Lancaster, California has nearly half a million citizens and they want to reduce their carbon footprint. Their most recent step to being a green city is a world’s first as far as I know: every new residential development in the city is required to produce energy using the sun.
“However, to truly establish ourselves as the Alternative Energy Capital of the World, we must continue to take a progressive approach. I would like to commend our Planning Commission for this innovative revision of the Residential Zones, which will rapidly advance us towards becoming a net-zero City in record time.â€
2012 was a very successful year for the young wind-power energy industry in the United States. Throughout last year over 6,700 were installed around the country with the industry benefiting overall from new investments into the sector.
Let’s hope this is a sign of the future of what;s to come in sustainable energy in the world’s largest economy!
Overall, America ended the year with 45,100 turbines, producing enough electricity to power around 15.2 million households. Wind power added 42% of all new capacity to the grid last year, beating other sources of energy generation.
Rob Gramlich, AWEA’s Interim CEO said: “We had an incredibly productive year in 2012. It really showed what this industry could do and the impact we can have with a continued national commitment to renewable energy. We’re doing what Americans overwhelmingly say they want: making more clean, renewable energy and creating good jobs in US factories.â€
A few years ago in Mali some filmmakers went to chronicle what’s going on in the country and ended up making a documentary about solar energy. Daniel Dembele is an entrepreneur who brought solar power to the people by starting a company and bringing photovoltaic panels to rural Mali. This looks like a good doc!
Founding a small business is something that is deeply embedded in American and European culture. But most have never seen this universal kind of effort take place in Africa, traditionally portrayed by mainstream media as a land of the starving and war ravaged. In our portrayal of Daniel, who undertakes a familiar effort in an unfamiliar environment, we attempt to open the door to on what is viewed as possible in Africa, and update Western cultural awareness with a profound dose of optimism. Daniel’s work shatters notions of the need for African dependence on outside aid and embraces the view that ultimately it is Africans who will develop Africa in their own way.
Now more than ever, people around the world see green-collar jobs as a necessity for survival in our rapidly changing economies and environments. Daniel’s daring, charisma and intelligence remind us of the leadership required to encourage this level of transformative change, anywhere in the world. We showcased Daniel as an African leader, as well as a global trendsetter. We think this allows viewers to understand the kind of micro business development that makes sense for Africa, while also hopefully stirring a profound inspiration to take action in their own communities.
Earth Rangers is a conservation organization focused on getting kids engaged in protecting and learning about the environment. They have a program currently focused on having kids actively engage in protecting wildlife and their ecosystems. Earth Day happens later this month but there’s no reason why you can’t be thinking about the planet everyday. Get inspired by all the great kids making a difference!
In September 2010, Earth Rangers developed Bring Back the Wild, a national education and fundraising program that educates children about the importance of protecting animals by preserving their natural habitats, while raising funds to support the acquisition and restoration of endangered habitats across Canada. Since launching the program, over 200,000 kids have registered to become an Earth Ranger and over $1,000,000 has been raised for conservation projects.
For Earth Rangers, every day is Earth Day and Earth Month is the perfect time to showcase some kids making a difference. Earth Rangers supports children who launch environmental initiatives, act as conservation leaders in their community and engage in fundraising activities of their own to help protect endangered species.
Researchers at UBC have studied the recycling behaviour of people who work in green buildings to those who don’t and found that – regardless of their past habits – people in green buildings recycle more. This is really nifty because it proves that design of an interior space alone can impact how people recycle and the efficiency of waste management.
“Design can absolutely influence people,” Susan Gushe, a principal with the firm, told CBC News.
She says there are several things designers take into consideration when integrating recycling and garbage receptacles into buildings, such as:
Locating them in areas where people are likely to use them, such as the CIRS’s kitchenettes.
Making bins easy to access for patrons and maintenance staff.
Clearly labelling bins.
It’s also important to make the recycling hubs look good, she said.
“Do you want to see great big bins out in the corridor? No, not really,” says Gushe. “You want to integrate the utilitarian things in a building into the fabric of the building, so that you don’t have this really ugly stuff sitting out there.”
