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If you lived in the many parts of the United States and Europe last week and were in need of a reprieve from persistent, frigid temperatures, you would have found relief in the most unlikely of places.
Part of Antarctica hit a record high of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit last Tuesday, the hottest ever reported, according to the climate monitor OGIMET.
By comparison, Washington DC was 46 degrees, New York City reached 45 degrees, and the temperature in London topped 50 degrees.
While scientists warn not to draw conclusions from a single weather event, the temps hue closely to more alarming, long-term trends in the southern continent.
Antarctica’s floating ice shelves have recently decreased by as much as 18 percent in some spots over the last 18 years, says a new study, published in the journal Science. As the oceans have warmed, they’ve spurred more of the frozen mass to become water, researcher Fernando Paolo told VICE News.
“There is evidence that the amount of warm ocean water reaching the ice shelves has increased, so more warm water under these is causing the melt,” Paolo, a PhD candidate with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography, told VICE News. “And there is a lag in the response time of the environment. So, even if conditions changed now, 20 years from now the environment will still be reacting this way.”
And the findings indicate that sea levels are certain to continue rising, Doug Martinson, a professor with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, told VICE News.
“You could stop global warming tomorrow but that doesn’t matter from this perspective because there’s already so much heat stored in the ocean, it’ll keep coming up and melting the ice,” Martinson, who was not involved in Paolo’s study, told VICE News.
The study, which advanced previous research on Antarctica’s ice mass, compiled 18 years of continuous data starting in 1994, and found that the bulk of melt occurred between 2003 and 2012, Paolo noted.
“We could see there was an acceleration of loss,” Paolo said of the ice mass. “Another important thing we were able to see was that some of the ice shelves have a large fluctuation of gain and loss in volume over time. So, if you look at a shorter period, you won’t see the trend.”
Air temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula – where the record high was documented last week – have been found to further affect ice melt there, Paolo said, so such steamy weather could certainly cause more reason for concern.
“On the Antarctic Peninsula we have a weather station so we know the weather is responsible for changes,” Paolo said.
Still, one or two extremely hot days cannot be directly attributed to global warming, said Hugh Ducklow, also a professor with Lamont-Doherty. He warned of drawing too many conclusions from the 63.5-degree weather.
“I don’t believe that you can attribute any isolated event to global warming. This is just like saying the next 100-degree day or next hurricane in NYC is due to global warming,” Ducklow told VICE News. “A warmer climate could increase the likelihood of occurrence of hot days, but the individual events are not ’caused’ by global warming.”
And regardless of the air temperature, the ocean’s conditions actually have a far stronger impact on the melting ice and rising sea levels, Martinson explained.
“The heat contained in water is thousands of times stronger than the heat of the atmosphere,” Martinson said of the sea’s ability to dissolve Antarctic ice.
“Heat is absorbed in the ocean like a sponge, and a good amount of that heat is coming up. Where it comes up it melts underside of the ice shelves,” Martinson said, warning that the phenomenon could push the sea level dangerously high. “I don’t like to say ‘doomsday scenario’ but this is sort of pointing toward it.”
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to speak with Marc [Youtube, iTunes, and Podbean] about how sustainability activists in the Global North can support indigenous peoples who are protecting the Amazon rainforest and our climate. Indigenous peoples make up four percent of the world’s population, but their territories encompass 80% of our planet’s biodiversity. Last year the World Resources Institute released a comprehensive study supporting Amazon Watch’s strategy of empowering indigenous peoples and other local communities as the best way to protect the rainforest.
Unfortunately, those forest guardians are facing increasing threats from governments and companies looking to exploit their resources and violate their rights. Nina Gualinga, a youth leader from the Kichwa of Sarayaku, a community that defended its territory from the incursion of multiple oil companies and won a landmark case against the Ecuadorian government, speaks about our collective responsibility to keep the oil in the ground. Last month we released the Slimy Seventeen, the seventeen oil companies that are most destructive for the Amazon and the communities that call it home.
One of those companies is Chevron, a corporation that lost a $9.5 billion lawsuit for poisoning 30,000 indigenous peoples and campesinos in the Ecuadorian Amazon. While Texaco, the company’s subsidiary, has admitted to deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste water into unlined open pits, Chevron is now refusing to pay. Instead, it has tried to sue the indigenous people it poisoned, their lawyers, its own shareholders, and even NGOs like Amazon Watch that dare to call it out for its abuses. That’s why, as my colleague Paul Paz y Miño wrote:
We were surprised to learn that the Commonwealth Club of California – the “nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum” – plans to honor Chevron CEO John Watson as a “distinguished global citizen” who has “given back” to the global community. They’re actually going to honor Watson’s ability to abuse his power, wealth and corporate connections to evade accountability for the wide range of environmental and human rights crimes he has overseen as head of Chevron since 2010? WHAT?!
There are a myriad of reasons why presenting such an award to Watson is outrageous. Massive pollution and health crises in Ecuador, death and destruction in Nigeria, lying to shareholders, abuse of the justice system, trampling free speech in the U.S., dumping millions into local elections to undermine democracy…the list of Chevron’s violations goes on and on. Watson has either overseen or has taken a personal role in advancing strategies that attack Chevron’s critics and has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid accepting responsibility for Chevron’s well documented actions of harming both people and the planet. It took less than a day to find almost 40 human rights and environmental organizations ready and willing to denounce this decision. If we had taken a week it would easily have been well over 100.
How is it then that none of this leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the Board of Governors at the Commonwealth Club?
Yes, this is all clearly a way for the Commonwealth Club to have a very successful fundraising gala. You present a symbolic award to someone like Watson and all his friends and colleagues come to dine and celebrate, donating thousands to the Club and paying exorbitant amounts for dinner and drinks at the Ritz Carlton. But just how far does someone need to go before it becomes in bad taste to “honor” them, despite how much money it may bring in? Would Bill Cosby be invited to the dinner alongside Jennifer Siebel Newsom as she talks about her work and film project on behalf of women and girls? I think not.
