Articles by Chris Schults

Eco-vigilantes in France take on gas guzzlers, one tire at a time

Sounds like the SUV-loving citizens of France need TerraPass.

As reported by Wired: "A band of eco-vigilantes is taking a firm but gentle stand against fast-growing SUV sales in France and Europe, deflating the tires on gas guzzlers in a protest against conspicuous waste."

Why?

"We have to stigmatize SUVs by initiating a debate that will allow scientists and experts to publicly (declare) their hazards," said the spokesman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We don't want SUVs to be seen as a sign of wealth, but something that is associated with an imbecile."

And why we pay too little for well travelled food

Speaking of eating locally, I've neglected to keep you apprised of the latest developments of our heroes to the North, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, who are living on a hundred-mile diet.

In part four, Alisa and J.B. write about the hidden costs of food, China's agro ambitions, and Vancouver's bright spots.

In part five, our dynamic duo heads oustide of their comfort zone to northern British Columbia, where they discover that following the hundred-mile diet isn't as hard as they thought it would be.

Is Esurance the eco-friendliest of them all?

Last night I caught snippets of a new Esurance television commercial. Thinking I heard the words "environment" and "hybrid," I headed over to esurance.com to investigate. For those of you not familiar with Esurance, they are an online insurance company whose animated television commercials feature Erin Esurance, a secret agent with a mission to help you and me crack the auto insurance code.

Once at the site, I headed over to the "ErinCam" where I located the advert in question. In this "episode," Erin encounters a robot destroying a forest to produce paper for those other auto insurance companies. Erin then goes on about how Esurance is paperless -- thus saving customers some green as well as helping to protect the environment. After dispatching the tree-cutting robot (in under 30 seconds no less), she and her partner hop in their hybrid SUV and drive off into the sunset.

I also stumbled upon Erin's "Top Secret" audio files (aka radio ads), some of which also include the Esurance is green message. And go figure, Erin (a fictional animated character remember) even has her own blog.

I dug a little deeper and discovered that going (almost) paperless is not the only planet friendly initiative under way at Esurance. According to their "Our Commitment to the Environment" page:

Video short about biodiesel gets greenlighted on Current TV

If you haven't come across Current TV yet, here's the skinny: Current is an independent cable and satellite TV network where average people like you and me create video (or Flash) shorts, upload them to the Current TV website, have them reviewed by other Current TV members, and have them appear on the network if a sufficient number of people "greenlight" them.

I don't have cable or satellite television, so I'm limited to reviewing the schedule online and heading over to the studio to watch clips that are airing. Today I was pleased to stumble on a piece produced by submedia about biodiesel.

In "From the Fry Daddy to your Car," bass player (and founder of Vegenergy.com) Robert Del Bueno discusses how he uses biodiesel to power his car. Anyone else think it's cool that this got the greenlight?

Just check out some of these comments: