In the Berkshires, a small mountainous community in Southern Massachusetts, thier local currency, Berkshares, are helping the local stave off the gloomy economy. While local currencies are nothing new, they are proving a fomidable method of helping locals maintain local integrity while remaining stable in this globalised economy.
“In the last four years, there has been a renewed interest in local economy, local production,” said Witt, executive director of the E. F. Schumacher Society, a Massachusetts-based think tank focused on local production. “It just skyrocketed with the collapse of the global economy.”
This is a great method for communities moving towards sustainability as it addresses a variety of sustainability issues, not the least of which are building stronger communities and cutting back on carbon emissions. While this methodology has both pros and cons, it is great to explore creativity in the market so as to learn more about the alternatives to the one system currently awash with struggle.
A series of articles have been posted recently about the failure of the recyling market due to the severe drop in demand in China. Due to substantial drops in the need for recycled material, people can’t seem to find a good price anywhere for plastic, paper, or other materials. This bodes poorly particularly for the US and UK markets who export a large percentage of their recycled goods to the east.
Young, president of Allan Company, a Los Angeles processor and exporter of recyclable materials, nods towards the window. “Across the street we would process 600 customers on a weekday, 1,000 at the weekend,” he says. “The whole spectrum – the homeowner who has stockpiled aluminium cans, the bar down the street that has a load of beer bottles, the liquor store with used cardboard. Now it’s probably half that number.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/08/recycling-china-us
The lack of demand is hitting hard not only in the exporting countries, but manufacturers in the east as well…
Beijing dealers have taken a particularly hard hit. They stockpiled large quantities of recyclables because prices were soaring, but as the market began to soften, the Olympic security clampdown prevented trucks from entering the capital. The merchants could only watch as the value of their holdings plummeted.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/09/recycling-global-recession-china
Ideally, this will lead to a re-evaluation of the recycling industry in the US and UK and the proper steps will be taken to develop a stronger infrastructure for dealing with the material at home.
According to a recent study done by the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), the arctic ice may have crossed an ecological threshold this year.
“Arctic amplification, the notion that rises in surface air temperatures in response to increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations will be larger in the Arctic than elsewhere over the globe, is believed to be happening now.”
This is a result of the increase in the amount of dark sea surface, as opposed to reflective ice, absorbing more solar heat.
“The observed autumn warming that we’ve seen over the Arctic Ocean, not just this year but over the past five years or so, represents Arctic amplification, the notion that rises in surface air temperatures in response to increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations will be larger in the Arctic than elsewhere over the globe,” she said. “The warming climate is leading to more open water in the Arctic Ocean. As these open water areas develop through spring and summer, they absorb most of the sun’s energy, leading to ocean warming.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/has-the-arctic-melt-passed-the-point-of-no-return-1128197.html?startindex=0
Filed under: Environmental, Technology | Tags: airplane, algae, biofuel, Climate Change, environment, jet
The preliminary trials in alternative fuels for airplanes continues, with more positive results.
** First flight of algae-fuelled jet **
Continental Airlines is the latest to to test-fly a jet biofuel, this time with a product derived partially from algae.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7817849.stm >
Combining the genius of the amazonians and the intelligence of open source, these new machines for home use are a brilliant way of empowering individuals as we work together to combat climate change. Biochar, a way of sequestering carbon and enriching soil, can now be converted to a biofuel at the same time. How? That is up to you to figure out…sort of.
This gasifier experimenter’s kit allows people to work out the method that works best for them.
“The Gasifier Experimenter’s Kit Jim Mason (creator of the Rosetta Project for the Long Now, among other things), has developed an experimenter’s kit for gasification. It is an open-source modular platform which a researcher or hobbyist can use to try the different reactor types that have been developed over the years, different fuels, different air mixes and temperatures, etc. Power hackers can make their own new kinds of reactors as well, add instrumentation, or attach their reactor to whatever other systems they want upstream or downstream.”
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008070.html
In a bold move for the financial world, Bank of America takes the lead in eco-investment by pledging not to support companies which partake in mountaintop removal mining.
“Today, BofA released its revised coal policy, which will have the immediate effect of curtailing commercial lending to companies that mine coal by blowing off the top of mountains. The policy states, in part:
Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal. While we acknowledge that surface mining is economically efficient and creates jobs, it can be conducted in a way that minimizes environmental impacts in certain geographies.
Why is this significant? Consider that Bank of America stands as a pillar of our country’s shaky financial system. In fact, the trying economic crisis has only served to strengthen this behemoth bank while other once proud and stable institutions fall by the wayside. All the more reason to engage BofA in using its investment power and influence to affect positive environmental change.”
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rperks/bank_of_america_puts_a_deposit.html
Hopefully this will start to choking of the money currently going to coal and get diverted toward renewables.