Yet Watson and Chevron’s acts to criminalize free speech and attack their critics were recently condemned by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Amnesty International and a host of other respected groups. Chevron famously lost in its effort to buy the elections in Richmond, hoping to completely undermine the democratic process. Why? Because their new puppets in Richmond would then drop the city’s lawsuit for the deadly refinery fire of 2012.
When Watson took over Chevron in 2010 his company’s handling of its Ecuador disaster took a very different and distinctly aggressive tone. Watson had been one of the architects of Chevron’s merger with Texaco years before. He was there when Amazon Watch warned Chevron not to proceed because of the enormous liability in Ecuador. He knew that Texaco admitted to deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the pristine inhabited rainforest. He knew Texaco documents were uncovered proving the company’s policy of hiding leaks and not reporting spills during its operations. Apparently, just as the Texaco executives decided that it was worth the human and environmental toll to save $3 per barrel by dumping the waste for decades instead of lining their open toxic waste pits, Watson decided the merger with Texaco was worth the cost. He literally agreed to own Texaco’s mess.
When Watson took over from David O’Reilly in 2010, he had a choice. He could have ushered in a new era for the company. He could have apologized to the people of Ecuador. He could have negotiated a settlement and agreed to clean up the Amazon wasteland his company had created. True – to do so would have cost a tremendous amount of money. But in addition to being the right thing to do, and stemming the wave of deaths from cancer, it would have also been fiscally responsible. And it would have earned Watson a legitimate reason to be recognized by a group like the Commonwealth Club.
For in the end, Chevron has spent over a billion dollars already just fighting to avoid its responsibility. Lawyers have built careers (and billed more than the affected communities in Ecuador make in a lifetime) providing legal defense for Chevron. When all is said and done, and Chevron finally pays for the clean-up, when it realizes that the resolve of the affected communities and their many global allies in supporters is stronger, then it will have paid twice over for its acts in Ecuador. Thousands more will have died from cancer, however. They are suffering and dying at this very moment.
Will Watson or anyone at the Commonwealth Club gala give a moment’s thought to them on April 2nd?
We could all shrug our shoulders and write this whole event off as just more of the rich patting themselves on the back and move on. But there is a real danger here. The danger is that this isn’t just a pro-oil company lobby group celebrating Watson’s acts to thwart renewable energy programs. This is an institution founded for debate and discussion on the issues of the day granting legitimacy to a known corporate criminal who is free from accountability only because he and his company are rich enough to hire 60 law firms and over 2000 legal professionals to drag on the legal saga for ages in hopes that the affected communities will literally die out and their supporters will exhaust the resources to assist them any more. That act must be protested. The standard that allows Watson to stand next to people acknowledged for actually trying to better the world must always be condemned. That is why we register our outrage. It is on behalf of those sick and dying in Richmond, Nigeria, Ecuador and elsewhere, who John Watson could have assisted – and didn’t.
It probably won’t be until the day Chevron finally pays the Ecuadorian judgment when the reckoning comes for Watson. Perhaps only when the bill at long last arrives, when Chevron’s assets are seized and Watson can’t hide that he’s cost shareholders billions of wasted dollars, that organizations like the Commonwealth Club will keep the name of Watson off the list. At that point it would just be in bad taste.
Sometimes all the talk in the world can’t prepare you for cold, hard reality. At a Nebraska Oil & Gas Conservation committee hearing, an oil and gas commission was left in utter silence when a farmer brought in three cups of fracking water and offered each of them to take a sip.
It’s a brilliant visual reminder that what’s at stake when we talk about the dangers of fracking isn’t dollars and cents, but something much simpler: Security in knowing that one of the most basic necessities of life, access to clean drinking water, is safe from harmful pollutants.
Nebraskan James Osborne appeared at the hearing to discuss an oil company’s application to ship out-of-state fracking wastewater into Nebraska to be dumped into a “disposal well” in Sioux County. According to a Fox Business report on the proposal, the waste would be coming from states like Wyoming and Colorado, but dumped in Nebraska because nobody else wants anything to do with it:
The commission heard 2½ hours of public comment Tuesday at its Sidney headquarters before convening a specific hearing on the proposal from Terex Energy Corp. The Broomfield, Colorado-based company wants to truck salty groundwater and chemical-laden fracking wastewater that result from oil searches and production in Wyoming, Colorado and, eventually, Nebraska, to a ranch north of Mitchell, Nebraska. As much as 10,000 barrels a day of the water would be injected into an old oil well on the ranch.
Lest people think Osborne is a bleeding heart tree-hugger, he notes that he’s worked in the oil industry and still even has family who work in fracking. However, his background can’t stand in the way of the troubling facts about what fracking does to the environment, particularly to a farming and livestock intensive state like Nebraska which relies heavily on its water reserves to function.
On a table, Osborne sets down three water cups, filling each with some purified water. There is no question that anyone would feel comfortable drinking that water. But in the event of fracking wastewater leaking into the streams and rivers of Nebraska, residents shouldn’t expect their taps to remain safe. Instead, Osborne dumps in the kind of yellow-brown sludge common in fracking runoff water. This is what the water would look like. The audience gasps.
“So you told me this morning that you would drink this water,” Osborne tells the commission. “So would you drink it? Yes or no?”
The group stares silently at the display. After an awkward pause, one says he won’t answer any questions.
“Oh, you can’t answer any questions? Well my answer would be no. I don’t want this in the water that will travel entirely across this state in three days,” Osborne says. “There is no doubt there will be contamination. There will be spills.”
So far the commission hasn’t made a ruling on the controversial proposal. They chose to delay a ruling to think it over more carefully. In the meantime, environmental group Bold Nebraska has launched a petition to get public support against the fracking dumpsite.
Author: Jameson Parker I cover US politics, social justice issues, and other current events which aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Feel free to follow or drop me a line on twitter.
These days anybody who has a Netflix account has likely seen the numerous documentaries about our food problems. The ‘Why’, shouldn’t be hard to understand for many of you, you already see there needs to be change.
