We’ve looked at Spiral Island before and now people can actually visit the island made out of old plastic bottles.
Ecoble has more info on the island and looks into some controversy around the island (if it gets destroyed all the plastic bottles become litter again).
Costa Rica is establishing itself as a fantastic spot for eco-tourism and to ensure that they continue to be so awesome they need to protect their natural environment. Costa Rica is trying to reclaim land that was taken away from their tropical forests and replant the natural species in hopes of revival – and it’s working.
When the researchers planted worn-out cattle pastures in Costa Rica with a sampling of local trees in the early 1990s, native species of plants began to move in and flourish, raising the hope that destroyed rain forests could one day be replaced.
Ten years after the tree plantings, Cornell graduate student Jackeline Salazar counted the species of plants that took up residence in the shade of the new planted areas. She found remarkably high numbers of species — more than 100 in each plot. And many of the new arrivals were also to be found in nearby remnants of the original forests.
“By restoring forests we hope not only to be improving the native forests, but we are helping to control erosion and helping the quality of life of the local people,” said Carl Leopold, the William H. Crocker Scientist Emeritus at BTI. He pointed out that drinking water becomes more readily available when forests thrive because tree roots act as a sort of sponge, favoring rainwater seepage and preventing water running off hills and draining away.
Mombassa is going to be home to Kenya’s first eco-city. The spread of the eco-cities is fantastic news because urban living is fun and is becoming more environmentally awesome!
Construction of Kenya’s first eco-city — a residential settlement that is environmentally, socially, economically and culturally self-sustaining — has commenced on the outskirts of Mombasa, with the first phase expected to be ready for occupation by the third quarter of this year.
The whole project will take four to five years to complete.
Going by the name Hacienda, the development, located in the Mwakirunge area of the North Coast, off the Mombas-Malindi highway, will have 6,250 housing units — of two- and three-bedroom flats, and three- and four bedroom bungalows — to be developed in 10 phases.
The plan also includes a hospital, school, playgrounds and recreation facilities, a police station, commercial centres and office blocks, among other vital amenities.
According to Urban Ecology Australia, a non-profit organisation promoting people- and nature-friendly urban settlements, an eco-city is a human settlement that enables its residents to live a quality life while using minimal natural resource
People in Ontario will have nicer grass to roll around in next year – except on golf courses and farmer’s fields. No, I have no idea how using pesticides on a golf courses aren’t classified as a cosmetic use, although golf course might still be subject to the law (I don’t know yet). The main thrust of the legislation is to ban the sale of consumer pesticides, municipal bans could be circumvented by buying the pesticides and using them anyway. Now that loophole will be closed.
The provincewide ban is aimed at replacing a patchwork of local pesticide bylaws, but Ontario farmers will be exempt. There’s no word yet if the province also plans to exempt golf courses from the ban.
The Conservatives and New Democrats said Monday they would likely support the legislation, but they first want to make sure the ban will actually help the environment and isn’t just a public relations move by the Liberal government.
“I think our inclination is to probably support it, but at the same time we want to hear from the folks who are experts in this area, and whether they think it’s all politics or whether there is going to be some meaningful benefit to the environment,” said Opposition Leader Bob Runciman.
I tend to use computers daily and I like the environment, so I like to be as green as possible while on the ol’ computer machine. PC World has five tips for greener computing.
There’s also global shutdown day.
5. FIND A NEW HOME FOR YOUR OLD TECH
So you’re getting ready to upgrade to a new computer, but you’ve discovered that you have no room in the closet for the old one because it’s already filled with a decade’s worth of obsolete technology. What to do? One solution is to recycle your old gadgets by bringing them somewhere where they’ll be disposed of properly. You can find a list of services in your area by checking out Earth 911’s Web site, which tells you where to dispose of everything from batteries to toner cartridges to the 386 you’ve had knocking around since the first George Bush was in office.