the drop » Environment

The Most Polluted Places on Planet Earth

The international non-profit environmental action group, the Blacksmith Institute, last week released its rankings of the world’s most polluted places. Out of over 300 sites nominated by NGOs and local communities, 35 were identified by an advisory board of international environment and health experts as meriting special emphasis. Of these, ten locations were singled out for tragic infamy, ranked together as the Top 10 worst polluted places on the planet:

Read on »

Wheels on Meals

18,000 miles at the cost of 4 cents per mile

‘Grease Not Gas’ is a group dedicated to social change through alternative fuels. Originally founded to create a diesel-to-oil information DVD, their project has grown, through collaborations with Snowboarder Magazine and MTV, into a documentary detailing the ins and outs of renewable energy. The movie shows the nationwide tour of the band Piebald and their snowboarding friends, who’re traveling across the US powered by SVO (straight veggie oil) and WVO (waste veggie oil).
Read on »

City’s ‘Green Lungs’ Can Be Anywhere

Go to 'Respiratory Oases' on WorldChanging

Elegant Embellishments is developing a decorative, three-dimensional architectural tile that can reduce vehicular air pollution — specifically, nitrous oxide and ground-level ozone — in urban environments. EE’s tiles respond to the priorities set by the EU Clean Air Strategy 2005, which aims to reduce pollution deaths by over 100,000, and air pollution related damages by up to 45 billion Euros annually. Emissions from combustion engines are identified as the largest contributor to air pollution in cities and often invisibly affect our breathable air. The tiles, when positioned near pollutant sources, can re-appropriate these polluted spaces for safe pedestrian use.
Read on »

Third Annual Ethical Fashion Show in Paris

The third edition of The Ethical Fashion Show takes place in Paris this weekend. The fair presents fashion that respects people and the environment. Over 20 nationalities and cultures will be represented. Organizers say that the fair seeks to be a unifying event where the fashion industries’ various players meet.
Read on »

EU REACH Legislation on Hazardous Chemicals

NGOs and chemical companies battle over European REACH legislation. (Photo: Photocase)

An article in the International Herald Tribune announced that the European Parliament environmental committee approved proposed REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) legislation. The draft rules, which are being contested by major chemical companies, still need to pass voting by the EU Parliament and member governments.

At the Chemical Policy Institute website, there’s a comprehensive rundown on the stakeholders in the fight to pass REACH. The outline analyzes the key issues of the dispute, the costs and benefits of the legislation, and the major players.
Read on »

Farming for Biofuels

Fields of Biofuel

This week on BBC’s Green Room, president of the UK’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Peter Kendall, argues that UK agriculture can meet the country’s demand for both food and fuel crops: “Farmers in the UK see the opportunity to provide the feedstock to biofuel producers as a way to deliver secure, low-carbon fuel to the nation’s motorists.”, he says.
Read on »

Chinese Car Boom

On a recent ‘Car Free Day’ in Beijing, the capital was clogged with vehicles and the sky a drab shade of grey. The sheer number of cars on the roads had made a mockery of the city initiative to make dwellers ride their bicycles or use the public transport. As the expanding Chinese middle class aspires to car ownership, studies project China will have more cars on the road than the United States within 15 years. For everyone from environmental activists to government officials, China’s growing addiction to the automobile is a worrying trend.
Read on »

Recycle Your Cell-Phone, Save a Gorilla

Adopt a gorilla at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

Zoo Atlanta and The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International are working together with a company called Eco-Cell to recycle cell phones, help the environment and raise money for gorilla conservation. Cell phones and other electronics contain a number of hazardous substances that can have a serious impact on the environment. Donating your phone and having it recycled will ensure that they will be reused or properly recycled. For each cell phone received, a donation will be made to The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.
Read on »

Sour Apples

Greenpeace is calling all Apple fans to join the campaign for demanding the company to create greener products. Apple fans love the sleek design and the meticulous attention to detail. But why do the products still contain hazardous substances that other companies have already abandoned? Greenpeace argues that a cutting edge company shouldn’t be cutting lives short by exposing children in China and India to dangerous chemicals, but should rather be setting a green standard in the market.
Read on »

Amazon Deforestation: Brazil is taking action

Aerial shots showing deforestation along the Rio Branco River. ( WWF-Canon / Mark Edwards)

