Green/Frugal Living

tags: Drop into the Ocean, Greenpeace, documentary, whaling, overfishing, fish farming, mining, oil drilling, climate change, underwater marine parks, endangered species, conservation, marine biology, streaming video Take a deep breath and imagine the oceans.... This disturbing video is a short Greenpeace documentary outlining the threats that humans pose to our oceans and a proposal for what we ALL can do to help restore their health. [In short, if you haven't stopped eating all fish -- and most especially shrimp -- yet, this video will make you think seriously about this decision]
tags: Why I'm a Weekday Vegetarian, environment, global warming, meat, vegetarianism, ethics, climate change, Graham Hill, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video We all know the arguments that being vegetarian is better for the environment and for the animals -- but in a carnivorous culture, it can be hard to make the change. Graham Hill has a powerful, pragmatic suggestion ... The video following the TEDTalk is more interesting than the actual talk itself. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and…
tags: How we Wrecked the Ocean, oceans, fish, fishing industry, introduced species, biological pollution, chemical pollution, climate change, coral bleaching, Jeremy Jackson, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video In this bracing talk, coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson lays out the shocking state of the ocean today: overfished, overheated, polluted, with indicators that things will get much worse. Astonishing photos and stats make the case. So in a nutshell: we've wrecked everything around us: the water, the air, the animals, the climate, and any illusion of world peace we ever had. We're…
tags: Hong Kong Architect Transforms Shoebox Apartment into 24 Rooms, efficient living, home life, architecture, technology, Gary Chang, streaming video Life is cramped in Manhattan, but if you have enough money and imagination, you can convert your shoebox into a livable space, as this Hong Kong architect did. Find out how award-winning Hong Kong architect, Gary Chang, managed to squeeze 24 rooms -- including a home cinema and ''spa'' -- into 32 square meters (344 square feet) of apartment space.
tags: Story of Stuff, environment, pollution, climate change, global warming, recycling, social commentary, cultural observation, planned obsolescence, perceived obsolescence, fashion, advertizing, social psychology, streaming video From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental…
tags: 2010 METROPOLIS Next Generation Design Competition, sustainability, environmentalist engineering Image: METROPOLIS Magazine Do you have an innovative idea for making existing items in your life work better? Now is your chance to share this innovative idea with the world by entering it into the 2010 METROPOLIS Next Generation Design Competition. They are looking for entries to be sent in to their competition by 29 January 2010. You must let me know if any of you (dear readers) enter this competition, and you must let me know if you win! Read more about this competition here.
tags: Food, Inc., food industry, factory farming, health, documentary, film, movie trailer, Eric Schlosser, streaming video This is the official trailer for a 2008 documentary based on Eric Schlosser's research (Fast Food Nation DVD or book). It identifies, describes and details the problems of the food industry, its effects upon our health and provides us -- the consumer -- with strategies for changing the way the food industry operates so farmers can earn a living wage and all of us can enjoy improved health outcomes. Learn more about this film or purchase the DVD.
tags: plastics, oceanography, pollution, environnment, streaming video This is a message by Captain Charles Moore, an oceanographer who pioneered the study of plastic debris, and was recorded during the Strategic Council on Plastic Pollution convened at the Google Campus in Mountain View, California on June 4, 2009. It was the first meeting for the council on plastic pollution, which was recently formed to raise awareness of this rising threat to the world's oceans. Council member and marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, noted that "we are finding plastic in the stomachs of sea turtles,…
tags: potable water, safe drinking water, LifeSaver Bottle, streaming video Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. In this video, engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it -- inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. An amazing demo from TEDGlobal 2009. [10:05] TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.
tags: TEDTalks, plastic, recycling, Eastern Garbage Patch, North Pacific Gyre, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, albatross, Captain Charles Moore, streaming video Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas. [7:20] TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18…
tags: Taco Bell, Onion News, humor, funny, satire, streaming video In this ONN report, we learn that Taco Bell has a new menu: it boasts zero environmental impact because they will rely solely on synthetic, lab-produced ingredients. [2:21]
tags: book review, Sleeping Naked is Green, green living, environment, Vanessa Farquharson Carbon footprints, global warming, green living -- are these phrases an inconvenient truth that keep you awake at night, wondering how you can live in a more environmentally friendly way? For many people, merely contemplating these things is enough to make them give up trying to help the earth before they even start! But before you allow yourself to become discouraged, there is a book out there that will inspire you to make changes in your life that are beneficial to the earth; Sleeping Naked Is Green:…
tags: Biosphere 2, environment, biophilia, green living, Jane Poynter, TEDTalks, streaming video In this video, Jane Poynter tells her story of living two years and 20 minutes in Biosphere 2 -- an experience that provoked her to explore how we might sustain life in the harshest of environments. This is the first TED talk drawn from an independently organized TEDx event, held at the University of Southern California. [15:54] TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives…