The tunnel was originally designed to protect the region’s forests by diverting trains through the mountains, rather than felling ancient trees. Now, the tunnel is playing an even larger environmental role.

The two miles of solar panels will produce enough energy to power all the trains in Belgium for one day per year, in addition to powering up the Antwerp station. This totals approximately 3.5Mw/hour of energy each year. Total estimates for the project is believed to have reached $20.1 million.

Bart Van Renterghem, UK head of Belgian renewable energy company Enfinity, which installed the panels, believes, “For train operators, it is the perfect way to cut their carbon footprints because you can use spaces that have no other economic value and the projects can be delivered within a year because they don’t attract the protests that wind power does.”

Renterghem adds, “We had a couple of projects lined up around London with train operators and water utilities, but they have been put on hold.”

Enfinity via Inhabitat

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, has retired the last of its diesel buses, becoming the first major transit agency in the nation to operate buses that only run on alternative fuel.

The MTA began purchasing cleaner-running buses nearly 20 years ago with hopes of reducing vehicle emissions in one of the smoggiest regions of the country. Officials say that the shift has sharply cut emissions of cancer-causing pollution. The buses help prevent more than 300,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions a day from entering the atmosphere.

Over time, the agency phased out the diesel buses and now has 2,221 buses that run on compressed natural gas. The MTA accomplished this a few buses at a time, as its own budget and federal grants.  The agency was able to try other alternative fuels along the way-methanol and ethanol- but eventually the MTA settled on compressed natural gas. The rest of the fleet includes one electric bus and six gasoline-electric hybrids.

The MTA says the buses have logged nearly a billion “clean air” miles. Officials celebrated the conversion to cleaner buses by watching a truck haul the last of the diesel buses to a scrap yard.

LA Times

As far as neat and organized go there are a couple of interesting, not to mention bad looking, items out there that are made for use in the kitchen to collect your recyclables. One of those items is a Stainless Steel 3 Compartment Recycling Bin that can be found on Amazon.com. Another interesting, and definitely colorful (which can be fun for kids), is the Recycle Bin Kit put out by Suncast, which again can be purchased at Amazon.com. Finally, last but certainly not least, are Double Recycle Bins on OrganizeIt.com. What makes these bins so great is that they are mounted on precision, ball bearing slides which can be installed under a kitchen cabinet or in a pantry closet.

What if you are looking some ordinary recycle bins so to speak? A very simple Deskside Paper Recycling Container put out by The Betty Mills Company is a great sidekick for computer desks. Another item out there is something called ToteCycle. Not only are these recycling bins fun but they are also stackable. Another great idea, which seems to be really catching on with people, are Foldable Recycling Bags. Gaiam puts out foldable recycling bags that are sturdy and also has a picture of recyclables go into which bag on them.

Two quick tips before I let all of you go…

If you are looking for a good can crusher for recycling or for whatever other reason that you may have try a Steel Can Crusher. Personally speaking, I’ve had one of these since I was a kid and it works great. As far as the other tip goes you may want to head on over to Barnes and Noble and type in “little green guide to recycling”. “The Little Green Guide to Recycling” by Nicky Scott and Axel Scheffler should be the first book that pops up. This book answers recycling questions with a listing of everyday household items and how to recycle them.

So, what was the whole point of this story? The point is pretty simple. It was to show each and every single one of you that while it may not seem like you can make a difference the truth of the matter is that you really can. If your town or city doesn’t have a recycling program keep calling county/parish, or find their website and contact them via e-mail, and tell them how important it is to have a recycling program and that you want one. Get other people that you know where you live to call as well. The more people that contacts the county/parish means the higher chance of something actually being done.

Remember, the only way that anything gets done is to take a chance and try. A lot of people may say that trying when nothing will result from it is pointless, but no one knows that for a fact. As long as you try to make a difference that is all that matters. Keep trying until something is done. Good luck everyone!