If you’re not familiar with such documentaries as Forks Over Knives, The Beautiful Truth, Food Inc., and The Future Of Food, then keep reading to understand.
The root cause of our food problem is our mistreatment of the soil. We haven’t understood the importance it plays to our health. As Dr. Max Gerson discovered in the early 20th century, the soil is our external metabolism, and therefore it plays a huge role in our overall health.
Today, conventional agriculture mistreats the soil by growing monocultures and depleting the soil of it’s essence, it’s life giving minerals and nutrients. The soil is so dead in fact that farmers have to inject chemical fertilizers just to get it to grow anything.
The main fertilizers they use consist of 3 nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. So how many nutrients make up healthy soil? There are 52 minerals needed for optimum soil health, and consequently human health. For more on this read here.
Another major problem is that our food travels too far to reach our plate.
So why does it matter how far away our food travels? Besides the effects on the climate, the food is just not as nutritious. That’s right. Food that is being grown to ship long distances is picked before it has actually ripened. This is so the fruit or vegetable isn’t spoiled by the end of it’s long journey. They’re also often treated with chemical gasses to delay the ripening process even further. Why does this matter? Studies have shown that fruits and vegetables are most nutritious when they’re allowed to fully ripen on the vine.
These are not the only 2 problems with our current food system, but they are arguably the most troublesome.
Why Suburbia?
Suburbia is arguably the greatest misallocation of human resources. It’s tried to provide the benefits of living in the country and living in the city, but instead has given us the disadvantages of both. For more on this topic, read The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape by James Howard Kunstler or watch the documentary “End Of Suburbia“.
So we have these huge sprawling suburban areas that have backyards full of something that is grown almost entirely for aesthetic purposes: grass.
It’s already bad enough that we’re utilizing the rainfall to grow grass instead of food. To top it all off however, homeowners will actually water their grass, wasting even more of our very limited, very precious resource: water
There are a growing number of homeowners that understand the problems, and want to be a part of the solution but they’re too busy with work and their families.
What to do!?
Become A ‘Natural Urban Farmer’
Many believe organic farming to be more difficult and less productive than conventional farming. You don’t get to use chemicals and earth polluting machinery after all right?
This just isn’t the case if you understand ‘ natural farming ‘ principles or ‘do-nothing farming’ as it’s also called.
This method of farming was pioneered by Masanobu Fukuoka of Japan. He was able to produce just as much rice as conventional rice farms by challenging everything about the way conventional farming is undertaken. You can learn more about Masanobu Fukuoka by watching this short documentary.
Natural Farming is a very efficient way to grow healthy soil and healthy crops. Mr. Fukuoka discovered that by working with nature, instead of against it, you can achieve much greater results with much less effort.
Growing in this manner has many benefits, including the following:
Decaying organic matter becomes valuable ground cover that helps the soil to retain moisture, stay cool and serves to prevent erosion.
When employing proper no-till growing methods, weeds have trouble ever getting started, thus drastically reducing any work load related to weed removal.
Returning organic matter to the soil helps to naturally fertilize the ground by adding nitrogen.
Natural Farming How To
Here’s a simple video showing how to create your own ‘no dig’ or ‘no-till’ garden. There’s a bunch of awesome videos on Youtube if you just search “natural farming, no till farming or no digg farming”.
Here are the steps I’ve taken for my own garden beds.
Step 1: Cardboard
After you’ve decided where you’d like to put your first bed, the next step is to kill off the grass and weeds in that spot. A popular way of doing this is by using cardboard. Make sure you’ve removed any staples or tape from the cardboard. Then lay it down, overlapping slightly.
Wet the cardboard thoroughly before continuing to the next step.
Step 2: Pile on the soil/compost/organic material
As shown in this video, ideally you want to use a combination of brown/dried organic material and green. If you don’t have this, you can start with compost or organic potting soil.
You can usually find cheap soil/compost from local small farms or by looking on craigslist.
Make sure to water the layers as you add them.
Step 3: Worms
You can find these red digger worms at most local nurseries. Worm castings are invaluable for your garden due to it being a highly nutritious fertilizer. The worms themselves also help to keep the soil loose and aerated.
Step 4: Mulch
The last layer of grass or hay will serve as mulch. Again, mulch is important for a few reasons. It helps to bring fertility back to the soil, protect from soil erosion, and helps soil to retain moisture by protecting it from the hard sun.
It’s important not to use grass treated with lawn chemicals.
Step 5: Seed/Transplant
Depending on which route you take, now it’s time to plant your seeds or transplant seedlings you started indoors. You’ll want to find your counties planting calendar to know what crops your region supports and when you should plant them. It takes a lot of the guess work out of it.
Step 6: Water
Unless you live in a desert, or experiencing a drought, you shouldn’t need to do much watering. That’s the beauty of the mulch.
If you live in a desert like myself, you should still keep watering to a minimum so as to encourage deep root growth.
This new smartphone app called Edyn can help you take a more analytic approach to keeping tabs on soil moisture.
That’s It!
Knowing how to turn your corner of suburbia into a local food mecca can increase the health and vitality of your family, your neighbors, and yourself. You just need to do it!
Start small, and don’t burn yourself out. Start with one or two garden beds this upcoming grow season. Find out what kinds of crops grow well in your region of the world, and just start with a couple.
Once you have mastered ‘no-till’ gardening, simply offer to help your neighbors to do the same in their backyard. If they don’t have enough time on their hands to do it themselves, offer to do it for them in return for a percentage of the harvest or just because you want to make a difference in your community. It’s up to you!
What are you to do with extra produce? You could sell it at the farmer’s market. Or you could just give it as a gift to your family and friends. In return, I’m confident they’ll express their gratitude by gifting back in due time. This is what community is for. It’s time to disrupt this poisonous food chain and create the community we want to live in. Be the change we want to see in this world.
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This is not very good PR for agricultural company Monsanto.
While being filmed by French cable channel Canal+, GMO advocate Dr. Patrick Moore claimed that the chemical in the company’s Roundup weed killer is safe for humans to consume and “won’t hurt you.”
Editor’s Note:ALSO ON HUFFPOST: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Dr. Patrick Moore is a lobbyist for Monsanto. A statement from Monsanto says that Dr. Moore is not and has never been a paid lobbyist for their company. This version has been corrected.
Who isn’t looking for a small peaceful urban haven at which to chill out, check email, figure out what’s next?
For an urban development project commissioned by the city of Paris, JCDecaux, inventor of the “street furniture” concept of outdoor advertising, collaborated with designer Mathieu Lehanneur to create Escale Numérique, a green roofed wifi connected corner of respite on the busy Rond Point des Champs-Elysées. Lehanneur is no stranger to eco-friendly designs-he’s the designer of the acclaimed living air filter.
“Like the Wallace fountains, which since the end of the 19 th century have offered Parisian the free drinking water circulating beneath their feet,” expained Lehanneur, “Escale Numérique allows everyone to benefit from a high-speed wifi connection by raising it from beneath the ground.” Paris offers free wifi in almost all its public parks.
Lehanneur’s protected shelter with a green roof is like “a garden placed on a few tree trunks,” designed to be as attractive when viewed from the ground as from a balcony. The hard-wearing concrete swivel seats, equipped with electrical outlets, have mini tables attached where one can rest an elbow, book, or laptop.
A large touch screen, above, provides updated information about city services: guides, news and augmented reality for tourists and visitors who are not online. The designer considers Escale Numérique “a forerunner for a new range of urban architecture where virtual reality dictates the shape of what is real in order to live with even greater fluidity.”
Imagine having a home that is truly yours, with no monthly rent or a mortgage payment. If you’re willing to live like our ancestors did, it can be done!
Whether you need to improves a shelter after a disaster, or just want to run away to the wilderness, these primitive houses may be the answer you need.
Here you’ll see how people from around the globe have built their own homes throughout history.
Tipis are cone-shaped shelters used by the Plains tribes of North America. They are made from wooden frames covered in buffalo hide. Early versions of these structures measured as much as 12 feet high.
Lavvu
The Lavvuu is wider than a tipi and can withstand high winds. Used as a temporary dwelling by the Sami people of Scandinavia, the lavuu was originally crafted with wooden poles covered in reindeer hide.
Wigwam
Wigwams are associated with the Algonquian Indian tribe. They consist of arched wooden framing poles, which are then covered with anything from bark and brush to animal hide. Wigwams may be triangular or dome-like in appearance.
Hogan
The Navajo people first construct the hogans, which come in many shapes and sizes. They can be erected without interior posts and may feature walls made of wood or stone. The roofs consist of either packed earth or bark.
Burdei
A burdei sits partially underground and has a history that reaches back 6,000 years. They could originally be found in the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe. During the late 19th century, the burdei was also used North America.
Barabara
Barabara were the homes of the Alutiiq and Aleuts of the Aleutian Islands. The base of the barabara is positioned underground, creating a barrier from the powerful winds that routinely sweep over this region.
Clochán
The clochán is a hut-like structure made from overlapping pieces of stone. It is constructed without mortar and remains in tact due to compressional forces, a method called dry-stone. These dwellings were common in southwestern Ireland.
Log cabin
Log cabins are made from logs with notches cut into both ends, allowing for a tight fit once the logs are laid on top of one another. A family could construct a log cabin in a matter of days, and the finished structure could remain standing for years.
Longhouse
Longhouses are usually associated with the Iroquois tribes of North America. The longhouse is constructed with pole frames covered in bark, and measure up to 200 feet long. Smaller longhouses could shelter one or more families, while larger longhouses could accommodate 60 people.
Bamboo house
Because the strong, lightweight and fast-growing bamboo is readily available in some regions of the world, including Asia and parts of Central and South America, it is a considered an excellent (and sustainable) source of construction material.
Pueblo
Pueblos share their name with the Native American tribe that first built them. Pueblos are multi-family homes built with bricks made from a mixture of straw and clay called adobe. Pueblos could shelter a whole clan, with each family residing in its own space.
Earthen house
It’s the surrounding earth that creates the walls on three or four sides of this structure, which is covered by a roof. These kinds of shelters provide excellent protection from wind and cold.
Igloo
Igloos are made of snow and are commonly associated with the Eskimos in Northern Canada. They are crafted from large blocks of ice that are secured with snow to create the dome roof. An occupied igloo, warmed only by body heat, can reach temperatures as high as 60 degrees, even when it’s below freezing outside.
Yurt
Portable and easy to erect, the yurt stayed popular with nomadic people residing in Central Asia for about 3,000 years. Yurts feature expandable circle-shaped frames that are covered in felt. A yurt can be set up in about two hours.
Walipini
The walipini can be constructed for about $300, and use the surrounding earth as its walls. A greenhouse sits approximately six feet below ground level, allowing for year-round gardening, and the walls hold heat generated from daytime solar radiation.
These shipping container growing units from Freight Farms feature high-density vegetable & herb production, and include everything needed to go from seed to table, year-round, in a fraction of the space as a conventional greenhouse.Ideas for methods of growing more produce in and around urban areas, close to where the food will be consumed, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but one shape in particular keeps popping up in urban agriculture, especially when it comes to year-round growing and cold climates. Shipping containers (also known as intermodal freight containers), while probably not the first thing to come to mind when it comes to growing vegetables, are a great choice for upcycling and repurposing for urban farms, because they’re affordable, readily available, and built to last for decades, and with some extensive retrofitting, can be used as climate-controlled indoor farms.
I recently covered the CropBox, which boasts of being a ” farm in a box,” but long before that shipping container farm made the news, Freight Farms was building their own high-density growing units inside cargo containers, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign run in 2011. Since then, Freight Farms has continued to develop and improve its urban farm units, dubbed the Leafy Green Machine (LGM), which uses high-efficiency LED lighting, vertical hydroponic growing towers, and an automated climate-control and irrigation system to grow thousands of plants inside a single 320 square foot container.
The Freight Farms design is based on a conventional insulated shipping container measuring 40′ x 8′ (~12.2m x 2.4m), but are extensively retrofitted to serve as a micro-farm that can grow some 4,500 plants at a time. The rows of plants are grown vertically, with the LED lighting strips between them delivering “the optimal wavelengths for uniform plant growth” and the hydroponic system supplying the nutrients that the plants need, directly to their roots, using 90% less water than conventional growing does.
And not only do the units grow mature crops, but the LGM also integrates a dedicated germination and seedling station (also using LED lighting and hydroponic irrigation) that can handle up to 2500 plant starts, which then get planted into the growing towers a few weeks after sprouting. This aspect of the LGM is probably one of the most essential elements for a production farm, and one that isn’t so obvious to non-farmers, as it enables the growers to start seeds and continuously feed those seedlings into the system for regular harvests, all within the walls of the shipping container.
According to the Freight Farms website, these “smart farms” (so-called because they can be controlled via smartphone) also offer another advantage over outdoor growing and other open systems, because the use of a sealed container for growing can “eliminate the need for herbicides/pesticides.” The LGM system is also considered to be modular and scalable, as the shipping containers can be securely stacked on top of each other for increased production in the same physical footprint as a single unit.
By enabling year-round growing, even in cold climates, each of these 320 square foot containers are said to be able to produce an acre’s worth of food each year, and could be a viable option for the urban farm entrepreneur. The cost of a unit isn’t cheap ($76,000), and there are other costs associated with operating one (estimated to be about $13,000 per year for electricity, water, and various growing and packaging supplies), but considering that the LGMs are considered to be capable of producing yields of locally-grown produce “at commercial-scale in any climate and any season,” they might be a great business investment for the prospective urban farmer.
Oscar Wilde wrote in The Picture of Dorian Gray: “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” I use that phrase a lot when people complain about the price of everything from furniture to tiny houses; short production runs and quality materials mean higher costs. But even I choke occasionally, such as with this visually stunning new prefab from VIPP, a Danish company that has been working with steel since 1939, starting with an iconic wastebasket that’s now in the Museum of Modern Art.
The VIPP shelter is a beautiful object, all glass and steel, 50,000 pounds of superior workmanship and design. 592 square feet of felt-lined modern living. It gives new definition to the word “turnkey”- there are no options whatsoever. It’s “a plug and play getaway.”
Indeed, they have chosen everything from the bedsheets to the toilet brush, it is all included. The specifications are top of the line, from the VIPP kitchen to the electric radiant concrete floors to the 10 inches of insulation. It is indeed a stunning minimalist modern object of desire.
And then it all begins to fall apart, perhaps in this interview with designer Morten Bo Jensen, who says:
The biggest difference between this getaway compared to anything else on the market is the fact that I am not an architect. The shelter is conceived more like a product than a piece of architecture that melds seamlessly with its surrounding. We didn’t start with a piece of land on which we customized a house taking into consideration the natural surroundings. There is plenty of amazing architecture out there, but we wanted to conceive something different; an escape in the form of an object designed down to last detail, where the only choice left to the customer, is where to put it.
But architecture doesn’t work like that. You cannot design a building with a wall of glass and claim that it will work “in the darkest forest or the brightest desert”; put this object in full sun, with no shading and that wall of glass and black steel and it will be uninhabitable.
The loft will be an oven, even with the one opening window. But nobody will use it anyway; just try spending one night where you have to climb a steep ladder and then crawl up from the bottom of the bed. You will sleep downstairs on the second night.
Then there is the small matter of cost, which I usually downplay, but $US 585,000 is a lot of money for 592 square feet, for 50,000 pounds of glass and steel. That is actually the same price per pound as a BMW Series 2 Coupe; you can do your own price per square foot calculation. That also does not include land, delivery, crane rental, or site services like septic or electricity. And add 12% for US east coast delivery.
On another design website they title their post The Vipp Shelter is a plug-and-play prefab home that can be placed just about anywhere. If only it were. However you cannot call something “plug and play” if there are no plugs. So you may not have to buy a toilet brush but you have to buy infrastructure, which is surprisingly expensive and difficult.
Perhaps I am just bitter, because I spent two years trying to sell a high end minihome and ran into all these problems of connections and zoning bylaws and lofts and costs. I just look at this and see every problem that I had writ large. There are a dozen reasons that this kind of building cannot be placed just about anywhere; perhaps it will work in a nice Scandinavian climate with lots of shade and hopefully no mosquitoes.
I shouldn’t be so critical, it is a beautiful thing and I hope they sell like VIPP wastebaskets, also overpriced iconic objects of desire. But at least a wastebasket really can go anywhere and doesn’t have to be plugged in. Lots more beautiful documentation and photographs at VIPP.
Novelist Jane Austen said, “To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.” And who could argue with her? I know I can’t. Appreciating the magnificence of trees, inhaling salty ocean air, or marveling at the sumptuous colors of a field of flowers always fills me with a sense of wonder and renews my spirit.
There’s good reason so many artists and poets have found inspiration in the beauty of creation. Research has shown that spending time in nature can benefit you both mentally and physically, in a variety of surprising ways.
1. Spending time in nature increases your sense of vitality.
A series of studies examined the effects of nature on participants’ self-reported levels of vitality. The results showed that spending time in nature (and even looking at pictures of it or visualizing nature scenes) increased participants’ energy. It’s no surprise: when you’re outside, you awaken your senses. Surrounded by the colors, smells and sounds of all the living beings in nature, you literally feel life all around you. And as a result, you feel more alive.
2. Exposure to nature makes you more resilient to stress.
In one study, participants were shown a traumatic video (of workplace accidents, in case you’re curious) followed by a video that showed either outdoor scenes of nature or urban environments. Researchers found that the individuals who viewed the nature scenes showed faster physical recovery from the effects of stress than the subjects who viewed urban scenes. Going outdoors may just be the most natural remedy there is for all different kinds of healing.
