O animal, com cerca de 1 m de comprimento, teria atacado a criança, quando ela brincava no chão de casa, em uma fazenda na zona rural Pedro Leopoldo - MG, na região metropolitana da capital. Como também foi ferido na boca e na mão pela cobra, o bebê precisou ser encaminhado às pressas até um hospital. Ele está internado no Hospital Infantil João Paulo II, em Belo Horizonte, e passa bem. Ontem, a mãe dele, a dona de casa setelagoana Ana Cláudia Barbosa da Silva, de 20 anos, contou que, por pouco o filho não morreu, envenenado.

A médica Solange de Lourdes Silva Magalhães, plantonista setor de toxicologia do HPS João XXIII, a primeira a atender a criança, contou que o menino chegou ao hospital com quadro grave de intoxicação. Segundo a médica, o bebê apresentava secreção na boca e ainda sofreu uma parada respiratória por causa do veneno da cobra.

De acordo com especialistas a serpente foi levada para o laboratório do setor de toxicológico do HPS. Ela disse que o animal já chegou morto e apresentava algumas marcas de mordidas na cabeça o que, possivelmente, foi à causa da morte.

O incidente aconteceu na quinta‑feira da semana passada. O bebê estava brincando com a irmã, de 4 anos, próximo de um fogão de lenha. A mãe estava em outro cômodo da casa quando ouviu os gritos da filha. Quando cheguei, a cobra estava toda enrolada no braço do meu filho e a cabeça entre os dentinhos. “Ele estava rindo e colocava e tirava a cobra da boca como se fosse um brinquedo”, afirmou a mulher, Com o filho no colo, a dona de casa e o marido correram para o hospital.

Os médicos que atenderam o bebê se disseram surpresos com a rápida recuperação do menino, que em dois dias saiu do CTI e está internado no setor de enfemaria. De acordo com o coordenador médico do Centro de Toxicologia do HPS, e presidente da Sociedade Brasileira de Toxicologia, Délio Campolina, o veneno produzido por uma cobra adulta da espécie que atacou a criança tem capacidade de matar até mesmo um boi. A letalidade, nesses casos, depende da quantidade de veneno injetado e da resistência da vítima.

“No caso deste menino, o fato de ele ter sido atendido rapidamente com um tratamento eficiente foi fundamental para que ele sobrevivesse”, explicou o médico.

G1/UOL

Experimento 1. No pasar de 2000 rpm. Distancia recorrida 807km

Experimento 2. Conducción normal, cambios entre 2500-3000 rpm. Distancia recorrida 700km.

Como se puede ver, el ahorro es considerable. Cada ocho repostajes me saldría uno gratis, 65€. Esto es, cada dos meses un tanque gratis, cada año 6 tanques gratis que sería unos 390€ si el precio del petróleo no sube más lo cual es muy improbable.

Yo por mi parte lo tengo claro, no tengo prisa en llegar a ningún sitio mientras conduzco... una razón más para ahorrar

Going once, going twice…Oromia sold!

Sold by Meles like a treasury bond

Sold to the highest bidder

China, Djibouti and Saudi billionaire

While Ethiopians are starving to death

Meles gave wheat farm land to Djibouti’s Prez

A large tract of land comparable to the size of Djibouti

Was handed over to the father and son with Meles’ authority

Badme, border with Sudan and now Djibouti?

All around great blows to his vanity!

Unable to serve and protect our sovereignty

On all counts, he is pronounced guilty!

Oromia being used and abused

And here is the latest “investment” trick they pulled

Let’s call it what it is, it’s not investment

It’s plain shenanigans, the nation’s divestment!

The rank and files fattening their pockets

Sporadically sharing some with their subordinates

But the large mass is in scathing poverty

Living to see another day, thanks to westerners’ generosity

Now, they can’t even farm their own land

Things are going out of their hand

Somebody stop this transaction

Our nation should not be sold on auction!

Read about the "Presidential investment" here.

Also check out these two stoies. China's "investment" and Saudi billionaire's "investment".

• But the bike is made (mostly) of an easily renewable resource, and supposedly cost only $30. The tires, wheels, chain and gears are made from standard metal parts. Oh, and the seat, too. I’m hoping there wasn’t even a test-prototype with a cardboard seat. Ouch.
• Regular box cardboard isn’t strong enough, so Bridge used something called hexacomb cardboard, which has the additional utility of being waterproof. I’m not sure I’d want to be the one to test this claim by taking this thing for a ride in the rain.
• The bike will hold anyone who weighs less than 168 lbs, and Bridge, who made the bike as part of his degree program in Product Design, is looking for investors to try and sell the bike commercially. I can see and hear the ads now, to the tune of the Beatles “Paper Back Writer” — “Paper Bike Rider.”

I’m intending to put up some kitchen shelves this weekend. What are the environmental issues I should be considering before buying shelves or indeed, other items of furniture?

Here’s what I’ve discovered.

Buy natural

For exactly the same reasons that I talked about in my post about eco windows, natural materials are the only eco option.

PVC, vinyl and other man-made chemical products are generally made from oil. Oil isn’t sustainable. Their production also releases lots of nasties into the world. And disposing of them is difficult. They don’t rot and if you burn it, they release yet more bad stuff.

So the best you can hope for is landfill or toxins once you’ve finished with it. Any thoughts of retro sixties vinyl or furniture with fake-wood veneers should be dispelled from the mind if you want to do the right thing environmentally.

