Sometimes, ya just gotta go ... without your washable, refillable, noncrushable, whatever water bottle.

So it’s worth noting that at least one water bottler has taken to heart all the concerns about the plastic used to make those bottles. Environmentalists don’t like the use of resources to make the plastic in the first place, and they say many bottles are never recycled. Instead, many end up in landfills or, worse, as litter.

Pepsico’s Aquafina has launched an “eco-Fina” bottle, which it contends is “the lightest half-liter bottle of any nationally distributed bottled brand in the market today.”

It weighs 10.9 grams and utilizes 50 percent less plastic than similar Aquafina packaging produced in 2002 and is estimated to eliminate the use of 75 million pounds of plastic annually, according to a company statement.

You can read the other environmental benefits they tout here.

The folks at Lighter Footstep checked it out, and here’s part of their report:

“... We were caught off-guard a few weeks ago when we were contacted by a public relations firm representing Aquafina, Pepsi’s bottled water brand. They asked if we’d be interested in receiving something about an upcoming product launch. The PR rep was very polite, so we thought it only fair to warn them that Lighter Footstep is the source of Five Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water, one of the web’s most commonly cited articles critical of bottled water. Whatever Aquafina was sending wasn’t likely to get a warm reception.

“...They’re actually a pretty snazzy bit of industrial design. The plastic is paper-thin through the body of the bottle. It would crush in your hand if it weren’t for a cleverly designed system of decorative ridges. These add enough strength to the container that it performs like a conventional bottle …

“So — does this make Aquafina’s new bottle eco-friendly? While no disposable plastic product will ever be truly sustainable, we’d be less than honest if we didn’t admit that the new Aquafina bottles are a step in the right direction.”
 

A family during Earth Hour 2008. (Earth Hour photo)

On Saturday, 8:30 p.m. is the time to turn off your lights for an hour.

The World Wildlife Fund has generated a lot of hoopla around Earth Hour, asking people to cast “a visual vote” for climate change. It started in 2007 in Australia. Last year, supposedly millions of people participated.

The effort will probably save a little money — unless building administrators have to hire staff on overtime to come in and flip the switches — but mostly it’s a symbolic event, intended to generate awareness.

Across the globe, prominent buildings and landmarks will go dark for their local hour, including the great pyramids in Egypt, the Acropolis in Greece, Broadway theater marquees, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, you name it. The U.N. Secretary General has urged participation. Large swaths of Antarctica will be unlit. Oh wait, they usually are.

And here? Well, uh. I’ve probably missed a few things, but let’s see:

Cherry Hill passed a resolution in support of Earth Hour. So did West Chester.

Chester County is darkening the courthouse and justice center.

And, uh ...

Nonessential lights at the state capitol in Harrisburg will go out for a bit, and the DEP has urged everyone to participate.

In Philly, three city buildings will turn off, but not City Hall.

And, uh ...

The Cira Centre is turning off its lights.

The Philadelphia Goddard Schools pledged to shut off lights there — but a bit early, at 10 a.m. today. Never mind the broad daylight, it was so the students could participate.

And, uh ...

A local advocate called the Art Museum and the Constitution Center, but she didn’t hear back. Sure, “this kind of seems gimicky,” she said. But “it’s a simple action that has a bigger meaning.”

The poor guy who wound up the unofficial tallier of local events wrote to me in an e-mail: “As painful as it is to admit, I have nothing to report on local events or buildings.” He said a lot of people are aware of the event. Just not participating. Or, maybe participating but not trumpeting it. “So, at this point, all I can say is, ‘Maybe next year.’ “

If you’re doing something, how about adding it below as a comment?

Maybe folks around here are in more of a mindset for the spoof: The conservative Competetive Enterprise Institute has launched “Human Achievement Hour” for precisely the same time on Saturday.

“Unlike Earth Hour, the purpose Human Achievement Hour is to salute the people who keep the lights on and produce the energy that helps make human achievement possible,” the CEI said in an announcement. “Many organizations and average folks around the world will show their support for human achievement by simply going about their daily lives.”

Well, uh ... maybe in 2010 the region will tune in and flick out. 
 

Charging apparatus for the Tesla Roadster. (Tesla Motors photo)

On Monday, I wrote a story about electric cars -- specifically, the $109,000 Tesla Roadster.  One of the concerns with electric cars has been whether there will be enough charging stations.  You can charge it in your garage, sure, but what about if you want to take a trip?

When Tesla's Joe Powers brought a model to Philadelphia a few weeks ago, the folks at the Hilton on City Ave. installed an outlet in their parking garage. He said they told him it might bring more customers to their hotel. Tesla-drivers were the kind of customers they wanted to attract.  

