tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100103722024-03-07T00:56:32.649-08:00The Green Coalition BlogGreen News, Views, Environmental and Social Commentary from Green Coalition. <br>This new blog is a work in progress so pitch in if you can help!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-36677677240676381552014-04-22T00:14:00.000-07:002014-04-22T00:14:13.303-07:00Earth Day 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Get involved with Earth Day!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Every year on April 22, over a billion people in 190 countries take action for Earth Day. From San Francisco to San Juan, Beijing to Brussels, Moscow to Marrakesh, people plant trees, clean up their communities, contact their elected officials, and more—all on behalf of the environment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Like Earth Days of the past, Earth Day 2014 will focus on the unique environmental challenges of our time. As the world’s population migrates to cities, and as the bleak reality of climate change becomes increasingly clear, the need to create sustainable communities is more important than ever. Earth Day 2014 will seek to do just that through its global theme: <b>Green Cities</b>. With smart investments in sustainable technology, forward-thinking public policy, and an educated and active public, we can transform our cities and forge a sustainable future. Nothing is more powerful than the collective action of a billion people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As the global organizer behind Earth Day, <b>Earth Day Network</b> creates tools and resources for you to get involved with Earth Day in your community. Here’s how you can <a href="http://www.earthday.org/greencities/earth-day-2014/" target="_blank">participate</a>:</span></div>
Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-18437034273998516312014-01-03T03:59:00.000-08:002014-02-05T04:10:56.956-08:00Renewable Energy Supplies 23% Global Electricity Generation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>In 2012, Germany led the world in cumulative solar photovoltaic installed capacity, reports the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). The United States leads the world in geothermal and biomass installed capacity. China leads in wind, and Spain leads in solar thermal electric generation (STEG).</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Sustainable Energy Accounts For 23% of All Electricity Generation Worldwide (4,892 Twh)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is more information from the NREL report: 2012 Renewable Energy Data Book. Here we see which countries have the most sustainable energy sources and what the clean energy sources are for each of these nations. If you want more information click HERE to see the report and go to pages 40 – 50. By Amber Archangel. The following is from the NREL 2012 Renewable Energy Data Book:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Does One Country Lead The World With Renewable Energy?</b></span></h2>
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<li><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Cumulative global renewable electricity installed capacity has grown by 97% from 2000 to 2012 (from 748 GW to 1,470 GW).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Countries with extensive solar policies—such as Germany, Spain, and Italy— lead the world in solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Renewable Electricity by Technology for the World’s Top Countries</span></h2>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wind and solar energy are the fastest growing renewable electricity technologies worldwide. Wind generation grew by a factor of nearly 16 and solar generation grew by a factor of 49 between 2000 and 2012.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Although global cumulative installed offshore wind capacity surpassed 5 GW in 2012, no commercial offshore wind turbines have been commissioned in the United States thus far.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Total Global Renewable Electricity Capacity</span></b></h2>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The installed global renewable electricity* capacity doubled between 2000 and 2012, and represents a significant and growing portion of the total energy supply both globally and in the United States.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The World’s Sustainable Energy Resources</span></b></h2>
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<i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Photo credit - </i><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: proxima-nova, Proxima Nova, Helvetica Neue, HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">NREL</span></span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Content Courtesy - </i></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><a href="http://1sun4all.com/" target="_blank">1sun4all</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In recent years, large-scale natural disasters have frequently occurred in various parts of the world, and the associated losses have increased. As a result, there have been growing concerns over the protective measures needed, particularly with respect to energy and infrastructure systems within cities that are also experiencing mounting risks and exposure levels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In order to avoid risks and damage, and to strengthen resilience to natural disasters, national and local governments need to be prepared. At the local level, authorities must take action to construct policy packages that include locally based risk prevention facilities as well as risk finance and risk transfer systems.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A proposal for the establishment of a risk management facility has been submitted by the Parties and other organizations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The proposal by the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative consists of a three-tier risk management module for the international level, an international risk pooling mechanism for developing countries, an insurance assistance facility to cover medium-level risks, and a prevention pillar to achieve risk reduction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to governments and private enterprises that offer financial support and the provision of necessary goods and services to cover losses post-disaster, risk financing and risk transfer tools such as insurance, reinsurance, and catastrophe-linked securities are key. Such tools help to reduce the negative economic impacts of extreme risks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This article discusses the risks associated with natural disasters, with particular focus on the vulnerability of energy systems. It examines the opportunities for local/community-based infrastructure to prevent risks through installing locally based energy systems, financing mechanisms to prevent risks and risk transfer systems as well as the associated challenges that exist with respect to their establishment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Natural disasters and risks</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As Aekapol Chongvilaivan noted in his 2012 paper, natural disasters, such as the 2011 floods in Thailand, have had huge impacts on urban systems and their associated infrastructure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The nuclear power plant accident at Fukushima in Japan on 11 March 2011, a result of an earthquake and tsunami, highlighted the constraints of the existing energy system in Japan as well as its vulnerability to extreme events. Japan’s energy system is very centralized and dominated by ten regional electrical companies — according to data from Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, about 90 percent of the country’s power generation. For example, electricity in the megacities of Tokyo and Yokohama is provided by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which depended on nuclear power plants for 29.7 percent of its total generated electricity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The 2011 catastrophe increased public awareness on energy security, making it apparent that a review of energy security was necessary for the country, and that both a nationwide recovery plan and city-level recovery plans were needed. This has also emphasized the need for an innovative and resilient energy system with a diversified and decentralized energy supply and management system, including the development of more flexible, locally based energy supply and risk prevention facilities to quickly respond to risks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Locally based development for enhancing resilience</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">More than a decade has passed since the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted (in 1997), which commits its Parties to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thereby setting mitigation targets and related climate change policy at the national level. This has also prompted individual cities to do the same, oftentimes more successfully.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>For example</b>, many local programmes and initiatives have been established in various countries, e.g., the Future City initiatives in Japan, Tianjin Eco-City in China, Thailand’s Low Carbon City pilot project and the Low Carbon Society project in Iskandar, Malaysia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Japan’s case, these city-based developments were launched as part of the National Strategic Projects in its “New Growth Strategy”, published in June 2010. The New Growth Strategy policies (blueprint for revitalizing Japan) were set up as a result of a Cabinet decision in 2010. One of the components is “Revitalizing rural cities and towns by utilizing regional resources; revitalizing big cities to serve as engines of growth”. The targets to achieve by 2020 are to utilize regional resources to the greatest possible extent and to increase regional power, as well as to make strategic, prioritized investments in airports, ports, roads and other infrastructure in major urban areas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In consideration of natural disasters, which are expected to become more frequent and severe as a result of climate change, governments must be proactive and take a preventative approach to constructing resilient infrastructure and management systems within the city or community in cooperation with private and local non-profit organizations. Assessment of the damages of disaster risks and the costs associated with natural disasters ex-ante is also important. Therefore, for fully effective risk management and implementation, locally based facilities in line with an international risk management facility are needed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After the recent sequence of natural disasters in Asia — including the flooding in Thailand, earthquake in Indonesia, and earthquake and tsunami in Japan — and their severe impacts on society, city-based risk management has become a major focus, particularly in Japan, and has been added in the components of local development strategies for enhancing resilience at this level.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Japan, an “autonomous decentralized regional development model project utilizing regional renewable energy” was initiated in 2011. The project was implemented with additional funding of 1.0 billion yen in 2012. The budget was increased to 1.6 billion yen in 2013 under the programme of sustainable regional development (about 33 billion yen is planned to be distributed in 2013), according to the Ministry of the Environment budget request in 2013. The private sector has been a key actor in the implementation and has also included other players such as research institutions and local governments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Community-based management systems and investment</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In order for a decentralized, locally based energy system to exist, funding is required for the installation and operation of new facilities, such as solar power generation stations. In Japan, increasing attention has been paid to the establishment of such financial mechanisms as the result of raised public awareness on sustainable energy and security. Available funds have been identified through government subsidies, but cannot be fully relied upon, making it important to seek out other sources.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Various local funds have been established through investments from the private sector and also from voluntary citizen donations. Financial instruments have included the issuance of certificates, promissory notes, and small-issue bonds through financial institutions. For example, a micro-credit fund is an investment fund designed to finance microfinance institutions (MFIs), which provide financial services such as small loans to small enterprises. MFIs deliver microcredit through local banking, solidarity groups and individual loans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the case of Japan, for instance, after the Fukushima accident, the online retail investment fund management company (Music Securities Inc, Tokyo) set up new micro-credit funds to raise capital for small enterprises in the Tohoku region, which has been hugely affected by the accident. However, these instruments and methods vary and are dependent on the specific structures of funding within cities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A challenge for local low-carbon energy investment availability and feasibility is the high degree of uncertainty and risks inherent in renewable energy technologies. Uncertainty is high due to the lack of experience and history in the case of green energy and community-based projects, and the lack of understanding on the associated social and environmental impacts as well as potential economic benefits. Therefore, local government and investors who provide subsidies or invest in these efforts must utilize proper analytical tools to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the local energy project including any economic, social and environmental impacts of its implementation prior to any decision-making.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Risk prevention and transfer</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to the establishment of locally based energy systems, risk prevention or risk transfer systems mitigating the financial impacts of natural disasters must also be established at the local level. Agendas for the formulation of systems to reduce disaster risk and establishment of funding mechanisms, such as risk financing, have been attracting attention. Risk financing can be used to quickly secure funds before and after disasters, and also investigates countermeasures against natural disasters, including methods such as insurance and climate change adaptation measures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Economic loss attributed to extreme weather events around the world increases demand for the development of risk management and risk transfer schemes. Many nations, including both developed and also developing countries, have established such insurance schemes that improve adaptation capacity to disaster events.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One strategy to support the economic recovery immediately after a disaster includes a weather insurance index. This allows for the benefit of quick payment to aid in recovery post-natural disaster due to the parameters of the index (e.g., the wind speed of a hurricane or the degree of ground acceleration caused by an earthquake) rather than the actual damages that typically determine the conditions of payment. Use of these parameters aids in the liquidity of funding and helps insurees with more immediate recovery, as payments are paid as quickly as possible after the occurrence of disaster.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Development challenges</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When introducing such a risk transfer mechanism, challenges are prone to exist in the development, dissemination and design of the risk transfer scheme. Uncertainty is high when disasters occur in places that, in particular, lack appropriate infrastructure for pre-disaster management, lack data related to weather, or have unreliable data with respect to quality. Other challenges include residual risk (e.g., the exposure to loss remaining after other known risks have been countered, factored in, or eliminated), the uncertainty of unexpected events due to the inability to quantify events of rare occurrence, the inaccuracy/unavailability of climate data, or poorly designed risk-mitigation mechanisms and management systems.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These are all of particular concern within developing countries where high residual risk results in high insurance premium costs that small enterprises and citizens in developing countries cannot afford. Therefore, for minimizing the residual and baseline risk, governmental support to cover expected losses and risk premiums, as well as to formulate reliable risk management mechanisms from accurate data (including compiled historical data and capacity development) is necessary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, the challenges to the development of disaster risk insurance are profound in cities of developing countries that are disproportionately impacted by natural disasters such as typhoons, floods and drought — usually exacerbated by high population density and inadequate infrastructure. These challenges usually stem from the weaknesses that exist in observation systems including quality of data, availability of data, weather observation stations, the automation of the weather observation system to record and compile the data at the local/regional level (not only at the national level), and ageing facilities and equipment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Therefore, for the improvement of risk prevention mitigation, first, the improvement of quality data and facilities to more accurately forecast and estimate risks is needed. The expansion, modernization and strengthening of a meteorological observation network is also necessary. Improvements in data processing are essential for the development of basic meteorological data for building a risk financing system, regardless of the field and approach of risk insurance or risk transfer mechanisms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A policy package to prevent natural disaster risks at the local level — including low-carbon infrastructure, risk assessment for investment and risk transfer systems — are needed. Future disaster preparedness requires the establishment of risk financing systems. It is necessary to have not only locally based infrastructure systems such as community-based energy management and supply systems and financing mechanisms, but also risk transfer mechanisms including risk insurance for natural disasters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to the establishment of these systems at the local level, a basic infrastructure of data for risk assessment and estimates is required, and also a strengthening of regional or informational cooperation between cities or countries across both the developed and developing world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, it is imperative, as in the case of Japan, to develop and build a collaborative environment for public institutions and private companies for the success of these locally based initiatives.</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Photo credit - </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Mark Garten</span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> Content Courtesy - <a href="http://unu.edu/" target="_blank">Unu</a></span></i></div>
Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-91067068068010671982013-12-09T03:00:00.000-08:002014-02-05T03:04:18.442-08:00Earth’s OCS Cradles Huge Freshwater Reserves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>The latest issue of Nature promises temporary relief to a planet </i><i>where fresh water is quickly becoming scarcer and scarcer</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghpyxqG00f0dll7xfUh4KZzr1kkKic2zvCIuM8yeaQugZBZkmiK8DLdn5Rohey7f-F4L8lp9wKK8LbHKGCB0GgGsyQR3ELpwemSl5LWLHYgGSFyx6yv6AyRRZWyupKHNgDnoTUpw/s1600/OCS-groundwater-illus-600x450.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghpyxqG00f0dll7xfUh4KZzr1kkKic2zvCIuM8yeaQugZBZkmiK8DLdn5Rohey7f-F4L8lp9wKK8LbHKGCB0GgGsyQR3ELpwemSl5LWLHYgGSFyx6yv6AyRRZWyupKHNgDnoTUpw/s1600/OCS-groundwater-illus-600x450.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Vincent E.A. Post of Flinders University in Adelaide and his coauthors Jacobus Groen, Henk Kooi, Mark Person, Shemin Ge, and W. Mike Edmunds report the surprising news that outer continental shelves worldwide contain huge freshwater and low-salinity aquifers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. Post et al. came to the conclusion that separately observed subsea freshwater deposits were not anomalous by reviewing an extensive collection of seafloor studies done for both science and oil and gas exploration. The study evinces vast meteoric groundwater reserves below earth’s oceans. Notable locations to date mainly lie off Australia, China, North America, and South Africa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From hydrologic models, we know something about subsea groundwater accumulated and discharged through the nearshore seabed. However, its occurrence below the continental shelves has received little notice until now. The authors illustrate geology, key groundwater flow, and dissolved salt transport processes in cross-sections below the continental shelf during glacial and interglacial times. They also present a global overview of inferred key metrics for seven well-characterized vast meteoric groundwater reserves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The useful contents of these subsea water basins range from fresh to a third saline, the upper limit of brackish. As technology has improved and reverse osmosis and desalination costs have dropped, partly saline water has become more attractive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Short-term implications for a <b>freshwater-starved planet</b> may be enormous. Our coasts harbor 80% of the world’s population. New subsea sources, albeit nonrenewable, could offset water shortages in coastal cities and even relieve droughts. They could also be put to work mitigating anthropogenic land subsidence and seawater intrusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lead author Post and his colleagues estimate that <b>“the volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we’ve extracted from the Earth’s subsurface… since 1900.”</b> They peg the total as around 120,000 cubic miles (half a million cubic km) of freshwater. Its main origin: rainwater filtered through the ground surface into water tables that have submerged with sea level rise over the past 200 centuries. Its main origin: rainwater filtered through the ground surface into water tables that have submerged with sea level rise over the past 200 centuries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Layers of sediment and clay contain the undersea aquifers, which greatly resemble bore basins beneath the land. The authors believe they can be accessed by either conventional offshore platforms or by horizontal drilling from islands or the shore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Post et al. envision these freshwater supplies sustaining coastal areas for decades. By 2030, almost half the world population will be water-stressed according to UN Water, so the discovery could not come at a more opportune time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Australian-led international research team has added greatly to our store of knowledge and opportunities to alleviate climate change in the short run. Their work has mapped global topography and bathymetry to show all known occurrences of fresh and brackish offshore groundwater. It also indicates useful foci for further hydrologic work. The authors take the implications even farther than water study to advancement of sediment knowledge and marine geochemistry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="text-align: center;">Photo credit - </i><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #383838;"><span style="line-height: 27.360000610351563px;">freeaussiestock</span></span> Content Courtesy -<a href="http://planetsave.com/" target="_blank">Planetsave</a></span></i><em style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27.360000610351563px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"></em></span></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-21203904412651741742013-11-24T04:22:00.000-08:002014-02-05T04:27:18.018-08:00Carbon in atmosphere 'could warm planet for centuries'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Global warming could continue for centuries even if carbon emissions were stopped overnight.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="text-align: left;"> </i><i style="text-align: left;"> A diesel particulate filter captures small soot particles,</i><i style="text-align: left;">preventing</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> them from being expelled into the atmosphere</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Carbon dioxide which is already in our atmosphere could continue warming the planet for centuries even if new emissions were entirely halted, scientists claim.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A new analysis of future carbon emission scenarios found that it may take significantly fewer emissions for global temperatures to reach unsafe levels than previously thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, has long-term effects because it can remain in the atmosphere for centuries after it is emitted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To understand how long its influence on global temperatures will last, scientists produced a computer model of a scenario where all carbon emissions were immediately stopped after 1,800 billion tonnes had been released into the atmosphere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They found that 40 per cent of the carbon would be absorbed by the oceans or landmasses within 20 years of emissions ceasing, 60 per cent within 100 years and 80 per cent within 1,000 years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The decreasing levels of carbon in the atmosphere should in theory have a cooling effect, but this would be outweighed by the fact the oceans will absorb less and less heat as time goes on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Previous studies had suggested that global temperatures would remain steady or decline if emissions were suddenly stopped, but did not account for the declining capacity of the oceans to continue absorbing heat, the scientists claimed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Eventually the warming effect of heat which is no longer being absorbed by the oceans and is lingering in the atmosphere will outweigh the cooling caused by declining CO2 levels, they said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Results published in the Nature Climate Change journal suggest that after an initial century of cooling following the stoppage of emissions, the planet would then warm by 0.37C over a 400 year period.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Although the change sounds small, it is almost half the total amount of warming seen since the start of the industrial era which stands at 0.85C.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase of 2C or more above pre-industrial levels could result in dangerous effects on the climate system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Experts have previously warned that to keep global temperature rises below 2C, humans must keep the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the industrial era below 1,000 billion tonnes, about half of which has already been released.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But the new study suggests the 2C benchmark could be reached with significantly lower carbon emissions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr Thomas Frölicher of Princeton University, who led the study, said: "If our results are correct, the total carbon emissions required to stay below two degrees of warming would have to be three-quarters of previous estimates, only 750 billion tons instead of 1,000 billion tons of carbon.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Thus, limiting the warming to two degrees would require keeping future cumulative carbon emissions below 250 billion tons, only half of the already emitted amount of 500 billion tons."</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="text-align: center;">Photo credit - </i><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Nick Collins</span><i> Content Courtesy - <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/" target="_blank">T</a></i></span></span><i><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/" target="_blank">elegraph</a></i></span></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-27065260780870704512013-11-04T02:37:00.000-08:002014-02-05T02:39:58.285-08:00Pumpkin Power: Pumpkins Can Make Renewable Electricity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">According to the Department of Energy: It might not be long until the 1.4 billion pounds of pumpkins we produce annually are nearly as important to our energy security as they are to Halloween! Thanks to the pioneering work of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), discarded pumpkins and other food waste are used as a source of renewable electricity. I was searching through the archives at Energy.Gov and found the following totally cool story. By <b>Amber Archangel</b></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pumpkin Power: Turning Food Waste into Energy</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqwU4FYX5fohF3ag5Mgby3Iqya7Ht3W_EFxItUL5N1NTiYW-Lssb2eK1UI02E-NtE-CCJj0EaTAwj30_yfrvgrvh3InEkqQF7Ww3y6Iw2396cLC7BF_zmT8Slwve1dJ1Pu4EgZw/s1600/Pumpkin-Waste-Helps-Create-Energy-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqwU4FYX5fohF3ag5Mgby3Iqya7Ht3W_EFxItUL5N1NTiYW-Lssb2eK1UI02E-NtE-CCJj0EaTAwj30_yfrvgrvh3InEkqQF7Ww3y6Iw2396cLC7BF_zmT8Slwve1dJ1Pu4EgZw/s1600/Pumpkin-Waste-Helps-Create-Energy-infographic.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It might not be long until the 1.4 billion pounds of pumpkins we produce annually are nearly as important to our energy security as they are to Halloween!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The story is a little different in Oakland, California. Thanks to the pioneering work of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), discarded pumpkins and other food waste are used as a source of renewable electricity.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What Does This Project Do?</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Oakland’s EBMUD collect food waste and uses microbes to convert it into methane gas that is burned to generate electricity.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Energy Department is helping to fund the development of integrated biorefineries, industrial centers dedicated to converting plant material into biofuels and other products.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With the passing of Halloween, millions of pounds of pumpkins have turned from seasonal decorations to trash destined for compost heaps or landfills.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How is that possible? First, waste haulers gather post-consumer food waste and deliver it to EBMUD’s anaerobic digesters. Inside these giant tanks, bacteria break down the food waste and release methane gas as a byproduct. EBMUD captures this gas and uses it to generate electricity in onsite generators. A ton of food waste provides about 367 m3 of gas, and digesting 100 tons of food wastes five days a week can generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes. Once the food waste has been digested, the remaining solids make an excellent natural fertilizer, so they can be used to get next year’s pumpkin crop started.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Discarded pumpkins and other organic waste material can be used for more than just electricity.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Energy Department is working together with industry to develop and test integrated biorefineries, industrial centers capable of efficiently converting plant material into affordable biofuels, biopower, and other products. These projects are located around the country and use a variety of materials as feedstocks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Two of them, Enerkem in Mississippi and INEOS Bio in Florida, use municipal solid waste as a feedstock, like EBMUD, but use a process called gasification to produce ethanol and electricity. In 2012, INEOS Bio is planning to open the Indian River County Bioenergy Center, which will produce 8,000,000 gallons of ethanol, enough to fill about 232 of the largest railroad tank cars, and 6 megawatts of electricity a year from 300 dry tons of biomass a day, including yard waste and food scraps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Mississippi, Enerkem is planning a biorefinery on a regional landfill. They plan to convert 300 tons of solid waste a day into ethanol, amounting to 10,000,000 gallons (290 tank cars) of ethanol per year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Energy Department’s partnership with these companies is helping to remove barriers to commercialization of fuel and power production from municipal solid waste, including yard and food wastes, and so it might not be long until the 1.4 billion pounds of pumpkins we produce annually are nearly as important to our energy security as they are to Halloween!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="text-align: center;">Photo credit - </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27.360000610351563px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #383838;"><i>Matthew Loveless</i></span></span><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> Content Courtesy - </span></i><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27.360000610351563px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://energy.gov/articles/pumpkin-power-turning-food-waste-energy" style="border: 0px; color: #0947b3; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Energy.Gov</a></em></span></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-63562679973809249422013-10-30T02:56:00.000-07:002014-02-05T03:06:18.346-08:00Halloween Tips to Keep Energy Spooks Away<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>This Halloween, keep ghosts and goblins at bay — while saving energy and money — with these home energy efficiency tricks</i></div>
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In searching through the dusty archives of the Department of Energy, I found this creepy Halloween infographic. (:D) According to the Department: No need to fill your house with garlic to keep vampires at bay. Fend off these ancient creatures while saving money on lighting costs with energy-efficient light bulbs. By Amber Archangel. The following ghoulish information is from Energy.Gov:<br />
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<b>Energy Efficiency Tricks to Stop Your Energy Bill from Haunting You This Halloween</b><br />
<b>What are the key facts?</b><br />
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<li>The typical American family spends at least $2,000 a year on their home energy bills.</li>
<li>Families can save up to 20-30 percent on their energy bills by making energy efficiency upgrades.</li>
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<b>It has long been said that on All Hallows’ Eve the boundary between the living world and dead thins, allowing spirits to run free.</b><br />
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Ghosts and goblins roam the earth, witches take to the sky on their broomsticks and vampires rise from the dead. Whether you believe in paranormal activity or not, this Halloween don’t let your energy bill give you a scare.<br />
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<b>Defend yourself from unwanted spirits and high energy bills by sealing air leaks around windows, doors and air ducts.</b><br />
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Before air sealing, conduct a visual inspection to detect leaks or hire a professional for a more thorough measurement of your home’s airflow. Check out more tips to stop cold air – and Halloween spooks — from invading your home.<br />
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<b>No need to fill your house with garlic to keep vampires at bay.</b><br />
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Fend off these ancient creatures while saving money on lighting costs with energy-efficient light bulbs. With traditional incandescent bulbs, about 90 percent of energy used is given off as heat. By replacing 15 inefficient incandescent bulbs with energy-saving lights, you can save about $50 per year — all while repelling vampires. Learn more about lighting choices that will save you money.<br />
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<b>There is nothing like the crackle of a fire on a cold fall day.</b><br />
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But what can provide extra warmth during cooler months can also leave you vulnerable to higher energy bills and Halloween witches flying in your house. Keep warm air in your house — and witches out — with proper chimney maintenance. When not in use, be sure to close your chimney flue or use an inflatable stopper to prevent air leaks and temporarily seal the chimney.<br />
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<b>Banish goblins and other creatures lurking in the shadows with outdoor solar lighting.</b><br />
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Easy to install, virtually maintenance free and with no added costs to your electric bill, outdoor solar lighting is popularly used in pathway lighting, wall-mounted lamps, freestanding lamp posts and security lights.<br />
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<b>According to folklore, water has magical qualities, providing protection from the undead-ghosts can’t cross running water and the slightest drop causes witches to melt.</b><br />
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If this is a belief you ascribe to, you can stop ghosts and witches in their tracks and achieve water savings of 25-60 percent by installing low-flow fixtures. Learn how to determine if you should replace your fixtures, and be sure your faucets are equipped with an aerator to help restrict the flow of water.<br />
