By Simon Leufstedt on November 6th, 2007
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are low energy efficient light bulbs that you probably already use in every lamp in your home. At least I hope you do, if not shame on you.
As we all also know CFLs have one bad side. They contain small amounts of mercury. These small amounts are not dangerous for you, but in vast amounts they are. That’s why it’s sad that there isn’t a global or major plan to recycle the broken and old CFLs.
But maybe that is starting to change? IKEA recently announced that they will, in USA, offer free recycling of any CFL that walks through its door, even if the CFL hasn’t been bought in one of the many IKEA stores.
It’s a great initiative from IKEA that hopefully other companies around the world will follow.
Image credit: Macinate. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons license.
By Simon Leufstedt on November 2nd, 2007
A new green political movement is growing that see the climate crisis as a revolutionary possibility to create a new world, a new world based on Eco-socialism.
In September 2001 a meeting regarding socialism and ecology was held outside of Paris in France. Two of the participants, Joel Kovel and Michael Lowy wrote an ecosocialistic manifesto.
The manifesto called for like-minded to getting together started to take form the 7-8th October when about 60 participants from around the world created the Ecosocialist International Network.
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By Simon Leufstedt on November 2nd, 2007
James Lovelock, a famous “climate legend” and scientist, is being interviewed in the latest number of Rolling Stone. His view on climate change and its effect is downright apocalyptic.
James Lovelock says that climate change is now irreversible. He continues by predicting that the major part of the humans will get wiped out of the face of the earth due to wars, starvation, epidemics and climate chaos during the rest of the century.
James Lovelock estimates that by year 2100 there will only be around 500 millions people left who struggles to survive on the few remaining liveable places on earth: Scandinavia, Canada and Iceland.
“It will be a dark time,” Lovelock admits. “But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting.”
Read the whole article: The Prophet of Climate Change: James Lovelock
Image credit: Jon and Lu. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.
By Simon Leufstedt on November 2nd, 2007
Here is a clever ad on a bridge in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, one of the countries in Europe that will face the worst consequences of global warming.
The advert says: “If the water reached this level we would not need the bridge. Drive on, maybe we will achieve this!”
Via Woostercollective.com
By Artemis Mindrinou on October 27th, 2007
The accurate term for this phenomenon is acid precipitation,as it does not only occur with rain. When saying acid rain, we generally refer to the deposition of acidic components in rain, snow, fog, dew, even to dry particles.
The rain is always a bit acid, due to the excistence of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. When it exists in small quantities, it reacts with water to produce carbonic acid, which is weak and harmless. So, clean or unpolluted rain has a slightly acidic pH of 5.6 (having grade 7 as neutral) However, this is not the case when we talk about acid rain.
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By Simon Leufstedt on October 27th, 2007
Post A Phone is a 4mm thick phone made out of recyclable card or plastic. It is designed by Priestman Goode and I love it.
The Post A Phone is intended to be a backup phone when all your other more high tech solutions have failed. The phone fits inside an A5 envelope and can be sent via regular post (yes, the snail mail).
I am not so sure how it is in your country but here in Sweden most people uses IP telephones and/or mobile phones. It’s rare that people only use a ordinary (and old) landline. I personally use Skype and my mobile phone when I am outside or not next to a computer. The Post A Phone would be perfect for those times when the Internet breaks down and when you don’t want to waste money on expensive mobile calls.
So when will the phone, sorry, the Post A Phone come to Sweden?
Almost all of the
voip companies are certainly enjoying themselves right now. The reason being the upsurge in popularity as well as necessity of
internet phones. Earlier
skype download was something very few people knew about, and even fewer attempted. Today a
voip client seeks each and every feature he wishes to have. Companies like
vonage are providing customized services.
By Simon Leufstedt on October 26th, 2007
At France’s environmental policy making forum, le Grenelle de l’Environnement, Nicolas Sarkozy said this:
“From now on, every major public project, every public decision will be judged on its effect on climate, and on its carbon cost. Each public decision will be judged on how it affects bio-diversity. The onus won’t be on ecological decisions to prove their merit, but on non-ecological projects to prove they can’t be done any other way. Non-ecological decisions must be taken as a last resort. It’s a total revolution in the way we govern our country.”
Let’s just hope this is not just fine words and talk.
In other news from the environmental forum Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday issued a ban on the most inefficient light bulbs by 2010 in France.
Image credit: Guillaumepaumier. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.
By Simon Leufstedt on October 24th, 2007
Here is a neat little green computer called DecTop. The computer runs on only 8 watts. Yes, you heard right and yes, 8 watts is nothing! You can compare that with my CPU processor who needs around 45 watts to work.
But of course this low power drain has some downsides. DecTop comes with 128MB memory, a 10GB harddrive and a 366 MHz processor. Not much to brag about. But if you are only browsing, checking your emails or RSS feeds and doing some small amount of writing this computer is enough for you.
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By Michelle on October 24th, 2007
The town of Orme, Tennessee here in the United States is on the worst water restriction ever! They can only have water pumped into their quaint little mountain town for three hours a day, and it is outsourced from elsewhere to boot! I’ve got to say, places like Atlanta, Georgia are next on the list, expecting to run out of water by the end of the calendar year!
Why is this you ask? Well, I could say it’s Global Warming, but it’s more complicated than even that! Oh, why yes, it is Global Warming, but it’s also the greed of human beings as well!
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By Simon Leufstedt on October 22nd, 2007
Im a huge fan of the game SimCity, I’ve played nearly all games in the serie. But it is with disappointment I look at the newest version of the game in the series: SimCity Societies.
The disappointment is because of a few things. One is that it doesn’t look or behave like a SimCity game should. Another thing is that they in this new game accept corporate sponsorship inside the game.
Okay, before we get any deeper I think I need to explain what kind of game SimCity is. This is what they say about the game on the official site:
Featuring an all-new, revolutionary feature set, SimCity Societies allows you to create your own kinds of cities and shape their cultures and environments. Make your cities green or polluted, contemporary or futuristic, rural or urban. Create an artistic society or a police state, an industrial city or a spiritual community—or any society you want!
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