Emissions Still Rising
Mar 5, 2015: Despite the knowledge of the effects greenhouse gases are having on the environment, the numbers continue to rise. Emissions of CO2, methane and nitrogen oxides must be reduced to create sustainable life on this planet. It is common knowledge that greenhouse gases are being blamed for global warming. The gases which are generated by the […]…
Google Going Solar
Mar 5, 2015: In the largest solar panel system ever constructed in the US, Google Inc. is planning to incorporate 9,212 solar panels to power 30% of their Mountain View, California operations. EI Solutions, part of Energy Innovations Inc., will install these solar panels on four acres worth of roof and these panels will also be used as […]…
Just in Time for Christmas, Scientists Discover Real “Virgin Birth”
Mar 5, 2015: Two Komodo dragons have apparently learned to live without a man. Sungai, one of the two giant lizards, produced eggs that hatched four live young earlier this year. The other, Flora, is waiting for her clutch of eight eggs to hatch. Flora also produced three eggs that did not survive, allowing scientists to perform genetic […]…
Beetles Attacking Alaskan Forests
Mar 5, 2015: Due to global climate change, insects in Alaska are increasing in numbers and are causing damage to Alaskan forests. The warmer weather is encouraging insects to live longer and reproduce sooner while the weather damages trees making them less effective in fighting insect attacks. These beetles only attack the weaker trees, so these already weakened […]…
Toxic Chemicals Reporting Relaxed
Mar 5, 2015: In a time for reducing toxic waste which is released into the environment, the EPA is relaxing regulations, according to a Dec 18 2006 article on ScienceNOW. Reporting the types of toxic chemicals being used is about to have fewer regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has relaxed the chemical reporting rules for commercially used […]…
Join the Nature Challenge!
Mar 5, 2015: It seems sometimes that as individuals, we are powerless to stop the forces of environmental damage and destruction; that our small contributions simply can’t add up. But what if our small actions were compiled with that of others, thus creating a substantial shift in environmental consciousness? And what if these changes were quite simple, and […]…
Post-Katrina Restoration Plans Raise Eyebrows
Mar 5, 2015: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is known for completing what seem like impossible projects on a grand scale. But their latest plan for coastal restoration along the mouth of the Mississippi River–where Hurricane Katrina made landfall last year–has jaws dropping among even seasoned scientists. The plan, which is designed to allow most of the […]…
Adopt a Dolphin This Year
Mar 4, 2015: Oceania (www.oceana.org) will let you adopt various endangered or threatened wildlife. You can sponsor a dolphin, sea turtle, whale, a shark, or all four. With each $25 donation you will receive a cookie cutter in the shape of your adopted animal, and with $50 or more you will receive all 4 cookie cutters. Oceana is […]…
Prince Charles Supporting Green Causes
Mar 4, 2015: The future King of England, Prince Charles, is setting a good example by actively reducing his carbon footprint. He is planning to use less private aircrafts and more car trips, scheduled flights, and trains. Even his cars are being converted to 100 percent biodiesel. In his home, Clarence house, he is planning to use energy […]…
Global Warming endangering ski resorts
Mar 4, 2015: Many places depend on their alpine resorts for a major source of revenue. However, global warming is threatening these economies. The Alps Mountain range has warmed up three times more than the global average, and Austria and Italy are also sensitive areas. With Global Warming accelerating, this is only going to get worse. Several snow […]…
This Student-Designed Pallet House Can Survive Hurricanes
Mar 4, 2015: Students at Australia's CQUniversity designed a pallet house that's not only easy to build, but can literally withstand hurricane force winds The post This Student-Designed Pallet House Can Survive Hurricanes appeared first on Sustainablog.
