by Cecilia Anesi
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| Renata. |
Thursday, 19 April 2012
New power for renewable energy
Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, has been recently called “the Czech Silicon Valley”. This city is home to scientific research and many of big technology companies in the country. The newly established Centre for Research and Utilization of Renewable Energy wants to take advantage of this new reality and connect industry with scientific research.
by Martin Maska
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| Brno, the Czech Silicon Valley. Photo by Martin Maska. |
Turning waste plastic bottles into solar bulbs
Providing interior lighting for the poor, one litre at a time.
by Lidija Grozdanić
by Lidija Grozdanić
Andris Piebalgs on bioenergy
An interview with the European Commissioner for Development.
by Edgars Skvariks
Coffee can fuel more than just your day!
Using coffee waste as an alternative energy source might be excellent news for people who love starting their day with a cup of coffee.
by Lidija Grozdanić
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Capannori the first “zero waste” municipality in Italy
An ambitious project in the hearth of Tuscany.
by Michele Lapini
by Michele Lapini
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| Photo by Capannoli 1, FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Italy’s movements for social and environmental justice get ready for Rio+20
On the run to The Peoples’ Summit, a collateral event to the United Nations’ conference, Roberto Musacchio, of the “pRIOrity future” campaign, told us why and how the Italian networks of people are preparing a document of alternative proposals.
by Cecilia Anesi
“Grow the Planet”: the first green social network on Earth
by Michele Lapini and Cecilia Anesi
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| Photo by Michele Lapini. |
Cotton bag is the new shopping bag
Statics have shown that governments can put pressure on customers’ environmental responsibility by charging for nonreusable plastic bags
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
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| Majority of plastic bags become litter. Photo by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua. |
The sound of garbage
What would you do if you were given an amount of garbage? Miatralvia decided to... rock it!
by Ilaria Lonigro
Andris Piebalgs on clean energy
An interview with the European Union's Commissioner for Development.
by Edgars Skvariks
Denmark's Sustainable Solutions: Using Waste for Energy
Waste is a pressing environmental, social and economic issue. While waste is often viewed as just waste, and dumped in methane producing landfills, at Amagerforbrænding in Copenhagen, they turn waste into green energy.
by Peter Bjerregaard
Sustainable consumption: Less is more
When we swipe our credit cards, it is often good for the economy but bad for the environment. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. If we become more aware of the effects of the products we buy, our consumption can become more sustainable.
by Peter Bjerregaard
Would You Be Prepared to Pay-As-You-Drive?
by Lara Smallman
Britain is legally obliged to reduce its carbon output by 50% within the next 13 years. No surprise then, that since the announcement of this target, ways of making our society less polluting have been coming in thick and fast…
Britain is legally obliged to reduce its carbon output by 50% within the next 13 years. No surprise then, that since the announcement of this target, ways of making our society less polluting have been coming in thick and fast…
Biomass protest in London
Is biomass the right answer to climate change? Campaigners in the UK say "no!"
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Crowne Plaza: One big solar panel
A hotel in Copenhagen has taken green and innovative solutions to the next level.
by Peter Bjerregaard
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| Photo courtesy of Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers. |
Jeffrey Sachs on new World Bank President
Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and reknown economist, Jeffrey Sachs, suggests that the World Bank should focus on sustainability with a special attention to developing countries.
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
Would you Wear Clothes Made out of Dust?
by Lara Smallman
Can the French bad boy of the design world that is Philippe Starck really save us from ourselves?
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| Philippe Starck. Photo by www.treehugger.com |
Can the French bad boy of the design world that is Philippe Starck really save us from ourselves?
What Will They Think Of Next? New Ways of Beating Climate Change…
by Lara Smallman
Climate change affects us all. And we can all do something --------------- however small, to make a cumulative difference.
Fill in the blank space.
Climate change affects us all. And we can all do something --------------- however small, to make a cumulative difference.
Fill in the blank space.
Food for Thought
by Lara Smallman
Forget aviation, road transport and plastic bags, the real winner when it comes to contributing to carbon emissions is food. In fact, food accounts for more than all the rest combined. Whether it’s making it, transporting it, wrapping it or wasting it, we use a shockingly high amount of energy on our food.
