How many times in the past years have you heard just how terrible livestock is to the Earth? Polluting the atmosphere, overgrazing the grasslands, and destroying ecosystems with their vast presence. But emerging voices are arguing this long standing belief that livestock are the bane of the worlds environmental problems, and instead reminding us that indeed it’s bad agricultural practices that are killing the Earth, and livestock can be our solution.
At this stage in our ongoing climate discussion, you’ve probably heard the word “geoengineering” being thrown around. It is, after all, the newest fad in mainstream talk about solutions to our Earth’s climate change problem. But what, exactly, is geoengineering? According to Wikipedia, “Geoengineering (or climate engineering) is usually taken to mean proposals to deliberately manipulate the Earth’s climate to counteract the effects of global warming from greenhouse gas emissions.” In other words, it’s using technology to fiddle, quite directly, with the environment.
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How do you save a critically endangered species of gorilla? What if someone told you: with a snail? It may sound like a joke, but that’s exactly what’s happening in Nigeria, where poaching has reduced the population of the Cross River Gorilla to 300 lonely animals. Because of illegal logging, mining, and the bushmeat trade, this species could be extinct in 15 years, if not shorter of time. Yet, because of new innovative thinking on behalf of conservationists, these apes have been given a new lease on life. Read more…
Photo Credit: James Jordan
If you’ve been following the genetically modified crop debate over the past years, I’m sure you’ve heard of Roundup Ready crops: pesticide-resistant plants that make it “easy” to blast weeds while keeping yields in tact. Roundup itself, the herbicide technically known as glyphosate, was developed by Monsanto in the 1970s to be marketed together with its Roundup Ready genetically engineered (GE) seeds that can resist the herbicide, and is now the most popular herbicide in America. Yet, like most problems it’s faced with, nature has found a way to survive. Read more…
When approaching the topic of sustainability, many people in the West have viewed needed changes as both drastic and new. Yet, many countries in the very recent past were indeed self-sufficient by necessity, and, although still considered “poor” by todays standards, maintained sustainability as a way of life. Sadly, the emergence of a Western dominated international policy has ruled away the right of many peoples ability to be self-sufficient in the name of industrialization, “development”, and progress. Read more…
By the laws that govern nature, with input so is there output. And, in a world run by a few billion souls consuming everything from food to clothes to computers to gas, it’s mighty obvious we have an enormous garbage problem on our hands. Yet, thanks to new and innovative technologies, referring to waste as garbage is becoming as outdated as the incandescent bulb. Read more…
After hearing years of depressing news about our enormously depleted fish populations, and how many of our solution-oriented fish farms are each actually more polluting than the combined “raw human sewage from a town of several thousand people,” I was about to put my last can of tuna in the closet as a proof for my grandkids of the days when we had fish. But now, with much improved technology and the concerned investment of a few business-minded individuals, your goldfish may have something more to smile about tomorrow. Read more…
Photo Credit: Didier Bier
You think you know what mushrooms are? Sure, they peek through the grass in moist areas, are neatly packaged in plastic crates in grocery stores, and sometimes overcooked on pizza. Not exactly the life-changing ingredient imagined when you think of our current global situation. Nevertheless, if we take the time to look just a little closer, we learn that these tasty mushrooms are simply the fruiting body of mycelium, our true hero in this story, that make up an underground network of fibers with enormous planet-saving potential. Read more…
Keep reading and continue greening!
Loading ...A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
-Greek Proverb
