Clipmarks | urbanlife's clips

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Also Know As The Trash Vortex

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:42:35 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Sad Picture: No one to blame for this but ourselves. Four fifths of the plastic detritus floating over 2.5 million square miles of ocean surface arrives there from land-based run off: from stormwater, in other words: litter.

Sadly - many people take the "out of sight, out of mind" approach.

Plastic contamination in the world's oceans is worse than previously imagined and no amount of technology can clean it up.

We are damned to a future of pollution by plastic. All succeeding generations will only see an ocean filled with trash.

Net a piece of plastic, and you’ll find barnacles and small crabs clinging to it. Not a good thing for fish, birds, and mammals that mistake it for its natural food, such as eggs, jellyfish, or other sea creatures.

Most of the plastic will eventually photo-degrade into small, dust-like particles to the point that it will be non-detectable to the human eye, but ingestible by sea mammals, birds, and fish—many of which we then consume ourselves.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

The carcass of an albatross on the beach; birds and sea mammals mistake plastics for food then inevitably starve to death. This is the bird’s actual gut sample.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," or "trash vortex" - essentially a floating expanse of waste and debris in the Pacific Ocean now covering an area twice the size of the continental U.S. Believed to hold almost 100m tons of flotsam, this vast "plastic soup" stretches 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan

"trash vortex" aren't just limited to the marine ecosystem

"What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple."

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

It’s everywhere. Multiple paths of Ziploc baggies, bottle caps, balloons, pretzel bags, and other debris lead you to the swirling trash vortex like a trail of bread crumbs

In the most polluted areas, the plastic-to-plankton ratio is 48 to 1. It’s become part of the oceanic landscape

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Tags: ocean, plastic, what will happen, litter, trash, dirty, ignorance

Largest, Strangest & Scariest Collective Activities in the World

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:39:35 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: "As humans we have a difficult time comprehending large numbers, and vast collections of people perhaps in particular. There is something simply surreal about a pilgrimage that attracts more people than the population of Texas or a festival that draws thirty thousand revelers deep into one of the harshest deserts on Earth. These three events are vastly different in terms of geography, history and purpose but are all impressive in their own way and right as these images show."

Clip Source: weburbanist.com

the Maha Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs just over once pre decade

a total of 70 million people converge on the Ganges to wash away their sins in the river

the entire event is remarkably peaceful and well-organized considering its enormous scale.

the infamous Burning Man Festival - the single largest art festival and temporary city in the world

tens of thousands of citizens/residents/visitors take their places in a three-quarters circle all centered on the central Burning Man figure

Imagine the world’s largest choreographed dance - now imagine that it is completely unscripted and on a snowy mountainside

The Engadin Ski Marathon in St. Mortiz was a 30 mile race taking, for many, hours to complete

Tags: incredible gatherings, millions together, temporary city

16 Of The World's Best Squares: Think About The Details

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:12:15 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: From Mexico to Italy to Iran, these remarkable squares can inspire us all. What stands out most is that design is only a small fraction of what goes into making a great square: small details add up to great places.

Historically, squares were the center of communities, and they traditionally helped shape the identity of entire cities.

Like the tentacles of an octopus extending into the surrounding neighborhood, the influence of a good square (such as Union Square in New York) starts at least a block away.

Any great square has a variety of smaller "places" within it to appeal to various people.

The use of a square changes during the course of the day, week, and year. The streets and sidewalks around a square greatly affect its accessibility and use, as do the buildings that surround it.

Any community where people want to discover the rewards of public life can make a square its centerpiece.

Clip Source: www.pps.org

1. Rynek Glowny, Krakow, Poland

2. Plaza Hidalgo, Mexico City, Mexico

3. Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy

4. Piazza del Campo, Sienna, Italy

5. Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens, and Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom

6. Hotel de Ville (City Hall), Paris, France

7. Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic

8. Plaza de la Constitucion (Zocalo), Oaxaca City, Mexico

9. Plaza Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain

10. Plaza de Armas, Cuzco, Peru

11. Trg Bana Jelacica, Zagreb, Croatia

12. Östermalmstorg, Stockholm, Sweden

13. Plaza de Entrevero, Montevideo, Uruguay

14. Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia

15. Imam Square, Isfahan, Iran

16. Campo Santa Margherita, Venice, Italy

Clip Source: www.pps.org

Ten Principles for Creating Successful Squares

1. Image and Identity

2. Attractions and Destinations

3. Amenities

4. Flexible Design

5. Seasonal Strategy

6. Access

7. The Inner Square & the Outer Square

8. Reaching Out Like an Octopus

9. The Central Role of Management

10. Diverse Funding Sources

Tags: public square, great places, urban, world, tourism, economic development

Disaster Gives Birth to Greenest Town in America

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:01:30 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: To leverage environmentalism to rebuild and sustain itself in the wake of near total destruction, it just may unwittingly be writing a modern survival guide for rural America.

