A Young Muslim Diver's Passion for the Sea (Video)

"Eat and drink from the provision of Allah, and do not commit abuse on the Earth," says the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim faith. Though Islam's tenets contain similar calls for revering and protecting nature as does the Bible, the idea of Muslim environmentalism is far less known than that of Christian evangelicals promoting "creation care." No wonder a short film about a young Muslim scuba diver comes across as such a breath of fresh air--or, perhaps more appropriately given the subject, a cool drink of water.

San Francisco-based director Rolla Selbak's Green Blue Sea won first prize in the "Youth Story" category of the second annual "One Nation, Many Voices" online film contest. Sponsored by Link TV and the nonprofit group One Nation, the competition aims to bring "compelling stories about the American Muslim experience" to a larger audience and broaden people's images of who Muslims are. This film does a bit of the same for stereotypes about environmentalists as well.

Via TreeHugger.com

"The dark side of Dubai" (The Independent)

Scary read, but well worth it. Yes, I know everyone posted this last week. I'm a slow reader, sthu.

Eco Font

Cool idea.

Appealing ideas are often simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink. Free to download, free to use.

http://www.ecofont.eu

Giant "Tornadoes" Seen Erupting From the Sun

Check this National Geographic News page for coolio videos and pictures.

SubhanAllah :)

Reverse Graffiti

I thought I had written about this Reverse Graffiti artist Alexandre Orion in Sao Paulo Brazil, but I couldn't find the post (be sure to watch the video).

But now the reverse graffiti movement hits San Francisco and it's so cool.

Learn more about the Reverse Graffiti Project in San Francisco here.

One Country’s Table Scraps, Another Country’s Meal by Andrew Martin (NYT)

Sad, how much food we waste.

Highlights:

...the Department of Agriculture estimated that two years before, 96.4 billion pounds of the 356 billion pounds of edible food in the United States was never eaten. Fresh produce, milk, grain products and sweeteners made up two-thirds of the waste. An update is under way.

A more recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year, which is about 12 percent of the total waste stream. All but about 2 percent of that food waste ends up in landfills; by comparison, 62 percent of yard waste is composted.

America's Second Harvest — The Nation's Food Bank Network, a group of more than 200 food banks, reports that donations of food are down 9 percent, but the number of people showing up for food has increased 20 percent. The group distributes more than two billion pounds of donated and recovered food and consumer products each year.

In England, a recent study revealed that Britons toss away a third of the food they purchase, including more than four million whole apples, 1.2 million sausages and 2.8 million tomatoes. In Sweden, families with small children threw out about a quarter of the food they bought, a recent study there found.

And most distressing, perhaps, is that in some parts of Africa a quarter or more of the crops go bad before they can be eaten. A study presented last week to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development found that the high losses in developing nations "are mainly due to a lack of technology and infrastructure" as well as insect infestations, microbial growth, damage and high temperatures and humidity.

Of course, eliminating food waste won't solve the problems of world hunger and greenhouse-gas pollution. But it could make a dent in this country and wouldn't require a huge amount of effort or money. The Department of Agriculture estimated that recovering just 5 percent of the food that is wasted could feed four million people a day; recovering 25 percent would feed 20 million people.

The City of San Francisco is turning food waste from residents and restaurants into tons of compost a day. The city has structured its garbage collection system so that it provides incentives for recycling and composting.

The federal government tried once before, during the Clinton administration, to get the nation fired up about food waste, but the effort was discontinued by the Bush administration. The secretary of agriculture at the time, Dan Glickman, created a program to encourage food recovery and gleaning, which means collecting leftover crops from farm fields.

He assigned a member of his staff, Mr. Berg, to oversee the program, and Mr. Berg spent the next several years encouraging farmers, schools, hospitals and companies to donate extra crops and food to feeding charities. A Good Samaritan law was passed by Congress that protected food donors from liability for donating food and groceries, spurring more donations.

"We made a dent," said Mr. Berg, now at the New York City hunger group. "We reduced waste and increased the amount of people being fed. It wasn't a panacea, but it helped."

The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized: Inside the raw-milk underground By Nathanael Johnson

Not sure how much of this to believe, but it's definitely interesting. The hippy side of me is intrigued.

"The very thing that makes raw milk dangerous, its dirtiness, may make people healthier, and pasteurization could be cleansing beneficial bacteria from milk."

Read more.

"A balance must be struck between health and yield" seems to be the take-home message, along with

"Although American consumers are periodically outraged by the realities of modern agriculture, they never stop demanding cheaper food. Stoker doesn't mind playing the hand he's been dealt. He's good at producing cheap food. But, he acknowledged, "cheap food makes for expensive health care." "

"The Human Footprint" (National Geographic Video)

Inspired by Chen, I watched the National Geographic documentary "The Human Footprint." And now you should too.

Watch:


or Click Here.

