Entries tagged with 'environment'
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©iStockPhoto/SilviaJansen A piece in the New York Times today (part of the brilliant, groundbreaking Food Chain series that looks like it's being positioned for the Pulitzer Prize) explains in crystal-clear fashion how the high cost of fertilizer and its limited supply are contributing mightily to both the high cost of food in general and the devastating food shortages in many parts of the world. Because certain kinds of fertilizer containing nitrogen create dead zones where rivers meet the sea and kill marine life, environmentalists are demanding changes that will limit the use of chemical fertilizer. Recently a United Nations panel recommended that farmers use increased crop rotation with legumes because legumes are natural nitrogen carriers....
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Where do you eat in London for fish-and-chips made only from nonthreatened species from small-scale farmers, or for a meal where 85% of the ingredients are sourced from within the limits of the London Tube system? Check out Portfolio.com's report on London's environmentally-conscious restaurants....
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Last July, we talked to Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic marketing director Sarah Kenney about the plastic bag ban. She said the average shopper still thinks in terms of paper-or-plastic, and it'll take time before grocery stores adjust this lifestyle norm. Well, it's been nine months and adjustments have happened. Today on Earth Day, Whole Foods officially yanks plastic from the normal duo-bag option, replacing it with an emphasis on canvas. Paper or canvas? Er, it'll take some getting used to. For almost $30, about the price of a few essentials at the national grocery chain, you can get your own "Feed 100" reusable bag, exclusively created for Whole Foods. The 100% organic cotton and sustainable burlap bag—which niftily collapses into a...
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Enjoy your favorite wine now; in 50 years it might not be here anymore. The Observer explains how global warming is affecting wine production. Grape-growing may be rendered impossible in some areas (southern Italy, Australia, California) while other areas where wine production was previously rare or impossible (Denmark, Sweden, Finland) may be able to grow grapes....
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Does buying locally really help save the environment? Depending on how and when the produce is grown and stored, maybe not. The Observer investigates the myth of food miles, pointing out that judging the environmental impact of food solely on the distance the food traveled to get to your plate is too simplistic. Many factors go into calculating the amount of carbon emitted by a food that make it difficult to predict its carbon footprint. "There is only one way of being sure that you cut down on your carbon emissions when buying food: stop eating meat, milk, butter and cheese," said Tara Garnett of the Food Climate Research Network....
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©iStockPhoto.com/arlindo71 Dutch entomology professor Arnold van Huis wants you to eat bugs. From an interview with Ode magazine: Why should we eat insects? While the world population is growing and our global wealth is advancing, meat consumption is rising dramatically. Currently, 70 percent of farmland is being used for meat production. If this trend continues, it will prove unsustainable. Moreover, livestock is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane and nitrous oxide. Insects have a much lower environmental burden, while their nutritional value measures up to chicken or beef. Van Huis concedes that bugs can take some getting used to but that they can be processed in ways that make them less recognizable, "just as a filet...
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Don't flush just yet! The project drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee taking place at Eyebeam in New York City from March 13 to April 19 aims to raise awareness about the role your body (or more specifically, its waste) plays in the water system. To illustrate the potential for using properly treated urine—a sterile liquid—as a fertilizer for plants, Urine to Fertilizer DIY Kits will be available at the installation. How does the kit work? Users will test their urine before the reaction. Then, they will add an enzyme, wait for their urine to hydrolyze, and then add Magnesium Chloride. A sediment will build up at the bottom of the jar. Using a filter, they will pour off and flush the liquid, leaving...
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I had just "powered off" my "electronic device" for landing on a recent flight and was placing my tray table "in the upright position" while glancing around anxiously for a cabin attendant to relieve me of my soda can and little plastic cup. When she came around with a trash bag, I offered the cup, but she asked for the can as well, placing everything in the same bag. I guess they don't recycle, I thought. What's up with that?!? Salon's "Ask the Pilot" column (one of my favorite features on that site) tackles the issue in its latest installment....
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From the New York Times The Global Crop Diversity Trust's Arctic Seed Vault just took the first delivery on seeds this week, and the New York Times has a beautiful slide show that tells the vault's tale in almost sci-fi-like visuals. The vault, which burrows 500 feet into the permafrost of a Norwegian island near the Arctic Circle, was created as a bulwark against the extinction of plant species....
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Above, plumes of sediment stirred up by bottom-trawling fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico—as seen from space. From MSNBC: The technique, used all over the world, is a way to catch fish in deeper parts of the ocean with huge, deep nets, now that many near-shore fish populations have been virtually wiped out from over-fishing. Several studies have shown the significant impact that trawling has on ecosystems, killing corals, sponges, fish and other animals. [via Neatorama]...
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