CNN Likes Recycling

Recycling is great! CNN has written an article all about the goodness of recycling. Their reporting differs from how The Economist tackled recycling. I’d love to see CNN cover the reduce ‘R’, until then CNN has fun facts like:

Looking at it another way, according to the National Recycling Coalition, the amount of energy saved in one year by Americans recycling their soda cans, plastic containers, newspapers and packaging represented the energy equivalent of:

Enough gasoline to power 11 million passenger cars for a year
A year’s worth of electricity supply for 17.8 million Americans
11 percent of the energy produced by coal-fired power plants in a year
29 percent of nuclear electricity generation in a year

Green Walls for Eco Decor

I don’t know much (if anything at all) about interior design, however, I do know that I like it when consumer products respect the environment. In what might be the first news like this ever covered on this site I bring you sustainable wallcoverings:

Sustainable is a popular word these days within the green world of the environment. All industries, be they manufacturers of milk cartons, automobiles, office furniture or even this newspaper you’re reading, seem to be using it to describe how their products are made.

It’s no different with wallcoverings, which are carefully monitored by various government agencies to ensure that the products’ manufacture, installment and use are safe for the environment. Wallcoverings no longer use heavy metals (lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium) that could adversely affect the environment, and adhesives used in installation are environmentally sound, with many being water-based.

There is a wide selection of sustainable wallcoverings to choose from including old-fashioned, hand-made wallpapers and embossed wallpapers that can be pai

nted.

HIV/AIDS Drug Patent Revoked

Doctors WIthout Borders has released a press release that says that an HIV/AIDS drug can now be made generically. This will lower the cost of the drug allowing more people access to it, this is very important for people living in the developing world. The company that held the patent, Gilead Sciences, claimed to have invented the drug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), which has been discredited based on prior art.

In India, the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS opposed Gilead’s patent application in May 2006 on similar grounds to PUBPAT’s challenge in the US. The evidence on which the US based its decision could therefore lead to the Indian patent office rejecting the patent application. Similarly, in Brazil, a patent opposition filed by HIV/AIDS groups and a government pharmaceutical laboratory could also mean a patent might not be granted for TDF in Brazil.

If a patent is not granted in these countries, generic manufacturers could freely manufacture and export generic versions of TDF without restrictions, leading to greater competition and therefore lower prices.

Be an Environmentalist Everyday

It’s easy to show that you care about the environment (and by extension the health of those around you).

The Nature Conservancy has compiled a collection of ways that you can be an environmentalist daily.

Remember when “environmentalist” meant…recycling?

It’s not so simple anymore. Being an environmentalist today calls for a whole new level of greener thinking — from what you choose at the grocery store to how you commute to work every day.

The list includes riding a bike, taking the stairs, compost, and keeping bees in line.