environment

TED Talk: Norman Foster Creates Green Buildings

Patrick — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:43:04 -0400

Norman Foster is a well-known British Architect that has helped build plenty of structures throughout the world, including Wembley Stadium, Hearst Tower, and plenty of others throughout his career of four decades. Efficient and green, his buildings are easily recognizable throughout various countries of the world.

In this TED Talk, he reveals how computers can assist in the building of "green" and nearly pollution-free buildings during the DLD Conference 2007 in Munich.

Watch this TED Video in which Foster explains more:

Should This Guy Blow Up His Range Rover? You Decide.

Mike.Delponte — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:19:30 -0400

The folks at onefewer.com do not mess around. Check out the video below to hear how you can decide what to do with this obsolete gas guzzler. Can anyone say domino effect? Ok, that may be a stretch, but this is cool nonetheless. Here's the story from digg.

"There's no way around it: 13 MPG sucks. But what do you do with a Range Rover that's already on the road? Selling it just passes the burden on, so, should we blow it up? Drive it off a cliff? Convert it to a biodiesel or plug-in hybrid and give it to an organization that can use it to do something great? This guy will use the best idea he gets.."

Read the whole story on onefewer.com and make sure to share this with others. You can do so by clicking the green "share" icon below.

Making the Grade

ShermaineWaugh — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:11:34 -0400

The college selection process is a rigorous one. As a rising senior, I know how difficult it is to search for a school that meets all your needs, be they class size, student teacher ratio, best dorms, or even best parties. Every little thing counts in order to make sure your four years go smoothly. But when cruising college campuses and digging through acceptance stats, how many of us stop to think about how a school best our meets ecological needs? I doubt most even have a clue how to tell just how green their dream college or university really is.

It might not be a top priority for some, but for those young men and women who are becoming increasingly environmentally aware, it is important for them to have this information at hand. read more »

Greening Sleep Away Camps Through Infrastructure and Education

laurenmr — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:24:10 -0400

Congratulations to Adi Segal, the Green Camp Initiative Coordinator, for all of his successes with Camp Ramah in the Berkshires!

Adi Segal has united with the staff at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires to form a commendable community-benefiting venture, which emphasizes the deeply-rooted Jewish value of environmentalism. The Initiative works to make the Berkshires Camp, and other sleep away camps, more environmentally sustainable through educating and leading by example. It raises awareness about environmental issues; increases conscious activism among staff and campers; and decreases the amount of waste (i.e. solids, water, energy, etc.) produced in the camp, thereby reducing its Eco-Footprint. It strives to reach all 600 campers and 200 staff members so that they will leave camp with a new eco-friendly mindset, bringing the message of environmentalism home to their communities. read more »

IzzitGreen?

Wayneho Kam — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:09:16 -0400

Key factors can certainly influence people to eat at one particular restaurant instead of another: the eatery’s service, its sanitation grade, and above all, the quality of the food. But do you ever consider where you will eat based on how green a restaurant is? The next time you choose where to eat, check out izzitgreen.com. IzzitGreen provides online reviews for restaurants and other businesses, evaluating their degree of eco-friendliness. The site is driven by consumers like you and me because it is us who contribute our opinions, add the ratings, and inspire companies to become more environmentally conscious. read more »

Grant Opportunities - Sept & Oct

laurenmr — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:22:49 -0400

Conscious Lifestyle would love to help you win one of these grants:

The Captain Planet Foundation
$250 to $2,500 for hands-on environmental projects for students under 18 years old. Winners are notified four months after the deadline, so please plan carefully.
Deadlines: September 30, December 31

Mollie Parnis Dress Up Your School Awards
$500 to $3,000 to support student led projects that beautify schools or neighborhoods immediately surrounding schools.
Deadline: September 30

Healthy Sprouts Awards to Support Awareness of Nutrition and Hunger
These awards support school and youth garden programs that teach about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the US.
Deadline: October 15 read more »

Think Outside the Bottle

Wayneho Kam — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:53:16 -0400

Are you an avid bottled water drinker? Do your H2O drinking habits have you go to the grocery store or put change into a vending machine? If so, you should stop and rethink the way you are getting your source of water. Bottled water takes a tremendous toll on the environment – the manufacturing and transporting of plastic bottles burn up oil, create pollution, and emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Not to mention, all the plastic waste they will end up becoming! read more »

BC Alumna Helps Ecopledge Succeed and Wins Fulbright Scholarship

laurenmr — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:05:40 -0400

With a B.S. in Environmental Geosciences from Boston College, Merril Putnam plans to put the skills she learned in college to work in the world beyond campus. At school, she served with four others on the board of the eco-friendly BC group Ecopledge. For growing the group from nine to several hundred members, and for promoting environmentalism through such programs as the Recyclemania Competition, Clean Energy Project, Think Outside the Bottle Campaign, organic vegetable garden, Bulb Brigade, and now annual Harvest Fest Celebration, the school newspaper honored the board as "Person of the Year." During her time at BC, Merril also contributed to the establishment of Sustain BC, a group composed of student, faculty, and staff that studies how to make the campus more sustainable and the administration more receptive of environmentalism; the creation of the Office of Sustainability; and the promotion of awareness of environmental issues to Facilities Services, BC Dining, and ResLife. read more »

Bring Eco-Olympics to Your School!

Wayneho Kam — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:17:24 -0400

Let the games begin!

Every fall, the East Campus dorms at Duke University partake in a month-long waste, water, and energy reduction competition. Students earn points for their residence hall and prizes for themselves by doing their part to reduce their ecological footprints and to become educated about the environment. Here are the highlights:

Recycling Rate- Residence halls with fewer amounts of recyclable materials in their trash bags (on an unannounced day during the competition) score higher.

Energy Reduction- The greater the dorms reduce electricity usage below their per capita (based on historical consumption data), the more points they receive.

Online Impact Survey- Residence halls are scored according to the percentage of residents that finish a survey, thereby helping the university assess the level of environmental literacy of the freshmen class. read more »

The 21st Century Magic School Bus

Wayneho Kam — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:32:19 -0400

Ms. Frizzle's Magic School Bus may be able to glide through the Solar System, traverse on the ocean bottom, and cruise among human blood cells, but there's one indisputable feature the Scholastic-branded vehicle doesn't have: an environmentally-sound engine from the twenty-first century.

The Wake County Public School System, the 19th largest public school district nationwide, with 156 schools and 134,000+ students, has changed the notion of the conventional school bus. read more »