Wednesday, November 13, 2013

"The Complicated Moral Calculus of Recycling: Christmas Lights to Shoe Soles"

 "Would you take your date to a car shedder?" Terry Gross's Fresh Air host asks Adam Minter, author of   "Junkyard Planet".  

Wednesday November 13, 2013.

http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/

You can digest this complex information along with your breakfast cereal. A lively conversation on the latest twists in recycling. It's NOT all good news.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

I stumbled across this the other day. Its a pretty good insight into the ridiculousness of consumer society and the obvious issues it might bring up in the future.
http://www.businessinsider.com/casey-neistat-on-iphone-5s-lines-2013-9

Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines and Extreme Weather

This latest disaster is a "perfect storm" of the topics we have been discussing:

 1. Extreme Weather Events
http://www.nature.com/news/did-climate-change-cause-typhoon-haiyan-1.14139

2. Emergency relief for public sanitation - public health

A detailed menu of options with good illustrations >
http://www.sswm.info/category/implementation-tools/wastewater-treatment/hardware/sanitation-emergencies/immediate-emergen


3. The experiences of other cultures >
If you are moved to become directly involved, Bayanihan Community Center is a prominent local organization in SOMA
http://www.bayanihancc.org/index.html

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Battery Breakthroughs

Greetings!
Here is an exciting article from KQED Science.org
One of your most readable and visual sources for current science news.

In response to Luke's piece here is an article:

http://blogs.kqed.org/science/audio/silicon-valley-in-race-for-battery-breakthrough/

Please reply with your comments on how this might impact your work flow, your lifestyle decisions - or even your employment opportunities. With this many start-ups occuring here, there have to be some open positions!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Majora Carter - Greening the Ghetto

This awesome TED Talk synthesizes some of the ecological, political, and socioeconomic factors that perpetuate widespread health problems among those living in urban ghettos across the United States (and elsewhere). Majora Carter is an environmental activist from the South Bronx and major proponent for environmental justice, which she explains "goes something like this: no community should be saddled with more environmental burdens and less environmental benefits than any other."

Friday, November 1, 2013

Carbon Negative Power for Artists


" In 2007, officials from this famously liberal city (Berkeley) shut off the electricity to an artists space known as the Shipyard. That action, which forced the artists there to seek a new way to power their flamethrowers, is the origin story of a company that now produces what it says to be the world's only carbon negative power source."

Click here to read the full article.