Not using plastic bags, installing a solar power roof or taking your bicycle instead of your car when you leave to work, is no longer enough to prove that you’re trying to live a greener life and help the environment. And though planning a funeral may be the last thing on your mind right now, if you want to be green till the end, an eco-funeral may be the solution. You need an “eco-exit”.

However, setting up an environmental-friendly funeral is a far more complicated thing than first thought and it’s not the price that makes it complicated, “it’s the choice” says Fran Hall, marketing director for Epping Forest Burial Park.

Eco-funerals may not differ very much from traditional funerals except that they are as green as possible. It uses cardboard coffins that biodegrade within three months, while the body is not embalmed and is dressed with clothes sewn from pure fibers. Alternative transportation methods, like a horse drawn hearse may be used to carry the body to the grave, in a natural setting so that it’s attractive to wildlife and sustainable flora.

There are eco-friendly graveyards like Oakfield Wood, where 1,600 trees and wooden plaques mark the plots where people have been buried.

A new legislation in UK requires the mercury content of plastics and treatments used in coffins, to be reduced starting from 2010 and the eco-coffins already meet these requirements, which made us think that the British may be encouraging growth in environmentally-friendly burials.

What would you choose? Green or traditional?

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There are so many reasons why food prices sky-rocketed during the last twelve months, but more important than blaming, is to find a viable solution.

Jeffrey D. Sachs, head of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and adviser to the U.N. chief, talked on Monday about the food crisis in developing countries. He said that simple reforms could double Africa’s food production in just a few years and this solution may probably cool down food prices. He also mentioned that the African farmers need help from wealthy countries to invest into better practices including fertilizers, water management systems or drought-resistant seeds.

In an interview in Nairobi, Sachs also mentioned that in his belief, a $10 billion aid to small farmers would probably solve the problem which is worse than believed. During the last year, rice prices went up more than 40-percent and reached higher values because of the cyclone in Myanmar, a large rice exporter, that devastated the whole area.

According to Sachs, the only solution is to immediately invest in agriculture.

Picture by Frankie Roberto

If every person from a rich country would pay $10, Africa would double its production and help reduce the burden on poor countries, because those are the most affected by high food price.

Riots and protests in Asia, the Caribbean and several African countries, arose last month which means that the food crisis is real.

A new survey by two Californian college researchers proved that companies in the solar power business will need more and more workers.

The attractive domain of turning the sun light into energy is very active in California where 16,500 to 17,500 people are employed to work for such companies. The study estimated 5,000 more jobs next year and most of these will be in the Bay Area.

Though there are open jobs for designers and salespeople, the biggest increase will be for people to install rooftop solar arrays. The technology is advanced enough, this being the reason why there will be a migration from lab jobs to field jobs. “You don’t need a Ph.D. or a B.A. to get into this industry. It’s an opportunity to rebuild the working-class jobs that have been lost,” said John Carrese, co-author of the survey.

Salaries for this kind of jobs will probably start from $31,200 a year for an entry-level installer, up to $83,000 a year for an experienced solar designer or engineer and the best candidates will be students from Californian colleges, said Carrese.

This may be the next boom in the economy, because it’s not rocket science to start such a business and you don’t need a Ph. D or a B.A., just intuition.

Solar power seems to be the future or at least this is what a South Korean village teaches us.  Donggwang is getting all its power directly from the sun and is totally energy independent with clean technology.

Today, Donggwang is a solar town because in 2004 the government subsidized the installation of solar panels on all of the 40 buildings in the village, paying 70% of the total cost. More than that, the local government is helping the community of the Jeju-du Island, to install a large wind farm. This is a long term plan that will raise the wind power generation up to 500 megawatts by 2020, in order to replace 20 percent of conventionally generated electricity.

Choo Chan Lee is a Seoul native that now lives in Donggwang. When asked by Gavin Hudson what he thinks about the environment he said :

“Yeah, the environment is a very important issue. In Jeju we don’t have many factories, so the air is very nice. Very nice environment. The motto is a clean city - clean island. They’re trying to do this solar and then the windmills. My favorite part of living in Jeju is the fresh air. The clean air.”

I think this is just the start and more and more cities will learn something from such a good example.

David Gracer is a guy that thinks consuming insects is both pleasing to the palate and good for the planet. He’s a bug eater and likes his creatures sautéed, filleted and roasted. Most importantly, Gracer thinks we all should do it.

Though most societies associate insects with an unclean creature that cause diseases, entomologist Florence Dunkel said that this is just “a social aversion”. In fact insects are not prone to disease more than cows, pigs, chicken or fish, but they (all) require proper preparation.

David Gracer recommends the “giant water bug”

Considering that over-fishing may lead to the collapse of global fish stocks in 40 years, we may turn our heads to insects pretty soon. They provide far more edible proteins per pound of feed as cattle which means it passes the test of being environmental sustainable.

“Insects can feed the world. Cows and pigs are the SUV’s, bugs are the bicycles.” Gracer said. We all choose a bicycle over a SUV, right? David Gracer also said that from now on it’s hisduty to persuade ordinary Americans to eat insects.

