Giving a man a fish — not teaching him how to do it — may actually be a better way to preserve the world's dwindling fish stocks, according to a new study published in Science on Sept. 19.
"Scientists and fishermen have known for years that global fish populations are in bad shape. According to one bleak 2006 study, all of the world's major commercial fisheries could collapse by 2048 because of overfishing and loss of habitat. Now a team of economists and biologists say they know one way to prevent the loss of this crucial resource in global waters: more quotas. Read the entire article here...
"It might only cost a few billion dollars, and even in these days of financial meltdown there are people around with that kind of cash.
Dutch Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen recently proposed that, if things went really pear-shaped on climate change, we could start spraying the upper atmosphere with sulphate particles. They would intercept enough solar radiation to cool us down again. Read the entire article here...
"...The higher costs of farming sheep and cattle and their vulnerability to the effects of climate change, including water scarcity, could hasten a transition toward greater production of lower-emitting forms of meat, Prof Garnaut believes.
And he thinks kangaroos, which have a different digestive system to cows and sheep, could hold the key.
"For most of Australia's human history - around 60,000 years - kangaroo was the main source of meat. It could again become important," he said." Read the entire article here...
"Imagine the massive breadth and spread of our great state of Texas. Now imagine every milli-inch of that piled high with trash: bottle caps, cigarettes, cigarette lighters, tampon applicators, plastic nets, discarded flip flops, Frisbees, soda bottles, milk jugs, diapers, six-pack rings, busted tennis rackets, empty pens, shampoo bottles, empty squeeze bottles of jam, you name it. Now take that image, double it, and plunk into the water. That’s what is floating around the eastern corner of a 10-million-square-mile oval known as the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Nicknamed the “Eastern Garbage Patch,” this buoyant stew of toxic pollution—most of which is plastic—is only one of five such garbage heaps caught in the swirling high-pressure currents characteristic of gyres. The others reside in the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. And each year, perhaps unwittingly, each one of us adds to plastic to the heap... Read More.
This Sunday at 4pm, Gay Browne, the founder of Greenopia, will speak at the Mind, Body and Beyond Expo in Los Angeles. The Expo aims to "promote awareness for healthy and conscious living by creating a nexus between the community and industry professionals."
Check out the great speaker's schedule below and in between uplifting speeches, try some natural products, raw foods, yoga classes for kids & adults, workshops, and organic cooking demos too.
Political convention fever is upon us, just as Beijing Olympics fever will soon be waning. If you thought excitement over greening the conventions was high in 2004, your head will be spinning here in 2008.
In time for the DNC, Denver hotels are switching to sustainable wooden keycards, one more step toward local mayor John Hickenlooper's challenge of hosting "the greenest convention in the history of the planet." Green gurus had already been working on sourcing biodegradable balloons and organic fanny packs, in addition to local, organic (and non-fried!) food, compost bins and energy-efficient lighting and transportation.
Denver's $160 million Pepsi Center had already announced its pioneering plants to go carbon neutral by buying offsets, giving preferred parking to hybrid vehicles, supporting single-stream recycling and installing 52 solar panels.
Speaking of the Pepsi Center, the company's rival Coca-Cola has been named the Official Recycling Provider of both the DNC and RNC conventions. What does this mean?
Coke products will be delivered to the conventions on hybrid electric trucks and will be kept in efficient coolers.
Coca-Cola Recycling will provide bins and infrastructure to recover and locally recycle 100% of the materials consumed at the conventions.
Coca-Cola Enterprises created a light-weight bottle closure design that will save approximately 100 million pounds of plastic this year in the U.S.
Hopefully the green efforts will make an impression on influential delegates, and serve to make lasting change around the country.
Yes, Coke is probably looking for some good publicity, after being hammered over allegations of unfair water use, human rights abuses and lobbying against bottle bills, laws that many call the best way to promote recycling. Not to mention widespread complaints that sugary sodas can make people fat.
Still, the goal of recycling everything from the conventions is a lofty one, and one can hope that a successful implementation will help convince other managers that it really isn't that difficult.
Coke hybrid delivery truck. / Courtesy of Coca-Cola Enterprises
In related news, Humana and the bicycling advocacy organization Bikes Belong are launching a massive bike-sharing program called Freewheelin, in which 1,000 bikes will be made freely available in Denver and Minneapolis. Convention attendees, residents and media will have the opportunity to take advantage of free, health-promoting transportation.
Hopefully, this good idea will rub off on people too.
Last Thursday night I had the pleasure of attending the movie premier of Ultramarathon Man, a very inspiring documentatry featuring the man himself Dean Karnazes. On November 5th, 2006, Dean successfully completed one of his greatest tests of endurance, 50 Marathons in 50 Consecutive Days in 50 States...
It just so happens that his family comes from the same Greek village of the legedary hero Pheidippides, who ran 150 miles to announce the Greek victory over Persia in 490 BC. Dean is a modern day hero who bursts with love and encouragement wherever he goes.
Prior to the film's screening, Dean spoke of the importance of loving what you do as well as the need for kids to get more active. He also dedicated the premier to another hero, my dear friend and soul brother David Ames, who peacefully passed on July 16th, after corageously living with ALS aka Lou Gherig's disease over the last 5 years. David and Dean were friends and running buddies here in the SF Bay Area prior to David's diagnosis. You can see David in the clip above being pushed across the Golden Gate Bridge in marathon #17 and you can read the beautiful story in a chapter of Dean's upcoming book, 50/50.
I admit, after watching the film, I was extremly fired up to take a run, but I decided to wait until the next day as it was 11pm by the time I got home. Before leaving, I thanked Dean for inspiring so many people and (half-joking) asked him where he planned on running the next morning. He mentioned that he would be running in the city (most likely in preperation for the SF marathon which took place this weekend.)
Believe it or not, at about 7:15 this morning, I was driving north on the freeway from Sausalito and spotted Dean pacing along on a Marin county trail. By the time I picked up my am coffee, he caught up and crossed my path. After I called his name, he ran up to my car and popped his head in. I smiled and said, I beat you!
Does education repress creativity? I have always thought that college does a great job at making employees. The more education a person has the less likely they are to see things outside of the way they were taught to see them. If you have a few minutes I encourage you to check out the following clip on the subject of education and creativity. It is conducted by a fellow named Ken Robinson. Enjoy!
