Ever go on vacation only to find yourself stuck indoors because of the tropical weather? Well now there’s an unbelievably wasteful solution!

A company called SoleiraSun has started manufacturing insane 12,000 watt lights that — you guessed it — replace the tropical beach experience. These lights, which consume electricity equivalent to that of 800 compact fluorescent bulbs, produce 25 lbs of carbon dioxide every hour!

Eep!

Well, maybe when our sun finally burns out…

[via]

The green socioverse has recently coined a new term — ‘precycling’ — but what does it really mean? Pre-recycling, right? Like… using a product? Before… cycling? The sci-fi mind in me goes into questions involving recycling, time and space, and DeLoreans.

But I’m crazy.

The real meaning behind precycling is much more forward thinking — towards waste reduction and making packaging that’s easier to recycle when the time comes. Precycling!

How can we precycle? Purchase products in bulk to reduce packaging, re-filling water bottles, re-using coffee containers to store things, etc.), canvas shopping bags, online flyers and catalogues instead of paper ones — say no to junk mail!

And now you we know!

Throughout this whole going green process I’ve noticed that I’m starting to question things that I never used to.

Take my Nintendo Wii, for example. It seems I’m always changing, charging, or losing batteries for the Wiimotes. Where’s the beef? Well, sure – I use rechargable batteries I’m not crazy! But aren’t there better options yet? This is 2009. I can power a disco ball with my usb port, but I’m still stuck with the same kind of clunky batteries that I used in my Sony Walkman in the early 80’s to play my Wham! cassettes. Lame.

So what do you think? Where are the alternatives, good readers?

Apparently former Prime Minister Joe Clark is a self-proclaimed “treehugger”!

He’s heavily involved, these days, in a controversial project in Ghana that’s working to reclaim dead trees from Lake Volta including ebony, teak, mahogany and other beautiful, tropical hardwood where they’ve been preserved by the lack of oxygen in the water. The trees are estimated at being worth $1500 and $2500 each!

So where does the controversy come in? According to the Globe & Mail, the project might be negatively affecting fishing in that area.

Fishermen in the area are worried that the fish will go away if the trees are cut down and taken away. Some fishermen use the trees in their water to hold their traps. But some fishermen say the trees damage their boats.

So, who benefits? That’s the real question. What do you think?

[via]

While cruising around the Captain Planet Foundation website (yeah, alright you caught me. I was reading up on my favourite eco hero), I discovered a link to watch entire episodes of Captain Planet and The Planeteers online!

And it’s not the seedy online that we’re all used to (well, not me… of course. Pfft. Like I would watch streaming television on the internet. That would be questionably legal, now wouldn’t it.) Mother Nature Network is hosting the videos for free in hopes that it will educate and entertain viewers.

For the next 12 months, MNN will unveil more than 20 episodes of Captain Planet and The Planeteers as well as never-before-seen bonus footage.

Check it out!

The last time I wrote about Captain Planet, BambiGoesGreen nearly quadrupled in readership — clearly people love Captain Planet! Spread this around, let people know that they can induldge themselves in a bit of free, streaming eco hero!

Hello internet!

Tomorrow is Organic Recipe Friday here on BambiGoesGreen and I’m looking for your help!

I have a horde of organic strawberries that I picked myself yesterday and I’d like to use them in a couple recipes for tomorrow. Have you got any awesome ideas as to what to do with strawberries? I’ll likely be making some jam, jelly, freezer jam, and maybe a pie, but I want to hear some neat ideas so far Twitter has given me these:

karolijn @BambiBlue Jam! But freezer jam. Much better that way. #recipe
docstrange @BambiBlue goes great diced up with mangos and a dash of ice cream.
Jackmoe @BambiBlue Kiddie pool full of strawberry jam. Then all you need i a drum of pb and a couple hundo loaves of bread.
kylemcinnes @BambiBlue A strawberry bath!
saxby @BambiBlue I’ve got just the thing for you! http://bit.ly/n9VNw
nutzareus @BambiBlue strawberry jam, or clean them and freeze for smoothies later.
MThellfire@BambiBlue You’d definitely make some JAM with that many strawberries! It’s a timeless art and healthier than the crap you buy in stores.
pezhore@BambiBlue A metric crapton of Freezer strawberry jam? (The unit conversion from kg to ct can be tricky, but I think it works out).

What have you got for me?

I’m working on a post about this whole experiment and where I feel I am with it right now — how much I’ve learned, how I’ve applied it in real life, what my favourite parts are, and what the parameters are on my expectations of where I’ll be on the green scale (light to dark green, that is) at the next check point.

What I’d like to know from you is — how do you think I’m doing? What advice would you give to someone going green, like me? In other words: Advise me! I’m curious to hear from my readers.

Does someone who uses eco-friendly light bulbs count as light green or are they a wanna-be earth-lover?

What’s your take?

Alright, so I’ve established that Fridays be ‘Organic Recipe Friday’s and Saturdays should ‘Saturday Recap’s — but what about Thursdays?

What would you like to see? How-tos? Videos? Picture of the day? Jokes? Comics?

Let me know! I’m more than willing to consider some creative ideas!