Super Eco Buildings

As it’s traditional during a long period of economic crisis, the age of large projects is upon us. Important architects all over the world are working on large scale buildings that aim to revitalize the economy whilst keeping an eye on environmental concerns - perhaps the best long-term way to save money!

One project that has caught our eye is the incredible new California Academy of Sciences building. This project, put together by Italian super-architect Renzo Piano, is the world's largest eco-friendly public building.

The original building was completely re-worked with a new concept that has subsequently revolutionised the way a museum is visited. A single building replaced 12 separate structures and houses an aquarium, a planetarium and a natural history museum; that’s filled with hundreds of innovative and engaging exhibits and thousands of animals.

The sections all flow into each other providing this incredible organic experience. The animals of the Steinhart Aquarium, for example, once confined to their own hall, are now found throughout the building. And the building, itself, now functions as an exhibit - inviting discussion about sustainable architecture and green practices.

Here are some of the most impressive architectural concepts in place:

1 Recycling: One external wall and a portion of the African Hall from the original structure remain in place. The rest of the building — 9,000 tons of concrete, 12,000 tons of steel — was demolished and recycled.

2. Passive climate control: The undulating roof helps guide fresh, cool air into the central piazza, hot air out through high-point vents. This lessens the need for air-conditioning and ventilation systems. Shredded blue jeans insulate the walls.

3. Living roof: 1.7 million native plants insulate the roof, capture rainwater, and provide a 2.5-acre habitat for butter flies, hummingbirds, and other critters. And all of it framed by 60,000 photovoltaic cells along the roof's perimeter.

4. Natural illumination: Computer modeling determined optimal locations for windows to maximize illumination of sunlight-hungry coral reef and tropical rain forest installations without overheating the rest of the building.

5. Water conservation: Ocean water piped in from the Pacific cycles through natural filtration systems for aquarium tanks. Toilets flush with reclaimed water, sparing California's stressed-out water-delivery network.

For more see: Here

Why are we still arguing about this?

Only a few years ago the concept of wearing fur was becoming as extinct as some of the species it was seeking to ‘use’ and yet only a short while later fashion has once again shown that there is no limit to how low it will go in the pursuit of money.

It seems that Vogue magazine in a bid to shock (and therefore improve sales) has once again printed a fur issue, showing what an outdated institution it has become. Pages upon pages of ridiculous looking furs made with wild and unusual animals dressed otherwise scantily clad models in the winter issue. I kept searching for a little footnote along the lines of ‘the furs used in this article are synthetic’ but none were there, and to this day I find it unbelievable and repulsive that this kind of thing is allowed to happen in the 21st century!

Shock of all shocks was finding that these were not the creations of a small, unknown designer but rather the conception of known and previously respected brands.

The list of brands included in this ‘homage to the macabre’ included: Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen. I wonder if the sales depression following a worldwide economic crisis is making them more edgy in search for free advertising and infamy?

Anna Wintour (editor-in-chief of American Vogue) is probably motivated by the inevitable backlash this kind of idiocy causes and I suspect relishes in the extra coverage it achieves for her and her outfit. How sad to think that there might actually be people out there tempted to buy this stuff…

Of course if, like the majority of humanity, you oppose this kind of thing then help is at hand. Various organizations do work to fight against “killing for fashion” and you can find interesting information on www.peta.org and www.voguesucks.com.

Do your bit and please don’t buy a fur coat, for one thing you’ll look ridiculous!

Climate vs. Finance?

Of course the financial crisis has been affecting everyone’s lives in the last few months and latest in the list of casualty seemed to be the EU climate plans. Today, a growing voice of concern from the weakest performing economies in the Union threatened to ruin the incredible progress made in European environmental policy. French president Sarkozy whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency hit back with a firm message.