Amazing Picture: Lightning Storm Engulfs Erupting Volcano

After 9,000 years of silence, Chile's Chaitén volcano erupts amid a lightning storm.

SubhanAllah. Gorgeous gorgeous pics

How to Recycle Practically Anything by Sally Deneen (E Magazine)

Don’t throw away those exercise videos and ubiquitous AOL CDs. Jim Williams wants you to mail old videotapes and CDs to him, so that more than 40 disabled staffers at his ACT Recycling in Columbia, Missouri can recycle them. And, oh, don’t toss out those used Fed-Ex envelopes or broken smoke detectors; their manufacturers take them back for recycling.

Indeed, these days, it seems that more cast-offs than ever can be recycled. No matter where you live, you can recycle a wide range of discards—aseptic juice packages, printer cartridges, ordinary batteries, iPods, PDAs, and even cell phones.

Read more, including a guide to help you figure out how to recycle things you previously thought were unrecyclable.

Typolution

Film d'animation typographique minimaliste à saveur environnementale, rythmé par la chanson «Nostrand» du groupe Ratatat réalisé par Olivier Beaudoin, designer graphique;
http://www.kalomnie.ca
«Diplôme d'Or» - Écodesign 2007 de St-Pétersbourg

... I don't know what that means. I see "animation blah blah typography, blah blah, environmental, blah blah watch this and STFU."

So do that.

Chris Jordan Photography

I saw him on The Colbert Report (10/11/07) and adore him. Chris Jordan's work "explores the phenomenon of American consumerism." Definitely check out his website for more, but I think his Colbert interview (below) gives a better feel for scale. Also, he really DOES look like Clark Kent, which is fun to see. Superman hates consumerism.



Go recycle your... everything.

Our Moral Footprint by By Vaclav Havel (NYT)

Written by the former president of the Czech Republic and Translated by Gerald Turner. Coolies.

Article

Highlights:

"Maybe we should start considering our sojourn on earth as a loan. "

"Whenever I reflect on the problems of today's world, whether they concern the economy, society, culture, security, ecology or civilization in general, I always end up confronting the moral question: what action is responsible or acceptable? The moral order, our conscience and human rights — these are the most important issues at the beginning of the third millennium."

"The end of the world has been anticipated many times and has never come, of course. And it won't come this time either. We need not fear for our planet. It was here before us and most likely will be here after us. But that doesn't mean that the human race is not at serious risk. As a result of our endeavors and our irresponsibility our climate might leave no place for us. If we drag our feet, the scope for decision-making — and hence for our individual freedom — could be considerably reduced."

Gilbert Arenas on Shark Attacks

made me lol. a lot.

There Are No Such Thing as Shark Attacks
I know this is random, but I just want to clear this up for people out there.

There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack.

I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as.

We’re humans. We live on land.

Sharks live in water.

So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.

A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack.

When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”

oh, gil. how i heart thee.

Source

RETHINK SPACE: Evergreen at The Brick Works

http://evergreen.ca/rethinkspace/

Very cool project. Basically, they're renovating a deteriorating brick factory near the heart of Toronto to make it a eco-friendly, nature refuge for the community in the midst of its urban surroundings. Click above to find more about the project. Or just read below.

The Project
Evergreen is transforming Toronto’s historic Don Valley Brick Works factory from an underused, deteriorating collection of buildings into a thriving environmentally-based community centre that engages visitors in diverse experiences connected to nature.

Vision
Imagine a place where…

• trees and plants are grown to support the greening of schools, parks, waterfronts and residential landscapes across Toronto
• you and your family can enjoy nature walks, see a great blue heron, deer, and a hawk soaring above
• kids can explore Toronto’s ravine system and develop a genuine respect and understanding of nature
• you can be inspired to start your own natural garden at home
• you can buy locally grown fruits and vegetables directly from the farmers who grew them.

Now, imagine that place is right in the heart of your city
EVERGREEN Brick Works will be a dynamic place that adapts and grows to meet new urban challenges. It will be a centre for innovation and fresh thinking that will inspire future generations to RETHINK their place in the world.

If nothing else, the rundown factory makes for some amazing photographic opportunities (courtesy of Daily Dose of Imagery):

• half room (19-May-07) /11
• stairs and brick (16-May-07) /24
• light in brickworks (09-May-07) /23
• the barrel (02-May-07) /19
• can in ice (18-Apr-07) /45
• bricks (16-Apr-07) /36
• questionmarks (17-Mar-06) /37
• chalk art on brick (28-Feb-06) /14
• brickworks lit panel (13-Feb-06) /26
• guiding godray (08-Feb-06) /47
• sacred machine (14-Dec-05) /43
• burnt room (28-Oct-05) /45
• the machine (13-Oct-05) /24
• brickworks lamps (10-Oct-05) /28
• brickworks high angle (04-Oct-05) /84

Can't wait to see the finished project.