Let’s Preserve The Most Biodiverse Floral Kingdom on Earth
- Evan Eifler wrote in Push For Good, Environment and Science
By area, the Cape Floristic Province of South Africa is the most biodiverse floristic kingdom on the planet. To give you an idea, there are 30 percent more plant species in the Cape Floristic Province than in the entire United States, yet the area it covers is less than that of Alaska. An amazing 69 percent of that biodiversity occurs nowhere else on earth. Only four to six percent of the renosterveld vegetation type remains, and it is in danger of being lost forever to modern agricultural technology and indifferent, uninformed land use decisions. In fact, all regional varieties of the renosterveld are now listed as “critically endangered” by the South African government.
Floral kingdoms across the world
ParkScore: The Top 10 City Park Systems in the U.S.
- Adele Peters wrote in Environment, Nature and Cities
Parks change us: people who live near parks are not just more likely to exercise and meet their neighbors, but also less stressed, anxious, or depressed; kids with ADD do better on tests after spending time in parks; and being in nature can even make us more creative. Parks can also reduce crime, and they help fight climate change. Most of this research is fairly new, so it’s not that surprising that cities haven’t always valued parks and open space, and in the United States, there’s a huge variation in how public park systems are designed in different cities, and how they’re supported.
#forthelove of the GOOD Outdoors
- GOOD HQ wrote in Environment, Exploration and News
This month on GOOD.is, we are focusing on the topic of exploration—embracing the spirit of discovery and exploring areas near and far. We will be posting on the subject all month at good.is/exploration and encourage you to tag your own posts “exploration.”
For our monthly challenge: Join our community effort to discover, share, and protect the places we love. Take this opportunity to expand your horizons and embark on an adventure, whether it’s venturing to a new place that’s close to home or trekking across the planet—no matter what hemisphere you’re in. You know that moment when you pull out your phone and snap a photo because you can’t believe how awesome the view is and you want to share it with everyone you know?
Illustration by Corinna Loo
Ditch the Disposable Cup: 8 Innovative Reusable Mugs
- Meghan Neal in Business, Environment and Innovation
Each year Americans throw away about 25 billion paper cups. Not recycled—tossed into a landfill. We’re talking nearly 363 million pounds of waste. In fact, disposable containers (so, paper and styrofoam cups and also plastic bottles) make up 18 percent of our total garbage.
That’s a huge chunk of waste that’s really easy to eliminate—by simply committing to (and remembering to!) use a reusable mug for your morning coffee or tea.
The good news is it’s getting more fun to ditch the paper cup, with many startups and companies innovating to create unique, eco-friendly and savvy travel cups. Here are some of the most innovative travel mugs out there.
Reduce Your Waste, Starting With a Reusable Cup
- Stef McDonald wrote in Environment and Building Blocks Of Citizenship
Sometimes small actions you take can make a difference. Let’s start with your coffee cup. If it’s paper or foam, it’s going to join billions of other cups that are discarded and dumped in landfills every year. (And don’t get us started on those cardboard sleeves.)
Simply put: Disposal here means destructive. Creating disposable cups is a drain on resources and energy, and discarding them means filling our landfills and further polluting the atmosphere with methane—making climate change an even scarier prospect.
So, enough already. Get a reusable cup and take it with you from home to coffee shop to office—or wherever your day takes you. (And if you already have one, remember to use it!)
Robots With ‘Swarm Intelligence’ to Repair the World’s Dying Reefs
- Coralbots Team wrote in Technology, Environment and Sustainability
Coral gardening by humans is time-consuming, restricted to small areas, and impossible in the deep sea because of human diving limits. Our project, Coralbots, advances the current state-of-the art by creating a team of autonomous underwater robots with artificial intelligence to repair coral reefs. Coralbots is a truly cross-disciplinary project based at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland and the Autonomous Undersea Institute in the U.S. The team has expertise in marine biology (Dr. Lea-Anne Henry), artificial intelligence (Prof. David Corne), computer vision (Dr. Neil Robertson) and autonomous underwater robotics (Prof. David Lane and Dr. Richard Blidberg).
Push for Good: This Week’s Guide to Crowdfunding Creative Progress
- Alessandra Rizzotti wrote in Environment, Culture and Food
Innovation makes the world go around, so why not crowdfund it? The best thinkers and ideamakers are the those that can make collective progress, so if we support their causes, projects, and ideas, we can be a part of bettering the future of our planet.
Maybe you don’t know what causes you care about yet, or maybe you’re still searching. Consider this a guide of the goodness you can get behind. Take a look at GOOD’s curated Kickstarter page, which we’ll be updating regularly, and check back every Saturday for a round up of our favorite projects from the crowdfunding world.
Now to share some successes…
Tell us what projects you’re getting behind in the comments below. Push progress forward, and do it for our collective good.
Click here to add crowdfunding projects you can care about to your To-Do list.
From Farm Straight to the Trash: Why We Need Innovative Food Waste Solutions Right Now
- Peter Lehner wrote in Environment, Food and Waste
Forty percent of the food in this country—almost half—is never eaten. We know we can reduce this waste once we put our minds to it. We’ve done it already, with great success, with energy. Governments, working with and encouraged by advocacy groups, designed programs to educate consumers and to prod manufacturers to design better products—light bulbs, refrigerators, cars—that made saving energy easier. Activists and innovators are just starting to develop solutions for food waste. We need a similar movement to build momentum behind these efforts and start bringing these solutions, literally, to the table. And to farms, stores, restaurants and dining services everywhere.
