Kisscafe

 

Vertical Farms

 

At the turn of the millennium, most people were either preparing to party like they've never partied before, or were frantically stockpiling food and goods in an underground bomb shelter preparing for the "inevitable" Y2K. But one man, Dickson Despommier, a public health professor at Columbia U', and 82 of his grad students were busy developing an idea which could revolutionize the way we all look at agriculture. 

The team created the concept of the "vertical farm" and had hopes that word of their revolutionary idea would spread quickly and turn heads in all major cities of the world. 

The "vertical farm" is essentially a 30 story tower which houses an array of flora and vegetables. All of the produce would be grown locally and naturally in the tower which would be completely self sufficient with either large wind turbines or solar panels on the roof to power the building.

Since the concepts birth in 1999, architects around the world have taken an interest and have even created some renderings of possible vertical farms. ( these photos can be found in the below link )

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/15/science/0715-FARMING_2.html

A full size tower would  be capable of providing fresh produce for up to fifty-thousand people, would be impermeable to natural predators, as-well as floods and drought and would promote buying local  as well as adding a nice touch of scenery to major cities. 

Imagine a world where produce was grown only a few miles from your home, that practically brings new meaning to the word "fresh." 

Vertical Farms in every major city could significantly reduce carbon emissions as people wouldn't have to travel nearly as far to acquire fresh produce, nor would produce need to be imported as frequently. 

For more information on Vertical Farms
check out

 www.VerticalFarm.com

or for the rest of the NY Times Article:

http://nytimes.com/2008/07/15/science/15farm.html?_r=3&hp&oref=login&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

 

 

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Hey everybody,
I just thought I'd take some time out of my day to address and discuss an awesome reforestation campaign which is taking place in South America right now.

Believe it or not, the campaign has been titled the "Plant a Billion Trees Campaign"

that's right, a billion.

The project aims to reforest Brazils once vast Atlantic forest which has now been 93% cleared. The project is being launched by The Nature Conservancy (TNC)  and is being supported through online fundraising [ http://www.plantabillion.org/ ] as well as "Brazil's federal government, the state governments of Parana and Sao Paulo, the Extrema municipality, forestry companies, local cooperatives, NGOs, and local communities" (planet green)

The Atlantic forest is the only forest on Earth that has been taken this close to complete destruction, TNC hopes that by 2015 the campaign will have restored 1 billion trees, over an area of 2.5 million acres of once native land. Over 2000 animal species and 458 tree species co-exist in the Atlantic forest, showing the immense diversity contained within.

Although deforestation began over 300 years ago, significant harm wasnt noted untill these past 100 years. Today, over 11 communities and 130 million people occupy the territory which the Atlantic forest once canopied and "about 80 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product is generated in the region. Forested areas are still being cleared for soybean and sugarcane production, non-native tree plantations, cattle ranching, illegal logging, and urban and coastal development." (planet green)

the final product will help future generations breathe cleaner, fresher air as the new forest will "remove thousands of tons of carbon every year." (planet green)

be sure to check out the site http://www.plantabillion.org/ and see what you can do to help.

 

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/plant-billion-trees.html

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hello everyone

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" The Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way that its animals are treated"
-Mohatma Gandi

If you've ever experienced the unconditional love of a pet, you know that it can be one of the strongest bonds that many people have. As animal lovers everywhere know, owning a pet can be rewarding, comforting, and an endless source of love and affection. Pets offer their unconditional love and become true family members within a home, and ask for little in return. They want nothing more but to please their families and have food, shelter, and love in return.

Sadly, however, millions of pets are abandoned every year and face a grim future. Euthanization is a common fate met by over 4 millions innocent dogs each year. Many are abandoned by people who can no longer keep their pets, who no longer care to keep them, or simply were unaware of the responsibilities of pet ownership. While shelters who take abandoned animals in don't want to kill the dogs who come in, there is often simply not enough room, resources, or quality of life for those who aren't adopted. The euthanization of animals is something that many have been made to believe is 'unavoidable', and a sad reality that can not be changed.

There is a common misconception that shelter dogs have behavioural problems, that they bite, or that they cannot be trained. Certainly, while some animals are brought to shelters for behavioural problems, many are taken in because their owners cannot afford to keep their pet, or because of a new job, a new baby, or one of many other reasons. There is nothing 'wrong' with the dogs, only with the circumstances of their owners. These, like so many wonderful family pets, just want a home and a second chance. Sadly, many of them don't get their second chance. Those with behavioural problems can often be helped, and worked through to create happy, loving members of someone's family.

