Enviroment
Activists urge Italy to quit coal
17/10/08 12:05
Every time I read news about how messy my former country is, well I’m being sad. Sad, because the Italian Government has been destroy one of the most wonderful country in the world, and guess what Italians are NUMB. From any angle, you look at this country there is nothing to be proud of it anymore. This is the last issue that Greenpeace has been fight for.
Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels. A third of all CO2 emissions come from coal and, if we don't stop using it, these will increase to 60 percent by 2030. Coal is the single greatest threat facing our climate and Europe needs to end its outdated dependency on it.
The Civitavecchia power plant will increase Italy’s CO2 emissions at a time when they should be reducing them. Plants like this will derail the Italian effort to meet the Kyoto target.
The good news!
The Italian government was attempting to block important climate change agreements being discussed by the EU, but the good news is that they have failed! At the end of two days of heated talks in Brussels, EU leaders confirmed their commitment to finalise the climate and energy package before international climate negotiations take place in December.
Read Full Article: GreenPeace
The story of stuff
09/10/08 11:34
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
This video simply show us how our system is frankly FUCKED UP.
Earth Overshoot Day
23/09/08 19:09
September 23 this year marks an unfortunate milestone: the day humanity will have used all the resources nature will generate this year, according to Global Footprint Network data. Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity beings living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.Globally, we now now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources -- like trees and fish -- continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.
The Secret Life of Paper
30/08/08 20:01
The Secret Life of Paper. It explores the environmental impact of the paper production industry, focusing upon forest destruction, global warming, and the complexities of paper recycling.
Make your life paperless. Make Paper History.
Make your life paperless. Make Paper History.
New waterfront designs for Rimini (Italy) unveiled
16/07/08 16:52
Foster + Partners presented designs for a new waterfront development in Rimini. Revealed at a public presentation to the City last week, the proposal is designed to strengthen the relationship between the town centre and the seafront and to create a year-round attraction for an international tourist industry.
The scheme comprises a new seafront promenade with a mix of related activities and public spaces including a hotel tower, which will extend Rimini’s historic beach culture and continue the existing urban grain. The project celebrates Rimini’s tradition of green boulevards, best characterised by the Via Vespuci. The waterfront will be pedestrianised at certain times and will link directly to a linear public park – or green spine – which will provide much needed shade during the hotter months. This currently links the seafront to the historic city and will be enhanced with improved connections to the new promenade area.
A new hotel tower includes space for a Fellini film museum at its base. Its curving form anchors the wider project, while the building extends out to sea along a new 300m long pier, continuing the dialogue between the city and the water and referring to Rimini’s tradition of piers.
The scheme will use new technologies, such as rainwater collection and photovoltaics, to establish a long-term, sustainable commercial and environmental strategy for the town that is balanced with its rejuvenation in the short-term.
Tapping the oceans
13/07/08 09:07
Jun 5th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Environmental technology: Desalination turns salty water into fresh water. As concern over water’s scarcity grows, can it offer a quick technological fix?
THERE are vast amounts of water on earth.
Unfortunately, over 97% of it is too salty for human consumption and only a fraction of the remainder is easily accessible in rivers, lakes or groundwater. Climate change, droughts, growing population and increasing industrial demand are straining the available supplies of fresh water. More than 1 billion people live in areas where water is scarce, according to the United Nations, and that number could increase to 1.8 billion by 2025.
One time-tested but expensive way to produce drinking water is desalination: removing dissolved salts from sea and brackish water. Its appeal is obvious. The world’s oceans, in particular, present a virtually limitless and drought-proof supply of water. “If we could ever competitively—at a cheap rate—get fresh water from salt water,” observed President John Kennedy nearly 50 years ago, “that would be in the long-range interest of humanity, and would really dwarf any other scientific accomplishment.”
Read Full Article: The Economist
From The Economist print edition
Environmental technology: Desalination turns salty water into fresh water. As concern over water’s scarcity grows, can it offer a quick technological fix?
THERE are vast amounts of water on earth.
Unfortunately, over 97% of it is too salty for human consumption and only a fraction of the remainder is easily accessible in rivers, lakes or groundwater. Climate change, droughts, growing population and increasing industrial demand are straining the available supplies of fresh water. More than 1 billion people live in areas where water is scarce, according to the United Nations, and that number could increase to 1.8 billion by 2025.
