Eco Travel

“Eco Ego” Shop in Copenhagen

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While in Copenhagen recently, aside from seeing the wind turbines, I searched out and found this wonderful store called EcoEgo. It sells a multiplicity of eco-friendly products, many of which are from the States. The owner took the time to show me a lot of cool items, and he happened to be originally from NJ! Lucky for Denmark, he decided to move there after marrying a Danish girl, and his store now features eco-friendly clothing, cleaners, gadgets, kitchenware, shoes, baby supplies, and more, all of which are thoroughly screened and many are Fair-Trade. I of course ended up buying a pair of organic cotton leggings made by a label I hadn’t heard of before called People Tree. He also showed me two kinds of candles made of sustainable palm oil and recycled canola oil from potato chip fryers. Great stuff– When in Copenhagen, do stop by! Near the Norreport Metro Station. http://ecoego.dk/

My Visit to the Middelgrunden Wind Farm, Copenhagen

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It was a thrill for me to be able to travel to Denmark July 19-21, 2011 and visit the Middelgrunden Wind Farm, installed in 2000. It is located about a mile out in the North Sea from Copenhagen city, and is comprised of 20 turbines in a subtle arch formation. They produce 40 MW of energy, or enough to power 3% of the city of Copenhagen. Though the tours happened to be closed during my time there, I managed to find a ferry that goes past the wind farm to Middelgrundsfortet (a small island fort) right from the beautiful area of Nyhaven, which was near my hotel. It was a glorious experience to see functioning offshore wind turbines, since my organization and many others had worked so hard to encourage a wind farm offshore Long Island. Most people I met in Copenhagen didn’t seem to think the turbines were a big deal; most said that though turbines do impact the view, it is necessary and they in fact wished their government would install more of them. I hope we can learn from others about the importance of pursuing this clean energy source as we face continuing climate change. They are a beautiful solution…

Cruise Ship Goes Green

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I just had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Solstice. It was great to be pampered for a week, enjoy delicious food, and get some sun in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten! The best part was meeting the ship’s environmental officer, James Mitchell. He attended the Maritime Academy in Boston and is attending Harvard for graduate school, but takes a few months off at a time to serve as the coordinator of the Solstice’s environmental programs. He ensures compliance with environmental regulations regarding waste disposal, and educates guests about the green features of the ship, including 280 solar films over the solarium pool, which produce enough electricity to power the constantly running elevator up and down 14 decks. The ship was designed with a special hull coated with silicone paint to reduce drag, and the ship is outfitted with LED lights throughout. These efforts have resulted in a 2-4% savings, which adds up to thousands of dollars considering the large amount of fuel used to propel the ship (63,000 gallons of diesel per day!). The ship even featured a permanent environmental exhibit. It was great to learn that each ship in the Royal Caribbean line (which owns Celebrity) now is staffed by an environmental officer.

Solar panel films over pool
James' Cool Lapel
beth-james-mitchel1
Beth Fiteni & James Mitchell