Volt Launch Will Begin in California

volt
Since last May, rumors have circulated that the Chevy Volt will start rolling out in California before other locations and that rumor was just made official at the LA Auto Show. The Volt will become available to Californians late next year.

The launch project will act as a demonstration of market readiness for the Volt and other electric vehicles. Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison and Sacramento Municipal Utility District are all partnering with Chevy on the launch. The auto company is supplying 100 Volts to the utility fleets to use for two years. The cars will be equipped with OnStar technology that will collect performance information to be delivered to the DOE for analysis.

The project will also see the installation of 500 charging stations throughout the state in residential, business and public areas.

Other initial markets will be announced later, all of which will have regional utility partners.

via Press Release

Win a Sleek Bamboo iPhone Case from Vers Audio!

href="http://versaudio.com/verscase.html"> href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/win-a-sleek-bamboo-iphone-case-from-vers-audio/"> src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/win-this-bamboo-vers-iphone-case.jpg" alt="Win a Bamboo iPhone Case from Vers Audio!, vers audio, green iphone case, iphone case, hard case, cell phone case, bamboo" title="Win a Bamboo iPhone Case from Vers Audio!" width="537" height="380" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-73278"/>

We’ve always had a thing for these href="http://versaudio.com/verscase.html">polished iPhone cases made of sustainable bamboo, so we were thrilled when our friends over at href="http://www.versaudio.com/">Vers Audio were kind enough to hook us up with one to give away to YOU! Made of smooth, blond bamboo, each hard case adds just the right amount of sophistication to your iPhone and keeps it safe and scratch-free. These are a perfect gift for that special someone on your list too – and wouldn’t it be even sweeter to be able to win it for them for free?

TO ENTER THIS FABULOUS GIVEAWAY

1. href="http://eepurl.com/eDry">SIGN UP FOR THE INHABITAT NEWSLETTER

2. Leave a tip in the comments below by Wednesday, December 9, telling us your favorite iPhone app that helps you live a greener lifestyle. It could be a useful app that replaces tools (a compass, ruler) that you would otherwise have to buy, an informative app that tells you how sustainable a product is, or any other eco-friendly app. Just tell us what the app does and why you love it!


Read the rest of href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/win-a-sleek-bamboo-iphone-case-from-vers-audio/">Win a Sleek Bamboo iPhone Case from Vers Audio!

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Getting Our Green On at EcoSalon

ecosalon logo jpeg

The hard working contributors, columnists and editors at EcoSalon are earning their green stripes, blazing the trails and taking their proven commitment to sustainable living beyond the daily blog. Our strides are so darn exciting, we simply can’t keep them to ourselves.

Ready, set, kvel!

amy

Fashion Editor Amy DuFault has stepped over to the other side, opening her own eco haunt, Shift Boutique. Sure to be the next Hyannis, Mass. hot spot, the store peddles sustainable products by Prairie Underground and Dahl, to name just a few emerging green lines. Amy also hosts events through her lifestyle consulting company, Greenover. If that didn’t keep her busy enough – she is signed up in January to teach eco fashion enrichment at her local middle school, helping 12-year-old girls create recycled fashion to showcase on a catwalk at a fashion show.

susan

Contributor Susan Chaityn Lebovits is developing and implementing ways Boston University can reduce its environmental footprint. Susan is the Communications Specialist for Sustainability at the university, and is working to launch a new website in January that will house everything from research on renewable energy to classes that touch on sustainability and energy-saving building retrofits. The site will even help visitors locate bike racks and recycling stations. Meantime, Susan is producing a 15-stop Green Campus Tour Podcast, which covers locations such as the university’s geothermal building.

anna 15-15-06

Anna Brones, our newest contributor, gets all of our votes as the people’s representative for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. HuffPost in conjunction with Hopenhagen is sponsoring the competition and voting ends December 4th, so cast yours as well! If chosen, Anna would report back daily from the conference as a HuffPost citizen journalist. Anna is the co-founder of Under Solen Media, where she develops social media marketing strategies to positively align brands, causes and adventurers. She’s also been busy helping the Save Our Wild Salmon campaign in the ongoing litigation process to come up with a scientifically sound plan for restoring Columbia-Snake River salmon.

