Word of the day - fair trade.  How is this organized social movement promoting sustainability?

Fair trade is a market based approach to empowering developing countries to produce a wide variety of goods in an environmentally friendly manner.

Notable goods include coffee, sugar, bananas, wine, and honey.  Much like labels that carry with them a trusted slogan like “made in the USA,” products that are certified as “fair trade” have concrete and relevant value with exceptional quality.

Mainstream agricultural producers have formed a virtual monopoly.  Their goods can be mass produced, sold, and shipped at the lowest cost possible undercutting smaller farmers that operate more sustainable practices.

Fair trade organizations are responsible for getting the little guy in the big game and raising awareness to promote change in international trade.

Buy fair trade and visit the following websites for more information:

Fair Trade Federation

Fair Trade Certified

Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International

CRS Fair Trade Resources

Co-op America: Economic Action for a Just Planet

Photo by crsfairtrade.

August 1st - Fly the Eco Friendly Skies

August 4th - Olympic Update: Green Games Still a Smoggy Grey

August 5th - Superhero Series Presents: Morgan Freeman

August 8th - Home Tours: Conservation on the Commode

August 12th - Green City Spotlight: Albuquerque, New York, Grand Rapids

August 20th - Word of the Day: Upcycling

August 21st - Worst Polluters: US Department of Defense

August 22nd - Greenwashing 101

August 27th - A Laser Focus on Greenhouse Gas: Debate Destroying Data Emerges

August 29th - Back to School Blues and Greens

Photo by dream_sister.

Word of the day: upcycling.

What does it mean for the way we think about our trash?

Originally coined by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, authors of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, upcycling is the liberation of discarded materials to create something completely new and beneficial.  It differs from recycling in that the material doesn’t need to go through any extra steps to begin it’s new life as something else.

Take a sheet of hard industrial plastic, for example.  To recycle it, the type of plastic must be identified, sorted, cleaned, and reformed using a slew of chemical processes.  The same sheet can instead be upcycled and used with little or no modification to become the surface of a picnic table or other useful permanent object.  Upcycling gives meaning to the hands-on reuse of materials in their original state without the mystery of the hands-off method of recycling.

For some ways to try upcycling for yourself, check out these links!

Upcycle Art

Upcycling Old Clothes

Upcycled Furniture

Photo by Enno de Kroon.

Word of the day - permaculture.

What does it mean for the future of farming and the survival of humanity?

It’s best understood through its roots, permanent and agriculture:  Something permanent exists perpetually without significant change and agriculture is the science and art of cultivating land, livestock, and crops.  The combination forms the basis of permaculture, where we give back to the land as much as we take.

Developed in the 1970s by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, this natural systems design model was born in response to the mistreatment of billions of acres of farmland jeopardized by overuse of chemical fertilizers and genetic mutation of crops.

Permaculture provides us with a toolkit for how we can inhabit our world through integration instead of domination.  By careful attention to life’s full spectrum from mammals to microbes, permaculture can sustain huge populations without disrupting nature’s delicate balance.

To find out where you can visit, volunteer, apprentice, and enjoy permaculture sites in your area, the links below should help get you started:

Midwest Permaculture

Northeastern Permaculture

Permaculture Research Institute, USA

Planetary Permaculture Directory

Illustration is the cover of Permaculture: A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison.

Word of the day - kudzu! What is it and can it relieve our food AND oil crisis?

No, kudzu is not a samurai battle cry, it’s an Asian vine that can grow up to 6 feet per day and will survive just about anywhere.  It’s important because its long roots are high in carbohydrates ripe for ethanol production.  Its leaves are great feed for grazing animals and you can even make a jelly out of it that tastes like bubblegum!  So what’s the hold up on this miracle vine?

Due to its invasiveness, kudzu has already been called “the plant that ate the South.” Because of humid conditions and no natural predators there, kudzu is growing wildly out of control infesting vegetative lands with its deep roots and twisting vines and stifling the growth of indigenous plants.

Researchers and farmers are working together to quickly find ways to adequately harvest and control kudzu to fully realize it’s miracle powers.

Photo by a47nn.

Word of the day, CARBON CREDITS! Scheme or scam?

We’re all pretty clear on the idea that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydoroflourocarbons in excessive amounts are no good and increase the atmosphere’s ability to trap infrared energy and thus affect the climate. In an effort to put a cap on these emissions on a global industrial scale, the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement with about 170 countries back in 1997, invented certified emissions reduction credits, CER’s or carbon credits for short. These credits are validated and awarded by the UN to companies of wealthy nations who invest in clean energy projects in developing countries. The carbon credit gives its owner the right to emit one metric tonne of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas.

What may seem an even trade, clean energy over there for dirty production here, is under fire by critics for the “flexible mechanisms” owners are allowed use their credits. Once you’ve got your carbon credit in hand, you can auction it to the highest bidder or sell it off to other companies at market rate. Some credits doled out by the UN have been found to be bogus, awarded to companies who invested in project that would’ve happened anyway without their help.

As consumers, carbon credits are given out to households that put clean energy back into the grid through private wind, hydroelectric, and solar systems. You can buy, sell, and participate in the debate surrounding this new cap and trade system of climate cleaning yourself!