So for my shelves, it means buying wooden ones. As well as being natural, wood is also the most efficient material to produce. Even more than other natural products like metals.

Buy Forest Steward Council-certified wood

The Forest Steward Council (FSC) logo - featured at the start of this post – tells you that the item your buying is made from products that come from a sustainable forest. It can be found on furniture, books, magazines, newspapers and even latex. Latex is made from rubber and that comes from trees.

FSC-certified forests are well-managed forests – when trees are cut down, they plant more. To be certified by the FSC, a forest must also conform to strict guidelines regarding the rights of the indigenous people and the forest workers. So FSC-certified wood is also fair-trade wood.

Buying furniture made from wood sustainably farmed means that the carbon the tree absorbed during its life stays locked up in the wood until it’s disposed of. Meanwhile, more trees are planted and they absorb more carbon. Buying wooden products from sustainable sources is a good way of making sure more forests are planted. Which is a good thing for the planet.

FSC-certified products are now widely available and stocked by many retails from small furniture boutiques to big retailers like B&Q and Homebase. Look for the logo. And in case you’re worried about extra expense, they shouldn’t cost you anymore.

Don’t buy tropical hardwood (made in china)

In Britain, we buy three-times as much wood as the world-average. And we import four-fifths of it.

At least 60% of tropical hardwood we buy – woods such as teak, mahogany, redwood, rosewood and merbau – is felled illegally. Much of this comes from China.

Half of all internationally traded tropical hardwood passes through China. The country is the leading exporter of plywood, furniture and flooring. Pretty much all of it is illegally cut down in the rain forests of Indonesia and Papa New Guinea. In Borneo, an area the size of England has been cleared in the last decade, at least half of it illegally.

And a good chunk of wood “made in China” ends up in UK builder’s merchants, DIY retailers and furniture stores.

Deforestation has a huge impact on climate change. It’s estimated that chopping down and burning trees contributes some 8 billion tones of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year. That’s more than 16 per cent of total human green house emissions. More than either transport or agriculture. If we stopped destroying forests and planted more instead, we’d be a good way to solving the problem.

So unless the source of that mahogany bed, worktop or shelf is clearly certified then it’s probably best not to buy it. Particularly if it has “made in china” on it.

Scandinavian is good (including IKEA)

The Scandinavia’s farm trees like we farm crops. The Finnish in particular plant huge numbers of trees in well-managed forest. Hardwood from Scandinavia is therefore generally more likely to have been felled sustainably than elsewhere in the world.

And love it or hate it, IKEA is well rated for its clear policies on wood sourcing. The Swedish retailer doesn’t use any wood from old-growth forests and much of the wood it does use is FSC-certified. It also has a long-term plan to stock only FSC-certified wooden products. Unfortunately, they don’t label which products are currently FSC, as they want the IKEA brand to be known for sustainability.

If you’re looking for a bed, Warren Evans is an excellent option. They are the only bed maker in the UK to be certified by the FSC. They also source their wood from the forests of Scandinavia. Other environmental good activities include heating their premises with a biomass boiler using chipping and waste produced by their workshops. They use no packaging, delivering your bed wrapped in a blanket instead. And they recycle old, unwanted beds. Having owned one, I can vouch for their extreme comfyness too.

So furniture is pretty easy to buy sustainably. And if we do, in effect we’re helping to plant more trees. Which is very good.

Right, I’m off to buy some FSC-certified shelves.

Whales’ and dolphins’ speed and agility are wondrous to behold — finely tuned by evolution for efficiency and maneuverability in the water. Now researchers are working to translate these animals’ natural innovations into manmade technologies on land, air and sea.Frank Fish of West Chester University in Pennsylvania began to study the humpback whale fin while on vacation in Boston in the early 1980s, where he saw a statue of a humpback whale in a shop in Quincy Market. He assumed it was sculpted incorrectly, because the figure showed bumps along the front edge of the flipper.

More info on DISCOVERY
Also on Whale Power

All Terrain offers a lip balm called Performance Sunblocks that includes SPF 15, which is also not a slippery lip balm. It dries fairly quick. Un-Petroleum also offers a lip balm with SPF, which is 18, a bit higher than 15. Un-Petroleum's lip balm comes in two different flavors, cherry and vanilla. If you are looking for a lip balm that only moisturizes your lips then Alba Natural puts out a lip balm called Pineapple Quench Lip Balm.

While these lip balms aren't the cheapest they are affordable. They are a little bit more price wise compared to the average tube of lip balm.

None of us are going to pull a Thoreau and give up our Earthly possessions, so we have to make an individual choice on what recourse we want take and how much pollution and trash we want to give back to our planet.

The below environmental tips are just those, tips. To be honest, Laura and I don’t follow them all. But we do some of them, most of the time, and I’d like to think that we’re not making an impact (Pun intended). I’ve written a short version and a long version of this document... this is the short version which includes tips to reduce home carbon emissions, water use, trash reduction, as well as the benefits of being using these tips. If you want more detailed information, let me know and I’ll send it (with maybe a little rant here and there).

We all know what “Greenhouse Gases” (CO₂) are, right? That’s the bad stuff. The planet produces too much CO_2, which causes not just the big “G.W.” (Global Warming), but a host of yucky stuff. But how is CO₂ measured? How much bad stuff are we putting out there? And how can we burn a gallon of gas, which weighs about six pounds, but release 20 pounds of CO₂?

