Water is an essential resource to almost every human activity. It is needed to grow food, to make clothes, computers, and of course it is crucial to our very survival. The growing number of water shortages around the world and the possibility of these shortages leading to economic disruption, food crises, social tensions, and even war suggest that the challenges posed by water in the coming decades will rival those posed by declining oil supplies.
But how can there be a shortage if the planet is made almost entirely of water?
If you live in a very wet place like the UK, you might be thinking that this water shortage claim might be a bit far-fetched. But consider that most of Earth’s water is ocean, which provides a multitude of benefits but is far too salty to drink, irrigate crops, or manufacture computer chips. Only a tiny share of all the water on Earth is fresh and renewed each year by the solar-powered hydrologic cycle (This is less than one-hundredth of 1% in fact). Although fresh renewable water is finite, the quality available today is virtually the same as when civilisations first emerged thousands of years ago.
Growing population numbers also means that water supply per person will drop and it is estimated that between 1950 and 2009 while the world’s population rose from 2.5 to 6.8 billion, the global renewable water supply declines by 63%.
If we also consider that this limited fresh water is not evenly distributed across the globe, we begin to visualise the vast water crisis facing our planet. China for instance, has 19.5% of the the world’s population, but only 7% of the global renewable freshwater. The US by contrast, has 4.5 percent of the world’s population and nearly 8% of the renewable freshwater globally. Even so some parts of the west in the US are suffering sever droughts. Some scholars even suggest that the global financial crisis was triggered in part by rising fuel and water prices in the midwest which began to escalate in the infernal hot summer 2003 where the world experienced widespread blackouts due to water shortages. This added financial worries to a great number of suburban homes mainly in the hottest parts of the United States which left households unable to cope with mortgage payments thus increasing repossessions and bursting the housing bubble. It is evident that water and energy prices was not in the minds of developers and bankers when they decided to finance and build millions of inefficient suburban homes in places like Phoenix, Tucson and Las vegas just to name a few.
As we become more and more aware that we may be using water at an unsustainable pace, the idea of water footprints-the amount of water an individual uses-is becoming more common. Water footprints can be hard to calculate, depending on how far up the chain of production you go, since everything you eat and buy used some water to produce (to feed cows for beef, for example, or to use in the factory that made your cell phone). This infographic which was produced by GOOD and Fogelson-Lubliner , gives us some food for thought and illustrates some examples of how much water is used in some of your daily activities, so you can begin to calculate your footprint and try to reduce your gallons.
To help put things in perspective, think about this: your standard trash barrel holds 32 gallons and a mid-sized passenger car-if pumped full of water-has room for a little more than 800 gallons. So, the difference in the amount of water it takes to produce a pound of chicken and a pound of beef is enough to fill almost two whole cars. A collaboration between GOOD and Fogelson-Lubliner.
SOURCES: GOOD, Department of Energy; H2OConserve; IEEE Spectrum; The Water Footprint Network, Post Carbon Institute.
This year marked the eve in which our planet reached the seven billionth population milestone. To mark this milestone, a new world map based on a report published by UK think tank Maplecroft maps ‘The Climate Change Vulnerability Index.’ The map shows the fastest growing populations most at risk from environmental impacts. According to the report, some of the world’s fastest growing population centers in Asia and Africa are at greatest risk from the impact of climate change and some of the “big economies of the future” (Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Vietnam and Pakistan) are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI), published by UK consultancy, risk analysis and mapping company Maplecroft, examined the climate risks and adaptive capacity of 193 nations factoring in population concentration, development, natural resources, agricultural dependency and conflict.
A total of 30 countries were classified as being at “extreme risk” with Haiti, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Madagascar making up the top five most in peril, while Vietnam, Indonesia and India all ranked inside the top 30. The report warns that Bangladesh’s climate risks could hit foreign investment into the country, undermining the driving force behind economic growth of 88 per cent between 2000 and 2008.
Similarly, the report warned that India’s massive population and increasing demand for scarce resources made it particularly sensitive to climate change.
Other Asian countries attracting high levels of foreign investment such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Pakistan were also classified as facing ‘extreme risk’ from climate change, while industrial giants China, Brazil and Japan are listed as ‘high risk’.
The analysis, which forms part of Maplecroft’s fourth annual Climate Change and Environmental Risk Atlas, also assesses climate impacts on towns and cities. Six out of the 20 fastest growing cities worldwide, including Calcutta, India, Manila in the Philippines, Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, were also classified as at “extreme risk” by the CCVI.
