The Food System The Food System The Food System - Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Social Issues Team and Elliott Kuhn (graphic artist), 2004. Agricultural Treadmills PDF version of Agricultural Teadmills For more detail see: Howard, Philip H. 2009. PDF version of Connect Four: The Percentage of Sales Controlled by the Top Companies in Specific Food SectorsData: Hendrickson, Mary, and Bill Heffernan. 2005. Poultry Networks Typical relations among broiler growers, integrators and other agents in broiler growing networks. Beef Networks Typical relations among cattle growers, feedlots and other agents in beef cattle networks. Commodity Crop Networks Typical relations among farmers and other agents in corn and soybean commodity crop growing networks.
A bit of green :: Crafts :: Plastic Cup Lamp Now that my university is closed for winter holidays, I finally have more free time to do all the crafty things I’ve been wanting to. One of these is a lamp made from plastic cups I’ve seen at taf, the art foundation, in the Monastiraki region in the center of Athens. When I first saw it at taf, I was amazed; I looked closely and I couldn’t believe my eyes! The object itself is so peculiar, modern and alien-like it could be in any design exhibition. With my best friend’s birthday coming up, I decided to make it myself and give it to her as a gift. It turns out it was the easiest craft I’ve even done, the epitome of DIY objects! Disclaimer: There have been some concerns about the safety of this construction (see the comment of user “when” below for example). I only needed a couple of things: 200-250 large plastic cups (recyclable, at least )600-700 staplesa staplera lamp socket, lamp cord and plug – mine came from a broken IKEA lamp! That’s all you will need. …to this! You might also like:
Experience Just How Big the Universe is, in One Mind-Blowing Interactive You need a more recent version of Adobe Flash Player. Recently, NASA scientists combined data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes to discover the most distant galaxy known to date. The galaxy, named Abell2744 Y1, was formed around 13.2 billion years ago when the universe was extremely young. As the universe is expanding, Abell2744 Y1 is currently closer to 40 billion light years away from us, an astounding distance. Image: Galaxy cluster Abell2744 obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (Credit: NASA) But what does that really mean? Most of us have trouble visualizing the height of buildings, or the distance it takes to get home from work, let alone things on an intergalactic scale. Even cooler are the tidbits of information that are provided when you click on an object. 1. This is the smallest unit of scale in the universe. As you can see from the animation it takes a bit of zooming to reach this scale. 2. 3. 4. Tres-4 is the second largest planet discovered so far. 5. 6. 7.
WildAid | Why is Plastic Pollution a Problem in Our Oceans? A sea turtle spots a plastic bag floating among the waves. To him, it looks like a jellyfish, its general shape and consistency swaying and catching the light in just the right way. He swims toward it and ingests the bag in one gulp, satisfying his hunger, and then goes on his away. This is why a sea turtle could confuse a plastic bag with a jellyfish (Plastic Pollution Coalition) This story is all too common in the marine environment. Only 9% of plastics in the United States are recycled, and since most are not biodegradable, much of this refuse floats around for years, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces that are invisible to the naked eye. This problem can’t be solved by any one person or organization, but efforts to recycle our trash, repurpose plastic waste (such as the collaboration between Parley and Adidas), organize beach clean-ups and develop policies to eliminate single-use plastics all help to reduce the amount of waste we produce.
Garbology Featured Activity: Waste-Less Lunch Lead your students in learning about natural resources used in common packaging materials. Challenge your students to conserve natural resources through their lunch choices. Check out this and other Garbology lessons for the classroom » Featured Activity: Conduct a Waste Assessment Do you know how much waste your school puts in landfills each week? Learn how and check out other Garbology activities » Featured Activity: Composting With the FBI The FBI turn waste into healthy soil. Bring Garbology home » about brainpickings.org Hey there. My name is Maria Popova and I’m a reader, writer, interestingness hunter-gatherer, and curious mind at large. I’ve previously written for Wired UK, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, among others, and am an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow. Maria Popova. Brain Pickings is my one-woman labor of love — a subjective lens on what matters in the world and why. Founded in 2006 as a weekly email that went out to seven friends and eventually brought online, the site was included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive in 2012. Here’s a little bit about my seven most important learnings from the journey so far. I think of it as LEGOs — if the bricks we have are of only one shape, size, and color, we can build things, but there’s a limit to how imaginative and interesting they will be. Please enjoy. For more on the ethos behind this labor of love, here is my On Being conversation with the wonderful and generous Krista Tippett:
Conditioning Plarn (Plastic Bag Yarn) for Crochet If You Can't Spin, "SOFTEN" As I have said earlier, I don’t know how to spin. I’ve only crocheted plarn for almost a year now and in my early projects, I crocheted “unconditioned “ or flat plarn. This was just fine if you use plarn from thin and soft plastic bags. All you have to do is to make sure you crush the plarn in the nip of the hook as you crochet it. But as the days go by, I encountered plastic bags that are not soft. Just recently I had this wonderful idea of crushing/crumpling the plarn before crocheting. My first try was with the hole in my key. See the picture HOW TO SOFTEN PLARN. how I position my finger and the plarn on the fork. I’m not sure if I’m the first one to share this technique or if others have already discovered it before me. Conclusion Although I have not tried spinning, I believe that spun plarn is better than "softened" plarn.
Milkwood: homesteading skills for city & country 21st-Century Capitalism Is Killing Ocean Life | Yves Engler Sea turtle lies lifeless, wrapped in plastic on the shores of Porto de Galinhas beach on January 12, 2017 in Ipojuca, Brazil. (Photo: Marcos Souza/Brazil Photo Press/Getty Images) For 21st century capitalism the more disposable the better. Ocean life and human health be damned. According to a recent Ellen MacArthur Foundation study, the world's oceans are set to have more plastic than fish by 2050. There are currently 150 million tonnes of plastic debris floating in the world's oceans. The Canada-U.S. During the second half of the 20th century plastic production rose 20 fold and it's on pace to double over the next two decades. Approximately half of plastic is for single use. Before wreaking havoc on ocean fauna, plastics also harm human health. The toxins in plastics should be better regulated. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act provides the federal government with a tool to restrict toxic substances while Environment Canada operates a scientific review to test for possible harm.
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