Clipmarks | urbanlife's clips

Great Lakes Basin Compact: Protect a Natural & National Treasure

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:50:50 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: The Great Lakes are a finite, non-renewable natural treasure - containing a combined total of 6 quadrillion gallons of water — one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. The lakes span 10,900 miles of coastline along the United States and Canada. The surface area of the lakes is larger than the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire combined.

In 1998, there was a Lake Superior-based company in Ontario that proposed to take water by tanker out of Lake Superior to Asia.

This proposal failed and spurred the Great Lakes governors to take action. In 2001, they agreed to a framework to begin negotiating the compact. By 2005, they had a deal to take to their state legislatures...the base for the Great Lakes Basin Compact.

It says clearly that the Great Lakes should not be the long-term water supply answer for any other part of the world or any other part of the country.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Clip Source: www.progressohio.org

Clip Source: mff.dsisd.net

Clip Source: www.minnesotalakes.net

Clip Source: www.npr.org

The eight Great Lakes states are on the verge of sending to Congress an accord that would keep water from being diverted out of the Great Lakes watershed.

The five Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario — contain about 90 percent of the fresh surface water in the U.S. and about one-fifth of the entire world's supply.

The Great Lakes Water Compact aims to protect the lakes from large-scale water diversions.

Less than 1 percent of these great lakes are renewed every year through rain and snow melt

we have to make sure that the water that we have stays here and doesn't get squandered

In addition to Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes compact has been approved by the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and New York.

The compact, first and foremost, requires those within the Great Lakes basin to take better care of it.

states are required to develop water conservation plans and water quality standards

prohibits large-scale diversions of Great Lakes water

Clip Source: cache.eb.com

Clip Source: sitemaker.umich.edu

Clip Source: www.indianawildlife.org

Clip Source: www.expressmilwaukee.com

Tags: water, environment, natural resource, protect, limited supply, freshwater

San Quentin's Paradox: 360 Inmates in 1 Cell

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:31:04 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Nobody deserves to live this way: Within 10 years, California's prison population has doubled. Now all of California's prisons are at twice or three times their capacity.

360 inmates live in the gym because there's no room anywhere else. For anyone to say this is not a frightening type of experience is wrong.

70% of California's inmates return to prison within 3 years, mostly for parole violations. To someone outside the system, parole may seem easy: Show up to appointments, don't drive on a suspended license, tell your parole officer if you move, don't do drugs. Parole can be tricky: Their lives are chaos with little education, few life skills and usually nowhere to live.

Parole violations are expensive. California will cut back the education budget to supplement the $8 billion prison budget.

To prevent parole violations inmates need counseling, job skills and drug treatment programs - now there isn't any money or room.

Clip Source: i.usatoday.net

Clip Source: www.geocities.com

Clip Source: www.npr.org

More than 360 inmates live in what was once a basketball gymnasium at San Quentin

The prison no longer has room for them — or for basketball and rehabilitative programs.

Packed together from front wall to back

Cramming all these inmates into aging facilities has had clear results

: an increase in violence, filth, racial tensions and the likelihood that inmates will keep coming back

inmates use open toilets along one of the walls

these men spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the gym

it's a giant game of survivor.

We have barely a foot and half on each side of the bunk — where you can breathe in another person's mouth

paint on the moldy, windowless walls is chipping

Every 20 feet, there's a rat trap

For the most part, the men in the gym are here not because of some violent crime, but because they violated their parole.

This is the paradox: Because there are so many inmates at San Quentin, officials say there's no space for the programs that could keep them out

Tags: prison, rehab, reform, overcrowding, no hope, no future, perpetual cycle

Our Trash Circles the Globe: Combating E-Waste in India

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:22:44 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: The fruits of our high-tech revolution are pure poison if these products are improperly disposed of at the end of their useful life.

The electronics industry is on the brink of a paradigm shift with respect to cost avoidance v/s risk avoidance.

Firms such as Eco-Reco are taking advantage of a booming but hazardous industry, where e-waste is usually dismantled by workers with little protection in recycling plants that have even fewer safety and environmental contamination guidelines.

In Mumbai, Eco-Reco will pick up your e-waste and at their plant, the e-waste then goes through a shredder on a conveyor belt, and the components are separated by a metal extractor. Workers then break up the plastic from the metal by hand. The entire system is based on the principles of clean environment and zero landfill.

