ORANGE COUNTY, CA - I spent Saturday morning at one of the world's best car museums, viewing a mind-blowing collection of classic automobiles from the 1930s--arguably the modern era's high point of car design as art. These cars are owned by General William Lyon, an octogenarian renaissance man who has accumulated dozens of one-of-a-kind classics that are the automotive equivalent of Renoir, Pissaro, de Kooning, Rothko , you get the idea.
Photo Credits: Jennifer Schwab, SCGH
So what was a Clean Tech girl like me doing looking at some of the world's greatest Mercedes, Packard, Rolls Royce, Bugattis, Lincolns, Cadillacs, among many others? After all, aren't cars the antithesis of green?
Believe it or not, I don't buy into that at all. I studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, probably the world's number one institution for training car designers. Looking at classic cars can be likened to viewing art in a museum. If you appreciate fine art, you can understand the appeal of legendary car design, especially the "French curves," mascots (otherwise known as hood ornaments), exotic materials, colors, shapes, angles, brightwork, not to mention the engines and their industrial chic.
On some level, preserving these rolling masterpieces IS Ecological Thinking at a high level. Instead of finding their way to landfills, these cars have been restored, refurbished, repaired, recycled and reused over the years to keep them in the mostly pristine condition they are found in today. Admittedly, they are polluters of the worst kind since they pre-date catalytic converters and computerized fuel injection. They also usually get lousy fuel economy, as gas was a nickel a gallon when these cars prowled the few roads of America, which was before the modern national highway system was constructed. However, most collector cars of this ilk are driven less than 500 miles per year, if at all. Mostly they sit in public or private museums, starting up occasionally to be loaded onto a transporter to participate in "concours d'elegance" which are venues where they compete for prizes and give the general public a chance to view these treasures.
I will also admit to owning classic cars and participating in this hobby with my husband. In fact, we drove our 1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III Barker Coupe (see photos) to see the Lyon Collection. It was a meeting of the Rolls Royce Owners Club, and seeing a parking lot filled with 40 Rolls and Bentley automobiles (referred to by the cognoscenti as PMCs, or, "Proper Motor Cars") was visually pleasing indeed. Don't get the idea this hobby is only for the elite. While overall it is rather expensive, there are newer models of Rolls and Bentley, for example, that can be had for anywhere from twenty to forty thousand dollars and are considered collectible. And unlike some stocks, mutual funds and the like, they will most likely hold their value as proven over the past several years.
1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III Barker Coupe. Photo Credit: Jennifer Schwab, SCGH
So if you're looking for a hobby that combines sustainability's basic tenets, "reuse, repair, and recycle" with compelling aesthetics and plenty of interesting people and elegant events, you might want to think about the classic car world, as opposed to dismissing this as "anti-green."
I'd love to hear from any other green car collectors out there. As always, thanks for reading!
Follow Jennifer and Sierra Club Green Home on Facebook or @SCGreen_Home on Twitter
Photo Credits: Jennifer Schwab, SCGH
So what was a Clean Tech girl like me doing looking at some of the world's greatest Mercedes, Packard, Rolls Royce, Bugattis, Lincolns, Cadillacs, among many others? After all, aren't cars the antithesis of green?
Believe it or not, I don't buy into that at all. I studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, probably the world's number one institution for training car designers. Looking at classic cars can be likened to viewing art in a museum. If you appreciate fine art, you can understand the appeal of legendary car design, especially the "French curves," mascots (otherwise known as hood ornaments), exotic materials, colors, shapes, angles, brightwork, not to mention the engines and their industrial chic.
On some level, preserving these rolling masterpieces IS Ecological Thinking at a high level. Instead of finding their way to landfills, these cars have been restored, refurbished, repaired, recycled and reused over the years to keep them in the mostly pristine condition they are found in today. Admittedly, they are polluters of the worst kind since they pre-date catalytic converters and computerized fuel injection. They also usually get lousy fuel economy, as gas was a nickel a gallon when these cars prowled the few roads of America, which was before the modern national highway system was constructed. However, most collector cars of this ilk are driven less than 500 miles per year, if at all. Mostly they sit in public or private museums, starting up occasionally to be loaded onto a transporter to participate in "concours d'elegance" which are venues where they compete for prizes and give the general public a chance to view these treasures.
I will also admit to owning classic cars and participating in this hobby with my husband. In fact, we drove our 1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III Barker Coupe (see photos) to see the Lyon Collection. It was a meeting of the Rolls Royce Owners Club, and seeing a parking lot filled with 40 Rolls and Bentley automobiles (referred to by the cognoscenti as PMCs, or, "Proper Motor Cars") was visually pleasing indeed. Don't get the idea this hobby is only for the elite. While overall it is rather expensive, there are newer models of Rolls and Bentley, for example, that can be had for anywhere from twenty to forty thousand dollars and are considered collectible. And unlike some stocks, mutual funds and the like, they will most likely hold their value as proven over the past several years.