Currently, the town has completed town houses for working class families that are LEED gold certified. Gold certification means these places will be almost twice as efficient as they used to be.

A lot of what's happening in Greensburg is some of the first in the country.

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Greensburg, a tiny town on the vast, flat prairie of western Kansas

In May, a tornado obliterated nearly every house, tree and business.

city leaders quickly saw opportunity in the disaster

revive Greensburg and sustain it for generations to come by making it the greenest town in America

not just rebuild it the way it was but maybe rebuild it a little bit better than it was

the effort to make the city more energy efficient just days after the tornado hit.

Greensburg Greentown, a nonprofit group leading the push for environmental sustainability in Greensburg.

The Discovery Channel is filming a show here, called Greensburg Eco-town, and green architects are working overtime.

all new city buildings should meet the very highest environmental standard — LEED platinum

turbines on the wind farm would be plenty to power Greensburg

An energy company has announced plans to build a biodiesel plant in Greensburg

Google is considering building a wind-powered data center here

Tags: kansas, green, greensburg, leed, rural, sustain

When Nature Re-claims the Planet: Life After People

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:15:22 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Humans won't be around forever...Imagine when humans leave the Earth...What happens to its biggest and most prosperous capital cities and other attractions when mankind is gone!

Check out the book: "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. He offers an approach to examine humanity's impact on earth, by envisioning the Earth without us.

Clip Source: funtasticus.com

Clip Source: www.history.com

What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest?

Abandoned skyscrapers would, after hundreds of years, become "vertical ecosystems"

Swelled rivers, crumbling bridges and buildings

Our cars would shrivel to piles of dust, our house pets would be overtaken by flourishing wildlife

Clip Source: funtasticus.com

Tags: shadow of mankind, nature takes over, what is left behind

How Chocolate Can Save the Planet

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:46:42 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Out of 330 million acres of rainforest, 7% remains - is anyone paying attention?

Clip Source: www.npr.org

The answer is found in a little piece of paradise, a patch of rainforest in eastern Brazil.

Some areas have been thinned out and planted with cacao trees — the source of chocolate

There used to be 330 million acres of rainforest in eastern Brazil, called the Mata Atlantica.

Only 7 percent of the Mata Atlantica remains, and destruction is still going on.

persuade farmers to return to chocolate farming and preserve the forest

They grow cocoa using a method called cabruca — cutting down just a few of the tall rainforest trees, and planting the mid-height cacao trees underneath.

hopes that cabruca can become part of the carbon credit market.

Farmers would then get money for preserving forest trees, as well as for their chocolate.

you could take totally abandoned land, and you could restore it to profitability after about three years

will preserving, and even replanting, some of this forest in eastern Brazil fix the Earth's climate problem? No. But in this little corner of the world, it may help.

Tags: chocolate, planet, rain forest, carbon credit, farmer, cabruca

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

Izzy Lane and the Unique Sheep Sanctuary of Scotland

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:27:04 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Isobel Davies loves sheep - she created a Sheep Sanctuary in Scotland after she found that many sheep were sent to slaughter for various reasons from being male to being lame.

She also discovered that farmers were burning the wool sheared from their sheep rather than selling it to manufacturers in other industries. Because 80 percent of the wool used in Britain’s clothing industry was imported, the native farmers couldn’t compete with the low prices—it would actually cost them more to properly shear and sell the wool than it would to just hack it off and burn it.

Davies decided to create an economic model that would preserve the sheep AND support the British clothing industry.

She created Izzy Lane Sheep-Friendly Clothing!

Clip Source: www.izzylane.com

Our flock of Wensleydale and Shetland sheep comprise mainly of animals that would have been sent to slaughter for being male, missing a pregnancy, being a little lame, being too small, being too old

We pay equal and better prices to save them. They are living out happy lives in our Sheep Sanctuary

I combine my passions for great clothes, animals and Britain.

I learned that about 80% of the wool that we use in this country is imported, predominantly from Australia and New Zealand

When I began my research in 2002 and saved my first 4 ‘butcher lambs’, I also discovered that our textile industry was on its knees

Our cloth is woven at an ancient mill in Selkirk using Victorian machinery that has been operating for over a hundred years.

Our knitwear is made with the lustrous, kemp-free fleece of the Wensleydale sheep, an endangered breed, numbering around 1800 in the world

Clip Source: www.greengirlguide.com

Izzy Lane, brainchild of Isobel Davies

Sheep Sanctuary in Scotland

Tags: sheep, lamb, scotland, britain, knit, textile industry, mill

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

No Traffic? Michigan to Build Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Super Highway

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:39:09 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Michigan to build the country's first Maglev public transportation system: to be constructed between Detroit and Ann Arbor.

Interstate Traveler Hydrogen cars will carry people, cars (drive on/off) and cargo. Construction is set to begin this year (2008).

Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Super Highway? It is a collection of vital municipal utilities bundled into a Conduit Cluster: a public transit network built along the right of way of the US Interstate Highway Systems, and any other permissible right of way where such a machine would be of benefit.

It will be a integration of solar powered hydrogen production and distribution with a high speed magnetic levitation ( MagLev ).

A Maglev, or magnetically levitating, train is a form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles (predominantly trains) using electromagnetic force. The first commercial Maglev was opened in 1984 in Birmingham, England.

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

What do you get when you combine the innovation of MagLev technology with solar power, hydrogen fuel, and a futuristic aesthetic?

The Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Super Highway, or the Traveler- a ground-breaking solar powered, hydrogen-fueled, zero emission mass transit system that would carry everything from people to cars in sustainable style and carbon neutral function

The construction is set to begin this year, and would connect Ann Arbor and Detroit.

a comprehensive integrated system of the public/private transit system and municipal infrastructure network

The Traveler Stations would be built to provide easy access to the Interstate Highway, solutions to overcrowding, urban sprawl, public utility failures, traffic jams, car accidents, etc.

Clip Source: www.interstatetraveler.us

To mass produce a unified public conduit system that can be installed anywhere at the lowest possible cost, the highest possible quality, with the greatest efficiency, built from the most resilient materials and is pollution free.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Tags: maglev, michigan, public transit, no traffic, solar, hydrogen, interstate traveler

Underground City? The Future of Amsterdam

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:52:11 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Dutch engineers have proposed building an underground city 6 floors under Amsterdam's picturesque canals, which would be drained section by section during construction.

It is both feasible and sustainable, creating a city beneath the city is not futuristic, it may be a necessity in this day and age.

And what will this city hold? Parking, shopping and "leisure".

Should they be digging up Amsterdam for parking and shopping, OR should they have added public transit and bike lanes instead?

Construction could last up to 20 years.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Dutch engineers have unveiled plans for a £7.4 billion underground city providing one million square feet of underground retail, leisure and parking facilities.

what we are doing is building a city under the city by using a new construction technique, which will not interfere with street traffic

Amsterdam was originally built on drained, swampy marshland and many of the classic Dutch gabled houses along its canals are still precariously supported by underground wooden beams.

canal water will be temporarily pumped out in order to start construction beneath.

Amsterdam sits on a 30-metre layer of waterproof clay which will be used together with concrete and sand to make new walls

Once we have resealed the canal floor, we will be able to carry on working underneath while pouring water back into the canals

The project has been approved by Amsterdam's city council. Construction work, lasting up to 20 years, is expected to begin in 2018.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Tags: amsterdam, moving underground, city of the future, parking, retail

Urban Gardener Thinks Higher: A Rooftop Garden for Room to Grow

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:53:35 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Why should you consider a rooftop garden?

* Increase access to private outdoor green space within the urban environment
* Support urban food production
* Promote individual, community, and cultural diversity
* Improve air quality and reduce CO2 missions
* Delay stormwater runoff
* Increase habitat for birds
* Insulate buildings
* Increase the value of buildings for owners and tenants alike
* Create job opportunities in the field of research, design, construction, Iandscaping, gardening, health, and food production

Clip Source: www.thegrowspot.com

Clip Source: usahomeandgarden.com

Clip Source: adaptivereuse.net

Clip Source: www.greenroofs.com

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Clip Source: www.marigreen.cz

Clip Source: www.margueritegardens.com

Clip Source: environmentkrishna.blogspot.com

Tags: roof, green, environment, heat island, farm, community garden

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

Beyond Zero-Energy: The World's 1st Positive Energy Building

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:07:23 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Generates more energy than it consumes. The building’s aggressive approach to sustainability enables it to offer the lowest energy consumption per square meter for its class. The complex will utilize sustainable materials and feature integrated wind turbines, outdoor air quality monitors.

In addition to serving as the Masdar headquarters, the building will accommodate private residences and ‘early bird’ businesses starting up in the city. The Masdar development will be constructed over seven phases and is due to be completed by 2016.

Clip Source: www.smithgill.com

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

setting new design standards for green building, with their scheme that generates more energy than it consumes

The Masdar Headquarters building outside of Abu Dhabi is also the first building in history to generate power for its own assembly, using a solar roof pier that will be built first to power the rest of the construction.

The building’s sustainability gave it the edge to beat 159 others in the international design competition.

The $300 million, 1.4 million square foot headquarters will serve as the stunning centerpiece of the super-green, car-free Norman Foster-designed Masdar City, the $22 billion development just outside Abu Dhabi.

one of the world’s largest integrated photovoltaic systems and the world’s largest solar thermal driven cooling and dehumidification system

Compared with typical mixed-use buildings of the same size, the Headquarters will consume 70 percent less wate

Masdar’s headquarters is part of phase one and will be completed by the end of 2010

Clip Source: www.smithgill.com

Tags: positive energy, sustainability, abu dhabi, future, super-green

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