This month, we’re challenging the GOOD community to host a dinner party and cook a meal that contains fewer ingredients than the number of people on the guest list. Throughout March, we’ll share ideas and resources for being more conscious about our food and food systems. Join the conversation at good.is/food and on Twitter at #chewonit.
Travel Like You Give a Damn: Paying a Conscious Visit to Fiji
- Kelsey Barrett wrote in Environment, Living and Citizenship
Over the last 30 years industrial farming practices have stripped and compromised the fertility of their infamous, nutrient-dense soil, partially through the overuse of Agent Orange and other pesticides employed to exterminate jungle-sized weeds. As farmers’ soil fertility declined, they have been known to slash and burn sections of forest to access more land. Fortunately, however, there’s still a modest group of conscious individuals and small-scale gardeners who honor old world concepts of keeping their virgin or ‘sa solia na kalou’ (god-given) forests intact. Fueled by these people and the land’s deterioration I began crafting a framework for the retreat.
Illustration by YesFantastic
Recess: An App to Help You Escape Your Laptop and Save a Little Energy
- Something Dangerous wrote in Technology, Environment and Internet
On February 8-10, GOOD held a Hacking Energy Culture hackathon at Maryland Institute College of Art, aimed at generating new ways to interface with energy consumption, waste, and preservation. Here’s the winning solution, from Nicholas DePaul, Katrinna Whiting, Kevin Zweerink, and Kacie Mills.
Millions of people use computers every day for work and leisure. But who keeps track of how much time they are actually spending glued to their screens? Or the amount of energy their devices are wasting?
Many of our friends and family complain about wasting time on their computers. We asked ourselves if we could design a product aimed at this concern, if we could somehow help all those screen-sapped souls around the world and reduce energy use at the same time. During the 24-hour GOOD Hackathon, we created the outlines of this product.
We call it Recess.
Infographic: The Future Global Supply of Rare Earth Elements
- Column Five contributed in Environment and Energy
It’s Energy month at GOOD, so we’re bringing you infographics that explore our use of energy resources.
Up until the mid-1980s, the United States was the lead global producer of rare earth elements—materials that are used to make the technology that powers everything from laptops to hybrid cars—and have come to define our high-tech lives. Now, America is 100 percent dependent on imports of these elements and China is the primary world supplier. How does China’s domination impact the future global supply of rare earth elements?
This month, challenge a neighbor to GOOD’s energy smackdown. Find a neighbor with a household of roughly the same square footage and see who can trim their power bill the most. Throughout February, we’ll share ideas and resources for shrinking your household carbon footprint, so join the conversation at good.is/energy.
Infographic: Mapping Our Oil Pipeline
- Focus the Nation and Oliver Munday contributed in in Environment, Energy and News
It’s Energy month at GOOD, so we’ve teamed up with Portland, Oregon’s Focus the Nation, an organization that’s empowering youth to make smart environmental choices in their communities. This infographic is part of a series exploring our use of energy resources.
Where does gasoline come from? Believe it or not, it’s not just one system that makes it possible for you to fuel up at your local gas station. From gathering pipelines that include oil wells on land and tankers overseas, to hundred-mile-long crude oil trunk lines that transport from gathering systems to refined product lines, oil still doesn’t reach the consumer until storage and distribution terminals are involved. And, in case you’re picturing these pipelines as similar to the water pipes in your home, oil pipes can range in size from 2 to 42 inches in diameter, and are owned and operated by companies that are regulated by federal and state governments.
In the United States alone, there are roughly 150,000 miles of crude oil pipelines, 55,000 miles of which are trunk lines and 95,000 miles of which are refined product pipelines. Perhaps the most well-known American trunk lines are the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, and most recently, the Keystone XL Pipeline, which has become a point of contention in our federal government. Click on the infographic above to see how an oil pipeline system works.
This month, challenge a neighbor to GOOD’s energy smackdown. Find a neighbor with a household of roughly the same square footage and see who can trim their power bill the most. Throughout February, we’ll share ideas and resources for shrinking your household carbon footprint, so join the conversation at good.is/energy.
The World’s First ‘Moveable City’ Now Operational in Antarctica
- Architizer wrote in Environment, Design and Living
Call it this generation’s “Walking City.” Halley VI, the latest iteration of Britain’s Halley Antarctic research stations, is now fully operational—and it walks, sort of. Halley VI opened today on the centennial commemoration of the first British Antarctic expeditions on the Brunt Ice Shelf, which launched an entirely new and incredibly fertile avenue of scientific research exploring the Earth’s near-space atmosphere. Designed by Hugh Broughton Architects, the new “re-locatable”—i.e. “movable”—facility is the first of its kind in the world.
This post is part of the GOOD community’s 50 Building Blocks of Citizenship. This week, measure your carbon footprint. Follow along and join the discussion at #goodcitizen.
Citizen Building Block #4: Measure Your Carbon Footprint
- Adele Peters wrote in Energy and Environment
Almost everything you do impacts your carbon footprint, from what you eat for breakfast to where you go on vacation. So which things matter most? Use this handy calculator from the Nature Conservancy to figure out what you’re doing well and what you can improve. It’s one step in fighting climate change and being a good, global, citizen.
Illustration by Jessica De Jesus
Hacking Energy Culture: Join a Hackathon with GOOD at MICA
- Keith Bormuth wrote in Technology, Environment and Waste
Next weekend, we’re bringing designers, developers, educators, and storytellers together to rethink our global relationship to energy. GOOD’s Hacking Energy Culture hackathon, organized by Senior UI Designer Doris Yee, will be held February 8 to February 10 at Maryland Institute College of Art.
