Don’t we all love the ‘issued in public interest’ ad campaigns. The most prominent names that cross our minds when thinking of such adverts are Amnesty International, Mira and Red Cross. Well, now WWF too joins. Naah, not World Wrestling Federation but World Wildlife Fund! Every ad in this campaign is accompanied with the message ‘Preserve Your World Yourself’. More than the catchy and effective punch line, I really like the imagery of the four billboards that WWF released.
The posters show nature imagery with a face forming in each. The effect is immediate. You feel connected to nature and want to protect her. All in all, a very smart and cool approach. Take a look at the ad, and tell me which is your favourite and why. I like the� second one the best as the human face looks natural. Ya, the face is ‘sad’ so let’s do our bit and preserve our world!

Via moiillusions

The American Film Industry has been up with the green philosophy for a long time now. But now the initiative has got the support from one of the big names in the business. The Queenstown Lakes District Council has come together with Film Queenstown to launch a ‘Green Screen Guide and Directory’. It was actually the backing of the producers of the film Wolverine that made the difference. Shot in and around Queenstown, the film managed a significantly reduced carbon footprint. The production made 670 tonnes of waste, 615 of which was diverted from the landfill letting the company save roughly around 55,000 dollars.
Actor Hugh Jackman, who plays the lead in Wolverine, is very kicked about the whole thing. “I am happy to be a part of a project that benefits the local economy.” Adding icing to the cake, the film’s producers expressed a willingness to return to the area with future productions.
Via queenstown

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Plastic bags and bottles do more than spread pollution. But hey become good only when they land in the hands of creative people like Joshua Allen Harris. His inflatable plastic bad subway art has got him a lot of recognition esply. his plastic polar bear-the symbol of climate change! This artist has his own style of churning out eco-art in form of recycled and reusable plastic bags and scraps sewn into different shapes and displayed over subways. � The white polar bear (which looks like a puppy) has drawn a lot of attention of passer-bys. Placed on subway grates the polar bear springs to life as it inflates when the train passes on the subterranean route and slowly fades away into a lump. The animated creativity reminds onlookers the fate of these majestic bears as they face extinction threat owning to Climate Change and Global Warming.

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With his unique oeuvre Harris has gained a fan following which discuss his work online and via blogs. Ever since the polar bear became a hit with New York’s residents Harris has come up with more creative forms and figures including a Centaur, some mythical creates and a Loch-Ness monster too! Jump below and click on the videos to have a look at this amazing art form!

� The video underneath was done for NY magazine:

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Via: FYI mag

The Chinese government has left no stone unturned to control pollution in their capital city in the wake of the Olympic Games. The skyline is accentuated by a hazy smog that just refuses to lift as more and more foreign journalists pour into the 2008 Olympic city. In fact, the government is so worried about the whole thing that measures which should be invoked only in ‘extremely unfavourable weather conditions’ were posted on the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection Website on Thursday. And this crusade against pollution was started on 1st July with a ban on 300,000 high polluting vehicles. Soon driving and traffic restrictions were imposed removing almost two million vehicles in the city.

Looks like the stereotypical preventive measure are not enough for the Chinese government as they have also come up with innovative traffic restrictions. Apparently, odd number (licence plate) vehicles can hit roads on odd days and even number vehicles on even days. More than 105 heavy polluting factories too were padlocked. The sky gods seem to be ppreciating the Chinese effort to bring down pollution with the approaching rains. Environmental officers claim that pollution has dropped by 20 percent due to all these efforts. However, the foreign journalists beg to differ.

Via greendiary

Renewable energy projects are picking up pace in USA with Oregon Energy Facility Sitting Council giving it a green signal to build the world’s largest onshore wind farm- The Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm .It will be built on private land (spanning Gilliam and Morrow counties); 5 miles southeast of Arlington and will consist of 300+ wind turbines, plus� a combined installed capacity of 909 megawatts. According to Michael Grainey, director of the Oregon Department of Energy, this announcement marks a tremendous day for the state’s renewable energy options.

So far, the largest single wind farm (the Horse Hollow wind farm, located in Texas) holds a capacity of 765 MW. Development of the Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm will be undertaken by Sacramento (California firm Caithness Shepherds Flat LLC) and it hopes to alleviate the current energy scenario in Oregon.The wind� farm will double-up the Oregon’s wind capacity. While Shepherd’s farm might seem to be the largest so far, plan to build a 4,000 MW wind farm in Texas by business tycoon T. Boone Pickens by 2014, seems a wee bit outlandish.

As planned, Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm will feed its power output to the Federal Columbia River Transmission System through Bonneville Power Administration’s Slatt Substation. Details about the commencement of this wind farm are still not announced. However, one thing is for sure, once completed the massive farm will be a boon to the state and will set an example for other countries which receive high wind velocities but haven’t tapped on this natural resource so far. Here’s wishing good luck to The Shepherd’s.
Via: treehugger

The state of California sure knows what it means to “Go Green”! This time the initiative comes from the California Building Standards Commission. The latter has announced a statewide adoption of “green” building code on Friday 18th of this month.The announcement comes as a happy surprise among Californians, who are the pioneers to adopt such a code for their state in the entire United States of America!

Here’s what the Californian governor said,”By adopting this first-in-the-nation statewide green building code, California is again leading the way to fight climate change and protect the environment.”The Commission found out that in terms of higher carbon footprint the state’s buildings rank next to its transportation.

Thus, this announcement reflects a positive concern to improve the situation by reducing the carbon emissions. The new standards yet to be employed promise :

•� 20% improvement in water use efficiency for both residential and commercial plumbing fixtures
•� a 50% increase in conservation for water used in landscaping
•� reduction in energy consumption by 15%
•� overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2020

The new policies are envisioned to be in sync with the goals mandated in Assembly Bill 32 (passed as law 2 years ago).

Friday also saw the introduction of Green Building Initiative by governor Schwarzenegger (Executive Order S-20_04). This initiative calls for a 20% cut back in energy consumption by all state-owned buildings by 2015. As of now, a total of 13 state-buildings are LEED certified. According to the Green Building Initiative, the renovation of rest of the state-buildings will be planned in a manner to acquire a LEED Silver certification.

The initiative taken by Californian government is very inspiring. Let us hope that other states and countries of the world follow this trail in order to achieve a sustainable, greener and healthier tomorrow.
Source: enn

Scientists and environmentalists from world over have expressed their concerns over the far-reaching devastating effects of rapid destruction and drying of wetlands.
Gathered at the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference (Cuiaba, Brazil), some 700 experts from 28 nations believe that quickly drying up wetlands invariably lead to climate change via global warming.
Wetlands store a vast amount of carbon (in form of CO2). Their complete destruction will lead to massive release of this stored up CO2 into atmosphere, thereby heating it up. Besides, carbon dioxide other greenhouse gases like methane (more potent than the former) will also be released which will further strain our Earth’s atmosphere.

It is interesting to note that, wetlands (including peat bogs, swamps, river deltas, marshes, mangroves, tundra, lagoons and river floodplains cover only 6% of Earth’s land surface. But, they store upto 20% of its terrestrial carbon! According to an estimate these waterlogged areas contain nearly 771 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (this is equivalent to present-day carbon levels found in atmosphere).

To understand the graveness of the concerns voiced by these scientists it is very important that we all should know how wetlands play an important part in maintaining ecological balance on our planet. The peat bogs of Siberia, North America and Scandinavia contain a third of all carbon in the world’s soils.
Besides soaking up carbon,

•� Wetlands slow the decay of organic material trapped and locked away over the ages in low oxygen conditions.
•� They support biodiversity in form of unique water ecosystems.
•� Wetlands act as reservoirs of water supply.
•� They can soak-up flood water.
•� Wetlands filter nitrate and phosphate runoff from surrounding land.

Studies reveal that 60% of wetlands worldwide and up to 90% in Europe� have been destroyed in the past 100 years by human activities� like� drainage for agriculture, construction of dams& canals, groundwater pumping, urban development, peat extraction and other activities that are polluting by nature.

