A round-up of this week’s environmental, green and ecofriendly news and updates.
This is interesting! You know there’s an annual ranking of the world’s greenest countries? Researchers look at water and air quality, conservation, emissions and more. Finland, Iceland and Sweden came top in 2016.
Well, it seems that there’s a link between the greenest countries and the nicest people!
Of course everyone’s different, but countries are also scored on personality traits. And countries whose citizens rate high on compassion, empathy, flexibility and acceptance, correspond with better “green” scores – nice!
(I had to laugh. While researching this, I found an article with the headline “World’s Greenest People Live in Ridiculously Poor Authoritarian Regimes” – whaaaat? None of the top 3 countries would be considered poor, and I’m pretty certain they don’t have authoritarian regimes either. So I clicked on the article to see how this was possible. Well, of course, it wasn’t the same report at all. This other report listed 3 African countries (Mozambique, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe) as having the greenest citizens. Where they got that from, I just don’t know. Of course the implication is that only poor, repressed people are greenies – how (and why?) do they make this stuff up?). (And yes, the article has been quite widely shared. Sigh).
It’s amazing what a difference small changes can make to the environment!
In this Guest Post, check to see how many of these things YOU do daily.
Crows are remarkably clever birds. For example, did you know that they use tools, recognize individual human faces, and even “gossip” about who’s safe and who is a threat to them. Wow!
Although they have adapted well to living around humans, a recent example of their skill in Japan is surprising the world.
They were stealing insulation from an abandoned building, and using it for their nests. The frustrated building owner wanted to keep them out. A professor suggested putting up signs saying “Crows: Do Not Enter”. And do you know, they stopped entering the building – the signs have worked for the last 2 years!
No, crows can’t read Japanese. It’s thought that the reason the crows no longer enter the building is because the signs have made humans more aware of the problem. So when crows came near the building, people would look at them, perhaps even point at them. And this seemed to be enough for the clever crows to decide that the building was no longer safe for them, so they stay away – wow!
In the third and last part of this series, I look at possible solutions to climate change or global warming.
It’s interesting to know what the options are.
Global Green News:
Did you know that we’re losing sleep over climate change? As global warming is causing generally higher temperatures worldwide, the effects are felt more strongly at night, according to a new report. Heat-trapping greenhouse gases continue to keep your home warm long after the sun has set. And if it’s hotter, it’s more difficult to sleep.
When “low-fat”, “fat-free” and “diet” versions of our favourite food and beverage products arrived on the shelves, it seemed like heaven – we could eat and drink yummy stuff without piling on the pounds! Sadly, a new report shows that artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame and saccharin) added to these products cause grave health risks. Diabetes, stroke and dementia are all more likely, and they may even lead to gaining weight! So, stick with the whole products and just eat less of them.
US Green News:
Solar and wind energy are great – but we need to be able to somehow store the energy they create. Abandoned open-cast mines are ugly blots on the landscape, reminding us how we have stripped the planet for its resources. But combine the two, and it may be a very interesting solution! The Wall Street Journal reports that some energy companies are looking at using “pumped hydro.” When you have extra power you want to store, you use it to pump water uphill. When you want to use that power again, you release the water to flow back downhill, spinning a turbine to generate electricity.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
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And if you’re on Twitter, get a daily green tip by following me – @EcoExpert1 . See you there!
All great articles here. We don’t give enough credit to the natural world. I would love to live in one of those green countries. The one I’m living in now is making me think about more and more. I have never been more disappointed than I am right now. Global warming is keeping me from sleeping well. The heat is part of it as well as the concern for the planet. I also agree we need to stop eating anything prepackaged and go back to whole eating. The only sweetener I use just a little of is stevia. I’m much more careful now though it may already be too late for my feeble, old brain. Keeping my fingers crossed.