Our Environment

The environment is central to development. The concept of protecting and conserving the environment evolved in the early 1970s during the Stockholm UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. After the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, the environment started being seen as a pillar of development, closely intertwined with the other two pillars: social and economic.

Several global institutions have come up with indicators that measure these three pillars of development. The social pillar of development is measured by the Human Development Index, which is published by the UNDP. This indicator looks at three keys areas of human development and sustainability: knowledge; measured by adult literacy rate and enrollment in enrollment in various levels of education, Longevity; measured by life expectancy at birth, and standard of living; measured by adjusted GDP per capita. The economic pillar of development, on the other hand, is measured by the Gross Domestic Product.

When it comes to measuring the degree of environmental sustainability however, several indicators have been floated. One of the most popular is the ESI (Environmental Sustainability indicator), published by the World Economic Forum. This index looks at the overall progress towards sustaining the environment. Another index is the Well-being/Stress Index; this index combines a host of human and ecosystem indicators that include: peace, education, health, wealth, population, biodiversity, land, water quality and supply, global atmosphere, air quality, energy and resource use pressures.

The Ecological Footprint (EF) measures the productive land that is needed to maintain the current patterns of consumption of a given population, and with prevailing technologies, absorb the wastes produced by the population. The European Union’s Joint Research Center developed a software application known as the Dashboard of Sustainability (DS). This assessment tool presents relationships between the social, economic, and environmental issues that are complex, and aimed at stakeholders, decision makers and citizens who are interested in sustainable development. Another indicator being touted by the World Wildlife Fund is the Living Planet Index. It assesses the state of natural ecosystems of the Earth. The index assesses global and national data on human consumption of natural resources and the resultant human pressures on the ecosystems.

One of the latest entrants into this cocktail of environmental indicators is the Geo-Biosphere Load Index. Its main focus is on the human pressures to the environment. This is because pressure indicators show, at best, the fundamental stresses that human activities inflict on the environment. The Geo-Biosphere index uses indicators and data of the Material Flow Analysis.

The Californian coast, Hawaii, and the entire Pacific Rim have been plagued by a series of tsunami warnings ever since Japan’s coast was hit by a powerful earthquake. However, much of the flooding and destruction seems to have been concentrated in the areas surrounding the epicenter of the quake. However, experts have suggested that with earthquakes of such magnitudes, this kind of destruction was expected.

Some of these experts have made the observation that just as expected, two tsunamis were generated, with the first and most destructive striking the coast of Japan in a span of minutes after the earthquake, while the second tsunami traveled further out to sea and the energy was dissipated; thus causing no damage. In some instances however, feature along the coastline have been known to amplify a tsunami’s energy, hence making the second wave just as deadly as the first one.

The recent tsunamis in the Pacific Rim followed the expected pattern whereby the height of the first tsunami waves off Japan’s coastline, in the regions close to the earthquake’s epicenter, were reported to have reached over 12 feet; bringing with it massive devastation. The second tsunami however, according to reports, barely reached 7 feet. This is an indication that most of the energy was dissipated as the tsunami waves approached the North American coastline; therefore, the destruction was minimal.

Predicting the extent of damage that a tsunami might cause is quite difficult. This is because the waves travel long distances before reaching any land mass, and as they approach the coastline, the features along the specific coastlines is what will normally determine the strength with which the tsunami will strike. As such, every coastline is unique, making it almost impossible to estimate the expected height of a tsunami wave. To exacerbate matters, tsunamis are so rare, such that the data available is not sufficient to be used for prediction.

Not surprisingly the Japanese have grown frustrated with the tactics used by the Sea Shepard conservation group to prevent their ships from whaling off the coast of Antarctica. The Japanese claim that the Shepard crew has used ropes and glass bottle projectiles to fowl propellers and damage the whaling ships.

The Japanese have called on the Netherlands and Australia to take criminal action against the SSC. Two of the three SSC vessels are registered in the Netherlands.

The Sea Shepard Conservations society, based out of Friday Harbor, Washington in the US, has long used tactics including scuttling ships at harbor, using lasers to temporarily blind crews, and even ramming whaling vessels. Paul Watson, the groups founder, left his post at Greenpeace in 1977 over disagreements on his methods of direct activism. He went on to establish the Earth Force Society which was the predecessor of the SSC.

Britain recently announced a $5,000£ ($7800) rebate for those buying a fully electric or hybrid car in 2011. The US, China, and France also offer similar rebates with but the UK is the highest so far, at least measuring in US dollars.

So far the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is the only car eligible but the Nissan Leaf will soon be part of the program along with over 10 other models by March 2011.

