>> A new eco vocab game Treewala just launched. It’s basically exactly like the previously-launched One Square Foot game — save the rainforest by playing a web game while ads scroll at the bottom of the page — except Treewala makes you define words — which’re often eco but wonky.

>> Dig ‘N’ Swap: A new pre-loved clothing exchange that lets you put up photos of stuff you don’t want to swap for stuff you do. place a bid! The site’s in its beta phase — and swapping is currently free. Earlier: Swap & Save: Go green, save (or make) green

>> The Earth Day Network just launched its Ecological Footprint Calculator 2.0. When I took the last version of the quiz a couple years ago, the quiz told me: “If everyone lived like you, we would need 2.1 planets.”

>> We Earth: “a social network, blogging tool, web magazine, eco-conscious marketplace, and outlet for independent filmmakers all wrapped into one site,” is how the site’s self-described. Unfortunately I think all the green social networking sites that already exist have made people wary of joining any more.

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>> Got a home you want to green? Tonight’s free Co-opportunity Community Greening Class, led by Nancy Astrid Lindo, will suggest the next greening steps once you’ve purchased a house and want to start making changes. Be there at the Santa Monica Synagogue on 18th and Broadway, Santa Monica, by 7 pm.

>> Already got green cleaning products? Get green tools to match: Quickie’s “Green and It’s Clean” products — made with post consumer waste plastics molded with ground wood chips as well as bamboo — are available at Home Depot and Wal-Mart. Prices range from $4.99 to $24.99.

>> Michael Pollan was right: The FDA’s now approved irradiated spinach. Let’s just hope irradiation never becomes mandatory….

>> What’s up with black names, anyway? “Take a quick glance down the Olympic roster. It is the black names that disproportionately stand out: Tayshaun, Deron, Rau’shee, Raynell, Deontay, Taraje, Jozy, Kerron, Hyleas, Chaunte, Bershawn, Lashawn, Sanya, Trevell, Sheena, Dremiel.”

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>> Portland’s got an eco gym! The Green Microgym powers itself via human-powered cycling and cardio machines and solar panels. If it were in LA I’d totally join Oct. 5….

>> How to get your teenage son to hang out with you: Get on a bike. Writes Barbara DeMarco-Barrett : “When we’re out, I remember how much I used to love bike riding — the sound of tires on asphalt, the smell of fresh-mowed grass, twittering birds, the wind in my face. As kids, we love these things, but we get older and forget we love them.”

>> Bike to Green Speed Dating in Long Beach — tonight!

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>> Coffin couches: “a company that turns caskets that mortuaries ordinarily toss into the dumpster—thanks to cosmetic defects or the fact that they were used for display—into macabre conversation pieces you can rest your tuckus on for significantly less than an eternity.”

>> A bookshelf that turns into a coffin for when you’re, um, done with the bookshelf. Sort of a cool idea — reading books as a metaphor for death? (a repeat)

>> Corrugated cardboard coffins. Another repeat, especially as no one’s as of yet correctly named the literary allusion in that post’s title.

I’m still leaning towards cremation.

Update: Now there’s a “Weave Your Own Coffin” course — which is apparently selling out. The class is taught by a UK supplier of natural willows for basketweaving.

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>> David Roberts of Grist and Jessica Jensen of Low Impact Living both provide a good overview of Biden’s enviro record.

>> LA’s sluttiest recycler is the blue bin, which apparently sees a lot of action and tells kids ’bout it. It’s unclear, however, how much the Grease Avenger, Super Octopus, or Mr. Recycle get around. (via Franklin Avenue)

>> Sunset Junction Street Fair was greener this year with a Zero Waste booth boasting recycling and composting bins. Attendees — Did you notice?

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>> After just 22 drinks over 2 nights, Sean Evans of the NY Daily News claims organic booze = less intense hangovers. My more sustained — if less controlled — experiments lead me to believe Sean simply experienced an optimistic placebo effect re: the organic booze.