3. Exercising in nature boosts your mood.
We all know that exercise produces endorphins and boosts your mood. So add nature to the equation and we’ve got a whole new level of natural mood-boosting. A review of several studies showed that exercising outdoors improved participants’ moods and self-esteem after just five minutes. Interestingly, having water in the outdoor environment was found to be particularly beneficial.
4. Spending time in nature helps you focus.
Research has shown that when people spend time in nature, it can help their ability to concentrate. For example, one study found that children with ADHD showed significantly better concentration after taking a 20-minute walk in nature, compared to a walk in an urban setting.
Another study showed that taking a walk in the park (or even just looking at green space) helped to ease brain fatigue and increase participants’ abilities to concentrate. Spending time outside makes us feel connected to a bigger picture of life. We feel tuned into the rhythms of nature, and as a result, less distracted by the little stressors of the every day. Who knew the smell of grass could be an elixir for concentration?!
5. Living near green space can improve your mental health.
One study that followed participants over five years found that moving to an area that has more green space increased participants’ sense of well-being. And this effect lasted for three years! Let’s all wake up and smell the roses!
6. Spending time in nature can boost your immune system.
Researchers have found that spending time in nature increases your sense of awe (e.g. that feeling of wonder you get as a result of being overwhelmed by the beauty of a sunset or the vastness of the ocean). Who doesn’t want to feel awe? There’s no reason your life shouldn’t feel awesome. Not only does awe make you more aware of the present moment and increase your life satisfaction, awe is also linked to lower levels ofcytokines, which are markers of inflammation. In other words, science says that you’ll be healthier and more inclined to own your awesome if you get out into nature more often.
7. Living near green space may even increase your life span.
A five-year study of Japanese senior citizens indicated that living near areas with walkable green spaces was associated with a lower probability of dying during the study. This relationship was found even after controlling for variables like income, age, sex, marital status, and other relevant factors. The time is now to get outside!
8. Can’t get outside? Having indoor plants can positively affect your health.
If time (or the weather) doesn’t permit you to go outdoors, bringing nature inside can also benefit you. For example, a study of hospital patients recovering from surgery found that individuals who were randomly assigned to rooms that had plants showed lower blood pressure and heart rate, lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue, and took fewer doses of pain medication compared to patients who did not have plants.
The moral of the story? Naturalist John Muir said it best, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
We just found out that the Commonwealth Club of California – the “nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum” – plans to honor Chevron CEO John Watson as a “distinguished global citizen” who has “given back” to the global community. They’re actually going to honor Watson’s ability to abuse his power, wealth and corporate connections to evade accountability for the wide range of environmental and human rights crimes he has overseen as head of Chevron since 2010? WHAT?!
There are a myriad of reasons why presenting such an award to Watson is outrageous. Massive pollution and health crises in Ecuador, death and destruction in Nigeria, lying to shareholders, abuse of the justice system, trampling free speech in the U.S., dumping millions into local elections to undermine democracy… the list of Chevron’s violations goes on and on. Watson has either overseen or has taken a personal role in advancing strategies that attack Chevron’s critics and has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid accepting responsibility for Chevron’s well documented actions of harming both people and the planet. It took less than a day to find almost 40 human rights and environmental organizations ready and willing to denounce this decision. If we had taken a week it would easily have been well over 100.
How is it then that none of this leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the Board of Governors at the Commonwealth Club?
Yes, this is all clearly a way for the Commonwealth Club to have a very successful fundraising gala. You present a symbolic award to someone like Watson and all his friends and colleagues come to dine and celebrate, donating thousands to the Club and paying exorbitant amounts for dinner and drinks at the Ritz Carlton. But just how far does someone need to go before it becomes in bad taste to “honor” them, despite how much money it may bring in? Would Bill Cosby be invited to the dinner alongside Jennifer Siebel Newsom as she talks about her work and film project on behalf of women and girls? I think not.
Yet Watson and Chevron’s acts to criminalize free speech and attack their critics were recently condemned by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Amnesty International and a host of other respected groups. Chevron famously lost in its effort to buy the elections in Richmond, hoping to completely undermine the democratic process. Why? Because their new puppets in Richmond would then drop the city’s lawsuit for the deadly refinery fire of 2012.
When Watson took over Chevron in 2010 his company’s handling of its Ecuador disaster took a very different and distinctly aggressive tone. Watson had been one of the architects of Chevron’s merger with Texaco years before. He was there when Amazon Watch warned Chevron not to proceed because of the enormous liability in Ecuador. He knew that Texaco admitted to deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the pristine inhabited rainforest. He knew Texaco documents were uncovered proving the company’s policy of hiding leaks and not reporting spills during its operations. Apparently, just as the Texaco executives decided that it was worth the human and environmental toll to save $3 per barrel by dumping the waste for decades instead of lining their open toxic waste pits, Watson decided the merger with Texaco was worth the cost. He literally agreed to own Texaco’s mess.
When Watson took over from David O’Reilly in 2010, he had a choice. He could have ushered in a new era for the company. He could have apologized to the people of Ecuador. He could have negotiated a settlement and agreed to clean up the Amazon wasteland his company had created. True – to do so would have cost a tremendous amount of money. But in addition to being the right thing to do, and stemming the wave of deaths from cancer, it would have also been fiscally responsible. And it would have earned Watson a legitimate reason to be recognized by a group like the Commonwealth Club.
For in the end, Chevron has spent over a billion dollars already just fighting to avoid its responsibility. Lawyers have built careers (and billed more than the affected communities in Ecuador make in a lifetime) providing legal defense for Chevron. When all is said and done, and Chevron finally pays for the clean-up, when it realizes that the resolve of the affected communities and their many global allies in supporters is stronger, then it will have paid twice over for its acts in Ecuador. Thousands more will have died from cancer, however. They are suffering and dying at this very moment.
