http://www.greenlivingtips.com en-us http://www.greenlivingtips.com N/A michael@greenlivingtips.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:16:17 MST 20 http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/651/Lake-Vostok-To-Reveal-Its-Secrets.html Much of the earth has been explored to some degree and its creatures documented. One of the few places that hasn't been examined - and often consequently negatively affected - by humanity is a vast lake in the Antarctic buried under miles of ice. Well, until next week that is (perhaps).Lake Vostok is a fresh water lake located beneath the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet. According to Wikipedia, i... Green Living Tips Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/650/The-Evergreen-Revolution.html The Green Revolution saved potentially billions from starving, but it was only meant to be a temporary reprieve. With the threat of a particularly frightening future looming, the United Nations has urged we now embrace an "Evergreen Revolution" - one that is sustainable.   The development of high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties and better agricultural techniques in the... Green Living Tips Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/649/Bees-Still-Struggling.html Bees are another creature I never gave much thought to prior to Green Living Tips and my knowledge of them was pretty much limited to their sting, production of honey and "pollinating stuff". Running GLT has been wonderful in teaching me that so- called lowly creatures deserve more of my respect, interest and assistance.     It's the pollinating work that bees too t... Green Living Tips Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/648/Worlds-Smallest-Frog.html It's nice to sit back from the environmental doom and gloom that hits my inbox each day to celebrate the wonders of nature - after all, it's what the battle is all about. The biodiversity of this planet never ceases to astound me and I find the discovery of new species particularly exciting as it means mystery remains in the world of wildlife. We still haven't managed to formally identify and ... Green Living Tips Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/647/Air-Krete-Insulation.html "We pay for insulation whether we have it or not" is an interesting quote from the Air Krete web site. I'd been hearing about this company and its insulation product for a little while, so I headed out for a look.   Air Krete is spray-in insulation, made from magnesium oxychloride cement, air & water.  Magnesium oxychloride is created by adding a solution of magne... Green Living Tips Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/646/Cloth-Diaper-Subsidy-For-Greener-Bums.html During the couple of years a child may wear disposable diapers, or nappies as we call them in Australia, 2 tons of diaper waste will be produced. Here in Australia, we get through around 800 million disposable nappies each year. In the USA, Canda and UK, it's in the billions. In my article on the reusable cloth vs disposable diaper debate, I mention a report that found cloth diapers can ha... Green Living Tips Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/645/14-Maldives-Islands-Already-Abandoned.html I've been posting headlines regarding climate change for nearly 5 years now via another site of mine, Carbonify. News about island nations being threatened by rising seas has been common over that time. A country that appears regularly in regard to this threat is the Maldives. The Maldives consists of 1200 islands spread over 90,000 square kilometers. 200 of those islands are inhabited. ... Green Living Tips Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/644/More-Fracking-Earthquakes.html A fracking operation in Ohio has suspended operations after a possible link between its activities and seismic disturbances in the area was established. Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, involves the injection of sand, water and chemicals under high pressure into the ground to fracture rock formations in order to access natural gas reserves. According to Ohio Department of N... Green Living Tips Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/643/Microplastic-Pollution-And-Clothes-Washing.html Although though I'm very aware of the effect of plastics on the environment, I have to admit I have more than my fair share of polyester blend clothing. I justify (rationalize) it through wearing the clothing until it just about falls off me. Often the items can't even be used as rags. I'm still regularly wearing items I bought in 1994, much to the dismay of some. Some of those items... Green Living Tips Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/642/Coke-Campaigning-Against-Container-Recycling-Deposits.html We've had container deposit recycling legislation in South Australia for three decades. The Northern Territory wants to implement a similar scheme, but has hit strong opposition from Coca Cola Amatil (Coke).    Once every month or so, I head to the local recycling depot where I receive 10c for each soda can, bottle (plastic and glass) and even some milk cartons I return. It's nice to... Green Living Tips Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/641/Flame-Retardants-In-Your-Soda.html A compound that has been banned in Europe and Japan for a long time due to environmental and human health concerns is still being used in the USA as an ingredient in some soda drinks.      Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) was originally developed as a flame retardant for use in products such as foam. It was found to also help keep flavors mixed in drinks - how that leap was ma... Green Living Tips Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/640/Should-We-Revive-Extinct-Species.html Imagine being able to see a woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger or a flock of passenger pigeons again - it would be amazing.     The concept isn't just entirely wishful thinking it seems.     Scientists from Japan and Russia say there may be a possibility of cloning a mammoth from the well-preserved bone marrow of a mammoth thigh bone recovered in Siberia. ... Green Living Tips Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/639/Australias-Sleepy-Lizard.html My first memories of sleepy lizards are from when I was very young and visiting my great grandmother in South Australia. I saw what looked to be a pine cone sticking out from underneath some sheets of corrugated iron in her back yard and had quite a shock when it moved. Australia's sleepy lizard, also known as a shingleback, bobtail, two-headed or pine cone lizard is a fascinating creature. ... Green Living Tips Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/638/Lego-Now-Made-With-Wind-Power.html WindMade is a new consumer label program recently launched signifying companies that have committed to sourcing at least a quarter of their operations power consumption from wind energy. Among the first companies to display the logo will be Lego.  WindMade doesn't require each company to have wind turbines in their parking lots. It can be procured through a company-owned wind power generati... Green Living Tips Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/637/HFC-Gases-Contributing-To-Climate-Woes.html While carbon dioxide is certainly a major culprit in relation to climate change, many other gases play a role as well - and some are posing a serious threat.   Back in 1989, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were rapidly phased out under the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. Up until that point, CFCs were commonly used in refrigerant, propellant, medicinal and degre... Green Living Tips Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/636/The-Story-Of-Broke.html Things might be tough for the average person in the USA, but the nation is still the richest country on the planet. We often "tch tch" at the leaders of nations and their cronies who are filthy rich while the general populace suffers, but the truth is the same sort of thing happens in most developed and "free" economies - just perhaps not so much to the same degree and diffe... Green Living Tips Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 MST http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/635/Are-we-screwed.html We're losing the battle against rising emissions - and in a very, very big way.   According to a piece on the Washington Post and an Associated Press article; new data from the USA's Department of Energy show carbon emissions are now accelerating more than the worst-case scenarios depicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its 2007 report.   If this continues,... Green Living Tips Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:00 MDT http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/634/Fracking-earthquakes.html In our increasing pursuit of natural gas, it seems we should not only be concerned about fracking up the water supply and fracking up farmland, but fracking earthquakes too.     Hydraulic fracturing, most commonly known as fracking, involves the use of sand and fluids being injected under high pressure deep into the ground to fracture rock in order to release natural gas. Conc... Green Living Tips Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 MDT http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/633/57-Billion-Disposable-Chopsticks.html Who would have thought an item as small as a set of disposable chopsticks could have such a hefty environmental impact?   According to an article on The New York Times, the equivalent of 3.8 million trees are used in the manufacture of about 57 billion disposable pairs of chopsticks in China each year (so I guess the title of this post should have read 114 Billion.. but anyhow). ... Green Living Tips Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 MDT http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/632/The-40-Year-Breathing-Space-Is-Over.html The name Norman Borlaug may not be familiar to many of us, but he is credited with saving a billion lives. Dr Borlaug is known as the "the father of the Green Revolution" - but not the "treehugger" sort of green revolution - an agricultural one.     Among his many efforts, he developed high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties along with refined agricultural ... Green Living Tips Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 MDT