Sustainability // Current TV

Why is Fair Trade so Meaningful?

In honour of World Fair Trade Day, this May 14th, coffee roaster Van Houtte has... more

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Can We Make Climate Change Sizzle?

While waiting in the train station on my way out of San Francisco International Airport I noticed a group of business-casual people arriving in the city. The group was commenting on the carbon offset poster in the otherwise empty station. “Keep Our Skies Blue,” the poster read, with the message to buy air travel carbon offset credits at kiosks in the terminals. The loud-talker of the group didn’t understand the message of the poster, and it actually made him angry. “What are they trying to do?” he asked, suggesting that he thought it was some sort of San Francisco hippie exaggeration scam. He seemed more skeptical than inspired and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t going to be buying any carbon offsets. Observing the negative interaction between these travelers and the poster got me thinking about how can we better communicate messages of climate change.

British communications company Futerra has spent the past decade thinking about communicating sustainability messages and they’ve developed an approach based on the words of master salesman Elmer Wheeler, “Sell the sizzle, not the sausage.” If climate change is the sausage, then what’s the sizzle?

For a message of sustainability, the sizzle is a narrative that begins with a compelling vision of low-carbon “heaven.” Our communications must create a desirable picture in the minds of our audience of what a low-carbon future can look like. Creating this picture draws viewers into a world rather than alienating them with the typical visions of climate-change hell. It holds their attention long enough to get to the call to action, and doesn’t get immediately shut out by cynicism.

Our train-station poster attempts to sizzle with a lovely visual, but the generic blue-sky image failed to connect the campaign’s message to a personal situation. In addition, standing in the train station looking at the beautiful San Francisco sky, the poster failed to illustrate a clear difference between the reality of today and the potential of a low-carbon heaven.

To be successfully received, we must offer a clear vision of what the audience wants. Only then can we provide an action plan for what can be done in the near future (five years, not 20 or 30) to make it happen. We should make it clear to people that they have a choice—there are two paths to go down, one towards “heaven” and the other towards unmitigated climate change, and it’s up to them to decide.

The train-station poster does present an action item (buy carbon offsets) but it fails to give the viewer a choice of paths, or explain how buying carbon offsets would put them on one path or the other. The poster lacks a narrative and therefore fails to “sizzle.”

Post Continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/make-climate-change-sizzle/While waiting in the train station on my way out of San Francisco International... more

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Nourish: Food + Community | VIDEO: “Fair Trade”

World Fair Trade Day is May 14. How does food connect us to the global community?... more

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Sustainable Agriculture and the Future of Food: Views from the Prince of Wales

Food Supply. Health. Economic Security. Malnutrition. Obesity. Local Agriculture. Sustainability.

What’s in common to link all these words? Sustainable Agriculture.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales addressed participants last week at a Sustainable Food Conference hosted by Georgetown University in Washington DC, where he said, “Creating sustainable food systems will become paramount in the future.”

Venturing into sustainable agriculture and fearing for a food-insecurity, the Prince, with a leading voice sketched out that the rate of food production is now less than the rate of population growth. Add in threats to food crop yields, now declining with climate change, and the cost of food production as being so reliant on the rising cost of oil for transport and production, well, it all sums to an expensive forecast. He identified additional facts and pressures that you may like to know:

Global population is heading toward 9 billion people — creating greater demands for food
On average in the developed world, people throw away 40% of the food purchased
Soil is the primary source of health for all plants and people — and soil erosion in the United States is washed away 10 times faster than the Earth can replenish it
23 thousand square miles of arable land is turning into desert yearly
2 billion acres (1/4 of the world’s farm land) is degraded
One-fifth of all U.S. grain production is dependent on water with 1.3 trillion gallons used faster than rainfall can replenish it
By 2030 it is estimated the world’s farmers will need 35% more water than today
Of all the water in the world, 5% is fresh and excluding the most voluminous fresh water lake in the world, Lake Baikal in Siberia, the fresh water sources remaining are three-quarters used in agriculture

The impact of sizeable pressures and forecasts such as these mean more people could go hungry.