"I can confirm that the objectives remain the same, the calendar remains the same, now it's up to (us) to find solutions for those countries that expressed concerns," he added "The climate package is so important that we cannot simply drop it, under the pretext of a financial crisis,"

The EU has also announced an ambitious plan to steer the economy back on track and Jose Manuel Barroso (European Commission Chief) added: "We are not going to let up on the battle against climate change, no question of choosing against combating the financial crisis and climate change."

Europe stands as a great beacon of hope in the battle against climate change, its targets for cutting carbon emissions are a great inspiration for the rest of the world and, as the UK Prime Minister points out, "This is not the time to abandon a climate change agenda which is important for the future," noting that high oil prices and less energy security "makes it more important that we deal with a long-term policy."

Eco-Camping with some Green Gadgets

A great way to have a fantastic holiday, enjoy fresh air and nature, and massively reduce your travel carbon footprint is to go camping. So here are a selection of interesting and odd gadgets that will make your camping trip that little more eco-friendly!

So you're in the middle of no-where and your mobile phone runs out of juice? Maybe it's an emergency, or maybe it's not? Everyone has hit the issue of a dead battery at some inconvenient time, and that's where the Solar-Powered Mobile Phone Charger comes to the rescue! The charger has an internal battery, that when topped up via solar energy, can charge a range of devices, such as digital cameras, MP3 players and mobile phones!

If you want to escape the mobile phone, but want to keep in touch with the kids or family as they go wandering off, then this Hand-powered 2-way Radio will do the trick. A few cranks of the handle to charge it up, and then talk away! You can also listen to the AM/FM radio if you want to chill out to a little music too.

Now if you're camping, you've got to eat. If you don't want to take a load of picnicware with you on your journey, then this Bio-degradable Picnic Set can be discarded and it'll break down in a matter of weeks. No mess, no hassle and it doesn't harm the environment either!

This gadget is a real cracker. It's called the Sh*t Box. When nature calls, this collapsible cardboard-based toilet has special bags that go inside the box to allow you to discard the waste safely. You simply bury the bag and the waste, and it will biodegrade in a fairly short period of time. It saves using harmful chemicals too! Great for those music festivals I think.

So there you go, interesting and useful eco-friendly gadgets for your next camping trip!

This guest post was written by Daniel Harrison from Daily Eco Tips and EnviroGadget.com. Dan's a great fan of cool gadgets that actually benefit the planet. Dan also likes to help others to take a greener path in their life.

Less Taxes More Eco

I wonder whether adding compulsory eco taxes to our shop and hotel bills in holiday hotspots is really the answer. Lately I have had this experience in a number of shops in mainland Europe where the price on the label is “touched-up” at the till to include an eco incentive.

Obviously, I have no particular objection to the gathering of funds for green projects; I just think that overall this could be done in a more sensible and less forceful way. It is true that in holiday destinations where there is an obvious duty to protect the environment, this money is needed, but it is also true that very seldom we get told where the money is going. How much of it will benefit the environment? How much of it will go to local projects? It does make you wonder how the whole process can be rendered more transparent and certainly less pushy. When the eco-tax made its way to the Balearic Islands for instance, and money started to pour in, there wasn’t even an obligation to talk about where it would eventually go; in some cases it hadn’t even been decided.

I think that sometimes people do make the right decisions and genuinely want to help green projects, but local governments should really try and think of more creative ways of doing this other than just slapping miscellaneous charges onto our bills. The truth is that this type of activity actually does not benefit the green movement in the long run as people paying these extras begin to associate the word ECO with the word TAX!

Eco Gadget Series (1st Issue)

These days it seems that virtually every manufacturer on the market is making a very deliberate push to fabricate environmentally-friendly products in keeping with our more acute sense of “greenness”. During the last few days a couple of products have caught my eye, here they are:

1. The Freeplay Indigo Lantern is one of those genius ideas that makes you sit back and think “I wish I had thought of that”. Building on the brand’s experience and know-how in clean energy production, Freeplay engineers have made a very dependable and modern lantern able to provide (fully charged) up to 2 ½ hours of continuous ultra bright light, and 70 hours of night-light. With a quick 60 second wind you get an hour of brilliant white light. It has no bulbs to burn out, nor disposable batteries to replace, and you can power it yourself when needed. It retails at around 20 GBP.

