Buzz from the community

Maker’s Mark, makers of that fine sippin bourbon with the red wax seal, has hired waste management solutions firm Ecovation to create a new waste-to-fuel treatment process for their distillery. With their partner, Maker’s is replacing their existing energy intensive 'dry house' process with a more efficient, eco-friendly process that will use biogas derived from distillation waste products to replace about 15% of the fossil fuels used in its boilers.

I am obsessed with reusable bags. I have tons of them. They sport several different store logos. Which is why I have tons of them. It was impossible for me to go into one store and use another store’s reusable bags. I’m embarrassed to admit this, for how ridiculous it sounds. But there you have it.

BlueFire Ethanol issued a press release announcing plans for a large-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in California that will convert plant waste—like twigs, leaves, straw, and wood chips—into fuel.

Why is this a good thing?

In The Guardian on Tuesday, George Monbiot took a critical look at the EU’s fishing policies in the wake of fishermen protests and strikes against high oil prices. In his view, high oil prices may be the only thing saving collapsing fish populations from unsustainable fishing quotas. He writes:

“The unsustainable quotas set on the US Pacific seaboard won't be met this year, because the price of oil is rising faster than the price of fish.”