Category Archives: Environment

Organic insight

Published by Garden Center Magazine on Wednesday, 18 May, 2011
 

Garden Writers Association Annual Webinar reveals survey findings on natural and organic gardeners

Consumers are more likely to purchase products described as “natural” or “eco-friendly,” according to findings presented at Garden Writers Association’s Annual Webinar (www.gardenwriters.org) held March 24. The session, sponsored by Scotts Miracle-Gro, offered an overview of results from a survey conducted by market-research company Ipsos-Reid.

 

The survey asked participants about “natural” and “conventional” lawn, garden and indoor-insect control products. The “natural” category included products described as “green, organic, natural or eco-friendly.” The products could be homemade or purchased in stores.

Results showed that …

Completely Off-Grid Eco-Friendly Outdoor Lighting Solution

Published by PRWeb on Thursday, 19 May, 2011
 
Urban Green Energy, unveils its Boardwalk street light, a sustainable outdoor lighting solution that operates entirely on wind and solar

Urban Green Energy (UGE), the leading manufacturer of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) and hybrid renewable energy solutions, announced today its newest product, The Boardwalk, a hybrid wind and solar streetlamp. The Boardwalk is the second addition to UGE’s line of hybrid wind and solar outdoor lighting, after the successful launch of its Sanya hybrid solar streetlamp in December. The Boardwalk gives customers an elegant and completely off-grid lighting solution that is perfect for parks, pathways, and quaint passageways.

As Urban Green Energy’s sustainable solution to elegant outdoor lighting, the newly introduced Boardwalk operates completely on wind and solar energy, just like its predecessor Sanya. Equipped with a 60 watt LED light that is powered by a 600 watt eddy VAWT and a 150 watt solar panel, The Boardwalk’s distinguishing feature is its old-fashioned and traditional design, reminiscent of the gas streetlights prevalent at the turn of the last century.

Characteristic of the entire …


Earth Day 2010: 40 Years and Going Strong

Published by EHS Today on Friday, 22 April, 2011 by Laura Walter
 
On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, organizations and communities across the nation will come together to celebrate, honor and protect the earth while promoting sustainability and environmental awareness.

“Forty years ago, Americans across the nation took up a call for cleaner air, safer water and unpolluted land,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in an Earth Day message. “They saw that to keep our families healthy, to build clean communities and to make America stronger for the future, we needed to protect and preserve our environment.”

EPA will hold free Earth Day events on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., April 24 and 25, where Jackson and senior EPA officials will be in attendance. Exhibits will include an environmental crime scene forensics demonstration; cutting-edge automotive technology; climate change habitat loss exhibits; environmental videos; an interactive environmental hazards booth for kids; backyard composting demonstrations; a Chesapeake Bay water model; and more.

“As we look to the past, we are also focused on …


Feeling Skeptical about “Green” Products?

To find the line between greenwashing and environmental victory, Wake Forest University Sustainability Director Dedee DeLongpré Johnston advised, “If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is.”

That means even products touted as organic or eco-smart might not be as Earth-friendly as they seem. Before purchasing that product, consider the following:

Where was the product made, with what materials, and under what conditions?
How much water and …


Branson Targets ‘Dirty’ Cargo Vessels

Published by Fox News Latino on Monday, 06 December, 2010 by Tom Parmenter
 
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has declared war on the shipping industry with a new climate change initiative.


Yes, yes, I know; It was published 5 months ago but I think it is interesting to know and because it is the first time I heard about such initiative I decided to have it here. Yes, I should know it earlier but … I didn’t, my fault and is too late to moan. I can’t change this 🙂 Give it a go anyway, for knowledge is never too late.


The Carbon War Room, an independent venture, wants to see an efficiency rating on every ocean going vessel to help clean up the industry.


It is the first of many industries being targeted by the group which believes climate change can be solved through business rather than government summits.

Ministers from 190 countries are into their second week of negotiations in Cancun, Mexico with no sign of a global deal.

Sir Richard told Sky News: “It is up to us business leaders to help those politicians deliver, they haven’t delivered so far, if they don’t deliver we can’t afford to wait.

“It is up to us to get our house in order …


Mexican Scientists Developing Eco-friendly Cement

Published by Fox News Latino on 4th March, 2011 by Peter Fairley
 
Scientists at Mexico’s Research and Advanced Studies Center, or Cinvestav, are developing a new type of cement that they say will reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent while lowering the amount of energy consumed in the production process by as much as 50 percent.

 

“Cement is the second most consumed product in the world after water, due to population growth that in many cities requires the development of infrastructure, buildings and homes,” Cinvestav, which depends on the National Polytechnic Institute, said Thursday in a statement.

