Home/Articles in: Sustainable living
Articles in: Sustainable living
Climate & Change, green living, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, May 14th, 2012,
A lot of people have heard about the importance of switching out Thomas Edison’s old incandescent light bulbs for energy saving bulbs such as LED or CFL. The same goes for replacing your old fossil fuel based car with one that runs on electricity. Energy efficiency and energy conservation is becoming increasingly important and people are starting to realize that everyone can contribute. In this article we are taking a closer look at something that takes up a few hours of your time, but potentially have a significant impact on saving the environment – not to mention your energy bill!…
Tags: energy efficienty, green living, insulation techniques, leaking roof, roof insulation
Climate & Change, Sustainable living, Videos & Documentaries, May 6th, 2012,
A lot of money and resources go into making our homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. How can we minimize the amount of power we use for climate control? For example, 1/3 of all energy consumed in Germany is used to heat or cool homes. This can be quite an expense and is a significant source of climate change driving greenhouse gases. People have been insulating their homes for thousands of years with grass, mud and other natural materials. Now we use fiberglass, foam insulation, special glass in more developed areas, while houses in poorer, hotter…
Tags: climate, energy, home, house, insulation
green living, Health, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, May 4th, 2012,
You have to be nuts not to be eating nuts (pun intended)! Nuts are super-nutritious for you, easy to carry around, and delicious. With so many varieties of them, it’s hard to tell which ones are the cream-of-the-crop when it comes to nutritional punch. We did the research, and we picked out the 5 “core” nuts that you should be eating daily to give you that daily punch you need for maximum energy at minimum cost. Raw Almonds Want to have “wolverine” like energy? Take about 40 raw almonds a day. Avoid the salted kind. Brazil Nuts Brazil nuts cover…
Tags: EthicalCommunity.com, green living, natural living, nuts, top 5 nuts
Recycling, Sustainable living, Videos & Documentaries, Weird & Wonderful, May 3rd, 2012,
A Dutch architectural firm is creating buildings from locally recycled material, significantly reducing the greenhouse gas emissions normally produced during the construction process. Rotterdam-based 2012architecten terms this use of local, reused materials, which cuts down on transport, waste and fuel costs “recyclicity” or “superuse” with the goal of regenerating “districts into dynamic ecosystems”. Besides buildings, 2012architecten designs other structures like playgrounds and campgrounds along the same principles. From Al Jazeera English: There are no limits to the model. The architects have designed everything from single homes to offices, playgrounds and cafes. Waste materials have included parts from decommissioned aeroplanes, washing machines,…
Tags: 2012architecten, architects, recyclicity, superuse, waste
Conservation, green living, Nature, Sustainable living, sustainable living, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 28th, 2012,
Species: Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) Status: Critically Endangered (CR) Interesting fact: The southern bluefin tuna is one of the largest bony fish in the world, growing up to 4.3 metres long! The southern bluefin tuna is an incredibly streamlined and powerful fish capable of reaching speeds of up to 70 km per hour through the water. Swimming together in shoals, the southern bluefin tuna migrates vast distances from the spawning grounds in the Indian Ocean to the feeding grounds in colder, southern waters. During the spawning period, a mature female will produce several million eggs. Southern bluefin tuna are opportunistic…
Tags: ARKive.org, Conservation, critically endangered species, endangered species, fish, oceans, Southern bluefin tuna, Thunnus maccoyii
green living, Sustainable living, Apr 27th, 2012,
Ernest Callenbach, author of the environmental landmark novel Ecotopia, died of cancer on April 16th in Berkley, California, at the age of 83 . Ecotopia was first self-published in 1975 and is credited as being a major influence on the environmental movement. One of the first novels in the ‘environmental utopia’ genre, Ecotopia blended science fiction, utopian fiction and contemporary scientific research, as well experiments in alternative living, which were actually being practiced at the time. The novel deals with the premise that Oregon, Washington State and Northern California break off from the rest of the US and form an independent…
Tags: California, Callenbach, Ecotopia, Ernest, novel
Conservation, Nature, Sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 24th, 2012,
Species: Goliath frog (Conraua goliath) Status: Endangered (EN) Interesting Fact: The goliath frog is the largest frog in the world, weighing in at over 3 kilograms. The goliath frog can be found in flowing rainforest rivers in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Goliath frogs lack vocal sacs, and so their courtship displays do not involve the characteristic calls of most other frogs and toads. Females lay several hundred eggs onto vegetation on the river bottom, and once hatched, the tadpoles feed on the plant Dicraea warmingii. Complete metamorphosis takes around 85-95 days, and once mature the adults feed on insects, crustaceans…