Urban population
The United Nations estimates that around half the world population now live in, or close to cities with that figure expected to rise to two-thirds by 2045.
Almost all future population growth over the next 40 years will be absorbed by cities of the developing world which are unprepared for such rapid expansion, according to the U.N.
To see more interesting maps and reports visit Maplecroft.
Climate change is happening, can we now finally stop talking about it and start doing something about it?
“I found out about climate change and said, ‘if this is a problem, what are the solutions?’…So I found out the solutions. The great thing, is you don’t have to even believe in climate change for this movie to work for you.”
- Peter Byck / Director
Carbon Nation is a feature length documentary about climate change SOLUTIONS. Even if you doubt the severity of the impact of climate change or just don’t buy it at all, this is a compelling and relevant filmthat illustrates how SOLUTIONS to climate change also address other social, economic and security issues.
‘Carbon Nation’ is an optimistic discovery of what people are already doing, and look at what the United States could be doing as a nation and what the world needs to do to prevent (or slow down) the impending climate crisis. We already have the technology to combat most of the worst-case scenarios of climate change, and it is very good business as well.
The Film is full of facts and interesting “non-bussiness as usual” solutions for this generation. It also showcases some real-world examples of the solutions working in practice. In one chapter he focuses on fuel consumption by the US army. Their consumption far surpasses any other sector. BY going green the military can shift a pattern of fuel consumption almost overnight, however the astronomical cost of getting fuel to the troops spread around the world would be nothing in comparison to the cost of retrofitting all those troops to run on clean energy. It almost makes pray for peak oil to come as soon as possible if only for the very reason of disabling all the world’s military power.
No oil = paralyzed armies.
This kind of off-track optimism is at the core of this film. Entrepreneurial ideas to tackle global warming and impending food and energy shortages through simple creative green solutions that work economically and socially.
Director Peter Byck says: “In 15 months of presenting the film to very diverse audiences, we have come to the realization that we are not a polarized country, as many on TV will tell us, and many in Washington play out. Rather, there is great consensus among a large and varied group of Americans: renewable energy sources and using less energy are great ideas – whether to boost the economy, increase national and energy security and promote health and a clean environment. As it stands now, good Americans are being lied to, told that we are polarized, and then many act out as if this were true, creating a self-fulfilling crash. It’s a storytelling problem.
carbon nation team top tips for reducing your co2 footprint
Energy Efficiency
Weatherize your house – if there’s a draft, there’s a leak.
When your roof needs repairs, paint it white at the same time.
Unplug DVD players, coffee makers, phone chargers – anything not in use.
5-minute showers are much better than baths.
Raise your kid’s allowance if they help reduce utility bills.
Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problems for the next half-century - Stephen Pacala & Robert Socolow
Can we bring upon a future of free and renewable energy?
This brief presentation makes us think that not only it is possible, but the change is already happening.
Tzeporah Berman, co-head of the climate and energy campaign at Greenpeace International, gives a TEDx talk about the solution to our current and future energy needs.
The Energy [R]evolution
The Energy [R]evolution is the practical solution to our energy needs. It offers a sustainable path to quit dirty, dangerous fuels by transitioning to renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“If we are to move forward… towards mainstreaming ecological design as an integral part of building for the 21st century, then it is crucial that it is accessible, economic, genuinely environmentally sound, gimmic-free and not stigmatised as a style” - Howard Liddell from ‘Eco-minimalism – the antidote to eco-bling’ RIBA Publications 2008
We are living through a very strange age of quasi-environmental desperation. We are all aware that we must now ignore our pre-conceived notions of “tree hugging” and “hippie lifestyles” and embrace a lifestyle of balance with our planet or we face certain extinction (bear with me, I’m just being as sensationalist as the media here for shock value…). Can Minimalist Green Architecture be the antidote?
From governments and politicians down to tradesmen and factory workers we are all made aware of the impending dangers of global warming, climate change and the crazy amounts of other human related ‘side-effects’ imposed on our planet through our modern-day lifestyles. The problem is that with reasonable panic, comes unreasonable thinking. In the construction industry, eco-bling is preached ‘as a means to an end.’ Again a quasi-solution based on reactionary thought and very little practice. Today, sustainability has become yet another one of those dreaded buzz words and as it gains momentum, most people perceive it as a new “trend” and not a way of living. Concepts of green architecture today are peppered with greenwashing and failed attempts at providing quality in sustainability. People are rushing to the recycling bins and fixing their outdated buildings, with green technology badges such as solar panels and micro wind turbines, but fail to understand sustainability in the broader context and often fail to implement a green design approach that works. The same high-end green technology solutions being sold to us as antidotes to climate change might not be as green as they first appear.