Will Watson or anyone at the Commonwealth Club gala give a moment’s thought to them on April 2nd?
We could all shrug our shoulders and write this whole event off as just more of the rich patting themselves on the back and move on. But there is a real danger here. The danger is that this isn’t just a pro-oil company lobby group celebrating Watson’s acts to thwart renewable energy programs. This is an institution founded for debate and discussion on the issues of the day granting legitimacy to a known corporate criminal who is free from accountability only because he and his company are rich enough to hire 60 law firms and over 2000 legal professionals to drag on the legal saga for ages in hopes that the affected communities will literally die out and their supporters will exhaust the resources to assist them any more. That act must be protested. The standard that allows Watson to stand next to people acknowledged for actually trying to better the world must always be condemned. That is why we register our outrage. It is on behalf of those sick and dying in Richmond, Nigeria, Ecuador and elsewhere, who John Watson could have assisted – and didn’t.
It probably won’t be until the day Chevron finally pays the Ecuadorian judgment when the reckoning comes for Watson. Perhaps only when the bill at long last arrives, when Chevron’s assets are seized and Watson can’t hide that he’s cost shareholders billions of wasted dollars, that organizations like the Commonwealth Club will keep the name of Watson off the list. At that point it would just be in bad taste.
The transportation sector is one of the largest greenhouse gas contributors today, accounting for nearly 30% of all emissions in the United States alone. For decades, oil and automobile companies dominated the global market, with little remorse for the ecological consequences of petroleum-based industries, as well as little to no thought into the limitations of non-renewable energy sources.
Thankfully today, we have seen a global shift towards sustainability and innovation in the automobile manufacturing and transportation sectors. Companies such as Tesla Motors are laying the groundwork for a sustainable future in the automobile industry.
Another company making their way into the mainstream spotlight is Renew, an automobile design and manufacturing company aiming to erase the carbon footprint of vehicles all together. Renew’s mission is simple yet monumental: to ” create cars which are 100% carbon neutral and non-polluting.”
But how are they tackling this massive obstacle? Well, it involves the use of a widely known and versatile green plant, hemp.
Hemp has been used for centuries in a number of varying industries, including paper, fabric, food, construction, and more. The fibers of the hemp plant are some of the strongest and most durable plant-based fibers known today, making it a fantastic adversary in the manufacturing of various materials.
But one of the most incredible things about hemp, beyond its light weight, durability and biodegradability, is the fact that it is carbon negative. Hemp removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a rate more efficient than most plants. Trees for instance, take 20 years to grow, while hemp by contrast, matures in 3 to 4 months, and can be replanted several times a year.
The reason why hemp is so strong is due to the amount of carbon it absorbs from the atmosphere into its fibers. When hemp is used to manufacture something like a car, it removes a substantial amount of CO2 from the atmosphere in a process called carbon sequestering. By utilizing this process, we have the ability to significantly counteract the automobile-induced carbon emission crisis.
Ethanol Engines
Renew vehicles run on ethanol. When compared to gasoline, the use of high-level ethanol blends, such as E85, generally result in lower emissions levels.
Even more fantastic is Renew’s new flex ethanol option, in which the car can sense any type or mixture of ethanol/gas, from 0-100%, and adapt automatically.
The CANNA 100 & 130 models have a Lifetime Carbon Footprint that’s 10% lower than the average new electric vehicle, while the CANNA EV model drives 22% greener than the average electric vehicle, ranging from 80 to 400+ horsepower.
But more importantly, the Renew car models are equipped to run on hemp ethanol, should it ever come to market.
Is The 2015 Hemp Sports Car The Future Of Automobiles?
Inspired by numerous European race cars from the 50’s and 60’s, the Renew Sports Car is both a blast from the past (aesthetically speaking) and a breath of fresh air in technological terms, reports Cannabis Now Magazine.
The body of the Renew Sports Car is made from carbon negative hemp fibers, rather than highly carbon positive materials, such as carbon fiber, steel, aluminum, fiberglass, or the petroleum-based plastics with which automobiles are typically produced today.
In keeping with Renew’s green mindset, their hemp body is mounted on a carbon debt free, re-certified 1990-97 Miata chassis, typically retaining its re-certified 27 MPG drive train.
Renew begins a nationwide tour this month, bringing the Hemp Sports Car to car shows, 420 festivals, hemp festivals, and green festivals across the country. At these shows, company President Bruce Dietzen encourages attendees to sit behind the wheel and take a selfie, so they can share the news with their friends on the internet and help spread the word. Renew’s ultimate mission is to make carbon neutral cars by 2025.
” The key to saving our environment lies in making everything we need from what grows above the soil, not what’s buried beneath. The Hemp Sports Car is, perhaps, the most iconic example of this maxim that exists today,” he says.
Dietzen is confident that in the next decade, 75 percent of car components – even the batteries – could be manufactured using carbon negative hemp, reducing footprints even more than electric vehicles have done so far.
Renew Sports Cars is currently seeking funds for their nationwide tour through their IndieGoGo page, where the first online video of the car under power can be viewed. Be sure to visit their Facebook page and website to learn more about this revolutionary new vehicle.
What are your thoughts on Renew’s vision of hemp made/powered vehicles? Share with us in the comment section below!
Watch “The Truth About Cancer” Docu-Series Free
While we all throw around the term “Cancer” loosely, do we really know what it is and what it means?
Have you ever wondered why, despite the billions of dollars spent on cancer research over many decades and the promise of a cure which is forever “just around the corner,” cancer continues to increase?
The Truth About Cancer is a powerful docu-series that goes through powerful research behind cancer, treatment and new information that we all should know.
An alternative to chlorine pools, the BioTop Natural Pools use plants to keep water clean and clear. A natural swimming pool is a system consisting of a constructed body of water, where the water is contained by an isolating membrane or membranes, in which no chemicals or devices that disinfect or sterilize water are used, and all clarifying and purifying of the water is achieved through biological filters and plants rooted hydroponically in the system. Natural Pools provide crystal clear water without any use of chemicals. The natural pool creates the incomparable feeling of swimming in natural water.
