The Least Sustainable Seafood in the World And Why You Should Avoid It

More and more people are getting out their handy pocket sustainable seafood guides and that's a great thing. For one reason or another these guys have been hit hard with overfishing or the methods in which they are fished have dire consequences for the planet. So if you see these fish on a menu skip them and if you see them at the fish market pass them by. Of course this list is subject to change over time, but for the time being, there are plenty of tasty, sustainable alternatives, so opt for those instead.

1. Blue Fin Tuna
The World Wildlife Fund recently warned that Atlantic bluefin tuna will be wiped out completely by 2012 if we don't halt the overfishing of it. According to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, bluefin's numbers have decreased an alarming 97 percent since 1960.

2. Swordfish
While this is number two on the list it is more commonly eaten than bluefin tuna in our country. The reason why these guys are in so much trouble is because swordfish, which can get up to a massive 2,000 pounds are often caught at a weight of 200 pounds.

3. Chilean Sea Bass
Chilean sea bass is caught with bottom longlines, which damage the seafloor and lead to high rates of bycatch, meaning the death of seabirds, turtles, and other nontarget species. The aquarium also points out that more than half of Chilean sea bass sold was caught illegally. They can live to be six feet long and more than 50 years old, but fishermen are reporting smaller and smaller weights and lower catches according to the Daily Green.

4. Shark/Shark Fin
Brian wrote about how everyday "fishermen" catch sharks, by pulling them out of the ocean, cutting off their fins, and throwing the still-living remains back into the ocean, where they slowly bleed to death. Forty million sharks are slaughtered in this barbaric manner for their fins every year, according to National Geographic. Shark populations are declining at a dramatic rate and without this natural predator the ocean's food chain will go completely out of whack.

For more information on how a red fish made a comeback please visit:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/feature/blue-august/sustainable-seafood-red-snapper.html

FIRST US ECO- EMBASSY in BULGARIA

AMERICAN EMBASSY-LEED CERTIFIED

In March 2007, the U.S. embassy in Sofia became not only the first building in Bulgaria, but also the first U.S. diplomatic compound in the world, to earn LEED certification. The State Department aims to complete 15 LEED certified embassies by the close of fiscal year 2009.
The plan for the Sofia embassy began with the Standard Embassy Design, a stock model developed in the wake of the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Although dozens of embassies have since been based on this design, Sofia’s is the first to incorporate green strategies.
the project team was able to set aside four acres of wildlife habitat, twice the amount required by LEED. The team also planted 400 trees on the site. The project features several innovative strategies for water management and conservation. A sophisticated irrigation system and water-efficient fixtures inside the building contribute to an annual water savings of 136,000 gallons, about 20 percent less than a comparable conventional building. The project also uses electrical pulses instead of harsh chemicals to treat its water.
Sensors and timers ensure that lights are turned off when rooms are unoccupied or when there is sufficient daylight. Lightshelves contribute to the daylighting, and energy use is further reduced by a solar water heater and extra insulation. One third of the project’s materials were sourced from within 500 miles of the project site. Occupants are treated to superior indoor air quality via the use of HEPA filters, humidity control, separate ventilation for rooms with high chemical emissions, and a carbon-dioxide monitoring system. Green design is a national effort being carried over to global projects. Please support ecological design, policy makers and designers.

The LEED® Green Building Rating System™ is the national benchmark for the design, construction, and operations of high-performance green buildings.

For more information on LEED visit: http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx

UNIPOL: WORLD"S FIRST ANTI-AIR POLLUTION POLICE FORCE


In Abidjan, the commercial and cultural capital of the West African nation of Cote d'Ivoire, the potent odor of car exhaust permeates just about everything. Eighty percent of the country's vehicles are second-hand -- discarded cars shipped in from Western countries.
These are all cars that will leave u with lung cancer as they passed by.
Last year doctors began linking air pollution to rising rates of asthma in Abidjan for the first time. Due to the increase in air pollution related lung disease the worlds first "green cops" are out in the streets of Abidjan- a new anti-pollution police force in Abidjan called UNIPOL (l'Unite de Police Anti-Pollution). Currently resources are limiting with a mere nine officers and one patrol car, they monitor an expansive city of more than 3 million people.

Unfortunately Cote d'Ivoire -- which recently joined a World Bank list of the world's poorest and most heavily indebted nations -- relies on a significant amount of money from the business of importing used cars. It will take some time for "green cops" to fully ecompass the entire country but it is a stepping-stone towards a sustainable future.

E-Waste

Ghana's Biggest City Sits a Smoldering Wasteland

Life is really difficult for the people of Ghana; they eat here, surrounded by e-waste
Some of the boys burn old foam on top of computers to melt away the plastic, leaving behind scraps of copper and iron they can collect to sell. The younger boys use magnets from old speakers to gather up the smaller pieces left behind at the burn site.
Old computers first began arriving in West Africa a few years ago, people thought that they were donations. Little did they know what this would turn into a terrible environmental and health problem polluting rivers used for bathing, cooking, and drinking.
No later than sooner have exporters learned to exploit the loopholes by labeling junk computers as "donations."

