Monthly Archives: July 2007

From the It’s-About-Time-Department

Good things happen every day a zillion times a day, sometimes people get to experience those good things before others. Today I found out about two such things:

1. Women’s rights in Sierra Leone have improved thanks to new laws that protect women. Other countries already have such laws in place and it’s great to see yet another country support equality.

2. Taiwan is going to replace their streetlights with LEDs in a US $7 million initiative to cut power consumption of the lights by 85%. LED streetlights are nothing new, but I have no idea if this is the first time that there has been a LED replacement program that is this big.

Cities Are Great!

cityPeople ought to live in urban centers to ensure the world develops in a good way according to a new United Nations report. People are already drawn to urban centers for employment, lifestyle, and education so it makes sense for politicians to plan for cities to continue growing. By embracing cities we can prepare for the future and make it a little better.

There are many economic, social, and environmental advantages to concentrating people and the services and jobs they need in close proximity to one another. The higher intensity of economic activity in cities favors jobs and income. In addition to this, proximity and concentration allow for governments to more effectively and inexpensively provide social services, infrastructure, and amenities to their citizens, the report explains.

Personally, I love living in the city because there is so much more awesomeness than in the suburbs and way more to do and experince than in the country, what’s your take on urban-centricism?

Photo by domcisme.

How to Make a Cool Home

Air conditioners are bad for the environment so it’s obviously good if you can avoid using one. It’s easier than you think! At Freshome they have complied a handy list that has many tricks to keep your house cool without using AC. Over at PlanetFriendly there is a list of alternatives to air conditioners.

From Freshome:

The most common sources of internal heat gain are; appliances, electronic devices, and lighting. Be aware from where the heat is comming. Now if you have air conditioning, use it wisely. Don’t put lamps, televisions or other heat-generating appliances next to your air-conditioning thermostat, because the heat from these appliances will cause the air conditioner to run longer. The heat they produce will make it think your house is warmer than it really is, and your system will run harder than it needs to.

US Congress Aims for Carbon Neutrality

The old saying “better late than never” comes to mind here as the United State’s Congress has decided to go carbon neutral by 2020. It is impressive that congress has decided to do this in a nation that has a leader that denies climate change. The fact that congress is trying to become green will hopefully send a message that being environmentally friendly is something that any institution can do.

What stands out for me is that they go beyond carbon neutrality and encourage a bike-to-work program. Good for your health and the environment!

Reducing energy usage is not all that is covered in the report, as it also calls for the use of non-toxic cleaning products, increasing water conservation, and significantly improving recycling, improving access to mass transit and car sharing for employees, changing the current fleet to hybrid vehicles, purchase locally and organically sourced food, changing to 100% recycled paper, and even implementing a bike-to-work program.