Do you know of a national park near New York City? Probably not. The Gateway National Recreation Area spreads over more than 26,000 acres and is located on the New York-New Jersey harbor and coastline. This national recreation area was crated in 1972 and provides recreational opportunities for more than 22 million tri-state area residents [...]
A practical approach for developing economies – Design for Sustainability.
147 Tiny Tips to Live Healthier, Happier, Greener and Better.
New Urbanism incorporates neighborhood walkability as one of the pivotal factors in improving quality of life as well as working toward conservancy. Considering that obesity is one of the rising health problems in the United States, walkability measures are also used to promote healthy living. Walkability measures in a neighborhood usually include calculating distances to [...]
We know that building environmentally-friendly buildings has finally come into vogue when you have more than one accreditation services. Earlier LEED was the gold standard for a building seeking to achieve a ‘green’ status. Well, it still is and thanks to its long-standing and stringent standards, it has gained more importance and credibility in spite [...]
Turning on the solar power in your home need not be expensive anymore. A renewable energy development company, Citizenre is offering customers to “rent” solar panels for a fixed period of time while paying a per-kilowatt fee replacing the local utility bill. This is a notable effort since the prohibitive aspect of solar power in [...]
Alex Staffen at WorldChanging gives a thumbs up to Worldwatch’s new report on the State of the World in which they cite that by the end of 2010, we would have nearly 3.5 billion urbanites. Alex particularly likes the chapters that address the crossover between the urban and the natural regions of the world that [...]
Land use planning can be used as an effective tool in reducing the economic and social risks of natural hazards. The local governments provide the better authority to implement planning mitigation strategies due to extensive and comprehensive potential for tapping into community resources and public participation. The local governments are also in a better position [...]
Disasters have caused tremendous loss of life and property around the world especially in the United States. This trend has seemingly increased in the 1990s. The conflict between natural disaster occurrences and choices of places where people want to live has often proven to be the cause of these losses. The government, at the federal [...]
WorldChanging is one site I have been reading for a long time now and can heartily recommend to anyone interested in sustainability and green technology. They have come out with their own book, complete with a foreword by Al Gore and an introduction by Bruce Sterling. Technorati Tags: green technology, sustainability, WorldChanging, books, environment, 21st [...]
Considering that the Internet is touted as the developing countries’ tool to leapfrog into the 21st century, the power that runs the Internet is sadly lacking in such countries. Well, thanks to a Bay Area nonprofit, wireless Internet access can now be powered by solar energy. As seen above: “The latest version of the organization’s [...]
“As a prototype for future Big Dig architecture, the structural system for this house is almost wholly comprised of steel and concrete from Boston’s Big Dig, utilizing over 600,000 lbs of recycled materials” [source]. With the future of Big Dig in trouble, probably this project may not last long too or rather, if the Big [...]
Ever wish if a particular product was biodegradable so that you could use it without guilt? How about a biodegradable cell phone? Well, that and many more such innovative products are opening up new avenues. Technorati Tags: biodegradable, environment, product design
A trend that has taken hold across the USA in the past few years is evolving to a new level. What has been a patchwork of green buildings in many cities is expanding to whole communities, whole neighborhoods. Portland, well known as an urban-design innovator, particularly for its transit-oriented developments, is leading the way again. [...]