Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

Where do millions of computer monitors, cell phones and other e-waste end up? Some of it is shipped illegally from the U.S. to China, Scott Pelley reports, where it is harming the environment and the people who salvage its valuable components.

read more about it here

Umbrella stand will water your plants

from Make: technology on your time

This umbrella stand by Beligan designer Vandenhecke Mélanie would be a pretty easy weekend project. Simply attach half of a metal frame to the bottom of a planter. When you come in from the rain, deposit your umbrella on the stand and its drips will water your plants.

via Design Spotter

project niu

Project Niu is a K-12 science curriculum that provides students and teachers with hands-on, project-based experiences with the technologies used in remotely monitoring the ocean. Through deploying and tracking a high tech "message in a bottle" as it drifts out to sea, students develop an understanding of mankind's impact on the watershed while forming personal connections to the environment. The Project Niu team includes engineers and scientists at Archinoetics, LLC and is sponsored by NOAA's B-WET Hawaii Program.

see http://www.projectniu.org/home/ for more information

University of Hawaii tries out environment-friendly concrete

"Pervious concrete is designed to let water seep through to the underlying ground, and can reduce storm-water runoff and recharge groundwater supplies. While the product has existed for decades, it is relatively new in Hawai'i.

The pervious concrete is a mix of 3/8-inch rock with cement and water; no sand is used.

"A full 5-gallon bucket (of water) will disappear within seconds," when poured onto the pervious concrete, Baginski said. "It runs through it like there's almost nothing in its path.""

ilovemountains.org

What is Mountaintop Removal?

Mountaintop removal is a relatively new type of coal mining that began in Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of conventional strip mining techniques. Primarily, mountaintop removal is occurring in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Coal companies in Appalachia are increasingly using this method because it allows for almost complete recovery of coal seams while reducing the number of workers required to a fraction of what conventional methods require.

The US Environmental Protection Agency defines mountaintop removal as follows:

“Mountaintop removal/valley fill is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal. Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal. The earth from the mountaintop is then dumped in the neighboring valleys.”

What are the effects of mountaintop removal on families and communities?

Even government agencies that regulate mountaintop removal agree that the effects on nearby homes and communities can be devastating. In their Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment, the Environmental Protection Agency states:

“The impact of mountaintop removal on nearby communities is devastating. Dynamite blasts needed to splinter rock strata are so strong they crack the foundations and walls of houses. Mining dries up an average of 100 wells a year and contaminates water in others. In many coalfield communities, the purity and availability of drinking water are keen concerns.”

read more about http://www.ilovemountains.org/. and watch the video

Plane House

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=8544869


That is awesome! I wonder what else you could use to build a cool house!

hawaii is the leader in solar

Hawai'i has become the first state in the country to require the installation of solar water heaters on new single-family homes.

Gov. Linda Lingle today signed into law a bill requiring home builders to include solar water heaters in new single-family dwellings beginning in 2010.

honolulu advertiser

this is pretty awesome. it seems like something we definitely need to do. and i'm glad that i learned about this goal.

it is critical that we continue to develop innovative energy solutions that capitalize on our natural renewable resource advantages in order to achieve our goal of having 70 percent clean energy in Hawai'i by 2030.

i wonder how much software can do towards that innovative energy solutions.

0.04 percent of the water on Earth to cradle civilizations

"Even though I learned how little fresh water there is on Earth sometime in elementary school, graphics like the one on the right still amaze me. It shows the distribution of water from all sources on Earth. All those mighty rivers? They needed a mere 0.04 percent of the water on Earth to cradle civilizations.

The realization that fresh water is a finite resource has led some people to call it the "new oil". A few months ago, the New York Times Magazine ran an influential article about climate change's impact on the current water regime entitled, "The Future is Drying Up." In it, he argued that the West would basically have to decide between farms, cities, or drastic water usage changes."

from http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/awesome-infogra.html

from Power To The Pedal

The Bloom device is meant to be a subversive and inspirational tool for our concrete jungles. Similar to the tuft of a dandelion as the wind carries the seedling, we propose a way of dispersing seedlings with bubbles and bicycling. Seeds are co-mingled with a bubble mixture and upon pedaling to your destination , you release the floating seeds which land in cracks and crevices throughout the city streets. Over time, the seeds grow into flowers and plants to create a green "fringe" to our sidewalks and streets.

