Green Eco Services

SeaAngels- Picking Up Trash One Florida Beach At A Time

Cathy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:00:10 +0000

Another volunteer Beach Clean Up crew recently came to my attention, Sea Angels in Ocean Ridge, Florida. Their group does beach and park cleanups monthly at Ocean Inlet Park, Ocean Ridge,FL and have adopted Beachway Drive beach access in Ocean Ridge, Fl. They differ from other groups because they do things in a greener way such as we recycle, upcycle, implement change, provide education and use reusable cleaning materials so as not to add to our ecological footprint.

What I like, they have taken just one beach, one day a month, that is all it takes to keep our oceans clean. Kudos to Sea Angels everywhere!

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Eco-Graphic: What Drugs Are You Drinking?

Cathy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:43 +0000

National Geographic put this up and an eye-opener it is. People are throwing their pill and medicines down toilets and drains, and guess where it ends up? In our groundwater, in our food and in of course fish. You can find the full size here at National Geographic.

Photo: ngm.nationalgeographic.com

Before you go out and start buying bottled water again, remember that most bottled water is also tap water.

You can read more about Drugs in our Drinking Water

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Optical WebBlog and Business

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Eco-Graphic: The Importance Of Water

Cathy — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:00:35 +0000

Access to clean water is a global crisis, in fact leaders say it is our number 1 crisis today. (Apologies, cannot find the source for the infographic)

Source: infographiclist.com

The Facts About Clean Water: Source and More Infomation @ Blue Planet Network

1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, roughly one-sixth of the world’s population.

• 2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

• Half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water related illnesses.

• In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II.

• Despite the size of the problem, we have made little progress against it. There were only 181 million fewer people living without safe drinking water in rural settings in 2004 (899 million) vs. 1990 (1.08 billion)*1.

• 50 percent of people on earth lack adequate sanitation. Another way to look at it: Nearly half of the world’s population fails to receive the level of water services available 2,000 years ago to the citizens of ancient Rome.Similar Posts:

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Eco Friendly Wood Bikes Around The World

Cathy — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:00:07 +0000

Who would have thought there were so many wood bikes around? Would you believe that Leonardo D’Vinci or one of his students is credited with designing the first bike? In the beginning the first bikes were actually made from wood. We have blogged on where to recycle bikes and how to re-purpose bicycles, and Bamboo Bikes but for some reason haven’t done a wood Bike post.

There are lots and lots of wood bikes just google wood bikes and all sorts of craftsmen are creating works of art for some green transportation.

1. Masterworks,Danville, California: Brilliant idea, taking wood from local tree- cutters (saving them from taking to landfills) are building beautiful bikes from local wood. What they say ‘We create fully functioning wooden bicycles, some wood selected from local urban forests. Each is individually designed and handmade (not CNC) by Master Wood worker Bill Holloway of Masterworks in San Jose Ca. When possible, wood is selected from the inventory at The Green Sawmill in San Mateo, Ca. where they recover and mill trees from local Bay Area communities. The attention to detail and craftsmanship makeeach one truly “Art in Motion” as they cruise down city streets turning heads where ever they are. These bikes are truly a sign that craftsmanship is still a live and well in these time of mass produced two wheeled machines.’

2. The Splinter Bike is made completely from wood

3. You can make your own bike here from various materials Woodenbikes Love The Driftwood Bike, he make bikes out of all sort of reclaimed materials.

woodenbikes.com

4. Check out the Sano Bike from Japan

Made with Mahogany

5. Jan Gunneweg Wood Bike

6. Love this story about a 16 year old who built a wooden bike with no metal parts. Story Lee Valley

7. The Woody Bike

8. From Greece, The Xylon Wood Bike (Source)

www.coolthings.com

9. Via Shanghai

10. Wooden bicycle frame was made by students at the Wood Consortium-School of Encinas Reales (CEMER), a woodworking school in Andalusia (Source)

Photo: mocoloco.com

11. A lowriding Harley Wood Bike- Got this from PhotoBucket

12. The first FSC certified Wood Bike From Renovo out of Portland, Oregon

www.renovobikes.com

13. Flat Frame Systems

flatframesystems.com

14. Lagomorph Wood Bikes

15. Polish retired plumber carved bikes (Source)

Photo: Dogonews.com

16. Very cool wood bikes from the Philippines KK.org

www.kk.org

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Top 10 Protest Books Of All Times

Cathy — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:50:45 +0000

In light of the major protest of SOPA and PIPA we thought we would share with our readers how they used to protest in the form of books.