DogsInDanger.com is a non-profit organization working to change this. Based in the US, they are a nationwide service, working to find homes for shelter animals scheduled for euthanization. Through exposure, they work to spread the words about dogs who close to the end of their time in the shelters. Simultaneously, they are spreading the word about the misconceptions of sheltered animals and encouraging people to consider adopting animals who would otherwise be killed, rather than buying from other places like pet stores. Dogsindanger doesn't sugarcoat the desperate fate that many of these dogs face. They post pictures and information about dogs who are about to be euthanized. Though euthanization and the display of scheduled dogs is uncomfortable for animal lovers everywhere, they stress that "the truth is uncomfortable (and) by making it personal, we believe more people will be compelled to help these dogs."

Happy- one of the many dogs saved
by DogsInDanger.com

For many dogs, living in a shelter is the last line. They face hard lives, where they are eventually killed by those they trust and love. For animal lovers, this is extremely sad and heart breaking. But, not everyone can afford to rescue all the dogs they see, especially if they don't want them to face the same fate of shelter life again. So, what else can you do?

For starters, spay or neuter any pets you own. Many pets end up in shelters because there are so many pets and so few homes. You can also make donations to local shelters, support no-kill organizations (like Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue in the Lower Mainland -www.orphankittenrescue.com) by offering a foster home to a pet, and donate to organizations working to save animals from death simply because they don't have a home. Visit DogsInDanger.com to learn more, make a donation, search for a friend and save a life.

Sandy- another DogsInDanger rescue

Visit DogsInDanger.com here.

 

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The human mind is a complex thing. The majority of us don't truly know the inner workings of the mind, how memory truly works, or how gifted and briliant people process information differently than us 'average' folk. We are often reminded that there is a fine line between madness and genius. Mental disorders are medicated, attended to with therapy, and attacked with other potential 'cures', which are often unsucessful. Psychology is constantly evolving (homosexuality, for example, was listed as an official mental disorder for many years), and is listed by many Universities under the separate faculties of Arts and Sciences, respectively.

The mysteries of the human mind are only further complicated with incredible people like Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic savant who is often referred to as the Human Camera.

Wiltshire was diagnosed with autism, a brain development disorder, at age 3. Stephen's talent lies in his artistic abilities. As a child, he used art and drawings to communicate, and learned to speak fully at the age of 9. In 2005 he took a helicopter ride over Tokyo, and was able to accurately recreate the entire city scape in astonishing detail on a 10 meter long canvas. Since then he has gone on to draw several other major cities with the same exceptional detail (for example, drawing the precise number of windows on major skyscrapers). Watch Stephen draw Tokyo from memory here:

 

While Stephen's talents are undeniable, it is unknown how he developed his amazing artistic abilities. There is evidence, however, that extraordinary abilities in areas like mathematics can be taught. This is not mere memorization of numbers and times tables, but the learning of complicated skills, speed, and accuracy. Chldren start learning these skills at aged 4, and by 12 are "human calculators".

Equally as fascinating are seizures and head injuries that increase the abilties of certain areas of the brain.

Also, watch this fascinating video (a follow up to the previous video) about how Daniel, an autistic savant who lacks many of the disabilities associated of autism, 'sees' numbers, and the real life inspiration for the movie Rain Man.

 

Visit Stephen Wiltshires website here.

 

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Statistics are everywhere. We use numbers to try to prove facts and drive home our arguments. They're used to shock us with what percentage of people die from smoking every year, how much pollution has increased in the past decade, or how much water each average person wastes each day.

But, when we read these statistics, how much sense do these numbers make? How much can we grasp? How much of the human element is lost?

Originally started as a project written by Donella Meadows and titled "the State of the Village Report", the Miniature Earth (by the Sustainability Institute) reduces the population of the entire Earth to just 100 people, but keeps the proportions the same. By doing this, it makes the world's demographics more easiliy understood and accessible.

By simply changing the proportions to numbers we can all grasp with greaer ease, the messages put forth by the Miniature Earth are striking and undeniable. Perhaps the point most driven home is the disporportionate distribution of wealth across the world.

According to the website, if you have an internet connection, you're one of the only three people in the Miniature Earth who do. On the other hand, 43 of the hundred people don't have access to basic sanitation. These are only 2 among the many statistics that truly make the "appreciate what you have" message nearly impossible to ignore.

As the Miniature Earth website states, "these are only statistics". No matter how big or small the numbers are, the meaning behind the numbers hasn't changed. But, for some of us, downsizing the statistics to manageable numbers makes the message clearer, more easily digestable, or at the very least, seen through a fresh perspective.

