With great power....

The internet search king is using it's power for good. With a motto "Don't be evil." they at least have the right idea. They have decided to expand from the computer domain into the more political influential arena. Now they are wanting to use their finances to help the world. First there is Clean Energy 2030. Their analysts have proposed a plan to greatly reduce fossil fuel use in the US by 2030. Let's hope they can inspire us to act and the Government to listen!
Another great project that Google is coming up with is a unique way of celebrating their 10th anniversary. 10 to the 100th (which is the number "Googol" where Google derives it's name) is a project that encourages people to submit their ideas to change the world. They want ideas, you don't even have to be capable of creating it yourself and the ideas can be in any of their 8 categories. The top 5 ideas that are chosen will have Google commit $10million to implement these ideas. Time to put your thinking caps on!!!

Maybe we need to look into the past to see into the future...

I'm starting to notice a small possible trend. Maybe it's just me and my desire to get back to the "simple" life of days past. Now I'm noticing that there are researchers that are looking to the past to solve problems with the current environmental issues. One of them being the Einstein Fridge.
Yes, THAT Einstein. Apparently along with figuring out the secrets of the universe, he like to tinker around with solving daily issues. Back in the 30's he and a colleague designed and patented a refrigerator that does NOT use electricity and can now greatly reduce greenhouse gasses. Unfortunately, when Freon came into wide use, the Einstein Fridge concept couldn't keep up with the efficiency of the new refrigerators. An Oxford University researcher is now reexamining the concept to see if the efficiency can be increased.
Another concept that seems to be looking to the past is eco-city design. I was telling my wife about this concept but could not remember the website. Doing some research we discovered that the concept was seemingly based on the Garden Cities of To-Morrow by Ebenezer Howard. The basic idea is planning a moderate sized city in a circle format, at the same time utilizing the space to it's fullest and still being able to have a large percentage of parks, nature and natural beauty incorporated into the "city." Everything is within walking distance or can easily be reached at metros centered within each of the circles. Unfortunately, we can't just tear down a city and start over from scratch, but city architects like the one who designed the Cloverleaf city can and should incorporate concepts for minimizing the need for vehicles and maximizing the amount of nature that even city dwellers require, whether they know it or not.

Even Greener Solar Power

With all the recent push for clean energy, websites and businesses focusing on wind and solar power are cropping up all over the place. It's hard to keep track of them all. Only time will tell which ones will make it past the "bubble burst". I think it's great for competition and it also brings prices down for the consumers. So along with the planet benefiting, we do also by saving money. Out of all the articles I've been reading, I thought the company BioSolar has the right idea. They're a company that states on their website that they have "...developed a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that will reduce the cost per watt of solar cells. Most of the solar industry is focused on photovoltaic efficiency to reduce cost. BioSolar is the first company to introduce a new dimension of cost reduction by replacing petroleum-based plastic solar cell components with durable bio-based components." In the race for clean energy, I hope that BioSolar wins out or at least inspires others to follow their eco-friendly example!

Got water?

We just received our own Berkey water filtration system a few days ago. We've been doing a little research into different brands and what they are capable of, and ended up choosing the Berkey. The Berkey Filter is a gravity fed filtering system based off of a time tested British design which uses ceramic "candles" to filter the water. Pour the cleanest water you can find (this can include river water, if that is all you can find) and after about an hour or two you'll have some great drinkable filtered water. These filters are so good that they can even filter out food coloring from your water! The system we got is called the BIG BERKEY. We ordered 4 of the "candles" in the set but we are only using two, so we'll have extra on reserve. The system comes with plugs to allow you to block off two of the holes to the lower filtered chamber. The extra filters allow you to filter water at a faster rate and can filter around 3000 gallons (all depending on how bad the water is). The construction is all stainless steel with a plastic water tap, base and filter plugs. The only down side I've noticed so far is that I'm afraid that if I happen to knock it over, it will be severely dented and won't piece together properly. Overall, we think that it's a great buy and it's also a reassurance having a non-electrical alternative to getting pure drinking water.

Voluntourism- It is a real word.

I came across this interesting concept today. "Voluntourism" is normal people with everyday jobs taking a vacation with an environmental purpose in mind and working directly with peer reviewed scientists and researchers. There are many different adventures available. You could dig up Roman history in England, swim with sharks, study active volcanoes, explore the economic and environmental benefits of shade grown coffee, and so much more. Excursions last anywhere from 5-15 days and are organized according to level of physical activity. This could be a great way to see the world and make a positive impact at the same time. So are you all packed and ready to go off on an adventure?

EDIT (10/18): A friendly commenter gave us another great site to check out here.