Manuel said:
"This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]
Jay Knecht said:
"What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]
gazelle said:
"@ Dallas:
The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]
Barry said:
"Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda.
He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]
JJ said:
"Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]
Derek said:
""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]
Guest blogger Sara Snow is a green lifestyle expert and board member for Discovery's 24/7 future-forward network Planet Green.
About a year ago the Chief Scientist at The Organic Center (a national organization for which I serve on the Board of Directors), Chuck Benbrook, alerted us to an interesting study being conducted by some UC Berkeley zoologists, led by Tyrone Hayes, looking into the effects of atrazine on frogs. At the time it was concerning enough. Now, the study has been completed and released and the results are astounding! And it might even make you want to puke up your latest meal.
We have a weird relationship with water. We know it's a precious resource, we know that less than 1% of water on the planet is available for human consumption. And yet as a species, we have the craziest, most wasteful and polluting ways of dealing with water. World Water Day is approaching - March 22nd...mark your calendars - and the Surfrider Foundation is getting ready to point out the "Cycle of Insanity" and show us the real story of our water through a video that links up our water management system to problems happening along our coastlines. But along with pointing out the lunacy, they're offering smart solutions for sustainable practices. Check out the video after the jump.
Electrical or water systems are designed for peak loads, so it is interesting to see the effects of extraordinary events on infrastructure. It's estimated that 82% of Canadians watched the final Olympic hockey game between Canada and the United States, and that's the mother of all peaks. Mike already wrote about how Canada vs. USA Final Made Power Consumption Jump by Around 600 Megawatts in Ontario, but look at this graph of water usage; a lot of beer got drunk that night, and now we know not only where it went but when. There are economic implications, too:
If you'd like to know just when enough is enough in the shower, but you don't want to go the route of a system that just shuts off the water and leaves you with soap in your eye, or worse, surrounds you in claustrophobia-inducing inflated bubbles, then the more subtle waterpebble might be the solution for you. By monitoring how much water heads down the drain, it let's you know when you've crossed over into water-waster mode. Even better, rather than giving you a set amount to stay under, it puts you in competition with yourself for more efficient showering.
Installing earth tubes at Aldo Leopold Center. Photo: from Renew magazine
Dumb Roofs
Renew magazine for Jan - Mar covers a lot of ground in its 106 pages on "technology for a sustainable future." But for me the stand-out article covers a subject dear to my heart. The dumbest idea in Australian architecture - black or dark grey roofs.*
We get a bucketload of sun in this country. Just recently several of our major coastal cities had consecutive days over 40°C (104°F). What are the best colours to attract the hot sun's rays? Black and dark grey. It's madness. We're building houses to be be ovens and solve the problem by whacking in air conditioners, with all their attendant issues of expensive running costs and significant greenhouse gas concentrations.
World Water Day is approaching (March 22, 2010 if you'd like to mark your calendar) and there's no better time than now to start focusing more on the importance of water footprints. We're already working hard on figuring out how to account for carbon in products and services, but equally as important is their water footprint. Accountants are already studying up, and even huge companies like IBM are putting the importance of water management on par with electricity management. This could mean that a water footprint label is soon to be as prominent on product packaging as an Energy Star label, and with an equal amount of clout among consumers.
It is bright, sunny and beautiful in Vancouver, the sun is reflecting off all that snow and the air is cool and dry. People can get dehydrated in those conditions and often reach for a bottle of water. But at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, people have an option: Fresh mountain water, in bottles now for sale beside the bottled, imported stuff. As a chain, Fairmont is usually ahead of the pack on environmental issues, and the manager says "Our research shows that, on average, a guest produces one kilogram of waste each night, mostly composed of beverage and paper product, so we continue to look for ways to reduce waste and identify opportunities." -both financial and environmental.
Want to live rent free for a year, and pay no costs for energy and water needs? Not enough incentive for you? How about the possibility of having a plug-in electric car in your garage, as well?
