Check out what’s going on in green:
Prince Charles is on the warpath again – this time he’s pointing the finger at architects who seek to improve the green credibility of ecologically unsound buildings by adding ineffective innovations, reports the Telegraph. A good anti-greenwashing stance – except his comments also read as a deeply conservative attack on “random and untested building shapes and types“, i.e. architectural innovation. I can’t imagine many designers will be impressed with that one.
The World Wildlife Fund has released a report that predicts that a global temperature rise of just 2 degrees might be enough to wipe out three quarters of the major Antarctic penguin colonies. The answer? Marine conservation projects – because they work.
We Europeans are not all crazy people – as this advert for Ecover clearly demonstrates. I’m glad that’s settled.
Down the list of Practical Environmentalist’s 21 Practical Ways to Help the Environment, the word xeriscaping leaps out – and so it should, being a terrific idea, if occasionally a controversial one.
Good food is all about finding quality ingredients. Same with the kitchen it’s prepared in. Russ Parsons and Amy Scattergood round up those items it’s worth spending a bit extra on, in their Los Angeles Times article on kitchen essentials. (Personally, I find it amazing how many people have ultra-luxurious kitchens and still open bottles of wine with a dangerous, cheap little corkscrew. Here’s a classier option).
If you’re a little worried about the effect of global warming on the spread of diseases, you’re not the only one. Daily Green have a rundown of the top 12 diseases identified by the Wildlife Conservation Society as most likely to spread as the environment heats up. Another challenge to add to humanity’s list.
Now we have the equivalent of the tote bag for the world of dry-cleaning – the Clothesnik – and about time too, considering the deluge of plastic associated with the industry. It’s the fine work of Jane Wyler at Reuseniks, and it’s been garnering heavy media coverage (we first saw it over at Greenopia).
The next President should lead by setting an example, I’m sure we all agree. And for the WhoFarm Project (as Envirovore reports), that means a “White House Organic Farm” proving just what can be done, even in the unlikeliest back yard. Read the full manifesto on the official project site.
And staying with politics, Alternative Consumer has a sober and practical set of suggestions to put to the Republican Party, to improve their perceived political record on the environment. No smirking, please – this is serious stuff.
Hope you’re having a great weekend, everyone!
Image: J. Rosario