World’s first high-capacity flash charging electric bus

I thought this was awesome, and definitely something that can catch on in Bellingham. The latest in electric vehicles, this new technology has the ability to charge a high capacity electric bus in only 15 seconds. Developed in Switzerland, this bus will be charged for 15 seconds at selected stops, which allows the vehicle to charge while passengers are exiting and entering the bus. At the end of the bus line, there will be about a 3 to 4 minute charge to fully recharge the batteries, all at about a 400 killowatt boost. This is an invention that can only further the benefits of public transportation, and is paving the road in stopping the use of gas vehicles altogether. Below is a really cool video explaining it a bit more:

The Natural Cure to Save Crops

Growers in the UK are turning towards a new way to combat grey mold- without the use of pesticides. This is being done using bumblebees, and is the newest way in keeping strawberry crops as natural as possible. So what is grey mold? It's formal name is botrytis cinerea, and it manifests after the fruit has been picked and causes major damage to crops all across the world. So how can bumblebees help? The bees are routed through a one- way system in their hive through a tray of harmless fungus spores which, when delivered to flowers, ensure that the fruit is protected as it grows and protects it through the fungus. They've been called the "flying doctors", and I think this is a great alternative to dangerous pesticides  I'm curious to see if it catches on in the US.

Canada's Greenest House?

I love to read about green houses and green living, and this recent article I found was really interesting. In Peterborough, Ontario, a man named Chris Magwood is calling this single family home Canada's Greenest House. So how is it so green?

The house is built with actual prefabricated straw, and is insulated using Durisol insulated blocksbelow. The interior is finished in wood and plaster, and is chemical free. They avoided plastic foam whenever possible, and uses a complete rainwater collection and filtration system. The list goes on, and this home carries a price tag of about US$ 630,709. It's a pricey endeavor, but this was one of the few green houses that I thought was very aesthetically pleasing as well. Though it may not be worth the cost to you, I think these ideas are solid and will continue to push the housing market into a more sustainable direction.

New Designs for Cooking in Kenya

Recently I came across this really cool video from the Swedish architect firm Claesson Koivisto Rune, showing their latest innovation. They came up with an idea for a cook stove that is both aesthetically pleasing, safer, and inexpensive. A large problem in Kenya is the dangers of cooking over inefficient and unhealthy cook stoves, and this is just the latest idea in remedying this problem. I think overall it's a great idea, but I just hope it's aesthetic features don't unnecessarily raise the cost, because I think functionality and affordability are the most important features.

Ocean Debris Bill Dies in Committee

Plastic pollution in our oceans and coastlines are a major problem with detrimental consequences. Not only does it take ages to decompose, it kills wildlife and creates unsightly "garbage patches" all across our oceans.  Recently Bill 521 was proposed to combat this pollution, proposing that California manufacturers would be forced to figure out how to reduce 95% of plastic pollution by 2014 and not complying would result in a financial penalty of up to $10,000 per day.

Though this sounds like a great step towards a more sustainable future, that bill died in the state Assembly last Friday. The panel failed to act on this bill, and as a result it killed the legislation for the session. The excuse was that the bill put too much liability on producers rather than consumers, but pointing fingers while continuing to let our waters become polluted with litter isn't going to help anything.

Ecological Footprint Recalculation

Before:

                         

After:

At the beginning of the quarter I calculated my footprint, and found that it would take 4.3 planet earths if everyone in the world lived like I did. That was a lot, and after setting a lot of goals and sticking to them, I am proud to see that I reduced my footprint by almost a whole planet. Looking back at my first set of results, I can see that the biggest area I reduced was my consumption of goods. This I believe is partly due to the fact that I made a goal to start buying less packaged, more natural foods. I wanted to learn how to cook more, and try to buy items that were made at least semi locally. Though it's taken a slight toll on my wallet, knowing that I'm helping the environment and local growers makes it worth it. I also noticed that after taking this class I started to recycle a lot more, and was more careful about bringing reusable bags and buying products that used less packaging. This was something I didn't set as a goal for myself, but noticed that it still had an affect on my ecological footprint, which was a pleasure to see. The other sections didn't change much, mostly because they were either pretty sustainable already and/or I couldn't make the changes within the time period. But overall, I'm very happy with my progress and am excited to continue to work on my footprint after this class and hopefully reduce my impact further.