Post Continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/sustainable-agriculture-prince-of-wales/Food Supply. Health. Economic Security. Malnutrition. Obesity. Local Agriculture.... more

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This Grass is Great for the Globe!

bamboo is proving to be an environmentally miraculous plant

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30,000 Clinical Pathology Labs For A Dollar

No British press coverage for a major innovation story: biotech legend Una Ryan... more

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To be sustainable, U.S. agriculture needs transformational push

Improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture requires broad, transformational shifts in market structure, policy incentives, and the type and availability of scientific knowledge, asserts a "Policy Forum" paper in the May 6, 2011 edition of the journal Science, co-authored by a horticultural scientist from North Carolina State Univ.

The paper, written by members of a National Research Council committee charged with assessing the landscape of American agriculture, states that U.S. agriculture is at a crossroads. Farms must provide abundant and affordable food, feed, fiber and fuel, yet their economic viability is threatened by numerous factors, including—but not limited to—dwindling resources, climate change, and market volatility.

"With the multiple constraints we face, we can't rely solely on incremental changes to existing farming systems to improve the sustainability and productivity of U.S. agriculture," says Dr. Julia Kornegay, a professor of horticultural science at NC State who chaired the NRC committee. "To increase agriculture resilience and productivity with less water, fertilizer, and pesticides, we need to look at agriculture as an agroecosystem at both the farm and landscape level, and maximize the use of natural resources like soil fertility and organic matter to provide better water-holding capacity, nutrients, and disease management."

The paper stems from a 2010 report conducted by the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, titled Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century. That report defines sustainable agriculture as a system that can satisfy human food, feed, and fiber needs, and contribute to biofuel needs; enhance environmental quality and the resource base; sustain the economic viability of agriculture; and enhance the quality of life for farmers, farm workers, and society as a whole.

The report takes a comprehensive look at the challenges faced by U.S. agriculture—including population growth, water and land scarcities, cost of energy and fertilizers, and other factors—and examines some existing, innovative, sustainable farming systems that, if scaled up, could help steer agriculture onto the path of sustainability.

"Our study looked at a number of farms across the U.S. that have successfully implemented a wide variety of sustainable farming practices. In fact, much of the innovation in sustainable agriculture systems is coming from farmers," Kornegay says. "Why aren't these systems and practices more widely adopted? What are the barriers to sustainable agriculture?"

Increased complexity in how farms are managed, and the availability of information about how a sustainable farming system works, are important considerations, she adds. Which is why change must come both from the top—farm policy—and from the bottom—individual farmers themselves.

"We're not saying that every farm needs to become an organic farm," she says. "Instead, we need to provide incentives to farmers in the next Farm Bill for the adoption of sustainable practices.Improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture requires broad, transformational... more

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ENVIRONMENT: Planting ‘Seeds of Hope’ for tomorrow’s generation

It’s not an easy task to convince local villages of the benefits of biodiversity... more

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Artists Going Green: Tips and Supplies for Sustainable Art

Excuse me while I get a little artsy-fartsy. Sometimes, as an artist, it's not... more

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Afraid of the dark? I was.

The ndebele in Zimbabwe have a saying that translates, “don’t be afraid of... more

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American Steel

American Steel- A hive of art, industry and innovation: We are shaping our 250,000... more

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1 year ago
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Saving The Planet Does Not Happen By Accident

One office green team describes how they are saving the planet while encouraging you... more

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American Steel

Click below to view video: http://vimeo.com/22262650 American Steel- a hive of... more

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Rethinking Industrialism: The Plant

"Rethinking Industrialism: The Plant" profiles a vertical farming project... more

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BIOTU Solutions in Sustainability for the New Generation

Biotu BioTU is an educational program that promotes modern sustainability in Mexico,... more

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Money Breeds Crime - Give People What They Need

Zeitgeist Movement leader Peter Joseph is interviewed on RT News about what people... more

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Dr. Vandana Shiva Interview: Traditional knowledge, biodiversity and sustainable living

There is no better advocate for the biodiversity of our planet, the health of our food... more

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1 year ago
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Bananas could make cars leaner and greener

Researchers are going bananas in the quest to build cleaner, greener cars.

