Daily Green Wrap-up 28.September, 2012

Aquaponics is one of those concepts that I’ve known of peripherally for years, but didn’t really give much thought to until I came across plans for The Plant in Chicago. Putting fish and plants together in a closed loop (that’s organic by necessity) strikes me as a brilliant use of biomimicry… or, at least the notion that “waste equals food” in the natural world. But The Plant’s a huge endeavor – can a backyard tinkerer put together an aquaponics system on the cheap?
With over 1 trillion plastic bags produced globally each year, our dependence on convenience is at an all-time high. But at what cost? Each plastic bag is estimated to take 1,000 years to degrade, meaning that every single one produced is still on the planet, with a growing percentage polluting our oceans. This infographic by Arte Ideas provides a clear visual snapshot at the true costs of the global fascination with convenience and reluctance to source viable alternatives to plastic bags. Click on our gallery to see the complete infographic, or visit Arte Ideas.
Let’s say you’re the first environmental protection non-profit operating in a country with the largest market for cars in the whole world. Let’s say your country’s air pollution problems are getting out of control. Let’s say you want to hammer home the pollution-busting value of walking.
Let’s say you have gallons of non-toxic, washable, quick-drying green paint.
While the exact numbers vary, a traditional brownie serving contains nearly 400 calories, half of which comes from fat. The recipe usually calls for butter, unsweetened chocolate, white sugar, eggs, and all-purpose flour, all of which add no nutritional value. This recipe is a sugar-free, vegan alternative to traditional brownies, using whole-wheat and maple syrup as the base. It’s a delicious and guilt-free way to get the dense chocolate taste you crave!
We love Ellen Degeneres. Not only does she host a hilarious talk show and voices Dori in Finding Nemo, she’s a huge advocate for veganism. Yep, Ellen loves animals and has devoted her life to one that is cruelty free. Simply, she rocks.
Homes designed using the principles of passive solar design can be found everywhere; from architectural masterpieces in grand and isolated locations, to brilliantly quirky designs in typical suburbs. But how do you go about living in one? In fact, what is it that makes a passive solar home what it is?
I have a love/hate affair with biofuels and biodiesel, because while they may be cleaner than petro-fuels, and considered a renewable resource, growing the feedstock usually entails a lot of land and a lot of water, both of which are limited resources. But if a new process for making biodiesel from sewage sludge gets commercialized, every flush of the toilet could be helping to fuel some of our energy needs.
Samsung Semiconductor has created an infographic called “Clean the Cloud” that breaks down the numbers on just how fast cloud computing is growing and the data centers that power those operations are growing along with it. Smartphones and tablets have been major contributors to the expansion of cloud computing as well as companies that are transitioning to or operating entirely through cloud data hosting services instead of having in-house servers.

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