Recently, I came upon Howard Lidell’s – brilliantly named- ‘Eco-minimalism – the antidote to eco-bling’ (2008). After reading this, you realise that there is a more realistic and cost-effective approach to going ‘green’ which simply follows basic concepts of ’eco-minimalism’ – a good design approach that is tied to ecological building design through careful selection of materials, building orientation, environmental design and specification. Eco-minimalism is about making a building react to its environment in ‘passive’ ways rather than ‘active’ solutions. Far from reaching the almost high tech levels of ‘PassivHaus’ design, Eco-minimalism aims to dissect these principles even further. For example, slapping a bunch of solar-thermal panels in the roof of a 1950’s bungalow is an ‘active’ way of addressing water and space heating, but it ignores the need for increasing its out-dated insulation or reducing hot water usage in the first place. Both of which can be achieved with low-cost methods of construction (cavity wall insulation & simple water saving measures) . Careful planning and implementation at design stage can almost negate the use of any ‘green-technology’ at all. Basically, any building or design can increase their ‘ eco-credentials’ by concentrating on less obvious strategies such as insulation, draught-proofing and the use of healthy local materials and not ‘Greenwashing’ a design by picking ‘off-the-shelf’ green solutions that may actually cause more harm to the environment than good.
Greenwashing is a term by New York environmentalist Jay Westervelt in a 1986 essay regarding the hotel industry’s practice of placing placards in each room promoting reuse of towels ostensibly to “save the environment”. Westerveld noted that, in most cases, little or no effort toward reducing energy waste was being made by these institutions. The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices (Source: Wikipedia)
As Architects, builders, planners and designers, we must strive to find the simplest and most cost effective solutions in support of truly ecological, affordable sustainable architecture for everyone.
This new environmental film is a must see for anyone interested in making a change. On December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front– a group the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.”
For years, the ELF—operating in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership—had launched spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they accused of destroying the environment: timber companies, SUV dealerships, wild horse slaughterhouses, and a $12 million ski lodge at Vail, Colorado.
With the arrest of Daniel and thirteen others, the government had cracked what was probably the largest ELF cell in America and brought down the group responsible for the very first ELF arsons in this country.
Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thrilller, part environmental film, it interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group. And along the way it asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.
Drawing from striking archival footage — much of it never before seen — and intimate interviews with ELF members, and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing them, IF A TREE FALLS explores the tumultuous period from 1995 until early 2001 when environmentalists were clashing with timber companies and law enforcement, and the word “terrorism” had not yet been altered by 9/11.
“It’s a wildly successful and engaging documentary.”
-Jon Reiss, NY Press
“This summer’s most urgent documentary…. The vibe alternates between an early Clash concert and a dark, dark twist on Ocean’s 11.”
- Abe Streep, Outside Magazine
“The film sweeps us up like a thriller… a fantastic moral ambivalence.”
- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
“A true life outlaw tale, as stirring as it is tragic, the story of the Earth Liberation Front offers a DeLillo-flavored draught of high-proof righteous excitement.”
- Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice
“A compelling doc about radical environmentalism… informative, compelling.”
- Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter
“This is a sterling example of journalistic documentary, clearer, fairer and more engrossing than any of the sensationalistic newspaper or magazine stories about the ELF.”
- Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com
“An intriguing and important environmental film… As director Marshall Curry said at his Sundance post-screening Q&A: “The film has a point of view, but a grown-up point of view that acknowledges the complexity of the situation.”
- Stewart Nusbaumer, Filmmaker Magazine
“5-stars: [The] filmmakers raise questions and stir public debate about the definition of terrorism, especially in the post 9/11 security environment…very compelling. ”
- Jennifer Merin, About.com Documentaries
“If a Tree Falls’ is nothing if not troubling, complicated and thought-provoking… [the film] provided a common text from which everybody — radical or moderate, liberal or conservative — was able to work, interpret, converse. This common ground paired with the power of narrative establishes a strong ally for the environmental community and a bridge across divided ideologies and hopes.”
- Dylan Walsh,, Yale Daily News
“The film’s sobriety and carefully balanced arguments make it an exemplary piece.”
