6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The Planet
By Jenn Breckenridge
Filed Under The Big Picture, eCo TV | 1 Comment
Are you ready to find out the 6 ways mushrooms can save our struggling planet? Paul Stamets, famed mycologist and founder of Fungi Perfecti, will blow your mind with how to use mycelia to create mushroom-based solutions to habitat restoration, biological warfare, petroleum spills, pest invasions, and peak oil.
Posted on July 16, 2008 |
Top 5 Eco Cities In The US
By Pippa Sorley
Filed Under The Big Picture | 22 Comments
The United States was recently rated as the 39th greenest country in the world according to a recent Yale study titled the Environmental Performance Index, an embarrassing score that paled in comparison to other countries including Costa Rica (5th), Columbia (9th) and Slovenia (15th). The U.S. has a long way to go in achieving environmental and social sustainability and it is important to recognize the importance of the role cities play in that equation. As more and more people migrate from rural to metro areas, it is essential that cities develop innovative plans to accommodate the influx, while also diminishing the damaging effects of population overload. With the federal government of the US refusing to participate in the Kyoto Protocol and surrendering leadership on so many environmental issues, American municipal governments are taking climate change into their own hands. Since 2006, more than 230 Mayors have signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which fosters the goals of the Kyoto Protocol.
Continue reading Top 5 Eco Cities In The US…
Posted on July 10, 2008 |
The Dark Side Of The Internet
By Greg Berry
Filed Under The Big Picture | 6 Comments
There was a day, back in the good ‘ol dot com era (and before, when computers were still new and offered unlimited promise) when we used to talk about the paperless office, and ultimately, a paperless life. One of the big promises of this paperless life was how many trees would be spared. And we felt good. Later we realized computers and the Internet enabled us to print many more pages than we ever could before, when it was just us creating our own documents. Good thing the Canadian Boreal Forests are so close. (Joking.)
Fast forward 15 years, now more things run on the Internet than ever. Facebook, Salesforce, iTunes, YouTube, Maps, xBox, Skype. And on and on and on. Since most of us don’t immediately equate the bits and bytes with moving electrons, and moving electrons with burning coal, it’s easy to feel that this web-based lifestyle is pretty green. It turns out it’s actually not. Each and every move we make, the windows we keep open, the programs we run simultaneously-they add up…to a whole lot of electricity and hence, CO2 emissions. Continue reading The Dark Side Of The Internet…
Posted on June 26, 2008 |
(Don’t) Go Fish
By Scott Badenoch, Jr.
Filed Under The Big Picture | 4 Comments
As the environmental movement grows by leaps and bounds, conscious people are figuring out that a predominantly vegetarian diet is best for the environment and global food stocks. Why has fish not entered this equation? We’re still digging into our wild alaskan salmon and our yellowtail sashimi like they’re going out of style. Well, they’ve been going out of style-in a major way. Sushi lovers, marine life enthusiasts, fishermen, and any human with a pulsing heart-we have some very harsh news for you. The oceans are literally in a state of collapse.
Continue reading (Don’t) Go Fish…
Posted on June 19, 2008 |
Free Range Studios: The Story Of Stuff
By Jenn Breckenridge
Filed Under Conscious Commerce, The Big Picture, eCo TV | Leave a Comment
The Story Of Stuff has spread like wildfire through YouTube, Google videos, and inboxes all over the country and the world. What explains the millions of views of this little video by Free Range Productions? Well, everyone’s got stuff and will probably acquire some more of it in the immediate future. If you really want to know where your stuff comes from and what the effect of it all is, Annie Leonard breaks down the facts in a sweet and easy-to-understand way while weaving a tale you will never forget. And you might as well watch it, because stuff happens-and let’s admit it, those little cartoons make it so much easier to deal with…
Inspired by The Story Of Stuff? Take action!
- Order the DVD or download a free copy and host a screening at your house
- If you have a website or social network profile, you can share The Story Of Stuff on your site by embedding video or images from the film and linking to their site
- Donate to The Story Of Stuff and help Annie grow her mission
Posted on June 11, 2008 |
Field To Fork: The Story Of Food Miles
By Joshua Rosenthal, M.S.
Filed Under Green Living, The Big Picture | 2 Comments
Personal food choices have an impact on our bodies and on our environment. Every single meal we eat is made up of food that requires significant amounts of energy to reach our plate. The journey our food takes is much longer than most realize. We refer to this journey as food miles - the distance food travels from field to plate. The higher the mileage, the less cool the food.
Food travels further these days because large corporate grocery stores have centralized methods for distributing food. In some cases, a crop of cherries may travel across the country to be packaged and then sent back close to where the cherries were originally grown. In other situations, stores fly in food from all over the world to ensure they have fresh produce, whatever the season. This practice causes us to have organic bananas from Peru, kiwis from New Zealand, and avocados from Mexico at any time of year.
In my own area, my food coop sells organic apples from Washington State right next to apples grown locally and they both cost about the same. Locally produced, seasonal foods cut energy use and therefore leave a smaller impact. They are much much better for the environment and for local economies.
