Last month, the Brazilian government began producing condoms using rubber from trees in the Amazon in an effort to preserve the world’s largest rainforest and cut dependence on imported contraceptives to fight AIDS. Brazil’s first government-run condom factory will produce 100 million condoms a year from latex harvested in the Chico Mendes Reserve, named after a conservationist and rubber tapper killed by ranchers.
Image: The Guardian
They’re probably drinking a lot of beer in Quqiao village, in Shaanxi Province, China.
Ma Yanjun, a carpenter, said he wanted his mother to be able to enjoy a comfortable shower anytime, and since a solar water heating system was too expensive, he devised a way to make one of his own.
Using only water-filled beer bottles and connecting hoses, Ma’s mother now has hot water on demand, and so do more than 20 other families in the village whom Ma has helped build their own system.
He wants to build a public bathroom for the village using the same process, but he needs enough money to buy the beers. He probably has plenty of volunteers to empty them.
Or, more evidence for the skeptics. Thanks, as always, to Brad and Peter. Check out more of their work at The Green House.
All it takes is a lot of duct tape, some ducting, PVC pipe, 50 gallon drum, a pile of wood and an old furnace to beat today’s high gas prices.
A man identified only as Bob contributed this story to Coast to Coast, saying the owner told him the wood burning oven catches combustible fuels from wood coals which condenses any moisture. The dried fumes are fed to the engine, and it runs!
Location of the truck is unknown, and the image came from the article.
If you haven’t yet read the heartbreaking news or seen the tragic images, here’s another reason to oppose Canada’s oilsands development: On Monday, some 500 migrating ducks landed in a waste pond at a Syncrude site in Alberta … and only a handful survived long enough to be rescued and, with luck, restored to health.
Ontario plans to ban the use and sale of garden pesticides; that equates to over 300 products and 70 chemicals. Unfortunately, golf courses, farms, and forests will be exempt. Home Depot has already pulled garden pesticides from their shelves in Ontario.
Sources: The Globe and Mail,
Musicians keep cranking out the eco-songs… and that’s a great way to bring the green message to a broader audience. Wirehead’s “Losing Ground” is a call to action that’s a little bit 80s pop-rock (they list Toto as an influence), a little bit jazz-rock fusion (think Steely Dan), and a whole lot of of environmental awareness. Thanks to Wirehead drummer Clive Edwards for sharing this…
What are 100 pennies worth? $1.40 in zinc. Zinc mining is an “environmental disaster”, and demand for the mineral is growing in China.
Source: Eco Geek
Image: wikimedia commons
The Olympic torch on its journey to Beijing is leaving a historic trail of CO2 emissions.
Slate.com, tracking the emissions of the torch, reports that… Through Thursday’s stop in Canberra, the relay has traveled an estimated 40,875 miles, burned 220,725 gallons of jet fuel, and released 5,270,913 pounds of CO2.
Related Post:
Outcry in Sacramento against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan for aerial spraying of several California counties to combat an apple moth infestation that threatens California agriculture.
One might wonder, in particular how this will impact organic farmers…
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