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

Clip Source: www.wired.com

what happens to those old computers once they've been abandoned for newer models?

discarded electronics products, also known as e-waste

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

Half a million tons of e-waste is generated annually in India and is a serious threat to people’s health and the environment.

E-waste in India is dismantled and recycled manually in a hazardous, unorganized and unsafe manner.

In India, the e-waste generated from computers, mobiles and other electronic gadgets is usually burned by poorly-protected workers in perilous conditions

This releases harmful toxins like mercury and lead into the atmosphere as serious occupational hazards and threats to the environment.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

People are used to giving stuff to the kabadiwalas (scrap dealers) and getting money for it.

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

a new service launched in Mumbai could soon change the face of e-waste recycling and disposal in India.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

the privately owned and operated Eco Reco

boasting its very own professional e-waste pick-up service

goes door-to-door to pick up discarded electronics

Clip Source: www.greenpeace.org

Clip Source: www.ecoreco.com

Tags: india, e-waste, environment, eco-friendly, hazard, poison

Intergenerational School: Empowers Elderly to Stay Active

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:41:46 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: K-6th school in Cleveland welcomes volunteers in their 80s & 90s, some with Alzheimer's or dementia. The founders believe volunteering gives the elderly a sense of purpose and happiness, as well as many health benefits.

TIS fosters an educational community of excellence that provides experiences and skills for life-long learning and spirited citizenship for learners of all ages. TIS encourages communities to create new environments that empower learners of all ages, as they become life-long contributors to a society.

TIS incorporates community volunteers into the life of the school. Volunteers perform a variety of tasks from painting and setting up classrooms to mentoring young readers and writers. TIS is a free public school.

Founder of TIF, Peter Whitehouse, believes when some people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they feel shame and withdraw themselves from society, so engagement is necessary for older people who have aging-associated cognitive challenges.

Clip Source: www.wcpn.org

Clip Source: www.themythofalzheimers.com

Clip Source: www.tisonline.org

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Dr. Peter Whitehouse gives his elderly patients with memory loss an unexpected prescription: Stay socially active.

Some of his favorite advice is to perform volunteer work, and he has even created a school where they can do just that.

Whitehouse and his wife, Cathy, founded an inner-city charter school in Cleveland called The Intergenerational School

It's common to see the school's young students working with older volunteers, including many who have Alzheimer's disease.

volunteering increased social activity, which may ward off depression and isolation

Whitehouse is trying to prove that volunteering has health benefits for people with Alzheimer's and dementia, too.

The whole program, just seeing all the people working together, the cooperation

the way society should be

having to respond to the kids' curiosity helps sharpen his memory

It fortifies your knowledge of who you are, where you are

When you see her sitting with a child and reading, she's able to interact with that child in the moment

Tags: community, education, alzheimer's, children, volunteer, happiness

How Parking Lots Can Beat the Heat & Gain Energy

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:04:01 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: On hot, sunny days when air conditioners threaten to overload the power grid, solar power generation makes a lot of sense.

Parking lots in asphalt-rich cities have great solar potential because the panels can be oriented to optimize power production during summer afternoons when electricity is most valuable.

Google, for example, has installed solar canopies on its parking lots to satisfy 30 percent of its headquarters' power demand.

Because the parking lots for most commercial buildings are bigger than the buildings themselves, economies of scale for large installations can further reduce the cost of the solar panels.

We shouldn't wait until the next heat wave to think about getting solar power from our parking lots.

Clip Source: www.metaefficient.com

A start-up company called Envision Solar has begun installing solar canopies in the parking lots of shopping centers.

These lots, usually barren, heat-producing landscapes, can now provide shade for customers, while generating up to a half-megawatt of electricity.

Envision’s “Solar Groves” incorporate lights that turn on automatically at night, while blocking skyward light pollution.

Clip Source: www.envisionsolar.com

Envision Solar believes that energy should be clean and accessible to everyone. Solar energy is one of the leading sustainable solutions to the world’s dependence on carbon fuels. We intend to provide durable and attractive integrated photovoltaic systems to help lead the worldwide transition to renewable energy use.