A new life for disposed New York umbrellas
A Haitian designer has found a way to clean New York streets from unused umbrellas.
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
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| An umbrella dress. Photo courtesy of Himane. |
Friday, 13 April 2012
CO2 neutral music rocks the environment
The Italian pop star Lorenzo “Jovanotti” Cherubini is neutralizing his tour footprint thanks to a reforestation project that will help local communities, environment, animals and will also provide electricity.
by Ilaria Lonigro
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| Photo courtesy of twitter.com/#!/lorenzojova |
Flippers, lotion and . . . ashtray!
What's you footprint on seaside spots? Did you know that cigarette butts can be fatal for whales and tortoises? Beach smokers can green up with a nice handpocket ashtray. The idea spread from Portugal to Italy. Here Daniele Ceragioli tells us how he decided to distribute beach ashtrays in his hometown, Viareggio.
by Ilaria Lonigro
Holidays in a tube
Imagine you were given a tube as a gift and it contained a... sustainable holiday! Wouldn't it be fun? Equotube is the first giftbox for sustainable tourism. Invented in Italy, it allows people to relax, have fun, visit cities and natural paradises while helping the environment. Manuela Bolchini, Equotube responsible, tells us something about this great idea.
by Ilaria Lonigro
Peels and stalks . . . yum!
Have you ever cooked potato peels and leek roots instead of throwing them away? Have you ever tried to cook an egg in the dishwasher? These are just some of the greenest tricks for a sustainable kitchen tested by the Italian Lisa Casali, eco food blogger and author of “Cooking in the dishwasher" and "Cooking with (almost) zero impact". Here she tells us some of her eco tricks.
by Ilaria Lonigro
by Ilaria Lonigro
Serbia looks to rail to reduce CO2
In Serbia, about 6.2 tonnes of CO2 per capita are emitted a year, which is about two times higher than the average of other countries with a similar or equal level of income and development.
by Sanja Jovanovic
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Materials of the future may be biodegradable
A reportage about research of new materials, which are easy degradable in the nature (for example polyurethane)and about bacterials decomposing them. Could this be the future of eco-materials?
by Martin Maska
Cradle to Cradle
Effective natural resource management will soon become a decisive competitive factor in business. It will separate the companies that understand how to adapt to the new economic agenda from the rest, and adopting the Cradle-to-Cradle approach could facilitate this shift.
by Peter Bjerregaard
Passive Houses are Beautiful and Eco-Smart
The LEED rating system for green buildings has found its counterpart in the European concept of the Passive House. Up to 20, 000 Passive Houses built across Europe are proving to be more sustainable than LEED.
by Lidija Grozdanić
by Lidija Grozdanić
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| Villa Vals, an underground dwelling in Switzerland. Photo copyright SeArch. |
It’s the financing, stupid
An often-overlooked aspect of the transformation towards a greener economy is the financial side of the story. New financial innovations could prove to become vital tools.
by Peter Bjerregaard
Green is the new black
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition leads the clothing industry towards improved sustainability strategies.
by Peter Bjerregaard
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| Photo courtesy of H&M. |
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Beekeeping in Kenya
The difficulties of being a beekeeper in Kenya and how Europe can help developing country farmers by sharing knowledge.
by Edgars Skvariks
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| Photo by Edgars Skvariks. |
Plant sweeper trees!
In Bologna, Italy, factories are planting special trees to absorb their CO2 emissions. You can do it yourself in your garden or on your rooftop: follow the experts’ advice.
by Ilaria Lonigro
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| Photo by fotographic1980, FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
What are the lungs of the cities?
Allotments as green space in Riga, Latvia.
by Ilze Grunska
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Just next to the high buildings of the cities, are situated
allotments - calm place for green lifestyle. Photo by Ilze Grunska.
|
Window farm: everyone can do it
Grow your own fruit and vegetables by setting up a window farm! It's cheap and easy and everyone can do it. From New York City to Vienna and Seoul, more and more people are window farming. Greta Dalle Luche is an Italian surf champion and window farmer. Here she tells us something about her window farm.
Yes We Can: Cutting the World’s Carbon Emissions
by Lara Smallman
Rewind just a decade and the terms ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘climate change’ were far from being in common usage. But in 2012, you can’t go a day without hearing about wind farms, recycling, climate negotiations or the latest must-have eco-invention.
