décembre 2009
Soumis par Live Earth le 1 décembre, 2009 - 12:35
Every week we profile a Dow Live Earth Run for Water partner organization that works toward providing solutions to the nearly 1 billion people who lack access to clean, safe water. To donate to one of these projects, visit liveearth.org/give.
Fondo para la Paz is a non-profit organization that has worked for 15 years with rural indigenous villages in Mexico promoting community-led development and building social capital to improve their living conditions.
Soumis par Live Earth le 14 décembre, 2009 - 09:10
Every Monday we profile a Dow Live Earth Run for Water partner organization that works toward providing solutions to the nearly 1 billion people who lack access to clean, safe water. To donate to one of these projects, visit liveearth.org/give.
For 20 years, Water.org has been empowering communities in Africa, Central America, and South Asia to meet their own water and sanitation needs. Co-founded in 2009 by Matt Damon and Gary White, Water.org is the result of a combination of WaterPartners, founded in 1990, and H20 Africa.
Soumis par Live Earth le 15 décembre, 2009 - 07:30
A team of 5 drilling a well in Bolivia
If you want to make a borehole (the quickest way to make wells), you have two options. The first is hiring a big machine, which will arrive on a truck from the city, and gets the business done in a few hours. For at least $5,000 up to $20,000. Quick, easy, but far from cheap. The second is doing it by hand, using a manual drilling technology. It takes longer, it is heavy work, but it also gets the job done. For about $500. Now there is an interesting difference in price, don't you think?
Of course, manual drilling does not work everywhere. Clay, sand, and compacted sand are ok, but rock or large stones are not ok. But it just happens to be the case that hundreds of millions of people live in areas which have just the right soil types. One such country with the right soil type is Bolivia. It is home to two different manual drilling technologies, the EMAS method (which we will meet in one of the next blogs) and the Baptist method.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 18 décembre, 2009 - 12:53
U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference this morning in Copenhagen. While his speech was highly anticipated as a possible turning point in the negotiations of a comprehensive global climate treaty, it was more of a call to action than a defining moment.
"Our ability to take collective action is in doubt," Obama said (watch video of the speech below).
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 18 décembre, 2009 - 14:03
Island nations such as Tuvalu and Maldives made some of the most gripping speeches to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference, which ran from December 7-18 in Copenhagen, featured delegates and leaders from nearly 200 nations.
Soumis par jgeeslin le 22 décembre, 2009 - 14:45
How can you celebrate, but make your holidays as green as they can be? Read about how to make your own wrapping paper, make tasty eco-friendly holiday dinners, share the ride, and recycle your tree on the holiday edition of our blog!
How can you make your holidays as green as they can be? Here are some great ideas:
Make Your Own Wrapping Paper
Most mass-produced wrapping paper you find in stores is not recyclable and ends up in landfills. Instead, try using creative ways to be eco-friendly. Wrap presents with old maps, the comics section of a newspaper, or children's artwork. Or use a scarf, attractive dish towel, bandana, or some other useful cloth item. If every family wrapped just three gifts this way, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 19 décembre, 2009 - 18:59
While much of the focus of the Live Earth Run for Water and our partner organizations is providing clean, safe water solutions in the developing world, a report last week revealed that outdated regulations allow contaminated water to pass as legal drinking water in the United States.
Soumis par Live Earth le 21 décembre, 2009 - 12:02
Every Monday we profile a Dow Live Earth Run for Water partner organization that works toward providing solutions to the nearly 1 billion people who lack access to clean, safe water. To donate to one of these projects, visit liveearth.org/give.
Project WET is an award-winning global non-profit organization celebrating its 25th year in 2009. Since its beginning, Project WET has dedicated itself to the mission of reaching and empowering children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education. Project WET achieves its mission by:
Soumis par Geoff Livingston le 21 décembre, 2009 - 15:02
The UN Climate Change Conference ended with a controversial deal and an unfunded commitment by wealthy countries to provide monies for developing countries that engage in green developments. The accord offered some progress. Yet critics have good cause to be angered. Nothing that the world's biggest carbon producing offenders -- the United States and China -- agreed to offers substantive change in their own actions.
Soumis par jgeeslin le 26 décembre, 2009 - 13:16
If you live in the eastern United States, then you are no doubt dealing with plenty of snow this winter. Ever wonder just how the snow removal systems work that make your life that much easier trying to get to school and work in the morning?
