A round-up of this week’s environmental, green and ecofriendly news and updates.
It may be safe to be a chicken again – in the future. Because for the first time ever, people have dined on chicken – without killing a chicken.
The Wall Street Journal reported that people who ate fried chicken grown from cells in a tank, said the taste was nearly identical to “real” chicken. It’s been very expensive to produce, but the costs are dropping rapidly. No-slaughter chicken will not only save chickens’ lives, but also relieve pressure on the environment (industrial agriculture is horrible in terms of pollution, greenhouse gases and animal cruelty, not to mention huge antibiotic use and other problems). With demand for meat growing rapidly around the world, it could be a good option.
Whether you suffer from arthritis or not, you’ll want to read these 5 tips, because 4 of them can help to prevent or at least slow the onset of the disease.
(And some of them are enjoyable too!). Read them here.
What do you do with old subway carriages or cars? New York City’s Transport Authority drops them into the Atlantic Ocean, where they provide shelter for fish and make artificial coral reefs.
An architect in Washington, D.C. suggests a different option – re-using them as housing for the homeless. He wants to take multiple cars and install them on a single site, forming a self-sufficient mini-village with communal vegetable gardens, playgrounds, a medical clinic and a social services center. In total, the community could be home to up to 400 people. Sounds like a good idea to me!
If you’re like me, you may be confused about whether coffee is good for us – or not. Well, wonder no longer.
Here’s the definitive answer:- it depends.
If you enjoy coffee, you’ll want to read this.
Global Green News:
It was International Day of Happiness last Monday, the 20th March. (And yes, I saw plenty of comments about it falling on Monday this year – generally NOT people’s happiest day!) Why a Happiness Day? It was started by the UN (United Nations) to encourage countries to give a higher priority to the well-being of people. “Progress” should not be measured only by the economy, but also by contentment. I think that’s a very green and ecofriendly idea! Each year, countries are surveyed and a Happiness Report is presented, listing the world’s happiest countries. Norway came 1st this year – how does your country measure up? To join in the fun – and get a Happiness Guidebook – go here.
Large sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are dead or dying, while other parts are severely damaged, and climate change is to blame, according to researchers. Australia’s heatwave in the summer of 2016 triggered a wave of coral bleaching. “We didn’t expect to see this level of destruction to the Great Barrier Reef for another 30 years,” said one scientist.
US Green News:
Railroads are not very popular in the US – many are used to transport oil and gas, risking explosions. Yet – if managed correctly – they can be an excellent and very green form of public transport (they are the most efficient form of ground transportation). In a wonderful new idea, Solutionary Rail wants to electrify US railroads, and run them on renewable energy. Nothing new in that – but here’s the great part. As well as taking commuters and delivery trucks off the roads and onto greener transport, those rail corridors could be used as electricity superhighways to carry power from remote solar and wind installations to population centers. Brilliant!
Maryland put a 2-year ban on fracking for fossil fuels in 2015. Now there’s a bill to make the ban permanent – and (Republican) Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan endorsed it – hooray!
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
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Lots of good stuff here again, Clare. I will probably never want to eat chicken that isn’t. Can’t wrap my mind around that one. I like the findings on coffee. It’s one of the few pleasures I have left and I was cutting back because there was evidence it was bad for you. It does stimulate my appetite though. Love the ideas for using old subway trains. That idea should get around to more states and cities. If our trains could run safer then we should use them more. I’d like to see fracking stopped everywhere. Pipelines too especially through certain areas. Eventually, those pipes will get old and crack and no one will know. 🙁 Thanks for all the information.
Thanks Marlene! I’m with you on fracking – it’s just too ghastly for words. To me, it’s the embodiment of short-term greed irrespective of the risks and consequences. And I don’t think there’s a major pipeline anywhere in the world that hasn’t leaked at some stage.
Yes, chicken without chicken is really weird – but perhaps it’s like freeze-dried food might have seemed to someone in the 18th century. It will be interesting to see how or if it develops. Thanks for commenting!