Without literature, society falls apart. One can argue the same thing about pretty much any creative or academic pursuit, of course, but the written word boasts an especially ancient, diverse, and swollen history. Injustices crumble and hegemonies rise because of books, articles, pamphlets, essays, and pretty much any other medium through which humanity expresses its ideas and observations. The following represent a small sliver of some particularly notable or influential ones that have shifted perspectives and inspired (or, in one case, might inspire) lasting change

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Journalist Upton Sinclair set out to expose the horrid, dehumanizing treatment of immigrant laborers in the United States, particularly those employed by food processing facilities. Though fiction, the author’s painstaking research tore apart the vicious reality experienced by exploited workers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Americans, however, received The Jungle as less of a treatise on the mistreatment of labor forces and more of an, “I’m eating WHAT?!?!” Sinclair’s grotesque depictions of substandard meat processing facilities (one famous early scene showcases a man falling into a lard vat and eventually ending up on grocery store shelves) disgusted readers to the point that they called for legislation. The Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act both passed in 1906, the latter of which established the Bureau of Chemistry that would later come to be known as the Food and Drug Administration. When learning of his audience’s misreading his attempt, the writer quipped, “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan: Building upon literary foundations set by Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, a journalist who lost her job for no reason other than pregnancy decided to dismantle the patriarchal system keeping her and other career-driven ladies down. Betty Friedan almost (but not entirely!) launched the feminist movement in the “Western” world, putting her reporting skills to just use by surveying housewives across America. Doing so unearthed decades, if not cen turies, of repressed dissatisfaction, manifesting itself in heightened depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide rates. Many women felt that the unflinching rigidity of postwar gender roles and hefty emphasis on conformity and materialism served as a degrading social prison. It precluded them from pursuing the careers and hobbies they so desired, eventually leading to some major overhauls promoting female equality.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: Roughly a decade before the Civil Rights movement, Ralph Ellison’s only novel that wasn’t published posthumously made clear the African-American community’s frustration beneath societal repression. Unapologetically honest and brutal, Invisible Man illustrates how the white hegemony suppressed racial and ethnic minorities, leading them to feel like complete nonentities in their own neighborhoods. Through the unnamed protagonist, the narrative painfully recounts the whats and whys behind unjust prejudice in order to reflect society’s own faults back at it. Even organizations such as The Brotherhood (here a rather obvious stand-in for the Communist Party) touting their commitment to an equitable nation fail to adequately address the harsh reality for oppressed demographics.

Poems, Protest, and a Dream: Selected Writings by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: While the Counter Reformation split the Catholic Church, a nun in Spain-controlled Mexico dared to challenge her superiors regarding the rights of women. During the seventeenth century, the only educated females could be found in convents, but fearless Juana Ines de la Cruz declared that even outside their walls the ladies deserved the exact same chances as their cloistered counterparts. Along with her progressive views regarding science, the notoriously patriarchal, authoritarian ecclesiastical institution thought they had themselves quite a hot little heresy on their hands. Poetry may not have been her only protest medium, but it proved the one for which she earned the most acclaim; many scholars go so far as to declare her the very first Latin American poet of any significance.

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: This book-length essay by one of the pre-eminent American transcendentalist philosophers ruminates on the relationship between the government and the people within its care. Civil Disobedience largely stemmed from the author’s protests with the Mexican-American War and slavery alike, so suffice it to say he doesn’t exactly hold the ruling class in the highest esteem here. Henry David Thoreau’s treatise on how the people need to stand up and declare their opposition to injustice without resorting to violent means (he famously quit paying taxes funding initiatives he found distasteful) continues resonating even today. Game-changing activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi looked to him for inspiration — quite the ringing endorsement for this particular piece of protest literature!