Watch the fascinating Miniature Earth here.

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Has urban planning and design made civilized living something not worth caring about? How has careless architecture affected the way we live our quality of life, and led to larger problems than the functionality of the buildings and cities we live and work in?

In a TED talk by James Howard Kunstler in 2004, he proposes that suburbia's poor design, in terms of aethetics and the treatment of public space in our cities, has created a void of meaning in the way we live our lives. Kunstler argues that public space (like squares and main streets etc.) are
a) the dwelling place of civilizations and b) a physical manifestation of the public good.
These are the places that the public gathers, interacts, where neighbors meet, creativity is developed, and the population gets to know one another and build relationships. By degrading the public space, through creating unpleasant places to be, by ignoring aesthetics, and creating spaces that don't acknowledge their purpose, we're also degrading the quality of civic life, of character, and of public communal life. So, these become places of public despair, or at the very least, places where nobody cares to go.
Boston City Hall Plaza- Kunstler's example of a design failure.

Suburbia, along the same lines, was created in response to the living conditions of the industrial revolution. But by trying to incorporate country style living into the city, homes and city design was watered down, compromised, and depressing. Suburbia became a flimsy and hollow imitation of country living within the industrial city. Real nature was, and is, paved over to make room for suburban sprawl, and a few dots of insufficient and poorly imitated nature (a shrub here, a bush there) are forced into cramped areas where they seem out of place and meaningless. Without green spaces and public squares where neighbors could convene and meet, residents rarely venture out of their homes. There is no place to improve public life.

In essence, Kunstler argues that one of the major problems in modern living is lack of meaningful architecture. These public places and our suburban way of living is not good enough. America (he only specifically mentions the US though I'm sure he would apply his argument to places all over North America), lacks meaningful places which are essential to human and civic life. These places lack life, creativity, and therefore, detract from the quality of our public lives.

If, for argument's sake, 'society' is something that needs to be saved, can meaningful (a largely subjective term) architecture do the trick?

Watch Kunstler's presentation here: http://www.glumbert.com/media/suburbia

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If you've ever attended meetings or seminars, you know they can be lenghty- and boring. Presenters ramble on as you lose interest as your mind starts wandering. By the end of the talk, it feels like days have gone past (it's only been a couple hour or so) and yet all your left with is a void in your memory and the vague feeling that you should have remembered something from the last few hours. Sound familiar?

Enter Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham. Klein and Dytham are two architects who recognize how important it is for designers and creative minds to share their ideas, but who also know how ineffective and uninspirational long, drawn out, and boring presentations can be. Klein and Dytham began hosting their "Pecha-Kucha Night", in Tokyo where they are both based, as a way of getting chatty designers to be more concise.

Pucha Kucha, Japanese for "chit-chat", is an evening of presentations given by designers and creative thinkers, that has spread from Tokyo to major cities all around the world (Lisbon, Mexico City, Stockholm, Brussels, and Los Angeles to name only a few). Each presenter is given a maximum time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds to show 20 slide images for 20 seconds each. Once the time is up, the slides shut off. Consequently, presentations are shorter, interest levels stay high, and more presenters are given time to speak. Interestingly, asking speakers to present their ideas in condensed formats has turned Pucha Kucha into a type of challenge to many contributors, who in turn find a sense of camaraderie among fellow presenters. Indeed, many spectators cheer presenters on and laugh good-humourdly as they scramble to fit their presentation in the allotted time, and keep up to pace with their slides. The mood of Pucha Kucha nights often changes from that of an information seminar to that of a lively, creative event.

Certainly, in a time where more people seek out their information in concise, Coles-notes style formats. We seek out blogs, forums, search engines, and we're demanding that we get more information, and get it now. The creative aspect of Pucha Kucha has also seen it grow as a design oriented evening to one where all creative thoughts and ideas, from architecture to technology, philosophy and photography, are all celebrated. Klein and Dytham clearly recognize our growing desire for greater efficiency in learning and information sharing. As our demand continues to grow, watch Pucha Kucha to do the same, and hopefully pique enough interested to warrant an evening in Vancouver.

 

Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham

For more information on Pucha Kucha, visit the homepage here.

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Buildings are among the greatest greenhouse gas contributors in the world. They require energy to build, power, cool, and heat. They use materials that require transportation, fabrication, and eventually, disposal. The energy consumed by buildings in the United States alone stands for 10% of what is used by the entire world, and nearly 1/3 of US greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. But, regardless of how much they pollute, how much space they take up, and how much waste they create, we need buildings to survive. We need them to be comfortable, functional, and attractive.