A little science first… when gasoline burns (or any other fossil fuel) the carbon and hydrogen separate; the hydrogen combines with oxygen and forms water (H₂O); and the carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2). The weight of the carbon becomes almost 4 times heavier when it mixes with oxygen (5.5lbs of carbon x 3.7 = almost 20lbs.). Okay enough science… I’ve got the long version of this formula for those who have interest.

So for once in life, we can say that for this particular action (driving a car, turning on a light, washing a load of laundry, etc.,) there is a greater reaction than our initial action, not an equal and opposite. All the information, I’ve included is an accumulation of all that I’ve learned and try to practice. Like I said, it’s not hard being environmentally friendly and it’s a blast figuring out how to live “Green”.

One last thing, when I mention “Lbs” — I’m talking about pounds of CO₂.

Water – How to conserve energy with your water heater and lowering water consumption:

· Turn down your water heater from 140° to 120° — this saves about 1200 lbs a year. The majority of water heaters come with a factory default setting of 140° which is hot enough to burn you! Turning it down by 20 degrees takes a screw driver and less than 5 minutes.

· Put a water heater blanket around your water heater. Water heater blankets cost $10-$20 dollars and save about 300 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.

· Use the microwave instead of the stove top to re-heat liquids — it is actually more energy efficient.

· Heat only as much water as you need – (If you drink a lot of tea, and don’t have a microwave, like Laura and I, why heat a gallon of water, when you’re only going to use a cup?).

· Use low-flow showerheads. Showers account for about 20 percent of total indoor water use. By replacing standard 4.5-gallon-per-minute showerheads with 2.5-gallon-per-minute heads (which cost less than $5 each), a family of four can save approximately 20,000 gallons of water per year

· Put the dishwasher on the short cycle (if you have a dishwasher, less than 10 years old), and don’t use the heat or air dry feature. A dishwasher is more energy efficient than hand washing.

· Wash full laundry loads in cold water, (clothes are just as clean when cold water is used vs. hot), and “Cold Water Laundry Detergent” is not necessary. Better yet — you could save 750 lbs of carbon and lower your gas bill!

· Water grass only in the morning or evening.

· Turn off the water when washing the car between rinses. As much as 150 gallons of water can be saved by turning off the hose.

· Collect rainwater and use it to water your flower and vegetable gardens and washing your car. You can buy or make all sort of cool water barrels!

Heating and Cooling the home – How to save and keep from using it:

· In the fall and spring, set your thermostat at night for 55° and during the day 68°. During the summer, set you’re A/C at 78°. For every degree you adjust, you could save 6% of your total energy use and save 820 lbs

· Install weather stripping around doors and windows. Weather stripping works not only in the winter but for keeping summer A/C inside.

· Plant a tree — for their beauty and energy conservation (they shade your home and low summer A/C bills).

Energy, how to keep from using too much of it:

· Change furnace filters every month, this saves up to 5% off the average energy bill as well as 175 lbs of carbon

· Put your lights on timers. (Do you leave your porch light on all day during the winter, because it’s dark when you get home?)

· Use Carbon Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs). One CFL lasts 10-15 times longer than a traditional incandescent light bulb and uses 75% less energy. Too expensive for ya, you say? One CFL saves $30.00 in energy and 1500lbs. Some US cities and counties, and Canada may soon be outlaw incandescent bulbs. (Interesting fact, Microsoft Word recognizes incandescent, but not CFL).

· If everyone changed 1 light bulb, enough energy savings would result, to theoretically light 2.5 million homes for a year; save 550,000,000.00 in energy; or take 800,000 cars off the road. Laura and I have replaced all the bulbs in our home. It cost us about $40.00 and will around $200.00 bucks in energy bills.

· Set the refrigerator to 37° and freezer to 3°. Refrigerators use up to 20% of home electric use.

· Clean out dryer lint traps after every load

· Dry heavy items (jeans, sweaters, towels, etc.,) and light items (socks, underwear, washcloths, etc.,) separately.

· When you buy a new appliance, replace it with an energy star appliance.

· Hook T.V., Cell Phone chargers, VCRs, DVDs, Play Stations, and stereos into power strips. While on standby, TVs use energy (30 percent less than when turned on). Cell phone chargers, on the other hand, use the same amount of energy, with or without the cell phone (as long as they are plugged in). Power strips are easy to use, however, it is hard to get up and push that little red toggle switch vs. turning off the TV via the remote control. But it’s worth it. Oh, and if you invent a remote control for a power strip, can I get a percentage for the idea? Because it’s only a matter of time, until someone else invents it.

· Screen saver versus sleep mode: a computer's "sleep mode" reduces energy consumption by 60 to 70 percent, versus running a screen saver. On a National scale, if Americans got rid of their screen savers, and let their computers hibernate, or (God Forbid!) turned them off, this country could save enough electricity each year to power Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine combined! As well as, cut national electric bills by $2 billion, reducing CO2 emissions by the equivalent of five million cars.

Petrol (oil and gas)

The big one, I’m not even going to get into, because this one makes me mad. Let me just say, don’t drive more vehicle than you need. Ten years ago, people may have been impressed but now, you just look like an ass!

· Buy groceries once a week (if you can), instead of every couple of days.

· Ask local auto garages if they recycle their used oil — if they don’t, request that they do.

