Super Eco

Photo credit: EDF Innovation Review

Imagine reducing landscaping runoff (and its associated pollution) by 70% or increasing your vineyard's yield by as much as 60% while reducing operating costs by 15%.

That's exactly what the City of Newport Beach, Ca. and The Wine Group did after installing smart-technology irrigation systems. These precision systems measure weather and soil conditions then using wireless technology help companies and farmers to use less water and improve the quality of their landscaping and crops.

This new way of managing irrigation while conserving water is another Environmental Defense Fund Innovation Review compelling technology advances that we're celebrating in the Innovation Review Friday series.

The three companies highlighted in this particular Innovation Review are Hydropoint, PureSense and Acequia. PureSense deals with agriculture and has achieved great results with California growers of grapes, nuts and fruit. Hydropoint and Acequia focus on landscaping, help big name clients like eBay, Wallmart, American Airlines and Hilton Hotels cut back on the as much as 300% overwatering that happens when landscaping irrigation is set merely on a timer.

Speaking of overwatering, did you know that landscaping consumes as much as 58% of urban water supplies? That's a lot of unnecessary water going down the drain (and overwhelming sewer systems).

Founded in 1967, the Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics and law to create innovative, equitable and cost-effective solutions to society's most urgent environmental problems. One of its more prominent programs is the Innovation Exchange, which helps businesses, governments and other organizations share information and best practices to reduce everyone's negative impact on the environment.  

Photo credit: dno1967, flickr

Why is it always years after the fact that we learn about bribery and intense lobbying on the part of large corporations? For decades it was the tobacco companies paying doctors to say that smoking wasn't bad for you. Now we've learned that fossil fuel companies have been covering up what they really knew concerning the effects of climate change since at least the mid 1990s.

I'm not so shocked about that—after all they're just trying to protect their profits. It's a natural survival instinct, I suppose. Here are three tactics they've used over the years:

1.    Ignore the advice of their own scientists.

As early as 1995, teams of scientists for the large fossil fuel companies said that climate change was occurring and that our actions were causing it. However, the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing the fossil fuel and automotive industries suppressed the findings in favor of lobbying for fewer controls on greenhouse gas emissions. 

2.    Pay scientists to deny climate change for media outlets looking for a "balanced" opinion.

Many traditional media sources such as the BBC and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom regularly used paid-to-deny scientists without disclosing their connections to companies like ExxonMobil.

3.    Advertise and greenwash.

If you believed the advertisements from fossil fuel and automotive companies, they're not the bad guys in the fight against climate change—they're actually doing good and seeking out ways to go greener. But this load of toxic compost is hard to biodegrade when you compare it to the above two actions.

Photo credit: solylunafamilia, flickr

Like many people here on Super Eco, I already use baking soda to wash my hair but recently I decided to look into other ways to beautify myself using this wonder powder.

Besides the obvious toothpaste alternative, I found several other ways to use this wholly biodegradable product in the bathroom:

1. Hair wash. Going no 'poo has been covered already here on SuperEco, but I wanted to mention that since giving up shampoo I cleared up the acne on my back that had plagued me for almost 30 years.
2. Face scrub. It's gentle enough to use every day and because it has no chemicals you won't end up with any skin irritation. This is an especially good cleanser for people who suffer from rosacea. 
   
3. Body cleanser. When I exercise, I get sweaty and stinky and using soap never got the smell out of my body hair. Since I've started using baking soda instead of soap in my post workout showers, I come out smelling fresh and not like someone's dumped perfume into an old shoe.
4. Deodorant. Although I've yet to try this, you can brush a little baking soda on your pits as a deodorant, or even create a spray if you worry about the chafing effects of the dry powder.
   
5. Foot scrub. Being an active person, I'm also prone to athlete's foot. Creams never seemed to work, but when I started my post workout baking soda showers, I started scrubbing my feet with it too. And, woo hoo! No more athlete's foot. You can also do a home spa with a foot soak.
   
6. Mouthwash. Want a breath freshener that doesn't require (artificially) sweet gum or mints? One teaspoon of baking soda for every eight ounces of water will fix even the worst bad breath. And if you still want the minty-fresh feel, add in a drop of peppermint oil.
   

The best part? Not having to worry whether I'm using products that have been tested on animals.

And then there are all its uses outside the bathroom, but I'll leave that for next time…

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Nearly ten years ago a small town in the province of Ontario suffered an E.coli outbreak that sent 40 people to hospital and cost the province CAD$155 million. While the media focused on the people who monitored the water supply, a few groups, like the David Suzuki Foundation, pointed the finger at the real culprits: the factory farms in the area. 

Now, in Mexico, we have an outbreak of a swine/human/avian flu that threatens to become a level 6 pandemic. While every news channel talks about possible infections and ways to avoid coming into contact with the flu, once again, few people are talking about the culprit. You got it: factory hog farms.

We hear about efforts to find a vaccine and to stockpile medication, but where are the calls to halt factory farming?

Is it because factory farming is big business? In a TimesOnline article, the US company in charge of the factory farm in the area where the virus originated denies that their hogs have any illness. To me, this sounds a bit like tobacco companies claiming that lung cancer in smokers is completely incidental to smoking.

Photo credit: jbcurio, flickr

According to the City of Toronto, over half the people in the city live in concrete highrises. Unfortunately most of those buildings are reaching the end of their lifespan, creating environmental wastelands.

But there's hope for these monoliths in the form of a two-year pilot project that will retrofit a handful of buildings to create environmentally and people focused neighborhoods out of areas that many people fear might become gang-ruled territories. 

