Showing category "Guest Blogger" (Show all posts)

Why upcycling is beneficial towards the environment?

Posted by Guest Editor on Friday, February 8, 2013, In : Guest Blogger 

Upcycling is a method in which old or discarded materials are converted into something reusable.

The difference between upcycling and recycling is simple. Recycling takes consumer materials such as plastic, paper, metal, and glass and breaks them down so that they can be made into a new consumer product (usually of lesser quality). When you upcycle an item you aren’t breaking down ant materials, just purely refashioning it.  Additionally the quality of the upcycled item has same or even ...


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Fossil Fuels and the Rising Sea Levels

Posted by Guest Editor on Thursday, January 31, 2013, In : Guest Blogger 

As stated in our “How Methane Heating Works” article, “Natural gas derives from animal and plant matter that was heated and pressurized in earth’s layers (hence why it is referred to as “fossil fuel”).” Within the last century, the burning of these fossil fuels combined with other human related activities, has released heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. In effect it has caused the Earth’s temperature and sea levels to rise.

This rise in sea level is linked to thermal ...


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NREL/DOE Launch New Alternative Transportation Web Tools

Posted by News Release NR-4212 on Friday, November 9, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched a new tool and redesigned DOE’s Alternative Fuels Data Center Web site to help fleet managers, municipalities and consumers choose from a wide variety of alternative fuels and energy efficiency strategies for reducing petroleum use, vehicle emissions, and operating costs.


The AFDC’s new Petroleum Reduction Planning Tool is an interactive Web application that allows fleet managers to evaluate th...


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Beyond Recycling - Go Green With Your Kids

Posted by Guest Author Donna DeForbes, http://eco-mothering.blogspot.com on Friday, October 26, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
Have “power down” days. We humans are addicted to electricity and all its accompanying gadgets. There should be a few days each year (once per season is nice) where the family “powers down.” This means no TV, music, computer, electric lights, etc. (You can still eat, of course, but try using the more natural gas stove instead of microwave radiation.) My husband and I have powered down for many a Winter Solstice. It’s a way of slowing life down for a bit and reconnecting with each ot...
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Schools Raise the Roof on Solar Energy

Posted by Guest Editor news from NREL on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
In one 50-minute period last month, the Intro to Engineering students at Chatfield High School in Jefferson County, Colorado, charted the strength of solar panels at their desks, then climbed through a trap door to examine the 100-kilowatt solar array on their school's flat roof.

"You see a couple of panels that have been shattered by last year's wind storm," teacher Joel Bertelsen told the 32 students, who were peering intently at the panels when not testing the springiness of the roof. "I...
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Destruction of habitats and the increase of invasive species

Posted by Guest Editor on Tuesday, October 16, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
Change in climate, destruction of habitats, and the increase of invasive species are the chief drivers in the current biodiversity crisis. Brought on by insatiable consumption of resources by humans, the extinction rate of species annually has risen from 100 to 1000 times.

Currently conservation biologists are trying to estimate the time period during which a species begins to undergo perturbation and eventually extinction. They then take this estimation and apply it to the Brazilian rainfo...
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What Makes the MIRAI NIHON Project so Amazing?

Posted by Guest Author on Tuesday, July 31, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
Earlier last year, Japan experienced a 9.0 earthquake followed by massive tsunamis. The destruction that occurred killed thousands and left many more homeless. One of the many unfortunate side effects of this natural catastrophe was the threat of nuclear disaster.

Concerns revolving around energy and basic life services for the future plagued Japanese people. That is where a Japanese advertising firm, TBWA/Hakuhodo, along with Nissan, NEC, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, came...
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Recycling Isn’t Restricted to Mercury or Plastic

Posted by Guest Editor on Saturday, July 28, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
Recycling isn’t restricted to mercury or plastic. Watch this slide show to learn how to recycle natural materials found in places like your lawn or garden.


 
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Do You Know Which Electric Vehicle is Right for You?

Posted by Joao G. Cabral for www.H2Brasil.com on Friday, May 18, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
Thinking about acquiring an electric vehicle?  Do you know which electric vehicle is right for you?