Sustainable tourism in Serbia
Tradition and culture drive the sustainable tourism industry.
by Sanja Jovanovic
by Sanja Jovanovic
Green Economy: The institutional frame
Solutions to creating a good institutional frame in order to foster green economy and sustainable development.
by Sanja Jovanovic
by Sanja Jovanovic
Air-cleaning paint
It sounds like something futuristic in the realm of flying cars, but its not. Air-cleaning paint is available and among other things – It’s an ecologically friendly product.
by Peter Bjerregaard
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| A local paint shop does not only sell eco-friendly products. It also aims at becoming the most sustainable paint shop in Copenhagen. Photo by Peter Bjerregaard. |
Thursday, 5 April 2012
The Slow Food revolution
This is the story of Slow Food, a worldwide organization born in a little town of Italy and now “saving the world” through the protection of local communities' agricultural heritage.
by Ilaria Lonigro
by Ilaria Lonigro
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| Photo by Slow Food |
Building the green economy from the bottom up to the sky
Families and citizens throughout Europe unite to support local wind and photovoltaic systems: energy democracy is the key to build a green economy from the bottom up.
by Ilaria Lonigro
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| Photo by seaskylab, FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
The return of nature
Improving strip mining in the Czech Republic.
by Martin Maska
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| Devils stairs. Photo by Martin Maska. |
Eco-schools go for a greener planet
Latvian schools teach students about their impacts on the planet.
by Ilze Grunska
by Ilze Grunska
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Lights, Camera, Green!
It is possible for filmmakers to reduce film’s carbon footprint, save and still get their “money shot”.
by Lidija Grozdanić
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| Photo by Vedran Karuza. |
Yes We Can: Solving the World's Water Crisis
How entrepreneurs are tackling the issue of clean water scarcity.
by Lara Smallman
The cold, hard facts –
Before you get to the end of this paragraph, a child will have died from a water-related disease. That’s one death every 20 seconds. 3.575 million people are dying each year from water-related diseases. According to End Water Poverty A staggering 783 million people lack access to safe water supplies, that's approximately one in eight people.
by Lara Smallman
The cold, hard facts –
Before you get to the end of this paragraph, a child will have died from a water-related disease. That’s one death every 20 seconds. 3.575 million people are dying each year from water-related diseases. According to End Water Poverty A staggering 783 million people lack access to safe water supplies, that's approximately one in eight people.
Two infographics to mark the recent celebrations of World Water Day on 22 March
The impacts of global development projects targeting water.
by Edgars Skvariks
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| Photo by Edgars Skvariks. |
Innovation - a greenhouse for tomatoes
Innovative greenhouses help to secure food supply in Kenya.
by Edgars Skvariks
by Edgars Skvariks
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| Photo by Edgars Skvariks |
Living sustainably, in harmony with people and nature. This is what the “Solar Ecovillage” is all about.
Jacopo Fo, an Italian artist and writer who founded the Free University of Alcatraz in Central Italy and whom has made of sustainability his modus-vivendi, has now began the construction of an ecovillage in Umbria, just off Alcatraz.
by Cecilia Anesi
by Cecilia Anesi
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Developing ecological chemicals at Brno University of Technology
An interview with Prof. Josef Jancar, director of Institute of Materials Chemistry at Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic, which researches new materials (for example polyurethane) which are easy degradable in the nature.
by Martin Maska
Monday, 2 April 2012
The devil wears green
Addressing the 'shopping momentum effect' in the fashion world.
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
Canton Carbon Cutters: save money while saving the planet
Cardiff residents use government funds to generate energy savings.
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
Some proud people from Cardiff are using government funds to demonstrate their fellow citizens that saving money and energy is possible. One year ago the Canton Carbon Cutters volunteers joined forces and created a group to raise awareness on the opportunity of reducing the carbon footprint by installing loft and wall insulation.
by Ngalula Beatrice Kabutakapua
Some proud people from Cardiff are using government funds to demonstrate their fellow citizens that saving money and energy is possible. One year ago the Canton Carbon Cutters volunteers joined forces and created a group to raise awareness on the opportunity of reducing the carbon footprint by installing loft and wall insulation.
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