Source: http://ecowatch.com
joi, 26 mai 2016
Could these five inventions help save our planet?
From used coffee grounds to recycling seashells, here are 5 interesting inventions that could help save our planet! As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Climate change has happened because of human behaviour, therefore it’s only natural it should be us, human beings, to address this issue.” We think this list of inventions definitely gives us a glimpse into the potential of individuals everywhere to change climate change. :)
1. Art meets technology in the shape of Kirigami-inspired solar cells
Combining the ancient Japanese art of paper-cutting (Kirigami) with modern day technology, a team of researchers at the University of Michigan developed solar cells that cut through the inefficiencies of the conventional, flat solar panels. With the ability to track the sun across the sky, these new solar panels capture up to 40% more energy, giving a bright future to solar technology!
© Aaron Lamoureux
2. Coffee, a daily savior for many, could also save the planet!
Researchers from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have recently discovered a way to save our planet with used coffee grounds, giving us yet another reason to love coffee!
According to their research, coffee could help ease global warming by helping to capture methane, which is the second most abundant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere and 25 times worse than carbon dioxide.
So the next time you feel guilty about having yet another dose of caffeine, just remember this - you could be saving the Earth. ;)
3. Teen's invention waves goodbye to undersea oil spills
Almost half of our marine life has disappeared in the last four decades and that’s why our oceans, natural heroes in the fight against climate change, need all the help they can get! 18-year-old Karan Jerath of Friendswood, Texas, invented a device that could stop a spill and prevent an ecological catastrophe by collecting spewing oil, gas and water from broken wells on the seafloor.
The gadget could provide a safety net for our marine life while the world shifts toward renewable energy. :)
4. Living in a container to contain one’s ecological footprint! Does living in a shipping container sound absurd to you? Hold on to that thought before you say yes, because Dutch startup Sustainer Homes is on its way to showing the world that with a little imagination and remodeling, used shipping containers could become the ultimate green home!
Set in a converted shipping container, these repurposed homes come complete with a bedroom, bathroom, full kitchen, and a living room, that’s all constructed from wood-free, Eco-board panels. The best part? The entire thing costs approximately $78,000 – a fraction of what most people would have to fork up for a home.
Looks like the folks at Sustainer Homes just proved that sometimes thinking outside the box could mean living inside one. ;)
5. Shoring up support for our oceans on the shore The importance of our oceans is simply unquantifiable. To name a few, they produce half the oxygen we breathe, play an integrate role in our fight against climate change, and absorb 30% of the carbon dioxide we produce. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s causing its acidity levels to rise and thus impacting marine life.
However, this Google Science Fair project suggests that the ocean itself, truly a treasure trove of wonders, could hold the key to easing its rising acidity levels as well. The secret ingredient? Recycled seashells! Almost entirely made up of calcium carbonate, recycled seashells could act as an alkaline buffer to reduce the acidity levels of oceans. Pretty amazing, don’t you think?
10 Food Habits You Can Change to Save the Earth
Climate change
is a reality and there’s much that we all need to do to save our
planet, making life
sustainable and energy renewable. We don’t realise
this, but every little thing we do, eventually affects the environment.
Food too plays a big role in the environment. Agriculture, food processing units, animal rearing and food wastage
are some of the major factors hampering the Earth; getting only worse
over the years. This world has finite resources and we are polluting
them with the use of chemicals and other toxins. The truth is, more we
ignore these issues, the more we will find ourselves in trouble in the
coming years. This, is the reason why we need to start, and start now.
If you are wondering how you can help, you will be surprised by the many
little ways you actually can save the world.
1. Food is Valuable
Firstly, we need to understand that food is valuable. Yes, a lot of us have the money. Yes, many may be able to walk into a supermarket or restaurant and pick whatever the heart demands. But try and always ask yourself, do you really need it? The resources in this world are limited, and more we learn to value them and use them wisely, the more it will benefit us.
