News, September 28, 2009
Australian town ‘world’s first’ to ban bottled water
An Australian town pulled all bottled water from its shelves Saturday and replaced it with refillable bottles in what is believed to be a world-first ban.
Hundreds of people marched through the picturesque rural town of Bundanoon to mark the first day of its bottled water ban by unveiling a series of new public drinking fountains, said campaign spokesman John Dee.
Shopkeepers ceremoniously removed the last bottles of water from their shelves and replaced them with reusable bottles that can be filled from fountains inside the town’s shops or at water stations in the street.
An Australian town pulled all bottled water from its shelves Saturday and replaced it with refillable bottles in what is believed to be a world-first ban.
Hundreds of people marched through the picturesque rural town of Bundanoon to mark the first day of its bottled water ban by unveiling a series of new public drinking fountains, said campaign spokesman John Dee.
Shopkeepers ceremoniously removed the last bottles of water from their shelves and replaced them with reusable bottles that can be filled from fountains inside the town’s shops or at water stations in the street.
Farmer offering tons of spuds to press point on urban sprawl
Spread of development threatens agricultural area in northeastThe giveaway is part of a growing Edmonton movement to protect the city’s dwindling agricultural land from development. By luring the hordes with the promise of free spuds, Visser hopes to send a lasting message about the value of local grub.
About $5 billion in potential investment could go elsewhere if Ontario bans solar panels from prime agricultural lands, the Canadian Solar Industries Association warned Tuesday.
The government refused to confirm that it will ban solar panels from class A1, A2 and A3 farmlands when it announces regulations later this week for its Green Energy Act, but that’s what the industry is hearing, said association president Elizabeth McDonald.
After months of hearing a myriad of accounts pour in about the out-of-control behaviour of intoxicated club-goers, leading to mischief on the streets of the downtown — fighting, public urination, and most recently, incidents of merciless vandalism including unsightly graffiti and damaged property — we decided to check out the situation first-hand.
Giant conglomerate Samsung is apparently pondering a wind farm comprising 200 turbines on the north shore of Lake Erie, but the Ontario government would only confirm yesterday that talks with the Korean-based company are in advanced stages.
The proposed wind farm would stretch about 25 kilometres from Port Maitland toward Nanticoke, an area considered to have excellent wind potential.
The Ontario government said the two parties have been involved in “months of extraordinarily cooperative effort” toward an agreement that would involve billions of new investment, including in manufacturing facilities.
The perils of a jobless recovery
While major economies may be starting to grow again, for many job hunters the end of the recession is little more than a headline
Green streets
The water is pristine, the streets are filled with bikes, and there’s a park around every corner. No wonder Stockholm is Europe’s first Green Capital for 2010. For visitors, there are sustainable hotels, green cuisine and organic
New Rule: If America Can’t Get it Together, We Lose the Bald Eagle
Illiteracy costs Canada, individuals
Almost half of Canadian adults (48 per cent) have low literacy skills, according to the Canadian Council on Learning, a non-profit organization based in Ottawa.
That means 12 million people in this country are below the internationally accepted standard for coping in a modern society.
Of the five levels of literacy defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the average Canadian score is 2.5, says Paul Cappon, council president.
RALLY BACKS ELECTRIFICATION Electric trains deemed cleaner option: MOH
Toronto’s medical officer of health launched his latest salvo in the war of words with Metrolinx over its controversial proposal to run about 400 diesel trains a day to Brampton and Georgetown.
Dr. David McKeown took the unusual step of speaking at a protest organized by the Clean Train Coalition, repeating concerns about the health impacts of Metrolinx’s proposal for the Georgetown south corridor.
“The trouble is the current proposal (is) built on a foundation of diesel – a mode of transportation we know is bad for air quality and not good for our health,” McKeown told an energetic crowd of more than 500 gathered at Sorauren Park in Roncesvalles Village.
Who speaks for Ontario? Not our MPs, evidently
All national political organizations know that if they want to be somebody in Ottawa, they need to win big in Ontario.
But unfortunately for Ontarians, that strength does not translate into political action once they send their representatives to the federal Parliament.
This province elects 106 federal members out of the 308 available in the House. Once elected, however, the vast majority of Ontario MPs just raise their hands when the respective party leaders call, regardless of the interests of Ontario’s citizens.
Resilience Takes Form — A Handbook for Transition
Something strange has happened over in old Blighty. I’m not sure if the Utopian dreams of the 1960’s are making a comeback or if a new movement, one grounded in reality but focused on our future, has taken shape. No matter how cynical you are, you can’t ignore one of the fastest growing grassroots movements in the UK — The Transition Network.
In 2006 a founding member of this network, Rob Hopkins, had begun working on an idea in Totnes, a sleepy town in the West of England. From the land of Cornish pasties and clotted cream a community-led initiative began to focus on a duel issues of climate change and the realities of a post peak oil society.
The Cocoon Cooker is the weirdest way to go green yet.
The controversial cooker could ‘grow’ meat and fish in your kitchen by heating pre-mixed food packets containing animal muscle cells, oxygen, and nutrients. A Chia Pet for steak, in short.
Richard Hederstierna of the Lund Institute of Technology, who designed the Cocoon concept and won first place at the Electrolux Design Lab Competition, told the Daily Mail the device could, “create 100 per cent pure meat without the need for animals to be killed and with no risk of contamination. It will change everything.”
Okay, I’m over reacting. After all, Ford didn’t take any TARP money so it can do whatever it wants, I guess. It can close all the plants it desires in the US and build sparkling new ones in China, as it was proudly announced today. GM and Chrysler have to be a little more careful, given all that taxpayer cash they’ve taken, but only a little, since they have to get their financial stability back too, right? I mean, what else can a struggling multi-national do but fuck the hard working American worker and take off for other shores, which of course means they also write off the American consumer, since an out of work American consumer can’t consume much.
So off to greener pastures go those happy multi-nationals — China, India, Brazil…what do the rest of us do, other than rage, plead or bleed?
Buy local.
As the U.S. imports more of its food, the safety of it has become an increasing concern. The melamine contamination of milk powder in China that killed Chinese infants and sickened thousands of others and caused the recall of numerous imported food items here in the U.S. shows how vulnerable we have become in a globalized food market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made the assertion that about half of the food borne illness outbreaks in the U.S. in recent years have come from imported food products. According to an August 2009 report issued by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS),
U.S. food imports grew from $41 billion in 1998 to $78 billion in 2007. The growth has come in consumer-ready foods, such as fruit and vegetables, seafood and processed food products. It has been estimated that as much as 85% of the seafood we now consume is imported, and depending on the time of the year, upwards of 60% of the fresh produce we consume is now imported. Officials from the FDA have stated that about 15% of the average American diet is made of imported food products.
The New Sputnik
If we can continue stumbling out of this economic crisis, I believe future historians may well conclude that the most important thing to happen in the last 18 months was that Red China decided to become Green China.
Yes, China’s leaders have decided to go green — out of necessity because too many of their people can’t breathe, can’t swim, can’t fish, can’t farm and can’t drink thanks to pollution from its coal- and oil-based manufacturing growth engine. And, therefore, unless China powers its development with cleaner energy systems, and more knowledge-intensive businesses without smokestacks, China will die of its own development.
What do we know about necessity? It is the mother of invention. And when China decides it has to go green out of necessity, watch out. You will not just be buying your toys from China. You will buy your next electric car, solar panels, batteries and energy-efficiency software from China.
The Green, Clean Art of Keeping Our “Rear Ends” Hygienic: What Are We Afraid Of?
Whether it’s from being hermetically sealed in pantyhose all day, from sweating inside wooly winter wear or dripping with summer heat, feeling no-so-fresh is easier than the acres of body care products in the store would suggest.
And the fact is that most Americans aren’t as clean as they imagine themselves to be. We pay catlike attention to grooming, and yet all that Purell-ing sort of fades at the thought that we’re walking around with our nether regions shmeared with — there’s no nice way to say it — poop.
So, how can this be if Americans use about 36.5 billion rolls of toiletpaper a year?
Well, Newsweek’s Smart List reported in August that “… a classic survey showed that half of TP users spend their days with ‘fecal contamination’ — anything from ‘wasp-colored’ stains to ‘frank massive feces’ — in their underpants.”
AlI can say, with pride in my award-winning writing skills is “Eeeeeeeeeewwwwww!”
Detroit News Architecture blog good reading!
This project is intended to create a model for sustainable alleys of the future for our city and region… yeah, maybe the world. One of our culture’s least favorable faces can be found in our alleys. So often an alley is a visible representation of the worst of our culture…the waste, trash, concrete…no life…an urban wasteland. And yet, we long for a more respectful relationship with the earth than our alleys represent. The way we treat the earth in our alleys hurts our whole earth community. What a possibility they represent to bring new life to our alleys and make them a source of vitality and renewal to our community. What new life could the light from the sun bring forth in an alley? The people Africa imagined a different future for their alleys and they now have “alley farms” that help feed their community. A grandmother in one of the poorest, polluted areas of the world…has created thriving green oasis’ in the alleys of Jakarta. Our alleys spaces have great possibilities…we need to just envision a new future and make it happen. Who knows where this may lead…all we need is one green alley…and then another.
This is the story of one alley in Detroit. It is between Canfield and Prentis off Second in the midtown section of Detroit.
Background
Green Alley Project 101 An introduction to the project.
The Green Alley Design
Green Alley - Sustainable Design Features - describes the green features that are incorporated into the design.
Green Alley - Design Studio - where we’re working out our design concepts
Green Alley Research Center - documents the research we’ve done in developing our approach to the Green Alley…browse around - there’s some really interesting stuff.
The Green Alley Development Process
Green Alley Management Page Meeting agendas and to-do lists
City of Detroit Review and Approval Process … summary of meetings with the City of Detroit
Green Alley Calendar Calendar of events
Future Work
Urban Sports Creating New Life in Civic Spaces
Urban sports like bike polo and urban golf are taking off in Germany, and are beginning to bringlife back to formerly uninhabited concrete spaces.
Post Feedback
I love the Green Alley idea - what a nice thing to do with decommissioned alleys rather than just selling them to homeowners and closing them - though they make nice wildlife routes.
I am a bit disturbed about the literacy rates, though I had heard this before some years ago. It means that most of what Scaledown writes is inaccessible a large part of the community. It also has a big impact on dreams of becoming a “Creative City” if almost 50% struggle with the basic complexity of ordinary life, let alone the kind of life Florida talks about.