Green Options

Increased sports activity and exposure to ultraviolet rays means an increased risk to your child’s eyes, say experts at The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

New research shows that children’s eyes can be damaged from sun exposure like their skin. This damage may lead to increased risk of developing diseases including cataracts or macular degeneration as adults.

First there was the Life Straw.  Then there was the Aquaduct Tricycle.  Now ordinary sand could provide an answer to one of the thorniest problems of the future: how to purify drinking water for the many millions of people who don’t have access to a clean, disease-free source — and no means to pay for conventional water treatment.

Using colorful sand from the Iranian southern island of Hormuz, 25 artists have created the world’s largest sand carpet. This 12000-square-meter carpet consists of 70 different colored sands and is truly amazing!

Via:  payvand

Images:  Iranian Students’ News Agency

Most of the time here at Cleantechnica, we report on important technical advances and breakthroughs that help mankind to reduce its harmful impact on the environment. Once in a while though, a tech story emerges that highlights how willfully unconcerned some people are with the green issues that worry the rest of us.

The latest news from Dubai falls squarely into the latter category. It seems that planners in the Arab state have stumbled on the great idea of creating a fully refrigerated beach so that tourists don’t burn their feet. From late next year, guests at the exclusive Palazzo Versace hotel will enjoy private access to the beach, situated next to the main building.

Editor’s note: The following post was written by Professor Elkind, chief scientific advisor for Just Ask Baby.  David Elkind is currently Professor Emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University. He was formerly Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Education at the University of Rochester.  Just Ask Baby is a site devoted to:

providing our community of members with all the information, resources and support they need to help their children develop socially, emotionally and intellectually – and at their own pace – during the critical early years of their life…The information we provide is 100% based on decades of scientific research by some of the leading child development experts. We are also 100% un-sponsored by manufacturers and 100% un-influenced by advertisers.

The Lessons of Sand Play

While watching my great-nieces, Raven 3, and Stella Blue 5, at the beach on Cape Cod this summer, I was again impressed by the freedom, involvement and concentration of young children’s beach play.

They dug holes in the sand and enjoyed simply flinging the sand with their shovels; they filled pails with sand and built a sand castle, then filled the pails with water and washed it away. Stella Blue wanted me to bury her in the sand, and seemed delighted as I poured buckets of sand on her feet. She kept urging me to cover her toes as well. These two young children happily occupied themselves for hours on the warm beach sand. This kind of play is easy to understand but has a larger lesson as well.