City of Boulder, Wyoming, and its 75 souls that live there have something in common with much larger cities across North America: high levels of air pollution. The root cause for the bad air is the region’s booming natural gas industry because the Sublette County is home to one of the largest natural gas reserves in the United States.

Craig Jensen, resident of the unincorporated community of Boulder, is concerned of the changes. He said that the sky is no longer colored or the horizon crystal clear as they used to be. “Makes you wonder what it’s going to do to the grass, the trees and the birds”, he said. He’s right and Wyoming issued the first ozone alerts after ground-level ozone numbers exceeded healthy levels, 11 times since January.

Boulder, Wyoming is not meeting federal air-quality standards right now and if things won’t change there will be drastic measures that will affect everyone in the region including the energy sector.

Gas developers in the area said they are working to reduce ozone and emissions. They insisted their companies should continue drilling.

The Department of Environmental Quality is aware of the air problem in the area and David Finley said “We understand that the people who are living up there cannot wait two or three years for us to develop regulatory tools.” They are working together with the gas companies, on a plan to reduce air pollution in the area.

Craig Jensen, have seen the both sides of a booming gas industry in the area. He’s been paid royalties for wells on his land, which allowed him to buy all sorts of “toys”, but he’s now wishing the good old days to come back, with clear skies, less traffic and fewer people.

Source [AP]

Designed as “a rally car but for oceans”, Earthrace is a trimaran running on 100-percent pure biodiesel that wishes to set an around-the-world speed record with a net zero carbon footprint. They tried to break the record in 2007, but mechanical problems kept them from finishing the race.

The boat is famous not only for being featured on lots of news channels or because it runs safely on bio-diesel alone. Earthrace can submerge up to 23 feet in water if it needs to fight big waves and the most important fact is that parts of the boat are made from a hemp-based composite, bedding foams are made from canola oil, and the operation’s total carbon footprint has been balanced by purchasing carbon credits.

At a speed of 6 knots (6.9 mph) the boat goes up to 15,000 miles on a full tank, while at 25 knots (29 mph) it runs for 2,300 miles.

Previous record of 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes was set by UK boat Cable & Wireless Adventurer in 1998 and Earthrace plans to beat that time. They left Sagunto, Spain on April 27 and got to Panama traveling across the Atlantic in just 8 days. In their journey they will include a total of 12 refueling stops and will pass through the Suez and Panama canals.

Let’s hope they manage to break the record this time.

If you want to stay updated, check out the Earthrace blogs.

Source

A volcano is the last place to be nearby when it erupts and after 9,000 years of slumber the awakening is obviously beyond words. Chile’s Chaitén Volcano went off, spewing lava and ash 12 miles high into the air. As if the whole image wasn’t terrible enough, the five-day eruption was accompanied by lightning and rain which carpeted the whole surroundings in 6-inch deep ash and mud.

More than 4,000 people were forced to leave their home town of Chaitén by boat, from May 2 when the volcano showed first signs of an explosion.

A thick column of ash was sent into the stratosphere, streaming across Patagonia to the Atlantic. Officials in Argentina reported they have noticed ash falling in the southern part of the country.

Though the amount of lava that is very small, very thick and moving slowly right now, Government vulcanologist Luis Lara warned that the dangers the eruption may have caused could last for months.

Radiocarbon dating suggests that the volcano last erupted around 7420 B.C., according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.

© image copyright : National Geographic

For no special reason I asked myself today what is the largest flower in the world? Kids usually ask such questions so better be prepared …

image copyright mark.ringrose

So, back to the answer, the biggest flower in the world is Rafflesia arnoldii a very rare flower that can be found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It has the world’s largest bloom, that can grow up to 3 feet across and may weigh up to 15 pounds, has no visible leaves, roots or stem.

Rafflesia arnoldii is actually a parasite that attaches to a host plant for water and nutrients and while in bloom emits an odor similar to rotten meat. This is how it attracts insects that pollinate the plant.

The dramatic Rafflesia flowers are the largest single flowers in the world; the leathery petals can reach over 90 centimetres across. The Rafflesia plant is itself not visible until the reproduction stage when flowers first bud through the woody vine and then open into the magnificent spectacle that is world-renowned today.

The flowers can take up to 10 months to develop from the first visible bud to the open bloom, which may last no more than a few days. Species of Rafflesia are known from peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, southern Thailand, Borneo and southern Philippines.

In some pictures it looks beautiful but I’m sure it’s not the perfect gift your wife is waiting for.

Bertrand Delanoe, the actual Paris mayor said that if re-elected he will build the “Autolib” which is a self-service electric and/or hybrid-electric car system, that will include 300 free re-charging stations in different parts of the city and 2,000 cars (electric and hybrid). This car-sharing system may be a solution that would reduce car congestion and may solve some of the parking issues in the city, but Parisian taxi drivers don’t see it in pink.

Norwegian company THINK, is considering a bid on the project with their “City” and “Ox” models, the modern urban car that have zero local emissions, that can travel up to 200 kilometers on a fully charged battery and reaches 100 km/h.

Just for that project and Bertrand Delanoe will probably get a lot of votes, but from saying to making it the real thing, there’s a long way.

via Wikio