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<b>Watch out for phantom loads haunting your energy bill this year.</b><br />
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Also called energy vampires, phantom loads refer to the energy that appliances draw when they are in standby mode, and they cost the average U.S. household $100 per year. Make phantom loads disappear by unplugging electronics and battery chargers when not in use, and be sure to explore other home electronic energy-saving tips.<br />
This Halloween, protect yourself from evil spirits waiting to torment you — and rising energy bills — with these energy efficiency tips. After all, saving energy and money is a treat you can enjoy all year long.<br />
Check out EnergySaver.gov for more tips on ways to save energy and money.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27.360000610351563px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Infographic by : <a href="http://energy.gov/contributors/sarah-gerrity" target="_blank">Sarah Gerrity</a></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Content Courtesy - </span><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u><a href="http://1sun4all.com/" target="_blank">1sun4all</a></u></i></span></div>
Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-26838526971269700252013-10-06T03:41:00.000-07:002014-02-03T03:48:38.653-08:00Save Energy & Save Money Using The Sun Intelligently<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the best ways to save money is also one of the greenest decisions we can make: that decision is the decision to save more energy. We waste a tremendous amount of energy in the US. Recent studies have found that we waste 61% to 84% of our energy in the US, and that we use 11 times more energy than the UK despite having only 5 times the population.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Energy is a huge portion of most people’s expenses. Cutting back just a bit on our energy usage could save money (tons of money) for all sorts of better things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, with all that on the table, what are the most effective ways to save money using the sun? I think all of the solar-related ways to save money (by saving energy) listed below are excellent solutions for the average American, but you can decide for yourself by evaluating the option as it applies to your own home or business.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ways To Save Money With Solar Energy</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course, as I’ve written several times here on Cost of Solar, putting solar PV panels on your roof is a pretty sure way to save tens of thousands of dollars (yep, tens of thousands). This should really be one of the first ways to save money that you should look into, especially considering that you can go solar for $0 or close to $0 down in many or most places (either through a solar leasing/PPA arrangement or through a $0 down solar loan from a bank).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But rooftop solar PV panels aren’t the only way to save energy using the sun. The below solar infographic from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) shows 7 more solar-related energy saving solutions. In case you prefer text format with a bit more commentary, here’s that first:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Use Solar Light Tubes For Daylighting</b>: Solar light tubes allow you to bring in a lot more light (cutting the need for artificial lighting, which sucks up electricity) without the installation of big windows (which leak heat in the winter and cool air from your electricity-needy air conditioner in the summer). RMI notes that the average financial payback on solar light tubes is 5 to 7 years. In itself, that’s awesome, but that doesn’t even account for the improved quality of life that comes with more daylight in your home or office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Use Skylights</b>: Skylights are very similar to solar light tubes, but as you can see in a basic way in the infographic, the design is a bit different. (RMI notes that the financial payback time is highly variable, so it doesn’t list a range).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Dry Your Clothes In The Sun:</b> Here’s an old-school money-saving solution that a lot of people are moving back to. Electric dryers are energy hogs. Why suck money out of your wallet using them when you can simply let the sun dry your clothes? I’ve been using this method for the past 5 years+, but wish I had started even sooner. (Note: I started using this method when I moved to Europe, where it’s commonplace. Even in a small apartment, like mine, it’s common to set up a drying rack when you’ve got wet clothes and either set it out on the balcony or next to the window.) Of course, if you decide to jump in on this energy- and money-saving solution, the financial savings are immediate. And if you want to see how much money you’re saving, you can try comparing your electric bill to your electric bills from previous months and from the same month in previous years. I think you’ll find this is one of the most effective ways to save money (a huge chunk of it) by using the energy of the sun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Use A Pool Cover/Blanket</b>: If you’ve got a swimming pool, this seems like an obvious one. Get a pool blanket/cover that uses the heat from the sun to warm your pool. The financial payback time is under 1 year according to RMI.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Buy Solar Hot Water Panels For Your Pool:</b> If you want a more high-tech and low-effort solution for heating your pool, solar hot water panels for the pool are a logical solution. Incentives for such solar panels are available in several states, and RMI projects that average financial payback time on such solar panel systems is 1.5 to 4 years. That’s an excellent payback time. And remember that you’re then saving money for decades to come (the same as making money, essentially, except you don’t have to pay taxes on financial savings!). Again, this is a “duh!” way to save money and energy that uses the tremendous energy resource of the sun rather than inefficient and harmful electricity generation from fossil fuels or heating from natural gas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Buy Solar Hot Water Panels For Your Home:</b> Naturally, if solar hot water panels (aka solar thermal panels) can heat your pool, they can also heat the water you use in your home. In some places I’ve visited (e.g., Malta and Crete, Greece), these solar hot water panels are on practically every roof. Again, in many states, you can get government incentives to help you purchase solar thermal panels. As the infographic below shows, solar thermal panels make a great supplement to solar PV panels. RMI notes that solar hot water panels cut 50–80% off of hot water bills, on average, and have a financial payback time of 6–10 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Use Solar Landscape And Patio Lighting</b>: I’m sure you’ve seen these in home & garden shops and on many people’s lawns. You probably even have some yourself. They are one of the most logical ways to save money and energy with little initial investment. Not only do they save you money and cut your energy-related emissions, but they are also easier to relocate as your lighting needs change. You can even move them to a new home if you make a move, which is quite common these days. RMI estimates an average financial payback time of 2 years for switching to solar landscape and patio lighting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here’s RMI’s full infographic, Going Solar: Options For Homeowners, which also extends a bit beyond using solar energy into actually blocking solar energy in order to save money:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yep, there are a lot of ways to save money and fossil fuel energy using the sun than RMI listed. I’m sure there are actually more than the ones above. For example, if you are a person who uses tanning beds to get a crispy tan (solariums, as they are called over here), stop throwing your money away on that and get outside to get a tan. Go to the beach, go to the bark, lay on your balcony, play a sport, go for a walk, go for a bike ride, garden, read outside… do more outside in order to stop throwing your money at a tanning salon. All of this is also better for your health, so it’s a good way to save money on healthcare and to avoid spending time at the hospital!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One more energy- and money-saving solution that comes to mind is using the sun to grow your own food. That saves tremendously on energy used to transport food around the world and to your local shop, and it also saves a good deal on the energy used to transport you to the shop to buy some food. Also, it’s a good way to save money since you aren’t putting money towards the profits grocery chains and corporate agriculture or agrindustry. Furthermore, your food will be fresher, tastier, and probably much more appreciated!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Have more ideas for ways to save money using the sun? Share them in the comments below! I’d love to be reminded of more or even learn about new ones. </span></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-41422861664181449212013-09-29T02:34:00.000-07:002014-02-03T02:39:37.953-08:00Walmart: Renewable Energy-Sustainable Products-Zero Waste<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Walmart reports: In front of an audience of associates, suppliers and nonprofit organizations at its Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting, Walmart highlighted on September 12, 2013, its progress with the Sustainability Index, a measurement system used to track the environmental impact of products. The company also outlined key initiatives where it can use its size and scale to help address “hot spots” and accelerate progress in supply chain sustainability. By Amber Archangel. The following is an official Walmart news release:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Walmart Highlights Progress on the Sustainability Index</span></b><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Outlines key initiatives in recycling, chemicals, fertilizers and energy efficiency</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">Broadens Index to international markets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">Index projected to include 300 product categories, engage up to 5,000 suppliers by end of year</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke:</span></b></span><br />
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<i style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We’ve reached an acceleration point where we are moving from measurement to results. We’re starting to really drive progress with the Index. This is about trust and value. Using less energy, greener chemicals, fewer fertilizers and more recycled materials – all of this – is the right thing to do for the planet and it’s right for our customers and our business.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As of today, the Index has been rolled out across 200 product categories, and to more than 1,000 suppliers. By the end of this year, we expect the Index will expand to include more than 300 product categories and as many as 5,000 suppliers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Since the Index rolled out broadly to Walmart product categories in August 2012, it has shown a consistent trend of improved product sustainability. For example, Walmart’s general merchandise department has improved its Index product sustainability score by an average of 20 percent; grocery department by an average of 12 percent; and consumables and health and wellness by an average of 6 percent.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Kara Hurst, CEO of The Sustainability Consortium: </span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With the Sustainability Index, Walmart is applying the science and research that we’ve developed to create a more sustainable supply chain globally. We’re excited about the significant progress Walmart and its suppliers are making and value their partnership with us to address big issues and drive real social and environmental change.</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Based on the insights and data from the Index, Walmart has been working with suppliers, nonprofits, industry experts and government to develop and implement solutions that address critical “hot spots” and opportunities across the global supply chain. As part of the progress update at today’s meeting, executives, merchants and suppliers shared progress on five major initiatives underway:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Increasing the Use of Recycled Materials.</b> More than 29 million tons of valuable plastics are sent to landfills every year in the U.S. at a cost of about $6.6 billion annually. Walmart aims to grow both the supply and demand for recycled plastics so they can be diverted from landfill and get a second life. The company is working with cities to increase plastic recycling and with suppliers to increase the use of recycled content and make packaging more recyclable. Changes in packaging are already being implemented in product categories such as beverage, over-the-counter drugs, dairy creamers and berry containers. </span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Earlier this week, Walmart and Sam’s Club also announced a smartphone trade-in program in the U.S. that goes into effect on Sept. 21.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The company will not send these trade-ins to landfills, domestically or internationally, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of smartphones from landfills annually.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Offering Products with Greener Chemicals. Walmart provided an overview of its new Consumables Chemicals initiative, describing how it is working with suppliers to reduce or eliminate the use of priority chemicals used in consumables products in favor of greener alternatives. It will begin with household cleaning, personal care, beauty and cosmetic products, asking suppliers to transition to greener substitutes for priority chemicals.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition, starting in Jan. 2014, Walmart will begin to label its private brand cleaning products in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended Design for the Environment (DfE) Safer Product Labeling program, and will continue to assess the applicability of DfE as Walmart expands it to broader product areas.</span><br />
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<li><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Reducing Fertilizer Use in Agriculture.</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Walmart is requiring suppliers who use commodity grains, such as corn, wheat and soy in their products, to develop a fertilizer optimization plan that outlines clear goals to improve performance based on Index research. Through this program, the company and its suppliers have the potential to reduce fertilizer use on 14 million acres of farmland in the U.S. by 2020.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Expanding the Sustainability Index to International Markets.</b> Walmart will expand the Sustainability Index and measurement to international markets with the goal of improving product sustainability at the global level. Walmart Chile and Walmart Mexico will launch the Index in their respective markets in 2014. In addition, South Africa’s Massmart has begun to include key Index questions in its supplier sustainability surveys.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Improving Energy Efficiency.</b> The Index has uncovered the importance of energy efficiency in several product categories, such as televisions, plastic toys, small appliances and greeting cards. By working with suppliers to improve energy efficiency through the supply chain of these products, Index energy scores have already improved 23 percent in general merchandise categories. Walmart is now providing tools for suppliers to help track and reduce the energy used to produce these products.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The company also announced a light-emitting diode (LED) lightbulb available in stores now under its Great Value label.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A 40 watt equivalent bulb, which last more than twice as long as a compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL), typically retails for $8.48 and the 60 watt equivalent $9.88. By selling 500,000 LED lightbulbs, the company projects customers can save more than $67 million over the lifetime of those bulbs.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Content Courtesy - </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u><a href="http://1sun4all.com/" target="_blank">1sun4all</a></u></i></span></div>
Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-72013793242697519882013-09-19T01:56:00.000-07:002014-02-03T02:10:47.142-08:00The Clean Energy Revolution Is Happening-Now!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>For decades, America has chased after the promise of clean, domestic energy, reports Energy.gov. But even as costs fell and technology matured, that clean energy future seemed to linger just beyond our reach. Critics often said this new world would “always be five years away.” Today, that is changing. By <b>Amber Archangel</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBACrczPyYZgHQgdBXqaaMqr6MEZig89kImY3WYyhTSTHSw0hui2-yX37epZjKDAzd8EbJWiJzIYZ4frt6XFcPVP3HGUQJ5epF9q6xx_5hTrlet6dHx0KfXcO4fQhtyrGbH65SiA/s1600/iStock_000016303674Medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBACrczPyYZgHQgdBXqaaMqr6MEZig89kImY3WYyhTSTHSw0hui2-yX37epZjKDAzd8EbJWiJzIYZ4frt6XFcPVP3HGUQJ5epF9q6xx_5hTrlet6dHx0KfXcO4fQhtyrGbH65SiA/s1600/iStock_000016303674Medium.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://energy.gov/">Energy.gov</a> note: This article originally appeared on <a href="http://whitehouse.gov/">WhiteHouse.gov</a></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">#Cleantechnow: Learn More</span></b><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Watch a video featuring Secretary Moniz that highlights four key energy technologies that have already made America’s clean energy future a reality.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Read the full “<a href="http://energy.gov/node/719526" target="_blank">Revolution Now</a>” report.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Use the tag #CleanTechNow to share photos on Twitter, Instagram or via email newmedia@hq.doe.gov how clean energy technology already plays a role in your daily life. We’ll feature our favorite submissions on Energy.gov next week.</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In recent years, costs for numerous critical clean energy technologies-wind power, solar panels, super energy-efficient LED lights and electric vehicles-have fallen significantly.</span></b><br />
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The accompanying surge in deployment has been truly spectacular. Such a surge is tantamount to topping the barricades — a level of cost reduction and market penetration that will enable a full scale clean energy revolution in the relatively near term. A new Department of Energy report, “<a href="http://energy.gov/articles/cleantechnow-america-s-clean-energy-revolution" target="_blank">Revolution Now: the Future Arrives for Four Clean Energy Technologies</a>” documents this transformation and what it means for America’s energy economy. The clean technology revolution is upon us.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While these technologies still represent a small percentage of their respective markets, that share is expanding at a rapid pace and influencing markets.</span></b><br />
