surprisingly, fuel cell technology has been around since 1839, more than 150 years. it was originally called the “gas battery.” the invention of the fuel cell vehicle (fcv) didn’t come until 1959 in the form of a tractor.

but despite many years of research, fcvs are rare in the auto industry. the first fcv to become widely available for customer leasing was honda’s fcx clarity which debuted in 2008. although toyota has been invested in the potential of fcvs for years, they have yet to actually sell one. this is likely due to the huge success of the toyota prius.

the problem with hydrogen vehicles is the issue of refilling the tank and the huge amount of energy it takes to produce the hydrogen to fill it. if the hydrogen is produced with fossil fuels and bio-ethanol, there are still emissions even if they aren’t expelled from the operation of the fcv. to solve the problem that indirect emissions pose to the spread of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the hydrogen would need to be produced using renewable energy only.

right now hybrid and electric cars are rising in popularity because they are convenient for consumers. after all, every home has an electrical outlet and a car can charge in as little as 20 minutes now. there are even special parking spaces with places to plug in.

despite difficulties, it’s certainly possible for fcvs to rise in popularity, especially due to the fact that california law favors the technology. sure enough, toyota will release the toyota mirai, their first official fcv, to consumers as of 2016 — to california only. hopefully, the mirai will match the success of the prius and provide another clean option for the planet.

(image at top: the toyota mirai will be released to consumers in 2016. / mario roberto duran ortiz)

personally, i have always had a problem with separating eggs because without a plan for the other half, that part of the egg joins the refuse in the garbage. i’ve even wasted perfectly good food while preparing produce. when an onion is cut properly for example, very little will go in the trash, but you can take it further. even the crispy, flaky onion skin can find its place in your dish – as part of a vegetable stock. it turns out there are quite a few things you can do to minimize the amount of food that enters your garbage bin.

1. make a stock from trimmings. i already mentioned this, but you might not realize how many things can become stock. you can freeze all of the scraps until you are ready and you can freeze the stock, too. if you want to make it now, consider pouring it into an ice cube tray and popping the ice cubes into a bag. this way, you can use as much or as little stock as you need in any given recipe. if you eat meat, don’t forget to add bones to your stock, too. just make sure you follow proper cooling procedure to ensure food safety. 

2. get creative. think about the composition of the trimmings you are throwing away; what are they similar to? watermelon rinds, for example, are startlingly similar in texture to cucumbers. why not peel and slice them to add to your salad? potato peels can become potato chips when fried or baked with oil. if a vegetable has seeds, you may be able to roast them.

3. extract all the flavor you can. salt leftover scraps of tomato and drain over a sieve for fresh tomato juice for use in recipes. steep the leftover stems from those tomatoes in your sauce for a rich flavor. leaves from celery, carrots and fennel can garnish a dish well. the thin skins of citrus fruit can dry in the oven at 200 degrees for later use in stews and sauces.

4. leaves and stalks are edible. i would never have thought the thick leaves around a cauliflower were edible, but it turns out that they are sweet and sauté or roast well. further, you can do this with any leaf. for thick, ribbed leaves like those of chard or collard greens, braise them until tender. broccoli stems can be peeled, seasoned and enjoyed.

5. look for substitutes. you don’t have to separate that egg and waste half. of course you can make two dishes at once, but you also don’t always have to use an egg. for egg whites you can substitute aquafaba, the liquid found in a can of beans. 

(image at top from pixabay.)

in 1901, 115 years ago this week, andrew riker’s electric powered race car broke records as the fastest electric car of its time. reaching speeds of 57 miles per hour, the “torpedo racer” wasn’t the first riker machine to win a race. in 1896, a riker car also won the first official u.s. automobile race. 

in the early 1900s, electric cars made up a third of all the non-horse-driven transportation. as more people gained access to electricity, their popularity was on the upswing — that is, until ford’s model t was introduced in 1908.

before the release of the model t, cars varied widely between steam, gas and electric power. however, the model t was much cheaper to make than the standard electric car — $650 vs. $1750 in 1912, according to energy.gov. this, as well as improved road systems and cheap fuel, resulted in gasoline powered automobiles dominating the market for the better part of the century. the late 1960s to early 1970s brought us a gas shortage, prompting congress to pass the electric and hybrid vehicle research, development, and demonstration act of 1976. but it wasn’t until the clean air act of 1990 and the energy policy act of 1992 that interest in electric vehicles truly was revived.

