From the category archives:
Tweet We never get tired of talking about responsibility in the purchases one makes. In a society where consumption is a defining feature of life, conscientious buying is one of the most common opportunities that a person has for making a positive impact on his world. But though we never tire of emphasizing this concept, [...]
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Tweet Twenty shortlist nominees for the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were announced on Tuesday. The twenty constructions will be reviewed by an independent jury and five or six finalists will be announced in September of this year at a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal. This will complete the thirteenth cycle of the award, [...]
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Tweet You know how bamboo creates a third more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees? In theory, the fast-growing grass could constantly make up for the greenhouse gas mitigation that we’re losing as deforestation continues to takes its toll around the globe. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a reliable way of [...]
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Tweet From time to time, new startup companies emerge that either specialize in the construction of bamboo bicycles or offer them as part of a broader business model. Elsewhere, students and environmental activists showcase homemade bamboo bikes as a way of demonstrating how sustainable materials can be used to make less wasteful or energy-intensive versions [...]
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Tweet I have a good friend who has recently gone through what he would call a period of personal transformation. He has improved his health by largely replacing prescription medicine with natural remedies. He’s also taken up tai chi, and made an effort to cut back on self-destructive behaviors. He explains that, more than [...]
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Tweet In the Kalahandi district of India, bamboo provides a means for the empowerment and economic independence of residents living in the tribal villages of forest areas. India’s Forest Rights Act of 2006 established the procedure for transfer of forest resource rights from the central government to local villagers who primarily live in and [...]
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Tweet Have we as a society developed a greater sense of environmental responsibility, or have environmental problems just become too severe for us to go on ignoring? Whichever is the case, after Tuesday’s State of the Union Address, I have to believe that something has changed. I thought it significant when President Obama mentioned [...]
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Tweet In the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, and after the tentative tabulation of the bill for the recovery effort, there has been a good deal of discussion about the ways in which the cities of tomorrow can be made to be ready for similar events in the future. After all, it has thus far [...]
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Tweet At various times in the past we have reported on the growing list of uses and potential uses for bamboo. These range from bamboo clothing and bamboo towels to construction materials, to biofuels; and of course the list includes the fact that the bamboo crop itself helps to fight global warming. It’s an undeniably [...]
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Tweet According to an article in the November 11th issue of the journal Nature Climate Change, the already-severe threat to China’s giant panda population may stand to grow significantly worse in coming decades as global warming decreases the amount of bamboo that’s able to grow in their current habitat. This should be cause for [...]
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Tweet In the wake of earthquakes, tropical storms and hurricanes, bamboo shelters provide sturdy, humanizing and cost-effective ways to house residents recovering from the ravaging Mother Nature can inflict. And while we haven’t seen these structures pop up in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the international community is embracing the trend for use in man-made [...]
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Tweet It’s all about getting the message out. Thirty years ago, we were already being exposed to 2000 ad messages a day but now we are well on our way to sensory overload with 5000 images a day showing up everywhere possible. Advertisers often have only a minute to grab a consumer’s attention and [...]
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Tweet The Republican presidential ticket could learn a thing or two by visiting a bamboo grove. In the wake of superstorm Sandy, Mitt Romney has had cause to once again distance himself from his own recent positions. Throughout his campaign, Romney has increasingly struck me as someone who doesn’t so much want to perform the [...]
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Tweet Lately organic products have taken a hit with the debate on the value of organic food heating up. But even if you’re not convinced that organic products are good for you personally, rest assured that creating organic products is good for Mother Earth. While we know the benefits of raising bamboo for clothing and [...]
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Tweet Doubtless, you’ve heard Republican House Representative Todd Akin’s soundbite in which he asserted that cases of “legitimate rape” rarely lead to pregnancy because, “from what he understood from doctors,” the reproductive system has a magical ability to “shut that whole thing down.” But did you also know that Rep. Akin sits on the House [...]
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Tweet I visited my local county fair last weekend. Being one of the largest county fairs in the world, it generally offers something to appeal to all types of people, so any individual can expect to be intrigued by some things and perplexed by others. There may not have been any bamboo retailers yet, but [...]
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Tweet Last month, I wrote about the intersections of the United States’ problems with ongoing drought, the likely future effects of global warming, and the institutional lack of biodiversity in crop production. Now well into August, drought is still plaguing large portions of the country, which is particularly worrying since a change in the weather [...]
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Tweet More and more companies are cluing into the fact that we need more green and renewable alternatives for consumer goods and manufacturing. As eco-friendliness becomes better for business and a more widely recognized social responsibility, a lot of existing products are changing to accommodate it. Due to the ease of sourcing and growing it, [...]
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