First up – free stuff! We’ve rhapsodized about the joys of Freecycle before, and no doubt we’ll do so again – it’s that good. But it’s also an opportunity for people to offload the craziest possessions – take these 18 items at The Daily Green.
Sustainable power is the way to tackle the imminent energy crisis head-on, but a few ground rules need to be laid down first. First, if it’s still using non-renewable resources behind the scenes, then it’s not sustainable. The recent Financial Times Energy Conference in London flagged this as a major threat to these fledgling energy technologies – as New Scientist reports.
If you’re wandering round San Francisco, you might well be lucky enough to stumble upon a studio filled with robots – the quirky, eerily human kind. Now there’s a use for all that metal we’re going to have lying around.
As the Arctic ice melts and breaks up, polar bears (you know, those creatures that shouldn’t be regarded as endangered, no sir) are finding it difficult to move around and hunt. Steven John Kazlowski’s photographs show this magnificent – and yes, threatened – animal in its beleaguered natural setting…
…while elsewhere, polar bear skins (acquired legally) are on sale from Canadian exporters. How very classy.
A common complaint about wind farms is that they’re an eyesore. So how do we feel about the idea of forests of enormous spinning advertisements, as reported by GreenBiz? Um.
As you read this, Boston will have banned drug store sales of cigarettes – following San Francisco’s lead as of last year. Furthermore, promises Dr. Barbara Ferrer of the city’s public health commission, in 10 years time all smoking bars will be consigned to the history books. Sounds like the place to be, doesn’t it?
As does Los Angeles, if you’re still going through your home and replacing incandescents with their greener counterparts. (CFLs are only a stop-gap on the way to universal LED coverage, but they’ll do nicely for now.)
It’s good to be a Brit. Our energy and climate change secretary has just announced that all British homes will receive a green makeover by 2030 (and a quarter by 2020), nicely in line with the UK government’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 80% over the next decade. Good show. (And thanks, Guardian).
If you want wood to look good, leave it out in the open. That certainly goes for the boards of Wyoming’s snow fences – as Alternative Consumer reports.
Okay, so PETA. Intentions A+, methodology D-. So what do we think of the Humane Society of the United States? Here’s Passionate Green’s thoughts on the matter.
When the snows howl down across our highways, out come the salters and gritters. Except…doesn’t salinity have a somewhat catastrophic effect on plantlife? It’s a problem Katharine Wroth examines at Grist, outlining a few friendlier alternatives. (And just in the nick of time).
Here’s a link with real value. Click here and you’ll have another hundred places to go – namely, a list of top organic living blogs featured by The Health Monitor. (But don’t click just yet – or you’ll miss all the cuteness at the end of this post!)
Oh, don’t get me started on this one. While too much of the popular media is continuing to confuse weather with climate, researchers are keen to explain how 2008 was still one of the warmest years on record. The climate charts paint a conclusive picture – as you can see in John Timmer’s article for Ars Technica.
And lastly – all together now – awww. And even more awww!
Image: zenera