Complicity in illegal logging goes far beyond the loggers
Mar 4, 2015: There's an old adage that "rules are made to be broken". Whatever your take on that logic, the idea of "rules are made to be enforced" is less open to debate.A welcome addition when it was introduced on March 3rd 2013, the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) prohibits the placement of any illegal timber or timber products on the European market. Yet two years on and Greenpeace continues to expose shipments of wood from companies involved with criminal and illegal activities in the Amazon and the Congo Basin finding their way to Europe.In November last year we forced Belgian authorities to impound six containers of Amazon wood from Rainbow Trading, a company known to be involved in a criminal timber laundering racket in Brazil, as it arr…
Why You Should Stop Eating Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Mar 4, 2015: Meals are good, and snacking is bad. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if you eat dinner with your family, you will keep your girlish figure and your kids will be healthier. Taking a lunch break will make you succeed at your job. Okay, now forget all that. Because as it turns out, the concept of three square meals a day has practically zero to do with your actual metabolic needs. And our dogmatic adherence to breakfast, lunch, and dinner might actually be making us sick. Historian Abigail Carroll, author of the book Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal, explained to me that the the thrice-daily eating schedule goes back at least as far as the Middle Ages in Europe. When European settlers got to America, t…
NRDC: Congress Shouldn’t Waste More Time on Keystone XL
Mar 4, 2015: WASHINGTON (March 4, 2015) – The Senate today failed, as expected, to override President Obama’s veto of a congressional bill forcing approval of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
McDonald’s to Have Chicken Raised Virtually Antibiotic-Free
Mar 4, 2015: NEW YORK (March 4, 2015) – McDonald’s – the world’s largest fast food chain – today announced that it is committing to serving chicken raised without antibiotics used in human medicine in all of their U.S. restaurants within two years. This comes on the heels of new leadership for the company. Steve Easterbrook began as CEO of McDonald’s on Monday, and brings to the role a legacy of healthier food and environmental initiatives within the company’s United Kingdom division. Today’s announcement marks a big step forward in protecting the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics for people, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). …
Easy Upcycling: Soda Bottle Bird Feeder
Mar 3, 2015: Got a soda bottle sitting in the recycling bin? Turn it into a bird feeder just in time for Spring The post Easy Upcycling: Soda Bottle Bird Feeder appeared first on Sustainablog.
The Science of Why Republicans Are Dead Wrong About Climate Change and National Security
Mar 2, 2015: At last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, GOP chairman Reince Priebus had some strong words about how President Barack Obama prioritizes threats to national security. "Democrats tell us they understand the world, but then they call climate change, not radical Islamic terrorism, the greatest threat to national security," he said. "Look, I think we all care about our planet, but melting icebergs aren't beheading Christians in the Middle East." The comment came after the president, in a lengthy interview with Vox, said that the media often overplays the danger of terrorism relative to climate change. It's not the first time Obama has made a point along those lines. In his State of the Union address in January, he said tha…
How To Turn Plastic Bottles Into Twine [Video]
Mar 2, 2015: As a good greenie, I’d argue that plastic bottles are one of those things we should think about mostly in terms of “reduce” rather than the normal “recycle.” But I also use them: I generally don’t buy bottled water or soft drinks, but I can’t say “never,” either. And, of course, my pantry and fridge The post How To Turn Plastic Bottles Into Twine [Video] appeared first on Sustainablog.
The Disco Ball: A Weapon Against Food Waste?
Mar 2, 2015: London-based organization Feedback sees the disco ball as a weapon against food waste. Their Disco Soup events combine 70s dance music & fresh-cooked soup The post The Disco Ball: A Weapon Against Food Waste? appeared first on Sustainablog.
