In Kottayam, a spice trading city in the southwest state of Kerala, India, summer means rain—and lots of it, averaging 2.7 meters of the wet stuff each year. From June through September, monsoon waters cool down sweaty bicyclists, and the winds wreak havoc on foot passengers’ umbrellas. But in Kottayam, they don’t throw away broken umbrellas, engineering professor David Kraemer tells me.
…perhaps it goes without saying, Gandhi’s work and spirit has been a profound inspiration for social, political and environmental activists for a number of generations.
So, on what would have been Gandhi’s 143rd birthday here are five inspirational quotes from the Mahatma ( skipping over the ones most people probably already know, like being the change you want to see…) for the green movement.
What does deserve our unrestrained glee is the opportunities created by such a trend: the auto industry, other manufacturers, and even other sectors can ultimately profit from this transformation while lightening the impact of personal transportation.
How so? Here are the five possibilities:
Look out New York City – the same group that successfully convinced San Francisco to pass a comprehensive plastic bag ban has you targeted next.
Yesterday the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) announced their plans to constitutionally challenge Shell Oil Canada’s expansion of the Jackpine Mine tar sands project. The project expansion would threaten the resources needed to sustain rights protected under Treaty 8, which the ACFN signed in 1899 at Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca.
Turns out the Rhône Alpes team from France with the Canopea house won Solar Decathlon Europe held in Madrid. Their home is actually the top of a conceptual “Nanotower” that the team proposed to bring single-family style living back to the urban core. The top level acts like a rain forest’s canopy — hence the name — by collecting 95% of all solar energy and 30% of rainwater for the tower. Canopea was built of a prefab CORE, site-built SKIN, and a SHELL capable of off-site fabrication as well.