 

In 2006, a large section of a freeway in Massachusetts (known as the Big Dig) was in the midst of being demolished. However, as the demolition continued, the city realized it was running out of room to put the waste, and the city began planning to pay to have the materials crushed and disposed. Engineer Paul Pedini, with the help of designer John Hong from Single Speed Design, were able to salvage some of the valuable material and prevent it from an eternity in the landfill. Instead of letting it go to waste, and paying to have it broken down and removed, Pedini and Hong turned the freeway refuse as materials for a modern and innovative new home.

 

The materials taken from the freeway were given to Pedini and Hong at no cost (aside from transportation). In total, the Big Dig House was constructed using over 600,000lbs of recycled materials. By using steel structures and roadway panels from the freeway, the time it took to frame the home was reduced from 2 weeks to 12 days (watch the process here). In addition to using recycled materials, Hong also added several sustainable design features, such as a green roof and a rainwater catchment system (to recycle and reuse rainwater).

 

  Construction on the Big Dig House 

Though freeways are not often cited as beautiful structures, the destruction of this particular stretch of roadway in Massachusetts led to the construction of a surprisingly beautiful, waste reducing, new recycled home. Check the Single Speed Design website for more photos of the process and the final product.

 

 

 

 

 

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Looking a few more books to add to your list of summer reading? Here's one that you shouldn't go without.

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

While a bit heavier than most beachside reading material, Cradle to Cradle discusses the role of design in the environment, and how by reimagining the things we design and the materials we use, we can make a positive impact. Note, McDonough (a recipient of one and only Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, and named "Hero for the Planet" by Time Magazine) and Braungart (a chemist and founder of the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency) push for a positive, not merely a reduced, impact. Also, their idea of 'positive impact' does not apply only to the environment, but also to the social and economic realm.

While they say that the intention behind reducing and recycling is good, we can and should go beyond simply reducing our negative impact on the planet, and ourselves, and do something positive. For example, while buying recycled carpet may seem like a great idea, and can reduce the amount of materials we use, the recycling process may introduce harmful chemicals into your household and the environment. Eventually, recycled carpet will still end up in the landfill anyway. In the book, recycling is refered to as "downcycling", since during the recycling process chemicals and fillers are often added to the original material, thereby reducing the quality of the material.

But, as our authors state, there are options in place for us to make a positive impact. However, we have merely been accustomed to thinking a certain way, going back to the way things panned out during the Industrial Revolution. As they outline in the book, the goal is not to reduce the quality, characteristics, aesthetics, or functionality of any object, but rather, to consider the entire lifecycle of a product from conception all the way until it's no longer needed. For example, consider carpet again. Rather than using a carpet that needs considerable energy to be turned into 'carpet' and that can contain chemicals hazardous to any one including pets and children that live in the house, we can use a type of carpet made of materials that will reintroduce biological nutrients into the environment. McDonough has also enabled factories to create drinkable waste water that is cleaner going out than it was coming in.

According to McDonough and Braungart: Biological and technical nutrients have already entered the marketplace. The upholstery fabric Climatex Lifecycle is a blend of pesticide-residue-free wool and organically grown ramie, dyed and processed entirely with nontoxic chemicals. All of its product and process inputs were defined and selected for their human and ecological safety within the biological metabolism. The result: the fabric trimmings are made into felt and used by garden clubs as mulch for growing fruits and vegetables, returning the textile’s biological nutrients to the soil.

Cradle to Cradle also states that by using materials that can be "upcycled" rather than downcycled, materials can be infinitely kept within the industry. New materials don't need to be harvested, waste isn't created, so customers are encouraged to bring their older products in and trade them for newer ones. This encourages the growth of industry, reduces waste, and actually encourages people to spend more on nicer, newer goods and help the economy grow.

The book goes into far more detail than I can properly do justice too. So, in short, there are some brilliant ideas in this book, that push its readers to rethink the possibilites of design and how, by just reconsidering the way we build things, we can make a positive impact on ourselves and our planet. It stresses that with creativity and innovation, we can actually do some "good" rather than just being "less bad".

Oh yeah, and McDonough and Mraungart practice what they preach. The book is printed on a synthetic 'paper' made fro plastic resins and inorganic filler, that looks and feels thick and of high quality. This material can be used, recycled, and reused again without diminishing in quality. It's also completely waterproof and durable so instead of reading this one by the water this summer, you can read it in the water.