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For instance:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2012, wind was America’s largest source of new electrical capacity, accounting for 43 percent of all new installations. Altogether the United States has deployed about 60 gigawatts of wind power — enough to power 15 million homes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Since 2008, the price of solar panels has fallen by 75 percent, and solar installations have multiplied tenfold. Many major homebuilders are incorporating rooftop panels as a standard feature on new homes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In that same five years, the cost of super-efficient LED lights has fallen more than 85 percent and sales have skyrocketed. In 2009, there were fewer than 400,000 LED lights installed in the U.S., today, the number has grown 50-fold to almost 20 million.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">During the first six months of 2013, America bought twice as many plug-in electric vehicles(EVs) as in the first half of 2012, and six times as many as in the first half of 2011. In fact, the market for plug-in electric vehicles has grown much faster than the early market for hybrids. Today, EVs ranging from the Chevy Volt to the Tesla Model S also boast some of the highest consumer satisfaction ratings in America. And prices are falling and export markets are opening up. Since 2008, the cost of electric vehicle batteries — which really drive the economics of EVs — has dropped by 50 percent.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As these new markets continue to expand, so will the challenges and opportunities associated with transforming America’ energy system. Already increased energy efficiency and distributed solar energy are posing challenges to traditional utility business models. America will have to invest in building a smarter, more robust and resilient electrical grid with an extensive network of EV chargers and new approaches to consumer bills. These challenges are in fact emblematic of success for America’s clean energy markets.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Since 2008, the price of solar panels has fallen by 75 percent, and solar installations have multiplied tenfold.</span></b><br />
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But why are these clean energy markets growing so fast? Policy plays an important role — and not just for renewables. For instance, from 1980 to 2002, the federal government’s production incentives for unconventional natural gas laid a foundation for that sector’s dramatic rise. Today, time-limited tax credits for wind, solar and electric vehicles, in concert with technology and manufacturing advances, are stimulating a similar market expansion.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course, these are also great products that bring real benefits to consumers.</span></b><br />
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For example, no one likes the hassle of repeatedly buying and replacing incandescent light bulbs. A mother who installs a quality LED fixture when her child is born will not need to replace it until that child goes to college — or even graduates. By that time, each LED light she installs will have saved her about $140 in electricity costs. By 2030, LED lights will save Americans $30 billion a year on energy alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Forty years ago, an oil embargo sparked panic, rationing and fuel lines across America. But today, Americans can declare their independence from oil, skip the gas lines and recharge at home for the equivalent of about $1.22 a gallon – as opposed to $3.56 for gasoline. We call this low-cost electric fuel an eGallon, and — depending on where you live — eGallon savings can be quite compelling. For instance, in Washington State a gallon of gasoline is almost $4, but the equivalent eGallon costs only 85 cents because of clean, low-cost electricity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These market revolutions are enabled by robust private-public partnerships for research, development, demonstration and deployment — including some sizable investments from the Energy Department. And this Administration’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for commonsense steps to reduce carbon pollution and address the effects of climate change, will further accelerate the development and diffusion of these, and other, transformative energy technologies.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today, we can finally say with confidence that America is witnessing the shift to a cleaner, more domestic and more secure energy future. It is not a faraway goal.</span></b><br />
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<i style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo credit - </span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Raymond David . Content Courtesy - </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u><a href="http://1sun4all.com/" target="_blank">1sun4all</a></u></i></span></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-17959407987278075882013-08-08T01:28:00.000-07:002014-02-03T01:35:35.227-08:00Energy-Efficient Windows Inspired By Nature : New Bio-Inspired Approach To Thermal Cooling Could Be Applied To Solar Panels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZjmgBVfjCIhfp0bJ9hqbPyE0zxI9Fj74zoWHX1aMyyaj0z633MQdNEpHoUnbMINYF6TqgvF1CNFt_x0DSVebnXYotZUCWYpVNxtKhVo1BYYRwk6rxwBVx5M-_QS2i5aXUl2d0Q/s1600/image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZjmgBVfjCIhfp0bJ9hqbPyE0zxI9Fj74zoWHX1aMyyaj0z633MQdNEpHoUnbMINYF6TqgvF1CNFt_x0DSVebnXYotZUCWYpVNxtKhVo1BYYRwk6rxwBVx5M-_QS2i5aXUl2d0Q/s1600/image3.jpg" height="365" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>A. Schematic of the composite window structure. B. The artificial vascular network layer.”</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A new type of energy-efficient window — inspired by and recreating the vascular networks found within living organisms — has been created by researchers at the University of Toronto. The new windows work effectively to limit heat loss during the winter and provide a cooling effect during the summer. The new design has resulted in 7–9 degrees of cooling in laboratory experiments. The researchers also think that their new technique/design could be applied to solar panels, working to increase their functional efficiency thanks to the cooling effect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The new process is, in the words of the researchers themselves, a “bio-inspired approach to thermal control for cooling (or heating) building window surfaces,” one that works through the action of optically clear, flexible, elastomer sheets, which are attached and bonded to normal glass window panes. The attached elastomer sheets — which are composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) — feature ‘channels’ through which room-temperature water is free to flow. It’s this flowing water that provides the thermal controlling effects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“Our results show that an artificial vascular network within a transparent layer, composed of channels on the micrometer to millimeter scale, and extending over the surface of a window, offers an additional and novel cooling mechanism for building windows and a new thermal control tool for building design,” stated Ben <b>Hatton</b>, lead researcher and a professor of engineering at the University of Toronto.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As the researchers note, windows currently account for around 40% of all building energy costs — any improvements with regard to their thermal regulatory abilities would be valuable. <b>Hatton</b> continued: “In contrast to man-made thermal control systems, living organisms have evolved an entirely different and highly efficient mechanism to control temperature that is based on the design of internal vascular networks. For example, blood vessels dilate to increase blood flow close to the skin surface to increase convective heat transfer, whereas they constrict and limit flow when our skin is exposed to cold.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As <b>Hatton</b> notes — the new technique could probably very effectively be applied to solar panels, and could also function well as a means of supplying heated water to existing hot water or heat storage systems.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The new research was just published in the journal Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal;">Photo credit - </span>University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Content Courtesy -</span></span></i><a href="http://cleantechnica.com/" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">cleantechnica</a></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-15767569223497698952013-08-04T00:16:00.000-07:002014-02-03T00:34:39.704-08:00Greenhouse Gas Emissions Explained, in 7 Balloons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMsP0SWBZnrTQm-duYbYrpnKg854HuZW8-ss9KwM8sYk74XsiU2dzITK5kghNfYzPTSm5WHALkKNXc2L_tR4ijS6IW35X1J5FozpFDo4urMGzHJAdqGoF5P1JpCJE0YD9WknNHg/s1600/Greenhousegases.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMsP0SWBZnrTQm-duYbYrpnKg854HuZW8-ss9KwM8sYk74XsiU2dzITK5kghNfYzPTSm5WHALkKNXc2L_tR4ijS6IW35X1J5FozpFDo4urMGzHJAdqGoF5P1JpCJE0YD9WknNHg/s1600/Greenhousegases.gif" height="640" width="435" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2010 human activity caused 50 Gt CO2e of greenhouse gas emissions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These emissions were 76% carbon dioxide (CO2), 16% methane (CH4), 8% nitrous oxide (N20) and 2% F-gases.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The big terrestrial emitters were China (23%), the USA (14%), Europe (10%), India (5%) and Russia (5%).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And the primary sources of emissions were energy (35%), industry (18%), transport (13%), agriculture (11%), forestry (11%), buildings (8%) and waste (4%).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The sources are explained in more detail in the balloons above, which technically shouldn’t float so well ;-). These balloons don’t look very threatening, but they represent the large majority of positive climate forcings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Which in English means they are major causes of climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Check out our <a href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/emit-this" target="_blank">new eBook</a> for ideas that will deflate your balloon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Photo credit - </span><span style="text-align: left;">shrinkthatfootprint<span style="font-style: normal;"> Content Courtesy - </span></span></i><span style="text-align: justify;"><u>shrinkthatfootprint.com</u></span></span></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-8690445798403737432013-07-15T02:41:00.000-07:002014-01-24T02:42:31.864-08:00Urban Regeneration and Climate-friendly Development: Lessons from Japan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>As part of their research within the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) Sustainable Urban Futures Programme, Postdoctoral Fellow <b>Osman Balaban</b> and Assistant Director/Senior Research Fellow <b>Jose Antonio Puppim de Oliveira</b> examine the potential role of urban regeneration in climate change mitigation and adaptation.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5dW0128U-dGTIMgaTduDfPzBUycVHHjelDPvdIAJCajOX8a0rWR-RK_6RNmXJGtloESVd58DKsfBygBa26G2TQVy083c3XazKGt3kdtLvbYEzrvA-kfVyq1q3k_eHd9YPGXD_w/s1600/MinatoMirai--640x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5dW0128U-dGTIMgaTduDfPzBUycVHHjelDPvdIAJCajOX8a0rWR-RK_6RNmXJGtloESVd58DKsfBygBa26G2TQVy083c3XazKGt3kdtLvbYEzrvA-kfVyq1q3k_eHd9YPGXD_w/s1600/MinatoMirai--640x360.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Cities have a central role to play in tackling climate change as well as in adapting to its effects as they contribute much to it and are under severe threat from its impacts. Because urban spatial policies have long-term effects, they are key for tackling climate change and it is through such policies that city governments can guide climate-friendly planning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Spatial policies cover a range of issues from a regional scale to individual buildings, including promotion of compact cities, provision of green spaces and water bodies (retention and detention ponds, water canals, etc.), retrofitting existing buildings, infrastructure renewal, and increasing non-motorized and public transport coverage. They may further be useful in achieving climate change mitigation and adaptation goals simultaneously. For instance, green spaces mitigate emissions through carbon sequestration and help combat impacts like heat stress, air pollution and flooding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Introduction of such spatial policies necessitates certain forms of intervention in existing urban areas. “Urban regeneration” inherently comprises such interventions, from renewal to rehabilitation, and thus can provide opportunities to introduce spatial policies that address climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">However, urban regeneration research has so far focused on community-based issues, governance aspects and even sustainability, but not much attention has been paid to climate change. With our recent paper we intended to contribute to the literature by enhancing understanding of the potential role of urban regeneration in climate change mitigation and adaptation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We undertook a close examination of how and with what effect different forms of policy responses to climate change are emerging in urban areas. We also examined how and to what extent urban regeneration, as a major field and instrument of urban policymaking, could be linked with these policy responses and thus turned into a city-based response to climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The research was based on two case studies in Japan where the focus of urban planning has shifted from growth to reorganization that is designed to create compact cities in the country’s era of depopulation. There are recent attempts to convert existing regeneration sites into smart districts, where carbon emissions and environmental footprints are lowered. However, further research that strengthens the links between urban regeneration and climate change is required to foment the scale-up of these initiatives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Urban regeneration evolves</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Urban regeneration is a way to reorganize and upgrade existing built environments rather than planning new urbanization. It is an old concept that has evolved over time. Its roots can be traced back to the 1970s when many cities in Britain and the United States started initiatives, referred to as “urban renewal” or “area improvement”, that focused on physical renewal of inner cities identified as “areas of social deprivation”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By the late 1970s, economic aspects like revitalization of downtown cores or entire cities were incorporated into renewal schemes and urban regeneration became a more comprehensive concept. Property-led urban regeneration projects dominated urban policymaking in British and US cities in the 1980s, based on the understanding that a supply of new premises for office, industrial and retail activities would facilitate local economic transformation. These projects came as part of the strategies to achieve the “entrepreneurial city”, a new form of urban governance to encourage local economic development.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nevertheless, the ineffectiveness of the property-led approach in addressing issues of social equity and environmental protection led to incorporation of new goals into the urban regeneration concept. During the 1990s, the environmental benefits of improving existing urban areas were recognized and regeneration projects began to be considered as a means of addressing the three pillars of sustainability: economic revitalization, social justice and environmental protection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There have been recent attempts to associate urban regeneration with climate policy, but these remain in their infancy and require further efforts to improve their theoretical and practical underpinnings. Current progress is limited to a few examples of regeneration projects that are designed to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation along with other objectives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The regeneration process entails different forms of spatial interventions which could change the form and land use structure of cities in a way that could facilitate the implementation of spatial policies that address climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps the most fruitful form of intervention is effective utilization of inner-city lands. Through urban regeneration, city governments can make the best use of brownfields and underutilized lands, providing the possibility of employing a “grow-in” strategy to concentrate the majority of new developments in existing urban areas, in the form of mixed-use developments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Such a strategy may help achieve energy and resource efficiency by preventing urban sprawl and, in particular, reducing commuting time and distance. Further, less energy is consumed in compact cities for urban infrastructure operations. We know that 30 percent of urban energy consumption goes to pumping water and collecting wastewater. So, the more area that a city occupies, the higher the amount of energy used in that city to provide water to and collect wastewater from buildings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Buildings are among the major sources of carbon emissions due to energy consumption for heating and cooling. Further, poor quality buildings and those sited in disaster-vulnerable (eg., on floodplains) areas are the most vulnerable to climate impacts. In many nations, buildings that will be in use in the next decades are already built. Special attention should therefore be paid to turning existing buildings into low-carbon and less vulnerable structures. Urban regeneration could help in overcoming such building-related challenges, either by retrofitting or renewing existing buildings, as part of the renewal and rehabilitation of inner cities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Urban regeneration in Japan</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Japan has been depopulating since 2005 and, according to projections by Tetsuo Kidokoro, the population of cities of all sizes will start to decrease after 2015. Due to this demographic change, the focus of urban planning and development in Japan has shifted from growth to reorganization. More attention is now paid to turning cities into more compact and sustainable places with a high quality of life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This could be done by addressing urban problems inherited from a previous period of rapid urbanization, such as urban sprawl, decline in city centres and disaster vulnerability. Further, in line with global and national environmental concerns, greenhouse gas emissions in Japanese cities have to be lowered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Much can be expected from urban regeneration in transforming Japanese cities into more sustainable and low-carbon urban environments in the era of depopulation. We looked at two urban regeneration initiatives in Japan, representing two major approaches of regeneration practices in Japanese cities, namely “project-based” and “plan-based” approaches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The first case was the Minato Mirai 21 project (MM21) located in the central quarter of Yokohama City in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Although initiated in the mid-1980s, the project is still in progress. MM21 was built on 186 hectares of brownfields and reclaimed lands and is currently a mixed-use district, including offices, malls, residences, hotels, cultural centres, a hospital and parks. The main objective of the project is to increase the self-sufficiency of Yokohama by strengthening its central business district.