Image: stringberd

Lake Superior State University just published their 2009 list of words that should be banished from the Queen’s English for being mis-used, over-used, or being  just plain useless. Environmental buzzwords such as “green,” “going green,” and all it’s variables top the list of words that people are sick of hearing. Carbon Footprint or Carbon Offsetting also made the list of words people would like to hear less of.

Environmental buzzwords are getting the axe this year. “Green” and “going green” received the most nominations.

GREEN – The ubiquitous ‘Green’ and all of its variables, such as ‘going green,’ ‘building green,’ ‘greening,’ ‘green technology,’ ‘green solutions’ and more, drew the most attention from those who sent in nominations this year.

“This phrase makes me go green every time I hear it.” Danielle Brunin, Lawrence, Kansas.

“I’m all for being environmentally responsible, but this ‘green’ needs to be nipped in the bud.” Valerie Gilson, Gales Ferry, Conn.

“Companies are less ‘green’ than ever, advertising the fact they are ‘green.’ Is anyone buying this nonsense?” Mark Etchason, Denver, Colo.

“If something is good for the environment, just say so. As Kermit would say, ‘It isn’t easy being green.’” Kevin Sherlock, Hiawatha, Iowa.

“If I see one more corporation declare itself ‘green,’ I’m going to start burning tires in my backyard.” Ed Hardiman, Bristow, Va.

“This spawned ‘green solutions,’ ‘green technology,’ and the horrible use of the word as a verb, as in, ‘We really need to think about greening our office.’” Mike McDermott, Philadelphia, Penn.

Lake Superior State University

I might have to agree that it is over used and abused. Maybe it’s time to lay off the green and find another term to over use. Perhaps next year it can be “sustainability.”

If you don’t already know the Tesla Motors is a California start up that has just started selling an electric battery powered sports car. They are much too expensive for the average car buyer, but hopefully the research that has gone into these will move into less expensive models someday. Tesla’s specs are pretty impressive for a electric car, it goes 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds with a top speed of 125 MPH. It also can go around 200 miles in a single charge.

Top Gear’s review is a bit mixed, but overall they seemed impressed. Pretty good considering they usually bash “eco” cars.

Phoenix light rail is almost completed and will be a great way to get around if it happens to be going where you need to be. With all the trains running we’re all going to have one more thing to watch out for in the streets. I’m not sure what city this light rail video is from, but it’s a good reminder to be aware of your surroundings and where the tracks are located. Don’t become part of Phoenix’s installment of Metro’s Greatest Hits.

Here’s a really cheesy video produced to educate Arizonan’s on safety and the new Phoenix light rail system. I did learn what some of the new signs mean, so you can actually get some good info out of it.

ASU has begun constructing a solar power plant on top of its Apache parking structure (stucture 1). This installtion is expected to produce around 1.4 million killowat-hours a year or enough to power 115 average homes. Another great benefit is that the top level of this stucture will now be shaded from the sun which is a nice perk in the summer. I’m especially excited about the shade because I park my car in this stucture everday. Check out the picture below of the progress so far. I will post more pictures when the project is completed.

More info Here: asuwebdevil

This is pretty neat, a company called Change to E85 is selling kits to allow non-flex-fuel vehicles to run on E85 ethanol. These kits are basically a small computer that tricks a car’s computer to adjust the fuel injection system for E85. This actually works and I know of a guy that has been running this in a Prius with no problems. If you have been wanting to run E85 in your vehicle, but it’s not flex-fuel you might want to check this out. The video below show how easy it is to install, you basically just have to plug it in to your fuel injector.

There’s been a lot of debate about biofuels lately, so before you swith you might want to learn more about it and decide for youself if E85 is better than gasoline.