Good Fact

Movie Sets Get a Second Life

- Adam Clare

The film industry needs to custom build sets and costumes for their productions and more often than not the unique objects get tossed away after filming is done. Filming a movie can cause a lot waste and carbon output so it’s good to see that some people are trying to green the film industry.

ReadySetRecycle.com is a website that allows production companies to list sets, props, and costumes from film sets that they want to sell. They’re located in Canada but there must be something similar in California as well. So if you want unique clothing or things for you house you may want to check out what’s for sale.

We are entertainment industry professionals who are appalled to see thousands of tons of scenery, props and costumes ending up in landfill every year.

So… we’ve created ReadySetRecycle.com a new website where industry professionals can list such items for sale (or giveaway).

Basic listings (one item per listing) are free.
…
In the first year of operation, Set/Reset processed over 150 tons of scenery.

Set/Reset was a classic win win for its customers, users and the environment.

As the company grew we built up the largest inventory of rental stock in Canada.

Our monthly input was up to 25 tons. From this input, we had only 3% waste!!!

Check out ReadySetRecycle.com

2012 Was/Is Arguably the Best Year Yet

- Adam Clare

If the world refuses to listen to the Mayan doomsayers on December 21 then 2012 many go down as the best year in humanity’s history (hopefully 2013 will be better). Most people are well aware that mainstream media is excellent at espousing doom and gloom, which may be why you’re reading this website. Well, despite the fact that there are very real environmental problems that still need to be addressed, overall, we’re doing OK as a species.

War has historically been humanity’s biggest killer. But in most of the world today, a generation is growing up that knows little of it. The Peace Research Institute in Oslo says there have been fewer war deaths in the last decade than any time in the last century. Whether we are living through an anomalous period of peace, or whether the risk of nuclear apocalypse has proved an effective deterrent, mankind seems no longer to be its own worst enemy. We must bear in mind that things can fall apart, and quickly. Germany was perhaps the most civilised nation in the world in the 1920s. For now, though, it is worth remembering that, in relative terms, we have peace in our time.

Read more at the Spectator.

Better Block is Bettering Cities

- Dan Harrison

The Better Block initiative was started in Dallas, Texas as a rapid urban revitalization project of an underused, nearly abandoned block of  old buildings along an old streetcar line.  They project takes the “pop-up” business model to completely revitalise old city blocks with storefronts, community events, and cafés, and sustainable transportation (like bikes and streetcars)!   By combating out-of-date laws, re-purposing unused space, and connecting with engaged citizens, the Better Block has spread to multiple cities in the USA.

Watch an energized, exciting, and inspiring talk by Jason Roberts (who started The Better Block) from TEDxOU (Oklahoma University):

Thanks to urbanvelo and Upworthy for posting the original story!

Bike Lanes Help Local Economies

- Adam Clare

As a cyclist the fact that bicycle infrastructure helps business makes senses to me. Bike lanes encourage more cyclists which can bring more people to an area, drivers on the other hand seem to just keep driving though. I hope the backwards thinking politicians in Toronto see this study since they recently decided to waste money on cars at the expense of cycling.

Whether businesses reached out and made their locations more bicycle friendly, or streets were redesigned to include bike lanes, the overall outcome has been increased spending in local neighborhoods. Shoppers who arrive in urban neighborhoods via cars may spend more in one sitting–but overall those who arrived on foot or by bicycling spent more month to month. The results indicate that neighborhoods and business districts that seek a healthier bottom line should work with municipalities and support such features as protected bike lanes, bicycle racks and pedestrian safety improvements.

Read more here.

A Phone Call to Diagnose Parkinson’s

- Adam Clare

About a week from now I’ll be running to fundraise for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s’ research. As a result of my participation, I’ve been researching Parkinson’s and found out that some enterprising researchers have discovered a simple way to diagnose the neurological disorder through a simple phone call.

“He came up to me and said, ‘Max, we’ve got vast amounts of data recorded from Parkinson’s disease patients and we really don’t know what to do with it. So perhaps your algorithms might be useful for analyzing this,'” Little remembers.

The recordings were voices of people both with and without Parkinson’s and Little’s algorithm sorted them. It was 86 percent accurate.

“And that’s when we thought ‘Ahh, okay, we got something here,'” Little says.

Read more at NPR.

You can donate to the Fox Foundation and help support my run by donating here.

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