2. Stop Food Wastage
Remember when you were a little child and every time you tried to waste some food, your mother would stand guard to ensure that you finished every morsel on the plate? It was a strict no, and you had to finish every item that you took on your plate, including that little serving of bitter gourd or some other strange tasting veggie. If only that rule still applied! You will be surprised to learn the amount of food wastage that every restaurant and hotel or even an urban household is guilty of. While the poor go hungry, some of us are mindless about the varied choices that we are lucky to be surrounded with.
3. Buy Local
Yes, that should be your new mantra. While the exotic imported ingredients on the supermarket shelves may look gorgeous, luring you to pick them up, the fact is, they are far from being fresh or nutritious. What you are consuming are probably empty calories (and chemicals). According to Brian Halweil, author of Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket, "transporting produce sometimes requires irradiation (zapping the produce with a burst of radiation to kill germs) and preservatives (such as wax) to protect the produce which is subsequently refrigerated during the trip. While no definitive study quantifies the impact of these treatments, there is good reason to believe that eating local is really the safer option."
So learn to appreciate the bounty of the region you come from. They are your best sources of vitamins and minerals, and they are all around you!
4. Seasonal Eating
Because we have the luxury of picking up all sorts of fruits and vegetables from the supermarkets, we fall prey to the vicious cycle of mass production, and more often of unnatural means. It is not without reason that our elders tell us that there is a season for everything. Wouldn’t you agree when I say that red carrots and oranges taste the best come winter? Or summers are redundant without biting into luscious mangoes?
According to a study done by researcher in Japan, they found a huge difference in the vitamin C content of spinach harvested in summer versus that in winter. Similarly, a research study conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in London, England, found significant differences in the nutrient content of pasteurized milk in summer versus winter due to differences in the diets of the cows, who were fed more salt-preserved foods in the winters.
Keep an eye out on the seasonal chart to learn what fruits and vegetables are in season and plan your diet accordingly. Besides having some fun in the kitchen, you will also be loading up on essential nutrients and contributing to ending the demand and supply of all-year round produce.
5. Cut Down on Meat
Yes, you have heard it before and probably get annoyed that everyone preaches about turning vegetarian, but there may be some truth to it. Animal rearing requires a lot of resources, including land area and water, and meat production contributes hugely to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. According to Steinfeld et al, a group of researchers from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems." This includes stresses such as deforestation, desertification, excretion of polluting nutrients, overuse of freshwater, inefficient use of energy, diverting food for use as feed and emission of GHGs.
A Smithsonian study estimates that the need for grazing land and grain feed leads to the destruction of a land area equivalent to seven football fields in the Amazon basin every single minute. Also, meat production requires gallons and gallons of water. So it can be said that a single quarter-pounder hamburger is the equivalent of giving up four weeks of luxurious showers! In short, we don’t expect you to turn vegetarian overnight, but you can make a conscious effort to cut down.
6. Crop Cycle
Crop cycle is the foundation of agriculture. Each crop has its growing period and how the changing season, soil and the natural environment impacts it growth. And more than anything, soil is a natural resource and overusing it only reaps it off its incredible nurturing properties. Yet we use it and abuse it over and over again as we adopt aggressive agricultural practices, which make available all-year round produce to our neighbourhoods. While it ensures the availability of constant food sources, the question really is, at what cost? Remember the time when we would havemakki ki rotior bajra only in winters, ragiduring early spring and jowar for summers? There is a right time for the good things in life, and you need to wait for it.
7. Oh Fish!
There was a time when we would wait desperately for the monsoon season to get over in order to relish our beloved hilsa, rohu, pomfret, mackarel and other fish. Monsoon time is their breeding season. But over the years, due to the high demand of fish, there has been no respite to this natural process, as fish trawlers are over-harvesting, hampering the natural cycle. According to the environmental activist organisation Greenpeace, 80% of fish stocks around the world are over exploited or on the verge of being so.