Google Biodome: New Headquarters to Blend with Environment
Mar 2, 2015: Energy Politics | Environment and Sustainability | Future TechnologyToday Google announced their exciting proposal to redevelop four sites in Mountain View, California. Designed by Bjarke Ingels at BIG and Thomas Heatherwick at Heatherwick Studio, the new headquarters will be the first time Google will design and build their offices from scratch. The concept is simple and genius: instead of building permanent structures with […]…
A chance for greater protection of the Arctic
Mar 2, 2015: Government members from all over Europe are meeting this week for the OSPAR (named after the Oslo and Paris Conventions) Convention's Biodiversity Committee (BDC) in Cork, Ireland. They have an opportunity to move towards providing urgent protection for the Arctic. OSPAR delegates know well how to take progressive and bold measures for environmental protection.The OSPAR Convention is the legal instrument for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. It is the only regional Convention that can establish a marine protected area (MPA) in part of the international waters of the central Arctic Ocean in accordance with the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.In fact, if the proposed Arctic MPA is taken forward,…
sustainablog Subscribers: We’ve Got A New Newsletter [Meta]
Feb 28, 2015: After years of using Feedburner, we're shifting to a Mailchimp-based subscription service. You can sign up for our new newsletter in the right sidebar The post sustainablog Subscribers: We’ve Got A New Newsletter [Meta] appeared first on Sustainablog.
There’s so much snow in the US and Canada that people are digging snow tunnels to get around
Feb 28, 2015: The snowfall this winter has been pretty extraordinary; in Boston alone over six feet of snow has fallen, promoting the city's mayor to declare that it is fine to dump snow in the harbor—because no one's quite sure what else can be done with all the stuff.
What's French for Chicken Nugget? The Truth About School Lunches Around the World
Feb 28, 2015: By now you've probably seen the viral slideshow called "School Lunches Around the World," in which a heavily processed American school lunch is contrasted against an array of fresh, healthy-looking victuals from Italy, France, Greece, etc. It's a compelling argument against the puny resources spent on school lunch in the United States, where, once labor and overhead are accounted for, schools get less than a dollar per daily lunch to spend on ingredients. But as the great school-food blogger Bettina Elias Siegel points out, those sumptuous photos don't depict actual meals being served in actual schools—but, rather, staged shots that oversimplify a complex topic. As it turns out, Sweetgreen, a chain of health-food eateries located mai…
Infographic: How Climate Change Will Affect Your Health
Feb 28, 2015: There's a long list of things that will suffer because of extreme climate change - but did you know that your health is one of them? Beyond the extreme environmental ramifications, climate change is set to impact the physical, biological and ecological life…
The Waste Biz: Consumers Need Help Recycling Plastic
Feb 27, 2015: Tom Szaky of Terracycle thinks we can better inform consumers about recycling plastic, Donna Fenn discusses world upcycling domination, and more The post The Waste Biz: Consumers Need Help Recycling Plastic appeared first on Sustainablog.
NRDC Sues EPA to Force Action on Monarch Butterflies
Feb 27, 2015: WASHINGTON (February 27, 2015)—The Natural Resources Defense Council today accused the Environmental Protection Agency of dragging its feet on efforts to save the imperiled monarch butterfly and filed suit to force the agency to act.
Some Climate Engineering Ideas Are Insane. This One Isn’t.
Feb 26, 2015: This story originally appeared on the Slate website and is reproduced here apart of the Climate Desk collaboration. According to technological optimists, in the next two or three decades, humanity will embark on a new era of possibility. Super-smart computers and other advances may even make certain types of less risky, large-scale climate actions a reality. Open any number of sci-fi books from the last few decades and you have an idea of how nanotechnology could make planetary-scale engineering possible. (Kim Stanley Robinson's work comes immediately to mind.) Maybe swarms of self-replicating photosynthetic nanobots will be able to quickly and cheaply suck CO2 from the air? What about coating all the world's rooftops in organic solar pa…
Will Obama's Climate Plan Really Cause Blackouts?