Called the Mayor's Tower Renewal project the four-site pilot project aims to "drive broad environmental, social, economic, and cultural change by improving Toronto’s concrete apartment towers and the neighbourhoods that surround them."

Some of the specific problems and solutions include:

• Concrete towers waste energy, so they will be encased in external cladding with high-speed Internet wiring and garbage separation chutes.
• A 200 unit building emits 1200 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, so the project is considering green energy installations, grey water recycling and "smart" metering.
• With energy costs are rising, the goal is to eventually take buildings off Toronto's energy grid altogether using on-site renewable energy.
  

Photo credit: Pappy's Corn Field by soundfromwayout at Flickr.com

When it comes to filling up our cars, biofuels have been touted as the savior for our energy problems. They don't require great holes in the ground, are said to mitigate the price of oil, and can help reduce our carbon emissions. Plus the raw materials for biofuels—plants, food waste, biowastes—are renewable.

On the biofuels-aren't-so-good side, the increased monoculture production of plants like corn create more soil erosion, may cause more deforestation as countries looking to cash in on the potential revenues convert more land to corn production, and put pressure on water reserves (both in irrigation and conversion to fuel).

Those who are against the use of corn as a biofuel source have received some pretty heavyweight backing. Douglas A. Landis of Michigan State University and his colleagues recently published a report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that increased corn production for biofuels has a negative impact on neighboring soybean crops.

The researchers studied fields in four states (Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin) and discovered that where corn production increased by up to 20%, soybean farmers noticed a marked increase in aphid problems—resulting in lower yields and a $60million increase in pesticide use.

According to the report, the aphid population growth occurred because of a decrease in predator insects like beetles which normally aid in the control of the aphids.

The report concludes that the value of biological control of pests may be underestimated and that to maintain biodiversity researchers might consider exploring a variety of plant sources for biofuels instead of relying single plants like corn.

Photo credit: Dan Zen, flickr

Founded in 1967, the Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics and law to create innovative, equitable and cost-effective solutions to society's most urgent environmental problems. One of its more prominent programs is the Innovation Exchange, which helps businesses, governments and other organizations share information and best practices to reduce everyone's negative impact on the environment.  

As part of this program, the EDF provides an annual Innovation Review which searches out compelling and practical new ways of doing things that increase efficiency, provide new business opportunities and of course benefit the environment.

The 2009 Review features startups, Fortune 100 companies, and groups and individuals working together. Beginning today, we'll feature one of the 2009 Innovation Review winners each Friday.

So let's kick off the series with a group of individuals working in agriculture: Iowa soy farmers.

Soy farmers traditionally fertilize their crops with nitrogen, however, often that nitrogen ends up degrading the water table and working its way down to Chesapeake Bay, which has had for many years significant nitrogen problems, killing fish and other sea-life as well as encouraging algae blooms which block out light to plant-life which creates dead zones in the Bay.

The Iowa Soybean Association has created a monitoring and information-sharing network that allows farmers to determine exactly what is the right amount of nitrogen necessary and when is the best time to apply it.

Photo credit: dps, flickr

For a lot of people food is fuel—there is no love and certainly no savoring of flavor and presentation. This attitude leads to shoving whatever is handy into our stomachs and leads to the rise of additive-rich environmentally damaging packaged meals—sometimes making planet-healthy food choices just seems like so much work.

It's not all about the Slow Food movement. If we can simply become mindful about food and embrace mealtimes as a type of calm meditation we will become passionate about food and about healthy choices for ourselves and for the planet.

Here are just a few ways we become more mindful about our food.

Mix and match your meals
When out shopping, don't just grab whatever's easy, go shopping with an idea of what types of fresh food you and your family enjoy and considering how different foods go with each other. Instead of creating a rigid mealplan, come up with a list of interchangeable combinations that will allow you to cook based on your desire in the moment.

Visualize the meal
Often I'll start with a single ingredient in mind, like fennel, and then slowly build a meal around it in my head, picturing what other flavors would complement the fennel, like glass noodles, lime and cashews for example.

Photo credit: USDA

In a move that will make locavores happy, the Washington headquarters of the USDA has started turning its six acres of grass into a community garden, with the produce going to local food banks.  

While the argument for or against cultivating lawns bounces back and forth, victory gardens have always been popular in lean times. When there's not a lot of money to go around, why spend it shipping across the country food that's easily grown in your backyard?

If you look at the suburbs across most Western nations, you'll see a space that might be used to play in but more often it's a place to look at and admire for its greenness and the artful display of flowers and shrubs.

However with the same amount of effort and producing the same beauty, back yards can also be productive, providing families with the basics of healthy eating.

Photo credit: BinaryApe, flickr

The 100-Mile Diet might get people to seriously think about where there food comes from, but it's a simplified view. As we've recently mentioned here on Super Eco, going vegetarian might count for more greenhouse gas reduction than going local and once you open up the debate to the other factors, the choices for a truly healthy meal become much more difficult.   

This is especially true for people who live in large urban centers like New York City where almost all the food has to be shipped in from somewhere.

Growing method
A hot-house tomato grown in NYC using fossil fuels consumes more energy than a field tomato from California. However that same hot-house tomato in NYC using renewable energy compared to a tomato grown in a heavily irrigated drought-year in California will come out on top.

Raising method
When we move out of the vegetable realm into meats, does a free range lamb raised on a local upstate New York farm eating only from the famer's field and slaughtered on-site really require that much more energy than a bag of lentils shipped from Saskatchewan?