luanne

Senior Editor Luanne Bradley will soon appear with her husband, Edwin, in a San Francisco Chronicle article on eco power couples. The feature highlights their daily work for green change. Edwin is an environmentalist and lawyer and Luanne writes the column Life in the Green Lane, a humorous look the modern family going green in the city. Luanne continues her green design consulting, having completed a teacher’s lounge with healthy fibers and vintage Mid-Century furniture.

vanessa

The Green Plate Columnist Vanessa Barrington is on a daily mission to make the small changes that add up, riding her bike everywhere she can, finding “the car is merely a taxi for the dog to go on walks.” She is limiting her meat and processed food consumption and still working to get one hold-out member of her family to see the joy of giving to charity instead of “stuff” for the holidays. Her garbage can is minuscule and she only fills it once a week! She uses bathwater to flush her toilet and when she is cold, she puts on a sweater instead of cranking up the heat. Of course, she can also make a steaming bowl of delicious soup from one of her dozens of dynamite recipes.

lora

EcoMeme Columnist Lora Kolodny is in a holiday mood, trying to knit a gift-scarf out of bamboo yarn, and looking forward to the Green Drinks holiday party Dec. 8th in NYC. She recently convinced a Manhattan restaurant manager to stop serving coffee in disposable cups by default. Now only to-go patrons get the paper. When not writing for EcoSalon and her blog at the New York Times, she also volunteers for God’s Love We Deliver.

sara

Publisher and EIC Sara Ost has been busy building the green community at EcoSalon through Trashless Tuesday on Twitter (a la Meatless Monday), drawing chuckles and questions cruising around the Bay Area in her Smartcar, hosting Treehugger’s Carnival of the Green recently, and turning up as one of Greenopia’s Green Women We Love. Next up is convincing the neighbors they really, really need the Omlet.

Check back soon for more updates on the green goings-on from all our contributors. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!


Plastic Solar Panels by Solarmer:Plastic Solar Panels

Clever Wall Stickers Show the World Behind Your Light Switch

href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/clever-wall-stickers-show-the-world-behind-your-light-switch/"> src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/hu2-sticker2.jpg" alt="sustainable design, green design, environmental awareness, graphic design, hu2 design, shr, sustainable habitat reminder, wall stickers" title="shr-lead01" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-73543"/>

London-based agency href="http://www.hu2.com/stickers_wall_design.html">Hu2 Design has created a slick set of “Sustainable Habitat Reminder” wall stickers that aim to raise energy awareness by revealing a fantastical set of inner workings behind standard plugs and switches. From href="http://www.inhabitat.com/?attachment_id=73543">hamster-powered generators to Franklin-esque lightning storms, these stickers offer clever explanations for the power running through our walls that make you think twice about where your energy does comes from. We do wish that they weren’t made from vinyl (which can contain href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/how-to-find-and-avoid-toxic-vi">harmful chemicals) but we appreciate how their added dose of enlightenment can inspire energy efficiency with the flick of a switch.

href="http://www.hu2.com/stickers_wall_design.html">+ Hu2 Design

Tip by Romainferrer

href='http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/clever-wall-stickers-show-the-world-behind-your-light-switch/shr-lead01/' title='SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design'> width="75" height="75" src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/shr-lead01-75x75.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="" title="SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design"/> href='http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/clever-wall-stickers-show-the-world-behind-your-light-switch/hu2-sticker-3/' title='SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design'> width="75" height="75" src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/hu2-sticker2-75x75.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="" title="SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design"/> href='http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/clever-wall-stickers-show-the-world-behind-your-light-switch/hu2-sticker-ed05-3/' title='SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design'> width="75" height="75" src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/hu2-sticker-ed052-75x75.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="" title="SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design"/> href='http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/clever-wall-stickers-show-the-world-behind-your-light-switch/hu2-sticker-ed04-3/' title='SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design'> width="75" height="75" src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/hu2-sticker-ed042-75x75.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="" title="SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design"/> href='http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/02/clever-wall-stickers-show-the-world-behind-your-light-switch/hu2-sticker-ed03-3/' title='SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design'> width="75" height="75" src="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/hu2-sticker-ed032-75x75.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="" title="SHR Wall Sticker by Hu2 Design"/>
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Post tags: href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/environmental-awareness/">environmental awareness, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/graphic-design/">Graphic Design, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/green-design/">green design, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/hu2-design/">hu2 design, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/shr/">shr, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/sustainable-design/">sustainable design, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/sustainable-habitat-reminder/">sustainable habitat reminder, href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/wall-stickers/">wall stickers