How can you help? Find out about the right season, and buy accordingly. Abstain from fish in their breeding season, to maintain the marine ecological balance. Remember, there’s more than what meets the eye.
8. Go Organic
You have heard it a million times and you still hear it time and again. Going organic is the way ahead. Most of the "fresh" foods available in the markets are all laden with chemicals and pesticides, which over the years may end up causing various harmful effects to our body, such as cancer, to name one. It’s about time you start paying a little attention to what you are filling your grocery carts with and how you can make a change for yourself and your dear ones.
9. Cook Food
Easier said than done, but there is an immense pleasure in being able to cook your own food. The busy lives that we live today, where we are constantly chasing time, we often tend to dine out and get our hands on any fast food to curb those hunger pangs. And that’s exactly where we are going wrong. Say goodbye to packaged, processed and fast food, and start taking some time out to cook. Pick your favourite food items and find easy recipes to dish them out, and you will be surprised on the many benefits it brings about to your health.
10. Grow Your Greens
This is actually the best way to eating healthy and saving the environment. And it is extremely easy. All you need is a little space in your home – a balcony, window sill or a backyard – and some basic tools to get started. Once you get into the flow, you could be plucking fresh tomatoes, herbs, chillies, lime et al right at your place. To know more, read Hooked on Greens: 10 Exotic Veggies That You Can Grow at Home.
1. Food is Valuable
Firstly, we need to understand that food is valuable. Yes, a lot of us have the money. Yes, many may be able to walk into a supermarket or restaurant and pick whatever the heart demands. But try and always ask yourself, do you really need it? The resources in this world are limited, and more we learn to value them and use them wisely, the more it will benefit us.
2. Stop Food Wastage
Remember when you were a little child and every time you tried to waste some food, your mother would stand guard to ensure that you finished every morsel on the plate? It was a strict no, and you had to finish every item that you took on your plate, including that little serving of bitter gourd or some other strange tasting veggie. If only that rule still applied! You will be surprised to learn the amount of food wastage that every restaurant and hotel or even an urban household is guilty of. While the poor go hungry, some of us are mindless about the varied choices that we are lucky to be surrounded with.
3. Buy Local
Yes, that should be your new mantra. While the exotic imported ingredients on the supermarket shelves may look gorgeous, luring you to pick them up, the fact is, they are far from being fresh or nutritious. What you are consuming are probably empty calories (and chemicals). According to Brian Halweil, author of Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket, "transporting produce sometimes requires irradiation (zapping the produce with a burst of radiation to kill germs) and preservatives (such as wax) to protect the produce which is subsequently refrigerated during the trip. While no definitive study quantifies the impact of these treatments, there is good reason to believe that eating local is really the safer option."
So learn to appreciate the bounty of the region you come from. They are your best sources of vitamins and minerals, and they are all around you!
4. Seasonal Eating
Because we have the luxury of picking up all sorts of fruits and vegetables from the supermarkets, we fall prey to the vicious cycle of mass production, and more often of unnatural means. It is not without reason that our elders tell us that there is a season for everything. Wouldn’t you agree when I say that red carrots and oranges taste the best come winter? Or summers are redundant without biting into luscious mangoes?
According to a study done by researcher in Japan, they found a huge difference in the vitamin C content of spinach harvested in summer versus that in winter. Similarly, a research study conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in London, England, found significant differences in the nutrient content of pasteurized milk in summer versus winter due to differences in the diets of the cows, who were fed more salt-preserved foods in the winters.
Keep an eye out on the seasonal chart to learn what fruits and vegetables are in season and plan your diet accordingly. Besides having some fun in the kitchen, you will also be loading up on essential nutrients and contributing to ending the demand and supply of all-year round produce.
