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What could be better than a facility that eats up dirty landfill and churns out clean electricity? Japan, has been doing just that since 2003 and in 2009, Atlanta-based Geoplasma, expects to complete a plant that will generate 160 megawatts of electricity—enough to power 36,000 homes—from a daily diet of trash.
 Impressions:496
| Millions of disposable diapers are dumped into landfills, and they making up around 4% of all solid waste and the third largest consumer item. While most people want to be as environmentally responsible as possible, the prospect of spending hours laundering mountains of cloth diapers is incredibly unappealing to exhausted new mothers, even eco-friendly ones.
Impressions:344
| For thousands of years, people have used forms of refrigeration to keep food and other objects cold. Keeping food cold helps slow the spoiling process and helps it last longer.Today more than 99% of American homes have a refrigerator. These are based on the compression of a gas into a liquid to absorb heat. The substance that is used for compression has most commonly been Freon, a substance which is harmful to the ozone layer. The insulation used in those refrigerators also contains harmful substances.
Impressions:862
| Vacant, run-down buildings are usually viewed as a community liability, with quick demolition seen as the only solution. A more eco-minded approach, however, is deconstruction, which allows for the salvage of the building's still-usable pieces. This activity is defined as the selective dismantlement of building components, specifically for re-use, recycling, and waste management. It differs from demolition where a site is cleared of its building by the most expedient means.
Impressions:435
| Is this time of the year again and the eternal question of what to give to whom arises once more. In these dire times, sensitive decisions need to be taken, both environmentally as well as economically sound. We present you here a list of gifts gathered from our collective view that are both green and won't clean your wallet. With a little creativity and ingenuity, a green gift can be found to suit your environmentally friendly list.
Impressions:430
| The Searaser is a device invented by a British engineer that harnesses ocean wave to pump sea water uphill, from where it can flow downhill to create hydroelectricity, raising hopes of a cheap, abundant source of renewable energy. In trials the device has pumped water more than 160ft above sea level, using only the natural motion of the waves. There are now plans for a much larger version, capable of pumping to a height of more than 650ft.
Impressions:338
| A exhibition in Melbourne Australia combines sustainable innovations with a temporary cafe that's designed to demonstrate creative ways to put eco ideas into practice.
The Greenhouse is slated to disappear at the end of January, without a trace but it's scheduled to reappear at the Milan Furniture Fair next year.
Impressions:465
| The idea of harvesting algae from the open ocean keeps popping up each time oil prices reach records. In the 1970s, several similar ideas were launched and received modest funding, both in the USA, Japan as well as the EU. Seaweed is an energy rich, sustainable resource that does not use up agricultural land.
Impressions:615
| This Winter, consider a more eco-friendly form of insulation instead of the hazardous fiberglass standby. The product consists almost entirely of natural denim and cotton fibers that are 100% recyclable, reducing landfill waste. The denim and cotton are also 100% post-industrial. It requires a minimal amount of energy to manufacture aiding the environment with energy conservation and reduction in pollution compared to other types of traditional insulation.
Impressions:731
| Selling billions of gallons of water in everlasting plastic bottles to people that already have access to clean water is turning our planet into a gigantic garbage dump. 60 million plastic bottles are thrown away each day in the USA alone. Only 14% actually get recycled, meaning 86% become garbage roaming our planet or cluttering landfills. It will take 700 years to begin composting, 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles, bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply the liquid, and it is the second most popular beverage in the United States.
Impressions:458
| Green burials is a growing trend amongst the older generations nowadays. It ensures that the burial site remains as natural as possible in all respects. Interment of the bodies is done in a bio-degradable casket, shroud, or a favorite blanket. No embalming fluid, no concrete vaults. We don’t usually expect graveyards to give us much besides a chance to express grief, but a small town in Spain has found a new use for them: energy powerhouses. It has placed more than 400 solar panels on top of mausoleums in the local cemetery.
Impressions:286
| Electronic waste or "e-waste" is a garbage type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic devices. Due to the difficulty and cost of recycling them as well as lackluster enforcement of legislation, large amounts of used electronics have been sent to countries such as China, India, and Kenya, where lower environmental standards and working conditions make processing them more profitable.
Impressions:392
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