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois: W.E.B. Du Bois’ essay collection often receives citation as one of the very first sociological inquiries ever — not just a work dealing exclusively with race issues. The descendent of American slaves, he pulled from both history and the then-current sociopolitical climate to issue forth a clarion call about equality for black citizens. Educational opportunities are discussed in particular, but he also spends a fair amount of time dispelling stereotypes painting the demographic as inherently ignorant, violent, and sex-crazed. Du Bois also painstakingly analyzes the role of religion in keeping the African-American community cohesive during oppression and features true stories of different individuals. Here, the social sciences served as an adroit (and nonviolent) conduit for protesting injustice, dissolving institutionalized perspectives that create wounds instead of healing them.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson: Environmental justice and public health advocates should probably keep a copy of naturalist classic Silent Spring on their bookshelves if they don’t already. Its 1962 publication almost single-handedly inspired the green movement thanks to the connections made between damaging the planet and, in turn, its peoples. Pesticide use receives the major bulk of Rachel Carson’s ire, and she exposed many of the serious health problems the chemical companies denied. Citizens shocked by the revelations grew inspired to finally start protesting corporate-sanctioned environmental destruction once they realized the toll it took on their overall health and well-being.

Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly: Sometimes, the best protests involve little more than simply showing brutal conditions and marginalization with little to no editorializing. In one of the most courageous examples of undercover journalism of all time, Nellie Bly faked mental illness and found herself interred in a Blackwell Island insane asylum. For over a week, she perpetuated the charade and noted the dehumanizing, squalid conditions in which the patients were kept. After securing freedom, she ripped the Women’s Lunatic Asylum to shreds, horrifying readers to the point that legislation had to be passed. Thanks to both Bly and the cooperation of a grand jury, the Department of Charities and Corrections received hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked specifically for improving the lives of individuals living in mental health facilities.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin stands as one of the quintessential works of abolitionist literature, penned by a schoolteacher and activist hoping to convince her fellow Caucasians to reject the slave trade. Although contemporary readers will no doubt cringe at some of the African-American stereotypes, when placed into its proper historical context the book was actually progressive and heavily influential. Most academics even consider it a pivotal publication in convincing the United States to dismantle the slavery system despite the now-troublesome depictions within its pages. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s intent, however, was to show that African-Americans (particularly those kept in forced servitude) were fully human, possessing the same set of universal strengths and weaknesses as other races.

Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn: Long before Occupy Wall Street, Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn wrote extensively about how overconsumption and materialism would inevitably lead to America’s socioeconomic downfall. Published in 2000, the book (and accompanying organization) protested the cultural hegemony praising consumerism as the be-all, end-all of existence, likening the nation to a corporation. Consumers of media and materials alike do not deserve manipulation, he passionately argued, and encouraged followers to fight back against the conglomerations exploiting their minds and wallets alike. It just took 11 years for the mainstream to pay any real attention.

Reprinted with permission from Online Universities Similar Posts:

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Eco-Graphic: The High Cost Of Consumerism

Cathy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:53 +0000

The average American goes through about 4.4 pounds of garbage a day. Take a trip to your local landfill and check out the sheer amount of mattresses, furniture, packaging (even with recycling) clothes, shoes, paper, diapers, styrofoam and more. What is cost is incredible. Also take into consideration the high cost to taxpayers to collect and or recycle garbage and trash. See The Story of Stuff

Visual Loop

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Eccentric Eco Friendly Shoe-Crafting

Cathy — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:00:46 +0000

I am sitting here with 4 pairs of tennis shoes, with no tread, ripped and torn. As much I love them, it is time for them to go away. So What to Do? We have blogged on biodegradable Shoes, Chopstick FlipFlops, The FlipFlop Project, Nike Shoe Reuse Program.

I just Gotta Eco Ya:

Sneakers are a compilation of different natural and synthetic compounds and will have travelled farther than we will walk in them before we ever take them home.
The leather comes from Texas — but it may be tanned in South Korea and then stitched together in Indonesia.
Before they’re even out of the box, they’re likely to have travelled 20,000 miles.
The average women owns 19 Pair of Shoes (Source)
Scarced Diverted a TOTAL of 76,962 pairs of gym shoes from landfills. Of those, 57,706 pairs of shoes were recycled with Nike’s Resuse-A-Shoe Program and SCARCE donated 19,256 pairs of gently-used shoes to worthy local organizations, such as PADS in Glen Ellyn or the Midwest Shelter of Homeless Veterans.

Starting with Nike’s Junk Shoe

Air Max Junk Art Shoe

From Gabriel Dishaw,

Reused Computer Sneaker Art

Lets not forget the thousands of pounds of keyboards in landfills

Cardboard shoes have been around for a couple hundred years.

