Long Term Strategies Re The Gulf Oil Spill, Wall Street Stupidity Not Withstanding

The Gulf Oil spill is pretty much yesterday’s news now. Unfortunately the devastating effects of this ludicrous corporate blunder (BP, in case you forgot), will be with us for some time to come, as the people of the Gulf region try to put their lives back together.

I understand that there is a fund set up to compensate these people for the hardship that they are enduring. And that always seems to get a lot of play. BP runs corporate messages telling everybody who cares to listen that they will be there till every last drop of oil is cleaned and that’s all well and good too.

But the simple fact remains that the entire Gulf Region including the Mississippi Delta has been almost completely destroyed, along with the livlihoods off a great many of the people who live there.

The article linked here will help shed a great deal of light on what’s really needed in the Gulf region right now.

The first three paragraphs, are a little disturbing in that they very succinctly point out the abject ignorance of the certain members of the American financial establishment regarding some pretty basic environmental economics. But the rest of this article The Nature Conservancy’s blog, Cool Green Science, makes a hell of a lot of sense.

http://blog.nature.org/2010/11/gulf-mexico-conservation-economics-jobs/

National Geographic. The Gold Standard In Conservation Information

National Geographic is one of those institutions that seems to have been around forever. And regardless of their original motives, they have grown into  one of the most powerful pro-conservationist organizations in the world.

They tell amazing stories of the people and creatures that populate our planet and they have done more to inform the world of the fragility of the ecosystem that connects us all to each other and the earth.

Through their highly rated TV specials, IMAX movies, video sales and to a lesser extent, their monthly magazines, they are able to reach millions and millions of people around the world with what is a very positive message. They are truly an important part of the solution.

Their web site, like everything else they do, is strictly first class. Simple, elegant and straightforward and one of the sites I actually enjoy visiting on a regular basis. Because it makes me feel more connected to the world at large.

For anyone who wants to stay informed about the world and all the truly important things that are going on it it, this site is a weekly must-visit.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com

The Answer My Friend Is Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob Dylan)

Wind energy today is a booming worldwide industry.

This technology has truly come of age, with higher quality, more reliable machinery and a greater understanding of how and where wind power can be practically applied–from the independent home to a grid-connected utility-wide perspective.

Heightened concerns about our environment mean that this resurgence of interest in wind–a natural and widespread power source–is here to stay.

Wind Power is the completely revised and expanded edition of Paul Gipe’s definitive 1993 book, Wind Power for Home and Business. In addition to expanded sections on gauging wind resources and siting wind turbines, this edition includes new examples and case studies of successful wind systems, international sources for new and used equipment, and hundreds of color photographs and illustrations.

Over the course of his career, Paul Gipe has been a proponent, participant, observer, and critic of the wind industry. His experience with wind power has given rise to two previous books on the subject, Wind Energy Basics and Wind Power for Home and Business, which have sold over 50,000 copies. Wind Power for Home and Business has become a staple for both homeowners and professionals interested in the subject, and now, with energy prices soaring, interest in wind power is hitting an all-time high.

(Adapted from the Amazon.com synopsis, where you can purchase this fine book) http://amzn.to/a9sIzv

You can find out more about this amazing book at http://bit.ly/9ks3np

All The (Green) News That’s Fit to Print (Post)

One of my principal sources for ideas for this blog come from twitter. I have three twitters that I keep going. These include:
http://twitter.com/OurGreenDirctry
http://twitter.com/BuyGreenTO

These two are for tweets related directed to Our Green Directory.

But I have another personal Twitter account (http://twitter.com/JMsJournal) that for some reason also manages to attract fair number of green organizations. Not sure why because most of the tweets I do from this location have to do with sports and entertainment.

Anyway, one of the most interesting green sites on personal twitter is called Green Energy News.

This  site is kind of, but not exclusively geared towards people who are interested in investing in green technology or products and covers off a number of popular areas of the green business world.

I’d encourage you to check out the site and follow them on Twitter. You can find them at:

http://www.renewable-energy-news.info

The Solar Energy Picture Just Gets Brighter & Brighter.