despite the renewed demand for electric cars in the decades following the environmentally conscious acts of the early ’90s, the auto industry struggled to create electric cars on par with the current gas-powered models. unfortunately, the costs outweighed the expected profits and many attempts were scrapped, inspiring the 2006 documentary “who killed the electric car.”

despite the problems with electric cars, including a lack of infrastructure for long trips, the demand for cleaner vehicles only grew stronger. because of this, the first widely sold electric vehicle was actually the toyota prius, a hybrid car. released in 1997, the prius was the first mass produced hybrid electric automobile, running on both conventional gas and an electrically charged battery. the prius has since sold so well that the market for hybrid and electric cars has only grown since it’s release.

it’s certainly evident in the current pricing of cars. despite the difference in price between the average electric car and the model t back in 1908, the gap has narrowed since the release of the prius. the price for an electric vehicle can range from $23,000 to $35,000, while the average gas-powered vehicle falls within the high side of that bracket at $33,500. further, the u.s. government offers a rebate (though there is a cap on the number of rebates offered per model) to those who buy electric cars purchased in or after 2010, driving the price even lower.

though the sustainability and efficiency of electric cars was neglected for more than 60 years, the market has returned full force. as auto companies sell more electric cars, they will build more to meet demand and the market will only keep growing. a cleaner future with fewer gas-based engines on the road is certainly on the horizon.

(image at top: facebook has an area in the parking lot at their menlo park, calif., headquarters with electric vehicle charging stations. photo by jimmy baikovicius / creative commons)

the union of concerned scientists have a 2008 report (pdf) that details the greenest way to travel, depending on whether you’re flying solo, traveling as a couple or in a small group. even with technological advancements, their findings hold true, according to the 2015 u.s. transportation energy data energy book, which includes data up to year 2013.

so should you fly, drive or ride?

the answer, perhaps surprisingly, is to hop on a bus — specifically a city-to-city bus. the american bus association’s motorcoach census for 2013 found that though the average mileage for a bus is just 6.1 mpg, an industry average of 39.3 passengers per trip resulted in 222.7 mpg per passenger. this is the best option for the environment — regardless of distance and whether you’re traveling alone or not.

if you’re traveling between 100 and 500 miles, the second best option is to hop on a train, with 56.18 mpg per passenger. the third best choice (for a single person) is to fly economy. the average mileage for a plane per gallon per seat is between 50 and 64 miles depending on distance traveled and whether it is a non-stop flight. if you can, try to find a plane that seats all economy as these have the lowest carbon footprint.

cars can be quite environmentally friendly as long as the car is filled to capacity and fuel efficient. if you are comfortable traveling with strangers, then a service like rideshare may be the one for you.

if you still feel like you need to drive yourself home for the holidays, here are a few practical tips from earth share:

1. keep your speed around 50 mph: speeds far above or below this number result in fewer miles per gallon.

2. don’t travel during peak hours: traffic is bound to be problematic — for your stress level and for your gas tank. being stuck in traffic is one of the best ways to burn through gas at a quicker rate.

3. pack light: traveling with less weight in any vehicle (plane, train, bus, car, etc. …) will conserve energy because the machine will not have to work as hard to lug all your stuff at high speeds. take only the essentials and you will find that your travels will be more efficient all around.

(image at top: plane by urvile86; bus and train by adam e. moreira; highway by minesweeper. / creative commons)

georgetown’s mcdonough school of business hosted their third net impact event, a solutionlab on nov. 9 that prompted students to consider a social problem — this event’s topic was food and eating healthy — and come up with innovative business plans intended to solve the issue.

panelists asked students attending the lab to come up with solutions to particular problems posed when promoting healthy eating in the wake of poverty and growing food insecurity among urban and suburban populations. though hunger was the prime issue, themes of environmentally friendly innovation and sustainable business were present in each proposal.

here are the top three solutions on the topic, while also considering sustainability:

1. food trucks. many groups proposed mobile vehicles as an efficient way to distribute food by bringing it directly to the people and proposed sustainable fuel options like bio-ethanol. from low cost food truck to salvaged produce on wheels, trucks were a popular innovation among students at the solution lab.