1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III Barker Coupe. Photo Credit: Jennifer Schwab, SCGH
So if you're looking for a hobby that combines sustainability's basic tenets, "reuse, repair, and recycle" with compelling aesthetics and plenty of interesting people and elegant events, you might want to think about the classic car world, as opposed to dismissing this as "anti-green."
I'd love to hear from any other green car collectors out there. As always, thanks for reading!
Follow Jennifer and Sierra Club Green Home on Facebook or @SCGreen_Home on Twitter
The 
Last week I was invited to attend the first stakeholder’s meeting for the newly formed Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado (STAC). 
After almost three years of consultation and planning, and following a great deal of 
EcoVer laundry detergent is a "must" as is their all-purpose cleaner. It is one of the few cleaning solvents that is comparable in results to Clorox Greenworks. Simple Green, I'd take a pass. It left an oily residue on my counters.
A not so great home improvement experience came when using AFM Safecoat wood sealant. Our home is made of spruce, so, it needs to be sealed every two to three years. We had to do quite a bit of research but identified a San Diego-based firm that makes fully sustainable sealant which is water not oil based. We purchased it at a slight premium price, and upon first application it looked great -- we were thrilled. Then, it rained. And rained some more (we LOVE this in Southern California, the more rain the better!). Lo and behold, the sealant literally rinsed off the wood, which felt dry and looked "naked" after the rain. We had to re-seal the entire structure at great expense, Ouch! Another case of a sustainable product that cannot compete with its non-sustainable brethren. Too bad.
I am one of many who were wondering whatever happened to T. Boone Pickens' wind energy initiative? Well, the answer is oil prices that were $125 a barrel ended up around $80 and thus the math no longer works. Pickens had 648 wind turbines on order from GE, he was able to negotiate that down to 324 and those will indeed be arriving on his doorstep. He will deploy them but the problem with wind energy remains transmission. Of course, Pickens has now moved on to natural gas as our savior. This concept had a number of supporters in the room but was far from unanimous.
The final speaker was Energy Secretary Steven Chu. I was hoping he would address the important question raised by Rio Tinto's Albanese: now that the world's leading companies have braced themselves for assigning a cost to carbon emissions, when will that be, what will that entail, and how will it be administered? His answer: I am optimistic that energy legislation addressing this issue will be passed this year. And that America still can win the worldwide race to lead the green economy. "The Clean Energy movement is ours to lose. China is moving quickly; they see this industry as a huge export opportunity," he added. "This is an incredible economic opportunity for the United States. We have to rebuild our energy infrastructure to make us energy independent."
More often then not I get emails and calls asking if there are any positions available at LOHAS. I also get many emails and meetings over coffee to discuss options with collegues who are between things which is the PC way of saying they too are out of work. The fact that there are more people looking for fewer poistions makes it a competitive arena and intimidating. Plus many don't want to sacrifice their LOHAS values for the sake of food on the table. To aid those in search of a future LOHAS employer we have comprised a list of links that you may find useful to your desired field of work.
The design of the building itself is first rate, great viewing even with big crowds, especially where you walk "through" the huge tanks with giant fish passing over your head - it appears the six inch thick glass is strong enough. The famous Opera House is even more breathtaking in person, and the indoor views are as stunning as the exterior. You can climb to the top of the giant Sydney Harbor Bridge on foot, try that in the States with our lawsuit-happy society. The Art Gallery of New South Wales offers a world class collection spanning the centuries. The champagnes, petit syrah, and shiraz continue to get better and better. The food is generally good, and a growing variety of organic and natural choices are offered. As for the customer service, well, I'll circle back on that in a moment.
mind-blowing. As in, it would take about 50 2009 Corvettes to match the bad exhaust gases produced by one 1969 Corvette big block in an hour of driving. The introduction of computer-controlled engine management and high tech catalytic converters makes this possible. This also explains why the cloud of smog that used to hang over Los Angeles has dissipated significantly over the past few decades. You now can actually see the skyline!
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I attended the 
There has been a tremendous shift in the way companies and people do business unfamiliar to many of us. We are in the midst of one of the largest global economic downturns of our time. Six U.S. states have unemployment rates since jobless records began in 1976. The mortgage crisis is still unresolved and the stock market has yet to instill confidence in investors. Clearly all of us in some way have been affected by the downturn. It is times like these that business needs to either evolve or be dissolved. One of the best teachers of survival is nature. Evolution is crucial for any species to adapt and survive the changing environmental circumstances of its surroundings. They either do this or become extinct. This is also true in business as we have seen formidable companies such as GM declare bankruptcy because of its inability to adapt to the changing consumer and global competitors. 
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