AIDG Blog [Appropriate Technology, Development, Environment]

Here are my favorite environment, health, climate change, international development or country specific blog posts (and articles) for the past week in no particular order.

1. 
   Average daily water use per person in Mozambique is less than the water used to flush a low-flow toilet in the U.S. (Older U.S. toilets use as much as 5.5 gallons)

   The world’s water resources are becoming increasingly valuable–and strained. GOOD and the Office of CC put the mind-boggling numbers in perspective. View Drink Up transparency.

2. Call 07758225698 to Hear a Glacier Melting from Treehugger
   

   If you want to hear the sound of global warming, in the form of the largest glacier in Europe melting and eroding, call the number listed above. The artist Katie Paterson is camped out in the cold at Vatnajokull, Iceland where she has installed a waterproof microphone into an ice cap in the lagoon. It is linked to a phone on land. She got help from Virgin Mobile to do this as part of her graduating year art school project.

3. Green Family Values: Eco Gifts for a Green Father’s Day Means Not Buying Anything! from Green Option Blog
   

   According the The Green Guide, more than half of dads say they’ve never received a “good” gift, and the average cost of a Father’s Day gift is $89.00. There are plenty of green, eco gifts available to buy Dad. Instead of supporting the overconsumerism in this country spawned by holidays, how about showing Dad you love him with a truly sustainable gift. These gifts don’t require you to buy Dad anything, but to spend time with him.

4. New ‘Green’ Pyre Promoted in India from SEED Magazine
   

   The average Indian may go through an entire life without contributing a huge amount to the world’s production of greenhouse gases, but in death his carbon footprint jumps.

   Alarmed by the fuel-intensive nature of the funeral rites of Hindus who practice open-air cremation using firewood, an environmental group in New Delhi is promoting a new, more eco-friendly pyre.

5. A price to pay for alternative fuels from MAKE Blog
   

   [L]ast fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor[, Bob Teixeira,] spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost.

   His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes.

   He’s been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government.

   And to legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first po

6. SWIFFER SUSTAINABILITY: The swiffer designer speaks up from Inhabitat
   

   Our story “Greenwash Your Floors with the Swiffer” launched an interesting debate on our site about greenwashing and eco design . A commenter named Kim called on us to move beyond criticism and contact the designers directly…

   so they did and an interesting conversation ensued.

7. Panel Votes To Ban Bottom Trawling in Northern Bering Sea from Treehugger
8. Yes Men crash oil expo, propose turning corpses into fuel from Boing Boing
   

   Master pranksters The Yes Men crashed the Gas and Oil Exposition 2007 in Calgary this week, impersonating a rep from the National Petroleum Council at a keynote in which they proposed to convert people who died from climate change disasters into fuel.

9. Guatemala Quake Causes Little Damage from CBS News
   

   A powerful earthquake that shook Guatemala and parts of El Salvador caused widespread panic but left both countries virtually unscathed, officials said Thursday.

   Also from Xeni Jardin:

   I’ve spoken to a number of people on the phone since the quake hit, and it was felt in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala City, and as far north as some of the small indigenous towns in the upper part of the department of Sololá.

10. Bollywood in Africa — Is it getting too Western? from How the World Works
    With his discussion of Bollywood in West Africa, Leonard does not mention the burgeoning film industry in Nigeria, called most innovatively, Nollywood.

    From Ethan Zuckerman’s blog: My Heart’s in Accra:

    Nollywood is the third larget film industry in the world, after Hollywood and Bollywood. The Nigerian film industry makes 2000 films a year, as of 2006, which means that every week, 40 to 50 films are being made on the streets of Lagos and in cities throughout West Africa. The industry has created thousands of jobs… and it’s happened against all odds in a country where it can be very difficult to live and work.

Bonus from last week:
Massacres and paramilitary land seizures behind the biofuel revolution from Guardian (UK)
· Colombian farmers driven out as armed groups profit
· Lucrative ‘green’ crop less risky to grow than coca
Hear audio from Guardian Blog

Bookmark blog post on:
Del.icio.us    digg    FURL    reddit    Stumble Upon