The swimming zone should be physically separated from the regeneration and should reach a depth of 2 m (6 ft 6 in) in swimming ponds. The regeneration zone and swimming zone must be equal in area for sufficient purification. The swimming portion of the pool can look like a conventional swimming pool or a natural pond. The regeneration zone can be placed adjacent to the swimming area or in a remote location depending on the space available. In modern natural swimming pools there is no minimum depth for the swimming zone and the regeneration zone can now be reduced greatly and in some cases is non existent. Clear Water Revival was the first company to build indoor natural swimming pools in the UK. In these pools a regeneration zone can be used outside the building or a natural filtration chamber can be built without a planted area indoors.
The new chair of the powerful Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to secure a vote Thursday by the U.S. Senate on a controversial proposal to sell off America’s national forests and other public lands.
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) amendment to Congress’s budget resolution would support and fund state efforts – which many argue are unconstitutional – to seize and sell America’s public lands. These include all national forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, historic sites, and national monuments.
Murkowski’s amendment follows a similar proposal from House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rob Bishop (R-UT) to spend $50 million of taxpayer dollars to fund the sale or transfer of U.S. public lands to states.
The land grab proposals in Congress this year appear to echo the calls of outlaw rancher Cliven Bundy, best known for his armed standoff with federal officials last year, who has infamously refused to recognize the authority of the federal government, including over public lands.
Murkowski’s proposal to sell off public lands, however, is meeting stiff opposition from other western senators. On a conference call yesterday, Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) said that they are determined to turn back legislative attacks on the outdoors. Bennet called efforts to sell off lands to reduce the federal deficit “an assault on our public lands.”
Senator Heinrich also introduced an amendment Wednesday which would block any effort to sell off public lands to reduce the federal deficit. Heinrich said that “selling off America’s treasured lands to the highest bidder would result in a proliferation of locked gates and no-trespassing signs in places that have been open to the public and used for generations.”
Public opinion research has found that a majority of Westerners oppose land grab efforts and believe that transferring public lands to state control will result in reduced access for recreation; higher taxes; increased drilling, mining and logging; and a high risk that treasured public lands will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Over the past few months, sportsmen’s groups have also been battling state efforts to seize and sell off public lands by rallying in state capitols across the West. Land Tawney, Executive Director of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, thanked Senator Heinrich for introducing his amendment and fighting for public lands.
“American hunters and anglers have consistently stood up in support of U.S. public lands since Theodore Roosevelt set them aside for all Americans more than a century ago,” Tawney said. “Today, Congress has responded.”
The dueling Senate amendments are expected to be voted on during the Senate’s “vote-o-rama” budget amendment series later on Thursday.
Companion Planting: How To Deter Pests and Encourage Beneficial Insects
Flowers among the vegetables are more than just a colourful addition. They attract pollinating insects to fertilise the flowers of beans, peas, tomatoes and all those crops that depend on pollination to produce a crop.
In some cases they may act as a decoy or a repellent to harmful insects such as aphids. Some are beneficial to and attract predatory insects such as ladybirds (ladybugs), wasps and hoverflies. These are particularly useful in controlling pests naturally without your intervention.
Some also act as soil improvers: either by fixing nutrients in the soil or acting as green manures if dug into the ground at an early age. Some just look pretty, attract the bees and provide some lovely blooms for cutting for the house.
1. The hardy pot marigold, calendula looks at home in the vegetable garden or alongside vegetables in raised beds or containers. The petals can be used as a lively addition to salads.
Bees and other pollinators will visit for the nectar and pollen. Grow single flowered varieties and allow it to seed itself. It is a hardy annual so will pop up year after year on most soils.
2. Nasturtium always looks at home amongst vegetables, especially later in the year. Both flowers and leaves are edible, as are the seeds which are sometimes used pickled as an alternative to capers. Visited by bees it is also a magnet for caterpillars, so a good indicator plant.
3. Poached egg flower, Limnanthes douglasii is the ultimate flower to grow anywhere around crops that need pollinating.
It forms a low cushion of feathery foliage smothered in shining flowers. Bees swarm to it, as do hoverflies which will prey on those pests.
4. Practically all simple daisies are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, hoverflies and predatory wasps.
Camomile fits in anywhere in the open ground, raised beds or containers. You can use the flowers to make a fragrant, sleep-inducing infusion.
5. I’ve mentioned the prairie flower giant hyssop, agastache many times for its spikes of blue flowers in late summer. It is not often recommended as a flower for the vegetable garden, but it is a magnet for bees and looks lovely with orange and yellow marigolds.
6. French and African marigolds are used to deter aphids, they contain some natural pyrethrins. They are also pungently aromatic and are supposed to repel nematodes in the soil.
They attract hoverflies which prey on the aphids and the single and semi-double varieties seem to be popular with bees.
7. Phacelia, sometimes called scorpionweed, can be grown as a green manure; in other words you dig the green plant into the soil as a fertiliser.
If left to flower it is highly attractive to pollinators and its soft lilac flowers are highly attractive too.
8. Clover is a legume, in other words it is in the same family as peas and beans. This means it has nodules on its roots which contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
These fix atmospheric nitrogen providing food for the plant. Used as a green manure, or if the roots are left in the ground it feeds the soil. Clover is widely used in organic farming.
Red clover looks lovely and its prevalence as the nectar source for honey is testament to its attraction to pollinators.
9. Cosmos is an easy hardy annual to grow with feathery foliage and beautiful single or semi-double blooms that are superb for cutting.
Bees, other pollinators and butterflies love it and it is particularly useful later in the season to attract pollinators to your runner beans and tomatoes.
10. In the shadiest corner of the vegetable plot grow comfrey. You may need to contain it but it does make great ground cover.
If you have fruit trees, grow it under them. The flowers are a good nectar source and the leaves a great addition to the compost heap. Organic gardeners will brew comfrey tea: as a fertiliser for the plants.