Having spent the last year in living in the south in a home with a wood heater and no central heat or air I discovered that air conditioning is a wonderful thing. One of the few breaks I got from the heat was driving to and from work. Since I worked in customer service I couldn’t show up for work hot and sweaty so I would drive with the A/C on full blast! It felt great.

Toward the end of the summer I noticed that my air conditioner wasn’t as cold as it used to be. When I called around to see what needed to be done to recharge the A/C unit it was definitely a learning experience. I decided to do a little investigating on the internet to see what I could learn. While searching I came across a link for Enviro-safe refrigerant. There are several reasons why I would recommend it, but a few are to follow:

Safer on the environment than Freon (zero ozone depleting)
Available with leak detection
Extends the life of your compressor and other A/C parts
Colder than other refrigerants
Does not require retrofitting

Enviro-safe refrigerant is even endorsed by GreenPeace and is an organic, non-toxic, non-ozone depleting hydrocarbon compound. Not only is Enviro-safe better for the environment but it is also less expensive to use. One 6 ounce can of it is equivalent to 18 ounces of Freon or 16 ounces of 134a. And since it is extends the life of my automobile’s air conditioning without using a retrofit I can save some money and help save the planet.

Dickson Despommier, a 67-year-old microbiologist at Columbia University suggests that skyscraper farms will be the future of agriculture. With the world’s population forecast to grow from 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by the year 2050, a massive amount of agricultural land will be required to feed us. And with 41 percent of the world already being used for agricultural purposes, not including the land we live and work on, it poses a major problem. Where will expansion come from? Given a finite amount of land available, Despommier believes it’s time to think upward. Despommier, who also sits on the board of New York Sun Works and is responsible for the urban-farm floating barge, came up with the idea eight years ago while teaching.
The skyscraper farms would be about 30 storeys and each structure would easily feed around 50,000 people under its current design. The skyscraper farm will not be cheap, however; the prototype is currently priced at approximately one billion dollars. Despommier is currently looking for investors.

I found this handy water quality chart for identifying possible contaminates in tap water.

The chart breaks down to three categories; visual, smell, and taste. Once you have narrowed your water problem down you can then compare to a water contaminate chart and if you have a ppm (parts per million) meter you can see if the contaminate is above safe level. PPM meters can generally be bought for less than one hundred dollars at your local hydroponic or garden supply store.

Due to advances in battery technology and other improvements, Toyota is set to unveil a Prius capable of 94 miles per gallon. This represents about a 160% increase in efficiency over their previous model. The new Prius features a 1.8 Liter Turbo Charged engine that is capable of 0-60 in less than 10 seconds.

The new 94 mpg Prius would offer an improved 0-62 mph time of under 10 seconds. A newly designed 1.8-litre turbo engine will be coupled with the THS-II hybrid system and with ultra efficient lithium ion batteries to greatly improve fuel efficiency.

Toyota is also said to be considering a plug-in capability as as standard feature. Many who currently own a Prius modify the cars for plug-in charging. Although this can decrease dependence on fuel it can also void the car’s warranty.

A new report released by the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (CHEJ), warns that PVC shower curtains could be releasing hazardous chemicals that contaminate the air and endanger public health. PVC or polyvinyl chloride is the material of choice for many of the shower curtains on the market today.

A PVC shower curtain can be recognized by the strong chemical odor or “new shower curtain smell” that it gives off. Personally I have always liked that smell, but apparently that is the smell of 108 volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) being released into the air. The CHEJ is pushing for an out right ban of these type of curtains and our providing individual retailers and distributors with copies of their report in the hope that they may decide to voluntarily pull the products from shelves.

In addition to shower curtains other household products made with PVC include table cloths, back packs, and plastic covers. Most products are not adequately labeled so it is up to the consumer to be aware of the dangers of possible exposure to PVC.

The CHEJ report titled: “Volatile Vinyl: The New Shower Curtain’s Chemical Smell” can be read in its entirety at the

New homebuyers that are looking for a way to increase their buying power and offset energy costs are turning to energy efficient mortgages. These “green” mortgages translate the money saved on energy costs into income, which allows the homebuyer to qualify for a more expensive home or to borrow additional funds for home improvements. Most major underwriters in the US offer green mortgages. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and HUD all underwrite loans with green elements so options for the new homebuyer are not as limited as they were a decade ago.

To qualify for an energy efficient mortgage, you must obtain a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) report on the home that you wish to buy. This may cost several hundred dollars on an older home but many new homes are rated after construction.

Although green mortgages have been around for over 20 years, they are just now seeing an increase in popularity and are starting to hold their own when compared to traditional mortgages. Choosing a green mortgage does not mean that you must settle for an unfavorable interest rate. When shopping around for your next mortgage, use a mortgage calculator to help you determine which mortgage will be better for you in the long run.