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Greenpeace and Green Celebrities Aligning To Encourage Facebook To Power Data Center With Renewable Energy… Via Facebook (Again)

February 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Treehugger.com has a post, “Celebrities Tell Facebook to Ditch Coal”, about a new push to get Facebook to move out of its mostly coal powered data center into one that uses an increased level of renewable energy. We wrote about this issue back in September 2010 when it was just Greenpeace leading the effort. But now, green celebrities are taking to Facebook and asking people to join the push too. Here is a video from Ed Begley and his wife, Rachelle Carson regarding the issue:

YouTube Preview Image
Ed and Rachelle definitely practice what they preach and do not back away from confronting any and all environmental issues. After reading many articles about them, it’s easy to make a guess on where they’re going to stand. This example, pushing Facebook to abandon their Oregon data center in favor of one that is fully or partially driven by renewable energy sources, is no big surprise.

Jubbling gets it but for some reason, we’re having a hard time making sense of it. We had the same problem with this back when Greenpeace stood up against the new Facebook data center because in both cases, they’re taking their protest to Facebook. It’s kind of like driving a gas guzzling car cross country to protest the fact that there are too many gas guzzling cars. Think about it. Maybe making a stronger statement would be to leave Facebook in mass in order to make your statement; I’m sure MySpace would appreciate this.

Anyway, I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg is listening too closely. I’ve seen The Social Network and Mr. Zuckerberg probably loves seeing the spike in activity; positive or negative but always on Facebook. What he would be more apt to understand and respond to is watching users leaving his site to protest what Facebook is doing. That would require a commitment from the celebrities involved and I don’t think they’d be able to stomach that move.

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Filed Under: Celebrity, Featured Jubbling, Movies, Reduce, Renewable Energy, Television Tagged With: , , ,

Easy Bake Oven No More?

February 24, 2011 By 1 Comment


“The only way you’re taking my Easy-Bake Oven from me is if you pry it out of my dead cold dirty hands”
Little Keith M.
Scottsdale, AZ


Easy-Bake Oven from Hasbro

All hell is going to break loose as one of the first victims, the Easy-Bake Oven, is going to be discontinued thanks to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and the push toward more eco – sustainable lighting. The problem with the original oven is its use of 100 watt incandescent light bulbs which will be phased out and no longer manufactured as of 2012.

Parents are already lining up to vent on behalf of their kids and their Easy-Bake Ovens:

“My kid wanted to be the next Rachael Ray. Now, without his Easy-Bake Oven, he’ll probably end up a crackhead.”

UPDATE: Swooping in like a hero, Hasbro has announced that it is currently working on an Easy-Bake Oven replacement – The Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven. No word on exactly how it will cook the individual cake and/or cookie but wouldn’t it be great if it involved a kid pedaling a bicycle? Just sayin.

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Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Kids, Precycle, Reduce, Toys Tagged With: , , , ,

How Do You Justify Purchasing A Hybrid Vehicle vs Non-Hybrid Vechicle?

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

hybrid-vs-non-hybridBased on the NY Times Green Blog story, “Hybrids vs. Nonhybrids: The 5-Year Equation”

If you are deciding right now on what type of car to get – hybrid or non-hybrid – just based on fuel consumption, can you justify the additional expense of a hybrid over five years? That is the question Consumer Reports attempted to answer and it was later reported in the NY Times Green Blog.

They used examples including the Lexus RX350 (non-hybrid) vs the Lexus RX450h (hybrid) which costs $6200 more than its non-hybrid brother. The RX350 gets approx 21 mpg and the RX450h gets 26 mpg and based on sheer fuel efficiency numbers and according to the report, buying the hybrid 450h would only make fiscal sense if gas were priced at $8.77 gallon for the next five years. Check out the article for more information on this and other models.

But for me, the numbers just don’t seem to add up. With the Lexus RX350 vs RX450h comparison, the $6200 price difference breaks down to $1250 per year for five years. (The article based its numbers on driving an average of 12,000 miles per year.)

Gas price Lexus RX350 (21 mpg)
(cost to operate)		 Lexus RX450 (26 mpg)
(cost to operate)		 Difference
(per year)
$2.80/gal $1600/year $1292/year $308
$8.77/gal $5011/year $4047/year $964
$11.35/gal $6480/year $5232/year $1248


Through my very simple calculations, the sweet spot for buying the Lexus RX450h Hybrid seems to be when gas prices hit $11.35/gallon.