· Fifty to eighty percent of cars tires are under inflated — under inflated tires can cost 5% in fuel savings.

· Turn off the A/C and roll down the car’s windows, it increases fuel efficiency, because the engine isn’t working as hard. Lowering car windows does not cause drag on the car, costing fuel efficiency.

· Remote car starters — warming your car up in the winter, before you get in? Nice and toasty huh? Yup, it is. My mom has one, so I’ll stop there.

Organics and food:

My big list has a list of the foods that Laura and I eat. Healthy and taste great.

· Twenty percent of waste in landfills is organic (food, yard waste, lumber, etc.,). The US throws away more food than any other nation in the World, we also create more yard waste and construction debris.

· Leave grass clippings on the lawn or compost.

· Don’t purchase new mulch from the local box store, pick it up free from your city or county.

· Don’t buy dyed mulches

· Bring your lunch to work (it will save you around $120 a month as well as use up leftovers).

· Buy food items from bulk bins, instead of individually packaged items (peanuts, grains, sugars, and candy)

Pesticides, chemicals:

· Buy earth friendly cleaners (7^th Generation is a good brand)

· Utilize Green Dry Cleaners

· Use unbleached coffee filters

· Don’t over fertilize your lawn

· Use organic pesticides

· Read “Silent Spring”!

Paper / plastic:

· Use a canvas bag to shop with instead of using paper and plastic bags (if you have to pick up small stuff)

· Paper or Plastic? Plastic Grocery Bags: Consume 40% less energy, generate 80% less solid waste, produce 70% fewer atmospheric emissions and release up to 94% fewer water born wastes, than paper bags.

· Uses for plastic grocery bags: waste basket liners, car trash cans, snow boots, trash bags for hikers, freezer food organizers, lunch bags, and packing material, instead of peanuts or bubble wrap.

· Use recycled paper in your printer. You can purchase 30% post recycled paper for the same price as virgin wood paper.

· Shred your paper and recycle it

· Don’t use paper towels: it uses less energy to wash a washcloth in a full load, than it does to cut down the trees, transport the wood to the mill, manufacture the towels and ship them to market. Use cotton rags to clean up spills, if you have to have paper towels, buy recycled towels.

· Get off of national mailing lists by writing a letter to Mail Preference Service, c/o Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512, including your name and address.

· Every year America throws away enough office and writing paper to build a wall 12 feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City.

· If you don’t have a recycle bin or you’re Waste Management Company, doesn’t take paper, paper bags, or newspapers, etc., take it to either one of those city recycling areas or if you’re lucky like me, take it to work and drop in the paper recycle dumpster. (I actually talked my boss into getting it, and we fill it every two weeks with cardboard boxes and office paper. We even throw trash bags of shredded paper in it.

· Buy glass drink containers instead of paper (if you can), Laura and I sometimes shop at an organic market, and have gotten our milk in old fashion glass milk jugs.

Recycle:

· Recycle printer cartridges

· Recycle glass, plastic, metal, and paper. Plastic containers have a symbol on the bottom — it’s a triangle with a number inside of it. If the number is 1 - 3, it can be recycled. You would be amazed at what can be recycled — plastic egg cartons, laundry detergent bottles, and many more items.

· Use reusable containers, instead of aluminum foil or cling wrap, to store food.

· Return metal hangers back to the dry cleaners.

Community:

· Buy local dairy, fruit, vegetables, and meat. Have you ever noticed how the price of fruit and vegetables go up and down in accordance with gas prices?

· Purchase needed items at family owned not superstores (if possible). Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Barnes and Noble…. Is Cooks Hardware in Grand Haven, even still in business?

· Eat at family owned restaurants not chain restaurants. (Ruby Tuesdays, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse…..)

Global:

· Educate yourself —.Read. If you would like a list of good books both right and left, please let me know.

· Plastic cutlery — the US produces plastic pellets and ships them to China; China manufacturers the plastic cutlery and ships them back to the US; where the cutlery is used only once and thrown away. We really do that?????? Bring a metal fork and spoon to work!

· Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins at the dinner table. (Laura and I use cotton napkins in colors that match our Fiestaware).

· Check the country of origin for fruit and vegetables. DDT is illegal in this country right? Yup, but where do your Grapes come from? Things that make you go “hmmmm…”

· Join an environmental organization that you believe in or donate to it. Like The International Wolf Center, Rails to Trails, River Clean-up, Three Eyed Spiders… there is a cause out there for everyone!

· Buy products you can re-use. Napkins, plates, silverware, cups, shouldn’t be disposable. Spend a little bit more money on something and it will last you longer. I know, the “Insert thing here” is cheaper at Wal-Mart. Notice how we don’t use the term “less expensive” anymore. We use “Cheaper” because that’s exactly what it is.

· Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying disposal and inexpensive items.

· Buy Organic whenever you can.

If you like information on the impact of your individual footprint, how to make it smaller through offsets, and a lot of more stuff let me know if you have interest. Also, I’ll include a list of companies you should boycott and why.

Thank you all for taking time to read my document. Please try to do a couple of the above tips — the more you do them the better you will feel.

Adam

Available here

Black elongated cats in Celtic knotwork paw their way around endlessly.

After hand forming the metal the cats are encased forever in a glass-like, waterproof, crystal clear, high gloss professional finish.