>> Wine Spectator magazine gave an award of excellence to a nonexistent restaurant called Osteria L’Intrepido. “The restaurant is a Web-based fiction devised by wine critic and author Robin Goldstein, who said he wanted to expose the lack of any foundation for many food and wine awards.”

>> “Girl drinks” = gender-neutral concoctions, according to Sarah Hepola of Salon who gives you 7 fruity cocktail recipes to try. The Jalapeña sounds interesting!

>> French wine appellations aren’t working as a quality-control mechanism, says Mike Steinberger in Slate. “The dismal quality of so much of the output in Beaujolais goes a long way to explaining why the region is mired in a slump that, by some estimates, is likely to put 30 percent to 50 percent of its winemakers out of business.”

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>> Villaraigosa = Water conservationist. The LA mayor was called out for using nearly twice as much water at his home as comparable properties in the vicinity last year. Now he’s helped double fines for water wasters — and is admonishing city agencies for wasting water.

>> Air conditioning = Republicans. Writes Edward McClelland in Salon: “I blame A/C for the decline of the labor movement and for decimating the Midwest’s population. Mostly, I blame it for the election of George W. Bush.” For the record Siel’s a registered Democrat — and AC-free (then again, I live 17 blocks from the beach and get a good breeze).

>> PETA = Sea World. Belgian brewer InBev’s about to buy up Anheuser-Busch and divest of A-B’s theme parks, including Sea World. PETA wants just one park so it can “put the animals in marine sanctuaries, possibly set some free in the future, and setup a virtual reality theme-park at the current location.”

Photo by Esther Perez

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>> An anti-sprawl, smart growth bill looks likely to make it through both the Cali Senate and Assembly. “The legislation, SB 375, would offer incentives to steer public funds away from sprawled development. The state spends about $20 billion a year on transportation, and under the new law, projects that meet climate goals would get priority.”

>> George Skelton of the LA Times explains SB 375 thusly: “Each metropolitan region would adopt a “sustainable community strategy” to encourage compact development. They’d mesh it with greenhouse emissions targets set by the California Air Resources Board…. And this is the key part: Transportation projects that were part of the community plan would get first dibs on the annual $5 billion in transportation money disbursed by Sacramento.”

>> Earlier this week it was Gary; now it’s Kristina Wong who’s de-car-ing. When her bright pink bio-diesel Mercedes burst into flames, Kristina decided to say bye-bye to car dependence and hello to a new carfree blog series: The Wong Sans Wheels Chronicles.

>> Even earlier: A film review of The End of Suburbia, and the movement to Escape from Suburbia.

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>> Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women. Jean Kilbourne critiques what advertising — which helps define our ideas of normalcy — tells us about women. (via Mickipedia)

>> A. Kitaoka’s illusion, Moving Wave.

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>> Ireland’s definition of Ecocabs: FREE rides in cute electric three-wheelers thanks to a Dublin based green taxi company. Ecocabs make its money via advertising on the cabs.

>> The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers’ greenwashed definition of “EcoDriving”: Plain old car maintenance and staying under the speed limit. They’ve put together a snazzy site, though — with an endorsement from Hummer-driving Governor Schwarzenegger.

>> Daniel Albert’s definition of the new yuppie (of sorts) in n+1: Bicyclers living in walkable communities. “The working class has become more dependent on their automobiles than the wealthy, who can afford to live near schools and work. The motorless commuter, regardless of his actual class position, has become a symbol of the privilege that comes with prime real estate.”

>> Gary’s definition of freedom: Finally selling his 99 Honda Civic hatchback. Why’d the author of Gary Rides Bikes keep his car until now? “In our culture there is a strong psychological barrier to not owning a car when you can afford to keep one, especially in such a car centric city like Los Angeles.”

>> One man’s definition of envionmentalism: Preventing San Francisco’s bike-friendly initiatives. A dude’s claim that biking’s bad for the environment has “put the brakes on everything from new bike lanes to bike racks while the city works on an environmental-impact report.” (via Grist)

Photo via Ecocabs

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