Cost effective or not, should you buy a hybrid? That’s up the individual. At the very least, driving a hybrid will reduce your consumption of gasoline or you could just find ways to drive either type less than the 12,000 miles per year average. Either way, the ultimate goal is to find ways to consume less whether you drive a hybrid or not. The NYTimes article may help some decide what to buy but I’ve already made my decision. I’m driving my car until I’m Fred Flinstoning it to where I need to go.

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Filed Under: Commuting, Featured Jubbling, Reduce, Transportation Tagged With: , , , ,

NQJW BREAKING NEWS: Stomachs In Malawi Are Growling About A Possible Ban On Flatulence

February 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Malawi row over whether new law bans farting – Finally, a precedent setting bill is released that could make breaking wind in public a misdemeanor. Thank you Malawi! The bill states that:
“Any person who vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the public to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.”

Yes, it’s about methane, a greenhouse gas, but making this law stand the test might depend an investigators ability to capture DNA evidence from the suspected toot or the old line about “he who smelt it, delt it” might come into play and put the blame on the accuser. If this bill passes and makes its way to Malawi’s Supreme Court, its chance for success is probably dependent on what the justices ate the night before. BBC

Malawi Flatulence Ban
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Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Not Quite Jubbling Worthy, Precycle, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse Tagged With: ,

Not Quite Jubbling Worthy Fifth Edition: Yellow Page Opt-Out, From Green To Red And The Solar Wind Turbine Bridge

February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Stories that are not quite Jub-Worthy There are stories out there that merit the cycle of agonizing over our thoughts and limited writing abilities for four hours, and others that might be interesting but are just as well represented by a link. Here are those links.

  • National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt-Out Site – “Opt-Out“? I think an “Opt-In” would actually make more sense for the few who actually use the book. You know, the Ninja with phone book ripping skills and the parent who uses the Yellow Pages in place of an actual booster seat. Kind of crazy to think you have to give up your personal contact info to get out of a subscription you never signed up for and probably never use. Maybe it’s better than nothing. Yellow Pages Opt-Out

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  • Ballard’s new green infrastructure has some neighbors seeing red – The Rain GardengueHere is something local that could be a Going Green Gone Wild story. The Seattle Public Utility used Federal Recovery Act funds to install rain gardens in Seattle’s Ballard suburb that they had hoped would greenly slow down and filter storm water on its way to the Puget Sound. Once supportive residents are now upset and feel the city utility never completed the work and left them with 6″ of standing “mosquito breeding” water, little vegetation and scum collection areas. They’ve created a blog and now refer to the project as The Ballard Raingardengue. Thanks Josh KOMO News

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  • A Bridge This Fine – and Eco-Friendly – Deserves To Be Made – If Macgyver could build a bridge, this would be it. The Solar Wind Bridge was actually designed by Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino and would span the 12.4 mile distance between Bagnara and Scilla in Italy. It’s estimated that the generated wind power alone could supply 15,000 homes with electricity and to go further, the bridge would also incorporate solar panels. Greenhouses on the bridge would house off-ramp produce markets. (Macgyver would probably skip the vegie market part). Gizmodo

    • Solar Wind Bridge
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    Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Not Quite Jubbling Worthy, Precycle, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse Tagged With: , ,

    Nothing Says Happy Valentines Day And “LOVE” Like Spending Twenty-Four Hours Gluing 2500 Matches On Reclaimed Wood

    February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

    Love made out of 2500 match sticks glued to reclaimed wood.
    This image and article was originally posted on Recyclart.org in November 2010. It was then re-posted on Inhabitat.com and timed for Valentines Day.

    I search and read through hundreds of articles daily that could be Jubbling but I’m never sure how to make the connection with ART. The “Love” sign is a perfect example. It was created using 2500 matchsticks that were glued to a piece of reclaimed wood (the Jubbling?). It’s timed well with Valentines Day around the corner and the artist, Pei San Ng, states that:

    LOVE on fire represents romance and passion or destruction and jealousy. It is raw and gritty.

    Jubbling is dum.It’s still difficult to draw a link between this kind of art and Jubbling. But it does remind me of a piece of ART, also created on reclaimed wood, that was photographed and emailed to us with a readers heartfelt reaction to Jubbling after visiting our site.

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    Filed Under: Art, Featured Jubbling, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse Tagged With: , ,