Defining ecological footprint



Ecologists have come up with the term “ecological footprint”.  What does it mean?  Our ecological footprint is the amount of land and water it takes to sustain the way we live here on our planet.  It encompasses the people’s demand on the planet with its ability to regenerate.  Studies have shown that the way we live now, our ecological footprint is 1.3.  Meaning, it takes 1.3 Earths to support our lifestyle.

With the advent of global warming, pollution and other ecological disasters plaguing our planet, scientists, ecologists and environmentalists are scrambling to find a way to make our footprint smaller.  There are a lot of ecological footprint calculators so scientists are finding a way to standardize these tests in order to obtain a more accurate and consistent measuring system.

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What is Composting? How to Composte.



Composting is the natural decomposition of weeds, manure and other yard waste, fruit and vegetables.  The breakdown of these organic materials produces compost which can be made into fertilizer to enrich soil.    By composting we do not only help conserve our environment by reducing the amount of garbage sent to landfills, we also help promote healthier soil where we can grow healthy flowers or fruit and vegetables like tomatoes, carrots and herbs.

There are many ways to compost.  Some make bins from recycled materials or buy one at the store.  Others go binless, by digging a hole directly on the ground.  But there are some basic composting dos and don’ts.

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Coffee: The Next Green Fuel



Cost-effective and eco-friendly biofuel continues to occupy the interest of green fuel makers. The latest venture in this direction takes coffee as the new source of biofuel that would cut the energy expenditure involved in biofuel production by a significant proportion while easing the stress on the use of conventional fuels and also reducing harmful emissions.

The first breakthrough in deriving biofuel from coffee happened in 2006 in Brazil – world’s leading producer of coffee – where coffee beans were used by a team of engineers for making biodiesel. The technology thus developed emerged as a cost-effective means of relatively inexpensive biodiesel since the fuel was extracted from low-quality coffee beans, those not approved for dietary human use. With a modest production capacity of 45 million kilos of biofuel, coffee beans serve as an easily available raw material for biofuel production. Biodiesel derived from coffee beans is currently being used in Brazil in some trucks and tractors on coffee cooperatives.

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Green Boots Arrive on the Scene



Technological advances help actualize the quest for eco-friendly lifestyle; and so does creativity. Take, for example, the fresh innovation of designer Camila Labra – a pair of green boots. Certainly, we are not talking about the color ‘green’ but the environment-friendly footwear designed by the 23 year old eco-conscious designer from Santiago (Chile). The product has nearly stunned the environmentalists and is also sending waves across the world of fashion.

Camila Labra’s green boots are made almost entirely of recycled plastic bags and have come to be named as Dacca Boots, after the city of Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh) where an abundance of plastic bags led to a ban on their use in 2002. Making a pair of Dacca Boots, as designed by Camila Labra, requires about 8 plastic shopping bags along with some cotton lining. The advantages of Dacca Boots are quite promising: useful recycling of otherwise troublesome plastic bags; saving the environment from the harmful effects of plastic waste (which is non-biodegradable); and saving other resource materials used in shoe-making; not to say of the hip look and style of these ankle boots.

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European Union votes to ban toxic farm pesticides



The European Union has voted to ban toxic farm pesticides earlier this week.  This move tightens the use of pesticides in agriculture and prohibits the use of 22 chemicals.

The legislation aims to control crop spraying especially in areas near schools and hospitals.  The ban also aims to curb the use of toxic chemicals, some of them said to be carcinogenic.

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