A few years back I started reading Natural Capitalism. I wrote a post about the first chapter and vowed to come back to the book “soon.” Geologically speaking, it’s been the blink of an eye. In human terms, a wee bit longer. The book isn’t inordinately long, but after coming back to it after many months, I [...]
Archive for the ‘Eric Wilson’ Category
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 2 – Reinventing the Wheels
May 22nd, 2012 
Eric Wilson From Parking Lots to Parking Garages
May 20th, 2012 Eric Wilson Last week I wrote about parking lots and my distaste for them. While parking garages are a much better use of land, they can be quite ugly. My argument today is not an aesthetic one though. While riding the light rail the other day (where I also composed this op-ed), I passed a large parking garage, four levels [...]
Posted in Behavior, Eric Wilson, Op-Ed, Sustainability, Transportation 
Tags: Cars, Environment 
No Comments »EPA’s Green Power Challenge
May 15th, 2012 Eric Wilson Over the course of the past academic year, 30 collegiate athletic conferences comprising more than 70 universities competed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) College and University Green Power Challenge. The competition, which is an offshoot of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, wrapped up last month with the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania taking the top [...]
Posted in Education, Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy Tags: Biomass, EPA, Geothermal, Hydroelectricity, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »I Don’t Understand Parking Lots
May 13th, 2012 Eric Wilson In an op-ed a few months back I alluded to the coming diatribe against parking lots. As a form of land use, parking lots make no sense to me. Conversely, most parking garages are eye-sores. I understand that underground parking is expensive and laborious to construct. There are some wonderful advances in “parking lot technology,” [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Transportation Tags: Cars, Natural Capitalism, Urban Planning 1 Comment »Five Friday Facts: Colleges Saving Energy
May 11th, 2012 Eric Wilson A recent three week competition wrapped up among colleges that saved a bit of money, water, and energy. The 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) had approximately one-quarter of a million students participating at 150 colleges and universities across the country. Today’s Five Friday Facts tallies the total savings from their efforts: 1,739,046 kilowatt-hours of electricity [...]
Posted in Conservation, Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Energy, Water Conservation No Comments »Poll: What Will it Take to Make Mass Transit the Norm?
May 9th, 2012 Eric Wilson This past Sunday’s op-ed pondered what it would take to make mass transit the norm. What do you think? What will it take to make mass transit the norm? Take the poll below and leave your thoughts. Choose as many as you like. You can also write in your own response.
Site Visit: MUSE School (CA)
May 8th, 2012 Eric Wilson Last month I had the opportunity to visit the MUSE School in Southern California. Located in a canyon between Calabasas and Malibu, the setting for the school is idyllic. Founded in 2006 by Suzy Amis Cameron and her sister Rebecca Amis, this marks the first year on the current campus, a 22 acre spread that [...]
What Will It Take to Make Mass Transit the Norm?
May 6th, 2012 Eric Wilson Will people start consistently riding mass transit when gas prices stay above $5 per gallon? $10? What about when we are paying the true cost of driving (i.e. emissions, disposal)? What if we had to swipe a credit or debit card every time you drive? How about charging for access to roads, like the congestion [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Transportation Tags: Bus, High Speed Rail, Mass Transit No Comments »Billboard Ecology: Turning Old Billboards into Consumer Goods
May 3rd, 2012 Eric Wilson While the number of electronic billboards is on the rise, most billboards are still comprised of a single banner. Neither type of billboard ranks high in terms of sustainability. Even the electronic ones that use LED lights to conserve energy are still using electricity where older banner style require huge inputs of materials, but do [...]
Posted in Business, Eric Wilson, Green Products, Recylcing, Sustainability Tags: Colorado, Green Product, Landfill, LED Lights No Comments »May 2012 Clean Energy and Sustainability Events
May 1st, 2012 Eric Wilson A recent report measured American “Green Jobs” for the first time. Perhaps no place in the U.S. was hit as hard by the economy of the past several years than Detroit. The Motor City has seen a decline for quite some time, but later this month there is a conference focused on green jobs in [...]
Posted in Conferences, Education, Eric Wilson, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Tags: Army, Calendar, Economy, Green Jobs, Los Angeles, Solar Energy No Comments »
