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POPSCommon Wealth: Sustainable future We are in one another's faces as never before, crowded into an interconnected society of global trade, migration, ideas and, yes, risk of pandemic diseases, terrorism, refugee movements and conflict. We also face a momentous choice. Continue on our current course, and the world is likely to experience growing conflicts between haves and have-nots, intensifying environmental catastrophes and downturns in living standards caused by interlocking crises of energy, water, food and violent conflict. Yet for a small annual investment of world income, undertaken cooperatively across the world, our generation can harness new technologies for clean energy, reliable food supplies, disease control and the end of extreme poverty.
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POPSThe coming famine "In light of all these hurdles, as I see it, the challenge is to double world food output by 2050 using less land, far less water and fewer nutrients – all in the teeth of increasing rates of drought. And we need to do it sustainably." "I believe we are quite capable of solving these issues through good science and good policy. In the first instance, we need to massively increase global public investment in agricultural research and development. Then we need to make sure the fruits of that research reach farmers everywhere. I also think that commercial wild harvests, such as fishing and forestry, should be phased out in favour of sustainable farming that dovetails with the local environment."
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POPSI Love Living in California California continues to lead the way in sustainable energy. This announcement by PG&E shows it is possible. PG&E and other major power providers in CA have many separate initiatives going on like this. It's based on the idea that there won't be one "green" source that will replace oil, but by incorporating many different green sources of energy into the portfolio, we can begin to ween ourselves off of oil.
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POPSSimple Living aka Voluntary Simplicity This is a subject I find fascinating. Often confused, and emotionally charged subject, incorrectly equated, intertwined and entangled other ideas like frugality, miserliness, stinginess.
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POPSWhat Ideas Will Shape our Future? The 10 Ideas of the 21st Century "More than money, more than politics, ideas are the secret power that this planet runs on." "The 21st century will overturn many of our basic assumptions about economic life. The 20th century saw the end of European dominance of global politics and economics. The 21st century will see the end of American dominance too, as new powers make their voices heard on the world stage." "The challenges of sustainable development—protecting the environment, stabilizing the world's population, narrowing the gaps of rich and poor and ending extreme poverty—will render passé the very idea of competing nation-states that scramble for markets, power and resources." "The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet." "6.6 billion people living in an interconnected global economy producing an astounding $60 trillion of output each year."
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POPSDo you use Dove Soap? Ironically, Unilever, the makers of Dove soap, are on the list of The 2008 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, yet this video shows they have a slight problem living up to that reputation. http://www.csrwire.com/News/10851.html
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POPSAussie Living Simply we welcome you to our back to basics home for Simple Living.We are a friendly community focused on sustainability, permaculture, organic gardening, backyard livestock, simple living and stepping lightly on the planet. If you’re interested in a simple sustainable lifestyle then you’re in the right place; there are fellow travellers here. Among the many benefits of membership you’ll get a photo gallery where you can load your own photos and commentary. There is a lively forum with many valuable and thought-provoking posts about backyard livestock, permaculture, food production and simple living. There is a seed and plant exchange, members’ discounts for seeds, bare-rooted plants, organic produce, native trees and plants. You’ll also find a treasure chest of homemade recipes, information on how to make natural cleansers, soap, laundry detergent and rinse aids.
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POPSPERMAculture: Path to Sustainable gardens
Some of permaculture's key guidelines for designing a garden (or a lifestyle) include: * Honor the health of the system and of all components above their productivity; favor slow changes and low levels of work and input and output over the drive to maximize production, which pushes the system out of balance. * Maintain closed-loop cycles of all materials to keep the system in balance; what we might call waste is re-imagined as a surplus resource, to be used as an input into another process. * Designate zones of more intense and less intense energy use to maximize efficiency and minimize wasted labor and resources. * Build in redundancy -- each element has many functions, and each function is performed by many elements -- to ensure stability in the system. * Do not use stores of natural capital to sustain ongoing processes, but tap them for the extra energy needed when generating a structure or system or putting a process into action. * Use natural proces
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POPS5 Urban Design Proposals for 3D City Farms Sustainable, Ecological and Agricultural Skyscrapers - One man’s vision has sparked a series of designs leading closer and closer to what will be the first real-life vertical urban farm in Las Vegas, Nevada of all places. Here are five of these remarkable architectural designs for sustainable (and stylish) urban farm towers that may revolutionize agriculture as we know it. In the long run such structures may not only provide food for hundreds of thousands of people per building but they will also relieve much of the burden on other flat landscapes where fewer and fewer usable growing spaces exist.