Here we have a guest post from our learned friend Peter Kirby-Harris, known to the kidz as Kirby / The Kirbster / Kirbalish and is studying for a PHD in Environmental Politics Oooohhhh.............................................................................................. get him!

This boy is an Eco Geeko. A walker by nature and a vegetarian by force, Kirby is more than dedicated to helping us understand how we can be that little bit greener.

So welcome to Kirby our very own Eco warrior and WE wanna see your results - grow it, snap it, show it. munch it, love it.

Get growing.

.....................................................................

Room for growth? Put your home to the test.

Whether it is a desire to be more self-sufficient or the alarm at rising food prices, the issue of how much food can be grown on a local level has never been more important.

From growing herbs in window boxes to allotment gardening, this series of horticultural insights are your guide into the ever increasing world of grow your own (GYO)

The indoor herb garden.

This is something everyone can do no matter what size of dwelling. Minimal time, effort and money can bring about a pleasant although marginal boost to one’s own self sufficiency.

Ingredients – seeds, soil and plant pots. Easy.

Simply plant a few seeds (to increase changes of successful germination) into a pot full of soil and bury it about a centimetre deep. Keep in a warm place until shoots develop then position by window with several hours worth of daily sun. For maximum results try turning the pots 180 degrees every few days to ensure even growth for your plants. Try adding a little compost, if you can manage the smell, or some organic fertiliser.

Continuously harvest when ready for excellent additions to cooking. They could end up looking like this if your good to them.

This should only take about 1 hour a week of planting, watering and composting. This is well worth the effort, not only does it save you £'s per year on herbs and seasonings.

Sainsburys charge nearly £1 for a 25g packet of the stuff and think about it, pizza is just shit without herbs. Mmmmmmm.

So why now? Well, I have a forum--albeit a small one--with this blog. Also, I've been learning a lot more lately and I'd love to share it with people, starting with my friends and family and anyone else who reads this blog. A lot of people are overwhelmed by the prospect of going green. Many people feel that environmental problems are too overwhelming to even think about. Some people think going green has to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Others just haven't been informed and don't know how or where to start. Some people think being environmentally friendly involves a complete lifestyle overhaul and lots of additional expense. Expecting most people to completely overhaul their lives or spend a great deal of time and/or money just isn't realistic. I truly believe that even a small bit of education, awareness, and action is better than nothing, so I'll try to do my part on this little blog in my tiny corner of the worldwide web. If I help a few people make a few small changes, that's great!

My Christine Gets Green posts will all be filed under a category called "Christine Gets Green," which gives you an easy way to read just those posts, if you'd like. Also, use the search box in the upper right corner of the blog to search for keywords or topics that interest you most.

I'm not an expert. I'm just a regular person who is concerned and interested and ready to learn more. I'm not going to lecture or be preachy. I'll simply write about my experiences. I'll write about my questions, concerns, and worries. I'll share books, movies, websites, and products I discover. Please help! If you have an idea for a book, movie, website, or product you'd like me to write about, let me know. Send me an email at calangill@yahoo.com and I'll do my best to write about it. Comment on my posts. Correct me, inform me, encourage me--whatever.

Recebi por email essa escova feita de bambú e essa embalagem de sal de cozinha embalados em bambú.

Notícia do http://drchicletinho.blogspot.com

Kiss My Face has a handy Travel Action Pack for travelers. The Travel Action Pack is a clear airline friendly travel bag filled with shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, deodorant, shaving cream, shower gel, and moisturizer as well. This Action Travel Pack can not only come in handy for people who are traveling but also for people who are spending a weekend at a friend's or a relative's perhaps.

klick here to watch

have a nice day...

...im going to get ready to see obama now!

Lo avevo segnalato qui.

The Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill architectural firm has been busy stirring up the world’s skyline with a slew of lean, green superstructures that push the energy-neutral envelope. AS+GG recently unveiled plans for their latest oeuvre: a Clean Technology Tower in Chicago that takes a multi-generative approach to producing its own energy. Harnessing an atrium of wind turbines beneath a roof-top solar shell, the building “utilizes advanced technologies and climate-appropriate building systems to foster a symbiotic relationship with its local environment.”

More on The Clean Technology Tower

RCA

Pierre Sabas’ Airflow concept encases an electric engine and suspension within an exterior constructed entirely of glass, while Jon Radbrink’s Nuaero car integrates sophisticated aerodynamic principles such as airfoils, a venturi tunnel, and a catamaran-esque underbody to maximize its efficiency.

Sergio Loureiro Da Silva’s rocket-red Phoenix car pairs beautiful aerodynamic curves with a system that regenerates lost energy through movement, and Arturo Peralta Nogueras’ futuristic vehicle runs on algae and features an evolving solid hologram technology to adapt to its environment, passengers, and scenarios.

+ RCA
+ INHABITAT

As environmental awareness grows, people are looking for more sustainable ways of living. The internet is a great source of information, but we have our own specific climate and situation in Curaçao when we want to construct environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings.

Landscaping

Trees on the property bring much-needed natural shade, which cools off the area and reduces cooling needs. But be careful to place a tree too close to the building since some trees can uproot foundations. Plant your trees in strategic spots that keep the sun from warming up walls and windows. Great trees that provide shade and are harmless to your buildings are the GUAYACA. It is evergreen and the roots form a pin that grows straight down into the soil. Our local department of agriculture at Klein Kwartier provides information and the products to help create a low-cost, low-maintenance and water-efficient garden or landscape.