A Cap on Carbon

I've always associated China with a few things: their massive number of people, their innovations, and their pollution. Pictures of China often look like they were taken on a cloudy and foggy day, when in actuality that haze is smog and pollution. I recently read an article talking about China's new efforts to reduce pollution. They announced the details of their first carbon trading program, which is set to begin next month. Seven cities and provinces will take part in this program, with China expecting to completely implement the program by 2014. 

This carbon cap is a necessity for China, as their carbon consumption is causing more and more negative effects to their population, along with the obvious toll on the environment. Beijing schools are starting to build air purified domes over playgrounds so children can safely play outside, and many expatriates are leaving the country all together. Recently Beijing has also broken records- and not in a good way. Their pollution levels just topped 775, which breaks the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality scale of 0-500. China itself uses 47% of the worlds coal, with their consumption levels continuing to grow. 

Overall this cap is crucial for the well being of China and its citizens, not to mention the environment. Though they've committed to making environmental changes before and haven't followed through, this idea is hopefully going to become the driving force in a climate transformation. 

Fat=Energy?

There's a new way to power the world, and it's probably something you don't want to hear while eating. East London has recently come out with their plan to create a new power plant in 2015 that runs entirely off discarded fat. Yes, fat. Everyday fat, oil, and grease builds up in the city's sewer system, and often builds up and causes blockages. This fat causes 80,000 blockages a year, but by converting it to electricity this plant not only uses a renewable source of energy, but also solves the problems of grease build up in sewers.

This plant will have the power to contribute enough electricity to power 39,000 homes and 30 tonnes of fat is expected to be burnt into energy each day. So what about the smell? Andrew Mercer, the boss of the new power station claims that there will be no smell or smoke- they plan on turning it into fuel and running it like you would run a car. So overall, though you may not want to see this energy being converted, this fat burning could have the potential to revolutionize how we power our homes. 

The Window Plug

Recently I've been seeing this photo all over the internet and personal blogs, so I decided to investigate what this product is all about. Aptly named 'Window Socket', this environmentally friendly plug is the newest invention in solar power charging by Yanko Design. Designed to be portable and aesthetically pleasing, this device can be placed on any surface with access to sunlight- from the car to the office.

The design itself is fairly simple. Made out of plastic materials and solar panels, this device uses energy from the sun to charge a device, converting the solar power into electric energy through a converter. Supplying energy from a 1000mAh battery, this power would be enough to charge a mobile device or lower voltage devices, but not necessarily your microwave or vacuum. Overall, I think this is a device that's very useful and portable for the average adult, and I'd be curious to see if this e-charger will be the sockets of the future.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/30/window-socket-solarpowere_n_3183225.html#slide=2393757

Ecological Footprint: Update

So, it's been about halfway through the quarter, and I can already see some positive results from the changes I wanted to make to lessen my footprint. I said that I wanted to see what unplugging "ghost power" would do to our energy bill, and so far our bill has been decreasing. Our bill is about $10 less than it was when we started. Which isn't a huge difference, but living in a house with 3 girls it still was fairly effective.

I also wanted to bring coffee in a reusable container at least 90% of the time, and I've stuck to it pretty well. I still need to buy coffee on campus less, but by bringing coffee to school I've already noticed more money in my bank account and consuming less coffee overall.

The third change I wanted to make was buying 3/4 fresh ingredients and have at least 1/2 of that be local food. I've started buying 3/4 fresh ingredients, and it's been noticeably more expensive, so I may have to be focusing more on sales/promotions. But I have noticed I've felt a lot better and have learned a lot more about preparing and cooking food as a result. As for buying local food, it's been only about 1/4 of these fresh food purchases, so I may have to adjust my goals.

As a new goal, I think I want to work on my water consumption. I tend to let the water run a lot as I do the dishes or wash my face, so I want to reduce my water consumption by only turning the water on to do the actual task, not leaving it running. This means only using water to wash soap off plates and washing my face with the least amount of water possible. Overall I'm pretty pleased with my progress, and I'm excited to continue to reduce my ecological consumption and improve my impact on the environment.

