All things green and planet saving.
Even though coal usage has dropped, emissions are still going up. Not a ton but still, an upward trend which is exactly the opposite of what we’re looking for. The reason for this? Oil and gas are still growing industries and by the by, coal isn’t really down by that much.
Emissions from carbon dioxide and methane are pretty well known and people are pretty clear on the fact that they need to be lowered. There’s more than just those two out there though. Another one that causes quite a bit of problems is nitrous oxide and unlike its counterparts, it’s flying under the radar.
It was really hot this year. One of the hottest on record and not really surprising, the entire decade is going to end up with that title. The last ten years have been the hottest on record and it’s likely going to get even warmer before it comes back down.
Invasive species have made their way into more than half of the national parks in the Untied States which is terrible news for native species. Efforts to stop them are lacking and without intervention, the problem will only get worse.
Carbon sinks are one of the methods people are hoping will really help offset emissions over the next few years. What if there was a way to supercharge them? That’s a possibility with biochar, an emission sucking wonder material.
No one wants to go to a boring party. If you’re looking for an exciting time, you wouldn’t go to a library, you go where the music is playing. Well turns out that fish feel the same way. In a strange but pretty neat experiment, scientists played healthy reef sounds in dead coral and the fish flocked to it.
The amount of emissions dropped in Australia. Good news, right? Well, not really. It wasn’t because of emission reducing measures, showing that the country’s efforts were working, it was because of major droughts that kept people from farming. Which is . . . well not great.
Getting copied on useless emails is annoying but most people still do it because it costs nothing in time. He’s a trick to help your coworkers stop sending you meeting minutes for meetings that you have nothing to do with: Tell them it’s bad for the environment.
The worst thing about climate change is we don’t know exactly how it’s going to act. We have some idea but nature is a fickle thing. Some scientists believe that we’re already beginning to pass some tipping points but it’s important to remember that this is speculation and not an excuse not to take action.
Philadelphia is opening a city wide composting facility to help tackle their garbage problem. The single facility will be compost waste from 30-35 recreation centers with plans to scale up to all of them. In addition to the main site, there will be eleven other sites round the city to serve the community directly.
Plastic is in almost everything we use. Even in our paper cups and some bags. Sure they don’t FEEL like plastic or even look like it, but the plastic is there and when we go to throw them away, the paper part decomposes but the plastic sticks around for much longer. Enter Pinyapel, the company that makes actual, usable paper products.
Plastic is getting everywhere. Even rocks! A new kind of stone has formed dubbed plastiglomerates and it is made from all the normal things such as minerals, sand, shells, etc all held together with a melted plastic.
In case you didn’t realize, coal is bad for the environment. Burning it as a fuel source causes a ton of emissions. Mining it isn’t great either as it causes life long health problems for the people who do. There’s a glimmer of good news though, for the first time in decades, there’s been a drop in coal based electricity production. Yay!
Fresh food is the best food but if you don’t happen to live in or very close to farms chances of you getting something fresh from the earth are slim and expensive. Enter Infarm, the modular, indoor farm for groceries and restaurants.
It’s getting cold out there so you may be looking for a new winter coat. How about this totally vegan puffer jacket made from recycled materials given to us by Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. Rap music may not be what you think of when you think of saving the planet but here we are.
