October 30th, 2006
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Are you going to be in San Francisco between November 10-12?
If you have the chance, drop by the Green Festival. If Bentley and I could find the time we would be there in a second! We will try to make the next festival in Chicago, in April 2007.
From the Green Festival website:
Green Festivals are a celebration of what’s working in our communities, – for people, for businesses and for the environment.
Green Festivals are a project of two national nonprofit organizations, Global Exchange and Co-op America, and they bring together local and national socially responsible businesses, environmental, social justice, and community organizations, with 20 to 25,000 concerned individuals for two day events aimed at forging a just, sustainable, and inclusive economy – a green economy.
Green Festivals are a walk through a sustainable community. It starts with the personal – how people can make their lives work better. Individuals, business and community leaders also come together to discuss social and environmental issues of personal, local, national, and global concern. Businesses and organizations showcase their programs and products that serve the community. Neighbor-to-neighbor connections are formed, and skills are shared to empower people to create a livable community. Of course, it wouldn’t be a festival without music, art, culture and delicious food – all from local based organizations and businesses.
To read more about Green Festivals go here.
Written by steve on October 30th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Eco Events and Interesting & Notable.
Just read an article in The Seattle Times that I certainly found interesting! Those of you who have been following the blog probably have a sense for how much of a composting fanatic I am by now, so it probably comes as no surprise that that this sort of story would catch my attention!
Earlier this year South Africa’s oldest hotel, the Mount Nelson, started a vermicomposting pilot program in an effort to divert some of its organic waste from the landfill. It’s estimated that they currently employ about 1 million composting worms to help them process large quantities of food waste daily.
It’s widely suggested in worm composting circles that 1 lb of worms is made up of approximately 1000 individuals – in other words, the hotel estimates that they currently have about 1000 lbs of worms! Pretty impressive numbers!
Under favourable conditions it is also suggested that composting worms can eat their own weight (or more) in waste every day, so you can get some sense for the processing potential of a large-scale system (I’m already pretty blown away with the processing speed of my home-scale system).
Apparently the system is able to handle 1/3 of their total organic waste stream, but they’re confident that by next year they’ll be able to divert up to 70%.
Not only do systems like this produce large quantities of incredibly rich compost, but they also help to reduce global methane emissions. Remember that organic wastes sent to the landfill tend to undergo anaerobic degradative processes (as opposed to aerobic composting), which lead to methane production. Methane is many times more potent as a global warming gas than carbon dioxide.
I would love to see this sort of initiative taken by a LOT more businesses! With the right systems in place, I can only imagine how much organic waste could be diverted from the landfills!
Here is the article in case you are interested: Hotel worms its way out of pile of waste
And here is the hotel’s website: Mount Nelson Hotel (sadly, I couldn’t find any info about their worm composting project)
Technorati Tags: compost, composting, worm composting, vermicomposting, hotels, waste-management, organic waste, Mount Nelson hotel, worms
Written by Bentley on October 30th, 2006 with no comments.
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George Monbiot strikes again – and this time his target is the world’s biodiesel industry.
You may recall that I wrote a post not too long ago about an article he wrote in the New Scientist (see Home-Scale Renewables – A Flawed Idea?).
In a recent article in The Olive Press, Monbiot refers to biodiesel as “the most carbon-intensive fuel on earth”. Needless to say, there are plenty of people either up in arms, or with their fingers in their ears when it comes to his views.
As is typically the case with authors supporting this school of thought (see Biofuel Monocultures – Does The ‘Revolution’ Add Up?), Monbiot’s issue is not so much with biodiesel itself – in fact he seems to support the idea of using waste oil for diesel production – its more to do with the practice of setting aside land for the purpose of growing oil-producing plants.
Of particular concern is the palm oil industry in the tropics – apparently this is the cheapest way to produce biodiesel, and potentially the most destructive as well.
Here is a blurb:
In September, Friends of the Earth published a report about the impacts of palm oil production. “Between 1985 and 2000,” it found, “the development of oil-palm plantations was responsible for an estimated 87 per cent of deforestation in Malaysia. In Sumatra and Borneo, some 4 million hectares of forest has been converted to palm farms. Now a further 6 million hectares is scheduled for clearance in Malaysia, and 16.5m in Indonesia.
Almost all the remaining forest is at risk. Even the famous Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan is being ripped apart by oil planters. The orang-utan is likely to become extinct in the wild. Sumatran rhinos, tigers, gibbons, tapirs, proboscis monkeys and thousands of other species could go the same way. Thousands of indigenous people have been evicted from their lands, and some 500 Indonesians have been tortured when they tried to resist. The forest fires which every so often smother the region in smog are mostly started by the palm growers. The entire region is being turned into a gigantic vegetable oil field.
Whatever your views on the matter, as I’ve stated before, I think its important to weigh all the evidence before barging forward in the name of ‘green’!
I still think the biodiesel from algae idea sounds great, but from the sounds of things that technology is still pretty new – so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Anyway, be sure to check out George Monbiot’s article: The great biodiesel con
Technorati Tags: biodiesel, biofuel, palm oil, george monbiot, green fuel, friends of the earth
Written by Bentley on October 30th, 2006 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Green Energy.
I was searching around this morning and came across this press release for Organix Inc. Both Bentley and I are passionate about gardening and are always on the lookout for new and interesting products to help our gardens grow.
It seems like Organix Inc. has found a way to convert dairy solids from an anaerobic digester and converts it into a peat moss substitute. The system they created, The FibeRite system will allow dairies to better manage their waste and at the same time earn money by converting their waste into peat moss type product, RePeat.
Organix is responsible for processing nearly 1,000 tons daily of organic wastes throughout the northwest, including dairies and municipalities. Their most well known client, Threemile Canyon Farms in Boardman, Oregon, operates a dairy complex that milks 23,000 cows. The dairy is located on the farm’s 93,000 acres of farmland and nature preserve.
I love reading about companies like Organix. This story provides inspiration for other to look for opportunities to turn waste to profit. Dairy waste is a growing concern for large-scale operations and it seems Organix has found a method to help the environment, help dairy farmers earn a secondary source of income (from their waste) and a new high-value product for gardeners and nurseries . This seems to be a win-win solution!
I am going to add Organix to my list of companies to watch.
To read the press release click here.
To visit Organix Inc. click here.
Technorati Tags: dairy farm waste, new gardening products, Organix, FibeRite system, biogas, peat moss, renewable product, anaerobic digester, sustainability
Written by steve on October 30th, 2006 with no comments.
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Update on my post, Celebs Endorse Eco 4 The World.
Clive Wright, from Eco 4 the World was kind enough to shed more light on the TV series and the website.
The current website is under development and will be launching publicly in early 2007. For those who were worried they missed the TV series, don’t worry…the series is not on air yet. I will keep an eye out for any updates to the site and will post when and where you can view the TV series.
Clive Wright’s Comments:
“Thank you for your comments. Eco 4 the World is a half-hour TV series, developed by Big Durian Productions in partnership with UNEP. It features positive environmental behaviour in an entertaining and engaging way. We aim to inspire viewers to follow in the footsteps of the people they will see.
Because the show is not yet on air, we are not releasing episodes online. However, if you go to Google Video and search for “Eco 4 the World”, you will be able to see some clips.”
Thanks Clive for letting us know more about your project. We appreciate the insight and look forward to seeing the TV series!
Visit Eco4theWorld to learn more.
Written by steve on October 30th, 2006 with no comments.
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