2. upcycling food and using natural preservatives. reducing the amount of wasted food was certainly high on the list during the session. many students sought to incorporate the issue into the solution to their problem, discussing possibilities for salvaging produce and increasing shelf life. panelist jp hill from dupont nutrition and health discussed his company’s goals to substituting natural preservatives in order to make preserved food healthier and the importance of educating customers. learn more from hill by watching this interview:

3. maximizing the grocery store experience. one group proposed a grocery application connected to store inventory that would cue shoppers to buy healthy items on sale as part of a larger meal plan for the week. another suggested community outreach in the form of a weekly dinner basket of sale items. while these ideas were all wonderful ideas to improve the health and reduce spending of shoppers, the real winner in sustainability was the “storefront” idea. in an urban community, a grocery or a convenience store would normally take up a huge amount of space, but one group dared to imagine reducing that huge building to only the checkout. customers could order ahead by phone and simply come pick up their purchase or come and order their groceries at the register. the savings in space and energy costs would be massive and leave room for larger buildings in a community to serve as housing or be appropriated in other ways.

despite the focus on public health and food choices, many of the innovations generated by students were environmentally friendly and sustainable. further, the plans that participants proposed weren’t just focused on hunger and waste as problems; business was just as large a part of the event. the bright ideas brought to the table were meant to be profitable and sustainable as actual products or companies that would collaborate with other initiatives. more events like those produced by net impact could certainly spread the message that thinking in terms of the planet is more profitable than most people are aware of.

many people have heard the reason for turning back the clocks was to aid farmers in agriculture and bringing in the crops, but in reality it has always been about saving energy. the theory is that with an extra hour of daylight in the evenings while people were home with their families would inhibit electricity use in the home. it counts on the idea that most people go to sleep around the time it begins to get dark.

historically, it seems that turning the clocks back for that extra hour before sunset did save energy: about 1% per day for the entire country according to studies performed in the 1970s. after the arab oil embargo of 1973, the energy crisis escalated to the point where the u.s. extended daylight savings time to last the whole year in 1974 and three quarters of the year in 1975 in the hopes of conserving as much energy as possible.

despite the early success of changing the clocks, some even argue that the practice uses more energy because of the increased demand for heating and cooling while people are awake. further, many oppose the institution due to health risks, negligible effects and confusion. with the rise of technology, more people are spending an increasing amount of time in front of screens as well. it is quite possible that the extra hour of daylight means less as we consume more energy while idle and go to bed later.

despite the waning popularity and effectiveness of daylight saving time, it is unlikely that the practice will disappear as it is the law. that said, states can opt out by passing a state law. arizona and hawaii, for instance, have opted out because the practice would not produce significant savings in their states. in arizona longer sunlight just means more air conditioning being used, and therefore more energy wasted, and with hawaii’s close proximity to the equator, the practice also wouldn’t be effective.

(image at top: a partial view of a world war i era poster that is headed “victory! congress passes daylight saving bill” and was sponsored by the united cigar stores company, though the poster’s author is unknown. source: library of congress)

what many people don’t realize is that a power strip with no switch functions the same as the wall outlet. the power strip doesn’t just magically save energy, you have to actually turn it off. even writing this, i realize i’m personally guilty of forgetting to turn my power strips off. i will admit that i, too, thought that somehow the energy star label on my strip meant that it would miraculously solve my phantom energy woes. but the real solution is the act of flipping the “off” switch that functionally unplugs all those devices at once.

the good news is that you can save energy for under $10. you don’t need to go buy a fancy power strip when a cheap one will serve the same function just as well. if you don’t want to buy a power strip with a switch, you can simply unplug the whole strip from the wall for roughly the same effect. of course if you want some high-end tech, there are advanced power strips that can even manage your devices for you.