Using natural ingredients; vegetable based soap and seeds, combine together to make a dissolving "nugget". The resulting mixture resides in a reservoir inside Blooms aluminum housing. The housing is attached to the lower frame near the rear tire, similar to a exhaust pipe. Upon pedalling, air enters the front of Bloom and spins a pinwheel inside which picks up a small drop of the seed/bubble mixture and blows a bubble carrying a seed out the back as "exhaust".

Our inspiration comes from the tale of Johnny Appleseed, where he would spread seeds everywhere he went planting apple trees for future generations.

Former Vice President Al Gore in an interview on NPR’s May 6 “Fresh Air” broadcast tries to tie the recent Myanmar cyclone to global warming.

“And as we’re talking today, Terry, the death count in Myanmar from the cyclone that hit there yesterday has been rising from 15,000 to way on up there to much higher numbers now being speculated,” Gore said. “And last year a catastrophic storm from last fall hit Bangladesh. The year before, the strongest cyclone in more than 50 years hit China – and we’re seeing consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with continued global warming.”

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2008/060508_b_Cyclone.htm

even the oceans might die

I just read this interesting article, Climate Change Chokes Oceans. here are some excerpts:

Rising temperatures have caused oxygen-starved swaths of ocean to expand over the last half-century -- a disturbing trend that, if it continues, could wreak havoc on global fisheries.

As water warms, it holds less oxygen.

"The surface warmer getting warmer means it's harder for oxygen to mix down, to the deeper parts, and that's the dominant effect," said study co-author and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher Greg Johnson.

"Well, there won't be an eruption in the ocean that's going to kill everyone," he said. "But if this phenomenon would spread everywhere, then the whole ocean would die. At the current rate of expansion, that's not something that would happen in 100 or 200 years -- it would be a long process."

umm.. that sounds pretty junk.

Googlers Share Earth Day Pledges on Global Mashup Map

via Googlers Share Earth Day Pledges on Global Mashup Map

What are you doing this Tuesday for Earth Day?

If you're still looking for ideas to combat climate change or are hoping to inspire others, share ideas with Googlers around the world with an Earth Day-specific mashup map.

The nifty map shows more than 1,800 ideas to better the environment, submitted from users around the globe, from Washington, D.C. to Iceland. Earth Day pledges range from the impressively ambitious "My family and I are going to spend the day helping to clean up our neighborhood in Brooklyn and participate in activities in Prospect Park ... also we are unplugging everything, even cable TV" to the simple, yet effective "Eat less meat." Earth Day revelers can also submit YouTube videos of their Earth Day proclamations.

Google has also included a handy list of ways to go green with Google, including donating to environmental non-profits using Google Checkout, planning a car-free commute and using the Energy Saver gadget for Google Desktop.

black out for earth hour

during our family dinner on march 28, 2008 we observed a black out for earth hour. it was right in the middle of dinner (about 20 something people), and no one really complained that much. but, as we looked out of our window we saw that a lot of neighbors didn't join in on the event.

i was surfing around and found the official site: earth hour, maybe we should start telling people already. haha. take a look at the news section there are a lot of interesting posts. also read earth hour every day

Plastisol Ink Bad for Environment

"Plastisol ink is a liquefied (PVC) polyvinyl chloride. PVC is by far the most environmentally damaging plastic.The plasticizers used in plastisol ink to make the PVC flexible are carcinogenic and harmful to the environment, particularly when they evaporate or leach into food. They are released into the environment during the printing and curing of the plastisol ink and they will continue to exhaust toxins when exposed to a radiant heat source such as a house hold dryer or even sunlight." -more...

-Shirt Magic



Water-based ink is better for the environment and also has a better aesthetic appeal, unless you enjoy that sticky artificial, restricting, cracking plastisol ink that heavily coats your t-shirt. -more

-inhabitat

This is our new environmental blog

This is the start of our blog...