Then there’s the matter of meat. To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Cattle require huge amounts of water. Giving up just two pounds of beef a year will save more water than if you stopped showering for a year. When is Al Gore going to start talking about this? Continue reading Field To Fork: The Story Of Food Miles…
Posted on June 3, 2008 |
Top 5 Eco Cities
By Pippa Sorley
Filed Under The Big Picture | 18 Comments
Every year urban sprawl spreads upon farmland, forests, and shorelines. Rural areas are rapidly losing ground to their rival cities. Hundreds of thousands of people flock each year to their nearest city in search of sustainable employment. Farmers are losing their farms, ranchers are losing their pastures, and fishermen their livelihoods. Some say it is unavoidable-with population growth comes development. And with development, comes a loss of nature. So, in light of this inevitability, we face a predicament. If cities generate the greatest pollution across continents, which ones are taking the lead in their fight against climate change? eCo Times searched for the greenest cities, attempting to find one on each continent. We picked out our Top 5 and a couple of runners up which seemed to deserve it. Each of these cities have gone above and beyond standard operating practices to implement policies and incentives to create a truly sustainable urban environment.
CURITIBA, BRAZIL (SOUTH AMERICA)
With a population of 1.6 million, Curitiba represents a model sustainable city. Faced with a fast-rising population, worsening air pollution and imminent gridlock, this city turned its center into a pedestrian-only zone and transformed several key highways into roadways reserved solely for mass transit. By planting millions of trees, the city created “green moats” to buffer against the harmful effects of polluting industry. Perhaps Curitaba’s most famous greening story is that of its innovative recycling program. The Mayor created a social and environmental revolution by offering groceries and bus passes to the city’s poor in return for bags of recyclables. The result? Two-thirds of Curitiba’s garbage is recycled. Continue reading Top 5 Eco Cities…
Posted on May 29, 2008 |
Memorial Day: Understanding The True Costs Of War
By Jenn Breckenridge
Filed Under The Big Picture | 3 Comments
This Memorial Day weekend, Bush stated, “Kids will be out of school, Moms and Dads will be firing up the grill, and families across our country will mark the unofficial beginning of Summer,” Bush said. “But as we do, we should all remember the true purpose of this holiday – to honor the sacrifices that make our freedom possible.” This is a rare opportunity to follow the advice of our President. Let’s take a stark look at some of the human, environmental, and financial sacrifices of the US-led invasion of Iraq, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Ecosystems
Though the total toll on Iraq’s environment due to the war is yet unknown, many obvious aspects can be examined. Depleted uranium used as munitions by the US military in Iraq has caused cancer rates to soar in both children and adults. Both the ancient rivers of the Tigris and the Euphrates run through Iraq, providing drinking water to people as well as a diverse array of West Asian wildlife. Approximately 90% of the marshes on the lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers have dried up due to strategic dam building. This has caused the disappearance of water buffalo, foxes, birds, and boar.
Intentionally-set oil fires have released thousands of tons of greenhouse gasses into the air. These fires have also polluted the Sea of Oman with fallout from burning oil debris, which is laced with poisonous chemicals such as mercury, sulfur, and furans. This sea is home to 4 out of 5 species of endangered marine turtles, as well as many types of birds and fish. These species are now being poisoned. Poorly tended oil wells have spilled in surrounding ground water and soil, contaminating animal habitats and human water supplies. Potential farmland has been ruined by the scattered unexploded ordinances and craters caused by bombings. Overall, it is clear that the natural elements, as well as the cities and infrastructure will take countless years to recover. Continue reading Memorial Day: Understanding The True Costs Of War…
Posted on May 26, 2008 |
Barack Obama On The Environment
By Jenn Breckenridge
Filed Under The Big Picture, eCo TV | 6 Comments
As Barack Obama takes the lead with super delegates, it seemed an appropriate time to broadcast his stance on the environment. Controversy has recently circulated over Obama’s support of “clean coal” (an oxymoron), while his evangelism of renewable energy sources like wind and solar remain admirable. If Barack Obama wins the presidency, is he capable of leading the US government to reverse the environmental fallacies of the last administration and manifest bold legislation that will help our planet to heal? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Posted on May 14, 2008 |
Myanmar Cyclone: Time to CARE
By admin
Filed Under Modern Philanthropy, The Big Picture | Leave a Comment
We often go about our daily activities - consumed with our careers, family obligations, and entertainments of every kind. It’s easy to exist in the bubble of our own lives. But there are moments that by their sheer awfulness, jolt us out of our insulated reality. Catastrophic events like Katrina, 9/11, the 2004 Tsunami have forced us to take pause and become aware of our greater global community.
According to the UN, the Myanmar Cyclone has killed as many as 100,000 people, and left hundreds of thousands of people without food and water. From so many miles away, we can not fix it all, but we can definitely help. We can CARE. Continue reading Myanmar Cyclone: Time to CARE…
Posted on May 8, 2008 |
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