Tag: Asia - Page 5
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Tsukimi: Full Moon Viewing Celebration
When I think of frugal living I am constantly reminded of how people were able to create fun events and celebrations in the past, even without a lot of expensive stuff. Humans just seem to love celebrations, no matter what.
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Number of the Day: 168.03 Million Motor Vehicles in China
168.03 Million -- That's the number of motor vehicles on China's roads. The figure cover automobiles, motorcycles, tractors, trailers and other motor vehicles. By comparison, the US had 250,851,833 registered motor vehicles in 2006 according to a
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World Foodless Day
Food activists and local farm groups are stepping up protests against sky-rocketing food prices, as more and more people are facing shortages, not only in "developing" or what used to be called "Third World" countries. Here in Tokyo, NGOs including
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Beauty: New Designs For Chopsticks
Increasingly, we notice that people all over the world nurture a deep wish to live simply, beautifully. A case in point is how we eat. Traditionally, here in Japan, people eat with wooden chopsticks.
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Could a Virtual Buddhist Temple Help Save the Environment?
A bunch of young Japanese monks have created a virtual temple online to talk about issues close to their hearts. They are based in Tokyo, where there are surprisingly many Buddhist temples, many as old as the city itself, dating back to the Edo Period
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Bangladesh Turning PET Into Cash
Reuters had an interesting piece recently on Bangladesh's thriving Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) recycling industry. The South Asian country exported more than 20,000 tons of PET flakes, the shredded version of plastic bottles, last year sorted from
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Lack of Outdoor Play Leading to Sharp Increase in Myopia Among Children
In a piece of irony you couldn't imagine if you tried, researchers in Australia have discovered that a lack of time spent playing in the great outdoors is leading to greater incidences of myopia among children, which means it's not just figuratively
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Can We Make Termite Resistant Houses of Chicken Feathers?
A termite resistant building board made from a composite of chicken feathers and compressed cement. This is the dream of Dr. Menandro N. Acda from the Dept. of Forest Products and Paper Science, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of
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Aral Sea Rehabilitation Program's First Phase Hailed as Success
Not too long ago everyone had pretty much written off the Aral Sea as a lost cause. Soviet irrigation policies had diverted water from
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Green Products Directory 2008
It might not quite be the Whole Earth Catalog of the glorious 1960s, but I like it anyway. Asian Productivity Organization publishes its biannual Green Products Directory with the latest from our part of the world (was WEC ever truly global?) and the
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Bangladesh's Landmass is Growing Yearly, But Gains from Sediment Deposits Will be Overtaken by Sea Level Rise
Put this one in your "life's cruel ironies" file.
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Panda Baby-Boom! 4 Cubs Born Within 14 Hours
Everybody knows that Giant Pandas are endangered and that they are -- to say the least -- not very prolific when it comes to reproduction. So it is a very good news indeed to learn that four cubs were born in the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Centre,
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Matsushita to Increase Lithium-ion Battery Production by 300%
50 Million More Battery Units per Month With the progressive electrification of transportation (from hybrids to plug-in hybrids to electric cars), one thing the world will need more of is batteries. Matsushita, who owns the Panasonic brand and has a
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Huge Drop in Chinese Birth Defects After Local Coal Plant Closes
In a sign of things that might have been, Chinese children born after the closure of a local coal plant have found themselves with 60% less development problems such as motor skill coordination than those born prior to the closing.
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Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Marina Rikhanova
Marina Rikhvanova, Co-chairwoman of the NGO Baikal Environmental Wave, was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia for her on-going achievements in the protection of Lake Baikal, the "pearl of Siberia," in Russia. Founded in 1990, the prize is
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Exploring Southeast Asia's Geothermal Potential
Indonesia and the Philippines need help. And not because they lack the geothermal energy capacity: No, quite simply, it's because they're having trouble accessing it. The two Asian countries, both of which are located in the
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Smart Car Vending Machine in Japan
Smart Car: Good and
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Ludacris and Tommy Lee Rock Out on Battleground Earth
Coming to Planet Green this fall...
