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Showing posts from October, 2008

Ted Turner offers sustainable tourism criteria at World Conservation Congress : TerraCurve.com - Responsible travel news, places, people and events.

Voluntary standards that focus on the most critical aspects of sustainable tourism in order to help travel suppliers around the world meet increasing consumer demand for products and services that will have positive effects on communities and the environment. (UNWTO) - United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner joined the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) today to announce the first-ever globally relevant sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The new criteria — based on thousands of best practices culled from the existing standards currently in use around the world — were developed to offer a common framework to guide the emerging practice of sustainable tourism and to help businesses, consumers, governments, non-governmental organizations and education institutions to ensure that tourism helps, rather than harms, local communities and the envi

Climate of Our Future — A discussion on climate change

Three Big Things We Should Do Now to Slow Global Warming The following summary was submitted by Andrea Hill, who works with Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development . Amidst all the complexity of international climate change negotiations, it is easy to lose sight of actions we can take now, using proven technologies. Such “immediate mitigation” is essential if we are to avoid irreversible tipping points for abrupt climate change. There are three very promising ways of meeting the need for speed. 1. Black Carbon Black carbon, the light absorbing matter in soot, warms the atmosphere by absorbing solar radiation and releasing it as heat. It also accelerates the melting of snow and ice by reducing their ‘albedo’ (the ability to reflect light). This is most dramatically demonstrated by the contribution which black carbon is making to the disintegration of Arctic sea-ice, which in turn threatens to accelerate feedback mechanisms that will spe

The Green Fingered Photographer

Well it is in my veggie patch I lifted the shallots the other day and now I have got a space for something else. I was very impressed how many I got from the bulbs I put in at the end of Spring. Each bulb produced 5-6 new shallots, so as you can see I have plenty. They have been one of the more successful veggies I have grown this year and I have learnt even more so come next year it will be even better. One of the mistakes I have made was putting in Sprouts and Turnips into such a small bed. They have taken far to much room up and I wont be doing them next year. I have red onions and leeks doing very nicely as well and strawberry plants are around the edge. I have also become a surrogate tomato grower, as one of my neighbours daughter's doesn't have any space so I am looking after it. I have to say though with all this rain and cloudy days I don't think it will do very well as we will probably run out of sun before any of the tomatoes ripen. I also had very green fin

Endangered Spaces

Switch to Renewable Energy Sources From We Can Solve It website : Switching now to clean energy sources will revitalize our economy -- we can be global leaders in developing and manufacturing clean energy technologies. It will enhance our national security -- reducing the pressure on our troops to protect oil supplies and avoiding the worst climate impacts in politically unstable regions of the world. It will make high gasoline prices less of a burden in our daily lives -- enabling us to transition to clean plug-in hybrid electric cars. It will help solve the climate crisis -- if we fail to act soon, the consequences for our children will be dire. You will see this ad airing during the Olympics this week. Please take a moment to become part of the solution. Take Action at We Can Solve It Endangered Spaces blog

The Green Filter

Gardening, Insect Welfare My gardening thus far hasn't been overly successful. My overzealous drip irrigation coordinator over-watered my garden (really just a modest flowerbed) at the beginning, which meant my whole first crop of carrots didn't sprout. I only got two heads of lettuce of a whole row I planted, presumably because there wasn't enough sunlight reaching that corner of the bed each day early on and then because it was too hot, or something along those lines. I tried to grow cucumber plants without a trellis, but today I gave up and started training them up a hastily/lazily constructed trellis-contraption. (I had to go to Home Depot and Co-op to find everything I needed. I hate Home Depot because it has too much stuff and everything's all over the place. I feel almost panicky in there. Ah, consumerism, big box stores, economies of scale, love it, love it, love it. Both stores are frequently sold out of what I need and short on staff that will actually appro

Organic, Holistic, Green Living and Eco Friendly Content: Amaze Magazine

Amaze eMagazine is dedicated to organic, natural beauty, holistic, green living and eco friendly content that helps you to embrace and thrive in joyful, whole living. Our Editors bring you the stories, natural products, opportunities and holistic services that inspire you to live well as you care for yourself, your family and the environment. Click to Read the Current Issue Shop for Green and Holistic Products Read the Amaze Eco-Chic Blog

The Green Office

Greening @ TheGreenOffice.com TheGreenOffice.com is dedicated to modeling the best-practices of sustainable business. In every sphere of operation our decisions are made to maximize the social, ecological, and financial performance of our company – what is known as the triple-bottom-line. We believe in this philosophy so deeply, in fact, that it was written into our founding documents. Though our company is most easily identified by environmental goals, we are equally concerned with issues of democracy and social justice. From the communities we impact to the people manufacturing our products, we work to include all stakeholders in a decision making process that ensures equity, health, and personal safety. Here are several steps we have taken in the name of greening: Co-op America Business Seal of Approval Bay Area Green Business Program Certified CERES Annual Sustainability Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Offsetting History TheGreenOffice.com was established in