Create. You can submit your idea or solution (preferably a video) around our questions about climate and energy challenges.
Vote. Help us choose the best ideas by rating their viability or discuss the ideas submitted by others. Get the FAQs.
Make it. Your ratings and comment help us decide which ideas are featured on our PBS TV Special. Learn how to make a video.
ActivismAdaptationAgricultureAlgaeArchitectureArtBikingBiofuelsBiomimicryBusinessCampus SustainabilityClean Tech
Climate ChangeEconomicsEducationEfficiencyElectric CarsEnergy StorageEngineeringEPA P3GeothermalGreen BuildingGreen CitiesGreen CommunitiesGreen Living
Topic Page: Green Living
A lot of simple, seemingly insignificant things can add up to a positive and meaningful global change. PF Members have solutions to living a more sustainable day to day life. Have an idea in Green Living? Tell us
Related Categories : | Activism | Efficiency | Renewable Energy |
Webisodes
Beer as a Model for Sustainable Business
THIS WEEK: Holy cow! This week Planet Forward got up close and personal with some Virginia livestock. DC Brau, the first local brewery in D.C. feeds their organic waste to livestock in the Virginia area. Take a look!
Learning How to Adapt from our Ancestors
THIS WEEK: This week Planet Forward is taking a look at the work PISA, a GW-based group, is doing in Nam Dinh, Vietnam. The women in Nam Dinh are adapting to a changing planet and they say they learned their tricks from none other than their ancestors!
An Innovative Approach to Water Conservation
THIS WEEK: Our rapidly increasing consumption of water is creating concerns about what the world would be like without any! One team, however, created an innovative solution to the planet’s quickly disappearing water. Check it out in this week’s webisode!
Living Sustainably on a College Campus
We profile three schools that are working toward more sustainable college campuses.
Empowerhouse: Community-Based Sustainable Living
THIS WEEK: How to turn a Solar Decathlon house into a home. GW students Melissa Turley and Jon Fenech followed Team Empowerhouse through the Solar Decathlon. Their innovation? Making it affordable enough to be a Habitat for Humanity home.
WATCH!
A Solar Conversation with Secretary Chu
THIS WEEK: In this week’s webisode, Planet Forward’s Frank Sesno interviews Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu at the 2011 Solar Decathlon! Chu talks about the coolest innovations, and even wonks out a bit on r-values and building materials.
Solar and the City – Team New York’s Solar Decathlon House
THIS WEEK’s WEBISODE: The Solar Decathlon teams are in Washington DC! Check out Team New York’s Roof Pod — it sits atop a sky rise building and helps generate power PLUS: Brendan Owens, Planet Forward’s newest Expert weighs in the use of new building materials.
WATCH!
‘The Big Uneasy,’ The PF Interview with Harry Shearer
In this week’s WEBISODE Planet Forward host Frank Sesno sits down with Harry Shearer, the multi-talented comedian who is the voice of more than 21 Simpsons characters about his documentary on Hurricane Katrina The Big Uneasy
WATCH!
Energy Secretary Bill Nye?
Planet Forward met up with Bill Nye at the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards last week. See the first item on his #EnergyToDo list. Tell us yours on twitter. (@Planet_Forward)
ICLEI’s Martin Chavez On Sustainable Growth & Smart Cities
This week, Planet Forward host Frank Sesno sits down with Martin Chavez, Executive Director of ICLEI. The focus? Smart cities! Learn what your city can do to grow and adapt to a changing planet. More>>
LEEDing after Disaster: AIA Architect on Why You Should
Can your community turn tragedy into opportunity? Bill Worthen, American Institute of Architects’ National Director and Resource Architect for Sustainability, sits down with us to talk about LEED certification and how disaster can provide opportunity to build back better.
Raise the Roof!
In this week’s webisode, we bring you an idea from the National Science Foundation about the benefits of green roofs. Also hear from a Planet Forward member who shows us her small business of painting roofs white for an environmental benefit.
TV Segments
Solar Innovations at the Solar Decathlon
Lean green design teams from around the world produced some winning ideas at this year’s Solar Decathlon. Maryland won DOE’s top prize, but we staged our own vote. From Vermont, Middlebury College got the nod.
Watch
Solar Decathlon: The Race to Build the Most Efficient Solar Home
Peek into the solar powered house designs from Middlebury College in Vermont and University of Maryland. It’s all for the Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Building a Green Community
When Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by a tornado in 2007 the residents took it as an opportunity to rebuild as an environmentally friendly town. Watch our latest piece from PBS’ Nightly Business Report.
Home Energy Saving Device
Can researchers find an easy button that will get Americans to save energy? Some experts say we waste 40% of our energy in our homes. Could this be the gigantic energy reserve, hidden right under our doorsteps, that we need?
