As expected, the love affair between Hollywood and the Toyota Prius is suffering under a barrage of claims regarding the car’s safety. Once the darling of eco-conscious celebrities headed to the Oscars’ red carpet, the UK Times is reporting that not one was spotted this year. GreenDaily.com

Japanese electronics giant Sanyo said Tuesday it had opened two "solar parking lots" in Tokyo where 100 electric hybrid bicycles can be recharged from sunlight-powered panels. The system uses lithium-ion batteries to charge 100 of Sanyo's "eneloop" bikes, with enough power left over to also illuminate the parking lot with LED lights at night. Grist.org

Ford debuted its new model last Friday and will soon be rolling these babies off the line and into the hands of police officers all over the country. The Interceptor is based on the Ford Taurus, but designed especially for cops with new safety features and is 25% more fuel efficient. Inhabitat.com

How do you create effective lighting when there’s no way to get to the grid? Leave it to a couple of ingenious designers to come up with a beautiful and self-sufficient bamboo lighting system! Designed by Ingendesign, the ‘Flow’ light is powered by constant prevailing coastal winds and is built to be almost completely biodegradable. Inhabitat.com

While most of the United States’ focus on Afghanistan has been on the ongoing war, other lessons from this land have come to North America in the form of green building techniques. As it turns out, efficiency, affordability, or mobility are often good catalysts to try something new. From sturdy local building materials like adobe bricks to advanced structural insulated panels informed by traditional designs, read on for several great examples. Inhabitat.com

The cumulative savings of widespread adoption of this technology over the next 20 years would be about 1.500 terawatt-hours the price of which, at today's energy prices, is around $120 billion. The savings would eliminate the need for 24 new large power plants, to say nothing of the decrease in carbon emissions. YahooGreen.com

Facebook has been getting a lot of flack from the green community since it became well known that they're purchasing power from coal-powered plants rather than from renewable energy sources. That's why it's a little ironic - or perhaps incredibly sly - that Facebook is going to air the much awaited Earth Days documentary before the film even hits televisions screens. TreeHugger.com

We often roll our eyes at some of the impractical or impossible design ideas seen on Yanko, but there are always some that are provocative. Yoon Kisang's Mr. Klein is designed for underwear, and perhaps it makes some sense to have a tiny machine that specializes in tiny articles. The designer notes that it filters and recycles the water, so it doesn't need to be connected with a hose. TreeHugger.com

Help is on the way for Kelowna residents upset their new automated yard waste carts are lacking in size. City Council has approved a request to provide a free upgrade from the current 240 litre yard waste cart to a 360 litre version. This is a free upgrade that we will be offering this year," says Utility Services Manager Don Degen. Castanet.net

You can't save daylight by moving around the hands on your clock, of course. So daylight-saving time remains as absurdly named as it ever was. What's germane here is that DST saves about as much energy as light, according to most studies. In fact, a 2008 study found DST "may actually waste energy". Grist.org

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are the light source of choice for budget-minded greenies everywhere, but they come with one big drawback:  a potentially dangerous mercury-filled center. If you accidentally drop a bulb, beware; you could be exposed to the toxic stuff. But now, finally, a company has come up with a CFL option sans the risks of mercury — the ArmorLite bulb. Inhabitat.com

The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is set to kick off in May and construction is nearly completed on the water-harvesting wood-clad Canada Pavilion. The famous acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil had a part in the design of the pavilion and will also be performing throughout the Expo. Inhabitat.com

We love classic organic beer recipes. We’ve even heard of ways to brew your own “healthy” beer. But for those of us who just want to sit down with a bar favorite on St. Patrick’s Day this Wednesday, check out Greentopia’s guide to sustainable beer to see how your favorite measures up. Earth911.com

A lot of people just don’t recycle. While there may be a temptation to imagine them as conspiring Earth Haters who take orders directly from Skeletor, they are usually normal people who try to contribute positively to society in other ways. They are members of our family, our neighbors and our friends. So what makes them choose to bypass the blue bin? Earth911.com

Despite a down economy, battery recycling is at an all-time high. According to Call2Recycle, battery recycling collection saw a 6.9 percent increase, and Call2Recycle collected 6.1 million pounds of rechargeable batteries in 2009. But most of us just don’t know the technical lingo for the batteries we have and where to start recycling. Earth911.com

Toyota cited "inconsistencies" Monday in the story of a man who called police for help saying his Prius vehicle was speeding uncontrollably down a California highway. Toyota reiterated Monday that it has found no problems with its electronics and that its mechanical fixes are sufficient and criticized those would "rush to judgment." YahooGreen.com

When the plug-in Prius is released, how much electricity will it use? Will my electric bill double if my Prius is plugged in each night? Or will the increase be minimal? Also, will all this recharging put a strain on the existing electricity grid? YahooGreen.com

A new analysis has an encouraging conclusion about individuals who "go green": If we all took a few simple steps, collectively we could reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 15%. Each of these steps is cheap (or free) and won't cramp anyone's lifestyle. YahooGreen.com

Regardless what City Council or the Regional District think, at least one Kelowna man believes the Trash to Treasure concept is an idea worth pursuing. Trash to Treasure is in essence a community-wide garage sale where people put items they no longer want in the front yard for anyone to take. Castanet.net

The developers who bid for the right to build one of the pre-planned high- and low-rise buildings on the Central Green development in downtown Kelowna no longer need to target gold environmental standards. KelownaCapitalNews.com