Seems simple to me, if the world is ninety percent water, a crucial part of preserving our environment should be the monitoring and maintaining of our oceans. However, due to the massive volume of water and inclement weather conditions, it’s almost nearly impossible to do this year round. But a possible solution may be in sight.
Enter the robotic floats that collect argo data from the ocean’s heat. First used in the Indian Ocean by Australia in ‘99, there are now about 2,100 currently in use, with another 900 or so ready to dive in.
According to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the floats are less-compressible than seawater and therefore drift at depth. By pumping fluid from inside the float to an external bladder, they’re able to rise to the surface. When the float needs to dive, the fluid is drawn back inside, making the gadget denser than the seawater surrounding it. These floats can be deployed from ships or aircraft.
Espadrilles are so ‘80s… what, with their fussy wedges and the ties. Why not get your hands (or, shall we say, feet) on an aughty’s equivalent -– Tom’s Shoes, which are inspired by traditional Argentine footwear. They’re unisex, minimalist and most importantly, ethical. It’s simple concept really: you buy a pair of Tom’s, and Tom’s donates a pair on your behalf to a child in need.
Designer Blake Mycoskie stumbled upon the idea while traveling around Argentina. While he instantly fell in love with the culture and people, he was deeply affected by the poverty. He visited many villages without running water and where the children went without shoes, often leading to infection, disease and even death.
Pro Skater Bob Burnquist And His Friends Are Taking The Fitness Business Green. How by focusing on Fitness apparel of course. Fitness makes me think of athletic apparel. Which reminds me of the days I worked at a major athletic shoe licensee here in West L.A. The marketing director at the time always used to say “FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION.” I never bothered to ask what it meant, although I found myself repeating it when ordering food, dating or getting new pair of pants. That’s why Wikipedia is the greatest thing ever… and the Wiki sez: “form follows function… the basic principle stating the shape of an object should be predicated or based on its intended function or purpose.”
And that got me thinking G Fitness… what would it look like if fitness followed sustainability? (An exhausting intro to an article, I know… welcome to my mind.) In my effort to answer my new question, I found the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC).
ASEC, supported by action-sports athletes, industry leaders and natural-products companies, aims to answer their own question: “What would happen if the action sports industry became a role model for sustainability?” (Fitness Follows Sustainability?). ASEC founders Frank Scura, Bob Burnquist, Jen O’Brien and Damon Way answered the call in 2001 by creating the organization. ASEC specializes in progressive eco-education and empowers people to adopt a sustainable existence in a way that embraces their current lifestyle and enhances it. Sounds totally “G” to me!
The world is changing from Global Warming, but how does this effect the communities and populations on the edges of the oceans and arctic ice sheets. How will the rising seas effect all of us?
According to the world’s scientists, sea level rise is arguably one of the world’s most important potential impacts of global climate change. This documentary explores two remote regions of the world, the Marshall Islands and the Arctic. It investigates the problems of climate change from the perspective of these two environmentally threatened cultures.
It’s good to look backwards once in a while and reflect on your journeys. This video interview with Professor Howard Zinn is one of the amazing things which have happen to us on our journey while developing G Living. This is a low quality version of the interview which I posted on youtube.com a few years ago. I will try and find the time to re-edit this interview and include the full speech Professor Zinn gave that night about the true cost of war.
CNN highlights the growing trend of using all those wasted shipping containers as building blocks for new homes. CNN producers talk with Architect Peter De Maria, a previous guest on G Living’s Room101. Peter specializes in Container based homes here in Southern California. He is even building a Container home just down the street from the G Living studios.
Architects are designing modern homes from the millions of excess shipping containers that are piling up at the port of LA due to the US trade deficit with China. By using the steel shipping containers as building material, homes can save 50% of construction costs, while reducing the waste and blight caused by trying to store them.
What happens when a carpenter / artist learns about primitive techniques of building and experiments with tree saplings as a construction material? Natural organic forms of art on a grand scale.
Internationally acclaimed sculptor Patrick Dougherty is known for large-scale installations that incorporate tree saplings. Working only with these saplings, the North Carolina based artist twists and wraps his medium to create large, organic sculptures. The surrounding environment and its given materials play a significant role in shaping his sculptures. Dougherty often uses saplings gathered near the installation site, adjusting his designs to the different ways local materials bend and respond in his hands.
Move over Lance Armstrong, and forget the Tour de France. Prepare instead for the Tour de… Amsterdam? Well, not quite, but it is the hope of a small firm from Amsterdam, Bikedispenser, to help facilitate bike rentals in urban areas by installing bicycle dispensing machines. These machines would be located in various urban transportation hubs, such as train stations and parking garages, where people could quickly and safely rent a bicycle from the fully automated dispensing system. This would thus assist in integrating the use of bicycles into people’s daily commute. Along with the obvious physical benefits of cycling (exercise), this green, “G” idea would help cut down the carbon signature we so readily sign across the environment on a daily basis as we head to and from work.
Intrigued? Well, here’s the straight skinny (like we’ll be, once we start biking to work every day):
With the use of a chip card, the fully automated Bikedispenser rental station will give commuters access to new, state of the art bikes quickly. Within 15 seconds, the bike rental process will be underway and the commuter will be off to his or her destination. When the bicycle is returned, the system will once again recognize the commuter and finish the transaction. The bicycles will be placed in the clearly indicated depository and stored in a safe, indoor location.
Is the city famous for its smog and its blockbusters ready to take the “LEED” in an industry other than entertainment?
Judging by the November approval of a new “green building program” by the Los Angeles Planning Commission, Los Angeles will become one of the most ambitiously green cities in the nation. The commission approved a policy that will require large new developments to be 15% more energy efficient and aims to significantly cut the city’s green house gas emissions. New construction with more than 50 units or 50,000 square feet would be required to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards set out by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The result would reduce the amount of energy used in new developments below those under California’s current building codes, which are already the strictest in the nation.
In Los Angeles, vehicle emissions are regulated by the federal government, as are power plants another major source of greenhouses gases because Los Angeles, unlike other cities, owns its own utilities. So, for LA, it’s even more important for the local government to regulate emissions whenever possible. In a city where new construction seems to be on every corner, that means regulating new development.
Just in case you thought it was okay to buy non-organic cotton, here’s a wakeup call: the workers sowing, picking, weeding, hoeing, cross-pollinating and carrying the heavy bundles of cotton are often… children. And I’m not talking about kids working their way through college. A report published by the Environmental Justice Foundation estimates that one million children are working 12-hour days earning $2 per day, if anything, to satiate demand for a global industry worth $40 billion.
“China, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Uzbekistan and Turkey – six of world’s top seven producers – have been reported to use child labor in cotton fields,” stated a recent press release. These children forgo their education and health to carry out the backbreaking work in extremes of temperature, many suffering physical, verbal and sexual abuse.
G / Food Raw, vegan, mango, lime & coconut puddings – smooth, tropical and delicious!
G / Style Founded on eco + social values. Holster pocket + Tee shirt = Holstee. As entrepreneurs, we get the value of a lil help, so we’re paying fwd 10% of rev to entrepreneurs in the dev world.
G / Design organic, soft furniture to improve home computing ergonomics
G / Food Raw Recipe: I am finally catching up with the wintry warm desserts to satisfy my North American and European readers starting with Lemon Curd withGolden Sesame Seed Crust.
G / Food In our home you will only find freshly made tomato sauce. For us, there is no such thing as buying it ready-made. In my mind, that doesn’t exist.
G / Food Raw Recipe: When you make this dish, don`t let your past experiences influence you and forget altogether the idea of traditional Creamy “Tortilla Soup” with Cornbread. Be open to..