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The second case was Kanazawa City in Ishikawa prefecture in eastern Japan — a mid-sized historical town with a population of 462,361 people. Kanazawa has been encountering problems caused by urban sprawl, such as decline in the city centre, high reliance on automobiles and an increase in carbon emissions. Since the 1990s, the city government has been addressing these problems through several means, including urban regeneration. The “City Center Revitalization Plan”, which covers an area of 860 hectares and includes actions to regenerate the city center, is the primary component of urban regeneration attempts in Kanazawa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We analysed the impacts of these two initiatives to tackle climate change by breaking them down by the following aspects: economy and work, buildings and land use, transportation and mobility, infrastructure for resource efficiency, energy consumption and efficiency, and community-based issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to the scope and extent of their climate benefits, both cases presented a series of lessons on transforming urban regeneration projects into opportunities to reorganize cities in climate-friendly manners as described below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Flexibility in the design of regeneration projects can help to incorporate them with new concepts that emerge over time. A main feature of the MM21 project is the delay in its completion due to the economic recession in the 1990s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Slow realization of the project turned out to be an opportunity to eliminate the shortcomings in project design regarding environmental issues. Contemporary concepts like waste recycling, green buildings and smart grids — that did not exist at the time when the project was initiated — began to be incorporated into the project over time. Further, as the project has not yet been fully implemented, city government has had the opportunity to apply new environmental technologies to turn MM21 into a smart district. MM21 is one of the major “Yokohama Smart City Project” areas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Participation and political commitment</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Although community participation is important, it cannot guarantee a climate-friendly and low-carbon city. In the Kanazawa case, where varied stakeholders are involved in decision-making, the overall impacts of the plan have been relatively minor. This is mainly due to the main actors’ weak political commitment and lack of resources to pursue climate change mitigation and adaptation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Therefore, in order to benefit from community engagement, participation mechanisms need to be supported with political commitment and the two should complement each other. Only then can a balance between technical top-down and participatory bottom-up approaches be achieved throughout regeneration practices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Coordination between city divisions and policies</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A sectoral approach dominates policymaking in both cities. Different city administration divisions are in charge of different sectors regarding urban development and environmental management. However, coordination between them seems to be insufficient. For instance, the Waterworks Bureau of Yokohama City takes no particular action on water issues directly related to climate change, as a separate division of the city government is in charge of global warming and climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Considering a similar problem, Kanazawa’s environmental plan draws attention to the need for effective coordination between city divisions to facilitate the implementation of environmental strategies. For instance, Ishikawa prefecture has developed an “Eco-House Project” to raise citizens’ awareness of green buildings and encourage them to install green technologies in their houses. However, lessons from this prefectural project seem to have not been reflected in Kanazawa’s City Center Revitalization Plan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Binding and structural measures</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A main factor that limited the positive impacts of the revitalization plan in Kanazawa is the reluctance of the city’s government to introduce binding measures. Instead, it chose to adopt “soft” measures aiming to achieve behavioral change in the long-run. For instance, the plan avoids restricting car use, although it aims at decreasing the use of private cars for inner-city trips.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Such an approach seems to have prevented the plan from being supported by strong and complimentary measures. Likewise, the limited capacity of the city government to introduce structural measures in certain policy fields resulted in similar outcomes. As Kanazawa’s bus system is run by the private sector, the city government couldn’t introduce structural regulations on the system, and soft policies have been ineffective in overcoming the structural deficiencies in the system. This illustrates that binding and structural measures should be introduced as part of regeneration projects, particularly to ensure compliance and behavioral change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The crosscutting potential</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our case studies demonstrated that urban regeneration is an instrument of urban policy that has the potential to facilitate the introduction of spatial policies to address climate change.</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Interventions inherent to the regeneration process could be used to upgrade existing urban environments and hence change the form and land use structure of cities in climate-friendly manners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As a crosscutting field of urban policy, urban regeneration could also help in bridging the “mitigation and adaptation dichotomy” and create synergies between two major targets of climate policy, helping to achieve mitigation and adaptation goals simultaneously. In the MM21 project, adaptation actions like provision of green spaces and infrastructure improvements have been implemented together with mitigation actions like a district heating and cooling system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course, achieving this is not straightforward and hindered by multiple challenges, as noted above. Overall, there remains the need to understand conceptually, and in practice, how urban regeneration could help to both tackle climate change and achieve its main objectives of revitalizing certain areas in the urban fabric.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo credit - </span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Japan. Photo: Marc Antomattei. Content Courtesy - <a href="http://unu.edu/">UNU.edu</a></span></span></i></div>
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Tiny Tips And Trickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17903585565421245057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-76725101318872352752013-06-08T13:23:00.001-07:002013-06-08T13:23:29.627-07:00Today is World Oceans Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Make the Ocean Promise</h3>
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June 8th is <b>World Oceans Day</b>! On World Oceans Day, people around the planet celebrate and honor the body of water which links us all, for what it provides humans and what it represents. Be a part of this growing global celebration! Make your promise now via the World Oceans Day website @ <a href="http://bit.ly/ocean_promise" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/ocean_promise</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-37510596624625966762013-06-04T04:16:00.001-07:002013-06-04T04:20:39.751-07:00Celebrating World Environment Day on 5 June 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The theme for this year’s <b>World Environment Day</b> celebrations is <b>Think.Eat.Save.</b> Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss <b>UNEP </b>- United Nations Environment Programme campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (<b>FAO</b>), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. This is equivalent to the same amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Given this enormous imbalance in lifestyles and the resultant devastating effects on the environment, this year’s theme – Think.Eat.Save – encourages you to become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices you make and empowers you to make informed decisions.
While the planet is struggling to provide us with enough resources to sustain its 7 billion people (growing to 9 billion by 2050), FAO estimates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contributor to negative environmental impacts.
This year’s campaign rallies you to take action from your home and then witness the power of collective decisions you and others have made to reduce food waste, save money, minimize the environmental impact of food production and force food production processes to become more efficient.
If food is wasted, it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of all the food are also lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For example, it takes about 1,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk and about 16,000 litres goes into a cow’s food to make a hamburger. The resulting greenhouse gas emissions from the cows themselves, and throughout the food supply chain, all end up in vain when we waste food.
In fact, the global food production occupies 25% of all habitable land and is responsible for 70% of fresh water consumption, 80% of deforestation, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the largest single driver of biodiversity loss and land-use change. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Making informed decision therefore means, for example, that you purposefully select foods that have less of an environmental impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not flown halfway across the world and therefore limit emissions.
So think before you eat and help save our environment! Know more at </span><a href="http://www.unep.org/wed/" style="text-align: left;">http://www.unep.org/wed/</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-28205830574719003482013-04-24T02:31:00.000-07:002013-06-04T04:13:00.429-07:00Hard to Stomach: Two Billion Now Overweight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Mark Notaras confirms beyond doubt, that what was once viewed as a problem in Western societies, is now and will increasingly be a global one.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>“The share of adults worldwide who are overweight jumped from 1.45 billion in 2002 to 1.934 billion in 2010, an increase of 25 percent.” </i>If this opening sentence of the recent Vital Signs Online report from the Worldwatch Institute is not alarming enough, of even more concern is that the world is inevitably heading further down the track of an obesity epidemic.</span> </div>
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In other words, rather than overweightness correlating specifically to a geographic region or certain cultural groups (think of the stereotypical “fat American”, once the butt of all jokes), the strongest causal factor is increased income, and the high calorie, meat-based, fast-food dependent “Western” diet, as well as lifestyle factors that accompany it.</div>
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With tens of millions of people joining the global middle class year on year, particularly in the fast growing economies of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), it can be expected that the number of people with expanded waistlines will also swell, unless significant policy and behavioural changes occur.</div>
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In India for example, a country generally associated with a low-impact vegetarian diet, roughly one in five adults (19%) are now considered overweight, up from 14% in 2002. This in a country of 1.2 billion people and home to the greatest number of the world’s hungry — a figure, incidentally, that rose by 65 million from 1990 to 2005 according to a recent Oxfam report.</div>
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<b>Overweight versus Obese</b></div>
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Overweightness can generally be divided into two categories — “overweight” and “obese”. In their report, Worldwatch classify “overweight” as referring to people with a body mass index (BMI) — a measure relating to a person’s height to weight ratio — of 25 or greater. If a person is obese, he or she would have a BMI of 30 or above. For the sake of this article, “overweight” refers to people in both categories, and “adult” refers to people surveyed over the age 15 from a total of 177 countries.</div>
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The global picture of obesity drawn from UN Population Division data and analysed by geographer Richard H. Weil, clearly points to a correlation of income with BMI across all regions.</div>
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While the global trend of higher income equals higher BMI is clear, there are some variations at the country level. Excluding 20 poor countries with low BMI located in Asia and Africa because they include large populations suffering from malnutrition, Japan (23%) is somewhat of an anomaly. At almost 19 percentage points better than the next (sizeable) ranked industrialised country, France (42%), Japan’s highly urbanised population have managed to draw enough from their traditional food culture (of rice, soybeans, fish and vegetables) to stay healthy.</div>
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Not surprisingly, Japan’s high health standards are reflected in the Japanese definition of obesity itself, which refers to people with BMI levels over 25 (and not the universal 30). But even the revered Japanese will be concerned at their longer terms trends towards higher meat consumption, not least because of their increasingly reliance on imported foods.</div>
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Broadly speaking, high income countries — from the United States (79%) to Australia (71.1%) to Qatar (62.7%) to Brunei (61.7%) — have high levels of average BMI regardless of which region of the world they are in.</div>
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<b>Weighing up the Consequences</b></div>
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Of course, being overweight or obese is not merely an aesthetic concern for individuals and their families, friends and colleagues. Resultant health consequences like diabetes and heart disease impact on people’s quality of life and their ability to carry out day-to-day functions. And when aggregated across populations at a country and increasingly global level, overeating has monumental impacts on the health of our environmental assets.</div>
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Raj Patel has captured these impacts in his book <i>"Stuffed and Starved" </i>that talks about the ironies of a world in which the number of people going hungry (approximately 1 billion) is only eclipsed by the number of people overeating.</div>
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Even though the American Heart Association recommends that moderately active adults eat around 2,500 (male) or 2,000 (female) calories per day respectively, the average American is currently stuffing themselves with 3770 calories per person per day. Other figures from the 2010 FAO Statistical Yearbook on <i>“Dietary energy protein and fat consumption"</i> indicate that comparable countries include Austria (3760) and Greece (3700).</div>
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All of this unnecessary consumption is having significant consequences on Earth’s already stretched land, water and soil resources.This is not to say that every overweight person is taking food straight out of the mouths of a malnourished person. The international food trade is more complex than that. However, the world’s poorest people are more likely than ever to be competing for their staple sources of calories, e.g. for corn and wheat crops, against increasing demands for biofuels and livestock feed, not to mention food market speculators. And as can be expected in any market situation where the weakest lack protection, the world’s poor farmers are coming off second best.</div>
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Incidentally, increasing awareness about the global overeating epidemic comes at a time when global hunger continues to be in the spotlight due to the onset of drought affecting millions in East Africa and continuing high world food prices. In relation to the latter, the Food Price Index measured by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations indicate that, despite drops in commodity values for certain major crops like sugar, the overall level of food prices remains at near-record highs.</div>
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<b>The Beginning (or the End) of Overeating</b></div>
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So, is there any positive news from this latest research? As the report is keen to point out, experience from Japan and other countries that illustrate higher disposable incomes do not necessarily lead to unbalanced food and leisure choices and subsequently obesity, offer some hope.</div>
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It is important to bear in mind that genetic factors also account for how well different populations adapt to high-impact diets and lifestyle changes driven by urbanisation. These differences are most stark in the Oceania region where there are large discrepancies between Polynesian and Micronesian countries on the one hand (a staggering 88% overweight) and Melanesian countries like Papua New Guinea with relatively low levels of BMI.</div>