One time-tested but expensive way to produce drinking water is desalination: removing dissolved salts from sea and brackish water. Its appeal is obvious. The world’s oceans, in particular, present a virtually limitless and drought-proof supply of water. “If we could ever competitively—at a cheap rate—get fresh water from salt water,” observed President John Kennedy nearly 50 years ago, “that would be in the long-range interest of humanity, and would really dwarf any other scientific accomplishment.”
Read Full Article: The Economist
Greenhouse gassy cows
09/07/08 08:43
Argentine scientists are taking a novel approach to studying global warming -- strapping plastic tanks to the backs of cows to collect their burps.
Researchers say the slow digestive system of cows makes them a producer of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide in efforts to fight global warming.
Scientists around the world are studying the amount of methane in cow burps and Argentine researchers say they have come up with a unique way.
Attaching a red plastic tank to a cow's back and connecting it through a tube to the animal's stomach, scientists say they can trap bovine burps and analyze them.
Bamboo's Role in Environmental Restoration
02/07/08 18:36
Bamboo timber can be harvested every year after 7 years, compared to 30 to 50 years for trees. With 10-30% annual increase in biomass versus 2-5% for trees, bamboo can yield 20 times more timber than trees on the same area. Bamboo can be selectively harvested annually and regenerates without replanting.
Bamboo generates 30% more oxygen than trees. It helps reduce carbon dioxide gases blamed for global warming. Some bamboo sequesters up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare, which makes it an efficient replenisher of fresh air.
Bamboo is a natural water control barrier. Because of its wide spread root system and large canopy, bamboo greatly reduces rain run off, prevents massive soil erosion and keeps twice as much water in the watershed. Bamboo helps mitigate water pollution due to its high nitrogen consumption, making it a solution for excess nutrient uptake of waste water from manufacturing, livestock farming and sewage treatment.
Via: http://www.bambooliving.com
Company scores plummet in Greener Electronics Guide
29/06/08 19:41
With expanded and tougher criteria on toxic chemicals, electronic waste and new criteria on climate change only Sony and Sony Ericsson score more than 5/10 in our latest Guide to Greener Electronics. Nintendo and Microsoft remain rooted to the bottom of the Guide.
The Greener Electronics Guide is our way of getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste. We want manufacturers to get rid of harmful chemicals in their products. We want to see an end to the stories of unprotected child laborers scavenging mountains of cast-off gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving ways.
Full Article: GreenPeace
Release Greenpeace activists!
22/06/08 10:08
Greenpeace activists in Japan have been arrested for exposing a stolen whale meat scandal involving the Japanese government-sponsored Southern Ocean whaling programme.
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are charged with stealing a box of whale meat which they presented as evidence of a whale meat smuggling operation. The activists requested a Japanese government investigation into the scandal, and the Tokyo public prosecutor agreed there was sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. His investigation has now concluded. The only persons charged are the Greenpeace activists who presented the evidence.
Our activists are innocent of any crime. They have been arrested for returning whale meat that was stolen from Japanese taxpayers, and exposing a fraud that may reach high into the Japanese government agencies that run the whaling programme.
Please write to the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and demand the activists’ immediate release.
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are charged with stealing a box of whale meat which they presented as evidence of a whale meat smuggling operation. The activists requested a Japanese government investigation into the scandal, and the Tokyo public prosecutor agreed there was sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. His investigation has now concluded. The only persons charged are the Greenpeace activists who presented the evidence.
Our activists are innocent of any crime. They have been arrested for returning whale meat that was stolen from Japanese taxpayers, and exposing a fraud that may reach high into the Japanese government agencies that run the whaling programme.
Please write to the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and demand the activists’ immediate release.
50 way to help the planet
07/05/08 21:26
SHARE! Take what you've learned, and pass the knowledge on to others. If every person you know could take one small step toward being greener, the collective effort could be phenomenal.
http://www.wireandtwine.com
Crackdown on plastic bags in China
06/05/08 18:53
China's tax hikes on plastic bag production is good news for China's blossoming cloth bag industry.