At this international gathering of scientist, this grave situation will be dealt with in terms of solution-generation that can be suitably adapted by the governing bodies of the world in order to stabilize the condition of wetland decay. Wetland preservation and their rehabilitation represent viable measures, which should be immediately applied to check the rampant destruction and drying up of world’s swamps.

Source: sciencedaily

Mexico City wants to shed its “polluted-cities-of the-world” image and thus has come up with a new initiative. The eco-transport initiative is called Mejor En Bici (Better On Bicycle). It’s a bike sharing free program which has already started there. The cool-looking white cruises catch your attention with their colorful wheel and adding an insta-charm to your cycling experience! The Mejor en Bici cruisers are available in the city’s eco-savvy corners including Condesa and Roma neighborhoods.

The bike sharing program is privately funded and through its popularity the city’s officials intend to construct about 200 miles of bile paths by 2012. Here’s how you can be the part of this program if you plan to have a nice vacation in this part of the world. As a user, you will be asked to register and sign a form. Ofcourse, you need to show your identity proof to the officials and submit a deposit of about $20 in local currency. The moment you park the bicycle after a day’s tour in the same lot you picked it from your money will be returned to you! Wonderful, isn’t it? You can avail the bikes on 5 days a week (Tuesday to Sunday) between 10am and 6pm. Happy Biking!

Via RevistaTravesias

Grace Cathedral- San Francisco landmark building is all set to don a green aspect atop its roof. After all the hue and cry over use of renewable energy sources in today’s times to ensure a safer and cleaner future, now this God’s abode will get its power supply via solar energy. Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the news today morning at the church steps. State- of-the art photovoltaic cells will now be installed on the top of Grace Cathedral and the cost incurred in doing that will be taken care by Pacific Gas and Electrics contribution of $65,000. The Cathedral’s dean Alan Jones expressed his happiness over the new initiative. He said, “We’re grateful to PG&E for its generous contribution to Grace Cathedral’s ongoing environmental efforts. This new solar power system will help us conserve valuable resources, and empower us to be a part of the solution to attack greenhouse gases and global warming.”

The drive indeed is a very positive one and will be an inspiration to private owners of huge properties and corporate giants who haven’t yet embraced this cleaner option for energy generation. Now it seems, Grace Cathedral with stand out for reasons beyond its architecture; it will be a repository of faith for all those cynics who believe global warming is only Al Gore’s muse and for all those eco-lovers who believe in a green tomorrow through today’s sustained efforts.

Via Enn

Parisians are known for their innovative trends world over be it in fashion& beauty, art& architecture, literature& cinema and even eco-concerns. Parisian skyline these days adores a giant tethered helium balloon which is in fact a pollution indicator! The concept is about giving a real-time report of breathable air quality and display the level of air pollution produced by auto emissions via this balloon. The brainchild behind this concept is a company Aérophile. Its AERO30NG model is no less than a tourist attraction since the time it has been installed in the Parc Andre Citroën. The balloon uses a unique lighting system which is visible from more than 12.4 miles! It can store up to 6,000 cubic meters of helium and take up to 30 passengers at a time for a pollution-free joy ride. One can have a 360° panoramic view of the beautiful city while flying at 150m in the sky!

The innovative lighting system of this biggie informs Parisians about air quality via 2 distinct indices:
A) Ambient air quality gets reflected through general illumination using three projectors located upon the envelope’s equatorial plane. The night time visibility is reportedly better.
B) The quality of air near traffic-jam prone areas and bylanes is displayed using a high-power rotating laser beam. The latter sweeps the envelope’s southern tropical plane.

The data for all this is collected by “Airparif”- organization that uses sensors to collect info. Within the city of Paris and compiles the data with the nouveau European index developed for the CITEAIR project (currently used by about thirty large cities). The displays are made in colors.
Color code:
RED- highly polluted air; ORANGE- polluted air, YELLOW- mediocre pollution, LIGHT GREEN-clean air and GREEN- very clean air (a blessing for your lungs!)

Note: collected indices also reflect the quantity of the 3 most harmful contaminants: Nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particles.

With this latest attraction now we can only imagine the popularity graph of Paris to be one of the most sought-after traveler’s destinations. The cultural hub now becomes an center of green-tourism as well.

Via GreenPacks