Brazilian scientists have developed a way of using fibers from bananas, pineapples and other plants to create plastic that is stronger and lighter than the petroleum-based stuff. So-called nanocellulose fibers rival Kevlar in strength but are renewable, and the researchers believe they could be widely used within a couple of years.

“The properties of these plastics are incredible,” Alcides Leão, a researcher at Sao Paulo State University, said in a statement. “They are light, but very strong — 30 percent lighter and three to four times stronger.”

That could reduce the weight of new vehicles, which would increase fuel economy. Several automakers are cutting weight in their campaigns to maximize mpg. Ford, for example, hopes to trim 250 to 750 pounds from its vehicles and is exploring nanotechnology to do so.

Beyond being lighter and stronger, Leão says nanocellulosic plastic is more resistant to heat, gasoline and water. He sees it being used for dashboards, bumpers and some body panels.

Cellulose comprises the primary cell wall of green plants. Intensive processing of wood and other plant materials yields nanocellulosic fibers so small that 50,000 fit within the diameter of a human hair. These fibers can be added to other raw materials to produce reinforced plastic.

Leão tells us the nanocellulosic plastic is made entirely of renewable materials and is biodegradable. The nanocellulose could be combined with petroleum-based plastic if a specific application required it, he says, but the resulting product would not be biodegradable.

Pineapple may be the most promising source of nanocellulose, Leão says. Others include bananas, coconut shells, agave and curaua, a plant related to pineapple. The leaves and stems are cooked in a device similar to a pressure cooker, yielding something resembling talcum powder.

It’s expensive stuff, but there’s no word on just how much the nanocellulosic plastic costs because Leão and his team are working in small quantities in the laboratory. Leão says the cost would come down as the scale of production rose, especially if the auto industry embraced the technology. One pound of nanocellulose can produce 100 pounds of plastic.

“So far, we’re focusing on replacing automotive plastics,” Leão says. “But in the future, we may be able to replace steel and aluminum automotive parts using these plant-based nanocellulose materials.”

Leão presented his findings today at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, California.Researchers are going bananas in the quest to build cleaner, greener cars.... more

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Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, a documentary based on the book by... more

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Artificial Leaf Could Be More Efficient Than the Real Thing

Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California, MIT professor Daniel Nocera claims to have created an artificial leaf made from stable and inexpensive materials that mimics nature’s photosynthesis process.

The device is an advanced solar cell, no bigger than a typical playing card, which is left floating in a pool of water. Then, much like a natural leaf, it uses sunlight to split the water into its two core components, oxygen and hydrogen, which are stored in a fuel cell to be used when producing electricity.

Nocera’s leaf is stable — operating continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity in preliminary tests — and made of widely available, inexpensive materials — like silicon, electronics and chemical catalysts. It’s also powerful, as much as 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural leaf.

With a single gallon of water, Nocera says, the chip could produce enough electricity to power a house in a developing country for an entire day. Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14-terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day.

Those are impressive claims, but they’re also not just pie-in-the-sky, conceptual thoughts. Nocera has already signed a contract with a global megafirm to commercialize his groundbreaking idea. The mammoth Indian conglomerate, Tata Group has forged a deal with the MIT professor to build a small power plant, the size of a refrigerator, in about a year and a half.

This isn’t the first ever artificial leaf, of course. The concept of emulating nature’s energy-generating process has been around for decades and many scientists have tried to create leaves in that time. The first, built more than 10 years ago by John Turner of the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was efficient at faking photosynthesis but was made of rare and hugely expensive materials. It was also highly unstable, and had a lifespan of barely one day.

For now, Nocera is setting his sights on developing countries. “Our goal is to make each home its own power station,” he said. “One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.”

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/artificial-leaf/Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California, MIT... more

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