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Is eco-Barbie an eco-contradiction?
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Welcome to Planet 100 for March 19, 2010. Today we're counting down the Top 5 Eco Contradictions.
WATCH VIDEO: Top 5 Eco Contradictions
5. Green Mansions
Billionaire philanthropist, Mitch Kapor, is proposing a 10,000 square foot (quote) eco-friendly mansion complete with 10-car garage. It?s at number 5 in our Top 5 Eco Contradictions.
Termed by an "oxymoron" by Huffington Post, Kapor's hillside mansion qualifies as a green building under City of Berkeley regulations—with eco-conscious features such as low-flow shower heads and extra insulation. But local environmental groups have decried the green designation of any large hillside estate.
Via: New York Times
4. McDonalds Green
In an effort to go green, the fast food chain has rolled out a green backdrop for its famous golden arches in over 100 restaurants across Europe.
Despite some greener practices, including environmentally friendly refrigeration and converting used oil into biodiesel fuel, the key to McDonald's commercial success lies in unsustainably farmed meat, Styrofoam containers and high fructose corn syrup.
Via: GreenBiz
3. Heavy-Duty Hybrid
Auto Week calls the 3.4 ton Escalade Hybrid "a pretender, acting the part of being more efficient while still sucking down a gallon of gas every 12 to 14 miles or so." It's number 3 in our Top 5 Eco Contradictions.
While GM says the hybrid version improves the Escalade's city gas mileage by up to 50 percent, critics of world?s first full size luxury SUV argue that the Escalade Hybrid is just like putting lipstick on a pig.
Via: US News
2. Eco Barbie
Eco Barbie from the Barbie BCause collection sees the impossibly proportioned plastic icon decked out in repurposed threads.
By recycling Barbie's hand-me-downs, Mattel says the doll is an "eco-conscious girl's way to make an environmentally friendly fashion statement." Shame that the plastic doll, encased plastic packaging, can't herself be recycled.
Via: New York Times
1. Clean Coal
The number one eco-contradiction is "Clean Coal" which refers to the sequestration of the CO2 associated with producing coal. But even if the technology were in place to do this, coal still wouldn't be clean.
Why? Because without full scale environmental policy reform, we'd still unsustainable practices like mountaintop removal which destroys ecosystems or burning coal which releases mercury, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter into the air, killing thousands every year.
Via: ACP
Credits:
Kapor ©AP Photo
Berkeley map ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Showerhead ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Insulation ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Mansion ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
McDonalds logo Courtesy of McDonalds
Industrial Refrigerator ©Jupiter Images/Thinkstock
Fry Oil ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Cattle ©Hemera/Thinkstock
Hybrid Escalade ©AP Photo
Barbie ©AP Photo
Playing with Barbie ©Gary John Norman/Getty Images
Mountain Mining ©AP Photo
Coal Plant ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Coal ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