Now, the Charles Hotel on Harvard Square in Cambridge apparently has the same idea. They've announced that they're installing a "juice bar" for electric cars.  The hotel says that two parking stalls will be equipped with dual charging outlets ... plus an inventory of back-adapters. 

It's part of a larger green initiative that includes a small-car detection system in the garage, so customers pay a parking rate based on size.

Lettuce seedlings....coming along!

Welcome to the Veggie Chronicles! I hope lots of people weigh in with their own experiences.

Over the weekend, I kept an eye on the lettuce sprouts in tubs on my back patio. They needed protection from the cold, but otherwise look good. Inside, I didn't plant any new vegetables per se. But I planted a flat of marigolds, which if all goes according to plan, will protect the veggies from some bugs, and maybe even deer.

Meanwhile, the New York Times had a story Saturday about the organic and local food movement: Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?

And for those who prefer to go the route of farmers' markets and CSAs, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture has a great list. Enter your zip code and it will tell you what's nearby. I have never found a central list of New Jersey markets and farms, but for starters, check out the list maintained by Slow Food Northern New Jersey.

One of the most active regional groups around has got to be Farm to City, a Philadelphia program whose goal is "to unite communities, families, and farmers year-round through good locally grown food." Their site lists CSAs, buying clubs, markets and more.
 

Corrugated plastic totes can be converted into convenient nesting shelters for several wild bee species. Nesting materials encased in milk cartons (lower right) can be stacked in the tote for female bees to use as homes for a new generation of pollinators. Drawing courtesy of Ellen M. Klomps, ARS

In a previous post, I wrote about houses for birds, bats, ducks and other wildlife. Now, the U.S. Agricultural Research Service has come out with an idea for a home for wild bees.

Bees are important pollinators for everything from backyard flowers to farmland crops. But in recent years, honeybees, which are an imported species, have seen significant declines due to CCD -- colony collapse disorder. As some biologists race to figure out what is happening, why and what to do about it, others have begun looking anew at wild bee populations.

Turns out the native bees also provide significant pollination services, and we need to better understand what they need to survive and thrive.  One thing is a place to build their nests, which often in the ground.  These are quite another thing from managed honeybees in hives.

So here's information from the ARS on how you can use a plastic corrugated tote -- like the ones used for the mail -- as a nest site. They protect bee nests against wind and rain and can be reused, year after year.  They've been tested in California, Wyoming, Oregon and Utah.

PGC Photo/Jake Dingel

And, uh, even squirrels. Although at my house, the squirrels are perfectly happy in the rain gutter.  Not to mention, I fear, the dining room ceiling. Oh dear.

Here's more info from the game commission's press release:

Phthalates, bisphenol-A, flame retardants ... sometimes, it seems there's no end to the chemicals of concern in everyday products.

Now, according to a story in the Washington Post, the consumer group, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, has looked at two toxic chemicals widely used in children's bath and personal care products. But for once, instead of producing heightened concern, a review of scientific literature led the group to conclude that "if they pose a health hazard, it is likely to be extremely small and probably incalculable," according to the Post article.

The two compounds are 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde.

Not so fast, though, says the EPA, which says it is currently doing new human  health risk assessments on both.

Everybody knows there’s trash on the world’s beaches. But just how much?

Ocean Conservancy has a pretty good idea. Last year, during the group's international coastal cleanup, nearly 400,000 volunteers removed seven million pounds of trash from the planet’s oceans, lakes, rivers and waterways.

The most ubiquitous item: cigarette butts, to the tune of 3,216,991, or 28 percent of the items they found.
Next in line were plastic bags: 1,377,141, or 12 percent.

The rest in the top ten: food wrappers/containers, caps and lids, plastic beverage bottles, paper bags, straws, utensils, glass beverage bottles and beverage cans. Another oft-found item: diapers. Used.

Earlier today, the conservancy released a report about the findings: A Rising Tide of Ocean Debris and What We Can Do About It. The document makes for grim reading.

The report focuses a lot on the effects to wildlife, which can become entangled in plastic or eat it and choke or suffer other harm, the conservancy said. During last year’s clean-up, volunters found 443 animals entangled or trapped; of those, 268 were still alive and were released.

Another thing: The conservancy emphasized that trash is a problem caused by humans, and one that can be stopped by humans. “Trash doesn’t fall from the sky; it falls from our hands,” said Vikki Spruill, the group’s president and CEO, in a prepared statement.

The report lists statistics by country and, in the U.S., by state.
 

(Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sbauers)

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education has announced its spring programs. All start at 6:30 p.m. with a reception, then the program at 7 p.m.  Here's the lineup info, provided by the center:

 Thursday, March 19th |Videophilia and our Changing Relationship with Nature