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Still, Oceania, a region of many small island states and a very small combined population, can hardly be a template for the world. Neither, it is hoped, is the US. Former US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner (1990–1997) Dr. David A Kessler outlines a positive plan for Americans to “stop the vicious and unhealthy cycle of overeating” in his 2009 book <i>"The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite".</i></div>
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Yet the bottom line is that, even if the US or any other developed country more accustomed to dealing with obesity can overcome the natural tendencies of people to consume fatty, salty and sugary food, at a global level, the era of overeating is probably only just beginning.<br />
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<i>Mark Notaras is a writer/editor for the United Nations University (<a href="http://unu.edu/">UNU</a>) Media Studio and a researcher for the UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP). </i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-77096281457534770342013-03-28T02:35:00.000-07:002013-06-04T04:17:08.842-07:00Debate 2.0: Can creating a Green Economy redeem the 1%?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7s1Fpo0_scWB8kuVuNnzv4vHqfbaPgzPNmDfDlXkrRiNkNlYvZK-Jli5-oSIezv7DneMu_cU560bpJdtLI-3qat3cgzJaIxJDUBijhI0xHogof_pQ8_F3h9wzGfGTmHV53xcmbA/s1600/economy-environment.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667367960383404290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7s1Fpo0_scWB8kuVuNnzv4vHqfbaPgzPNmDfDlXkrRiNkNlYvZK-Jli5-oSIezv7DneMu_cU560bpJdtLI-3qat3cgzJaIxJDUBijhI0xHogof_pQ8_F3h9wzGfGTmHV53xcmbA/s200/economy-environment.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Carol Smith and Brendan Barrett ask if the recent Occupy Wall Street protests are the beginning of a Societal Rethink?</span></div>
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The Occupy Wall Street protests are making headlines around the world, just as those in Spain and Greece did before. All on the tail of the uprisings of the Arab Spring.</div>
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However, critics of this latest wave have been equally vocal. And the right-wing media are having a field day with the mish-mash of poorly-expressed motivations espoused by some of the individual ‘Occupy’ protesters being interviewed (like the one quoted by a Vancouver columnist yesterday as saying, “We’ll be here until the rich are poor and the poor are rich” or another photographed with a poster that reads “One day the poor will have nothing left to eat but the rich”).</div>
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Then there are those who may quibble with the origins or interpretation of the data used to come up with the moniker “the 99%” that refers to the portion of the population that is not part of the “richest 1%” that own “40% of global assets” (from a 2006 UNU-WIDER study) or in the US, the 1% who own 34.6% of that country’s wealth. Some go even further and call North Americans crybabies for complaining at all, when their countries are undeniably easier places to live than many others around the globe.</div>
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But the fact is that long-term unemployment and bleak economic prospects have darkened the global mood. People are angry and this is manifesting in an anti-corporate (mainly financial institutions) and anti-ultra rich direction. Corporate greed is seen as the root cause for the 2008 financial meltdown. This could explain why a recent 10-country survey found consumers increasingly care about the ethics of companies.</div>
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The other issue is that some ultra rich people seem intent on blocking efforts to deal with pressing issues like climate change. They would rather risk the loss of a human friendly climate than the loss of a part of their wealth.</div>
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To some extent, these concerns may explain the underlying theme put forth by activist magazine Adbusters, conceptors of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is a message that seems to resonate with what many of the 99% in affluent countries are sensing is necessary given the ecological and resource crises facing the world:</div>
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“Anything, from a bottom-up transformation of the global economy to changing the way we eat, the way we get around, the way we live, love and communicate… Let’s occupy the core of our global system. Let’s dethrone the greed that defines this new century,” a recent call to action enthused.</div>
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<b>Is redemption possible?</b></div>
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But is it wishful thinking to imagine that the public display of displeasure could possibly encourage a greener tendency in the 1%? It would certainly be in line what the public wishes to see. The survey mentioned above indicated that 34% of respondents consider economic development as the first social priority, yet another 21% see the environment as tops. That means investments in green jobs would immediately be in line with the aspirations of 55% of the population.</div>
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That being so, in the run-up to next month’s COP17 climate negotiations, 285 of the world’s largest investors have issued a call for urgent policy action designed to fuel private sector investment into climate change solutions like low-carbon technology. Apparently it’s not the first year the group has made this call but now it’s backed up with a report, commissioned in partnership with the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, that gives more detail on what such climate policy might look like.</div>
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What would you get for your money? Well, here is a concrete example. The 285 investors have assets in the order of US$20 trillion. If they were to invest in even the most radical proposals on the table, like Greenpeace’s Energy (R)evolution scenario, then they would only need to spend US$17.9 trillion to move the entire world to 80% renewable energy by 2030.</div>
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This kind of outlay would not only assist in tackling climate change but would improve energy security and create new jobs. Such investments create new wealth and at the same time would provide electricity for the world’s 1.4 billion people without access.</div>
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We have heard repeatedly, going back to 1992 Rio Earth Summit, that the scale of funds needed to deal with climate change or clean energy, are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Yet we have done very little.</div>
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Is it possible the Occupy Wall Street protests are the beginning of a group societal priority-rethink? Could this group of investors be an indication that the 1% is redeemable and not a hopeless lost greedy cause?</div>
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<i>Carol Smith and Brendan Barrett are journalists with a Green heart who work together at the <a href="http://unu.edu/">UNU</a> - Media Centre.</i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-20777266445779794372013-03-04T00:21:00.000-08:002013-06-04T04:17:57.739-07:00Why the Insurance Industry won’t save us from Climate Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHoGS7rk1uKRdkHpvfYYKek0ii8cnKAuUoL49rJHSLjEpHiQigubJ9n2z1geQivOmS0ZZiXVW6qsusmAL2QKIhD7AqvmjidEbozbdpQnO9rmMZ6FvyEn6o_AsVpaXfoEuxiPTLg/s1600/beach-2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664364787349812338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHoGS7rk1uKRdkHpvfYYKek0ii8cnKAuUoL49rJHSLjEpHiQigubJ9n2z1geQivOmS0ZZiXVW6qsusmAL2QKIhD7AqvmjidEbozbdpQnO9rmMZ6FvyEn6o_AsVpaXfoEuxiPTLg/s200/beach-2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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<b>RL Miller debugs the shaky Insurance industry and Climate Change relationship</b></div>
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A myth floats around among those seeking free-market solutions to climate change that insurers will be a positive force. Insurers are worried about the impact of climate on their business model. They will increase rates. Expensive insurance will drive people off the coasts. People and property won't be as affected by coastal storms. Most recently, <i>Fast Company</i> asked whether <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1783816/the-trillion-dollar-storm-will-hurricanes-drive-us-off-the-coasts">trillion-dollar storms</a> will drive us off the coasts: <i>"Just how long until large chunks of America's coastline become virtually uninsurable, starting with Lower Manhattan? Some would say this is a good thing, a perfect example of markets appropriately pricing risk and (dis-)incentivizing people accordingly."</i></div>
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There's only one problem: This market-driven solution won't work.</div>
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Insurers are worried about climate change, with good reason. A recent <a href="http://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/naic-climate-disclosure/view">Ceres report</a> found, generally, that they're ill-prepared for climate. Their model for pricing risks depends on historical models, which are meaningless in the time of the new normal.</div>
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For several years <i>Munich Re</i>, the giant reinsurer, has been advocating for governments to do something about climate change, based on rational self-interest: If governments can prevent it from happening, then insurers won't have to pay out. Guess that didn't work out so well -- thanks, United States Senate! As climate mitigation seems to be failing, adaptation strategies become necessary.</div>
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The first adaptation strategy will be to raise rates. Here, the free market advocates are giddy. Coastal insurance will become very expensive, so no one will live on the coasts! Yay! However, it won't work. A look at two southern California coastal communities illustrates the free-market failure of insurance to deter people from living near the coast.</div>
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Malibu is a notoriously high-risk area -- I joke, <i>"Do you know what Malibu means in the Chumash language? 'Stupid people live here.'"</i> It's prone to fires and landslides. Year after year, TV cameras cover muddy devastation, wrecked mansions, and teary-eyed residents vowing to rebuild. And, generally, they do rebuild. But they rarely do so with insurance money, because California policies don't cover landslides. Insurance in Malibu has become so expensive that many residents rely on the <a href="http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0100-consumers/0060-information-guides/0040-residential/california-fair-plan.cfm">FAIR Plan</a>, an insurance pool of last resort. Although California's FAIR plan was created in 1968 ostensibly to aid inner-city residents who were considered uninsurable after the 1965 Watts Riots, it now serves wealthy homeowners who have chosen to live in high-risk canyons and coastlines. And wealthy people have lobbied the state legislature for concessions in coverage.</div>
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Twenty-eight states have similar plans that cover certain high-risk weather events -- brushfires in Malibu; wind and hail damage in coastal communities in Georgia and New York. FAIR Plan high premiums and limited coverage haven't deterred people from living in high-weather-risk areas so far.</div>
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Another way of understanding how high premiums fail to act as a deterrent is to imagine yourself with enough money to buy your dream car -- that fire-engine-red Lotus, that 1965 Mustang, that Tesla Roadster. Insurance on that car is expensive. Does that stop you? If so, you're rare. People who can afford to live on the coast do so for reasons wholly divorced from pragmatic cost issues.</div>
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In short, the free market of high insurance premiums and limited coverage hasn't deterred people from living in pricey coastal communities. Climate change will raise premiums and limit coverage, but people will still want to live in Malibu. But what of less expensive coastal communities?</div>
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La Conchita is a small community sandwiched between the coast and steep, unstable mountains on the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line. A 1995 landslide buried seven homes. Property values plummeted, insurance became unaffordable, and people moved in anyway. Why did they move in? Because you could get a walk-to-beach home for $500,000 instead of the $5 million you'd spend in Santa Barbara or Malibu. The area took on a surfing haven reputation -- a little funky, a little high-risk, a lot less expensive. People moved in, paid cash, and thus weren't required to have insurance, or went onto the FAIR Plan -- again, the cost of insurance wasn't a factor. Then a second landslide in 2005 killed 10 people. The $500,000 house is now marked down to $350,000, and no one is buying it. Although no significant connection has been made between the storms of 1995 and 2005 and climate change, La Conchita may be a harbinger of what's to come: high-risk hamlets.</div>
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A new OECD report finds that the two American cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels are New York and Miami. Lower Manhattan is likely to end up like Malibu -- very wealthy people willing to ignore risks -- while Miami becomes a high-risk island, cut off from the rest of Florida as a wall of saltwater moves inland. Insurance rates aren't likely to uproot people.</div>
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In the medium-term (10 to 20 years), I wouldn't be surprised to see insurers attempt to restrict coverage for climate-related damage, much as has been done for mold/fungus coverage when mold became a hot-button issue in about 2001.</div>
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In the long-term, the industry may not survive in its present day form. It's built on charging risks based on past patterns. But past history can't map a new normal. The property insurance industry is reeling from the storms of 2011, and the life and health insurers have barely begun to consider the likely profound impact of climate change on their mortality tables. If the federal crop insurance program has yet begun to calculate the impact of climate on its program, I haven't seen it. Perhaps we'll end up with some sort of two-tiered program in which government extends the concept of a FAIR plan (minimal coverage, high premiums) to virtually every aspect of insurance, and some wealthy people choose to pay even higher premiums for additional coverage. For now, the insurance industry shouldn't be considered a player in the search for free-market solutions to climate change.</div>
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<a href="http://www.grist.org/people/RL+Miller"><i>RL Miller</i></a><i> is an attorney, climate/enviro blogger, runner, quilter, keeper of chickens. If you hate the terms climate zombies and oilpocalypse, blame RL Miller.© </i><a href="http://www.grist.org/"><i>Grist</i></a><i> Magazine</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-58769859203464190242013-02-28T04:57:00.000-08:002013-06-04T04:18:40.588-07:00Is Green Enough ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipR6Dht3FGX3gthO6WndTSYpHL_N1PxpDABkH1DomSGEbKyooGu3gfwzOhl720lNfuaXUpzHqBBOLbbmSUkgy_V78w5IIEuCvlSXGVVlTEZw2RFZOugvtaGJLfMdLrL7sMOnGvg/s1600/all+green.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661832959483343666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipR6Dht3FGX3gthO6WndTSYpHL_N1PxpDABkH1DomSGEbKyooGu3gfwzOhl720lNfuaXUpzHqBBOLbbmSUkgy_V78w5IIEuCvlSXGVVlTEZw2RFZOugvtaGJLfMdLrL7sMOnGvg/s200/all+green.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 166px;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Mal Warwick asks Who would have believed it, even ten years ago?</span></div>
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All across America, and increasingly in other parts of the world as well, the people who run businesses, both large and small, are discovering that green is their favorite color. Green is in.</div>
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There’s no mystery about this. The public is rapidly coming to appreciate the severity of the threat posed by global climate change. A younger generation that learned about ecology in grade school is coming of age, changing attitudes from within the business world. And evidence continues to mount that consumers favor companies that are environmentally sensitive. Is it any wonder, then, that corporate executives and small businesspeople alike are scrambling to integrate ecologically sound principles and practices into their business operations?</div>
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It’s no wonder—we agree. But most of us involved in business have been far too slow to ask a second and equally important question: </div>
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<b>Is green enough?</b></div>
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The words “sustainable” and “sustainability” have come to be equated with the ecological perspective summed up by the label “green.” But is that equation fair? If a company—or, for that matter, a society, or the planet as a whole—is run on the basis of green principles, is it sustainable?</div>
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I believe the answer is a resounding No. The planetary burden of nearly six billion poor people is sufficient to prove the point, without even exploring the economic implications of the profound gulf between Earth’s rich and poor. But let’s set aside these larger questions until there is an opportunity for us to discuss them at length. For now, let’s just focus on the business case for running our companies not just as environmentally sound enterprises but as what I term “values-driven businesses” grounded in the assumption that collaboration is the path to sustainability.</div>
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<b>Values-driven business is based on five fundamental premises:</b></div>
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- Employees work more productively and pay more attention to a company’s profitability when they’re working for something they believe in, are treated with respect, well-paid, and receive a share of the profits. They also tend to feel better if the owner or top managers aren’t making out like bandits by comparison.</div>
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- Customers are more loyal and willing to forgive errors when a company’s dedication to quality products and services is obvious and when they deal with highly motivated employees—especially when employees are allowed to take the initiative to apologize and make things right.</div>
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- Consumers often show a strong preference to do business with companies that demonstrate a commitment to their community—and are sometimes disinclined to patronize those who don’t. Values alignment between a company and its customers builds loyalty. Customers are more forgiving of mistakes and less apt to buy from a competitor when its goods are on sale.</div>