-Stephen Holden, New York Times
“One of the more personal and intimate environmental docs in recent memory…. It’s a powerful tale; one guaranteed to generate heated discussion.”
-Steve Ramos, Box Office Magazine
“It gains much of its considerable power because of its ability to illuminate the complexities behind the actions.”
-Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
“Manages to not only provide extraordinary insight into this formerly clandestine group, but illuminates the group’s actions without excusing them.”
We have recently posted trailers for two (1& 2) very good documentaries which focus on promoting alternative green thinking and eco-creativity through the power of film. This year, all the conversation amongst green circles seems to be focusing not only on policy and energy consumption but on recent man-made and natural disasters as well. The list below reflects these current concerns in a creative way through the medium we know best, TV & Film.
“Without the entertaining and/or compelling view points of artists, entertainers and filmmakers, many important messages of advocacy would never be heard,”-Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network.
If you have the pleasure and wit to get a hold of these wonderful films and series, we hope they at least inspire discussions at the dinner table, in the classrooms and in forums and prove to be catalysts for both thought and action.
One could argue that Architecture is the most harmful profession for the planet. Its deep association with construction puts the profession in the front seat of environmental evils. In a world of mass development and over-population, construction is more like an unstoppable destructive cement truck which is constantly plowing through our planet destroying natural habitats than the sustainable and creative profession it should be; Architects it seems are riding shotgun.
Considering that even the most harmful of oil refineries has had the involvement of an Architect at some point during its construction and considering that we spend at least 80% of our lives in buildings (also designed by Architects) the numbers quickly start to stack up against the profession. It is no secret that Architecture has a huge impact on our environment and it is our duty as designers to do something about it. Now, isn’t time we do so?
Building techniques have for the most part remained un-changed for centuries, that is until the arrival of the industrial revolution. Technology changed everything. Technology in modern building techniques mutated those centuries old methods of construction and transformed them into to the wasteful consumer and money driven methods of today. Architects had little to do with this, but did nothing to prevent construction evolving through the need to meet the demands of rapid growth in urban conglomerates and the increasing availability of super fast technological advances. This left designers with little time to think beyond their next ‘commission’ (architects need to make a living like everybody else) and made any sustainable thinking and urban planning an irrelevant and expensive nuisance. In the Architecture profession it is almost impossible to keep up with the speed of mass development and the economic needs of a construction industry which thrives on competition and economic stability. Again this leaves little room to spend any time or money on perceived ‘extras’ which do not benefit the individual project but rather a whole planet.
There is hope. One good thing that can be rescued from this global economic downturn is that construction has in fact slowed down and with the ever more evident threats of global warming and food scarcity, architects, engineers builders, scientists and designers have a chance to finally ‘catch up’ with progress and begin to propose new ways of construction that will help us achieve modern sustainable lives. If we collectively stop and think for a minute we could potentially develop a workable sustainability that can be applied at a mass urban scale.
We need to begin to propose sustainable developments which can provide an integration as a whole of all the mega-cities and resources globally. We need to start locally, but think globally and implement simple design moves toevery new project and aim to enhance the sustainability of a community as a whole. Otherwise no matter how many solar panels and wind turbines we slap onto the side of buildings we wont make a difference. Careful consideration has to be given to the building’s life long cycle, its materials and its role in the community as a whole.
Buildings should be like trees, whether you are designing a small house extension or a multi-million pound stadium, buildings should become true habitats for people that provide not only shelter, but also food, water and energy.
