By Amiel Blajchman •
June 28, 2009
Now, I’m no Bob Villa, but as a new homeowner who has to replace his roof, I have been looking into environmentally friendly alternatives to either asphalt or “premium” wood. And Enviroshake definitely falls into the first category. Made primarily of reclaimed materials, Enviroshake might just be the answer.
By Amiel Blajchman •
June 24, 2009
The Northwest Passage is opening up. As Arctic ice melts, the shipping season will grow, and with it, the pressures on the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
By Amiel Blajchman •
June 21, 2009
Why multinational companies should be considered to be part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem.
The World Bank recently released a report criticizing the water sharing regime between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Will water become a new flashpoint in the region?
Jordan is planning on building a companion piece to the Red-Dead Canal while the World Bank study is on-going. In its place is a Jordan-only proposed desalination plant in Aqaba that will pump saline brine into the Dead Sea.
The latest Goldman Environmental Prize winners have been chosen yet again from the ranks of Ashoka Foundation Fellows. What does this mean for the environmental movement as well as the social entrepreneurship movement.
Haiti’s sorrowful rank as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world has been directly attributed to the degradation of Haiti’s natural environment (less than 1.5% of its original tree cover remains intact) as well as a lack of governance structures, underinvestment in social capital, obstacles to private investment, and a spiraling “poverty trap”.
Building managers and environmental passers-by always scream when they see office lights on in the middle of the night, illuminating someone’s cubicle for hours when they’re not there. Ledalite’s Ergolight Controls System has been designed to take care of that problem, as well as increase office energy efficiency. It’s such a good solution, that it was recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation as one of their climate change solution case studies. Designed to help building designers and architects achieve LEED certification, depending on the set-up, customers can decrease their energy consumption by up to 80%.
Ontario is planning on updating its 136 year old mining law to reflect current values and conditions. Preventing wildcat staking of personal and aboriginal property is one of its highest priorities.
By Amiel Blajchman •
April 17, 2009
Masdar City, located within Abu Dhabi, is introducing personal rapid transit “podcars“.
Basically, a cross between the convenience of grabbing a cab and a public bus; the podcars will be a component of Masdar City’s public transportation system.
As part of Masdar City’s car-free design; these podcars will be part of a network of electric taxis without drivers (!). The first of these podcars (also known as personal rapid transit - PRT) are set to debut this year.