A round-up of this week’s environmental, green and ecofriendly news and updates.
I don’t fly much, but when I do, I like to fly Emirates. And now I like them even more, because they have introduced environmentally friendly blankets on their flights.
Emirates also recycle aluminium cans, plastic and glass bottles on board, as well as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons where possible.
When you work as well as run a home and take care of your family, it can be very difficult to achieve a good work-life balance.
It IS possible though. Creating a routine is very important, and there are 5 other tips which will put you well on the way to a more harmonious, less-stressed life. Read how here.
Here’s a very, very scary thought. You know that corn or maize is a really big crop worldwide. And (particularly in the US), corn is found in a LOT of foods (corn flour, HFCS etc).
Well, in France, they noticed a huge decline in hamster populations, and investigated. What they found in this new study was shocking.
Animals eating a diet high in corn become deficient in vitamin B3 or niacin. Hamsters now eat a lot of corn, because of mono-cropping.
And in hamsters, a high-corn diet causes them to devour their offspring alive.
The findings highlight how our agricultural practices can have dire consequences for wildlife and ecosystems. Cats and dogs were also tested, with similar results.
And the scary thing is, a similar diet has the potential to turn humans into demented cannibals too, according to the report. Yikes!
Would you like to live in an ecofriendly home?
Things like reduced spending on heating and cooling, and electricity. Fewer toxins in your indoor air…..
This week I’ve got a great infographic for you, which shows you all the things you can do to “green” your home.
Some of them are for existing homes, and some tips are for building a new house from scratch. They’re all useful – check out the infographic and helpful resources here.
We have to move away from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) because they are not renewable (we’ll run out of them eventually), and they emit greenhouse gases that cause high-speed climate change.
The good news is that renewable energy has a bright future in the United States, the second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide. Jobs in solar power are currently growing at about 20 percent annually, a rate 12 times faster than the rest of the U.S. economy, according to a report from the U.S.-based nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
Jobs in wind power are growing at roughly the same rate, and wind-turbine technician is now the fastest-growing profession in the country overall.
Even better, these aren’t low-end jobs. They’re well-paying, local jobs found in small businesses, requiring on-site installation, maintenance and construction. On average, energy-efficiency jobs pay almost $5,000 above the national median, and you don’t need college or an advanced degree. Cool!
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Please spread the Green word and share this info.
And if you’re on Twitter, get a daily green tip by following me – @EcoExpert1 . See you there!
Some good articles here. I no longer eat corn and really wish they wouldn’t feed it to the animals I’m going to have on my plate. I’d eat organic but my paltry income won’t let me go there so I just eat a whole lot less of it. We have unfortunately elected a president that doesn’t believe in ecology so our progress is going to go backwards. Sad, sad, sad. We do recycle as much as possible. I don’t drink from plastic bottles or aluminum cans. All the plastic bags I’ve used in repeated moves are now being returned to the store for their mass recycling. I’m ready for an electric car even though I rarely drive anywhere. My daughter drives her 20 year old car once a week to see me. The rest of the time, it’s the bus to work. We are all trying, well, most of us.
Thanks Marlene! Yes, corn is relatively cheap so that’s why it’s fed to so many animals, even though it’s not what they would normally eat. Our food system is really out of whack all over the world.
Organic is indeed more expensive. I don’t have a lot of choice where I live, but if I did I’d buy some things organic such as strawberries (because you don’t peel them), but not pineapple, my reasoning being that not a lot of pesticide is going to get through that thick skin!
You’re very clever to return plastic bags to stores for their mass recycling – we don’t do that enough, good for you! Thanks for commenting, it’s always go great to find out what everyone is doing!