Nigerian fashion goes 'green'

Designers and models at Nigeria Fashion Week in Lagos raise awareness for the environment.

E-Waste

Needing to chuck your old electronics? The Basel Action Network, who contributed documentary footage to this video, compiled a list of Responsible Recyclers that will not export your old computer. Check out their list here: www.ban.org/pledge1.html

Animation by Ian Lynam
Music by E*Rock

Green Tricks And Treats

Danny Seo of Better Homes and Gardens magazine showed Maggie Rodriguez some eco-friendly tricks and treats for a greener Halloween.

Have a Fling

"Flings" are the NEW pop up recycling containers that you can take with you just about anywhere. Melissa McGinnis from Greenopolis TV shows us how recycling just got a lot easier and portable.

What Happens to Plastic Water Bottles?

What happens after you put a plastic bottle into the recycling bin?

Check out the tour of Marglen Industries in Rome, Ga., one of the largest and most sophisticated PET recycling facilities in the United States, using solar energy to help convert 2.5 billion empty bottles each year into many useful products. This video demonstrates the value, importance and practicality of recycling.

“In the video a Marglen spokesman says one of the biggest issues his recycling businesses faces is not having enough empty bottles to feed their facility,” says Tom Lauria, Vice President of Communication for the IBWA, in a press release. “U.S. recycling rates are still too low. This video is a clear message to consumers and municipalities that more needs to be done to capture this valuable material to feed recycled material processing centers rather than feeding landfills…”



Use Less Plastic

Every piece of plastic ever made still exists today, and much of this plastic has traveled from our hands to our oceans. This problem of plastic in our oceans is pretty serious. Here's one way to help, and it's pretty straightforward: Use less plastic. Join the Blue movement and sign the plastic pledge at SaveMyOceans.com.

Director: Mariana Blanco
Animator: Sol Linero
Production Co: Hoodablah - hoodablah.com

Song: Pot Kettle Black
Written by Kianna Alarid, Neely Jenkins, Derek Pressnall, Jamie Lynn Pressnall & Nicholas White
Performed By Tilly and the Wall
Courtesy Of Team Love Records By Arrangement With Bank Robber Music

Recycled Rainwater Boon for Beijing Florists

Flooding and drought are two major problems in China. But some Beijing florists are finding alternative solutions to their water woes. Here's more.

In Beijing, diminishing supplies of underground water reserves are becoming a major concern. But now, florists in the city are turning to the clouds to solve their water worries. They've begun to gather rainwater.

Liu Jiansheng is one such florist. His business is booming recently and so are his water demands. Turning to collected rainwater has benefited not only the environment, but also his wallet.

[Liu Jiansheng, Beijing Florist]:
"The previous water cost of one pot of flower was about five yuan, while after the use of recycled water, I only spent three yuan on it, two yuan lower than before."

Liu makes about $25,000 for every 80-thousand flowerpots, so every cent counts.

Top 5 Green Houses of Worship

Though the Muslim community center planned for New York City has created controversy because of its proximity to Ground Zero, the original goal of the LEED certified building is to express the deep connections between Islam and environmentalism. It's only one of the top 5 green houses of worship in today's countdown.

Devices use power even when turned off

Are you always getting on your family to turn off lights or the TV when not in use? We can all reduce our waste and energy use with very little effort, and significantly help our environment.

How To Precycle

Recycling’s great, but go even greener by precycling as well, and create less waste to recycle in the first place.

You Will Need

• Reusable bags and containers
• A thermos
• Cloth towels and napkins
• A computer with internet access
• Houseplants or potpourri
• Cloth wrap and bags
• Vinegar and baking soda

Step 1: Think ahead

Bring reusable sacks and containers to the supermarket to carry your items in the cart, rather than using the clear plastic bags that stores provide. When checking out, place all your purchases into reusable bags.

Step 2: Eat, drink, and be practical

Take a thermos to the cafe, or fill it at home; pack a lunch in a box or insulated sack instead of a paper or plastic bag; drink tap water instead of bottled; and buy fresh foods rather than prepackaged. Carry cloth handkerchiefs, and ask take-out joints to hold the plastic cutlery, individual condiment servings, and paper napkins.

Step 3: Go digital

Set up your bills for auto pay. You’ll cut out excess mail and avoid late fees. Read online editions of newspapers and magazines, which are often free and feature additional multimedia content. To prevent unwanted catalogs or junk mail, request to be removed from the company’s mailing list.

For a $1 fee, the Direct Marketing Association’s mail preference service will take you off the mailing lists of many large companies for five years.

Step 4: Cut out single-use products

Avoid buying single- or limited-use products, such as disposable diapers, cleansing face wipes, and razors.

Step 5: Precycle on the job

At work, think twice before printing out emails or documents. Double-sided copies also reduce paper consumption. Posting employee manuals and memos online creates less paper waste and makes the documents easier to update.

Step 6: Clean more with less

Use concentrated dish and laundry detergents, which pack more cleaning power into less packaging.

Step 7: Scent your home naturally

Fill your home with the natural scent of houseplants or potpourri instead of using store-bought air fresheners, especially ones with disposable cartridges.

You can use white vinegar and baking soda – which come with less packaging than conventional cleaning products – to clean just about anything. Use undiluted white household vinegar or a paste of baking soda mixed with water.

Step 8: Don't trash gift wrap

Avoid excess garbage when gift-giving by wrapping presents in reusable cloth or cloth bags. Often, the best gifts need no wrapping at all.

It takes nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil to produce the 30 million water bottles Americans use annually.

Japan scientist makes meat out of poo

Somehow this feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.

The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.

Inhabitat notes that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.” Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to animals. Ikeda’s recycled poop burger would reduce waste and emissions, not to mention obliterating Dante’s circle for gluttons.

The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the moment the excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they should be thanks to the cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces. They hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories.

Waste not, want not.

Sweat The Small Stuff

From eating local food to taking shared showers, here are eight ways to reduce your impact on the planet that will make your life better too. A GOOD video produced in partnership with GE Ecomagination.