Tags: ARKive.org, Conraua goliath, Conservation, endangered frog, endangered species, Goliath frog
green living, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, Apr 16th, 2012,
Starting your own little indoor farm doesn’t need to be difficult. It is in fact quite an easy process! Growing indoors is especially useful if long winters in your area affects how you get fresh produce. Growing indoors gives you an instant access to produce that’s essentially organic (provided you get the right seeds) and free of industrial pesticides. So let’s put on our garderning hats in place of our culinary outfit and get started! First, get a pot. You don’t to spend your limited free time on gardening, so a self-watering pot will be your secret weapon. This type…
Tags: EthicalCommunity.com, green living, grow indoor, grow veggies indoor, indoor herbs, organic gardening, veggies
Conservation, Nature, Sustainable living, Wildlife & Flora, ,
Species: Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) Status:Critically Endangered (CR) Interesting fact: The gharial is one of the largest crocodilians and has the narrowest snout! Named after the bulbous nasal appendage of the male (which resembles an Indian pot called a ‘ghara’), the gharial is a unique species of crocodilian found in India and Nepal. A true piscivore, the extremely narrow snout of the gharial is superbly adapted to whip through the water quickly to snatch fish with its small, razor-sharp teeth. The gharial has relatively weak legs, and when fully grown is unable to raise its body off the ground. This may…
Tags: ARKive.org, conservation nature, endangered species, Gavialis gangeticus, Gharial
Climate & Change, Nature, Sustainable living, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 7th, 2012,
Species: Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) Status: Critically Endangered (CR) Interesting Fact: The Philippine eagle is the world’s largest species of eagle. With a wingspan of up to two metres and sharp talons, the Philippine eagle is a formidable predator. Swooping from branch to branch in the canopy of its forest habitat, it uses its excellent eyesight to spot its prey of flying lemurs, palm civets and monkeys. This habit of hunting monkeys has earned the Philippine eagle the alternative common name of ‘monkey-eating eagle’. Philippine eagles are also known to hunt in pairs with one individual acting as a decoy…
Tags: ARKive.org, endangered birds, endangered species of the week, Philippine eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi, wildlife
green living, Sustainable living, sustainable living, Apr 6th, 2012,
Pets provide so much in our daily lives, from companionship and unconditional love, to entertainment while you’re playing with them and their favourite toys. However cats and dogs can carry a pretty large carbon footprint, comparable to owning an SUV (for dogs) or a small town car (for cats). The toys you buy for your pets can add to that carbon footprint as a lot of these playthings are mass produced and aren’t bio-degradable. For sensitive pets these toys can also be the cause of many of the symptoms your pet suffers from. Pet owners are rapidly switching from mass-produced…
Tags: carbon footprint, eco-friendly pets, ethicalcommunity, green living
Climate & Change, climate change, Conservation, Nature, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, Apr 5th, 2012,
One of the most striking changes that has taken place in the Arctic since the start of satellite monitoring in 1979 is the rapid decline of the perennial sea ice cover. This ice is the sea ice that survives the summer melt season, and is typically the thickest part of the sea ice cover, sometimes spanning several years. Sea ice extent has declined as the globe has warmed, but the ice cover has thinned as well. Thinner sea ice melts more easily, and as multiyear sea ice is lost, Arctic sea ice has declined more rapidly. This NASA visualization shows…
Tags: arctic ice, climate change, climatecentral.org, melting arctic ice, melting ice caps, NASA
Green Cars, green living, Politics, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, Apr 4th, 2012,
Can higher gas prices actually effect consumer behavior? In many European countries, gas prices are double what we are paying in the U.S. These countries are the closest models we have to compare to see if gas prices were high, if we would lower gasoline consumption and alter our automotive selection for smaller more gas efficient vehicles. Due to high taxes, Europeans have been paying much more for gas for a very long time. Europeans do live differently when it comes to purchasing and owning cars. They are more likely to take public transportation and live in urban areas compared…
Tags: EarthGarage, european cities, european eco-driving, green cars
Sustainable living, Videos & Documentaries, Weird & Wonderful, Apr 2nd, 2012,
