Our Green Streets Blog

Jerome Ringo, noted environmental justice champion, and president of the Apollo Alliance, will speak February 12, 2009, at CU’s University Memorial Center as part of at the Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit.

Jerome Ringo, Apollo Alliance President

Title of the RMSS speech:

The New Color of Green: A Collective Voice Towards Change.

Associate Research Scholar Yale University, Author, Lecturer, Motivational Speaker Boards: Al Gore’s Climate Advisory Panel / National Wildlife Federation / National Parks and Conservation Association / Florida A & M University School of the Environment / Sundance Channel “The Green” / Newsweek Magazine Advisory Panel on Climate Change.

Eco-house built using straw bales. Photo: Bill Steen

Catherine Wanek, co-director of Builders Without Borders, was  recently busy in our national capitol featuring the organization’s straw bale house which was on display at the National Botanic Gardens. It is worthwhile visiting the BWB website:

FROM BUILDERS WITHOUT BORDERS:

Builders Without Borders
is an international network of ecological builders who advocate the use of straw, earth and other local, affordable materials in construction. We believe that the solution to homelessness is not merely housing, but individuals and communities trained to house themselves.

When Catherine returns from her project in Washington D.C., Green Streets will conduct an interview with her. She has many good things to share.

Educational Resources Fund
Builders Without Borders created a Strawbale Construction Curriculum, and donates this training manual, plus other books and videos, to worthy people and projects, and offers scholarships to BWB workshops for dedicated students.

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Off the coast of Portugal something remarkable has been happening for the last few months.  Electricity is being generated by the movement of the ocean.  Currently, the Aguçadoura wave farm consists of three P1-A Pelamis machines which generate 2.25MW of electricity, enough to supply 1,500 homes with clean, renewable power.

According to alternative-energy-news.info, Read more of this >>

As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to the environment and to sustainable development, Newmont Ghana is, under the supervision of Mohammed Bin Abubakar, the reclamation coordinator for Newmont Ghana’s Ahafo mine, employing a rather unique erosion control system.

Not content with the long-term environmental consequences associated with traditional plastic netting commonly used to control erosion around roads and waterways, Bin Abubakar sought a more responsible solution. What he came up with was a revolutionary project that forgoes plastic netting in favor of locally manufactured, biodegradable netting.   Read more of this >>

Mohammed Bin Abubakar is the Reclamation Coordinator for Newmont Ghana’s Ahafo Mine in Ghana, west Africa. In this short piece below, he and others discuss the nursery he oversees for Newmont Ghana and the ways in which his efforts are helping Newmont to change the perceptions about mining in rural Ghana.

Click Here to view “Bin’s Garden”

A team of UK scientists have discovered a natural process that could delay, or even end, the threat of global warming. Source: Clean Technica

This is a post at Clean Technica worth reading.

Understanding the nature of carbon on out planet is very important!

Imagine, a world where recycling is required, food wastes are turned into organic fertilizer, and most energy comes from solar, sea, wind, and geothermal power.  This green utopia was envisioned by Ernest Callenbach in his 1975 novel “Ecotopia.”

Even in the 1970s, Callenbach’s vision was firmly grounded in sound science.  Says Callenbach in a recent piece in The Capital Times (Madison, WI), ”I was trying to raise the question that we could be doing all this stuff in 1975 and why aren’t we? Our goose will be cooked if we don’t do it now.”  
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Since my last post on the merits of biodiesel, I’ve been able to gather more information and I wanted to pass it on to you.  What continues to intrigue me about home brewing biodiesel is that it is emblematic of the type of lifestyle changes we all need to take on in the 21st century.  Taking waste frier oil and converting it, at home into a cleaner burning, less toxic and more biodegradable fuel is something akin to modern day alchemy.

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The Obamanos Coat

Nancy Judd, New Mexico developer of Recycle Runway and a participant in our video, “Trashy Art,” writes of her new project called the Campaign for Change Couture Collection:  “This new series of garments, made from left over Obama campaign materials, is a documentation of my experience being a volunteer for this historic campaign and is a tribute to the millions of other people (including many of you!) who gave countless hours to assure the election of Barack Obama.”

Judd follows with this missive on important connections: Read more of this >>

Rethinking our love affair with gas-guzzlers

It is high time we consider more seriously what needs to be done with at least a few of our addictions to fossil fuels, says documentry producer, Josh Tickell, the creator of “Fuel.”

Quotable:

“What we cannot forget about HUMMER is that it is a great brand…it’s a global brand, it’s iconic.”– Rick Wagoner, CEO, General Motors

“The world is addicted to oil, it’s time for an intervention.” Fuel Film Website

On his website, Josh Tickell provides a list of ten things all residents on this planet should all be doing to be more proactive about our fuel gluttony:

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