This is the deal that Energy Australia is offering, in concert with Sydney Water. They'll be interviewing successful applicants, who will ideally be a family with kids to spend 12 month live-testing an energy and water smart home in the west of Sydney. The project that has been described by the NSW state government, one of the backers, as a 'bit like "The Jetsons" meet "Big Brother.'
Screenshot via IBM video
IBM has been working hard on improving technologies that help with water quality and management. The company feels that managing water is equally - if not more- important as managing electricity, and technology can be a big part of the solution. IBM has just released a new, fun video that highlights problems surrounding water, and what new tech IBM feels can greatly improve how we monitor, measure, use and conserve water. ...
Photo via gilintx
A new proposed law to go into effect in 2011 could have Los Angeles residents changing their habits when it comes to rainfall. Rather than just complaining that there's some strange wet substance falling from the sky, all new homes, large developments, and some redevelopment projects will start to appreciate those few rainy days by harvesting and redirecting rainfall. The Department of Public Works has unanimously approved the new ordinance that will require the use of several different methods to capture, reuse or redirect runoff from 3/4 inch or heavier rainstorms. Does this mean LA is becoming water wise? ...
photo: J. Novak
We've become a nation dependant upon drugs. For better or worse, we use pharmaceuticals for everything from getting to sleep to waking up. We use them to stabilize our moods and to increase our sex drives. But what happens to these drugs once we're done with them? Lloyd wrote a while back about an AP story that stated that pharmaceuticals are ending up in 41 million American's drinking water. On a recent episode of Food Chain Radio, Michael Olson talked with Alan Roberson of the American Water Works Association and environmental attorney, George Mannina to find out what to do about it. ...
Photo via mckaysavage
Sounds a little contradictory, but research coming from Jian-Ku Shang, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and his team have come up with a photocatalyst that disinfects water with sunlight or artificial light, and will keep on disinfecting even after the lights go out. It promises to be an effective solution for unsafe water in developing countries - or anywhere. ...
Trench in seagrass, damaged from boat propellers. Photo courtesy of Seagrass Recovery
One of the dangers to ocean coastlines is due to loss of seagrass meadows. This results in a loss of fish and marine life habitat, a decrease in food supply and eliminates some of the ocean's carbon storage, among other problems that lead to global warming. Polluted water kills seagrass and loss of seagrass leads to lousy water quality. Then there's the trenches ripped by grounded boats and propellers in a patchwork of scars. How can we stop the destruction of this key and fragile ecosytem? ...
Our seas and oceans are badly contaminated, especially with plastic waste, which affects animals and plants in the waters. Jeremy wrote in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Out of Sight, Out of Mind that "the floating expanse of waste and debris in the Pacific Ocean is now covering an area twice the size of the continental U.S. believed to hold almost 100m tons of flotsam, this vast "plastic soup" stretches 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan". Between 40% and 60% of the waste collected on beaches is plastic, according to the book Green Plastics by E.S. Stevens (Princeton University Press, 2002). The trash has often travelled for miles before being washed up on the shore somewhere. So what if you like to play golf on the beach, on a cruise ship or from your boat? Well, now you can do exactly that without littering, but feeding the fish instead....
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Around the world, closed-basin lakes, like the Great Salt Lake, the Alton Sea, and the Aral Sea, are losing water as a result of human and natural processes. With no outflow and high salt and mineral saturation, these lakes, through drought and evaporation, are being transformed into highly saline pools and some, like Walker Lake in Nevada, have become toxic to aquatic life.
A new system, developed by a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada in Reno, uses solar-heated ponds and an innovative membrane technology to rescue these lakes with low-temperature desalination....
Image via GlobalTap
Getting free refills for your reusable water container can be tougher than it sounds. While it'd be nice to walk into a cafe or restaurant and ask to fill 'er up, social decorum says you should buy something to sweeten up your request. While TapIt NYC has helped thirsty folks find free water refills, that's one city - out of a whole nation of people we're trying to get to switch from bottled water to reusable containers. But GlobalTap is on the task, working to get free, accessable and clean water refill stations to those carting around containers, and they've just hit San Francisco.
...