Tags: parking, solar, zoning, energy, power, cars, smart idea, good use of space

12 Ways to Build with a Smaller Carbon Footprint

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:30:19 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Buildings consume 76% of electricity generated & they create 48% of our greenhouse gases. Main Points:

* Every brick in building required the burning of fossil fuel in its manufacture, every piece of lumber was cut and transported using energy

* Aim for a complete ban of formaldehyde use in building products

* Building demolitions account for 48% of the waste stream (65 million tons a year), renovations account for 44% and renovations account for 8%

* A solar water heater can save $ 450 a year and keep a ton of CO2 emissions out of the air; multiply that by 80 million houses in the USA

* While smaller is better almost every city has minimum floor area requirements

* The losses are higher in AC than in DC because it grounds so easily

* The average 1950’s house was 983 sq feet; by 1970 it was 1500 SF; last year it was 2350 SF

* We can no longer afford to lose agricultural land close to our cities and towns

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

1. Ban Demolition.

2. Ban Formaldehyde

3. Deconstruct, Don't Demolish

4. Put Solar Hot Water Heaters on Every Roof

5. Get Rid Of Those Radiator Fins

every one of those balconies

is a giant radiator fin, constantly losing heat to the cold

6. Make Natural Ventilation Mandatory

7. Install Gray Water Recovery Everywhere

water coming from bathtubs, showers, lavatories (read sinks), and clothes washers are no longer required to discharge into the sewer main

8. Ban Minimum Floor Areas

"If you stay smaller and simpler, you can come up with a good design at a much lower cost, use fewer resources and minimize your impact on the environment."

9. Change Our Wiring to 12 Volt DC

Edison was right; direct current is better than alternating current

10. Change our Building Codes from Relative to Absolute

Encouraging smaller homes, like smaller cars, would save a lot of energy, but codes applies the same standard across the board.

11. Survival, Not Suburbs

moratorium on any construction on farmland

12. Plant a Tree

Tags: build smart, green, carbon footprint, development, sustainable, future

Visual Alchemist & Psychedelic Artist Defined A Generation

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:40:31 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Alton Kelley, whose psychedelic concert posters for artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Big Brother and the Holding Company helped define the visual style of the 1960s counterculture, died on Sunday at his home in Petaluma, Calif. He was 67.

Mr. Kelley and Stanley Mouse, combined sinuous Art Nouveau lettering and outré images plucked from sources near and far to create the visual equivalent of an acid trip. They formed Mouse Studios: Mouse said they could work for hours in silence. "We knew what to do, we didn't have to talk."

Kelley had the unique ability to translate the music being played into these amazing images that captured the spirit of who we were and what the music was all about. He was a visual alchemist — skulls and roses, skeletons in full flight, cryptic alphabets, nothing was too strange for his imagination to conjure.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Clip Source: www.npr.org

If the Summer of Love had a visual, it probably came from the drawing pad of artist Alton Kelley.

Kelley's work graced album covers and concert posters, and has been described as art that defined a generation.

The 67-year-old artist died this week in California from complications

Kelley arrived in Haight Ashbury in 1964 with a sketchbook full of hot-rod drawings

Kelley met a fellow hot-rod artist from Detroit named Stanley Miller

who goes by the name "Mouse,"

The two started making posters for dance concerts featuring up-and-coming groups

Some call the art a visual extension of the music

Others call it the visual for a psychedelic experience.

Mouse says it was both, and that the joke between the two of them was that you had to be under the influence to understand it

he and Kelley developed a work style that allowed them to stand side-by-side at the same art table

The pair worked together for more than four decades

cranking out their elaborate posters once a week

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Clip Source: dehne.cc

Clip Source: www.rizoma.net

Tags: summer of love, culture, music, san francisco, art, avalon ballroom

"...I Dream Things That Never Were & Say Why Not"

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:35:25 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Remembering Robert F. Kennedy... June 5, 1968: After midnight, shortly after winning the South Dakota and California primaries and announcing " ... now it's on to Chicago," Kennedy is shot in the Ambassador Hotel by Sirhan Sirhan, a Jordanian immigrant. He dies the following day in Los Angeles.

This speech is Ted Kennedy delivering the closing part of the eulogy at the funeral of his brother Bobby, using excerpts from Bobby's famous speech to the students of a South African university in 1966. Bobby's speech to the students is one of the most beautiful speeches I have ever heard...I am glad that Ted Kennedy read it because it represented the kind of man his brother was and the great leader that this country lost.