(image at top by firstfreddy/creative commons)

today the subway serves 4.5 million people daily and has a 24-hour operating schedule, making it the only rapid transit system in the world that always runs in its entirety — fitting for the city that never sleeps. even as the largest underground transit system in the u.s., there are still proposals and works in progress to expand the reach of the subway to make it more convenient for commuters.

unfortunately, the outlook is not bright for underground trains in coastal cities — especially in the big apple, which is far enough below sea level that it is already threatened whenever a tropical storm happens to travel north. as global warming causes an increase in sea level, the city will face a higher threat of flooding each year. even as recently as 2012, the subway system was devastated by hurricane sandy resulting in $5 billion worth of damage.

if the sea level should rise by a meter or more over the next century, new york city may find itself underwater with a waterlogged and salt corroded transit system after every storm. of course, this is a problem for every coastal city as the u.s. falls behind in innovations to combat rising sea levels. hopefully, progress will catch up with the problem and the many subway-dependent commuters will still have their trains for many years to come.

(image at top: the city hall subway station in the early 1900s. source: library of congress)

many people are not as motivated to recycle cloth because they can’t just throw those unwanted articles in the recycling bin and must instead lug their pounds of fabric waste to a clothing collection bin or thrift store. worse, the national retail federation expects consumers to spend $2.5 billion on costumes this year, many of which will be tossed. by recycling everyday materials to make your costume, you can avoid a trashy store-bought tragedy and reduce your waste this halloween.

— use what you have: one of the best ways to avoid waste is to use the wardrobe and items you already have to make your costume. you never know how many costume components you already have until you look and some things can be repurposed. 

— get crafty: the possibilities of cardboard and paper are endless. the cardboard collective has tutorials for a mustache, a beard, a hat and even a wig. with some scissors, basic art supplies and a bit of craftiness, you can be a knight, a crocodile or a unicorn using only recyclable materials. add a little paint and you’ll have even more options, or keep it simple with these cute paper emoji masks.

— trash to (halloween) treasure: another great option is to reuse what you already have as waste. do you have a broken umbrella? this cute bat costume uses a black outfit from your closet and an umbrella. if you don’t have a sacrificial umbrella, you can opt to get a clear one and make a jellyfish costume. the idea is to attach fabric, streamers, yarn or bubble wrap to a clear or white umbrella and twirl your way to deep sea glory.

— schedule a costume swap: if you don’t want to make your costume, consider taking out some old costumes and swapping with your friends. just remember that if you end up throwing a costume away, it will join the sad pile of waste at the dump. if you do buy a costume this year, make sure you find some way to reuse it, or donate it after the holiday.

(image at top: children, dressed up for halloween in 1942, at the high point housing project in west seattle. source: staff photographer/seattle post-intelligencer)

sure, killer fog sounds like a scary plot device from a stephen king book. but 67 years ago, 20 people did die and thousands were injured over a period of five days in the southwestern pennsylvania town of donora as a result of the weather phenomenon combined with airborne pollutants from local factories.

the heavy fog, which began to blanket the town sometime on tuesday, oct. 26, 1948, became toxic as it trapped pollutants from a zinc smelting plant and various steel mills low to the ground, where residents then inhaled them.

despite efforts to evacuate residents with weak lungs, 11 deaths had already occurred in the short time following the weather change. the conditions persisted for five days, with nine more dead before the zinc factory closed and rain dispersed the fog. thousands of locals spilled into the hospital with respiratory issues. 

the disaster alerted the nation to the crisis of air pollution from factory emissions, sparking a national debate. before the tragedy in donora, the public did not widely believe that industrial air pollution could kill, but the event proved otherwise. the outcry following the fiasco paved the way for the clean air act to pass in 1955, seven years later. it was the first major law to regulate air emissions and has evolved over the years to reduce harmful chemicals in the air.

unfortunately, air and water pollution is still a very real threat to health. even today, western pennsylvania is still home to high levels of pollution from fracking (drilling for natural gas), which can cause illness in those who live close to processing stations. in carroll county, ohio, where fracking is common, exposure accounts for a higher risk of cancer. researchers concluded that lifetime cancer risk from local pollution is 2.9 in 10,000, almost triple the risk level accepted by the epa. even though the epa has confirmed the threat of pollution from this method of drilling, the topic remains controversial.

though this is one example of continued industrial pollution in the u.s., it is far from being the only threat. further, not all countries in the world play by the same rules: many countries still release masses of toxic chemicals into the environment. it begs the question, how many tragedies have to occur as a result of pollution in the future? hopefully, the world will continue to move forward in reducing industrial pollution.

(image at top: in august of 1973, sunset highlights the smog above center city in philadelphia. / photo by dick swanson/epa/u.s. national archives)