Roofs, Windows and Verandas

The roof of a building is the most important aspect of energy efficiency and sustainability of the house. It provides a number ways to help you live green. Roofing materials are key to the climate in your house. Insulation is not a luxury in our climate, because a hot interior will increase your energy bill substantially. Consider installing clerestory windows to help hot air exit the house and improve airflow thus making use of the aero dynamics. But the roof is also an excellent tool to collect rainwater. Architects will be able to help you establish the right roofing materials, slopes and positioning of your roof. A wide veranda around the house, particularly on the sunny sides of the building significantly help cool off the house and provide a great outdoors spot to relax and enjoy the benefits of the outdoor, again eliminating to stay inside and turn on the AC. When building or remodeling your home or office, consider the fact that the size of the windows catching the morning or afternoon sun really makes a difference on the heat load indoor, so narrow windows on the sunny side are a must. Avoid picture windows at the sunny sides.

If you can afford to install solar panels, your roof should be able to effectively carry the solar panels and help the catch the ‘best rays of the day’. Even if can’t afford the solar panels, plan for them. Technology is making energy efficiency even better and cheaper all the time and with the rise in crude oil prices the cost-efficiency of these and other alternative energy resources is growing fast. You may be able to afford them sooner than you think.

Energy Conservation

Replacing electricity with gas is a very viable option here in Curacao. There are refrigerators and dryers working on gas and most modern air conditioning units can easily be converted to work on gas. But it does require a large industrial gas cylinder so plan a suitable spot for this and integrate it in the design. Outdoor lighting on solar panels are already widely available on the market.

Water Conservation

There are simple things you can consider, other than catching rainwater as we referred to earlier.

Re-use your washing machine water to water plants and catch your shower and bath water to flush toilets. Installing a low flush toilet will assist in saving water and filling up your tank less. If you are unable to obtain one of the newer designed toilets put a brick in the cistern of your toilet to reduce the amount of water consumed for each flush. 

Furniture and Indoor Décor

Energy efficient window treatments can greatly reduce the warmth entering your windows and doors. In addition there are a great variety of furniture made from recycled material. Bamboo is quickly becoming the material of choice because of its strength, durability, resistance to water, but most of all because it grows very quickly and does not impact the earth as deforestation does.

Save on Energy Bills

Our Verosol line of window treatments offers SilverScreen fabrics. The ultra-fine layer of aluminum on a screen fabric dramatically improves the solar energy performance, while demonstrating excellent view through. It can block up to 70% of the solar heat. Besides, SilverScreen adds a contemporary style to architectural design on the interior as well as on the exterior of the building; functional meets decorative.

Green

SIlverScreen is a green product since it is produced environmentally friendly, it is formaldehyde free and as a result does not harm the health of those frequently using the room. It lowers your air conditioning needs considerably and this leads to less CO2 emissions.

You still SEE through

Before, you had to choose very dark shades or completely non-transparent fabrics to keep the heat and the energy of the sun out of your rooms. With SilverScreen, thanks to the aluminum layer on the reverse side, the heat protection and visual glare are practically independent of color. Furthermore, SilverScreen provides a good visual contact to the outside world. Being in a room with SilverScreened windows feels luxurious and calming.

Flame Retardant

Most of Verosol's products are either flame retardant or can be ordered with the flame retardant option. For maximum safety Verosol's fabrics are intrinsically flame-retardant, which means that their flame-retardant properties are permanently present, unlike some other fabrics which lose their flame-retardant properties over time. The flame-retardant properties prevent the fire from shifting through the solar shades and burning scraps will not fall down.

SilverScreen is available as Roller Blinds or Panel Tracks and is suitable for all windows and doors of both commercial and residential buildings.

"Green means Go!" I'm sure my third grade elementary school teacher never suspected that those words would become a hype. Today going green is not only hip, but extremely essential to our efforts to save Money and Mother Earth. You can't ignore it anymore either, because you are confronted with the need to help save the earth every week, when you fill up the car with gas and every month, when your energy bill arrives in the mail. And although I'm an avid 'safe the earth'-person myself, I am now starting to see green.

Too much of a good thing

When I browse the internet and magazines in search of green products on the market I often find that the Going Green hype is being used by marketers in diverging ways that sometimes cause confusion. I just picked up a recent copy of one of my favorite architectural magazines and the first 20 pages were all about 'going green'. Energy efficiency, environmentally save production processes, products, buildings, carpets, tiles, showers, chairs, fabrics... you name it! 95% of adds throughout the magazine (and let's face it: magz are mostly adds, anyway) contained some form of green claim.

Know what it’s about

The result is that we now we need a way to figure out which kind of 'green' we're talking about, so we can easily find what we're looking for. For instance, Light Green would mean the product is manufactured in a way that is less damaging to the environment than before or as compared to other similar products. Medium Green would refer to products that are made from recycled materials, and Dark Green would refer to everything that refers to the use of alternative resources in our surroundings.

Save

The majority of our suppliers here at Solaris Design Center have always offered energy efficiency and other green aspects to their products, but the green hype is just now taking real flight in Curacao. We offer a great selection of quality ‘light, medium and dark green’ interior accessories including window and floor treatments as well as lamp fixtures and furniture. We are proud suppliers of products that fit the whole green spectrum of colors. So I guess we are seeing green, but we can help you find the right hue for you.

da Folha de S. Paulo

Se a Terra fosse compreendida como um organismo vivo e os seres que nela habitam representassem suas células, o homem poderia ser visto como uma espécie de câncer. Basta imaginar que, somente no Brasil, são produzidas 230 mil toneladas de lixo por dia --o equivalente a duas filas de caminhões de lixo de cinco toneladas, ocupando o espaço de dez pontes Rio-Niterói.