So by creating neighborhoods in this way we would really be creating forests and habitats in an urban context. To achieve this, the following principles should always be a prime consideration for any development before any designer puts pen to paper (or finger on mouse might be more appropriate these days),
[Energy] minimize energy use and help mitigate against climate change
[Ecology and biodiversity] provide new wildlife habitats, mitigate for habitat lost through development, and
provide green links or stepping stones for species movement through urban areas
[Health]Greener buildings provide psychological benefits and potentially provide more contact with nature, this in tandem will bring more
physiological benefits through wider air quality improvements
[Social Integration] The development should provide a sustainable link that benefits its immediate community and its surroundings
[Economic] consider the impact in the local economy (global economies depend on localized economic growth)
To provide a workable urban sustainability plan we must also consider the life or all the elements of construction.We must strongly consider the fact that buildings are long-lived and cities are even longer-lived, stretching far into the future realm, a future of unknown resources, pollution, and climate change. To give you an idea of how long into the future we need to look to consider the sustainability of any design, below are common life expectancy figures for different types of construction:
Building Services » 20 years
Buildings » 50 Years
Infrastructure (Roads, railways, etc..) » 100+ Years
Cities » 500+ Years
And finally to think about the figures will help us understand the impact that buildings can have on future sustainability. Buildings are huge hogs of raw material and we must look for ways to unlock the huge environmental capital which is trapped in common construction. Consider all the resources needed globally for construction:
Materials » 50% of all resources globally go into construction
Energy » 45% of energy generated is used to heat, light and ventilate buildings and 5% to construct them
Water» 40% of water used globally for sanitation and other uses in buildings
Land » 60% of prime agricultural land lost to farming is used for building purposes
Timber » 70% of global timber products end up in building construction
Isn’t time we use our great advances in technology to devise a way to reduce raw materials needed to build and to find ways to create sustainable urban environments? Until we consider all the points above before we even start to think about the specifics of a design, we will never achieve any level of sustainability in Architecture even if you slap a solar panel or two to a building.
In honor of Earth Day, the folks at WordStream have done a little digging around to find out just how bad (or good) the Internet is for the planet. Below is yet another catchy infographic depicting their findings
This past Earth Day Saw the organizers call for ‘A Billion Acts of Green’
In an effort dubbed “A Billion Acts of Green,” organizers encouraged people to observe Earth Day 2011 by pledging online athttp://act.earthday.org/ to do something small but sustainable in their own lives to improve the planet’s health — from switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs to reducing the use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals.
“Millions of people doing small, individual acts can add up to real change,”
- said Chad Chitwood, a spokesman for the umbrella group coordinating efforts.
There was hundreds of rallies, workshops and other events around the United States, where Earth Day was born, and hundreds more overseas, where it was celebrated in 192 countries.
In the United States the activities ranged from the premiere of the new film from the director of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” (it’s called “Revenge of the Electric Car”) at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York to a discussion about creating a green economy in 12 cities along the Gulf Coast, where this time last year residents were reeling from the effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
After another successful year for Earth day organizers, 41st Earth Day Exceeded 100 Million Green Acts! http://t.co/rulpZYv
Today is World Water Day. This marks another year when water gets less attention than oil, and the coming crisis becomes more severe.
Through the Middle East and parts of America and Asia, water is a physical scarcity. In Africa and other parts of the southern hemisphere, water is an economic scarcity, which means an adequate supply is not economically feasible. So please help spread the word and we can try to divert interest from the blood thirsty oil conflicts towards the real global problems that affect the future of millions of people in this ailing planet.
“A shortage of water resources could spell increased conflicts in the future. Population growth will make the problem worse. So will climate change. As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. Many more conflicts lie just over the horizon.” World Water Day
Biomimicry is a term that is getting passed around more and more in the field of sustainable architecture and urbanism these days. Learning from nature we can potentially build sustainable buildings that are not only good for us but good for the planet. It can also teach us about regeneration and cleansing of your surroundings through simple organic methods. Oysters for example can be used to biologically treat polluted water and purify thousands of polluted urban rivers worldwide without the need to use costly and carbon hungry purification methods.
Architect Kate Orff sees the oyster as an agent of urban change. Bundled into beds and sunk into city rivers, oysters slurp up pollution and make legendarily dirty waters clean — thus driving even more innovation in “oyster-tecture.” Orff shares her vision for an urban landscape that links nature and humanity for mutual benefit.
This year, the world’s population is likely to hit 7 billion people. As if thats not creepy enough, recently we’ve been experiencing extreme weather patterns and witnessing the alarming melting of the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers across the world.
It is now almost widely accepted that Global Warming is a real threat and it will definitely affect all those billions of people worldwide.
It seems that all architects of the near future have a huge challenge ahead of them. They are faced with changing society from a wastefull consumerism driven society, into a greener and more earth-friendly human kind. They must also maximize resources available, enhance the world’s ecology and somehow have to come up with sustainable solutions that will help the billions that are expected to be stricken by nature with the worst of our change in climate.
Just what do terms like biodiversity, the Ecological Footprint and ecosystem services actually mean, and what do they have to do with our daily lives?
The film was produced by WWF for the launch of the 2010 Living Planet Report and narrated by British and actor and comic Stephen Merchant, takes a lighthearted look at a serious problem and reminds us why we need to play nice.