As plastic bags litter China's countryside the government is putting the pressure on the manufacturers, good news for China's cloth bag industry.
Take Action against the 11 Fast Food Junkies
05/05/08 07:22
The 11 Fast Food Junkies are the biggest and baddest fast food companies responsible for this waste. Their piles of packaging have more to do with branding, marketing, and sales than the essential functions of protecting and transporting goods. And Southern U.S. forests account for approximately 60% of the wood and paper products produced in the US and 15% of the paper products produced worldwide.
These vital forests and their biodiversity are in danger! Act today!
Encourage Fast food Dirty Dozen to fix the Paper Packaging Problem
Packaging symbolizes the disposable society we have become. More than half of all paper produced in the United States is used in paper packaging.
Every year millions of pounds of food packaging waste litter our roadways, clog our landfills, and spoil our quality of life. Over half of landfill waste is paper and wood products.
Fast Food Industry giants are big buyers of paper packaging from the forests of the Southern US. With nearly 100 packaging mills in the South, the packaging decisions of these corporations have a tremendous impact on our forests.
Southern forests are being destroyed to bring you fried chicken, burgers and fries, and super-sized convenience in a glut of wrappers, boxes and cups.
Fast food packaging makes up 20 percent of all litter
Food packaging takes up 15 percent of landfills
3/4 of all food and drink packages come from forests
Over half of landfill waste is paper and wood products
Take Action! Send an email to CEO?s. Ask them to reduce the company's packaging, stop using paper from endangered Southern forests and use more recycled paper!
The 11 Fast Food Junkies are: KFC, Long John Silver, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W, (all of those owned by Yum! Brands), McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Arbies, Wendy's, Bojangles and Quiznos.
These vital forests and their biodiversity are in danger! Act today!
Encourage Fast food Dirty Dozen to fix the Paper Packaging Problem
Packaging symbolizes the disposable society we have become. More than half of all paper produced in the United States is used in paper packaging.
Every year millions of pounds of food packaging waste litter our roadways, clog our landfills, and spoil our quality of life. Over half of landfill waste is paper and wood products.
Fast Food Industry giants are big buyers of paper packaging from the forests of the Southern US. With nearly 100 packaging mills in the South, the packaging decisions of these corporations have a tremendous impact on our forests.
Southern forests are being destroyed to bring you fried chicken, burgers and fries, and super-sized convenience in a glut of wrappers, boxes and cups.
Fast food packaging makes up 20 percent of all litter
Food packaging takes up 15 percent of landfills
3/4 of all food and drink packages come from forests
Over half of landfill waste is paper and wood products
Take Action! Send an email to CEO?s. Ask them to reduce the company's packaging, stop using paper from endangered Southern forests and use more recycled paper!
The 11 Fast Food Junkies are: KFC, Long John Silver, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W, (all of those owned by Yum! Brands), McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Arbies, Wendy's, Bojangles and Quiznos.
Protecting precious mangroves
20/04/08 08:15
Mangroves are delicate ecosystems that grow on the coastlines of tropical areas and usually protect the coasts from erosion.
According to a UNEP report, more than a third of the world's mangroves have disappeared.
In the Republic of Congo Reuters Television meets a man who has taken up the challenge of saving his country's mangroves.
Plastic bottle chemical may be harmful: agency
16/04/08 07:53
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A chemical in some plastic food and drink packaging including baby bottles may be tied to early puberty and prostate and breast cancer, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.
Based on draft findings by the National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, senior congressional Democrats asked the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its view that the chemical bisphenol A is safe in products for use by infants and children.
The chemical, also called BPA, is used in many baby bottles and the plastic lining of cans of infant formula.
Via Reuters
Buy a Tree for the Rainforest - Get a KML
25/03/08 19:17
This is a really great concept!
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) offers you the opportunity to buy a tree which will be planted in a rainforest in Sebangau National Forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. In return, they not only plant the tree, but give you a Google Earth KML file in return with the location coordinates of your tree. Theoretically, as Google continues to update with higher resolution satellite and aerial imagery, you should be able to watch the growth of your tree (and the others who donate trees) over the coming years. To get started, you simply go to the web site mybabytree.org.