Mas, ainda dentro dessa perspectiva, alguns indivíduos fariam muito bem o papel de anticorpo. Muitas vezes tachadas de "ecochatas" ou "biodesagradáveis", são pessoas que realizam ações corretas em doses homeopáticas, produzindo lá adiante transformações na sociedade inteira.

Plantar árvores em lugares públicos, priorizar o uso de transportes coletivos e de bicicleta, evitar consumir produtos supérfluos ou ecologicamente incorretos e separar o lixo para a reciclagem são alguns desses atos isolados de defesa da natureza --que estão cada vez menos ligados ao romantismo e mais à sustentabilidade.

O secretário do Verde e do Meio Ambiente de São Paulo, Eduardo Jorge, 55, chama essas atitudes de "revoluções pessoais". Ele dispensou o uso do carro oficial para ir trabalhar todos os dias de bicicleta. "Detesto ser chamado de ecologicamente correto. Sou um rebelde", diz ele, que afirma ter trocado a visão leninista que tinha aos 18 anos pelas pequenas transformações individuais.

"Devemos ser a mudança que queremos para o mundo, como dizia Gandhi. A postura do homem diante do lixo é mais importante do que mudar o governo. É a forma como ele se relaciona com a produção e o consumo de bens", afirma o secretário, que instalou duas caixas de papelão na sala de casa para colocar o lixo reciclável. "Minha mulher dizia: na sala não, é feio. E eu dizia: é lindo". As caixas acabaram na cozinha.

No fim do ano passado, o músico paulistano Marcelo Dworecki, 24, saiu do apartamento da mãe e foi morar com a namorada e um amigo numa casa. A primeira coisa que fez foi realizar um sonho antigo: instalar sua própria composteira (um lugar para transformar lixo orgânico em adubo) no quintal. Ele mistura os restos de alimentos, como cascas de frutas e legumes, com folhas secas em uma área reservada no jardim. O composto precisa ser remexido com um enxada todos os dias para evitar o mau cheiro.

Dworecki doa parte de seu lixo reciclável para uma cooperativa de catadores perto de sua casa. Os "lixos mais legais" (como latas e caixas de papelão em bom estado) ele leva para uma escola de música que realiza oficinas de construção de instrumentos com sucatas. Dessa forma, não sobra quase nada para o lixeiro. O administrador Rodrigo Gomes Ferreira, 24, morador de Florianópolis (SC), tem carro, mas, na maioria das vezes, deixa-o na garagem. "Procuro privilegiar a bicicleta como meio de transporte. Minha segunda alternativa é o ônibus. Uso o carro mais no fim de semana, quando vou a algum lugar mais longe."

Ferreira diz que fala sobre suas atitudes, mas não gosta de ser "missionário". "O que faz diferença é o próprio exemplo. A militância quase nunca funciona. Quem não está muito a fim acaba não mudando por birra", afirma. Seu exemplo já deu frutos. Quando ele era adolescente, criou o hábito de separar o lixo para reciclagem. Seu pai, que era síndico do prédio, levou a prática para o edifício todo.

Outro bom exemplo é a geógrafa Julia Ribeiro, 25. Na vila onde mora com o marido, no Rio de Janeiro, havia um canteiro meio abandonado, em uma área comum a todos os moradores. Ela resolveu fazer uma horta no local e plantou manjericão, hortelã, boldo, alface e cebolinha. Vendo a iniciativa, alguns vizinhos se animaram e começaram a cultivar também.

Para a geógrafa, o exemplo é a melhor forma de convencer as outras pessoas: "Eu simplesmente faço a minha parte. Não adianta encher o saco de ninguém, uma hora a ficha cai".

Já a química Rita Cavalcanti, 23, não consegue ficar quieta quando vê uma atitude antiecológica. "A gente não corrige só por corrigir, mas para criar consciência. No futuro pode faltar recursos para o meu neto." Ela conseguiu convencer seu noivo a apagar as luzes quando sai de um cômodo e a reaproveitar papéis.

Em casa, Rita e sua família adotaram várias atitudes responsáveis. A água que sai da máquina de lavar é armazenada em baldes e reaproveitada para lavar o chão do quintal. Os cartuchos de tinta para a impressora são recarregáveis. O papel usado é aproveitado para rascunho. Além disso, eles usam apenas pilhas recarregáveis. "Isso evita ter que comprar sempre e gerar mais pilhas para os lixões", diz.

O diretor de educação ambiental do Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Marcos Sorrentino, acredita que existam dois tipos de impacto ambiental derivados dessas iniciativas pessoais. "Um deles são mudanças no clima, no número de árvores das cidades e nos aterros sanitários que parecem pequenas, já que as transformações mais significativas vêm por meio de políticas públicas. O segundo, e mais importante, é cultivar uma postura de cuidado com a vida, que visa a construção de novos modelos de sociedade", afirma.

