I recently discovered this sweet jewelry made from spent shell casings fired during the civil war in Liberia. Lovetta Conto hammers the casings into a charm and presses the word “LIFE” into each one. She calls it Akawelle – AKA Wel’le- Also Known As Love. Each necklace comes with the shell bottom as well. I put one on my wish list, and think it’s a great gift for anyone interested in supporting an ingenious female artisan who’s also turning something lethal into something hopeful. More about the designer and the Strongheart Fellowship that supports women like her can be found here .
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Hope for the Holidays
Bigger is better. It’s a concept that many of us are brought up with; if not by our parents, the influences of the media often lead us to feel that way. It doesn’t mean it’s true, particularly when it comes to the environment.
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Concentrated products
The largest ever transnational operation targeting wildlife crime across Africa has resulted in the arrests of over 100 people and the seizure of more than two tons of ivory. INTERPOL has announced that the success of “Operation Costa” – Africa’s largest ever transnational wildlife crime operation – was due to the coordinated efforts of police, national wildlife, customs and national intelligence officers across Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Read more of this story
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INTERPOL: Over 2 Tons of Elephant Ivory Seized, 100 People Arrested – Largest Ever Wildlife Crime Operation in Africa
In yet another indication that the days of king coal are numbered, another coal-fired power plant in the U.S. is converting to biomass . Michigan’s L’Anse Warden Electric Company purchased an existing coal, oil, and natural gas power plant and promptly made the switch in order to engage in some sustainable synergy with a nearby manufacturing operation of the CertainTeed Corporation . The CertainTeed facility will get the benefit of using electricity with a lower carbon footprint than coal. It will also give something back. The factory will recycle its formerly landfilled scrap by sending it to the Warden power plant for fuel, and that’s just the tip of the sustainable iceberg. Read more of this story
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Another One Bites the Dust: Michigan Coal Plant Converts to Biomass
India’s Bagha-Chitauni rail link has unexpectedly created a swampy new home for a family of rhinos. Although in the 1990’s, Bihar forest officials fought – and lost – a legal battle to stop the railway track relaying project, today they couldn’t be happier: The obstruction has created 1,000 hectares of swampy rhino habitat. Read more of this story
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Railway Track Creates Unexpected Habitat for Rhinos
This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post . Above, creative architecture student Magnus Larsson shares his incredible idea to help settlers along the harsh Sahara desert. His proposed process of re-structuring sand is a building material process already researched for helping strengthen earthquake prone land with sustainable bacteria that turns shifting sand into a solid mass. Looks like Larsson is creating sandcastles out of desert land. Brilliant! His Holcim Foundation winning proposal could very well transform life in that region as the Sahara green wall shelterbelt is planted across the African continent. The possibilities are endless as the quality of life will improve for so many along the Sahara. Read more of this story
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Dune Architect Transforms Desert Sand into Dwellings for the Green Wall Sahara Shelterbelt
A spacecraft powered by photons from sunlight has been designed by the Planetary Society. They are also currently building the solar sailor, and hope to launch it at the end of 2010. Read more of this story
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Solar-Powered Space Ship Could Travel 100,000 MPH?
Popular Mechanics gets behind the wheel of the pre-production Chevy Volt and first experiences the car in pure-electric and sustained-charge modes. This post is an excerpt of an article from Popular Mechanics . You can read the full post (with video) on their website . Written by Barry Winfield. LOS ANGELES— We’ve been following the Chevy Volt as it has progressed through many milestones before it became a development mule based on the 2011 Chevy Cruze last May. That test drive was completed entirely in electric-only mode. Today, we had a chance to slide behind the wheel of a Volt that looks and feels much closer to production. We experienced the car in both pure-electric and sustained-charge modes, when the conventional gas engine powers an on-board alternator to supply the needs of the electric motor when the batteries reach an elected state of discharge. Read more of this story
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2011 Chevrolet Volt Pre-Production Test Drive | Popular Mechanics
The desire to avoid solar confrontations with neighbors could have an effect on architectural design. Here’s how one Southern California homeowner solved that on a new home in San Diego: he hid the panels behind a parapet. California has already had a law on the books for three decades: The California Solar Rights Act made it illegal to restrict solar system installations, in deeds and certain other documents. Read more of this story
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Homeowners Associations and and Solar Roof Laws Do Battle
As Copenhagen nears, the companies in the fossil energy industry that will be actually impacted by the climate bill are still not reporting their climate change risks, according to the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security. Climate-related disclosure “continues to be weak or altogether nonexistent in SEC filings of global companies with the most at stake in preparing for a low-carbon global economy.” Read more of this story
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Biggest Polluters Still Not Filing With SEC
