Tag Archives: Sustainability

OCEANS: Harp seals on thin ice

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I think that the bigger problem for harp seals is the loss of sea ice due to global warming.

- Brian Skerry

In this TED talk, National Geographic photojournalist Brian Skerry illustrates, with his underwater photography, the ocean’s natural glory, but he also shows the horror that anthropogenic activities have brought onto oceans around the world. For example, the true unseen costs of a shrimp dinner might be hundreds of pounds of bycatch, which are animals and plants that are caught with the targeted species, by fishermen, but these animals and plants have no commercial value. Bycatch is are often killed during the fishing process and thrown back into the sea as trash.

One of Brian Skerry’s most celebrated underwater images is this diver with a Southern right whale. You can see more of Brian Skerry’s right whale images in National Geographic Magazine’s October issue or here and here.

Via

On the Net:

  1. Brian Skerry – Underwater Photographer

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RECOMMENDED TED TALK: Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish

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In this TED presentation, Chef Dan Barber discusses keeping fish on the menu, fish farming, and sustainability. He describes a fish farm in Spain that doesn’t need to feed its fish and that measures its success on the health of its predators. Basically, a fish farm that’s also a bird sanctuary. More on the presentation from TED.com:

Chef Dan Barber squares off with a dilemma facing many chefs today: how to keep fish on the menu. With impeccable research and deadpan humor, he chronicles his pursuit of a sustainable fish he could love, and the foodie’s honeymoon he’s enjoyed since discovering an outrageously delicious fish raised using a revolutionary farming method in Spain.


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GREEN CONSTRUCTION: International Green Construction Code to “compliment [green building] . . . systems and standards already in place” by “standardizing and codifying sustainability”

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Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards—developed by the U.S. Green Building Council—already exist, but an effective more user-friendly set of codes or guidelines that provide a framework for integrating sustainability into new building construction or renovation efforts are the logical next step in bringing energy-efficiency or green building standards to a wider market. From Talk Radio News Service:

The creation of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), a framework to measure sustainable building development, construction and use, was announced today by International Code Council CEO Richard Weiland, during a press conference atop the roof of the National Association of Realtors building.

The ‘Safe, Sustainable and by the Book’ IGC Code, which is expected to be completed by April 2010, will add sustainable initiatives to existing construction codes. The code in the works will also provide a routine set of guidelines that will be easy for local and state governments to implement for the creation and renovation of green buildings.

The IGCC will also aid in the reduction of a buildings carbon emissions, said American Institute of Architects CEO Christine McEntee.

“Buildings are the largest source of energy consumption and green house gas emissions in America. [In the U.S.] buildings consume about 40% of the energy produced and also produce the same percent of carbon emissions,” said McEntee.

“We are encouraged by the desire of our government and many across the United States and around the world to move forward in ways that will acknowledge how design, engineering, construction management and enforcement can create a greener america and a greener globe,” said Weiland.

LISTEN:

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GREEN ENERGY: Jones Soda Co. goes off the grid for Earth Day

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Burning and converting stored fat and calories into energy that runs computers, fax machines, lights, and electricity—that’s what the employees at Jones Soda did by using cyclists on Earth Day to power its Seattle headquarters. From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Employees and others at the soda pop company began pedaling at 5 a.m. Wednesday, taking turns on nine stationery bikes hooked up to batteries to store the energy.

“We’ve actively been working on improving sustainability across the entire company,” said CEO-elect Joth Ricci. This was a good way to kick off an initiative to conserve electricity and reduce packaging waste, he said.

One cyclist pedaling at a comfortable pace could generate about 200 watts an hour, enough to run a medium-sized TV or a dishwasher without the heat dry.

To supplement the human-powered energy, the company also dialed back its electricity consumption. It turned off lights in the office, except lights in the restrooms, which were run by the bicycles. And employees huddled with laptops in two main rooms to take advantage of natural light from a skylight and windows.

The event brought out environmentalists, cycling enthusiasts and other curious gawkers.

Charlie Weber, 26, of Spokane, was cycling past the company’s office when event volunteers flagged him down and asked him to take a spin on one of the bikes. He rode for about 20 minutes.

“It’s a great way to get people aware of Earth Day,” said the medical resident at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane. “A good, healthy way to do it.”

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SUSTAINABILITY: Jeffrey Sachs discusses the consequences of natural resource scarcity and the need for sustainability

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On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Jeffrey Sachs discusses the implications on national security that arises when poorer countries lack adequate energy, land, and water resources; in addition to the growing world need for energy and that impact on energy availability and prices (or natural resources in general).

Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the author of New York Times bestsellers such as Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet and The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.

If the video does not work for you, then you can watch it here.

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