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