Via WWF and Google Earth Blog
RecycleBank Puts $30M in the Bank
19/03/08 16:17
The most low-tech of clean technologies, recycling, got a boost today. RecycleBank, a Philadelphia-based startup that runs incentive-based recycling programs, has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by the high-profile VCs at Kleiner Perkins, PEHub reports via VentureWire. RecycleBank’s round also included existing investors RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners, who together invested $13.1 million in a Series A financing last year.
As far as low-tech cleantech goes, this is a big investment. Kleiner Perkins Partner John Doerr was quite excited about RecycleBank’s mission and business when he talked about the company at the Berkeley Energy Symposium, saying applying the right business model to existing technology can be good business for the planet.
Full Article http://earth2tech.com
:60 Seconds to Save Earth: Falling Elephants
03/03/08 22:29
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Make it Right
03/03/08 21:11
In December 2006, Brad Pitt convened a group of experts in New Orleans to brainstorm about building green affordable housing on a large scale to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Having spent time with community leaders and displaced residents determined to return home, Pitt realized that an opportunity existed to build houses that were not only stronger and healthier, but that had less impact on the environment.
Previously, Pitt sponsored an architecture competition organized by Global Green with the goal of generating ideas about how to rebuild sustainably. Several of those designs are currently under construction in the Lower 9th Ward and the project inspired him to expand his efforts.
After discussing the hurdles associated with rebuilding in a devastated area, the group determined that a large-scale redevelopment project focused on green affordable housing and incorporating innovative design was indeed possible.
The group settled on the goal of constructing 150 homes (one of the larger rebuilding projects in the city), with an emphasis on developing an affordable system that could be replicated.
To demonstrate replicability, Pitt determined to locate the project in the Lower 9th Ward, one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans, proving that safe homes could and should be rebuilt. Pitt hopes that this project would be a catalyst for recovery and redevelopment throughout the Lower 9th Ward and across the city of New Orleans.
Having listened to one former resident's plea to help "make this right," Pitt was inspired to name the project "Make It Right" (MIR).
California emissions waiver formally blocked
01/03/08 08:48
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Friday formally rejected California's bid for a waiver from U.S. law to set its own tailpipe emissions standard to reduce global warming.
The Environmental Protection Agency released a regulatory notice signed by Administrator Stephen Johnson, canceling California's plans to impose a state law that would have forced automakers to reduce emissions by making cars that achieve sharply higher gas mileage beginning next year.
Read Full Article Reuters
One of them make the world a better place, the other destroyed it.
One of them wants no wars, other is looking for it.
One of them wants every american having health care, other if you haven`t, you can die.
One of them will bring`em home, other will sent more.
One of them is the brightness Future, other the darkness past.
So On.
I can believe that Americans allowed him to Lead this country and you for 8 years.
Managed forestry offers hope of saving Amazon
18/02/08 21:48
MONTE DOURADO, Brazil (Reuters) - Buzzing chain saws and heavy machinery hauling logs through the Amazon jungle look at first like reckless destruction. But a forestry project on the Jari River in northern Brazil is being hailed as a model for preserving the world's largest rain forest.
Evidence in January that the pace of Amazon deforestation has increased after falling for nearly three years renewed a fierce public debate over saving the forest. It also opened a rift in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government.
Loggers illegally clear vast swathes of forest for timber and farmland every year, wreaking environmental havoc while creating little long-term income.
But a handful of forest management projects have emerged as conservation models, extracting resources with little impact.
"Selling certified timber harvested in a sustainable way is the only solution for the Amazon," said Augusto Praxedes Neto, a manager at Brazilian pulp and paper company Grupo ORSA.
Full Article Reuters
Earth Hour
17/02/08 20:03
It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?
The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.
On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour.
With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.
Efficien City
11/02/08 18:25
EfficienCity is a virtual town, but pioneering, real world communities around the UK are using similar systems. As a result, they're enjoying lower greenhouse gas emissions, a more secure energy supply, cheaper electricity and heating bills and a whole new attitude towards energy.
While our government promotes the fallacy that we need coal and nuclear to keep the lights on, innovative councils, businesses and individuals are taking the leap into a cleaner, greener future with decentralised energy.
Read Full Article GreenPeace.Org.uk