O biólogo Rogério Parentoni, doutor em ecologia e professor do Instituto de Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, também acredita na força desse tipo de ação: "Se muitas pessoas adotarem essas mudanças de hábito, darão uma boa contribuição para que os recursos sejam preservados para as gerações que virão".

De acordo com Parentoni, há um efeito multiplicador associado às ações individuais. "Outras pessoas observam e acabam reproduzindo esse tipo de atitude", diz. Para ajudar na mudança de hábitos, o biólogo defende a educação ambiental em escolas. "Crianças são ótimos exemplos para os mais velhos. Os adultos ficam envergonhados se elas têm uma atitude ecologicamente correta e eles não."

Estudante se acostumou a ser chamada de "ecochata"

A estudante de geografia da Universidade de São Paulo Gabriela Prol Otero, 23, já perdeu a conta de quantas vezes foi chamada de "ecochata". "Sou extremamente rotulada. Quando um professor alfineta os ecologistas, o pessoal da sala cochicha: 'A 'ecochata' não vai falar nada?'"

Entre as atitudes que adota no dia-a-dia, Gabriela toma banho rápido, fecha a torneira enquanto escova os dentes e não usa copos descartáveis. "Nem pensar. Levo uma garrafa plástica comigo e, no meu trabalho, cada um tem sua caneca para tomar café." No prédio onde mora, ela dispensa o elevador e usa a escada para descer e subir quatro andares. Apesar de ser chamada de chata, a estudante conseguiu convencer várias pessoas a agir de forma parecida. Mas já teve também brigas com a mãe, que costuma usar filmes plásticos para embalar alimentos e lavar o chão com mangueira. "Faço questão de limpar eu mesma usando balde para economizar água", diz.

Autor do livro "Meio Ambiente: Sua História - Como Defender a Natureza sem Ser um Ecochato" (ed. Insular), o escritor e jornalista Paulo Ramos Derengoski, 60, acredita que o termo "ecochato" esteja mudando de significado.

"Quando comecei a escrever sobre o ambiente, há mais de 20 anos, o 'ecochato' era um radical de direita da ecologia, um cidadão que não tinha uma visão dialética", afirma.

Segundo ele, essas ações pessoais de patrulha ecológica são importantes. "Dessa forma, ser chamado de 'ecochato' é um elogio. Daqui a pouco eles serão considerados 'ecolegais'. Acredito que a ecologia represente um novo idealismo para a juventude", diz. Em seu livro, Derengoski usa uma linguagem simples -no lugar do que ele chama de "ecologuês"- para defender políticas ecológicas sustentáveis. E rentáveis: "Tudo que não tiver valor econômico no futuro está condenado ao fracasso. É preciso juntar valor econômico a defesa do ambiente."

Consumo consciente começa na compra do produto

Quando vai a um supermercado, a estudante de geografia Gabriela Otero toma algumas precauções para fazer as compras. No seu carrinho, não entram alimentos transgênicos nem produtos embalados em bandejas de isopor. Folhas verdes, só se forem orgânicas ou hidropônicas. Tudo é carregado em sacolas plásticas que ela leva de casa. Ao lavar frutas e verduras, ela se preocupa em não gastar muita água. Ao se desfazer das embalagens, separa o lixo reciclável e envia para a coleta seletiva.

Gabriela pode ser considerada uma "consumidora consciente", ou seja, uma pessoa que busca a harmonia entre a sua satisfação, a preservação do ambiente e o bem-estar social.

O maior representante desse movimento no Brasil é o Instituto Akatu pelo Consumo Consciente (www.akatu.org.br). "Todos os dias fazemos escolhas ao comprar um produto ou serviço e ao decidir a forma de usá-lo e de descartá-lo. Temos responsabilidade até o fim. Para isso, precisamos de informação séria e fundamentada", diz Maluh Barciotte, gerente de mobilização social do instituto.

Segundo Barciotte, o Akatu trabalha na linha de "pequenos gestos, grandes transformações". "Buscamos mostrar para as pessoas que elas são protagonistas. Uma ação pequena feita durante muito tempo por alguém já tem um efeito fantástico. Quando é feita por muitas pessoas, o impacto é maior ainda", diz. Além disso, trabalha-se com a idéia de que o consumidor consciente age conscientemente em vários setores de sua vida, interferindo, por exemplo, nas políticas públicas.

Em 2002, o instituto realizou uma pesquisa para detectar se o brasileiro consome com consciência. Foram ouvidas 1.200 pessoas com idades entre 18 e 74, moradoras de nove regiões metropolitanas e duas capitais do país.

Os entrevistados tinham que responder a freqüência com que adotam 13 comportamentos -evitar deixar lâmpadas acesas em ambientes desocupados, usar o verso de folhas de papel já utilizadas e separar o lixo para reciclagem, entre outros.

De acordo com as respostas, os entrevistados foram classificados em quatro grupos: 3% foram considerados individualistas (que adotam no máximo dois comportamentos), 54% iniciantes (de três a sete comportamentos), 37% comprometidos (de oito a dez) e 6% conscientes (de 11 a 13).

Barciotte diz que o número de consumidores conscientes vem crescendo e que há menos preconceito contra eles. No entanto, ela observa que ainda tem gente que acha que quem se preocupa com a questão ambiental é "ecochato" ou "nerd". "Na verdade, são apenas pessoas que percebem que não há separação entre o homem e o ambiente e que preservar a natureza é melhor para todos, inclusive para elas."

FONTE: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/equilibrio/

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