Greenpeace have mapped out a worldwide plan to switch the world to a completely fossil-fuel free society and expand to include the 2 billion people worldwide that are now left without power in this current fossil-fuel based energy system. The plan is ambitious but simple and aims to transform the world into a ‘dear green place’ by 2050, when the world will be 95% on renewables. Since we love to promote things that are green + simple, we are loving The Energy [R]evolution. A practical solution to our energy needs. It offers a sustainable path to quit dirty, dangerous fuels by transitioning to renewable energy and energy efficiency.
About a year ago I was watching the news and struggling to understand the aftermath of the Copenhagen summit. It was obvious that it wasn’t a great success but I was missing the ‘why did this happen’ bit. Don’t world leaders worry about this, our only Planet?
I understood that it wasn’t the Copenhagen summit that failed but it was all the world leaders and the countries they represent. They failed to reach an accord and we were left to wonder for another who-knows-how-many-years. Then I realized that it was the governments and their own officials (fueled by their own agendas) who were at fault. Not the ordinary citizen. It wasn’t the fault of the citizens of any country as a whole, but rather their political leaders (which we hope in most cases were peacefully and democratically elected). This is when I decided that there had to be a channel on the net which uses all the tools available to us (provided by this recent web 2.0 phenomenon) to bring useful information to the common citizen so that locally and collectively the world can eventually make expensive summits like the one in Copenhagen redundant. Get as many people off the grid and living sustainably as quickly as possible. Knowledge is power, and if the right knowledge is spread through the world the results can startle even the strongest skeptic. The result of this ‘epiphany’ (if you can call it that…) was this website.
“Livestock production is responsible for almost 20% of green house gas emissions worldwide which is more than all sources of transportation combined”
-UNAFO
Simple and short video launched by the environmental nonprofit INFORM, Inc, The Secret Life of Beef explains in simple terms the deep environmental impact of our obsession with meat. From butchers to farmers, the interviewees all suggest cutting back on the beef—whether that takes going meatless on Mondays or selectively eating grass-fed meats something has to change. (by the way if you really want to take the plunge, here are 7 reasons why you should turn vegetarian to save the planet…)
This amazing film about climate change comes from 18 year-old first time director Ross Harrison who spent a year chasing up experts, gathering news and filming to create a beautiful and simple documentary that explains in basic terms the real issues about climate change and why we should all start to care.
Wether you are a climate change denier, not too sure it is true or are a campaigner yourself, the films strives to bring us a common reason that is so basic it is impossible to ignore. It is not relevant if climate change is real or not. Why risk the consequences when we actually know that modern society is unsustainable?
The film has interviews with prominent figures like Sir David Attenborough, Mark Lynas, David Shukman, Prof Dieter Helm, and interesting perspectives from the UK Youth Climate Coalition, members of the public and Ross’ grandparents who bring a warm human account of what the planet lost with industrialization.
The film outlines the real issues we face and how to confront them in the very near future. I think Ross embodies everything we believe and strive to promote in this website.
Thank you Ross Harrison, the planet needs many more people like you.
Dengue, mining, the interoceanic highway and global warming
By Augusto Mulanovich
Translated by Miguel Pretel
In 1992 I stood for the first time in Puerto Maldonado, capital of the Madre de Dios region in Peru. There, I found a city where the inhabitants dedicate their lives to collecting chestnuts, artisan fishing, selective extraction of woods, agriculture, cattle farming, gold extraction and a very small percentage dedicated themselves to eco-tourism. At that time, the effects of the eco-disaster at Huaypetue were still to be felt, the price of gold was less attractive and the mercury contamination levels weren’t as high as the dangerous levels of today.
Today, all carnivorous fish, those for human consumption such as large catfish (bagres, zungaro, mota, doncella), and some others with great potential for the sport fishing industry like the ‘toothy’ “chambira,” are contaminated with dangerous concentrations of mercury higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.
Fermín Beltrán has worked in Architecture for many years gaining a wide range of real-world design and construction experience. He is fascinated by finding alternatives methods of creating modern architecture in ways that are sustainable, elegant, comfortable and functional.
He has vast experience designing and constructing a wide array of buildings ranging from state-of-the-art music halls to social housing and even small holdings in South America. He is currently completing a Masters in Advanced Sustainability at the University of Dundee in Scotland
Get a reusable bag You can not recycle plastic bags, instead get yourself a reusable bag so that you will not have to worry about carrying your necessities.
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