The snow is "removed" by the use of sodium chloride. The melting snow, ice and rain cause salt to run off roads onto nearby vegetation and soil, eventually seeping into streams, lakes and rivers. This is of course very harmful to wildlife and vegetation in the area. This runoff salt has also been found in residential drinking wells in some Northeastern and Midwestern states.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 22 décembre, 2009 - 01:00
click to watch!LiveEarth TV Episode 2 provides a look into the global water crisis as it relates to children in the developing world -- 5,000 die every day as a result of unsafe drinking water.
Musician, artist, and entrepreneur Pete Wentz talks to Shira about why he got involved with Invisible Children, what the Global Water Crisis means to him now that he's a father, and why YOU should participate in the Dow Live Earth Run for Water.
You can make a difference now for the nearly 1 billion people without access to clean, safe drinking water. Give hope for the holidays by donating to a Live Earth Run for Water partner to provide solutions worldwide at liveearth.org/give.
Soumis par jgeeslin le 22 décembre, 2009 - 07:44
The Copenhagen Climate Conference ended after 2 weeks of intense global negotiations. Although leaders could not agree on a binding climate deal, there was an interim accord. Nations will share information about what they’re doing to reduce carbon emissions, fund climate change mitigation for poor countries, and protect rainforests, but there was no target set for specific reductions. While this is a step in the right direction, we have lots of work ahead of us to achieve a binding agreement in the future.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 21 décembre, 2009 - 15:37
Click on a link below for more information on the 2010 Dow Live Earth Run for Water event in that city:
Soumis par jgeeslin le 20 décembre, 2009 - 08:00
Water security, like food and energy security, is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. Businesses everywhere are beginning to find out that their water supply can no lo Worldwide Water Crisis: Time is Running Out nger be taken for granted.
Yet around one third of the population already lives in areas where water is physically or economically scarce due to insufficient investment in the necessary infrastructure, according to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 11 décembre, 2009 - 16:46
Take Action for the Climate This Weekend!
With nearly 200 countries discussing the future of the planet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this week and next, NOW is the time to show your support with thousands of others.
This weekend people around the world are taking action on climate change. The folks at 350.org, Avaaz, and tcktcktck are holding candlelight vigils, creating signing walls and ringing church bells. Find your local action here, and be part of the global movement to solve climate change: http://www.350.org/map. If there's no action near you, it's not too late to sign up and host one!
This global weekend of action unfolds during the very middle of the Copenhagen climate negotiations, and 350.org will use your images, videos, and stories to show world leaders that people around the world from all backgrounds are ready for a real climate deal. The impacts of climate change are mounting every day, but we still have time to put ourselves on the path to a better world. We need to build the world's largest mandate for action. Are you ready?
Soumis par jgeeslin le 10 décembre, 2009 - 15:51
According to a new report from the New York Times, more than 20% of the nation's water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years.
The Act requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But apparently since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage!
Soumis par jgeeslin le 4 décembre, 2009 - 02:00
Check out this new spot from Plane Stupid to bring awareness to the amount of wasted CO2 from flights. Plane Stupid created the ad with Mother, a London agency, to confront people with the impact that short-haul flights have on the climate and used polar bears because they are a well understood symbol of the effect that climate change is having on the natural world.
What do you think?
Soumis par jgeeslin le 2 décembre, 2009 - 10:30
Video from the forum is now available to watch below
Today the Obama Administration is holding its first-ever Youth Clean Energy Forum with youth leaders from around the country. The event will be hosted at the White House on Wednesday from 4 - 7pm EST, and will also be webcast to young people across the country at here.
Soumis par jgeeslin le 2 décembre, 2009 - 14:46
The world is gearing up for the highly anticipated Copenhagen Climate Summit from December 7th-18th, which will be the most important meeting on climate change in history. The best and brightest minds will be together to battle out the fight against climate change and the changes desperately needed to be made. With carbon emissions about to peak, we have no time to waste if we want to keep global temperature rise below 2°C and preserve a world's climate roughly similar to that of today.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 2 décembre, 2009 - 15:44
click to watch!Welcome to Live Earth TV! Find out how you can make a difference and participate in Live Earth's 2010 Global Event. This is the first of several Live Earth TV webisodes leading up to the Run for Water on April 18th, 2010. Episode 1 features video from partners Global Water Challenge and Blue Legacy, with music by Paul Dateh & Ken Belcher and introduces Live Earth TV host Shira Lazar.
Watch and pass it along!
