Dear All,

Cheers!

RECYCLING

It is really emotive for me to show you this video because it clearly shows how the “El Ceibo” Cooperative works, by taking forward an effective recycling. You can see the huge and complete work that these guys do every single day recollecting recyclable materials. In the section where we presented how to recycle in a city we already talked about this Cooperative, but it is cool to actually see it in images. It is the clear example of many possible changes within a sustainable social design.

On one hand, there is little contamination in the recollection process, as the rubbish is recollected from door to door and taken by foot with big carts to the recycling center. On the other hand, the extraction of natural resources is reduced (trees for paper, petroleum for plastics, etc.) as well as the energy consumed in the manufacture processes of the stuff we use (like the high temperatures involved in distilling oil or hardening glass, etc.)

Beside of generating awareness directly (the workers proudly walk with the recyclable materials through the entire city), new jobs are created. And this is a crucial point in sustainable design. Professors are needed, to educate those who will work in sustainable jobs. A new work force is created, for those who do not have the economic resources to subsist. And, of course, we take care of our planet by recycling and reducing our waste.

What’s more interesting still, is that it is a local solution. In other words, it was created according to this city’s design but, in essence, it can be replicated in any part of the world taking into account the parameters needed to be changed in each place.

BIODIVERSITY

I found an article that stunned me. In the Jujuy “Yungas” (one of the densest jungles in the country) the native woodlands are being razed to install in its place actual profitable mono-cultivations such as soya and beans. And this sucks… because the widest biodiversity is concentrated in jungles, and many believe that biodiversity only implies the plurality of species, when it is a much wider concept. Biodiversity has various benefits:

Aesthetics (relaxation, inspiration)
Ethic Value (by embracing life and because conservation is our duty for our future generations in this planet)
Food Chains – The Cycling of Matter (how the different food chains among every living being help the basic elements – carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, etc. – to circulate through the planet)
Medications (most of pharmacy drugs are derived from plants and mushrooms of jungles – by destroying biodiversity we loose the potential of finding new medications)
Biotechnology (the study of the engineering behind the abilities of every living being can be applied in our lives, like the ant paths were used for freeways designs, or how the bridge’s steel cables imitate de muscular tissue)

In the article you can find a way of taking action against this situation.

Finally, I am pleased to tell you that www.ecoportal.net has a very interesting and varied Eco-responsible products and services store which is really interesting to take a look.

As always, I hope this information can come in handy to you,

Cheers,

Brian Longstaff.-

Comments