 

Source: Joao G. Cabral - from www.H2Brasil.com
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Get Inspired by the Natural Environment

Posted by Editor on Sunday, April 29, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
A recent research study done by Behavioral Economists pointed out to considerable findings about how individuals feel rewarded after looking at certain types of images.  We decided to run our own tests and the result is below.


By looking at this picture you should feel relaxed.
 

This picture is likely to make you feel collaborative.
 
 

This picture is likely to make you feel calm.


This picture is likely to make you feel heroic! 

Now that we got you inspired by the Natural Environment, let's get to ...
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Do you know what a Geo Fair Trade Project is? Ever heard of WFTO?

Posted by Guest Editor, Free Trade article on Saturday, April 28, 2012, In : Guest Blogger 
WFTO is one of the partners of a project that developed an information system that gives greater transparency of the producers on their commitment to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions.

Using geographical and local data of the producers’ production environs, the Geo Fair Trade Project, aimed at constructing mechanisms to trace products to its producers, to bring producers closer to the consumers, and to come up with social, economic and environmental indicators de...
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UK Environmental Audit Committee publishes report on air quality

Posted by Guest Editor from www.WhereisMyNewCar.com on Thursday, November 17, 2011, In : Guest Blogger 
The Environmental Audit Committee considers the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and it audits their performance against any sustainable development and environmental protection targets. Unlike most select committees, the Committee’s remit cuts across government rather than focuses on the work of a particular department.

According to the report, the G...
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Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is set to close by year’s end

Posted by Editor C on Wednesday, November 17, 2010, In : Guest Blogger 
Via Guest Blogger - with excerpts from Bloomberg Businessweek article

Speaking after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama has backed away from a cap-and-trade program saying he will work with Republicans on other ways to cut carbon emissions, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

A cap-and-trade program was included in the climate bill passed by the House last year, but stalled in this year’s Senate. Peter Shattuck, a carbon-markets policy analyst at ...

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CDP Water Disclosure 2010 Global Report - On behalf of 137 investors with assets of US$16 trillion

Posted by on Tuesday, November 16, 2010, In : Guest Blogger 
Via CDP - www.cdproject.net 

The highlights from 2010 disclosures 

The CDP Water Disclosure replicates and builds on the tried-and-trusted methodology and process that the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has used for carbon and climate change since 2003. Backed by 137 institutional investors representing $16 trillion in assets, this year CDP sent its first annual water questionnaire to 302 of the world’s 500 largest companies in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, focusing on sectors that ar...

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Green financing, finally?

Posted by Editor on Tuesday, November 9, 2010, In : Guest Blogger 
Several large commercial lenders including Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and Citibank, say they are starting to shift their involvement away from industry practices that they see as risky to their reputations and bottom lines, reports The New York Times. These include investments in oil and gas development, nuclear power, coal-fired electricity generation, oil sands development, fuel pipeline construction and forestry.

Wells Fargo will invest more than $100 million by the end of 2011 to fund th...

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Targeting the Ultra Poor: can the poorest be reached by microfinance? - Video with Morduch discussing pilot initiatives for reaching the ultra poor

Posted by Editor C on Thursday, August 19, 2010, In : Guest Blogger 
Courtesy of FAI

Can the poorest be reached with finance? “Ultra poor” members of society face a series of constraints and deprivations that distinguish them from the general poor. Limited social networks, chronic malnutrition, and reliance on patronage systems characterize a socioeconomic class that is hard to “bank.” Research now indicates that most microfinance institutions serve poor and lower-income customers, but not the poorest. A new FAI Framing Note on “Targeting the ...


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Biodiversity Conservation Can Reduce Poverty

Posted by Ana M on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, In : Guest Blogger 

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of traveling to London to help give a presentation at the Zoological Society of London for the symposium: Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Reduction: What, Why, and How?

Since December, I have been working with Craig Leisher at The Nature Conservancy on drafting a knowledge review that was commissioned specifically for the symposium. We presented our report, “Biodiveristy as a Mechanism for Poverty Reduction: A State of Kno...


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