Clipmarks | Sustainable living Clips

"Eco-architecture could produce 'grow your own' homes"

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:02:29 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: http://www.physorg.com/news138541462.html

Eco-architecture could produce 'grow your own' homes

"Eco-architecture" may sound like a Buck Rogers vision of an ecologically-sustainable future, but that future is now thanks to the guidance of Tel Aviv University Professors Yoav Waisel and Amram Eshel. The concept of shaping living trees into useful objects -- known as tree shaping, arborsculpture, living art or pooktre –– isn't new. But scientists are now ready to use this concept as the foundation of a new company that will roll out these structures worldwide.

Pilot projects now underway in the United States, Australia and Israel include park benches for hospitals, playground structures, streetlamps and gates. "The approach is a new application of the well-known botanical phenomenon of aerial root development," says Prof. Eshel. "Instead of using plant branches, this patented approach takes malleable roots and shapes them into useful objects for indoors and out."

Are Malthus's 1798 Food Shortage Predictions Coming True?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:53:00 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: "Have we beaten Malthus? After two centuries, we still do not really know."

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

In 1798 Thomas Robert Malthus famously predicted that short-term gains in living standards would inevitably be undermined as human population growth outstripped food production, and thereby drive living standards back toward subsistence. We were, he argued, condemned by the tendency of population to grow geometrically while food production would increase only arithmetically.

For 200 years, economists have contended that Malthus overlooked technological advancement, which would allow human beings to keep ahead of the population curve.

The idea that improved know-how and voluntary fertility reduction can sustain a high, indeed rising, level of incomes for the world remains correct, but only if future technology enables us to economize on natural capital rather than finding ever more clever ways to deplete it more cheaply and rapidly.

We will need a new politics to recognize the importance of a sustainable growth strategy and global cooperation to achieve it.

Sustainable Farmer

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:13:05 GMT

clipped by: zalisan
clipper's remarks: Essential to life...food and water. Get it?

Clip Source: www.sustainablefarmer.com

Jerry Nelson offered to write us an article about life at Koinonia, a sustainable farm outside Atlanta that nourishes both body and spirit. He tells us that the farm was founded more than 60 years ago by Clarence Jordan as an experiment in inter-racial living, and he also tell us about life there today. . . . more

Rebecca Titus recently earned her bachelor's degree from Michigan State. She had once planned to become a geneticist (and she still plans to earn a Ph.D.). But Rebecca has now decided her future is on the family's fruit and vegetable farm. She has already recruited 150 members for their CSA, with even bigger plans for the future . . . more

[Video]

Food for Thought: "The Other Energy Crisis" - After you read Dr. R. J. (Ron) Erskine's advice on what it takes to raise animals (see above), please take a moment to read his essay on pressing threats to our food supply . . . more

Tags: farms, food, water, health, nature, nurture

Eco-architecture could produce 'grow your own' homes

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:43:17 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Sounds really cool.

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

A bus stop that grows its own foliage as shade? A children's playground, made entirely from trees? A shelter made from living tree roots that could provide natural protection against earthquakes in California?

The concept of shaping living trees into useful objects -- known as tree shaping, arborsculpture, living art or pooktre –– isn't new. But scientists are now ready to use this concept as the foundation of a new company that will roll out these structures worldwide.

Pilot projects now underway in the United States, Australia and Israel include park benches for hospitals, playground structures, streetlamps and gates.

It's even possible that, in the near future, entire homes will be constructed with the eco-friendly technology.

Tags: environment, trees, ecological technology

Baufritz

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:35:00 GMT

clipped by: lexical
clipper's remarks: German pefabricated house builder with an office in Cambridge. They probably get really irritated when everyone compares them to Huf.

Clip Source: www.baufritz.co.uk

Since Baufritz was founded in Germany in 1896, our aim has remained incredibly simple: to create individual, ecologically friendly homes that are designed around you, your needs, and your wellbeing.

We believe quality of life begins in the home. As multi-award-winning pioneers in timber house construction – now established in the UK – we’ve dedicated ourselves to realising the home you've always dreamed of. Superior design, advanced modular construction, sustainable materials free from hazardous substances and the use of renewable sources of energy come together to create a home as genuinely individual as you – and one that is efficient, affordable, and beautiful. The perfect living environment.

But not only is each Baufritz home tailor-made around your vision of what you want your life to be; it’s an eco-friendly house that also actively promotes health. A home that looks after you – and your world.

Tags: house, builder, building, huf, wood, wood frame, prefab, prefabrication, prefabricated

Rain Barrels equal Green

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:07:22 GMT

clipped by: Imnclady
clipper's remarks: It's all about conservation...a small thing that goes along way.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Eco Hack: Jack Johnson from susty.tv on Vimeo.

[Video]

In this TreeHugger Tip, musician and activist Jack Johnson, talks about how he's installed a rain collection system and how he's used it to teach his children about conservation.

One unfortunately common misconception about "going green" is that doing so means drastically changing ones life or abolishing all luxuries. While a crucial part about living an eco-friendly lifestyle is reducing ones consumption and therefore minimizing ones waste, one thing I love most about trying to live a sustainable life is noticing how doing something the "green" way is often just the smarter way. Using rain barrels to collect rain and reuse around your house is a perfect example of this.

Even if you only use the rain barrel water for a percentage of the water you use around the outside of your house, doing so will help reduce your consumption.

Tags: ecology, green, water, conservation, human be in

Brazil launches rainforest fund...

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:31:16 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has launched an international fund to protect the Amazon rainforest and help combat climate change.

The fund will promote alternatives to forest-clearing for people living in the Amazon, and support conservation and sustainable development

Officials will seek donations abroad and aim to raise $21bn (£11bn) by 2021.

The environmental group Greenpeace said it was the first time Brazil had accepted a link between global warming and preserving the rainforest.

A look at the rainforest Brazil has launched a fund to protect

Largest continuous tropical forest

Shared by nine countries

65% Brazilian territory

Covers 6.6m sq km in total

Pop: 30m - 23.5m are in Brazil

Homes Designed For Clean, Simple Living

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:40:44 GMT

clipped by: zalisan
clipper's remarks: For those who may be thinking that green is not pretty here then an example to the contrary. Being green and environmentally responsible is a beautiful thing.

Clip Source: www.mkd-arc.com

MKD Homes

Clip Source: www.mkd-arc.com

We believe that sustainable, well-designed buildings should be accessible to more people. To achieve this we have simplified our process and chosen off-site modular technology as our only means to create beautiful, eco-friendly homes. Our hope is that, through our practice, we will make it easy for people to build green and live a more sustainable life. We are making a difference one home at a time one family at a time.

Thoughtful Design

Whether working on one of our pre-designed homes, a custom home, or a development project, we apply a clean and green approach. We let the green in to every project through the use of eco-friendly materials, low-energy lighting design, energy efficient building systems, and a sustainable layout, allowing clients to live cleanly and lightly.

Tags: architecture, green technology, modular homes, effficient, sustainable, design

Findhorn Ecovillage since 1985

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:12:12 GMT

clipped by: rachaelkeriwilliams
clipper's remarks: 2008 4 week training for ecovillage designers.

Clip Source: www.ecovillagefindhorn.com

The Findhorn ecovillage is a synthesis of the very best of current thinking on sustainable human settlements. It is a constantly evolving model providing solutions to human and social needs, while at the same time working in partnership with the environment to offer an enhanced quality of life for all.

• a pioneering ecovillage since 1985 • UN Habitat Best Practice Designation • a major centre of adult education serving 14,000 visitors a year from over 50 countries • ecological footprint is half the national (UK) average • 55 ecologically-benign buildings • 4 wind turbines • a biological Living Machine sewage treatment system • UK's oldest and largest Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) system • numerous solar water-heating systems • comprehensive recycling scheme • publisher of UK's first technical guide to ecological housing • own bank and community currency • site of CIFAL Findhorn - a UNITAR Associated Training Center

Tags: training, ecovillage, green, ecology, cooperative

Common Fire Foundation

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:29:44 GMT

clipped by: rachaelkeriwilliams
clipper's remarks: Co-op houses that reach platinum level green in NYS

Clip Source: www.commonfire.org

Common Fire helps to create and nurture model living spaces that are devoted to giving as full an expression as possible to healthy and sustainable living in solidarity with other people and the planet. Common Fire does not pretend there is one way to do this. Rather each Common Fire co-op and community, while adopting some norms on which there is strong consensus, offers a rich diversity of perspectives and strategies regarding what it means to lead such a good life.

The first Common Fire housing co-op opened in the Village of Tivoli, a rural part of New York's Hudson Valley, in June of 2006. It garnered significant attention not only for the co-op itself and the amazing people coming together to live there, but also because the building was constructed with such a high degree of environmental responsiblity. The co-op was the first building in New York State to earn the Platinum Certification from the US Green Building Council and is the "Greenest Building in the Eastern US."

Tags: green.building, cooperatives, nys, green, architecture, building, development, construction, environment

Common Wealth: Sustainable future

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:44:05 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder
clipper's remarks: We are in one another's faces as never before, crowded into an interconnected society of global trade, migration, ideas and, yes, risk of pandemic diseases, terrorism, refugee movements and conflict.

We also face a momentous choice. Continue on our current course, and the world is likely to experience growing conflicts between haves and have-nots, intensifying environmental catastrophes and downturns in living standards caused by interlocking crises of energy, water, food and violent conflict. Yet for a small annual investment of world income, undertaken cooperatively across the world, our generation can harness new technologies for clean energy, reliable food supplies, disease control and the end of extreme poverty.