Yet the intensive use of cement “is …


Climate Change and Your Food: What you don’t know will…

Is it how most of us are thinking?

It was amusing but at the same time disturbing reading the below article, so I couldn’t resist to comment. It put me in such writing mood that comment became an article in its own right, so I decided to publish it on my blog.
Please, read the article and if you find it interesting come back to read my reply.

 
Article published by The Technocon on 4 February 2011 by Reverend De Lorie
 
Too many people deny that climate change is a problem and from a base point of view you could argue that things happen in nature. Ordinarily that would be fine if climate change was a philosophical discussion as in “Is man ethical?”. Whether or not climate change is naturally occurring or the product of man’s apathy, the effects it is having on our planet is upsetting the balance. It could be possible that no matter what we do now, it is already too late. The first domino has begun to fall and the inertia is too great to stop. We have been talking a lot about green and conservation and how to live a greener lifestyle but the future is going to demand more than that from your family. If you are to survive, you will have to adapt to the changes in our environment.

 

Here is the thing. If you could see a train heading straight towards you. Would you move or wait until the train smashes you into bits? If you know climate change is having an adverse effect on our way of life and you are not taking precautions. Is it not the same thing as standing on the tracks waiting for the train to crush you?

As the threat becomes more apparent …


Bamboo is a bust as a green product

Bamboo IS natural material, different issue is how was it grown?

When nobody knows what is going on, it is in most cases about money. It could be political agenda too. Either way, I have a feeling that there is someone behind this issue.
Claiming that production is not entirely pesticides free sounds like a joke in light of mega-tones of pesticides and herbicides being used by farming industry to produce “healthy and organic” food.
Any way, read the article and have your own opinion.

 
Article published by Star Tribune on 17 February 2011 by JOHN EWOLDT
 
Five years later, the “it” eco-material is hard to find in stores. What changed?

When Matt Joyce of Woodbury tried to find a replacement set of his favorite bamboo/cotton sheets at Target recently, he left empty-handed. Target no longer carried them. Neither did Kohl’s, Macy’s, Wal-Mart or Lands’ End stores.

“I thought bamboo was supposed to be so versatile,” he said. “What happened?”

Once described as the perfect raw material, bamboo has many desirable properties. It’s strong and versatile. It also grows much faster than trees, requires little water and fertilizer, and doesn’t require replanting after harvesting.

By 2006, consumers …


Flat pack homes are the future

Is the recycled plastic good material for eco-house?

For me, it is not the first or even the third choice of material to build a house from. My preference takes also recycled but natural one such as wood. It can be reused in many ways.
The problem with plastics is that they are … plastics, artificially crafted non-breathable products; in many cases containing unhealthy ingredients. Of course, house can be eco-friendly designed and all that make it as such could be implemented, however. How eco-friendly is plastic on its own? It is recycling, yes but is it using plastic as building material the best way of utilizing it? Not for me, but you may have different point of view.

 
Article published by Waste Management World on 28 January 2011
 
Flat pack homes which cost as little as £20,000 and properties made out of recycled plastic hold the key to solving the UK’s housing shortage, a report says.

 

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said traditional building methods must make way for more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly designs in order to tackle the current housing crisis.

It called on the house building industry to make use of off-site construction methods, recycled materials and innovative structural designs to enable homes to be put up quickly and cheaply.

The group said that modular homes …


Three reasons wind power could wane

Published by IEEE Spectrum on January 2011 by Peter Fairley
 

Wind turbines wring energy
out of a free-flowing fuel ­supply that may be losing some of its punch. Surface winds appear to be weakening across the Northern Hemisphere, including in the United States, Western Europe, and China—the world’s top three markets for wind power. And climate change threatens to weaken them further during this century as faster warming over northern ­latitudes trims the temperature gradients that energize airflows.

 

China could be the hardest hit, according to modeling by University of Texas–Austin research scientist Diandong Ren in the November issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. He projects a 4 to 12 percent decrease in wind speeds in China for the last three decades of the 21st century (compared to the corresponding decades of the 20th). Since the energy in wind increases with the cube of the wind speed, Ren estimates that the slower winds would trim power from Chinese turbines by at least 14 percent.

There is now little doubt …


Geothermal system heats and cools shopping centre

Published by The Engineer
on Thursday, 20 January 2010
UK property developer Land Securities has revealed that its new shopping and leisure centre in the City of London is being heated and cooled by a novel geothermal system.

Underneath the financial district’s so-called One New Change shopping centre, 60km of pipework — enough to wrap around the London Eye 140 times — will warm and cool the building by transferring heat to and from the ground itself and two water wells 150m below the surface.

Coventry-based …