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POPS Beyond Peace
Now it's time for those of us in the peace-and-justice movement in the First World, especially in the United States, to take the next step: We must recognize that there can be no justice over the long term without sustainability, and creating a sustainable world will require not only radical change in systems and structures of power but also a radical change in the way we in affluent societies live. It's time to recognize that if we are serious about the values of equality that we claim to be the core of our politics, we must scale back the level at which we live. In other words: No reduction in First World consumption, no justice; and no justice, no peace. Put simply: One cannot be a serious peace activist without putting peace in the context of justice and sustainability, and the high-energy/high-tech lifestyle of the First World is not sustainable and not compatible with the demands of justice. Meaningful peace requires real justice, which means we must learn to live with less
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POPSEco-Living -- a low-impact lifestyle (video) Climate change will change how we live in the future. There is a need for radical changes in the way we plan for, design and build our homes, to render them affordable and environmentally sustainable.
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POPSIKEA Village: A Community of Affordable Pre-Fab Homes Ikea is currently building a village of pre-fab homes in the UK: Creating a community of affordable homes. These homes will be like nothing else seen before in the UK and will play an important role in helping first-time buyers who have until now been unable to get on the property ladder due to the spiralling costs of buying a house. While Ikea will market the houses, Live Smart @ Home will build them. It will ask buyers to prove they are within the set income bracket and to register their interest online. Demand is expected to be so high that a lottery will then determine who becomes the first "Ikea villagers".
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POPSIsland Wood: City Kids First Visit with Nature & Environmentalism An environmental learning center—nestled into a rustic 250-acre nature preserve—plays a dual role as symbol and teaching tool. "We envision a future in which all people view themselves as lifelong learners, and share an extraordinary bond of stewardship for the environment, for their communities and for each other." Raising of environmental consciousness, one child at a time. “The center is primarily for inner-city kids who don’t have an opportunity to connect with the natural world. And when kids are uncomfortable, they’re not open to learning. So we wanted them to be as comfortable here as possible.” The mission of IslandWood is to provide exceptional learning experiences and to inspire lifelong environmental and community stewardship.
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POPSGrowing Urban Potato "Trees" I just this morning learned that 2008 is the United Nations 'YEAR OF THE POTATO'. The first thing I thought of was this potato tree idea that I used many, many years ago. Growing potatoes locally is good; reusing old tires is good.... Sounds like a win-win in 2008.
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POPSPlay the sustainability game! How many Earths would we need if everyone lived like you do? Play this game and find out. I think I live a pretty green lifestyle, relatively speaking, but apparently my diet (which is heavy in dairy and coffee) is really bad for the environment.
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POPSKeeping homefires burning at Gaiam Green, sustainable living site Gaiam offers these two flame-bearing items, both worth a look. The Eco-Glass Fireplace is a portable fire pit that uses clean-burning (no soot or smoke) renewable biofuel. It outputs CO2 and steam, in about the same amounts as human breath. According to the site, humidity levels increase with usage. It also comes with a variety of essential oils. It's beautiful and looks like it could be very useful, but it is expensive ($848, plus $160 per replacement fuel) and heavy at 60 lb. The 13.5" Globe Candelabra is handmade rusted steel and holds eight candles. It can be set on a stand or suspended by its chain. I can completely see this hanging beside a bed, desk or sofa, or over a dining table. I love the organic, old-world look of it. $88.
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