Online tool makes composting easier

BioCycle magazine and the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) have launched a new, more-user-friendly version of FindAComposter.com, a free, publicly searchable directory of composting facilities in the United States and Canada.

In today's warming world, composting our organic waste stream to recycle nutrients and build soil health is the preferred alternative to landfilling, which produces the unwanted greenhouse gas methane.
Recognizing that a major challenge to implementing these sound ecological practices has been a perceived lack of infrastructure, BioCycle originally launched FindAComposter.com in 2007.

Read here, http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/11/19/online-tool-makes-composting-easier/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

Air Travel vs Your Carbon Footprint. Things are getting better.

From WWF-Canada,

One thing that’s been bothering me about climate change is the thought that I might someday need to give up air travel to help keep greenhouse gases in check. Who among us doesn’t look forward with anticipation to those fleeting occasions (especially during our long, cold, Canadian winters) when we can hop aboard a plane and within hours step out onto a warm, sunny beach?

Well, it turns out I may not need to give up my cherished air travel. Aircraft manufacturers and operators are on top of the problem of aircraft emissions and they’re making real progress towards keeping us all flying without fossil fuels. By next year, aviation experts predict, biofuels will be ready to use in blended form to power aircraft engines and by 2013 as a full replacement for jet fuel.

Read more here, http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2010/11/23/up-up-and-away-where-are-my-flip-flops/

Reimagining Detroit as Grow Town

I saw an article about this a while ago. Interesting.

Over the last six decades, the city of Detroit has lost half its population, shrinking from more than 1.85 million people in 1950 to just 912,000 in 2008.
The population plunge has left vacant vast tracts of land that some people in the city want to see used for growing food. Hundreds of community gardens have sprung up throughout the urban core, and several large-scale farms have been proposed within the city limits. Read here, http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/reimagining-detroit-as-grow-town/?hp

Freshwater is bottom line issue for business

Around the world, freshwater supplies are under siege. Polluted, wasted and altered by climate change, the resource that supports life on Earth is in trouble. For WWF, protecting freshwater ecosystems is part of our mission to create harmony between people and nature. For businesses, dabbling in freshwater conservation has largely been a philanthropic endeavor. But that has changed in recent years, as companies have awakened to a simple fact: There is no business without water.

Read here, http://wwf.panda.org/?196956%2FFreshwater-is-bottom-line-issue-for-business

10 mistakes people make with heat

Even with a constant flow of information about energy efficiency, homeowners make major heating mistakes that end in higher electric bills and larger environmental footprints.  Here are 10 of those errors, with the cause and effect of each decision.

http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/11/15/10-mistakes-people-make-with-heat/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

14 tips for using less heat this season

The temperature's dropping here in the northern hemisphere, and for a lot of us that means dialing up the thermostat to take that chill out of the air.

Whether you have electric or gas heat, warming your home isn't so hot for the environment or your wallet. The majority of our electricity here in the U.S. comes from dirty coal. Natural gas drilling often uses a dangerous method called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," which contaminates water in the areas around drilling sites.

Get the list here, http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/10/25/14-tips-for-using-less-heat-this-season/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetWithGreencom+%28GetWithGreen.com%29

75 things you didn’t know you could compost

The basics of composting are simple. Most people know they can compost fruit and vegetable peels, leaves, and grass clippings. But what about that tea bag you used this morning? Or the fur that collects in the brush when you groom your cat?

More here from GetWithGreen.com, http://www.getwithgreen.com/2010/09/30/75-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-compost/

The story of electronics

Here's a video to check out
http://storyofstuff.org/electronics/

Wildlife Adoptions for the Holiday Season

This year is the year of the tiger but the illegal hunting continues.

The tiger, largest of all cats, is one of the most threatened species on Earth. It is estimated that only 3,200 remain in the wild, most in isolated pockets spread across increasingly fragmented forests stretching from India to southeastern China and from the Russian far east to Sumatra, Indonesia. Tigers in the wild exist in 45% less habitat than was thought a decade ago and now occupy only 7% of their historic range. (WWF http://wwf.panda.org/?196519%2FMore-than-1000-tigers-reduced-to-skin-and-bones-in-last-decade )

This year, consider giving a  WWF Wildlife Adoption. You can choose from a selection of species both domestic and exotic. If you're not in Canada, check out the WWF page closest to you and look for the Unique Gift section. Of course, you can still order from WWF-Canada but they only ship to Canada and the United States.

A Symbolic Wildlife Adoption is a meaningful gift you can purchase for any occasion, to give to friends and family or even yourself. By purchasing a Wildlife Adoption, a Family Adoption, or an Adoption Collection, you are supporting the conservation efforts of WWF-Canada and helping to protect wildlife and their habitats.

Please visit the WWF and order an unique gift that that will bring joy to the recipreint and help preserve our planet's wildlife. https://wwfstore.donorportal.ca/default.aspx