Natural Gas – Clean Future Fuel or Wolf in Green Clothing?

Natural gas has been in the spotlight lately as the clean fuel of the future, but what do we know about this clean gas? We already use it in our home furnaces, water heaters, stoves, fireplaces, even some cars (CNG); but it is now becoming the energy of choice to produce our electricity. While it is a cleaner burning alternative …

DIY Landscaping, Water Conservation and Stormdrain Runoff Pollution

I love to come up with creative Do It Yourself (DIY’s) ideas to solve issues, and this one is not only environmentally friendly, but it is also beautiful and beneficial! How we landscape can solve a lot of problems with storm water runoff and drainage, helping to recharge aquafirs, filter toxins and generally reduce pollution of our waterways and oceans. …

The High Line Park Redevelopment – New York City

A perfect example of green re-purposing- turning an aging and abandoned elevated railway into a public greenspace. The High Line Park in New York city is probably my favorite urban walkway (with Seattle’s SAM Sculpture Park not far behind) with it’s architectural elements, art displays, and multi-use abilities. Originally opened in 1934 to reduce the on-street crossing accidents and deaths, …

Tesla Model X – Gullwing Electric Crossover

Unveiled yesterday, Tesla has done it again, this time with an electric crossover for the Porsche Cayenne crowd. Blend a sportscar, an SUV, a minivan and drop in a 4 wheel drive zero emission electric drive-train and you have the Model X by Tesla. Production of Model X is scheduled for late 2013, with deliveries expected in early 2014. Priced …

Top 7 Green Gadgets and Innovations of 2011

2011 has been a great year for green innovations and products and we here at The Chic Ecologist would like to share some of our favorites. This years list includes green electronics, biodegradable stickers and eco-friendly designs all which present innovative solutions to simple environmental problems. You can also find last year’s most popular posts of 2010 for comparison. Fruit …

Green Driveway Path Options

Create a green space on your driveway- Do it yourself or professionally installed with so many options! A while back, I wrote about Green Driveways and Paths, which ended up being a pretty popular article. I figured that it would be helpful to see your options when it comes to porous surfaces, permeable paths and eco-friendly driveways. Green driveways not …

Northwest EcoBuilding Guild Building Slam! 2011

Ten projects. Ten slides. Ten minutes. Emceed by Patti Southard, of the King County Green Tools Program, this year’s Annual Green Building Slam! put on by the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is sure to be interesting. What: Annual Green Building Slam! Where: Bastyr University Auditorium When: Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Cost: $20 Advance (before 9/8)/ …

Composting with Local Cafe Coffee Grounds

If you have a composting pile or bin for your home garden, then you should head down to your local cafe and pick up these compost boosters. Coffee shops throw away tons of used coffee grounds each year, grounds which are better suited for your garden. Many cafes offer these grounds to their customers if you just ask. Some Starbucks …

Leaf vs Volt – Who is Winning Sales?

With six months of sales under their belts, which is coming out on top when it comes to sales in the plug-in EV battle? Apparently the Nissan Leaf has the lead with 3,875 sold LEAFs so far in 2011 while Chevy has 2,745 Volts sold. Granted they are different cars targeting different consumers with some overlap (see our Leaf vs …

Electric Car Showdown – Chevy Volt vs. Nissan Leaf

It’s so exciting to have affordable full electric highway legal cars back on the market! Brings me back to the mid 90’s all over again. This time we have some choices with Chevrolet launching the Volt right around the same time the Nissan brings out the Leaf. While they are both electric cars, they are targeting very different markets with …