Soumis par jgeeslin le 3 décembre, 2009 - 13:10
Live Earth Run for Water partner Invisible Children launched another powerful program to raise funds and awareness for the children of Uganda affected by this horrendous war. With your help, the Schools for Schools program will help rebuild schools in war-torn northern Uganda.
The program pairs participating schools to a “cluster” or a group of schools working to raise money for a specific school in northern Uganda. As of today they have raised over $260,000 and counting!
Soumis par jgeeslin le 4 décembre, 2009 - 13:17
Designer Liu Hsiang-Ling has come up with a clever concept design that makes charging a cell phone with sunshine as easy as possible - just slap it onto a window and wait for the magic to happen.
The concept behind the Sticker Phone is pretty simple; most of us tend to place our mobile phone near windows for better signal reception. So the designer has taken this to a design level as this concept takes it a step further by adding a solar panel to the back of the phone and adding a suction so that it can stick to the window glass for sunshine.
Integrating solar cells into mobile phones is gaining continuing to gain popularity.
Click here for more info.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 7 décembre, 2009 - 09:58
The largest and most important climate change conference in history opened this morning in Copenhagen, Denmark. Representatives from 192 countries -- governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental organizations -- and thousands of journalists arrived by bicycle, train, bio-fueled limo, and plane to witness the 15th Annual Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
We will blog consistently over the 11 days of the conference and keep you apprised of progress and live coverage from some of our colleagues and partners via Twitter and the Seal the Deal in Copenhagen channel on Live Earth Video.
Soumis par Geoff Livingston le 7 décembre, 2009 - 12:24
The UN Copenhagen Conference to negotiate a new global environment treaty began today. And my mind wanders north and east across the entirety of the Atlantic Ocean. I imagine these political types gathering, making great statements and pronouncing real hope. However, as CNN reported this weekend, the gathering is unlikely to yield a new world pact.
While every person in attendance at Copenhagen will surely admit the severe nature of the environmental crisis, who will be empowered to act? Politically speaking, economic prosperity and “defense” still outweigh eco-initiatives in most every country. Individually, we must continue to put pressure on our governments to cause movement.
Soumis par Andy Sternberg le 7 décembre, 2009 - 14:35
Every Monday we profile a Dow Live Earth Run for Water partner organization that works toward providing solutions to the nearly 1 billion people who lack access to clean, safe water. To donate to one of these projects, visit liveearth.org/give.
Blue Legacy International was founded in late 2008 by Alexandra Cousteau to “tell the story of our Water Planet and shape society’s dialogue to include water as one of the defining issues of our century by illustrating the interconnectedness of all water issues.” A non-profit organization Blue Legacy develops and distributes traditional and new media projects that inspire people to take action on critical water issues in meaningful ways.
Soumis par jgeeslin le 8 décembre, 2009 - 03:35
Big ups to New York City! The NYC Transit has recently rolled out a new electric bus, DesignLine, that uses a turbine engine to recharge its lithium-ion battery every time the driver hits the brakes. Keeping up with the eco-exterior, the interior is lit by LED panels and has room for a whopping 37 seats (rider number can double with standing room). Currently there are three buses already operating in Brooklyn and Manhattan, with 87 more are slated to arrive by the end of 2010 if these pilot buses are approved.
Soumis par jgeeslin le 9 décembre, 2009 - 05:00
The massive lack of clean drinking water around the world affects nearly one billion people.
Soumis par Live Earth le 8 décembre, 2009 - 07:30
Do you like chlorine? I do. Although I might not particularly like the taste of it, it is by far the easiest and cheapest way to disinfect water and make it drinkable, and it probably helped to save more lives than any other single chemical substance on Earth. Using simple techniques, it can be produced and sold locally in developing countries.
In the USA, chlorine began to be widely used as a disinfectant in the early 1900s, and it is credited with playing a key role in increasing Americans' life expectancy from 45 in the early 1900s to about 76 years at present, an increase of 50%. No more cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery. Today, 98% of all drinking water purification in the USA uses chlorine. Very useful stuff to have around. So what about its use in developing countries?
Soumis par Live Earth le 23 décembre, 2009 - 09:35
A women using her water storage tank in Guinnee-Bissau. Photo: Paul Akkerman
Rain falls unto roofs and then runs off. And then? You could catch it and drink it. Any suitable roof surface -- tiles, metal sheets, plastics, but not grass or palm leaf -- can be used to intercept the flow of rainwater and provide a household with high-quality drinking water. Rainwater harvesting systems have been used since antiquity, and examples abound in all the great civilizations throughout history.
