who wants 25 mill?

Airline tycoon Richard Branson announced on Friday a $25 million prize for the first person to come up with a way of scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere in the battle to beat global warming.

Branson said:

"Man created the problem and therefore man should solve the problem,'' he told a news conference to reveal the Virgin Earth Challenge.

``Unless we can devise a way of removing CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the earth's atmosphere we will lose half of all species on earth, all the coral reefs, 100 million people will be displaced, farmlands will become deserts and rain forests wastelands.''

Branson rejected suggestions that he, as an airline owner, was being hypocritical in announcing the prize.

``I could ground my airline today, but British Airways would simply take its place,'' he said, noting that he was investing heavily in cleaner engines and fuels.

The prize will initially only be open for five years, with ideas assessed by a panel of judges including Branson, Gore and Tickell as well as U.S. climate scientist James Hansen, Briton James Lovelock and Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery.

The winner will have to come up with a way of removing one billion metric tons of carbon gases a year from the atmosphere for 10 years -- with $5 million of the prize being paid at the start and the remaining $20 million at the end.

He said 200 metric gigatons of carbon had accumulated in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, raising concentrations by 100 parts per million. The challenge was to find ways of bringing that back down again.

WOW. 200 gigatons is an absurd amount..

-j.

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Afternoon at Scrapile

It's a wet afternoon in the city, but Jen and I were excited to be going to meet the guys from Scrapile in Brooklyn.  Bart Battencourt and Carlos Salgado started Scrapile as a project in 2003. I just love the name because that's exactly what it is. Their unique furniture comes from the discarded scraps of wood they collect from woodworking shops around the city. So this is good because it's less waste that would be normally headed for landfill use and it's also good because they make really beautiful pieces of furniture out of it without cutting down more trees. This is a truly sustainable model. People are starting to notice, well actually more than notice. Their furniture is in such demand that there are times they cannot keep up with orders.

They have such cool names too...Carlos Salgado and Bart Battencourt...I was itching to say their names in full out loud and portray them as superheroes of the common man. "Bart Battencourt and Carlos Salgado emerged from the darkness to rescue the wooden offcuts before they could be cast into a wasteland of decaying rubble. Carlos Salgado got into the driver's seat of their Zipcar. Bart Battencourt secured the wood in the back. And off they went feeling good about their mission that day - bringing these discarded pieces back to life."

Well, nothing like a bit of drama to prove a point, but in fact it's not far off from the truth. They are making furniture to save trees. Bart was explaining that a major driving force behind what they do is the continued destruction of the rain forests. They turn waste into furniture instead of buying wood from suppliers. As "green" designers who collaborate with architects and green builders, they found it difficult to find greener building supplies in a convenient location at affordable costs. Battencourt Green Building Supplies grew out of this need and there is finally a place for green builders to get their stuff. Bart and his stockbroker-turned-greenie brother-in-law are partners in this project. They sell things like Bamboo plywood, Yolo Colorhouse green certified paints and American Clay Earth Plasters (I've had my eye on these for a while). Check out more at www.bettencourtwood.com. Jen and I never expected a "toofer". Sustainable furniture AND a green building supply company. We were most impressed, but it all makes sense. When you follow your passion as my two new superhero friends are doing, one idea leads to another and you just continue to follow your passion to where it leads you.

Oh these guys...such nice guys. They are doing stuff that matters. They work really, really hard and they deserve the success they are having. People pop into their space who have no woodworking experience at all and want to be a part of what Scrapile is doing. Yes, if the passion is there and there is work to be done, they are hired and trained. One of these walk-ins used to be a chef, but that's probably a story in itself. We said our goodbyes with smiles and a sense that we had been in the presence of the real deal.

We headed back to the train via one of the Polish bakeries on Manhattan Avenue. Oooo doughnuts...

Find out more about Scrapile at www.scrapile.com. Their furniture is available at select retailers in New York City, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Boston. You can also purchase online at www.vivavi.com.