One of the questions answered at the Table of Free Voices on September 9 was “What can I do, and tell others to do, to stop global warming?”, donated by Nancy Clemons. In a BBC article published this week I found out what the Brazilian State of Acre is doing about Global Warming induced by deforestation. The government of Acre has embarked on reforestation as public policy. It intends to make cattle ranchers reforest land which they have cleared for grazing. Up until a decade ago, private landowners were allowed to deforest 50% of their land. Luis Menezes of WWF group in the Acre capital Rio Branco says the impact of deforestation is being felt locally:
Read on »

“Business Rebel” Richard Branson pledges $3 billion to combat global warming

Branson at the opening event of one of his many brands: Virgin Bride. Next costume will be green...

Story found at lime: Richard Branson, the British mogul behind the Virgin multi-brand, plans to invest the profits from all transportation sectors — including train companies and five airlines - in research and business efforts to develop and promote renewable, sustainable energy sources. From signing the Sex Pistols in his early Virgin years to offering space flights – Branson is known for audacious projects and thinking BIG. The original AP story reveals that Branson made the decision after talking with former US Vice-President Al Gore - whose movie “An Inconvenient Truth” about Climate Change changed some minds in the States.

Read on »

“Are brands more powerful than governments?”

A post on the ‘Think Progress’ website shows a segment from a recent BBC report that revealed a “direct link between the tobacco companies and the claim that climate change isn’t happening.” In 1993 Philip Morris set up a grass roots coalition to “cast doubt on studies showing that second-hand tobacco smoke is dangerous for health.” In order not to raise suspicion that the company was involved, Philip Morris decided to “‘link the tobacco issue with other more politically correct products’ and campaign on issues like global warming.” The result was The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which was the first and most important of the corporate-funded organisations denying that climate change is taking place. It has done more damage to the campaign to halt it than any other body.

Read on »

“Is there an ecological limit to economic growth?”

California is the largest car market in the US

An article published in ‘The Independent’ today reports that the State of California, already at the forefront of the fight against global warming, filed an unprecedented lawsuit against six leading car manufacturers yesterday, arguing that exhaust fumes caused untold millions of dollars in damage to the state’s weather, economy and public health. The state attorney is seeking unspecified damages from General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota and Nissan because they “either knew or should have known the severe impact their vehicles would have on the health of the planet”.
Read on »

BILL JOY on our Innovation Acceleration

100 answers from Free Voices like Bill Joy now avaiable

Among the 100 questions that Bill Joy answered at the Table of Free Voices were 13 questions about “Innovation Acceleration: Science, Technology and the Future.” Read what the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Green Technology investor, and the man Fortune magazine calls the “Edison of the Internet” has to say about the social impact of new media, local food, and why companies should insure against genetic catastrophes. Here are some (exclusive) transcribed excerpts of Joy’s answers from the “Innovation Acceleration” question session from the Table of Free Voices. Like all content from the Table, Joy’s answers are Copyleft.
Read on »

“Is Corporate Social Responsibility Possible?”

Waste was unloaded from the ship in the middle of the night

Last week, a Holland-based multinational firm unloaded about 600 tons of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan that poisoned over 10,000 people and killed 7. Environmental pressure group Greenpeace said the dumped sludge was made up of oil refining waste, rich in organic matter and poisonous elements. These include hydrogen sulphide and organochloride, which cause nausea, rashes, fainting, diarrhea and headaches. When I read about this disaster, a question from the Table came to mind: “Is corporate social responsibility possible?”
Read on »

Brian J. Weller’s MIND-MAPS

The array of extraordinary people, ideas and exchanges all around me is overwhelming. An example: over lunch, I was lucky enough to meet Brian J. Weller and take a look at his extraordinary mind-maps, ingenious resources for fostering a well thought-out response to these challenging questions.
Read on »

Reef Encounter

The scene today on the Great Barrier Reef Â© WWF-Canon / JÃ¼rgen Freund

The bizarre death of Aussie naturalist and showman Steve Irwin has focussed attention on a section of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s north eastern coast, near Port Douglas. In 2004, after four years of steadfast campaigning by the WWF, the Reef was transformed into the world’s largest network of “Marine Protection Areas”: the zone covered increased from 4.6 per cent to 33 per cent, or 11,000,000ha.
Read on »

Design for Life

Massive Change exhibit, © Bruce Mau Design Inc 2006

What is sustainable design? Its reach is enormous. Everything from a Kinder Egg to a skyscraper is designed but sustainable design seeks to develop goods that will leave a minimal environmental footprint and not cause tricky social or economic consequences and that’s a tall order.
Read on »

Reinventing School Lunch

Let's get the grease out of school lunches

In relation to my ASK YOURSELF Blog Post from August 28, ‘Where can I find open-source food?’ I came across an article by Micheal Ableman from the Center for EcoLiteracy on the Alternet site: “Imagine a world where students could plant, harvest and cultivate the foods they eat in their school cafeterias.” Here are some highlights from the article:
Read on »

Historic Deal on Global Warming in California

Hasta la vista, gass emissions!

California would become the first state to impose a limit on all greenhouse gas emissions, including those from industrial plants, under a landmark deal reached Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats. The agreement marks a clear break with the Bush administration and puts California on a path to reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an estimated 25 percent by 2020.
Read on »

Environmental Justice and Katrina

In the Wake of the Storm is a case-study based analysis of Katrina in the context of the greater movement for environmental justice, published by the Russell Sage Foundation. After the “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) trends of the 70’s, U.S. environmental justice campaigns became more prevalent in the decades following, in an attempt to protect minorities and the disenfranchised from disproportionate effects of environmental hazards within their communities.
Read on »

Profitable Reforesting

The Finca Leola farm in Costa Rica.

Planting trees not just sustainably (which would be to plant them as fast as you harvest them), but over-sustainably (plant faster than you harvest) can reverse deforestation and be profitable at the same time. There are several profitable reforestation projects around the world now. EcoWorld features a blog forum where individuals can learn more about the money side of reforestation and get useful advice on how to start their own farm.
Read on »

ASK YOURSELF: “Where can I buy open-source food?”

This question was donated by Marco Steel, 28, of Berlin, Antigua and Barbuda. It reminded me of the recent documentary ‘We Feed the World’ by Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer, which offered some unappetizing answers to the question ‘what do we know about the food on our plates?’. Consumer Awareness is the key.
Read on »

Defining Ecotourism: Is the Flight Included?

The Bishop of London calls flying on holiday a symptom of sin.

On the Idealist blog, there’s a recent link to a story on World Changing about an ecotourism project in Patagonia, Chile, called Dos Margaritas. While the profile highlights a successful project, the comments tell a larger story about the ecotourism concept. World Changing readers replied to the post concerned about the vague definition of “ecotourism” and the lack of standardization and certification for ecotravel companies.
Read on »

112 Free Voices: Sydney Possuelo & the Quixotic Life of a Sertanista

“I have been called Don Quixote due to my absolute conviction that one man alone can change the world. A chain of men who partake similar conviction can do it faster and permanently. I believe this unprecedented event can be the first step towards a future we’ve dreamed about.”
Read on »

features

Upgrading International Development, Part II

Upgrading International Development

Fighting Corruption: Bribe Payers Index 2006

Recycle Your Cell-Phone, Save a Gorilla

A Look Behind the Prison Walls

The Homeless World Cup 2006

Reach Out and Finance Someone

Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Iranian Bloggers Joined by President Ahmadinejad

Creating A New Universe

reads

ngo action

subscribe

tags

friends

Environment

The Most Polluted Places on Planet Earth

Wheels on Meals

City’s ‘Green Lungs’ Can Be Anywhere

Third Annual Ethical Fashion Show in Paris

EU REACH Legislation on Hazardous Chemicals

Farming for Biofuels

Chinese Car Boom

Recycle Your Cell-Phone, Save a Gorilla

Sour Apples

Amazon Deforestation: Brazil is taking action

“Business Rebel” Richard Branson pledges $3 billion to combat global warming

“Are brands more powerful than governments?”

“Is there an ecological limit to economic growth?”

BILL JOY on our Innovation Acceleration

“Is Corporate Social Responsibility Possible?”

Brian J. Weller’s MIND-MAPS

Reef Encounter

Design for Life

Reinventing School Lunch

Historic Deal on Global Warming in California

Environmental Justice and Katrina

Profitable Reforesting

ASK YOURSELF: “Where can I buy open-source food?”

Defining Ecotourism: Is the Flight Included?

112 Free Voices: Sydney Possuelo & the Quixotic Life of a Sertanista