Daily Archives: November 26, 2008
Greenlanders See Independence and Natural Riches as the Upside of Climate Change
Image from NASA
Where many see a bleak future in climate change, characterized by melting ice caps, water shortages, acidic oceans and mass extinctions, others see an opportunity. Or, to be more precise, lots of dollar signs. Nature’s Nicola Jones reports that Greenlanders have just voted en masse in favor of a resolution that would bring them one tantalizing step closer to full-fledged independence from Denmark — a move spurred primarily by their new-fou
The Black Market Sea Lion Penis Harvest, and Other Marine Woes of the Galapagos
Photo by Pete Oxford
The Galapagos Islands first really became the Galapagos Islands for most of us sometime around 6 o’clock at night. About then, I was lying on the beach a foot or two away from a female sea lion who just stared in my direction, apparently bored, and blinked her big brown eyes at me.
I looked over the beach, and it seemed the teachers were enjoying similarly transcendent experiences—they walked right up to the creatures, took extreme close up photos, and laughed while they backed away from the more boisterous bulls. They found one right off the beach that had wandered up onto somebody’s front porch. There were
Oeuf: Good Design is For All Ages
Image source: Oeuf
Oeuf (pronounced UH-F. Means “egg” in French), maker of children’s furniture, toys and clothes, brings more multi-functional items that can age and change as your child does. Items are all manufactured in Europe from socially responsible manufacturers. The children’s clothing is all very cute and has a very grown-up, European look to it
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Thanksgiving Travel Expected to the Lowest for Six Years
Yesterday Lloyd started a survey around the notion: “We have never had much luck convincing people that they should change their travel habits because of their carbon footprint, but is the economy making a difference?” Without wanting to prejudice our survey, we did observe that elsewhere Bloomberg.com was saying, ‘Yes, it has.’
According to the numbers they obtained from the AAA (American Automobile Association) this Thanksgiving holiday in the USA, will see the lowest volume of Americans travelling since 2002, even though fuel prices are lower than they were back in early 2005.
Other intriguing
Where Cyclists Dare: Riding the Streets of Istanbul
A group ride in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo via Bisikletliler Derneği.
Not long ago, a friend visiting from New York asked me if I ever saw anyone biking in Istanbul. My first instinct was to scoff, “Of course not! Haven’t you seen the insane traffic around here?!? And there aren’t even proper sidewalks to walk on, much less bike lanes!” But then I took a moment to think about it, and, other than little kids tooling around on the back streets, I could recall having seen exactly two bike riders in recent weeks… one of whom was narrowly evadi
Could Garbage Be America’s #1 Resource?
Garbage is America’s #1 export and possibly the biggest raw material source we have. But what is waste? And why do we make it?
In nature, waste does not exist – if it did we would not be here today since the creation of a material that another life form cannot use is not sustainable and would lead to the destruction of our eco-system. One way to look at waste is that it is a commodity with negative value. That is, it’s a commodity that we are willing to pay to get rid of. It is a liability that has to be transported quickly and efficiently to a landfill.
Honda’s Econo-Nag Speedometer Tells You With Color
Honda calls it the Ecological Drive Assist System (EDAS)
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Obama’s Economic Stimulus Plan: Cleaning Up Washington, or Greenwashing?
Last weekend, President-elect Obama announced his plans for the economic stimulus plan. He says it’s going to be big, green, and expansive. But is it truly green, or just greenwash?
Economics and Green
Obama announced his economic stimulus plan Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 during his weekly Democratic Radio Address. The announcement is the first of many steps he plans to take to turn around the United States’ failing financial system. The building blocks for the plan are to create tax relief to
Phytocapping To Rehabilitate Landfills, Reduce Greenhouse Emissions
Image: Former landfill and limestone quarry near Montreal now being mined for its methane (by frigate on Flickr)
Though it’s changing, the human species still largely lives in “disposable” societies – with the pinnacle of the life cycle ending up in the landfills, which generate large amounts of greenhouse gases as waste decays. But according to Australian scientists, these emissions can be reduced significantly with a process called “phytocapping,” where a thick layer of soil is laid over the landfill and planted with specific tree and plant species.
Typically, buried organic matter
Wretched Excess Dept: A £250,000 Dog House
But hey, with the US$ so strong, thats only $ 382,469 and it is for two dogs, so that is a lot less per dog. So what if people are hungry or losing their jobs, let them build doghouses. Inside:
the dogs will sleep on sheepskin-lined, temperature-controlled beds, soothe their aches in an 18in-deep spa, howl along to a £150,000 sound system and watch dog-friendly programmes on a 52-inch plasma TV.
Automatic dispensers will ensure that chilled, filtered water and deluxe dry food are always available.
The two dogs will each have a bed