Scene from West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest Wilderness. Image credit:Wilderness Society
West Virginia is more than deserving of its state slogan: "Wild and Wonderful." It boasts Ancient mountains, untamed rivers, caves, culture, and much more.
What's bizarre to me, however, is that the West Virginia Hospitality and Tourism Association believes that its members who cater to tourists should support none other than coal mining -- even when that involves blowing off the tops of those ancient mountains. The association wrote a letter to its members asking them to join a group that promotes the coal industry. That must've had some river guides and bed and breakfast owners scratching their heads. ...
Photo via Steve
Of all the water on our planet, only 1 percent can be consumed by humans. With rising demands on our water supplies, we're on the fast track to run out - half of the global population will be living in areas of "acute water shortage" by 2030. 2009 brought us both scary news like this, as well as a lot of interesting technology and thinking that will help us as water becomes a looming topic of conversation and activism. In this recap of 2009 in water, you'll find stunningly beautiful images, hair-raising new studies, and technologies that will conserve water and make it more fresh water as our supplies run low.
...
Photo via mckaysavage who writes, "Bright multi-coloured water pots lined up to be filled at the street tap...As water is often not available through the lines all day, especially in the dry season, pots will be lined up waiting to be filled and carried home."
Mumbai has had serious difficulties regarding water supplies this year, going from drought, to a deluge during monsoon season, and now back to water shortages. In order to deal with the shortages - which are expected to worsen until the next rainy season - officials have made water cuts that sparked a violent protest during which one man died and dozens of others were injured, adding to India's growing record of violence over water and showing the beginning of what will likely be more social unrest over water supplies. ...
Carlos Rivadulla got the idea when he was sweeping floors in the army, and now, a few years later and with the help of his brother Juan Rivadulla, the siblings launched the Ecofrego, an eco-friendlier bucket that separates the clean water from the dirty one. It is really quite straightforward and we are surprised this hasn't hit the market until now. A simple tweak to the traditional cleaning bucket can save you water, soap, and work....
Image via: NIELS AHA on Flickr.com
Let's say you're a small town or village and a large portion of your economy is dependent on tourism. Let's say you are also, while concerned about sustaining your economy, concerned with sustaining the natural environment - the very thing that keeps tourists coming back and thus sustains your economy. How do you ensure that the footprint of all of these aliens is small enough or better yet invisible to protect your island? This is the challenge that Savannah College students were tasked with this semester, reports the Savannah Morning News. Their solution: look to the skies....
Video: In the first of a series of mini-films, Excellent Development explains how its approach to creating development through conservation is benefiting communities in Kenya
The Babylonians used them - as did the Romans and the British during their time in Africa and India. Dating back at least 2000 years, sand dams are an old water-saving method that could be a boon to the world's water-scarce areas. Though it seems counter-intuitive, sand dams are a low-cost, low-tech but effective "grassroots" technique that is already gaining ground around the world - and according to some, could provide millions in arid regions with clean water all year round (no small feat). So how do sand dams work?...
Photo via futureatlas.com
We had a brief reprieve from dire water news when Mike posted about US water use in the US in 2005 lower than most years since 1975. Thanks to efficiency measures in industrial and agricultural sectors, it seemed like we were on a good path. However, a report released on Monday by McKinsey shows a global water demand that brings us right back into a frightening reality. We are running out of arguably the single most important resource the planet has to offer, and yet we're demanding more of it. ...
Photos: Culture Change
Previously we've talked about a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) carbon neutral project to ship grain from paddocks to pantries via sail-craft. That was in Canada's British Columbia. For the past year the Sail Transport Company (STC) have been following a similar ethos -- although a little further south -- moving vegetables across Puget Sound, from farmer's fields in Sequim to the produce markets in Seattle, with yachts.
Using only "wind, tide, and a little human muscle power," the Sail Transport Company has spent not a single cent on liquid hydrocarbon fuel. They even transport the boxes of vegies from the docks to the markets with electric-powered cargo trikes....