Feb 26, 2015: Back in November, a group of Republican lawmakers fired off a stern letter to the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees electric grids. President Barack Obama's new climate plan, the letter warned, could lead to blackouts across the country. The Clean Power Plan is the centerpiece of Obama's climate policy. It calls for the nation to reduce its carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030 and requires each state to reduce the "intensity" of its power sector—that is, how much greenhouse gas is produced per unit of energy. States can choose from a wide array of options to meet their individual goals, including closing or renovating coal plants, boosting energy efficiency, and building new renewable energy sy…
5 Things To Remember When Buying Home Appliances
Feb 26, 2015: Shopping for home appliances? It's tempting to buy the first thing that fits your budget, but use these tips to save resources, money & stress long term The post 5 Things To Remember When Buying Home Appliances appeared first on Sustainablog.
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
Solar on a Strata - The Vote
Feb 26, 2015: Proposal passes 3/4 vote This is a continuation of the story in Solar on a Strata ? As planned, our strata Annual General Meeting was on February 25. We had just enough owners and proxies for a quorum under our bylaws - 22. Half of the meeting was quite routine - review of the budget, some small extra expenditures on paint, plumbing, and an asbestos report. The big topic was the Solar on a Strata proposal. My goal with this blog is to provide a 'road map' for other stratas, so I'm going to go into the details here. Mike Geldreich - the electrician who gave us a quote - attended and helped to answer questions. I presented a PowerPoint deck (I'll post it later) that tried to clarify How a s…
China’s one-year ban on ivory imports is a big step forward – but more reform is needed
Feb 26, 2015: NEW YORK (February 26, 2015) — In an important recognition of the role Chinese citizens’ appetite for ivory has played in helping to fuel the slaughter of African elephants, Chinese officials today announced a one-year ban on African ivory carving imports, effective today. A brief statement on the State Forestry Administration said it would halt administrative approval for ivory imports until Feb. 26, 2016.
Pop-Up Restaurant Will Put Food Waste On The Menu
Feb 25, 2015: Chef Dan Barber's WasteED will be open for two weeks in late March, 2015, and feature menu items made from food waste and scraps The post Pop-Up Restaurant Will Put Food Waste On The Menu appeared first on Sustainablog.
Krill-gotten gains to fund Antarctic research
Feb 25, 2015: Scientific research and conservation need more cash. That's sadly usually true. It's especially the case in the Antarctic where research is expensive but absolutely essential given the massive environmental changes happening there.But although new streams of funding should welcomed for Antarctic research, it's also important to question where that funding comes from. After all, there's just a sliver of a chance that some seemingly good PR is actually a mind-bogglingly cynical act of greenwashing.Step forward Aker Biomarine, one of the world's biggest and brashest krill-hoovering companies. Aker are behind the now-ubiquitous krill supplement pills that are being sold worldwide as a cure to... well, I could insert just about any ailment here.
Chair of U.N. climate panel steps down amid sexual harassment allegations
Feb 25, 2015: The long-time head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.) stepped down yesterday amid allegations of sexual harassment filed in his home country, India. Rajendra K. Pachauri was chairman of the panel for 13 years and one…
Chicago Petcoke: Big Announcements Mark Improvement, but Not an End to the Problem
Feb 25, 2015: CHICAGO (February 25, 2015) – A series of announcements last week regarding Chicago’s controversial petcoke piles signal significant changes coming to the city’s Southeast Side, where the oil refining waste has been mounded in close proximity to homes, parks and schools: KCBX, the company storing and handling the petcoke at two sites along the Calumet River, announced that it would close one site and remove piles from the other, but keep the second site operating indefinitely as a transfer facility to shift petcoke between trains, barges and ships. BP, whose refinery in nearby Whiting, IN is a main source of petcoke being piled in Chicago, announced they would cease storing the material in Illinois. The C…
NRDC: California Climate Plan’s Auction Results Show Carbon Caps Move Us Toward a Cleaner Future
Feb 25, 2015: SACRAMENTO (February 25, 2015) – The California Air Resources Board announced today the results of the first carbon auction with polluting fuels such as gasoline included under the cap. For the first time, the oil industry joined other major industries across California to bid on a limited number of pollution permits. This is a key component of the state’s law to reduce carbon pollution to 1990 levels by 2020…