Asia. ABBY ELLIN

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PETS: Americans spend more than billion a year on their pets, more than the gross domestic product of all but 70 countries. An increasing share of this business is being devoted to helping companion animals tread more lightly on the planet. Jasmin Malik Chua, a correspondent for Treehugger.com, has written about how people can green their pets. “For many people,” she says, “it starts off being concerned about their pets’ health, especially after the scares about tainted pet food imported from China. After looking for safer food alternatives, the next step is finding sustainable and renewable products.” Chua, who lives with her two cats in Jersey City, champions alternative sources like recycled newspapers or wood-waste products in favor of clay cat litter (a byproduct of strip mining). Chua also urges pet owners to substitute odds and ends found around the house for expensive plastic, petroleum-based playthings. “Dogs and cats don’t care how much you spend on their toys,” she says. And sometimes merely being a responsible pet owner can have hidden environmental benefits. “Microchipping your pet could be a green act,” Chua says, noting all the gas guzzled and fliers printed when searching for a lost pet. Carol Perkins typifies the new breed of green-pet entrepreneurs. Her company, Harry Barker, sells dog beds and toys made from hemp and biodegradable poop bags made from soy and corn. Harry Barker’s dog beds are stuffed with fibers made from 100 percent postconsumer-recycled polyethylene terephthalate, which itself is made from water bottles and other discarded plastic items. “The stuffing is eco-friendly and just as fabulous as virgin polyester,” she exults. JEFF STRYKER

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JUNK MAIL: “We tend not to use the phrase ‘junk mail’ because ‘junk’ is in the eye of the beholder,” says April Smith, a project manager at Catalogchoice.org, a free online service for consumers wishing to avoid unwanted catalogs. Junk or not, there sure is a lot of it to behold, with Americans receiving an estimated 19 billion catalogs in the mail each year, at a cost of 53 million trees and 5.2 million tons of carbon emissions. (This doesn’t include credit-card solicitations or entreaties from charities.) Consumers can also reduce mail by signing up free at the Direct Marketing Association’s mail-preference service (DMAChoice.org). The D.M.A.’s efforts are part of the paper and direct-mail industries’ attempts to fend off do-not-mail legislation, under consideration in a dozen states, modeled on the federal do-not-call registry. A spokeswoman for International Paper, Amy J. Sawyer, has a different defense: “The direct-mail industry generates 0 billion in economic activity annually and employs 3.5 million Americans nationwide. Mail helps consumers target their shopping and saves millions of automobile miles per year as people use the mail for everything from catalog shopping to DVD rentals.” JEFF STRYKER

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