Photo via Maurice
When did water fountains become more of a novelty than an expectation in urban areas? And when did their restoration become news? It seems to say something about the state of free clean drinking water in cities - perhaps we've realized we've gone too far towards bottled water and are finally, finally making our way back to the tap. Either way, London has restored a drinking fountain in famous Trafalgar Square, and hopes that it starts a trend of renovating fountains across the city, returning free clean water to citizens who are out and about enjoying their public spaces....
Photo via Green Diary
In Lima, Peru, more than 1.3 million people have no access to drinking water. The citizens without it are in the poorest areas, where water trucked in can cost nine times as much as it does in richer areas. So, citizens have had to either make do without running water, or, with the help of a German NGO, make dew into drinking water. ...
Sometimes we get so concentrated on the small (yet important) details of green we forget about the big picture. Or the news seems like nothing but bad. But there's good news, too. To combat the problem of lack of sanitation and clean water -- 2.6 billion people don't have access to toilet facilities -- the smart folks at Pee Poople will soon start distributing in Kenya and Bangladesh a "biodegradable" bag called Peepoo that has an inner lining that disinfects the poo so that bag can be help fertilize soil instead of polluting precious water supplies....
My hope is this superb documentary will shock Americans and create a surge of
urgency that stops the atrocity of mountain top removal coal mining immediately. -- Ashley JuddI know it doesn't work as literally as this, but what would you do if you knew that ancient mountains were being destroyed and communities torn apart every time you turned on a light in your home, or flipped the switch on your sound system, or heated up water for tea?
There are a few more steps in the mining-to-lightswitch process, of course, but this is basically the story of mountaintop-removal mining. I want to invite you to attend a sneak-peek screening of a stunning new film on the subject, called Coal Country , and also to sign up to win one of ten free copies of the film's companion book, Coal Country: Rising Up Against Mountaintop Removal , published by Sierra Club Books. Keep reading......
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 03.17.10
It is bright, sunny and beautiful in Vancouver, the sun is reflecting off all that snow and the air is cool and dry. People can get dehydrated in those conditions and often reach for a bottle of water. But at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, people have an option: Fresh mountain water, in bottles now for sale beside the bottled, imported stuff. As a chain, Fairmont is usually ahead of the pack on environmental issues, and the manager says "Our research shows that, on average, a guest produces one kilogram of waste each night, mostly composed of beverage and paper product, so we continue to look for ways to reduce waste and identify opportunities." -both financial and environmental. 
Screenshot via 
Photo via 
photo: J. Novak
We've become a nation dependant upon drugs. For better or worse, we use pharmaceuticals for everything from getting to sleep to waking up. We use them to stabilize our moods and to increase our sex drives. But what happens to these drugs once we're done with them? 
Photo via 
Trench in seagrass, damaged from boat propellers. Photo courtesy of 
Our seas and oceans are badly contaminated, especially with plastic waste, which affects animals and plants in the waters. Jeremy wrote in 
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Around the world, closed-basin lakes, like the Great Salt Lake, the Alton Sea, and the Aral Sea, are losing water as a result of human and natural processes. With no outflow and high salt and mineral saturation, these lakes, through drought and evaporation, are being transformed into highly saline pools and some, like Walker Lake in Nevada, have become toxic to aquatic life.
A new system, developed by a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada in Reno, uses solar-heated ponds and an innovative membrane technology to rescue these lakes with 
Image via 
Scene from West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest Wilderness. Image credit:
Photo via 
Photo via 
Carlos Rivadulla got the idea when he was sweeping floors in the army, and now, a few years later and with the help of his brother Juan Rivadulla, the siblings launched the 
Image via: 
Photo via 
Photos: 
Photo via 
Photo via 
Sometimes we get so concentrated on the small (yet important) details of green we forget about the big picture. Or the news seems like nothing but bad. But there's good news, too. To combat the problem of 
I know it doesn't work as literally as this, but what would you do if you knew that ancient mountains were being destroyed and communities torn apart every time you turned on a light in your home, or flipped the switch on your sound system, or heated up water for tea?
There are a few more steps in the mining-to-lightswitch process, of course, but this is basically the story of mountaintop-removal mining. I want to invite you to 