To read the entire eulogy:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ekennedytributetorfk.html

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: history, president, speech, a different future

Peak Everything: Why Are We Running Out Of Everything?

Fri, 30 May 2008 21:29:02 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Why those basic things that we take for granted--such as water, food, and fuel--are getting expensive and scarce, all at once?

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Metal

Demand for products made from metals is exceeding production capacity

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Oil

declining and uncertain supply with exploding demand

result is a rapid increase in price, with ripple effects throughout the rest of our society, which is built almost entirely out of cheap oil

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Corn

if we are made of corn, corn is made of fossil fuels

When gas prices started going up, so did the price of corn.

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Rice

spot shortages appear to be caused by political action, such as export controls, and through waste

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Water

There is lots of water in America, it is just grossly mis-allocated and wasted.

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Gas

markets are pushing up natural gas in reaction to higher oil prices

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Electricity

we still have what Bill Richardson called "a superpower with a third-world electricity grid."

the demand is only going to get higher

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Dirt

the world is losing soil 10 to 20 times faster than it is replenishing it

Till it and plant a monoculture like corn on it and that soil gets depleted rapidly

Tags: resources, energy, limited, conserve, protect, future

Navajo Nation Fights Past & Present Threats of Uranium Mining

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:54:22 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: There's money to be made in mining uranium, but last April, the Navajo Nation Council voted to ban uranium mining on Navajo land. For almost 40 years, beginning in the late 1940s, large quantities of uranium were mined on their land. Many Navajo still suffer related physical ailments: the cancer rates among Navajo living near mine tailings are 17 times the national average.

The U.S. government did not begin to provide relief to the Navajo miners and their families, who suffered exposure to radiation, until 1990. But clean up is still not complete because no one has officially taken responsibility for the contamination. The bureaucracy is overwhelming: Five federal agencies alone are involved, along with tribal and state agencies.

Since the 1990s the Navajo have been fighting Hydro Resources, Inc., who have been working with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to get a license to mine the land.

Clip Source: www.ehponline.org

Clip Source: www.ancestral.com

Navajo Uranium Miners (circa 1956)

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Despite the lure of millions of dollars, the Navajo Nation has banned uranium mining on its reservation, which spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

That decision is the result of an ongoing legacy of disease left by decades of mining in the past.

There were no standards, there were no safety precautions

Thousands of uranium mines operated on Navajo land from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Clip Source: www.sprol.com

Clip Source: www.krcc.org

Clip Source: www.epa.gov

Clip Source: www.npr.org

All are now abandoned, many with radioactive mine waste

Some Navajo homes were even built using radioactive dirt

People still drink from unregulated, and possibly contaminated, water sources

Navajo are not the only people affected by uranium contamination

Non-native miners and people who worked at or lived downwind

have suffered, too.

"When the dust blows, the EPA people told me not to work outside too long,"

Cleanup is a daunting task.

no one even knows how many abandoned mines there are on the Navajo Nation reservation

no one has officially taken responsibility

Clip Source: www.ccrcnm.org

Clip Source: www.ancestral.com

Tags: tribes, alternative energy, history, government, health, cancer, fear the worst

Youth Court: Teen Offenders Allowed a Jury of Their Peers...Other Teens

Tue, 27 May 2008 18:06:39 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: With more than 1,270 youth courts in 49 states: Youth courts are one of the fastest growing ways to prevent juvenile delinquency.

Youth courts, also called Teen courts or Peer courts, are unofficial, alternative courts in which first time, teen, low-level offenders, are diverted from the juvenile justice system and agree to be judged by other teenagers. The teens don’t decide guilt or innocence they are there to only hear out the defendants, ask questions and hand out sentences.

Not harsh sentences, but alternatives for these kids to come back into the community and become better citizens: such as completing community service, a drug awareness program, a mediation program, or a job interview program…one sentence included writing an essay on where he expects to be in 5 years.

Youth court offers a win/win situation: It lightens the overburdened juvenile court system, educates its student officers and tries to rehabilitate offenders by building on their strengths.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Clip Source: www.youthcourt.net

Clip Source: www.fredericknewspost.com

high school students had a heavy burden to bear as they heard the first cases presented in Frederick County Teen Court

jurors quizzed four of their peers about the circumstances that brought them to court

It was up to the teen jurors

to decide what penalties to impose on the young offenders

The crimes -- and the punishments -- are real

In contrast to traditional court proceedings

where judges or juries determine guilt -- the accused in teen court, usually 12 to 17 years old, must admit their wrongdoing

They come to court prepared to accept punishments decided by a jury of their peers.

