Environment – Page 94 – Things Are Good

Ontario Chooses to Protect Old-Growth Forest

In northern Ontario there is a region called Temagami and it is absolutely stunning as it holds Ontario’s oldest old-growth forest and is the home to a diverse wildlife. In a tradition of profiteering, some people want to destroy the area and plans were set in motion in place to permit that – until now. The province has decided to commit to protecting the area from destruction.

Check the video below to see the region:

Wolf Lake from Rob Nelson on Vimeo.

The decision is a victory for the 300-year-old red pine trees, said Ontarioâ€™s environment commissioner, Gord Miller. He said the plan would have allowed logging of the ecologically treasured trees if the mining intensified.

â€œThe essence of the ecological dispute in that area is whether or not we should preserve the red pine old-growth system,â€ Miller said.

â€œThe trees are the key issue. The government has reconsidered and that means the trees stay, which is critical in the long term.â€

Green Spaces Can Reduce Gun Violence

Countries and regions with a lot of gun violence may want to note that the simple act of providing more green space in urban areas can reduce gun-related crime. In the USA (ranked ninth globally for gun deaths per capita) researchers have found that converting unused lots into parks has had a positive effect on peace!

A new study, published online this week in the American Journal of Epidemiology, offers some of the more promising evidence. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied a 10-year project in Philadelphia to convert vacant lots into park space. They found that gun-related assaults significantly declined in areas around the lots that had been greened. Vandalism and criminal mischief also significantly fell off.

Residents in some areas around these newly converted green spaces also reported feeling less stress and getting more exercise – presumably some of the byproducts of a neighborhood reclaiming its streets from crime.

Stop Junk Mail by Taking Photos

Nobody likes getting dead trees in their mailbox – particularly when those dead trees are useless adverts for products nobody wants (or even needs). Luck for us PaperKarma has created an app for your mobile that allows you to unsubscribe from junk mail lists by simply taking a photo! For now, it looks like it’s only usable in the USA.

PaperKarma works on magazines, catalogs, coupons, fliers, credit card offers, and even the Yellow Pages. To sign up for the service, you need to hand over a bit of your own information, including your address and email. Once you do, all you need to do is snap a picture of the junk mail in your mailbox and PaperKarma unsubscribes you from the list. The nice thing is that you can pick and choose what you unsubscribe from. If you like getting a particular catalog, you can keep it on your list.

PaperKarma’s site
From LifeHacker.

Competitive Carbon Footprint: GreenPocket

A German company had created a ‘game’ called GreenPocket that aims to make shrinking your carbon footprint competitive and fun. I’m quite curious how this will actually work, but I’m happy to see that the idea of making energy conservation entertaining is gaining steam.

Based in Cologne, GreenPocket is a software provider focusing on the visualization and interpretation of smart metering energy consumption data. As a complement to its smart metering and smart home solutions, the company recently launched a social metering app to sustain consumersâ€™ interest in monitoring their energy use over time. Push notifications inform consumers as to how well they are doing compared with their friends in weekly energy efficiency contests, for example, as well as about other positive developments related to their energy consumption behavior. Users are also able to share their data on Facebook for others to view. GreenPocket CEO Thomas Goette explains: â€œThis combination initiates an innovative dialogue between the utility and the customer and opens up an entirely new channel for utility marketing campaigns.â€

From Springwise.
GreenPocket’s site.

USA Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline

Yesterday saw two very effective protest movements in the USA, one was in regards to SOPA/PIPA and the other saw the Obama administration reject the Keystone XL pipeline.

There are also concerns about carbon emissions from oil sands production in Alberta, a western Canadian province.

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, a group that has protested the Keystone XL project, praised President Obama for taking a stand against the “fossil fuel lobby”.

“This isn’t just the right call, it’s the brave call,” Mr McKibben said in a statement.

The legislature of Nebraska passed a measure requiring state approval of any route before TransCanada could start construction.

The pipeline would also pass through the US states of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The White House had tried to postpone a final decision on the project until after the 2012 presidential election.

But during a congressional impasse on a payroll tax holiday in December, Republicans forced the Obama administration to agree to make a decision on the pipeline within two months.