It would appear that the corporate world is finally waking up to the reality that solar energy is going to play a big part in our future. Granted these are corporations who make any or all of the components to make solar energy happen but hey. The Solar world is one that doesn’t involve the utility companies. And that’s just fine with…well everybody.

One of the better sites for information on the progress of the solar revolution is Greentech Solar, which is a part of the Greentech Media Empire. (Nice to have an empire that starts with Green). http://www.greentechmedia.com/channel/solar

Their blog has lots of really good info on solar energy. Getting familiar with solar is the first step in one of the big changes we all have to make in terms of energy consumption. And the more you learn about alternative energy the more you start to see that the world really is changing and that change is being led by corporations from all sectors. Sure, there’s a profit motive involved, but there’s also an overriding, and it would appear genuine, concern for the future of our planet.

Here’s a link to a recent solar article on Greentech’s blog: http://bit.ly/a4VUis

Designer Creates Fake Rocks That Help Save Water

The whole thing about being green, someone once told me, is bring able to make substantial environmental changes with out making drastic changes in behaviour. Knowing that behavioural changes are always difficult, I always tend to gravitate to the simple things.

That’s why this idea, which I saw at Treehugger.com appeals to me. It’s simple and effective and something everybody can do. Well everybody who takes baths regularly. For shower people, well that’s a whole other matter.

I encourage you to check out this article and bookmark the Treehugger site.
http://bit.ly/a2R9dm

Green Can Be Fun at Environmentteam.com

One of the best thing about Twitter is getting introduced to people and web sites that you probably wouldn’t stumble upon on your own, by reason of the fact that there are way too many sites out there. So imagine my delight when I saw a tweet from http://www.environmentteam.com.

This site isn’t big on preaching the environmental mantra, but instead operates on the adage that a picture is words a thousand words, maybe more. This site will show you all the coolest new green gadgets, tell you cool green factiods, and connect you to a blog that will allow you to delve deeper into all of the aforementioned and more.

Environment Team is an extremely interesting site, especially if you’re interested in what’s out there on the cutting edge of green technology and where to find it.

An Interesting Video About Bottled Water From Ethical Ocean

We got an email from Tony Hancock at an on line company called Ethical Ocean. This is one of the country’s preeminent online retailers of Eco and just about everything else friendly products. We invite you to read it and follow the link to check out the very interesting video he has made about bottled water.

Hi There

I came across your green directory and want to commend you for putting together a great Green Directory which has a Canadian focus…I just added our website today!

I wanted to pass on some information that the readers of your blog would likely find interesting. We’ve put together a short and to-the-point video about bottled water, and the inputs that go into producing it (for example, it takes 3L of water to produce a 1L bottle, including the litre that is consumed). You can see the video here: http://www.ethicalocean.com/water-bottled-no-plastic-go-stainless

There is a link on that page to our calculations, as we want to be transparent to the sources of our information and how we arrived at our numbers.

Tony Hancock

BTW: I checked out the Ethical Ocean site and it’s pretty cool. http://www.ethicalocean.com

One Of The Best Re-Use Ideas Ever

My wife put this article on my desk that was written by Mr Chris Spence who is the Director of Education at the Toronto District Board of Education.

In the article he outlines on the the most ingenious and practical ideas I have heard of in quite some time.

While there is always a certain amount of enlightened self interest at work here, this idea is basically quite sound and could definitely work to the betterment of the community in a very green way through the re-use of existing facilities  (ie schools).

I’d encourage everyone in the community to read this article and do whatever you can to get behind this idea and make it happen.

Because, let’s face it, great ideas don’t come along every day.

This article is posted on the Star web site at http://tinyurl.com/26ngwje

The Good Human Has Some Good News

Some people out there do  really do a good job of helping to save the planet. The Good Human, whose tweets I receive  is one of them. The good human web site (link below), is filled with all kinds of practical advice on doing the right thing by the rock we live on.

This is one of those site you definitely want to keep on your favourites list, and also get tweets from.

Good Human Site: http://www.thegoodhuman.com

Good Human Blog Article On The Current State of CO2 Emissions In The World (Good News)

http://tinyurl.com/n47dng

Have a green day everybody.