O'Brian Cardboard Shoes

First we Have PaperFlops, flip flops made from recycled Newspapers

Not to be outdone Check out the living Flip Flops

Yashim Kusa Shoes

Jethro Haynes Shoe Art

Frederico Uribe Puma Shoe Show was credited with Puma Shoes and Laces

Tons of old bikes that can be reused: Make a Sneaker Bike

Arkitipintel Sneaker Bike

Concrete Sneakers can be used for doorstops, gardens and bookends.

I Have Pop

Tons of used carpets are put in landfills every year. Why not reuse carpet and put a little cush into your shoes?

Stylin Rooms

Source: theshoebuff.com- Tai Snaith Cow Hide Flattened Shoe Tapestry

Jean Shin Recycled Shoe Art 2004

Edible Shoes

Praspaliauskas

This might be a little hard to trod in, but fun! Upcycled Shoe Chair (can’t find source)

Shoe Chair

This is fun, upcycled Shoe Purse Happy Day Vintage

Shoe Purse

Getting Old, Reuse those High Heels: Etsy

Photo: worldatlas.com-Shoes on display in Festplassen represent 100 years of Norwegian efforts to help plant flowers and trees in Africa, by sending countless plants and seeds. Florists and greenhouse owners from around Norway gathered in Bergen for a ceremony honoring that century-long project

Camila Labra's Dacca Boots made from upcycled bags

Lego Shoes

When your kids out grow the Legos- Make Lego Shoes

Star Wars Fans can make their won Adidas Sculpture.

Aartist Freehand ProfitPhoto: shoelala.ca

Shoe Art Show

Puma is known for their Eco Friendliness Check out the Recycled Puma Shoe Dress

Photo: Trendhunter: Remade in Chile and focuses on recycling old Puma sneakers into works of art.

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Got Milk? Drink Your Clothes! Fabrics Made From Milk

Cathy — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Anke Domaske is a 28 year old biologist and fashion designer who makes clothes from a very unusual fabric, milk yarn. Calling it QMilch She has come up with an easy and environmentally friendly way to extract fibres from milk and her designs are proving very successful.

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Eco-Graphic : The Cost Of The Oil Spill

Cathy — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:00:43 +0000

Our First Eco-Graphic of the year. The horrible cost of the BP Oil Spill

www.visualeconomics.com

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (aka BP Oil Spill) is turning out to be one of the worst oil disasters in history. How much damage has BP done? How will they make up for it? Source Do Something

BP made a deal with the government that they would set aside $20 billion toward oil cleanup and spill victims.
16,000 total miles of coastline have been affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida.
Even though the gushing well was capped in July 2010, oil is still washing up on shores, which might do long-term damages to humans affected.
The initial oil rig explosion killed 11 people and injured 17 others.
President Obama announced that his administration would create a $20 billion spill response fund.
Responders used 5.5 million feet of boom, a barrier placed in water, to collect and absorb oil.
Of the 400 miles of Louisiana coast, approximately 125 miles have been polluted by the oil spill.
One method of treating the oil spill is “in-situ burning” or burning oil in a contained area on the surface of the water. Oil spills are bad, but burning is also bad for the environment.
Over 1,000 animals (birds, turtles, mammals) have been reported dead, including many already on the endangered species list. Of the animals affected by the spill that are still alive only about 6% have been reported cleaned, but many biologists and other scientists predict they will die too.
The BP Oil Spill is the biggest in American history, with between 17 and 39 million gallons spilled in the Gulf of Mexico.
Over 30,000 people responded to the spill in the Gulf Coast working to collect oil, clean up beaches, taking care of animals and performing various other duties.

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FSC Certified Wood Martin Guitars

Cathy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:00:05 +0000

While we have blogged on Eco Friendly Guitars before, 175 year old industry leader, Martin Guitars announced that they will be manufacturing sustainable FSC certified wood guitars.

What I find the most impressive, is the fact that Martin is thinking of his kids. ‘I don’t want my daughter to think we killed the last tree.’ I think of that everytime I go to the grocery store and some mother is in line with her kids and takes plastic bags. I think of my nephews and their kids and they don’t use reusable bags and one of them barely recycles. So if they care so much for their kids and grandkids, why aren’t they doing more. Kudos to Martin Guitar.Similar Posts:

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