My hybrid car, James
Why hire a taxi or gas-guzzling limo when you can zip around town responsibly–and luxuriously–in a fleet of eco-stylish Toyota and Lexus hybrids? OZOcar, an eco-car service in the New York metropolitan area, offers wheels equipped with high-speed wireless Internet access, an Apple iBook and more than 150 satellite radio stations in the back seat. And your own chauffeur, of course. Reservations: (866) 696-5966
Urban renaissance
Edens Lost and Found, a four-hour PBS television series that premieres in May, showcases environmental rebirth in four American cities. Each one-hour program examines how activists, politicians and citizens are renewing and enhancing their communities. Chicago and Philly are highlighted on May 18 and 25; the final segments on L.A. and Seattle will air in the fall.
Our kind of conservative
Author Rod Dreher offers a manifesto for “conservatives who stand outside the contemporary conservative mainstream” in Crunchy Cons (Crown Forum, 2006). In his effort to wrest the definition of “conservative” from its association with big business and moneymaking, he introduces “Slow Food,” organic gardening and sustainable homes as con-friendly concepts. He suggests that “small and local and old and particular are to be preferred over big and global and new and abstract.” Write on!
Gallery green
Starting May 20, the elegant National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., hosts “The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design.” The exhibition explores the latest building materials and energy systems and features beautiful contemporary projects in which innovative sustainable principles are applied. If you miss the exhibit’s yearlong run in the nation’s capital, catch it as it travels the country in 2007 and 2008.