Clip Source: www.time.com

Common Wealth

By Jeffrey D. Sachs

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, including China, India and Brazil, continue to grow and make their voices heard on the world stage. Yet the century's changes will be even deeper than a rebalancing of economics and geopolitics. 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.

Tags: wealth, poverty, sustainability

free books for cooperative housing development groups

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:27:54 GMT

clipped by: rachaelkeriwilliams

Clip Source: www.bapd.org

Shared Living Resource Center, Inc.

Address   2337 Parker Street #9
          Berkeley, CA  94704-2841
Voice     (510) 548-6608
Email     slrcnorwood@earthlink.net

Promotes and educates about Shared Living/Cluster/Cohousing Communities that are affordable, socially supportive, and ecologically sustainable. SLRC Published the book 'Rebuilding Community in America - Housing for Ecological Design, Personal Empowerment, and the New Extended Family,' by Ken Norwood AICP & Kathleen Smith (452 pages, 100% recycled); single books are available for $24.50 plus $4.00 for mailing. Free boxes of books are available at $18 per box (18 books per box) to community startup groups, ecology / environmental organizations, and nonprofit housing organizations & bookstores upon verified request.

Tags: housing, affordable.housing, cooperatives, community, co-op

The coming famine

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:27:23 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: "In light of all these hurdles, as I see it, the challenge is to double world food output by 2050 using less land, far less water and fewer nutrients – all in the teeth of increasing rates of drought. And we need to do it sustainably."

"I believe we are quite capable of solving these issues through good science and good policy. In the first instance, we need to massively increase global public investment in agricultural research and development. Then we need to make sure the fruits of that research reach farmers everywhere. I also think that commercial wild harvests, such as fishing and forestry, should be phased out in favour of sustainable farming that dovetails with the local environment."

Clip Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

What's even scarier than global warming?

feeding the global appetite in an overpopulated, affluent and resource-scarce world could be the scientific challenge of the era

BARRING NUCLEAR WARS, pandemics and cosmic accidents, there will be about 9.1 billion people living in the world in 2050

Yet they will eat as much food as 13 billion people at today's nutritional levels.

The problem is that humanity is consuming more food, year-on-year, than it produces, especially as demand for high-protein food increases in high population developing countries like China and India.

cities are now taking up to half of the water that was once used to grow food

We're also losing land; we are building on it, eroding and degrading it

we lose

n estimated 1.1 billion tonnes of nutrients – through soil erosion and leaching

And if you thought those figures weren't alarming enough, then there's the issue thrown up by climate change

Tags: food crisis, sustainable resources

Diet's effect on Global Warming

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:11:23 GMT

clipped by: patden
clipper's remarks: It's really not as big a change as it seems.

Clip Source: www.godsdirectcontact.org.tw

Hot Topic

The Tipping Point

Red Alert on Climate Change

Global warming has become a familiar phrase around the world. Yet its imminence, gravity and consequences are not widely understood.

Yes, our diet is worthy of re-evaluating! Considering the inefficient consumption of fossil fuels during food production as well as the more potent green house gas such as methane and ammonia emitted from livestock’s waste, it won’t be too hard to accept the fact that, for example, the Americans’ meat-based diet produces an extra 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide compared to a strict vegetarian diet or vegan diet. It can not be emphasized enough that being vegetarian or vegan, along with adopting renewable energies and living a more sustainable lifestyle, are among the most powerful and immediate means to stop the earth from getting warmer and save this beautiful planet.

Tags: global warming

I Love Living in California

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:44:33 GMT

clipped by: cmstratton
clipper's remarks: California continues to lead the way in sustainable energy. This announcement by PG&E shows it is possible. PG&E and other major power providers in CA have many separate initiatives going on like this. It's based on the idea that there won't be one "green" source that will replace oil, but by incorporating many different green sources of energy into the portfolio, we can begin to ween ourselves off of oil.

Clip Source: www.cleanedge.com

Pacific Gas and Electric Company recently announced that it has entered into two contracts with San Joaquin Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Martifer Renewables Electricity LLC, for a combined 106.8 megawatts (MW) of solar thermal-biofuel hybrid power. Located near Coalinga, CA, the solar-biofuel projects will deliver a total of 700 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually of renewable electricity to PG&E customers throughout northern and central California.

Since 2002, PG&E has entered into contracts for over 2,500 MW of renewable power. California law requires each investor-owned utility to increase the share of eligible renewable generating resources in its electric power portfolio to 20 percent by 2010. PG&E has made contractual commitments to have over 20 percent of its future deliveries from renewables. For 2008, PG&E expects to have 14 percent of its energy delivered from renewable sources.