Category Archives: Good Fact

Proposed Chicago Tower Cleans the Air and Looks Great

Chicago is already internationally known for his stunning architecture and that reputation is set to continue with a new eco-tower. The CO2ngress Gateway Towers will bring the skyline into the 21st century because that building is focused on cleaning the air that people in Chi-town breath.

In attempt to cut down on Chicago’s CO2 emissions produced from cars in the Eisenhower Expressway, Danny Mui & Benjamin Sahagun propose the splitting of the Congress Gateway Towers, using a system of carbon scrubbers and filtration devices that clean carbon dioxide and other air pollutants. Aimed to increase public awareness and improve of Chicago’s public health, the CO2ngress Gateway Towers absorb the CO2 emissions from passing cars and is then fed to algae grown in the building. The algae then helps with the processing of biofuels which will supply the building residents’ eco-friendly cars.

The two towers split and converge at the top to create an iconic gateway to the city. A bridge joins the two towers and contains a public restaurant with views of neighboring buildings. Pedestrian connections are landscaped at the base, accentuating the building’s car-centric identity. Located at the crown of the towers are the carbon scrubbers which capture CO2 and other air pollutants. These scrubbers are the first step in the processing of biofuel.

Read more here.

Typical Wind Farm Supports Nearly 1,100 Jobs

A recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in the USA has shown that in the country wind farms generate not just energy but 1,000 jobs at a ‘typical’ site. Other countries have found that incorporating renewable energy into their electricity grid can help generate power efficiently while helping to revitalize areas that have not found economic success in the modern world.

A new 250-megawatt wind farm will create 1,079 jobs throughout the many steps of building that wind farm, according to the NRDC report “American Wind Farms: Breaking Down the Benefits from Planning to Production.” These are positions in manufacturing, construction engineering and management, among other areas.

But the benefits don’t end there, a separate NRDC study on the secondary impacts of the wind energy industry shows.

Wind farms also are helping revitalize communities across the country by generating new taxes, lease payments to landowners and economic development revenues, in addition to creating new job opportunities, the NRDC report “At Wind Speed: How the U.S. Wind Industry is Rapidly Growing Our Local Economies,” shows. The report profiles four communities from Ohio to Oregon that have benefitted from the wind industry.

Read more at the NRDC.

Tiananmen Square: Citizens Still Remember


In 1989 protestors in China took to Tiananmen Square and were confronted by tanks and the full Chinese state apparatus to shut them down. The most iconic image is the man standing in front of a row of tanks (his identity and his current whereabouts are still unknown).

Even though the protest and the clampdown happened 23 years ago this week, people are still championing human rights and increased government transparency and accountability.

Also this week, Twitter and the domestic microblogging service weibo have been abuzz with messages commemorating Tiananmen, keeping censors busy deleting or blocking 1989-related postings.  And several public events have taken place in Chinese cities to mark the tragedy and break the silence.
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Many 1989 generation activists and student participants in the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement have carried on their advocacy through their writings or online posts, or assisting victims of rights abuses, or providing legal assistance to victims.

Read more here.

Thanks to Janet!

Loblaws Plans on Removing Artificial Ingredients from its Food

Artificial ingredients have a bad reputation because they’ve been left untested for years. Now, one of Canada’s largest grocery stores is ring to remove all those artificial ingredients from their in-house food line. This follows other pod providers and is a direct reaction to growing consumer concerns over some of their food.

Advocacy groups such as the Ottawa-based Centre for Science in the Public Interest have called for better controls on the use of artificial dyes and flavours and improved labelling laws. In Canada, food companies aren’t required to spell out which artificial colours they use on product labels. Health Canada has floated the idea of changing that.

Members of the medical and scientific communities remain divided about the true risks of artificial flavours and colours. For instance, some studies that found links between hyperactivity and synthetic food dyes have been criticized for using shoddy methodology. But in an era when many equate natural ingredients with better health, some consumers don’t want to wait and are demanding a shift in the food industry.

And the industry has begun responding. For instance, Nestlé has removed artificial colours from Smarties in Canada, while the company announced in March all of its confection items sold in Britain will contain only natural flavours and dyes and no artificial preservatives.

Read more at the Globe.

Air Miles Starts Rewarding Eco-Conscious Purchases

Starting today, consumer tracking program Air Miles will begin rewarding people with points when they make environmentally friendly purchases.

But whereas previous initiatives were intended to inspire a single socially conscious decision, “these [programs] have a permanent effect,” Souvaliotis said.

“If you find a way to create a trickle of reward for the consumer, then you’re actually supporting a change in behaviour,” he said. “Not only will these [programs] start to bring a lot more people to this type of behaviour, but they will stick to this behaviour.”

Souvaliotis, an occasional blogger for The Huffington Post, is not shy about the success of — or his vision for — Air Miles for Social Change, which he says is the “world’s first ever — and to this point only — social venture that’s built entirely inside a loyalty points program.”

Read more at the Huffington Post.