2. The Standby Buster. We often talk about how much power our appliances consume on stand-by and we know that there are people out there who find it hard work to turn theirs off, this gadget is for you. Standby Buster is a remote controlled electrical socket that lets you switch appliances off completely so that they use no electricity. Leaving them on standby unnecessarily uses electricity costing you money and contributing to Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions. The unit requires no installation, you plug it into an existing socket to convert it to remote control. Standby Buster is the only consumer electronics mains switch to be recommended by the Energy Saving Trust. It retails at around 10 GBP and will save you on average 40 GBP a year.

Saving Whales is Possible!

A conservation success on a literally “massive scale” has been highlighted today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It seems that in the 40th year of the international hunting ban, the humpback whale is making a comeback.
Marine biologists estimate that the number of humpbacks worldwide may have grown to more than 40,000 adults and about 15,000 juveniles, prompting the revision of their classification from "vulnerable" to "of least concern" on the latest annual list of endangered animals.
This is a great conservation story and it serves to highlight the fact that we can do something about these problems. If we extend the same attention to other cetaceans (of which 10% are classified as endangered or critically endangered) then we can break the trend and bring some of these species back from the brink of extinction.
Smaller coastal and fresh water species, including the vaquita porpoise, finless porpoise, South American river dolphin and Irrawaddy dolphin, are increasingly at risk of disappearing and it is really up to us to ensure our oceans remain filled with these unique and important species.

Are the Beijing Olympics Green?

It should come as no surprise that the effort to safeguard our environment has made it to the Olympics too! Here, the Organizational Committee, aided by various international associations and green project specialists, has been able to stage what they call “Zero Net Emissions Games” also dubbed the “Green Olympics”.

The emphasis has gone into reducing emissions and including all sorts of neat features like community sustainability planning and green buildings. In a city plagued by terrible pollution this is an important step towards a healthier environment.

One of the key features of this whole project has been the efficient transport “design”, for instance, care has been taken in planning journeys to and from the events and with the use of some very modern telecommunication systems the number of journalists on site has been greatly reduced. Even the commentaries can be done remotely from anywhere in the world. This project is something of a first and we hope that from now on it will be an important part of all future Olympic events.

Is Eco-Chic the Future?

For once the general consumer trend seems to be encouraging. Although the economy is going through a rough patch, the buying of all things “green” has not stopped and the general consensus seems to be that people want to do the right thing.

Of course a great number of production houses, designers and fashion businesses have jumped onto the bandwagon and are offering their very own take on environmentally sound products. Interestingly, the fashion industry seems to be at the forefront of new eco-styles with the help of some heavy-duty names: from architect Zaha Hadid to actresses such as Angelina Jolie, who has been buying eco-chic babywear for her new twins.

I suspect that as time passes we will all be influenced more and more by the importance of eco products and there may indeed be a time when there is no such thing as a non-eco product! In the meantime there are great things to be found out there and as the new catwalk inspired fashion products make it into our shops we will surely be on the cusp of a fashion revolution.

The Site of World War Three

Ok, so the title might be a little dramatic but what’s happening a few miles North of our shores is so ridiculous that it might just end up spelling the biggest socio-political disaster of our time. For those that are unaware, the Arctic has recently been the site of some pretty serious border disputes involving major fuel-hungry countries.

Following a massive international failure to secure the same kind of protection that Antartica has enjoyed, we now play witness to the steady march of the oil machine. Russia, Canada, the United States and Denmark (controlling Greenland) are all reviewing their position and exploring their options. In the meantime controversy has already hit the headlines when a Russian submarine planted a flag on the Arctic seabed as an act of provocation designed to show they mean business. What they have really shown is that they are impotently greedy and incapable of seeing the bigger picture.

By drilling in this incredibly delicate and already environmentally trampled environment we are doing nothing but selling ourselves out for a quick profit. The natural repercussions are massive and the only benefit is to boost the economy (for a short while) of countries that thus far, rather like drug addicts, seem to look for more places to score their filth rather than work on kicking the habit. One day there won’t be anywhere left to dig and we will probably regret wasting all this valuable research time and money in silly disputes and flag planting exercises.

Does Recycling Really Have To Be That Difficult?

I live in a place where recycling is the norm, people have been doing it for years and it is so habitual that it has become practically effortless. After successfully applying the simple mantra of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” we have considerably cut the amount of non-recyclable waste we create in our household and I am very proud of that fact.

However, it seems that recycling is not as simple as this for everyone and, as I struggle to understand why some people continue to see it as a government conspiracy, I find an article that helps to explain a little more.

Only today a woman in Essex told of her ordeal as an Environmental Officer tried to barge into her home over the alleged offence of fly-tipping, when in fact they found part of her address label with some rubbish at a recycling point. She claimed her innocence only to have a police officer show up at her door shortly afterwards.

In my experience, local councils have the tendency to approach the subject in an aggressive and often intimidating manner. This kind of behaviour serves only one purpose; it reinforces the sceptic’s view that the government is strong-arming them into something they don’t want to do and it alienates people from the good work recycling can do. When will local councils learn that this is not the way to approach this? Sure, it is important that repeat offenders are pursued and that fly-tipping is dealt with, but it has to be done in a measured and considered way that takes into account the sensibilities of the population.

It is as always a question of education, if people are told how good recycling is for the general community and how easy it is to do I imagine that scenes like the one in Essex will not be necessary and that fearsome Environmental Officer can then try and work with the community rather than against it.

How Much is Nature Worth?

It really is true that sometimes the only value people understand is the value of money. In a bid to get the most out of on this, specialist economists from all over the world work to place a monetary “value” to some of the natural beauty that surrounds us.

Let me give you an example. It seems that in the past the warnings given by desperate conservationists were enough to instigate a proper look at the damage we are making to the Great Barrier Reef. That is until the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) explained that the Reef’s value in tourism alone is in the region of $3.5 billion and the reef components are worth something like $1.4 billion. This, in essence, puts all conservation projects in perspective and helps state and private investors understand that conservation costs are only a fraction of what the item being conserved is worth.

Of course we also know that it isn’t just about money, an ecosystem as varied and complex as the Reef is essential to all life in the area. 500 million people live within 100 kilometres of coral reefs, many of whom rely on them (and the services they provide) for daily subsistence.

This trend of categorising natural treasures in monetary value does of course carry the inherent danger that one day we might be faced with making difficult choices over what gets conserved and what doesn’t. This kind of capitalistic approach might direct us to save something over something else purely because of the costs involved. On the other hand, it is working wonders in helping to explain the value of the environment to the world, and as a result it makes a welcomed addition to the conservationist’s arsenal.

Be Active and Eco at the Same Time

With global bicycle sales at an all time high (they actually sold more bikes than cars in the US this year) you would be excused for thinking that a transport revolution is taking place. Whilst this may be true at home, it is also expanding into our holidays as active tours are experiencing something of a boom.

It makes total sense. You go to some nice part of the world, you forget the noise and chaos of driving on congested roads and instead move from town to town in a more relaxed pace that allows you to enjoy all the sights and smells of the region you have come to visit. Not only is this a carbon-free way to move around it is also incredibly healthy and rewarding. Biking and hiking are what I like to call "effortless exercising", not because it's undemanding, but because as you are taking in the views, enjoying the breeze it is actually easy to forget you are working out!

If you think that in England alone people booked around £120m (450,000) worth of cycling holidays in 2006 you can see that the sector is in fact a very prosperous one. If you add to this hiking, kayaking, climbing and even swimming holidays you start to get a picture of a consumer wanting to do more for themselves whilst at the same time (maybe inadvertently) helping the environment.

How to Rent a Car on Holiday

A piece of news I read yesterday inspired me to talk about cars, particularly cars you hire on holiday. I know that for some people a long break involves hiring a car and I realize that the official green line is “don’t do it!” However, I am the first to realize that some times there are no alternatives. When you travel to remote destinations or when you need the flexibility of your own transport it really can be the only option open to you. Try not to despair though as there are ways to feel less guilty about hiring a car whilst keeping an eye on the environment, here is how:

Firsly, it seems that every major car rental company is working hard to greenify their operations. Avis for instance has formed a collaboration with CarbonFund.org to minimize their carbon footprint and along with Hertz they have made a big effort to boost their hybrid fleets.

There are of course things you can do as a consumer too. First of all try and rent from a company that has a responsibility statement. Do your research and read their “green” statements, if necessary ask them what they are doing for the environment, nothing like consumer pressure to get things started.

Choose the smallest and newest car possible. Smaller cars with smaller, modern engines produce fewer emissions and ultimately consume less fuel (Bonus!). Of course if you have the option, then why not try a hybrid?

If you find that you are just renting for the sake of it and you know your destination has a great bus system or that once at your destination you can hire a bike then really “don’t do it”. You will actually have a better holiday not having to worry about where to park or where to fill up or if someone damages it and the insurance won’t cover it… think of the stress! On site you might find that a bicycle is the way to go after all, on some of my travels I have found it a great way to get out there and enjoy the scenery, the people and the sights at a leisurely and very civilized pace which is what holidays are all about.

Stupid comment of the week
David Price, of Lamborghini Club UK, when being asked his opinion on the recent story about a car being flown from Qatar to London just for a service he said: "If someone owns something and wants to do something with it, what does it matter?"
What a completely cretinous and blinkered philosophy, should we all do whatever we want with everything? Should people drive their car into people just because they own one and they want to? In the same spirit I suppose Mr Price agrees with terrorism and London stabbings and whale hunting? Grow up!

Want to see how a species is doing, look on the road…

It seems that the battle for space continues to rage on as we encroach on the natural environment and nature responds in the guise of small creatures populating our urban sprawls. City foxes are now common phenomena but rather less so is the appearance of the pine marten close to Inverness on the outskirts of a retail park.

It seems that the elusive and nocturnal creature has found a comfortable lifestyle close to humans and indications are that their numbers are healthy. How do we know? Well, Highland Council countryside ranger John Orr says that "It sounds weird, but road kills are quite good indications of how species are doing. We are seeing things like fewer hedgehogs dead on roads which suggests their numbers are way down."

The growth of a predatory species like the pine marten could spell bad news for the already dwindling red-squirrel population (a key prey), no doubt already in distress after the sighting of the first grey squirrel in April. On the positive side you might just be able to catch a glimpse of one of these rare animals when you are next in Scotland.

Penguins and the Changing Climate

When you read about environmental matters you inevitably come across some terribly sad stories that reinforce the importance of what we are trying to achieve and at the same time put in perspective the difficult road ahead.

For some time we have cultivated a fascination for penguins, we all of course enjoyed the “March of the Emperor”, we saw them on “Planet Earth” and we’ve always struggled to comprehend their tough journey to adulthood. Their fight for existence just got worst.

Scientists working in Antarctica have noticed a sharp drop in the population of “Adelie” penguins. Their study points to rain as the likely culprit. You see as the temperatures in the Antarctic region have steadily increased, snow has been replaced by rain and the penguin’s young are not equipped to deal with it.
Adelie penguins are born with a thin covering of down and it takes 40 days for them to grow protective water-repellent feathers. With epic rains drenching their ancestral nesting grounds, their parents try to protect them. But when the adults leave to fish for food, or are killed by predators such as seals, the babies become soaked to the skin and die from hypothermia.

‘Everyone talks about the melting of the glaciers but having day after day of rain in Antarctica is a totally new phenomenon. As a result, penguins are literally freezing to death,’ said Jon Bowermaster, a New York-based explorer who has recently returned from Antarctica.

‘It is all very well talking theoretically about how the ice cap could disappear – but watching penguins walking among the skeletons of their young is the most powerful evidence of climate change I have seen.’

I suspect that as the climate gets more unstable we are probably going to be witness to many other disasters of a similar scale, maybe one day enough of these stories are printed for people to take action.

Solar Craze Hits Cloudy Towns

Although far from being the sun-soaked capital of Europe, Germany is now at the epicentre of a solar revolution. For a little while now the German government has realised the potential of solar energy and the advantages of turning every consumer into a producer. Germany boasts more than 50 per cent of the world's installed solar power capacity, thanks to special subsidies, known as feed-in tariffs that give households with solar panels a fixed income for 20 years from electricity sold to the national grid.

As ordinary citizens realise the potential to make great savings, the government inches closer to creating a country independent of fossil fuels. Experts predict that in the long term solar energy may provide up to 30 per cent of Germany's power needs for electricity and hot water, compared with less than 1 per cent today.

Many regional authorities have heavily backed this sector, for instance in Marburg (central Germany) history was made this month as it became the first city to require households to install solar equipment as part of any house construction or renovation. They face €1,000 fines if they refuse.

We Love Basking Sharks

Daa da, daa da, da da, da da, da da.... Yes, it is in fact a textual rendition of the infamous shark tune brought to us courtesy of “Jaws” and our semi-subconscious fear of the great creature. This fear is of course not totally irrational, sharks are notoriously well-designed killing machines who have evolved over time to become one of the most ruthless apex predators of the seas. That being said, shark attacks on humans are rare, in 2003 the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) reported “only” 55 confirmed cases of unprovoked shark attacks in the whole world. Whilst this is no consolation to those affected, it is nonetheless a rare occurrence.

These formidable creatures are unfortunately suffering due to a number of man-made factors: over fishing of their natural prey, pollution and the horrific but still widespread practice of “finning”.

There are various projects active all over the world to help preserve sharks, one to make the news recently is the “Seaquest Basking Shark project” dedicated, as the name suggests, to the Basking Shark, the world’s second largest fish. The project is being run by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) and SeaWatch, and shark spotting points will be set up at Gwennap Head and at Carn Gloose near Cape Cornwall in the UK.

If you live in the area then you should help. The CWT is appealing for volunteers to come forward who can log shark sightings. Last year, SeaWatch surveys recorded 656 basking sharks from Gwennap Head and six species of whale, dolphin and porpoise.

If you are worried about a “Jaws” situation then take a deep breath and relax, the basking shark is totally harmless to humans; they eat only plankton! Despite their particular diet, they can grow to 39ft in length and weigh up to 7 tonnes, making them the UK’s biggest wild visitor.

Drive very fast and save the world - WOW

We are very, very excited... You see the world of ecological living has always been seen as a little dull to some and I this is why... In a society where big houses, fast cars and loose living are the amoral ideals a great majority of red-blooded society aspires to, the very fact that these items are generally environmentally unfriendly is a little bit of a hit to the cool-factor of green living. Well there is change in the air.

Thanks to the tech-savvy work of a small American start-up company (Tesla Motors) and some financial backing by none other than Google, we “green people” can now enjoy the fast cars we might have always denied ourselves for environmental reasons.

Tesla has brought out a fantastically beautiful car with breathtaking performance to match. A 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds is showing those archaic oil-guzzlers that the future is clean and fast! For more information visit: www.teslamotors.com