It may be a little heavier than most light beachside stories, but it's certainly worth the read.

More info on Cradle to Cradle on McDonough's Site

 

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It's summer and it's hot out. With weather like this, there's nothing quite like a tall, ice cold bottle of water to quench your thirst and keep you hydrated.

But before you reach for the bottle, think about some ideas (as outlined in greater detail by the Economist) for a few minutes:

• Bottled water costs 1,000 times the price per volume of tap water
• Studies have shown that in many cases, tap water is actually more pure than many bottled waters
• A litre of water often costs more than a liter of gas
• Few, if any, of the health claims made by bottled water companies are proven
• Imported bottled water creates pollution through transportation and shipping, not to mention all the excess waste created by throw-away bottles.

And the kicker:

• Large bottled water companies, like Pepsi's Aquafina will soon be changing their labels to say "public water source", rather than "PVC".
  And yes, "public water source" as in tap water.
  
• In Britain, 2004, Coca-Cola was put through the ringer when it was exposed that their Dasani water was merely filtered tap water. Five weeks later, British Dasani was finished.
  

What can you do?

• Avoid bottled water whenever you can. Use a reusable bottle and fill it up at home, with water you've filtered using a Brita or other filtration device.
  
• If you're thisty and you've forgotten your bottle at home, look for the BIOTA brand bottled water. All their bottles are biodegradable, decompose within 80 days, and made from corn- a renewable resource. Otherwise, just remember to avoid imported brands.

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It's a little unbelievable to imagine that one day we might run out of water. So many of us take
clean, fresh water for granted, and have it available at our beck and call. The simple fact is that we need water to survive, not just to wash our dishes or flush the toilet, and yet many of us use far more water than we sustainably can. Even when we're not using water directly, we are consuming it. Meat production and processing, for example, uses more water (and land) than any other form of food production.
On average, the amount of water we use increases at double the rate of the human population.

 

Our planet works as a closed loop system- that is, what is naturally provided by the earth and sun is all we have to work with, and aside from the rare asteroid or space ship, there's not a lot

coming in or out of our planet. Right now, one out of every five people in the world doesn't have access to safe drinking water, and five out of ten don't have adequate sanitation. There will be no way to bring more water to the Earth before our water runs out, if we continue to use water the way we do. If we keep going down the path we're on now, according to the United Nations, by the year 2025 two thirds of the world will face serious water shortages. Along with water scarcity comes other issues, like habitat destruction and loss of vital marine ecosystems.

Before we all start feeling guilty every time we have a shower or flush the toilet, here are a few small steps you can take to reduce your daily water consumption. These steps are easy, effective, and won't cost a lot of money. In fact, doing a few (or all!) of these actions can help you reduce your water bill, and make a huge difference over time. While you might notice a change in your water bill, chances are you won't notice any change in your lifestyle. None of these actions will take more than a few minutes of your time, but the effects can help enormously.

• Fill up a 1 liter bottle of water (or a brick) and place it in your toilet tank. This will reduce the amount of water you use with each flush by 1 liter. Think of how many liters you can save in just one week!

• Install a low-flow shower head. With a conventional shower head you could be using 190 liters of water for every 10 minute shower you take. A low flow shower head will cut this amount in half, and will only cost you $15 dollars and a few minutes to install it.

• Try to eat at least one meat free meal a week. The production of grains uses up much less land and water than the production of meat.

• By running your washing machine only when it's full, a family of four can save over 9,000 liters of water a month. A traditional washing machine uses 150-230 liters each load. Also remember to adjust your water settings, and use cold or warm water, not hot.
  
  
  
• Use a low flow faucet aerator. This can help cut your household water consumption almost in half. If you already have an aerator installed, look on the side to see what the flow rate is (it should say 275 gpm or lower). If you don't have an aerator, check the inside of thefaucet for threads that will make installing a low flow aerator fast and easy.

• Check for and repair leaky faucets, garden hoses, taps, and washer machine hoses.

• Use a broom when cleaning your driveway or the sidewalk in front of your hose. Using the hose can use over 200 liters each time.

• Water the lawn and outdoor plants when it's cool, like in the morning or evening, to prevent the water from evaporating too quickly.
  
  
• Turn off the tap while you're brushing your teeth. By doing so, a household of four people can save over 3000 liters in a month.

• Check for toilet tank leaks by pouring a bit of food colouring into the tank. If the color seeps out, there's water leaking from your tank into the bowl.

With these quick and easy fixes, there's absolutely no reason that each of us can't do a few small things to help conserve the water we have left.

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