Category: Environment

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From the Web: Pesticides are not needed to feed the world, UN says

The idea that pesticides are essential to feed a fast-growing global population is a myth, according to UN food and pollution experts.

A new report, being presented to the UN human rights council, is severely critical of the global corporations that manufacture pesticides, accusing them of the “systematic denial of harms”, “aggressive, unethical marketing tactics” and heavy lobbying of governments which has “obstructed reforms and paralysed global pesticide restrictions”.

Learn more (via The Guardian) >>

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From the Web: Congress Just Made It Officially Legal To Kill Hibernating Bears

Hunters in Alaska can now track and kill hibernating bears thanks to a U.S. House and Senate resolution rolling back Obama-era regulations against the practice.

President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on Monday, which rolled back Alaska’s ban on killing the vulnerable bears, along with wolf cubs in dens. It also allows for hunters to target the animals from helicopters.

The Republican-sponsored legislation impacts 76.8 million acres of federally protected national preserves across Alaska.

Learn more (via The Huffington Post) >>

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From the Web: London and Paris mayors announce new emissions monitoring system for vehicles

Just a day after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order that aims to bring back smog-inducing coal power, the mayors of London and Paris are acting to cut air pollution in their cities.

Reuters reports that Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have announced a new system for monitoring vehicle emissions in their respective cities, with the aim of combating the air quality problems that have plagued both national capitals. Their plan would enable a system that identifies real-life emissions readings from cars, which would give people more information about how much theirs emit. Each car’s score for the air pollutants it puts out would be based on road and “real-world” testing using emissions analytics and the International Council for Clean Transportation.

Learn More (via Inhabitat) >>

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From the Web: South Australia to get $1bn solar farm and world’s biggest battery

A huge $1bn solar farm and battery project will be built and ready to operate in South Australia’s Riverland region by the end of the year.

The battery storage developer Lyon Group says the system will be the biggest of its kind in the world, boasting 3.4m solar panels and 1.1m batteries. Construction will begin in months.

Learn more (via The Guardian) >>

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From the Web: This Ice Cream Is Made From Food Waste

The Portland-based Salt & Straw is releasing a new series of flavors crafted exclusively from food that otherwise would have ended up in the trash to bring attention to all the good food we throw away.

The ice cream is a rich, off-white color, streaked through with warm brown apple butter that cuts the sweetness of the spiced-rum-flavored cream. Kim and Tyler Malek, the cousins behind Salt & Straw, have made a name for themselves selling offbeat takes on classic staples; their chocolate ice cream is laced with marshmallow fluff, and their strawberry holds hints of honey balsamic vinegar and black pepper.

Learn more (via Fast Company) >>

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Sustainable Condoms from Soil to Sale

This post was written by Leah Perkinson, MPH and SEMBA ’17, and originally appeared in Impakter. It has been adapted for the SEMBA Review

In The Photo: Sustain Condoms Photo Credit: Sustain Natural

Are you looking for a sustainably produced, non-toxic, GMO-free, Fair Trade certified condom? Sustain Natural, the natural sexual health and wellness product supplier, has you covered (literally). In addition to selling condoms, this Vermont-based startup manufactures water-based, organic personal lubricants and chemical-free post-play wipes.

Sustain’s condoms are also nitrosamine-free. Nitrosamines are a class of carcinogenic chemicals that are in products like cosmetics, tobacco, fish, beer, fried foods, meats and rubber. During sex, condoms can leach these chemicals which can be absorbed into the body. Although nitrosamines from condoms contribute to a small percentage of our overall exposure, there’s no reason for them to exist in condoms. In fact, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund recommended that condom manufacturers minimize the presence of nitrosamines.

Continue reading “Sustainable Condoms from Soil to Sale”

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From the Web: Tesla moves beyond electric cars with new California battery farm

The California Battery Farm project is part of Elon Musk’s plan to help transform the power grid. Located at the Mira Loma substation of Southern California Edison, this is the biggest battery farm Tesla has built to date. Southern California Edison will use the battery farm, which has been operating since December and is one of the biggest in the world, to store energy and meet spikes in demand – like on hot summer afternoons when buildings start to crank up the air conditioning.

Learn more (via The Guardian) >>

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From the Web: Ship Owners Save $3 Billion of Fuel with Biocide-Free Marine Coatings

Ship owners and operators have saved $3 billion of fuel and 32 million tons of CO2 by using AkzoNobel’s biocide-free marine coatings, according to the paints and coatings company.

AkzoNobel says these combined total savings, achieved since the Intersleek technology was first introduced 21 years ago, were calculated by comparing the fuel saving performance of Intersleek to each vessels’ previous hull coating system. They estimate fuel cost at $300 per ton.

More than 5,500 vessels have been coated with Intersleek products over the past two decades.

Learn more (via Environmental Leader) >>

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From the Web: Germany Converts Coal Mine Into Giant Battery Storage for Surplus Solar and Wind Power

Germany is embarking on an innovative project to turn a coal mine into a giant battery that can store surplus solar and wind energy and release it when supplies are lean.

The Prosper-Haniel coal mine in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia will be converted into a 200 megawatt pumped-storage hydroelectric reservoir that acts like a giant battery. The capacity is enough to power more than 400,000 homes, according to Governor Hannelore Kraft.

Learn more (via EcoWatch) >>

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From the Web: Cleaning Urban Air Requires Radical Solutions

You might think common urban complaints in the major cities of Western Europe might be about the state of the roads, or property prices. But there’s increasingly a more serious complaint: not being able to breathe. Cities might be efficient machines for living, but when we collectively burn gas to heat our homes and then collectively sit in traffic every morning, we’re making our machines unliveable.

Despite global progress made on lowering emissions, cities from London to Beijing to São Paulo have atmospheres that are so polluted that residents are often warned not to leave their homes unless they have to. To combat the problem, three European cities–London, Paris, and Barcelona–and their mayors are pursuing radical policies to cut traffic, often to the deep chagrin of the cities’ drivers, but at great benefit to their citizens’ lungs.

Learn more (via Fast Company) >>