What is Earth Overshoot Day? In 8 Months, Humanity Exhausts Earth's Budget for the Year August 20 is Earth Overshoot Day 2013, marking the date when humanity exhausted nature’s budget for the year. We are now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Just as a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Global Footprint Network measures humanity’s demand for and supply of natural resources and ecological services. And the data is sobering. In 1993, Earth Overshoot Day—the approximate date our resource consumption for a given year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish—fell on October 21. Earth Overshoot Day, a concept originally developed by Global Footprint Network partner and U.K. think tank new economics foundation, is the annual marker of when we begin living beyond our means in a given year. The Cost of Ecological Overspending Methodology and Projections
Computing for Sustainability | Saving the earth one byte at a time | Page 2 Hopeful tourism computing? A couple of weeks a ago I interviewed Tess Brosnan, a film maker who wanted to talk about links between citizen science and hopeful tourism. This led me to read Annette Pritchard, Nigel Morgan and Irena Ateljevic’s “Hopeful tourism: A new transformative perspective” (pdf). I found myself reading while mentally replacing “tourism” with “computing”. For […] Apple growers, Academics, Activists and an Animator of Lunatics Sustainable Lens: Resilience on Radio, condensed down to one image. There’s a word for that: Anupholesteraphobia I found myself reading a book on music performance (long story). Audaciously sustainable The Audacious Student Business Challenge has expanded this year to encourage business for good with a social enterprise category. Sustainable action points I’m working with a final year Career Practice student – Lily Parker. Celebrating Excellence in Communication within IT in NZ What’s your favourite quote?
Everything Petroleum Does, Hemp Does Better Becca Wolford, Contributing WriterWaking Times We are in an economic crisis. But don’t panic, there are always good things that come out of crises. It’s all a matter of being aware, being ready, and being educated. Our economy, put simply, really sucks right now. But the United States is not alone. Here is a simplified example: A country has good currency and a strong economy. (image from rickety.us) Here are the main reasons for our economic state today: 1. 2. 3. If you look at history about 100 years ago, when the big oil boom started, that is when the economy surged and the population started seeing an increase. The United States uses 25% of the world’s daily oil supply, and imports 70% of that. Oil is not a renewable resource, and it is a DECLINING resource. Global oil production is declining at 8-10% per year. Now, this is not the end of the world as we know it. Hemp does everything that petroleum does, AND BETTER! Petroleum-based plastics are not biodegradable. So, what do we do now?
Was bedeutet Earth Overshoot Day? Die Menschen verbrauchen innerhalb von acht Monaten die Kapazität der globalen Ressourcen eines ganzen Jahres. Am 20. August war Earth Overshoot Day, der Tag, an dem die Menschheit die natürlichen Ressourcen eines ganzen Jahres erschöpft hat. Momentan brauchen wir die natürlichen Vorräte auf. Ähnlich wie die Banken Buchhaltung über Einkommen und Ausgaben führen, führt Global Footprint Network Buchhaltung über Angebot und Nachfrage an natürlichen Ressourcen und ökologische Leistungen durch die Menschheit. 1993 fiel der Earth Overshoot Day auf den 21. Das Konzept des Earth Overshoot Day wurde ursprünglich vom Britischen Think Tank new economics foundation gegründet. Der menschliche Verbrauch an globalen Ressourcen Die Folgen ökologischer Überbeanspruchung Schon immer verwenden Menschen natürliche Ressourcen um sich zu ernähren und Städte und Strassen zu bauen. Methoden und Aussichten Im Jahr 2011 kam der Earth Overshoot Day einige Wochen später wie im Jahr 2010.
The Greening of the Self By Joanna Macy / filmsforaction.org Something important is happening in our world that you are not going to read about in the newspapers. I consider it the most fascinating and hopeful development of our time, and it is one of the reasons I am so glad to be alive today. It has to do with what is occurring to the notion of the self. The self is the metaphoric construct of identity and agency, the hypothetical piece of turf on which we construct our strategies for survival, the notion around which we focus our instincts for self-preservation, our needs for self-approval, and the boundaries of our self-interest. Something is shifting here. Widening our self-interest The conventional notion of the self with which we have been raised and to which we have been conditioned by mainstream culture is being undermined. I think of the tree-huggers hugging my trunk, blocking the chain saws with their bodies. What is striking about Michael's words is the shift in identification. The ecological self
Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food Petrodollar Seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wird der Handel mit Erdöl hauptsächlich in US-Dollar abgerechnet. Das hierfür verwendete Geld wird auch als Petrodollar bezeichnet. Folgen der Dollarfakturierung[Bearbeiten] Aus der Dollarfakturierung des Erdöls lassen sich drei Bedeutungen ableiten: Erstens hat die große und konstante Abhängigkeit der Weltwirtschaft vom Rohöl einerseits zur Folge, dass der Wechselkurs jedes Landes gegenüber dem US-Dollar eine entscheidende ökonomische Größe ist - schließlich beeinflusst er in großem Maß die Rohstoffpreise eines Landes. Zweitens verursacht die fast ausschließliche Dollarfakturierung andererseits bilanztechnisch Verbindlichkeiten der US-Zentralbank Federal Reserve gegenüber den erdölexportierenden Ländern in enormem Umfang, da diesen Ländern durch den Ölexport große Dollarbestände zufließen. Drittens fließen der US-Zentralbank in Höhe der Ölkaufpreise Devisen der ölkaufenden Nationen zu. Petrodollars und die Seigniorage-Einnahmen der USA[Bearbeiten] Film[Bearbeiten]
EcoGeek - Brains for the Earth How to Grow 100 Pounds of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet | Apartment Therapy Re-Nest On many occasions, we've been tempted to grow our own potatoes. They're fairly low maintenance, can be grown in a pot or in the ground, last a fairly long time if stored properly, and can be very nutritious (high in potassium and vitamin C). Here's more incentive: according to this article, you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 sq. feet. Learn how after the jump... According to this article from the Seattle Times, potatoes planted inside a box with this method can grow up to 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet. All that is required: Lumber Seed potatoes Soil Careful attention to watering The Times' guide for building a potato growing box yields up to a 100 lbs. of potatoes in a mere 4 square feet is shown below: Plant as early as April or as late as August 1, with an approximated 3 month till harvest turnaround time. Here are some pointers from the article: Cut apart larger seed potatoes, making sure there are at least two eyes in each piece you plant.