Month: August 2010

Cadbury Goes Fair Trade

- Fono 3 Comments

If you’ll excuse for a moment while I pander to corporate interests, I think it’s worth noting that Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bar will now be made from certified fair trade cocoa. This is great to hear, because this is a huge product from a huge company, and it’s another big step towards a world in which consumers have no excuse not to know about fair trade.

Cadbury and the Fairtrade Foundation today announced plans to achieve Fairtrade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk, the nation’s top selling chocolate bar, by end of Summer 2009. This groundbreaking move will result in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for existing certified farming groups, as well as opening up new opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the Fairtrade system.

The press release doesn’t indicate which countries the change will take effect in, but the UK and Canada are definitely included.

Read the press release on the Fairtrade Foundation website.

Keeping it Cool Without Air Conditioning

- Adam Clare

In really hot countries air conditioning in buildings might seem like a necessity; however, it is possible to design buildings that stay cool in the heat without even using electricity. In Burkina Faso there is a school that was specially designed to stay nice and cool by manipulating airflows.

There’s not much electricity to go around, Kéré says. “So there is no air-conditioning. It’s too expensive for a country like Burkina Faso.”

So when he designed this secondary school for Dano in his native land, he built it with innovative, elegant, distinctive and yet simply constructed split-level roofing and ceiling structures that funnel warm air up and out of the buildings.
…
Tall window slats that can be adjusted control both light and heat. Three to a room, they pull air into the classroom. Heat rises.
To use that movement of air, a series of narrow “chimney” gaps between the convex wave shapes in the highly insulating concrete and brick ceiling pulls the hot air up and out the roof.

Read more and see pictures here.

Apps for Climate Action

- Adam Clare

The provincial government of British Columbia intimated a contest that had people submit their software programs that could help protect the environment. Some of these apps are really great and it’s great to see BC researching this sort of thing!

The Apps for Climate Action Contest challenged Canadian software developers to raise awareness of climate change and inspire action to reduce carbon pollution by using data in new applications for the web and mobile devices.

A leader in climate action, the Government of B.C. created a catalogue of its best climate and greenhouse gas emission data.

Developers used this data to design fun and innovative climate action apps.

Check it out there official Apps for Climate Change site.

Here’s an example of an app listed on the site:

Data Set(s) used: 1. Impacts & Environmental Change, Weather and Climate,Climate BC, UBC 2. Annual & seasonal precipitation (Wet Years) Canadian Atmospheric Hazards Network 3. Ground Water Wells – GeoBC
Summary: One way to prepare for the effects of global warming on water supply is to capture and save rain water running off of our roofs. This app allows you to calculate how much rainfall you can capture in a year by calculating the area of your roof.
Close
Description: Lack of water due to global warming, especially on areas that rely on well water.
What types of people and/or organizations do you expect to use the App?
The general public.
How does the App help address climate change or promote climate action?
The app raises awareness of the potential rainwater harvesting can have on preparing for the impacts of climate change

Urban Camping In Tents

- Adam Clare 2 Comments

A lot of people in Canada know what it’s like to go camping in the woods, but what about camping in the urban jungle? World Changing has a really neat collection of people and organizations that encourage setting up a tent in the urban fabric.

My favourite is the tent that’s shaped like a car that is meant for taking a parking space for people.

Import Export’s ‘tentscrapers’ would facilitate that exploration. To get out there and be in the elements, to enjoy the city like one can enjoy nature, is what is so appealing to me about urban camping. And introducing the inexpensive nature of camping to city travel is a wonderful democratizing practice for tourism. With the success of Tentstation in Berlin, and Import Export Architect’s compelling vision of ‘tentscrapers’ it looks like urban camping is on the rise…but perhaps all we really need are car tents?

World changing has more info and pictures.

German Millionaires Support Democracy

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Remember those super rich folk from the USA who decided to donate half their money? Well, that’s not the German way – and for good reason!

In an interview with Der Spiegel, a German millionaire explains why he thinks it’s best for the state to decide where money should be spent in a democracy.

SPIEGEL: Forty super wealthy Americans have just announced that they would donate half of their assets, at the very latest after their deaths. As a person who often likes to say that rich people should be asked to contribute more to society, what were your first thoughts?

Krämer: I find the US initiative highly problematic. You can write donations off in your taxes to a large degree in the USA. So the rich make a choice: Would I rather donate or pay taxes? The donors are taking the place of the state. That’s unacceptable.

SPIEGEL: But doesn’t the money that is donated serve the common good?

Krämer: It is all just a bad transfer of power from the state to billionaires. So it’s not the state that determines what is good for the people, but rather the rich want to decide. That’s a development that I find really bad. What legitimacy do these people have to decide where massive sums of money will flow?

SPIEGEL: It is their money at the end of the day.

Krämer: In this case, 40 superwealthy people want to decide what their money will be used for. That runs counter to the democratically legitimate state. In the end the billionaires are indulging in hobbies that might be in the common good, but are very personal.

Read the rest on Spiegel Online.

Scroll To Top