Floating Bamboo Houses

Above is a picture of a bamboo house- a structure that is built to actually float in the event of a flood. Created by the Vietnamese design firm H&P Architects, these houses were created as a solution to the destruction of many homes as a result of severe flooding in Southeast Asia. The houses themselves are made of thatched bamboo and anchored to a base of reused oil drums using welded steel piles. Below is an example of how these bamboo houses are constructed:

As you can see, these houses are carefully constructed using as few and environmentally friendly components as possible, while also being incredibly efficient in deflecting rain/flood water. The house itself is very ventilated and open, and can be entirely closed off in the case of a natural disaster- protecting all its inhabitants. With the ability to hold up to 8 family members, this house boasts a reasonable price tag of under $2,000, and villagers can even build their own homes on site. Overall, this is definitely a viable solution to a problem that has plagued villagers for many years, and I'm curious to see if this design can become more than just an idea.

Fragrance- A Hidden Toxin?

For one of my assignments, I was asked to pick a personal care product that I use frequently, and research the ingredients and their toxicity. I decided to research L'Oreal's go 360 clean, which is a facial cleanser that I use nearly every day. I thought that since it was a facial cleanser it would be fairly toxin free, but I was quite surprised to learn that it contained a pretty toxic ingredient- fragrance.

The word fragrance doesn't seem bad at face value. It doesn't have a long and intimidating name like laureth sulfate or decyl glucoside, and seems to be in everything. It just means that it makes us smell good, right? Well, that's where you're wrong. Fragrance is actually composed of a lot of phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors that are linked to things like sperm damage, infertility, and early menopause. Fragrance contains this and a lot of other harmful compounds, all of which manufacturers aren't required to disclose in the US thanks to a legal loophole.

So what else makes fragrance so bad? Well, all of these chemicals contained within the term 'fragrance' can do a lot of damage to your body. They are known to cause allergic reactions, and sometimes even trigger asthma attacks, but they also can cause more lasting damage. Fragrance contains neurotoxins which can be toxic to the brain, can disrupt hormones, and even cause a higher risk of breast cancer.

Researching this product really opened my eyes to a lot of the products I use, including my go 360 clean facial cleanser. After checking a lot of my other personal care products I realized that they all have the vague 'fragrance' ingredient, which leads to the valuable question- where do I go from here? I buy all my personal care products with the intention of them helping me smell good, but using so many products that contain fragrance isn't healthy at all. So, I wanted to set a goal for myself, in order to continue to try and live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. I first decided to cut down on the amount of fragrance containing products I use, and only limit them to the ones I absolutely can't let go of. I'm not ready to stop buying scented shampoo and conditioner just yet, but I definitely don't see a need in buying a fragrance containing facial wash like my go 360 clean. So I'm definitely willing to stop using that, along with cutting down on my use of scented lotions, body wash, and perfume. I'm hoping by implementing these changes I can stay happy and healthy while helping the environment as well.

Sources:

"Toxic ingredients you should avoid: phthalates, fragrance & dyes". Stylishly Organic. 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
 <http://stylishlyorganic.com/2013/03/22/toxic-ingredients-you-should-avoid-phthalates-fragrance-dyes/>

"Fragrance". The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2013
<http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=222>

A few days ago I was able to take a quiz to show how large my ecological footprint was. As you can see by my results above, I have quite a large footprint- much larger than I was expecting. It would take 4.3 planets to sustain my lifestyle if everyone lived like me, which was even higher than the 3-4 earths Professor Wilhelm predicted we'd have. The consumption category contributing the most to my footprint a services- contributing to almost 50% of it.
To improve my footprint I'd like to start using less heat and unplugging unused electronics to reduce our energy bill. I also want to try and eliminate a lot of my impulse buying, especially coffee, by reducing my shopping trips and make sure I have a list and stick to it before I go out, and try to bring my own coffee (in a reusable container!) to school everyday. Finally, though I buy less pre-packaged and already prepared foods, I still don't buy much local food. So I'd like to remedy that by buying at least 3/4 fresh ingredients and have at least 1/2 of that be local food. Hopefully by implementing these remedies I can reduce my footprint ASAP.