Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all the Eternal Coil readers! I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday. Blogging starts back up Thursday!

Walmart really isn't green.

Wake-Up Wal-Mart Blog: Wal-Mart's demand for cheap goods strikes again!

Walmart says they are at the front of the green wave, starting to provide eco-friendly products. I personally havn't seen any there, but who knows. Anyway, this article originally in the Huffington Post reports how Walmart has gone back on its 'green statement' and is making suppliers use un-sustainable wood products just to keep prices down. Another shot against walmart. Maybe once the world starts dying people will realize that bigbox stores aren't a good thing.

IXI: The Recyclable Bike

Heres something for next year's Christmas list: the totally recyclable bike! The iXi bike is made from aluminum, which means its recyclable. Most bikes either end up at the dump or as a piece of art when its at the end of its road, but the iXi allows you to send it on its way to become something else.

The bike comes with the normal specs of a regular bike, plus some bonus stuff:

Design-driven bike that makes riding a bike more desirable

Made out of aluminum so the entire bike is recyclable

Rides like a full-size bike

Has a greaseless chain so pants won’t get dirty

Handlebars and pedals fold flat, so it can be stored out of the way

Has a repair kit inside the frame and poncho

Purchase at ixibike.com

Waste Free World London Rally

This past Saturday my friend James and I went to an International Demonstration on Climate Change held at the Covent Garden Market in downtown London Ontario. The day, Dec 8, was called the largest day of climate protest in the world, taking place in 70 countries and more than 30 cities in Canada alone.
They had information displays, an area to sign online petitions, sales of bumper stickers and patches that promote biking and eco-friendliness. THey also had a place set up to call Steven Harper and leave a message about how climate change is important. I missed it, but they also had a rally outside in the afternoon with supposedly a few hundred people!

Waste Free World used the event to show off their 'BYO' campaign at the market, promoting a Bring Your Own (plates, mugs, cutlery) to eliminate waste at the market.


One of my favourite parts was the booth with the stickers and swag. They had some great ideas there. Here is one:

The Brelli

Marked as being the 'world's most stylish umbrella' (their statement, not mine), the Brelli is a new umbrella that is 100% biodegradable. The canopy is made from bio-plastic and is said to decompose within 2 years, while the rest of the umbrella is made from bamboo. It comes in two sizes and the canopy material is printable, so it has potential to carry a brand name.
This umbrella may be stylish enough that you won't lose it in fear of having to revert back to a cheap black one!

Billboard Power Plant

Our friends at Treehugger.com are always one step ahead in the eco news. Maybe they make it up, i dunno, but this story is from their site(but in my own words).

Here is a great way to advertise solar power, and an idea of how to power lights in the future. Its simple, yet I don't know why it isn't used more often. I've seen those construction signs that are solar powered (more often downtown London with the sinkhole signs), but I dunno why more billboards don't power themselves! i mean you've got an area higher than most buildings around and in most cases get 100% sunlight on good days. So lets see more of this!

Santa is going to die!

At a recent festive tree lighting in Seattle, Mayor Greg Nickels used his speech before the lighting of the lights to bring a new global eco-threat: If we don't stop using normal light bulbs, Santa and his reindeer will die! He then proceeded to pass out energy efficient bulbs.
Apparently scaring kids into using the bulbs will stop the icecaps from melting and save Santa from drowning.
There is also a letter that Nickels wrote: