There is a lot of data out there regarding waste, pollution and the amount of plastic and debris that enters our oceans. The numbers get bigger and bigger and the problem seems to get worse. Which is why I like a good infographic. It makes it all a lot easier to digest, and hopefully react. [...]
Environmentalists can be pretty scary – not just with their cardigans and jars of boiled fruits but with their poignant observations of the state of the planet, the doom and gloom and what not. It’s enough to turn anyone off. I came across this link though a TED talk by Adam Ostrow on the future of [...]
Green roofs not only look good but they help insulate buildings, reducing heating and cooling costs. And by green roofs I am not talking about potted plants sitting on the roof, I’m talking planted seeds in soil beds. In the UAE rooftop gardens are literally just beginning to bloom: a school and few test villas [...]
I love this bike rack. Thanks to its funky design you could put it anywhere and watch it give the place or neighbourhood an instant boost. If people have a safe place to leave their bicycles, they will start using them and leaving the car at home. Asides from the eco factor, it just makes [...]
The reason you know about your carbon or ecological footprint at all is thanks to one man’s work. Dr Mathis Wackernagel is the president of the Global Footprint Network and co-founder of the Ecological Footprint concept. The UAE has featured several times at the top of the WWF list for having one of the worst [...]
So it’s a week later and who remembers Earth Hour? Cynics will nod in self-congratulations at the fact that according to a Gulf News poll, more than 60 percent of readers did not switch off the light during Earth Hour. Altogether 4035 people answered the question: ‘Did you switch off the lights during Earth Hour?’ [...]
www.thecarboncult.com is now offsetting some carbon. I signed up the site with the 350 challenge. For every blogger that signs up and posts the nifty badge there on the right Brighterplanet.com will offset 350 pounds (158kgs) of CO2 in my name. Or yours if you sign up too. Apparently ‘that’s like flicking off 100 light [...]
Can light bulbs be sexy? Lighting can definitely set the mood but it’s rare to say the same of an energy efficient bulb. And yet I believe this new and recent winner of a bulb has upped the stakes. With Earth Hour around the corner and calls for going ‘beyond the hour’, you can’t go [...]
I made it down to Masdar Institute of Science and Technology a few weeks ago and experienced the driverless, pod-type ‘cars’ that are moving people from the car park to the institute. The cars are minimalist with either leather or canvas interiors and overall gave me the impression of sitting in a child’s toy – [...]
No it’s not a site for cult worship. This is the future of ecological power generators. The technology is planned to light up a neighbourhood in Abu Dhabi while giving residents something arty to look at. It’s formally known as Lunar Cubit and winner of the 2010 UAE design competition for energy-generating public art. Nine sleek and [...]
Illegal trade in wildlife products like ivory and rhino horn must be treated as a serious crime in order to end the devastating poaching of protected species, the head of UN wildlife trade regulator CITES said last week. “This is serious crime, and you need serious resources and serious penalties” to address it, said CITES [...]
South African authorities have been rounding up thousands of escaped crocodiles since Friday after floods gave them an escape route from a crocodile farm. Authorities attempted to reassure the public everything was under control. “A large number” of 15,000 reptiles at the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in the far north of the country had escaped last Sunday [...]
Brazil will undertake the massive task of cataloging the trees of the Amazon, in an effort to better monitor and protect the world’s largest tropical forest, the environment ministry announced Friday. The planned tree census, set to take four years, “will allow us to have a broad panorama of the quality and the conditions in [...]
Recycling entrepreneur Tom Szaky is stubbing out the world’s cigarette problem — one butt at a time. The 30-year-old who dropped out of Princeton University to start his innovative company TerraCycle in Trenton, New Jersey, says there’s no such thing as trash, even when you’re talking about the contents of ashtrays. In a program started [...]