5. Cut Down on Meat
Yes, you have heard it before and probably get annoyed that everyone preaches about turning vegetarian, but there may be some truth to it. Animal rearing requires a lot of resources, including land area and water, and meat production contributes hugely to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. According to Steinfeld et al, a group of researchers from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems." This includes stresses such as deforestation, desertification, excretion of polluting nutrients, overuse of freshwater, inefficient use of energy, diverting food for use as feed and emission of GHGs.
A Smithsonian study estimates that the need for grazing land and grain feed leads to the destruction of a land area equivalent to seven football fields in the Amazon basin every single minute. Also, meat production requires gallons and gallons of water. So it can be said that a single quarter-pounder hamburger is the equivalent of giving up four weeks of luxurious showers! In short, we don’t expect you to turn vegetarian overnight, but you can make a conscious effort to cut down.
6. Crop Cycle
Crop cycle is the foundation of agriculture. Each crop has its growing period and how the changing season, soil and the natural environment impacts it growth. And more than anything, soil is a natural resource and overusing it only reaps it off its incredible nurturing properties. Yet we use it and abuse it over and over again as we adopt aggressive agricultural practices, which make available all-year round produce to our neighbourhoods. While it ensures the availability of constant food sources, the question really is, at what cost? Remember the time when we would havemakki ki rotior bajra only in winters, ragiduring early spring and jowar for summers? There is a right time for the good things in life, and you need to wait for it.
7. Oh Fish!
There was a time when we would wait desperately for the monsoon season to get over in order to relish our beloved hilsa, rohu, pomfret, mackarel and other fish. Monsoon time is their breeding season. But over the years, due to the high demand of fish, there has been no respite to this natural process, as fish trawlers are over-harvesting, hampering the natural cycle. According to the environmental activist organisation Greenpeace, 80% of fish stocks around the world are over exploited or on the verge of being so.
How can you help? Find out about the right season, and buy accordingly. Abstain from fish in their breeding season, to maintain the marine ecological balance. Remember, there’s more than what meets the eye.
8. Go Organic
You have heard it a million times and you still hear it time and again. Going organic is the way ahead. Most of the "fresh" foods available in the markets are all laden with chemicals and pesticides, which over the years may end up causing various harmful effects to our body, such as cancer, to name one. It’s about time you start paying a little attention to what you are filling your grocery carts with and how you can make a change for yourself and your dear ones.
9. Cook Food
Easier said than done, but there is an immense pleasure in being able to cook your own food. The busy lives that we live today, where we are constantly chasing time, we often tend to dine out and get our hands on any fast food to curb those hunger pangs. And that’s exactly where we are going wrong. Say goodbye to packaged, processed and fast food, and start taking some time out to cook. Pick your favourite food items and find easy recipes to dish them out, and you will be surprised on the many benefits it brings about to your health.
10. Grow Your Greens
This is actually the best way to eating healthy and saving the environment. And it is extremely easy. All you need is a little space in your home – a balcony, window sill or a backyard – and some basic tools to get started. Once you get into the flow, you could be plucking fresh tomatoes, herbs, chillies, lime et al right at your place. To know more, read Hooked on Greens: 10 Exotic Veggies That You Can Grow at Home.
Source: food.ndtv.com
17 Ridiculously Easy Things You Can Do To Help Save The Earth Every Day
!
Additionally, CNN reports
that if you live in an urban area, you should try to push for your
building to acquire a “cool roof.” Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory estimated that if 80 percent of roofs in tropical
and temperate climate areas were painted white, it could offset the
greenhouse gas emissions of 300 million automobiles around the world.
PPCPs (Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants) are present in most products people use for cosmetic or personal health reasons.
These include over the counter and prescription drugs and cosmetics.
The pollutants from these products are never absorbed by the human body,
so they often run off into the wastewater and often end up causing
ecological harm.
marți, 24 mai 2016
Levi Strauss & Co. hungs the Earth
Here at Levi Strauss & Co., our company and our products are Made of Progress. We take bold steps to do the right thing and have a long history of firsts. As it relates to sustainability, we’re thankful for the opportunity to move the apparel industry forward.
But we also believe every person who wears our products has the power to impact change as well. Through small actions — for example, washing less — we can make a big impact. Our LCA Pledge may be wrapping up soon, but here are 13 ways you can take action to make the environment healthier on Earth Day. But why stop there? Commit to adopting at least a few of these sustainable practices on a regular basis.
- Plant A Tree This might be the most obvious Earth Day activity — and the most popular — but its benefits extend far beyond the act’s symbolic nature. Trees help filter pollution from the air, provide homes for wildlife, help recycle water, and prevent soil loss.
- Pick Up Litter This simple act requires nothing more than a bag and willing, gloved hands. More than 1.9 billion tons of litter end up in the ocean every year. By taking just a few hours to clean up your sidewalk, you’re helping save endangered marine life and keeping plastic out of the seafood we all enjoy.
- Bike To Work Bike To Work Day might not be until next month, but there’s no reason you can’t switch up your commute now to make a significant environmental impact. Motor vehicles alone are responsible for 31 percent of total carbon dioxide and 81 percent of total carbon monoxide released in the U.S.
- Volunteer At An Earth Day Event In Your Area Not sure how to make a difference solo? Join a team. From cleaning beaches to restoring habitats, there are multiple opportunities to participate in an Earth Day activity that interests you. Research first and consider rallying your friends, children, and acquaintances to come along.
- Buy Local Food Transporting food over long distances emits hundreds of pounds of greenhouse gasses. Plus, according to the Institute of Food Research, the majority of produce in grocery stores has often lost almost 45 percent of its nutritional value by the time you purchase it. Buying local is not just good for the planet — it’s good for you too!
- Unplug Appliances The typical American has 40 household appliances plugged in at any one moment. Even when turned off, they still gobble up energy, costing you money and consuming precious resources. Decrease energy use by unplugging your coffeemaker, television, radio, and lamps (to name just a few) when they’re not in use.
- Watch Your Water Use Hopefully, you’ll be ringing in Earth Day by completing our LCA pledge of washing less. Unzipped recently gave you the lowdown on 17 other ways you can save water everyday, from knocking minutes of your shower to reusing your towels. Pledge to do at least a few of them on Earth Day, and for weeks to come.
- Commit To Purchasing Sustainable Apparel Make a statement with your pocketbook by buying sustainably produced apparel. Whether that’s abandoning fast-fashion pieces in favor of more timeless and durable options, shopping vintage, or investing in our Water<Less collection, adoption of sustainable shopping habits will change the future of the industry.
- Go Paperless If you’re receiving pay stubs, credit card bills, or phone bills via mail, consider updating. It is the 21st century, after all. Added bonus? You’ll cut clutter.
- Write A Letter We don’t shy away from making a statement here at LS&Co., and you shouldn’t either. Write a letter to your Congressional representatives demanding that they take action on climate change. Tell them you want their support on clean energy and energy efficiency.
- Switch Light Bulbs The incandescent bulb is (mostly) dead. Commit to never buying another inefficient bulb again, and make the switch to LEDs, CFLs or halogens. Unless incandescents are updated to comply with new energy standards, you soon won’t have a choice.
- Skip The Bottled Water Plastic water bottles are an environmental epidemic. They take over 1,000 years to biodegrade. When incinerated, they produce toxic fumes. And U.S. landfills are overflowing with more than two million tons of them. Get your H20 fix from the tap; America has some of the cleanest tap water in the world and the Bay Area is near the top for cleanest in America.
- Start A Compost Food scraps and yard waste make up 20 -30 percent of what humans throw out. Composting keeps your leftovers out of a landfill, reduces your use of chemical fertilizers, enriches the earth’s soil, and encourages production of beneficial bacteria and fungi.
Source: www.levistrauss.com
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