New Webkinz World blog

We would like to announce our new blog Webkinz Parents. It is a daily blog that covers everything that takes place in Webkinz World. Have a look and hope you enjoy it.

Julia Roberts wants car that runs on veggie oil

So Julia Roberts and main squeeze Danny Moder were caught at a gas
station with their Prius. That warrants an army of paparazzi to
surround the pumps and record the action. PopSugar picked up on the
event to link to an interview with Roberts in Life & Style where
she says wants a car that runs on vegetable oil. "I think it's a small
price to pay to smell like a french fry," she quips.

Skip the gas station, fill up at fast food joints

High fuel prices don't bug Chuck Danley of Peyton. He drives every day, but hasn't been to the pump since December. Instead of paying to fill up his diesel pickup, he fills up with used vegetable oil.



Danley gets the used oil from restaurants around town, filters it to remove the food particles, then puts it into his truck. Danley raves about the oil, saying it lubricates the truck's engine better than regular diesel. "I've done no modifications to the engine," said Danley. "All I have done to the truck has added a separate fuel tank that holds the vegetable oil separate from the diesel."



He said he does not lose any power, and he gets about the same gas mileage--not that it matters, since the oil is free. Of the 96,000 miles he has put on his truck, 90,000 were on vegetable oil.



Technorati Tags: oil, bio+diesel

Speed Limit Has German Blood at 178 m.p.h. Boil

With a stretch of empty road ahead, Mr. Bongers floored the gas pedal, and within seconds the speedometer registered 286 kilometers an hour (178 m.p.h.) — something that is still legal here. That, by way of comparison, is about the speed of a commercial jet taking off.



Few things are closer to the German heart than the freedom to drive like Michael Schumacher, the fabled Formula One champion. Rule-bound and risk-averse in so many other ways, Germans regard driving on the autobahn at face-peeling speeds as close to an inalienable right.



Now, though, Germany’s love of speed is colliding with its fears about global warming, as it becomes clear that its Sunday race-car drivers are spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the air.







Technorati Tags: green, environment, green+house+gasses

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Look, no carbon footprint

It was a night for partying. Fireworks fizzed across the sky as half a million people celebrated Brisbane's annual Riverfestival last September. Then came a deafening roar. An Australian air force F1-11 swooped over the revellers, leaving behind a stream of flame hot enough to be felt below. Within a second it was gone, and cheers went up as the DJ announced the completion of the highlight of the evening, a "dump and burn".

The aircraft had jettisoned most of its fuel into the sky and ignited it. Later, the festival organisers announced that 300 trees had been planted outside the city to soak up the estimated 68 tonnes of greenhouse gases released by the stunt: dump, burn and offset.

That tree-planting was a small part of one of the fastest-growing businesses in the world: the sale of promises to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, often at bargain-basement prices.

A green energy effort has the wind in its sails

A grass-roots effort to fight global warming and high utility bills is sprouting in the suburbs, as advocates push for renewable energy in schools and local governments one step or solar panel at a time.
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In Lexington and Arlington, members of groups promoting fossil fuel alternatives are urging residents to contribute to the New England Wind Fund to qualify for free 2-kilowatt solar energy systems to be used by the towns' municipal buildings.

In Medford, solar panels atop Hormel Stadium and City Hall are already saving the city $2,000 a year.

And in Lowell, University of Massachusetts facility managers have invested in wind energy to help power residence halls.

The changes often begin with grass-roots efforts.

Nancy Nolan and Keith Ohmart are two members of Lexington's Global Warming Action Coalition trying to rally 300 households in town to make donations to the New England Wind Fund by March 31.

The group has already succeeded in getting 150 families to donate money, which means, at minimum, Lexington will receive a 2-kilowatt solar panel installed atop Lexington High School by the end of the year. The total cost of materials and installation is $22,000. With 300 contributors , the town would get two panels.

"I like to call this a wind-wind situation," said Nolan, a founding member of the coalition and a Lexington resident for 15 years.

"The big picture is that a program like this shows what everyday people can do," said Nolan.

"This is an opportunity to raise the consciousness of people in town about carbon emissions and alternative energy sources," said Ohmart, a 17-year resident who hopes the solar panels can also be an educational tool for high school science classes.

Lexington isn't the only community jumping on the alternative fuel bandwagon. Ten communities -- including Arlington, Cambridge, Brookline, and Newton -- have signed on to try to make the March 31 deadline.

Lexington's Solar Challenge is connected to a statewide program known as Clean Energy Choice that promises solar panels to cities and towns. Sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative , the program is an effort to encourage contributions to the New England Wind Fund , which finances clean-fuel initiatives throughout the region.