Jurors and defendants are not allowed to know each other and do not attend the same schools.

A diversionary justice program run by teens for teens, the court offers first-time offenders a chance to learn from their mistakes without facing the high cost of juvenile court and a record of delinquency

it offers young teens an excellent chance to advance and get a second chance in life

Everybody makes mistakes

Tags: second chance, community, rehabilitate, future, education, local government

What Ideas Will Shape our Future? The 10 Ideas of the 21st Century

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:38:59 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: "More than money, more than politics, ideas are the secret power that this planet runs on."

"The 21st century will overturn many of our basic assumptions about economic life. The 20th century saw the end of European dominance of global politics and economics. The 21st century will see the end of American dominance too, as new powers make their voices heard on the world stage."

"The challenges of sustainable development—protecting the environment, stabilizing the world's population, narrowing the gaps of rich and poor and ending extreme poverty—will render passé the very idea of competing nation-states that scramble for markets, power and resources."

"The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet."

"6.6 billion people living in an interconnected global economy producing an astounding $60 trillion of output each year."

Clip Source: www.time.com

ideas are the secret power that this planet runs on

Clip Source: www.time.com

10. Re-Judaizing Jesus

if you get the [Jewish] context wrong, you will certainly get Jesus wrong

Clip Source: www.time.com

9. Mandatory Health

a crackdown on workers' poor health habits

Clip Source: www.time.com

8. The New Austerity

Americans have kept piling on more and more debt

Clip Source: www.time.com

7. Synthetic Authenticity

the virtualization of life

has led to a deep consumer yearning for the authentic

Clip Source: www.time.com

6. Geoengineering

compensate for an intensified greenhouse effect by reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth

Clip Source: www.time.com

5. Kitchen Chemistry

remaining brave cooks are going a little mad scientist

easier through gadgetry

Clip Source: www.time.com

4. Reverse Radicalism

Why do people leave terrorist groups?

disenchantment

Clip Source: www.time.com

3. The Post-Movie-Star Era

big names no longer mean big grosses

Clip Source: www.time.com

2. The End of Customer Service

the need to interact with human beings is quickly disappearing

Clip Source: www.time.com

1. Common Wealth

ending our misguided view of the world as an enduring struggle of "us" vs. "them"

our fate, our common wealth, is in our hands

to save the world for all

Tags: globalization, economy, religion, movies, planet, common, humanity, culture

Father of India's Green Revolution Prepares for Evergreen Revolution

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:59:20 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: “In every crisis is an opportunity” Swaminathan is once again agitating for revolution -- this time a perpetual one.

In the early ‘60s, India grew 12 million tons of wheat every year. Starvation was rampant and the country imported much of its food. Swaminathan, an agricultural geneticist, developed new strains of high-yield wheat for his country and the programs that led to an India that exports food. Today, India grows some 70 million tons of wheat and has become the world's second-largest wheat producer.

He says that today India has reached a plateau in production and productivity because a problem of under investment in rural infrastructure.

His M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development follows a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to a job-led economic growth strategy in rural areas through harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development.

Clip Source: cache.daylife.com

Clip Source: www.hinduonnet.com

Clip Source: www.iaapindia.org

Clip Source: www.worldfoodprize.org

Dr. Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan received the first World Food Prize in 1987 for spearheading the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties to India’s farmers.

Clip Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Forty years after he helped rescue the world from growing famine and a deepening gloom over the future of food supplies

The 82-year-old scientist,

says the current food crisis offers the world a chance to put farmers on the right road to unending growth.

"I'm very happy now, because in every crisis is an opportunity,"

In the twenty-first century's "Evergreen Revolution", as he calls it, conservation farming and green technology will bring about sustainable change that could allow India to become an even bigger supplier of food to the world.

welcome news for the millions of impoverished people and food-importing nations who are struggling to cope with the surge in basic crop prices over the last year

The Green Revolution created a sense of euphoria that we have solved our production problem.

Clip Source: www.worldfoodprize.org

Tags: famine, food crisis, india, evergreen revolution, wheat, farm, green, sustainable