Green Resources
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Water Scarcity Guide
The Water-Food-Energy Nexus Freshwater has been the constant and essential companion of homo sapiens throughout our history. In modern times, we have risked even greater dependence by adopting means of wealth creation characterised by gargantuan thirst. Industry accounts for 22% of freshwater use, the largest share of which is consumed by the energy sector. Water is used in great quantities for cooling in thermal and nuclear power generation, as well as in the extraction of coal and oil. Protests against new fossil fuel technologies such as gas fracking and oil sands are inspired in part by fears of wastage and pollution of water. Although the relative needs of agriculture vary widely – from just 3% in the UK to 83% in India – this sector currently accounts for the largest global share of freshwater at about 70%.
Water Shortage!
Ever since the beginning of this nation, Americans have always been able to take for granted that there would always be plenty of fresh water. But unfortunately that is rapidly changing. Due to pollution, corruption, inefficiency and the never ending greed of the global elite, the United States (and the entire world) is heading for a very serious water shortage. Already, there are some areas of the United States where water is the number one local political issue. In fact, water is becoming so scarce in certain areas that some states are actually battling in court over it. Unfortunately, there is every indication that the worldwide water crisis is about to get a lot worse.Case Studies - Biodiversity and Tourism
BACKGROUND The project outlined here has been submitted to the Western Cape Dept of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning for for World Bank and GEF funding via the SA National Biodiversity Insitute and the Cape Action Plan for People and the Environment. The Integrating Biodiversity into Land Use Decision Making project, led by the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP), in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), is part of the C.A.P.E. programme, funded by the Global Environment Facility through the World Bank. The two-year project aims to improve the integration of biodiversity into land use planning and decision making through a combination of activities, including: engaging in institutional co-ordination mechanisms; providing accurate, relevant information and materials; providing appropriate training and targeted awareness-raising; and facilitating one-on-one follow up and support.
The STAR Community Index™ (STAR) is a pioneering, strategic planning and performance management system that will offer local governments a road map for improving community sustainability. STAR helps communities address their interconnected concerns -- economic, environmental and social -- with its groundbreaking approach. STAR Partners
STAR Community Index — ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA
“We need the CCPA to remind us that our dreams of a decent, egalitarian society are reasonable — indeed that with a little work, they are practical. And I love that practicality, that protection of the dream of the possible.”
Environment and sustainability | Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
What would it take to shape a more sustainable planet? Check out the Winter 2012 special issue of Momentum magazine for insights from M. Sanjayan, Peggy Liu, Alex Steffen, and some two dozen other experts around the world.
Institute on the Environment | University of Minnesota
Green design will save the world | Inhabitat
One World Trade Center, whose completion has been consistently delayed, has finally reached 100 stories high. The green skyscraper rises on the 16 acre site that once held the Twin Towers. When completed,
Renewable Energy
Green initiatives
Green Resources
League of California Cities
Did you know that, under certain home rule provisions in California's state constitution, voters can exercise a greater degree of local control than that provided by the California Legislature? Becoming a charter city allows voters to determine how their city government is organized and, with respect to municipal affairs, enact legislation different than that adopted by the state. In 2001, the Institute for Local Government, nonprofit research affiliate of the League and the California State Association of Counties, teamed up with the Hastings Public Law Research Institute to create an informational resource for those interested in understanding more about this special form of local control.Charter Cities
English | Español “There‘s no impediment, other than a failure of imagination, that will keep us from delivering on a truly global win-win solution.” —Paul Romer
San Francisco in 2108, a Hydro-Net City of the Future
IwamotoScott Architecture recently won the $10,000 grand prize for their entry in the The History Channel’s City of the Future contest where they envisioned what San Francisco might look like in 2108 . Their winning entry was a Hydro-Net concept that includes a “Geothermal Mushroom” at located on the top of Bernal Hill and a “Fog Flower” on Ocean Beach. Here’s their full series of Hydro-Net concept illustrations . Symbiotic and multi-scalar, SF HYDRO-NET is an occupiable infrastructure that organizes critical flows of the city. HYDRO-NET provides an underground arterial traffic network for hydrogen-fueled hover-cars, while simultaneously collecting, storing and distributing water and power tapped from existing aquifer and geothermal sources beneath San Francisco.
This past spring the team consisting of EDAW, Praxis3, BNIM, and Metcalf & Eddy won the national championship of the History Channel’s “City of the Future” competition to design the city a century from now. The team’s design will help the city of Atlanta with its long-term, sustainable growth. The entry titled City in the Forest focuses on two major concerns impacting Atlanta currently – drought conditions and the ongoing completion of sewer and water infrastructure project.
Atlanta - City in the Forest:
Shipping Container Homes
We use this SKN-CW home page to appraise you of our progress, performance and plans for continual improvement. Welcome to the Sustainability Knowledge Network Collaborative Workspace (SKN-CW). This unique service integrates traditional knowledge management, and team, stakeholder and community collaborative workspaces.
Welcome to the Sustainability Knowledge Network — Sustainability Knowledge Network
Appropedia
Solar hot water describes active and passive solar technologies that utilize the sun’s freely abundant solar thermal energy in order to heat water for a desired application. It is one of the most efficient ways to heat water (in terms of energy/waste), as it requires no energy conversion, unlike electric-resistance heating or fuel burning. It is a simple transfer and concentration of heat energy from one place to another. Another interpretation of the efficiency of the practice is that the solar energy is free, and only dependent on the extent of the technology used, and its cost and efficiency.Real Simple Recycling A to Z - ABC News
Each water bottle you recycle may seem like a drop in the bucket, but don't undervalue your efforts. America is recycling nearly 33 percent of its waste -- almost twice as much as 15 years ago. But sometimes it can be tough to tell what can go in the bin, what can't and what your recycling center does and does not accept.Green Business
The acknowledgement to the Weston A. Price Foundation should be a red flag. I understand that this foundation is largely funded by the dairy and meat industry/farmers. The second red flag for me was... more »