An Ecotopian's Diary

Thoughts and ramblings from a self professed Ecotopian

[ecotopian]

We're not even nine months into 2015, but by Wednesday humans had consumed an entire year's worth of natural resources since Jan. 1, according to the Global Footprint Network.

[ecotopian]

11 Billion People By 2100 — And India Will Be More Populous Than China

The number of people on the planet is growing at the fastest rate in history. U.N. demographers say the world's population will be up by 4 billion at the end of the century.

We’re fucked unless we implement population control...

[ecotopian]

New Zealand already has the fourth-largest share of renewable electricity generation in the world, with roughly 80 percent of its energy needs met by renewables.

The final two coal-fired power plants will shut down by December 2018, according to the utility company running the plants, which cited changing market conditions that have made coal power unnecessary in New Zealand. 

[exotericenvironmentalism]

The Tour de France 2015, finishing yesterday, has been a great race- with a particular inclusion this year of many days of tough and unrelenting climbs though the mountains of France.

The winners of the race jerseys (awarded to the leaders in different competitions in the Tour) have shown their athleticism, skill and endurance to finish the race ahead of their competitors.

However, the story of one team competing the the race for the first time, highlights perhaps an even greater story. MTN-Qhubeka are the first genuinely African team to compete in the Tour- and were awarded a ‘wildcard’ entry into this year’s event. Having not been expected to feature heavily in the race, and having been derided by various people and groups over the last few years in which they have developed, they featured prominently throughout the 3 weeks of racing. 

Over the race they achieved numerous top 5 and top 10 stage finishes, had one rider placed 13th (of 160 riders) in the overall competition, and were 5th (of 22) teams. However 2 specific achievements really stood out for both their sporting and symbolic value- firstly though Eritrean cyclist Daniel Teklehaimanot becoming the first African to hold the ‘polka dots’ shirt for the ‘King of the Mountains’, which he did for 4 days early in the race; and, secondly, the winning of a stage by British rider Steve Cummings on, no less, Mandela Day.

But behind the cycling heart of the team is its real soul- Qhubeka, the World Bike Relief’s South African program, and the focus of the team’s #BicyclesChangeLives campaign that it supported and promoted throughout the Tour.

As stated on their website ‘Qhubeka helps people move forward and progress by giving bicycles in return for work done to improve communities, the environment or academic results. Having a bicycle changes lives by increasing the distance people can travel, what they can carry, where they can go and how fast they can get there.’

While some ‘fast facts’ about the Quebeka program highlight why it is so valuable.

More than 54 000 bikes have been distributed by Qhubeka since 2005

A child’s commute time to school is reduced by up to 75% with a bicycle

A bicycle increases a person’s carrying capacity by five times

Healthcare workers can visit more than double the amount of patients per day with a bicycle

Marks improve by an average of 25% for children who ride a bicycle to school

Schools where children ride bicycles see attendance rates rise by 18% on average

Read more about Qhubeka here- and please share some messages about the organisation’s work, and maybe even consider supporting them directly!

[ecotopian]

Why Patagonia Tells Customers Its Coats Are Toxic

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) --- Advertising hits us from every direction..everyone is trying to get our attention. But we have a hard time believing what those ads ...

Why patagonia Tells Customers Its Coats Are Toxic and in the process, turns conflict into conversations on how to change the process.

[ecotopian]

Are the leftovers from home remodeling trash or treasure?

A reader wonders what to do with '80s home decor. Umbra spreads the salvage love.

We are not going to recycle our way out of climate change, but repurposing/reusing is a part of the overall process.  Ideally, more affluent consumers need a paradigm shift in what it means to quit consuming for the sake of consuming because advertising says so.

[ecotopian]

SEC To Vote On Requiring Companies To Disclose CEO Pay Ratio

More than 280,000 public comments in favor of the proposed pay ratio rule have been submitted to the SEC since the rule was formally proposed in 2013.

New rule requires companies to list their CEOs' annual pay as a ratio to their workers’ median pay

[cyclesjbryant-deactivated201603]

The Oregon Outback is happening soon.

[ecotopian]

How Solar Energy Saved a School-and Could Save a Lot More - WhoWhatWhy

With Iowa’s ahead-of-the-pack presidential caucus upcoming in February, anything that happens in the Hawkeye state is fraught with political significance. Except when it’s not. What occurred in the tiny village of Crawfordsville (pop. 264) may not swing an election, but it just might get solar power skeptics to think again about the sun’s rays as a practical source of energy.

Solar panels have cut electric costs by 90 percent since January 2015, allowing the school to stay open.

[ecotopian]

The 2008 Urban Land Institute’s Growing Cooler report found that shifting 60 percent of new growth to more compact transit-oriented development patterns would lead to 20 to 40 percent less driving, saving 79 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually by 2030.

For livability, equity, and attractiveness, cities need affordable housing with access to walking, biking, and public transit routes. Well-designed affordable housing near good public transportation can also be a powerful climate solution by reducing urban sprawl, protecting rural open space, and providing infrastructure efficiently, all of which reduces regional carbon emissions, particularly from transportation

[ecotopian]

World’s leading economies still paying trillions in subsidies despite pledges to phase them out, new figures show

The average US taxpayer gives over $2000 in subsidies to the #fossilfuel industry... every year.

[ecotopian]

There’s an interesting symbiosis happening between young and old – cycling. Not spandex clad recreational, but whatever we already have on hop on the bike and ride to lunch.

"While cycling is growing across all age groups, these two, under 35 and over 55, have been growing the fastest, and not so much for recreation, but for daily transportation. At the same time, the average number of miles driven by 16 to 34 year olds fell 23 percent; from 10,300 in 2001 to 7,900 in 2009. By 2010 the number of these young folks with a drivers license had fallen to a low of 73 percent..."

[ecotopian]

European Cycling Economy Has Created 650,000 Jobs

A study of cycling's economic impact finds the industry contributes $254 billion annually to the European economy.

If we want responsible/sustainable economic growth, We should be thinking outside the box.

[ecotopian]

Localism as it applies to saving our planet economically and environmentally

Localism is essential in describing the magnitude of our climate crisis and economic concerns. Through several selfish actions, globally, we have created an entirely new planet; a planet that is struggling to maintain it’s sustainability.

The book, "Eaarth" by Bill McKibben, focuses on this topic. McKibben notes that we are at a point in which we need to drastically alter our attitude in order to provide the generations to come with a more bearable environment. This meaning, that our sights need to be directed towards merely just enduring, rather than growing. To do so, he suggests that we must return to, and rely on the notion of localism. As a result, communities will be able to rediscover what we may have lost sight of in lieu of the recent economic growth, that being the benefits of relying on our neighbors.

An example of this is local farming; although it has shown to be more labor concentrated, in the long run it could prove to be more practical in an economic sense. McKibben believes that by supporting local farming, communities can essentially cut out the middlemen that are needed to transport, store, and package the items that we see in the supermarket and therefore save not only economically, but also conserve the limited energy resources that we do have.

An article from Business and The Environment Journal in September 2011 stated that, "buying local makes consumers feel good," and "shorter trips from the field to the market mean fewer carbon emissions." Although this may depend on the product of interest, a decrease of carbon emission will lead to conserved energy which was McKibben’s initial topic of concern in getting our world back to a more sustainable place. Fred Curtis from the Department of Economics at Drew University labels this broad notion as "eco-localism". He believes that "the road to environmental sustainability lies in the creation of local, self-reliant, community economies."

Socially, physically, and financially, communities need to adapt and become more locally oriented in order for this process to play out favorably in the long run. One of the key points that Curtis acknowledges is that by producing goods and services based on local needs, communities can essentially produce higher quality products, in turn allowing the needs of consumers to be met, inevitably leading to a restructure of the local economy.

[ecotopian]

What would an economy look like that doesn't destroy the planet? Well, I can tell you I don't have the answer to that...

Yvon Chouinard - CEO & Founder of Patagonia

[ecotopian]

Saving the planet is #41 on Americans Priorities, #1 is personal security - we're scared to death... this is the only planet we're ever going to live on... I tell you what the problem is: the problem is us, we are the problem.  We're no longer called citizens, we're called consumers...

Yvon Chouinard - CEO & Founder, Patagonia

[ecotopian]

Episode 10 - Political Will - Top 10 Design Elements in Copenhagen's Bicycle Culture