Europe's Best Recycling and Waste Prevention Program
Flanders, a region of Belgium, boasts the highest waste diversion rate in Europe. Decades of planning and policy making have made a huge difference in the region’s ability to approach zero waste.
Search Results for: sustainablog approved
How to Kick the Habit: Beth Terry’s Plastic Free
Fellow blogger Beth Terry has largely eliminated plastic from her life. Her new book Plastic Free shows you how you can do this, too, and the many reasons you might want to.
Offshore Wind Energy Development Picking Up Pace
Wind power is the world’s leading source of renewable electricity, excluding hydropower, with 238,000 megawatts of capacity installed at the start of 2012. Thus far, almost all of this wind power has been tapped on land; worldwide just 4,600 megawatts of offshore wind farms were operating as of mid-2012. Offshore wind capacity is growing quickly, however, expanding nearly six-fold since 2006. Twelve countries now have wind turbines spinning offshore, and more will be joining them to take advantage of the powerful winds blowing over the oceans.
Radical New Market-Based Campaign Aims to Make Forests More Valuable Alive than Dead
Over the past 2 decades, since the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the launch of many initiatives to stop deforestation. Despite the good intentions of each approach tried, we have continued to lose an area the size of New York City every other day to deforestation. These activities account for 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than the entire global transportation sector. Code REDD plans to harness the economic activities that create deforestation as tools to fight it.
Hydropower Continues Steady Growth
World hydroelectric power generation has risen steadily by an average 3 percent annually over the past four decades. In 2011, at 3,500 billion kilowatt-hours, hydroelectricity accounted for roughly 16 percent of global electricity generation, almost all produced by the world’s 45,000-plus large dams. Today hydropower is generated in over 160 countries.
Fukushima Meltdown Hastens Decline of Nuclear Power
With the world’s fleet of reactors aging, and with new plants suffering construction delays and cost increases, it is possible that world nuclear electricity generation has peaked and begun a long-term decline.
Cargo Bike Sharing Platform Goes Online in Germany
Cargo bikes are useful for all sorts of things. But for those trips which don’t require cargo capacity (most of them), do you really want to lug around that extra equipment? And if you’re only going to use it for some trips, do you really want to shell out the extra bucks for a cargo bike?
Is Krill Oil Your New Best Source for Omega-3s?
What’s that smell? Another slightly fishy health fad, of course! Krill oil capsules are becoming a popular alternative to fish oil, but questions remain: are they really better? And is [ … ]
Genetic Contamination May Not Mean What You Think It Means
In the debate about GMO crops, the “threat of genetic contamination” is often raised as a reason to reject the technology. Is this threat real? Does it justify acts of [ … ]
The Good News About Coal
By Lester R. Brown During the years when governments and the media were focused on preparations for the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations, a powerful climate movement was emerging in the [ … ]
Whistleblower Casts Doubt On The Integrity Of Organic Certification
Mischa Popoff is a hard core Organic farming advocate. He grew up on an Organic farm in Saskatchewan and went on to become a licensed, independent Organic inspector. He still [ … ]
Five Key Limitations of Organic Farming
(updated 8/22/11) Yesterday I posted about what I believe to be the five best things about Organic farming. These are attributes that I seriously believe are good ideas [ … ]
Small Wood-Burning Stoves For Small Homes: A Review
Wood stoves are a highly economical way to provide heat for your home if you have access to a woodlot or live in a remote or rural area. To get [ … ]