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Your business will be better prepared for the future and more likely to survive its inevitable disruptions if you build stronger relationships today with your employees, your customers, your suppliers, and your community. And the planet we share will be more likely to survive the ravages of the human race if you do everything in your power to lighten your footprint on the environment. In other words, to use the contemporary jargon, your business will be more sustainable.</div>
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You—as the company’s owner or manager—will live a less stressful and more fulfilling life if you look on your employees, customers, suppliers, and the community as partners rather than adversaries.</div>
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In a values-driven enterprise, an ecological perspective is central. But the same logic that leads us to understand the interdependence of all living things helps us grasp the inescapable truth that a collaborative approach to our customers, our employees, our community, and our suppliers is equally important.</div>
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Mal Warwick’s latest book is Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun, co-authored with Ben Cohen, the first volume in the Social Venture Network Series. (See <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.svnbooks.com">Svnbooks</a> for more information)</span> <i>©<a href="http://www.lohas.com/">LOHAS</a></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-80292909562636997252013-01-16T13:37:00.000-08:002013-06-04T04:19:10.857-07:00Two Acres and a Pile of Leaves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ17fY7J1Rc9QnTAm9FBr-1eNoNacrcaRSpoWfxl9BTNM9eXaJ0eBz2P4-PAmXlDPaImqO0Z4YiSlP8tbzWukwrLV5dldCZiqwR6D7rOjbe0MBm1nn2_Fp6tpt-QDszGIrc9eIA/s1600/ifm317ro.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656030397519080738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ17fY7J1Rc9QnTAm9FBr-1eNoNacrcaRSpoWfxl9BTNM9eXaJ0eBz2P4-PAmXlDPaImqO0Z4YiSlP8tbzWukwrLV5dldCZiqwR6D7rOjbe0MBm1nn2_Fp6tpt-QDszGIrc9eIA/s200/ifm317ro.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 154px;" /></a><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Conner Voss explains why today's Farming is not what it used to be!</b></span></b></div>
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Scritch, scritch, scritch. As a shovel to soil, axe to wood or chisel to stone—putting the rake to leaves is a timeless task of cosmic constancy. When I find myself taunted, twisted and oddly bound by the realm of infinite possibility in life, there is welcome peace in the simple, undeniable progress of a big leaf pile.</div>
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For so many reasons, this is good work: my feet are gentle on the ground, and my hands hold the tool—quiet, ancient—perfectly suited to this task. Scritch, scritch. There is room here for thought. It dances among my steady breath and between the shuttering leaves, all at once connected and irrelevant, meaningful and meaningless. With an undeserved degree of self-satisfaction, I am pleased by this paradox. I tell myself that there is wisdom in there somewhere, and then I pause, assume a familiar propped position, and begin to contemplate the purpose of this heady chore.</div>
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This is chestnut-tree detritus. Every autumn, descending in ligneous, spiny abandon, this fawn mat of organic matter blankets <i>Digging Roots</i>, our two-acre urban farm. If raked into huge piles and left undisturbed for a few years, the unfriendly mix of burrs and leaves would eventually mellow into a nutrient-rich leaf mold. If, on the other hand, it were left in place beneath the expansive arboreal reach, the very same thing would happen on a much longer timeline—as on a forest floor—and we would sacrifice valuable summer pasture, the ability to easily pluck chestnuts from the ground and perhaps the tolerance of our 12 neighbors, who are not keen on these suburban fence-lines becoming buried beneath wind-blown leaves. And so we rake.</div>
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Scritch, scritch. Resuming the satisfying rhythm, I cannot help but feel somewhat conflicted about this energy expenditure. Will I be here to utilize this leaf mold? Does it matter if I am? Does true stewardship require a sense of security?</div>
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My wife Sarah and I moved to this suburban lot roughly three years ago, ecstatic about the opportunity to develop our farming enterprise within an inspiringly vibrant social and professional community. We gladly accepted the responsibility of tending two close-in acres for what seemed very reasonable rent and the freedom to experiment with small-scale farming systems. If two acres proved an overwhelming task, we might have the social capital to rethink our long-term aspirations. Maybe I’d go back to school or take up a trade, or open a café. There are surely many ways to build a well-rounded, fulfilling livelihood.</div>
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But two acres isn’t too much for us. Quite the opposite—it isn’t enough, and we are yearning for more. The more we plan, the more we learn, the more we allow ourselves to reach for a full-time farming future, the more difficult it becomes to rake leased chestnut leaves on a sparkling Saturday afternoon. It’s impossible to pinpoint the exact moment in time when we became dissatisfied with our short-term arrangement. Slowly, subtly, we began to question the sanity in a system that does not encourage long-term decisions about our place.</div>
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Scritch, scritch, scritch. How do these monstrous piles of mined minerals, later to be deposited upon our vegetable beds, and eventually spread upon our dinner tables, fit into a month-to-month lease? How does the improvement of our pasture, later to be grazed by healthy chickens and lambs, further enhanced through dung and selective palates, and transformed into sustainable solar protein, fit into a month-to-month lease? Scritch, scritch. This labor, this tined effort is at least a four-year investment in soil fertility, self-sustenance and business security. As human participants in an all-encompassing cycle of life, death and return, the most efficient work is work that provides a service toward future fertility, diversity and resilience. Sarah and I are learning that the principle of working less, smarter, is easily applied within a system that maximizes the natural regeneration of our most valuable resources.</div>
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Our successful role as stewards seeking to survive, thrive and grow from the bountiful surplus of solar energy is completely dependent upon unwavering observation and well-timed participation. We need to see ourselves as part of the future of a place, and then perhaps we may be rewarded with the “interest” of life-long stewardship.</div>
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With this in mind, we hope to own land someday soon. Over two years ago and many leaf piles later, we started our farm search. It is an emotional trial far beyond anything we could have anticipated. We’ve researched hundreds of properties, and visited dozens and dozens more. Every candidate is cause for the difficult condition of detached projection—where we try to articulate the possibilities without fostering an unhealthy connection. Weekend after weekend, we’ve thrown ourselves into this arresting duet, frequently tumbling through a brief existential crisis when the chips don’t fall quite right. Many times we’ve returned home to wonder if this limbo is worth the trouble.</div>
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Neither of us was born into farming. There is no land to return to, and no native cultural knowledge to draw upon. Our approach is largely a scratch-and-sniff, pay-to-play, fake-it-’till-you-make-it type of operation. Given this pursuit, there is occasion to consider how wealth (specifically land) is transferred through time and space in our culture. We come from solid, middle-class families who have worked tirelessly to provide us with a plethora of options in life. In the first place, this safety net allows us to imagine a life as farmers at all. Our parents emerged during a time when small family farms were evaporating amidst the rapid commoditization of our food system, along with a depressing decline in rural agrarian communities. </div>
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It was the ’50s, and canned food was cool. And now, as the privileged offspring of baby-boomers, we are bequeathed the resources to examine voluntary simplicity, endowed the good credit to gamble with debt, and gifted the ideological support to swim against the social fish ladder. Even so, given our relatively affluent backgrounds, strong educations and bull-headed determination, good farmland feels like an uncomfortable financial stretch.</div>
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Perhaps the single greatest irony for us is that farming itself does not initially pave a welcome path toward owning a family farm. The major reason we transplanted to Portland was to work to save money to buy land. Full-time farming, for the time being, was put on hold. The burning question is: If there is an entire generation of young, aspiring farmers chomping at the bit to realize their agricultural destiny, but they must first move to the city to gain the capital to afford the inception of that destiny, will a resettling of our rural communities happen soon enough to change the game? That the prevailing method of changing the paradigm is to capitalize on it first is a mind-boggling contradiction. Doesn’t such a model imply that we are fighting ourselves?</div>
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To put farmers on the land, and keep them there, we may need a cultural reckoning wherein the true definition of profit involves the sustained ability to productively harness the energy of the sun. And let that be enough. Unfortunately, we can’t pay a mortgage with sunshine, and in many cases, with many lenders, we aren’t even enabled to pay a mortgage with farming.</div>
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My question is: In the end, what is land really worth? Is it worth its utility? Beauty? Ecological richness? Potential for subdivision? We’ve found that this assessment is grossly arbitrary, depending on who holds the deed, and what predominates the surrounding land use. In addition, the fate of farmland no longer accessible through traditional financing structures is utterly dependent on the emotional constitution and financial expectations of the owner. Are they willing to carry the loan? Are they willing to sell below “market (development) value” so that a couple of modest means might be provided the opportunity to carry on true small-scale agriculture in that place?</div>
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One of my favorite Chinese proverbs states: <i>“You cannot build a foundation upon the sand.”</i> Long-term tenure is the bedrock of our future foundation. Without it, there is little incentive to prioritize regenerative agriculture over short-term gains. The management processes that flow from cautious observation are qualified only as we build life in our soil—this takes time, patience and a measure of success not easily captured through cut-and-dry cost-benefit economics. The soil, our greatest asset, appreciates in value with time and dedicated care—a task for which we, as humans, are well suited, and to which we cannot afford to tend without complete commitment to our future.</div>
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<span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Conner Voss first joined '<b><a href="http://tilth.org/">Oregon Tilth</a></b>' as an AmeriCorps member and has served as the Organic Education Center’s garden coordinator since October 2008. He is currently establishing a farm. This essay originally appeared in <a href="http://tilth.org/education-research/in-good-tilth-magazine/archive"><b>In Good Tilth</b></a> , a magazine devoted to the organic movement. IGT is project of Oregon Tilth , a non-profit advocating for biologically sound agriculture</span>. </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-53794405307860328672011-09-08T04:10:00.000-07:002011-09-08T04:38:43.920-07:00Can I Save the World ?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sY7QcVwo_u_sliujS0Zm49XVGSspOacPvYK2AOeBDiBqtRjSmQWe_6D0RjdXxiLH2SlHhf4TomgZwwL3gF20c5kc8JKfeMfgiGPaB_UDYYTv3AsEhJaX3VMU2ofaS1DW6ULZJg/s1600/science-mindmap.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sY7QcVwo_u_sliujS0Zm49XVGSspOacPvYK2AOeBDiBqtRjSmQWe_6D0RjdXxiLH2SlHhf4TomgZwwL3gF20c5kc8JKfeMfgiGPaB_UDYYTv3AsEhJaX3VMU2ofaS1DW6ULZJg/s320/science-mindmap.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649950215042103970" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">HeleneJa ponders if she can indeed fight Global Warming and save the World!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With so much information out there about global warming and the effects that are causing natural disasters, is there anything we as individuals can do to make a difference? Yep! You don't need to move mountains, but a small pebble can really make ripples that can create positive changes world wide. Here's a few "pebbles" you can use today!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We all feel we have a purpose in life. As more of us become aware of the damaging effects of global warming, we are also concerned about practical solutions to the problem. Most importantly, how can we fit in as part of the solution, instead of the problem?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, many of us become overwhelmed when we watch the ever-increasing natural disasters and it starts to feel like the world is crashing around us. I remember watching the plane hit the World Trade Center over and over and over again. I remember being completely paralyzed to the television. Sleep was optional, but only in between important news breaks. I felt helpless. I wanted to understand the reasoning behind the attacks to ease my fears of possible future attacks, but I mainly wanted a sense of control back into my life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I do not like to focus on the doom of global warming because that's not the best mindset for me to find solutions and implement actions. I truly believe we all can make a difference in our lives, in the lives of our families, friends and community. I also am a firm believer that every single action taken produces a ripple effect throughout the world. When we take a simple action such as changing a light bulb to a compact fluorescent bulb, a positive motion is set in place. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just for fun, let's see what can happen: (this will show how the action affects others)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- That old bulb in the living finally goes out. You go to your local hardware store and see miles of shelves of light bulbs! OY! (production of CFL bulbs)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Someone comes over to help and maybe suggest a CFL. "A what?" you ask. The assistant tells you that even though the bulb is more expensive than a basic tungsten bulb, it will last years longer, it will not burn hot, uses way less energy, thus saving you money every month AND prevents the release of more than 450 pounds of emission from a power plant normally used to light the old style bulbs into the air! (increased sales and more potential advertisement of a green product, decreased amount of carbons released into the atmosphere)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- You read the advertisement and glimpse the familiar EnergyStar sign. So, you think, "Why not!" (increased awareness of a great program)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- You go home and your kids ask you about the funny looking bulb. (educates the kids and tell their friends how smart their parents are!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Your friends come over for dinner and recognize the bulb, but never really considered buying one until now. (increased awareness through word-of mouth [extremely powerful!!!] and more potential sales, advertisement, decreased emissions)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- You get the electric bill the next month and notice you really did use less electricity AND saved a little money. ($$$)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- You go to buy more CFL bulbs and realize the prices dropped a bit due to increased sales! (supply and demand of a product that improves our world)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's just for changing one bulb! Just one action really can make an impact. Just because we do not always see the immediate results don't mean they aren't there!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what are the best solutions of global warming? Can we help save the world? Yep. I would first suggest do whatever feels right for you. The level of comfort will be different for everyone. To me, it can be summed up as: AWARENESS and ACTION </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AWARENESS</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My first exposure to environmental issues came about while working at Home Depot. I watch as a person chained himself to our lumber shelves and awaited the local police. His actions, maybe a bit extreme to some, created awareness to the customers, Home Depot and the media. Many of those same actions ultimately changed the way Home Depot purchased and sold lumber.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For me, my level of comfort was turning off the lights. The more I learned, the more I did to help the environment. Learning about basic, easy-to-do home repairs really made a difference and increased my confidence as well as the confidence of my customers. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, years later, I must say living in Thailand has taught me a lot about saving energy as well as joining together for what you believe in. I've seen Thais go to the employment office and march because wages were too low. I have witnessed the ousting of a political figure because the Thais felt betrayed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have greater respect for Thais and for others I've met from different countries. Their views and actions have taught me so much about global warming. I also have greater appreciation for our abilities as Americans to make changes worldwide. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So to further answer people's question - "What are the best solutions to global warming?" My suggestions are all easy to do, but the main factor lies with what is comfortable for you. If I am given a great idea, but is too time-intensive, I probably won't do it. But if it's as easy as hitting the enter key, now you got my attention!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ok. We are much more aware of what's going on. We understand we have a problem. Now what?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>ACTION</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I started with small steps. As I learned more, I found the bigger steps easier than I realized. I discussed my views with others and listened to their ideas. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My friends in Alabama recently installed solar heaters and a tankless water heater. Businesses are seeing the advantages of doing the right thing and stepping up their environmental cleaning efforts People from all walks of life have created petitions requesting a more proactive government. Even the 2008 Presidential Candidates are listening. Many are now including global warming as their primary issue. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Need some ideas to get your creative green juices flowing? OK! Here you go! Enjoy!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Get the family involved - make it fun and educational. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Make it a project during your child's science fair. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Chat with your friends - they may have some unique ideas. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Add a signature tag to your emails. I have a personal account with Yahoo. Whenever I send someone an email, my signature message or quote is at the end of the page. I create the signature once and forget about it. If you see a quote you like or have a message to share with others - signature it! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Find out what tax incentives or refunds are available to you, i.e. hybrid car tax incentives, toilet replacement rebates, deduct the costs of energy-saving appliances and energy renovations in your home. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Support greener businesses. Our money dictates what businesses sell. Our support encourages businesses to continue doing the right thing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Want to invest in the stock market? What companies are moving forward in clean-up? Researching new technologies? Contributing portions of their profits to support environmental organizations? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Vote. What candidates are fighting for positive changes in the environment? Who seems to be making global warming a primary focus in their campaign? How does the candidate balance global warming and the economy? Does the candidate understand the threat and what solutions does he or she offer? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Join others online and become a part of something bigger. In the past, petitions involved going door-to-door or standing near the mall entrance. Thanks to the internet, a letter to Congress has never been easier - or more effective! Read the letter already prepared. If you agree with it, type your name and hit ENTER! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Submit your ideas to websites. I would love input from you! Your ideas can be just what someone else needed! Many websites would also benefit from your thoughts and appreciate the communication! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Start a discussion group in your community. Barnes and Noble or Borders are excellent meetings spots. It's a great way to meet others and bounce around ideas. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Help improve your neighborhood. In Tampa, there's a wonderful community group that has a Project Lottery. Each participant chooses a project they need completed on their house. A name is pulled every month. The neighbors spend one weekend on the project. The lucky owner provides drinks and snacks to the neighbors volunteering. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Create a website of your own! Everyone has a voice. Today, websites are effective communicators and very inexpensive. Get the kids or the community involved. Let your voice be heard too! Even better, <a href="http://greencoalition.net/volunteer.html"><b><i>volunteer</i></b></a> for Green Coalition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>HeleneJa is a writer and an environmentalist in the making!</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-58725838276504241272011-08-25T00:44:00.000-07:002011-08-25T01:04:04.547-07:00Who is Corrupt?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_75iNBpK4lacfApDrcX7TwxtSfA4yOoHRhAek5FvJnUs6Ak2alNdfpsNVSw617SfbpSCPU5Wt6QSGIkK8hbAZ-hZ7evfPg3zd7kZpnwCVOqje0v_Px7ihQ6VWbtoshjU056hxg/s1600/corruption.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_75iNBpK4lacfApDrcX7TwxtSfA4yOoHRhAek5FvJnUs6Ak2alNdfpsNVSw617SfbpSCPU5Wt6QSGIkK8hbAZ-hZ7evfPg3zd7kZpnwCVOqje0v_Px7ihQ6VWbtoshjU056hxg/s200/corruption.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644699617554226882" /></a>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sourabh Thakur dissects the inherent hypocrisy surrounding the Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption Movement!</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Am I corrupt? Yes I am. </span>I put up a certain self-image in society to gain acceptance, money and power. I lie to my loved ones, protecting my self-image on the pretext of not hurting their feelings. I curb my anger in public to protect that image. I curb all the corrupt thoughts, lie to myself just to get a self-proclaimed label of a nice human being. Even my honesty comes with a carrot of an ego boost or spirituality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If I am caught drinking and driving, I pay a little money to get away. I try to avoid paying duty while carrying my expensive camera or laptop back home. I produce fake documents to reduce my taxes. I jump waiting lines whenever I can. I use pirated software. I pay my maid a piddly amount of money while I make big bucks myself. I take advantage of situations for my own good. I manipulate situations. I do emotional blackmailing. I use influential people in my life to get things done for me. I like free stuff.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If I am a father I bribe my kids to get good marks in exams. I bribe my dog to be a good dog (whatever that is). If I am a kid I bribe my parents by being a good kid. If I am a political party I bribe you with progress, protection and such vague stuff. If I am a religion I bribe you with god / nirvana / heaven to become good human beings. I even bribe god for good things to happen in my life. And most of the time I am bribing myself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If I am a CEO I can draw huge amount of moolah for myself, as I deserve it. If I want engineering seat I don’t mind paying donation, but at the same time condemn those who come from quota because they don’t deserve it. If I am a cricketer I can take money to influence match results. If I am a doctor I can get commission from pharmaceuticals to prescribe their drugs. If I run a newspaper I can take fee to publish certain news and suppress others. If I am a cop I can take money to register your FIR. If I am in advertising I can make money by lying to people about my product and trying to feed their fears. If I am an armyman I can rape powerless tribal women, and if I have permission I kill the men. If I am a multinational company I can make huge profits while running sweatshops. If I am a manager I can work to increase my company’s profit, with little regard about people working under me, while protecting my own personal life. If I earn hugely disproportionate amount of money compared to majority of the world I can give some of it as a charity and go gaga over my divine intentions. If I am social activist I can honestly work for social welfare while tirelessly filling my pockets with foreign funding.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am corrupt in different degrees in different situations according to the circumstances and my capacity. More the power I have, more the capacity to be even more corrupt. I am corrupt in the context of nature, world, nation, society, family and friends or just pure moral self. I am corrupt for money, status, acceptance, praise, power, pleasure, love, sex, nirvana, god, self-image, ego etc etc.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I live in a society where we need laws so that we don’t cheat each other. We need police so that we don’t kill each other. We need armies so that we don’t destroy our civilizations. We need democracy to tell us that we are all equal. We need false identity of a nation so that we can unite each other. And we need government to take care of all this and more for us, because if left on our own we desire attached power hungry selves would destroy everyone and everything around us. So we elect few amongst us, who seem capable or more like who promise to fulfill our hopes and dreams and visions, to run things for us. We give them power to run things for us and with that capacity to be more corrupt. We expect them not to take advantage of the powers that they have got while I continue to be corrupt in my own capacity. So I want to elect another mortal amongst us to police them, who will be totally honest, or create a system, which will not allow him to be otherwise. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">How and who are to choose such a person or create such a system? Who has such a keen understanding of human psychology to elect a person with all good intentions and honesty? If there can be such a system why isn’t it employed to elect the leader itself. And if this police become corrupt after all this, which is more likely looking at the history, are we to invent another police to police them?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I feel like a hypocrite shouting out against corruption, just because it is of a larger proportion and context. Who is to draw this imaginary line and where? Everybody have their own justifications for doing right or wrong things. I don’t want this unending loop of policing. I don’t want another hero who can change others. I want to change myself.
<br />
<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sourabh Thakur is a Designer/Photographer and lives in Calcutta. You can checkout his Tumblr profile</span> <a href="http://freaktreatment.tumblr.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">here</span></a>.
<br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-54978079893037827312011-08-25T00:16:00.000-07:002011-08-25T01:10:31.664-07:00FireFighting a Global Warming Duel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LEE1Uv8LJzdZ3kub730wpGd149AhaIdsvX5INB7USKASrc7Jai5oSQDj_DqCztQcwdzLYZ8EfzmF_UoXYO1yt_iraZcVBRpXntnTbIis2jOGIm9rVPZiJcJ6uDUtTVpfiMTo5A/s1600/ideasonic.com+Global_Warming_Cartoon.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: justify;float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LEE1Uv8LJzdZ3kub730wpGd149AhaIdsvX5INB7USKASrc7Jai5oSQDj_DqCztQcwdzLYZ8EfzmF_UoXYO1yt_iraZcVBRpXntnTbIis2jOGIm9rVPZiJcJ6uDUtTVpfiMTo5A/s200/ideasonic.com+Global_Warming_Cartoon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644695516860458290" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Daily news continues to roll in with regard to global warming and weather change especially but international and national policymakers remain unsure of both its veracity and consequences. Information that supports the theories of eco-alarmists and environmental skeptics alike seem to pepper the airwaves, while news of bush fires in Australia and devastating floods in India only aggravate the issue. To add to the barrage, I recently read that an internationally funded Weather satellite has just been tasked to exclusively study the melting of ice that sits atop the North Pole, allowing researchers to watch the movement of ice in great detail for the first time (yes, apparently first time). And the borders of Italy and Switzerland have to to reworked due to the melting icepeaks!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This issue that the human industrial presence was causing an unprecedented rise in global temperatures sparked a lively discussion among 2 of my close friends who are also involved in this area but in diametrically opposite fields. One is a researcher at a Greencetric NGO that actively hunts environmental violations by corporates and fights it out in courts while the other is a lawyer who coincidentally represents these corporate baddies. I played the firefighter albeit with a green bias and got to hear interesting arguments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For my attorney pal, he dismissed the alarmist point of view and argued that nature needs to be harnessed. With regard to ice melting at the poles and the Italian-Swiss borders, he felt we could gather scientific data before jumping to political conclusions. Just because a wacky global warming activist misrepresents scant satellite information for her own visionary schemes, he felt there was no reason to go off half-cocked and ban the global internal combustion engine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He complained that there were too many people who wanted social change at all costs, such as those who released urban bred animals to certain death in the forests rather than use them to warm our bodies or fill our stomachs, those who would rather leave millions starve for water than let build a dam and those who preach about poverty alleviation, govt negligence but themselves don’t pay the tax. Hmmm!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even if the ice was indeed melting at the poles, he argued that we needed to avoid the divisive rhetoric of the eco-radicals in dealing with it, if we need to deal with it at all. After all, he felt there has been far more damage to forests from Mother Nature’s rains and floods than harvesting by loggers would ever cause. And responsible loggers replant with a constructive purpose; nature still needs to be harnessed. Mother Nature doesn’t think, and often environmentalists and global warming worrywarts don’t take time for that either. He stated both needed to be challenged when they run amuck.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After my lawyer pal was through downing almost a full bottle of Smirnoff, my eco-warrior buddy made his case for caution in our overconsumption and overcopulating ways.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mother Nature, as you say, “needs to be harnessed” because we as a species have this mistaken notion that our running amuck is a “natural” Progression. If we hadn’t been so arrogant as to think plopping down 7 billion people on this planet wouldn’t have adverse effects on the climate, ecology, etc. then we’d understand that losing 200,000 acres of forest to wild fires isn’t that big a deal – or wasn’t till we reduced our forests to such a small tiny mass. We’d rather believe that this planet can get along fine with very limited populations of all species except our own.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sure, the ecosystem is very large and not all effects are felt immediately; however, the belief that our present course of action won’t result in the destabilization of said system and the destruction of the planet as we know it - is the same stupidity and lack foresight and judgement which resulted in so many our children being born deformed due to their parents either exposed or/ of drinking contaminated water and food. He added that everyone wanted to believe that if it looks good two years down the road, then there are no worries… but as we all now know, that’s a big mistake and too big a gamble to risk this planet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After hearing this loud verbal duel, I was left with enough food for thought of my own that I couldn’t declare a verdict nor present my personal view to this hugely gigantic issue. Mankind I realized needed a much bigger, collective and gargantuan firefighter for this burning problem and I was just a small fry. Really small indeed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>- <a href="http://websnacker.blogspot.com/">Websnacker</a> is a blogger/bootlegger from Antartica</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010372.post-23895401703723084172011-07-30T03:45:00.001-07:002011-07-30T04:05:56.801-07:00Green Coalition - Bessy Beach Cleanup 2011<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewY_qZjDO22ptvxtTwQQAQM1vHb6Uf3sRtUzI6PbUi9nrUhxiSTkuzn_Hki99JhD2QHyLegDiUVb8J188xqlLfjHSkSmLfdSBun6isn0S8cA9ASlZRQVlByMatujV5L91-GuyhQ/s1600/GreenCo_A3_TakeCare_Charge_Page_1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: justify;float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewY_qZjDO22ptvxtTwQQAQM1vHb6Uf3sRtUzI6PbUi9nrUhxiSTkuzn_Hki99JhD2QHyLegDiUVb8J188xqlLfjHSkSmLfdSBun6isn0S8cA9ASlZRQVlByMatujV5L91-GuyhQ/s200/GreenCo_A3_TakeCare_Charge_Page_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635097545542545778" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>550 Kgs of Beach Trash Combed in 3 Hours!</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-weight:bold;">Green Coalition</span> <b>Network</b> partnered with <span style="font-weight:bold;">Times of India</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Garnier</span> for the "<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150254962258855.326286.314008393854">Bessy Beach Cleanup</a></span>" on July 24, 2011. This was the only officially endorsed "<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/TakeCareTakeCharge">Take Care Take Charge</a></span>" environment day event in Chennai, India and was held at the Elliots Beach in Besant Nagar between 6 AM and 9 AM.<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 500 volunteers across different age groups participated in the Beach cleanup. This included school and college students, corporate staff, beach patrons besides members, interns and volunteers of Green Coalition Network and other NGOs which ensured the clean up was a great success. A special mention to the <b>AVM Rajeswari School</b> since they enthusiastically contributed over 200 students for the cleanup besides the CSR sponsors - <b>Logica, Royal Sundaram Insurance</b> and <b>Ideasonic Studios</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Armed with protective hand gloves, caps, recyclable trash bags and jute sacks, each of our volunteer removed an estimated one KG each of trash from the beach sands, the shore and the beach roads. Some of our more active volunteers individually collected over 5 kgs each! Plastic, paper, cigarette butts, straws, thermocol, styrofoam, footwear, glass, food wrappers, metal objects, wood chunks besides odd surprises like broken helmets, old tires, floppy disks and a significant amount of clothing trash were combed from the beach area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Approximately 550 Kgs of trash and marine debris was collected, brought to the shore and kept aside with regular garbage for collection by the Chennai Corporation conservancy dept. This is an impressive achievement considering the cleanup started before sunrise with an inclement rain soaked weather the previous night and some of our volunteers being absolute first-timers. Awareness lectures and distribution of leaflets were also organised for the benefit of the student volunteers and the local citizenry at the beach. This incidentally was the second beach cleanup organised by Green Coalition this year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can view the event pics on the official Take Care Take Charge <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.230076327030592.53588.110798535625039">Facebook community page </a>or the Green Coalition <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150254962258855.326286.314008393854">Facebook page</a>.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2