AMAZONIAN DESTRUCTION

Chevron to Account for Destroying Amazonian Ecosystems!

Over the last 28 years, the company has dumpedmore than 18 billion gallons of toxic formation waters into the Oriente, a river that about 30,000 native people depend on for bathing, drinking and cooking, causing immeasurable damage to children.

In 1995, Chevron vowed to "clean up" the mess it had made, but the actual effort was pathetic. Less than 1 percent of the 350 drilling sites it had opened were adequately dealt with, and most of the others were simply covered with a thin layer of dirt. Studies have linked 1,401 cancer deaths, as well as an unusually high rate of miscarried pregnancies, to oil contamination. And across many villages, children endure a variety of birth defects and disfigurements.
For complete article and ways you can help please visit
http://www.alternet.org/action/142334/call_chevron_to_account_for_its_assault_on_the_amazonian_ecosystem/

Us and Earth

We all have heard of the Amazonian rainforests but there is other biologically diverse areas in South America being logged that also need your help and attention.

The Atlantic Rainforest / (Mata Atlântica) is the third

largest brazilian biome that stretches for about 4.000 km along the Atlantic coast between Rio Grande do Norte and Rio Grande do Sul.

It contains an estimated 250 species of mammals, 340 amphibians, 1.023 birds and approximately 20.000 trees. The site provides also an important refuge for jaguar and puma, the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere.
The Atlantic Rainforest Southeast and Discovery Coast Reserves were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1999.

Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace exceeding 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5 million square miles (6 million square kilometers), an area about the size of the contiguous 48 United States or Australia and representing around 5 percent of the world's land surface.

However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed.

The problem with this traditional park approach to preserving wildlands in developing countries is that it fails to generate sufficient economic incentives for respecting and maintaining the forest. Rainforests will only continue to survive as functional ecosystems if they can be shown to provide tangible economic benefits.
Five Basic Steps to Saving Rainforests
"TREES" is a concept originally devised for an elementary school audience but serves well as set of principles for saving rainforests and, on a broader scale, ecosystems around the world.
Teach others about the importance of the environment and how they can help save rainforests.
Restore damaged ecosystems by planting trees on land where forests have been cut down.
Encourage people to live in a way that doesn't hurt the environment.
Establish parks to protect rainforests and wildlife.
Support companies that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment

HOW ELSE TO HELP?

Funding rainforest conservation efforts
When out in travels always opt to support conservation efforts such as:
Ecotourism—Ecotourism can fund efforts both through park entrance fees and employing locals as guides and in the handicraft and service sectors (hotels, restaurants, drivers, boat drivers, porters, cooks).
Bio-prospecting fees—Rainforest countries can earn revenue by allowing scientists to develop products from the island's native plant and animal species. The pioneer in this area was Costa Rica, which entered into an agreement with the American pharmaceutical company, Merck, to look for plants with potential pharmaceutical applications. Under the agreement, a portion of the proceeds from compounds that do prove commercially valuable will go to the Costa Rican government, which has guaranteed that some of the royalties will be set aside for conservation projects. Similarly, in 2001 Givaudan, a Swiss fragrance and flavor company, sent a team to look for new exotic smells and flavors in Madagascar. Following their survey, Givaudan researchers "reconstituted" 40 aromas that could be used in commercial products.

THINGS TO DO WHILE ON VACATION

Turn down the heat and turn off the water heater before you leave.
Carry reusable cups, dishes, and flatware.
Make sure your trash doesn't end up in the ocean... don't litter beaches.
Don't pick flowers or keep wild creatures for pets... leave plants and animals where you find them.
Don't buy souvenirs made from wild or endangered animals.
Watch out for wildlife... give consideration to all living things you see crossing the road.
Build smaller campfires, and make sure they're completely out before you leave.
Stay on the trail... don't trample fragile undergrowth
For more information and to learn how you can help

please visit: http://www.ecotourism.org/

Alternative To Reduce C02

COCONUT AS FERTILISER

The government of the beautiful Maldives Islands nestled in the middle of the Indian Ocean has launched a project to tackle rising CO2 levels. Together with the UK based company, Carbon Gold, will be using "biochar", a charcoal made by bio wastes such as coconut shells. These shells are abundanent in the archipelago and will reduce costs from importing fertiliser from abroad. The Government plans to make the Maldives carbon neutral by 2020. The porposed project is set to be launched on three islands before it is carried over to other areas.

For more information please click link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8232535.stm

Clean Energy!

BAMBOO BETTER FOR BIKING?

Beats most bikes strength to weight ratio and it is made with one of the fastest renwebale materials out there: BAMBOO! California based Craig Calfee, varies the width of bamboo according to the rider's weight. Now how is that for ultimate made to custom. Bamboo is smoked and heat treated to prevent splitting and coated for water resistance. It also carries a bamboo 10 year longevity guarantee. Now you can ride with no worries. For complete article click here : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/active/5964913/Calfee-bamboo-racing-bicycle-review.html