You might if you saw this one. It doesn’t smell of rotting fish or have a layer of decomposed banana peels lining the floor. Quite the contrary – it’s got hardwood floors, a granite and stainless steel kitchen, a hideaway toilet, shower and a pop-up roof with windows. It’s even got an outdoor barbeque for those sunny days when you just don’t feel like cooking inside your dumpster home. Berkley, California artist Gregory Kloehn, who is apparently descended from Abraham Lincoln, took the challenge to build a livable home out of a dumpster. And he’s done pretty well. Normally Kloehn…
Tags: dumpster, home, Kloehn
green living, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Mar 30th, 2012,
Baking Soda Make a paste of baking soda and water, then put some directly on the pimple. Leave it on for a few hours, preferably overnight and ideally avoid walking abouts in public. The paste will dry over night, reduce inflammation, and naturally remove pus from the pimple. Ice Just like how you might use ice on a sprained or twisted ankle, bruises, and other injuiries, you can also use ice on pimples. Applying ice for about 15 minutes should help reduce inflammation. Tooth Paste Baking soda and tooth paste work the same way, and are applied on pimples the…
Tags: eco-friendly living, eco-friendly pimples remedies, EthicalCommunity.com, pimples
Conservation, Nature, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, Wildlife & Flora, ,
Tigernation.org, an innovative new website which gives everyone a chance to follow the dramas of wild tigers in their Indian forest homes and at the same time help protect India’s wild tigers, launched this week. The site gives a graphic, never before illustrated insight into India’s threatened tiger population. Take a look at the infographic and video below to understand fully what Tiger Nation is trying to achieve and how important their cause is. This is an exciting website with everyone encouraged to have fun, learn and get involved in protecting the tigers. Subscribers to the site can follow the lives…
Tags: endangered species, endangered tigers india, infographic tigers, Tigernation.org, tigers
Politics, Sustainable living, Mar 28th, 2012,
In a country where the ‘troika’ (European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank) has imposed crippling, draconian austerity measures, the people are finding resourceful ways to survive. Greece is in its fifth year of recession, with unemployment at 21%, medicines in critically short supply and nearly 10% of Athens’ residents using soup kitchens. Last month I posted about some ways Greeks are bypassing conventional economics by bartering and using alternative currencies. But these were generally limited to small communities with no large, echoing effects throughout the country. The potato movement has changed all that. Struck by sharp…
Tags: Greece, Greek, movement, potato
Climate & Change, climate change, green living, Health, Sustainable living, sustainable living, ,
The key to a green future is doing a little at a time, and considering all the options At this point we’re past the stage where energy saving and renewables are talked about as something futuristic and unobtainable or something for sandal wearers and lentil-eaters. Solar panels are appearing on many suburban homes, wind turbines a common site on farms and new commercial buildings and wind-farms, heat pumps and tidal power generators and a smorgasbord of clever new technologies are popping up all over the UK, Europe and beyond. But what, as a normal everyday consumer can you or I…
Tags: AnderhamEnergy, eco-friendly living, green living, reducing your carbon footprint
Pollution, Sustainable living, Mar 26th, 2012,
The world is facing a mounting crisis. In recent years we have experienced a combination of a global financial crisis, a food crisis, volatile oil prices, accelerating ecosystem degradation and an increasing number of climate-induced extreme weather events. These multiple and inter-related crises call into question the ability of a growing human population to live peacefully and sustainably on this planet, and demand the urgent attention governments and citizens around the world. –Earth Summit 2012 website The UN Conference on Sustainable Development, aka Earth Summit 2012, aka Rio+20, takes place in Rio de Janeiro Brazil from June 20-22nd. Rio+20 is…
Tags: Brazil, Earth Summit, Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, Rio+20, sustainable development, UN
Conservation, Health, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, Mar 23rd, 2012,
By Qudimat (EthicalCommunity.com) Between the years 2004 and 2005, the world saw an extra 10,000 metric tons of fair-trade coffee being produced. The UK alone consumes around 150,000 metric tons per year. Since the inception of fair-trade coffee, less farmland was cultivated for illicit drugs, fewer children were put to work, and more kids were sent to college. The benefits of fair-trade are unmistakable. The biggest mindset change for a consumer is to recognize the effects of fair-trade are indeed positive with each purchase that they make. Main Points: Fair-trade coffee raises standards The special fair-trade blends and their respective…
Tags: ethical coffee, ethical consumers, EthicalCommunity.com, fair trade coffee
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