Leasing the Sun: An Innovative Business Model from Sungevity
Last month we test drove Nissan’s Leaf…this month, we show you one way you may be able to afford solar panels with zero upfront costs. Check out our piece on PBS’s Nightly Business Report and let us know what you think of Planet Forward member Danny Kennedy’s business model.
Behind the Scenes: Planet Forward’s New NBR Segment
This Thursday, Planet Forward member Danny Kennedy, will show you his idea on PBS’s Nightly Business Report. Check out this behind the scenes reel from our NBR shoots and don’t forget to set your DVRs to record Nightly Business Report this Thursday.
Planet Forward Test Drives the Nissan Leaf
In Planet Forward’s premier segment on Nightly Business Report, host Frank Sesno takes the Nissan Leaf for a spin and crunches the numbers to see if the car’s green technology is worth the extra green from your wallet.
Articles From the Blog Related to Green Living
Minnesota Goes Green
Happy Birthday, Minnesota! Today in 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state. To celebrate, we’re going to take a look at what’s going on in the land of 10,000 lakes to make the state turn from blue…to green! We’ve partnered with Minnesota 2020 to get great stories from the north. From …Read More…
The Center for Green Schools and Princeton Review Release Free Guide to 322 Green Colleges
By Kristin Simmons Ferguson Higher Ed Associate, Center for Green Schools For the third year in a row, we at the Center for Green Schools are pleased to celebrate today’s release of The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green College: 2012 Edition. This year’s guide profiles 322 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada that demonstrate …Read More…
What’s Your #InnovationChallenge?
We’ve seen businesses, colleges and communities turn energy innovations into action, but what are you doing? We challenge you to make a difference in your daily life. Is this the year you install a rain barrel and use less water? Are you going to save your company energy and money by linking your building to its neighbors or …Read More…
Planting Season
Tis’ the Season for Planting! This week’s newsletter focuses on promoting the innovation of produce. With the recent spikes in temperatures across the globe, it seems as though spring is right around the corner, which means planting season is not far behind. Lately natural gas, green technology, solar panels and things of the like have …Read More…
Every Penny Counts: Tracking Building Performance to Save Money and Resources
Lauren Riggs, LEED AP Manager, LEED Performance U.S. Green Building Council This post originally appeared on FacilitesNet. In today’s economy, every penny counts. And as building owners and facility managers know all too well, every penny adds up. When the lights in your 30-story office building are left on an extra hour each day, or …Read More…
Initiating Innovation at the Solar Decathlon and EPA P3
The 2011 Solar Decathlon officially ended on October 2nd when director Richard King sent a warm thank you to everyone involved. But the Solar Decathlon happens every two years, and King ended his thank you like a starter cuing off a race. “I can’t wait to do this again!” he wrote with refreshing sincerity and energy.
But it’s true, we all can’t wait to do it all over again. But, what’s next? Why do government agencies take on competitions like these? PF’s Anthony Cefali takes a look>>
On Houses and Homes: Top 5 Stories Behind Solar Decathlon Entries
We build houses, but it’s the living in a house that makes it a home. Every home — even your home — has a history that represents who lived there and how they lived. The same goes for the houses in Solar Decathlon. While they’re lauded for their innovation, they also use their region’s rich …Read More…
A Window Into Efficiency
Every year, I spend countless hours putting those plastic sheets over my windows for insulation. The bigger the window, the bigger the pane in the glass, the more time I spend and the more energy I lose to the winter. We often neglect insulation when it comes to energy expenditures because it only lowers heating …Read More…
Speed Limit: Myself
Did you know that May is Bike Month? Our intern Max Chen reflects on his love for biking and shares his bike picks from the Planet Forward archive.
Read it
Baby, it’s cold outside!
The weather outside is finally changing. Everyone is donning their puffy winter jackets. One thing everyone does during the winter is try to make themselves comfortable with the frigid temperatures outside. Here are five elements that you can look at in your home that will keep you, your family and your wallets comfortable. Heating – …Read More…
Towards a Renewable Business Model
I admire the entrepreneurial spirit of renewable businesses. In some ways they exemplify the best of the capitalist tradition. What are renewable entrepreneurs if not the wildest of wildcat companies, pushing the envelope ever further into new and exciting technology. Not every idea can hope for success, but well-developed companies like FirstSolar persevere. Then there …Read More…
Empire State of Energy
The iconic Empire State Building just took a gigantic green leap with building renovations that do more than scrape the surface of energy efficiency. You’ve seen the benefits of weatherization, but New York City’s trademark skyscraper takes it to a whole new level. (104 levels up to be precise.) The Empire State building has successfully …Read More…
facebook
twitter