Biobased Circuit Boards from Chicken Feathers. Written by Philip Proefrock on 03/06/10 Ending use of petroleum will mean not only ending its use as a fuel, but also finding alternatives for the numerous materials that use petrochemicals in their production. Plastics are perhaps the most obvious item on the list, but even electronic circuit boards are candidates for production with biomaterials. University of Delaware materials scientists have developed circuit boards made from chicken feathers and soybean oil, instead of glass and petrochemicals. "The biobased materials are derived from renewable plant and animal feedstock, which use carbon dioxide from the air and help minimize global warming, as compared to petroleum feedstock," according to Dr.
Richard Wool, director of the Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources (ACRES) program at the University of Delaware. via: Transmaterial. Amazon Deforestation Increases Malaria Rate by 50% Photo: Wikipedia A new report in the Center for Disease Control's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases highlights one more bad consequence of Amazon deforestation: In areas that have been cleared of trees incidence of malaria increase nearly 50%.Mongabay quotes study lead author Sarah Olson: The deforested landscape, with more open spaces and partially sunlight pools of water, appears to provide ideal habitat for [the Anopheles darlingi] mosquito.
Olson says that in deforested areas Anopheles darlingi displaces other mosquitos which are less prone to carrying malaria. Studying 54 Brazilian health districts, comparing malaria occurrence with satellite imagery of deforestation, the researchers found that just a 4% change in forest cover was associated with a 48% increase in malaria. Here's the original report: Deforestation and Malaria in Mâncio Lima County, Brazil [PDF] Google Reader (1000+) Green To Gold, Part 3: Manage Your Stakeholders » Carbon49 - a b. In the previous post of this series on the book Green to Gold, I explained how to systematically construct a big picture of the risks and opportunities your business may face in the top ten environmental challenges of today. In this installment, I will talk about stakeholders. In developing climate change initiatives for your Canadian business, it is advisable to take a 360 degree look at your stakeholders and anticipate how they may respond.
Five main stakeholder groups are generally applicable to climate change initiatives by Canadian businesses: Consumers & Community — employees, consumers, children, local communitiesInvestors & Risk Assessors — shareholders, insurers, markets, banksBusiness Partners & Competitors — industry, competitors, B2B, suppliers, CEO and peersRulemakers & Watchdogs — NGOs, regulators, politiciansIdea Generators & Opinion Leaders — media, think tanks, research centres, academia I have only provided a high level overview here on managing your stakeholders. Green To Gold, Part 4: Manage Downside, Build Upside » Carbon49. In the previous post of this series on the book Green to Gold, I explained how to manage stakeholders in your environmental initiatives in Canada.
In this installment, I will talk about how to manage the potential downside and build the upside. Your business in Canada may be considering environmental, climate change, and sustainability initiatives. These may include lowering your greenhouse gas emissions, purchasing carbon offsets, lowering your in-house carbon footprint or the footprints of your supply chain as related to your business. Just like any business initiative, environmental initiatives have their potential upside and downside. The key to success is to manage them carefully. So what are the potential downsides and upsides when it comes to environmental initiatives?
What should you focus on? Build the upside by increasing revenues and building intangible values. Use an environmental focus to add value to your products, reach out to green consumers, and create new market space. Green To Gold, Part 5: Thirteen Pitfalls Of Environmental Initia. In the previous post of this series on the book Green to Gold, I explained how the downside and upside of environmental (or climate change) initiatives may be managed. In this final installment, I will talk about thirteen pitfalls to avoid. One of the reasons why I like this book is that the authors do not just offer examples of success stories. There are also many examples of real life failures that illustrate some pitfalls you should avoid. There is a great summary table that lists 13 reasons why environmental or sustainability initiatives fail and the solutions and tools to address them. You can see the summary table from Google Books excerpt below.
Taking it all in, how do you set up an action plan for the environmental initiatives of your Canadian business? You can see the excerpt from Google Books below. I have only provided a high level overview here. Innovative Mayor Sam Adams Builds a Cleaner Portland | Fast Comp. Preview: Greywater Corps - Events. Climate Debate Overlooks Small Businesses. As the United States debates how it should tackle climate change, "Big Business" has generally received the most political attention. Small companies are mostly disengaged from the climate debate, businesses advocates say, yet environmentally conscious, small enterprises could become influential supporters of climate legislation.
"Small business has to be a strong constituency if this legislation is going to be passed," said Scott Hauge, president of Small Business California. "If we are going to create the innovation, we are going to create the jobs, we are going to reduce energy use, there needs to be a concerted focus on small business. " World leaders will craft an international treaty to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change this December in Copenhagen, Denmark. Many of these "green jobs" are small businesses, defined as an employer of 500 workers or less, according to The Center for Small Business and the Environment.
"These are not tree hugger prophesies. The U.S.