betteroffed » environment http://www.betteroffed.com Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:57:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 green island project http://www.betteroffed.com/2009/02/18/green-island-project/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2009/02/18/green-island-project/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:36:48 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=357 green island
Anyone who’s spent any time in Shibuya, Japan, will instant recognize one of the busiest intersections in the world…but with…grass??? The Green Island project, in a series of faux photographs that replace Tokyo asphalt with something a bit…greener, aims to remind us that we do not live apart from nature, even in a dense city like Tokyo.

via trends in japan

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2009/02/18/green-island-project/feed/ 0 volcanoes ahoy http://www.betteroffed.com/2009/02/03/volcanoes-ahoy/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2009/02/03/volcanoes-ahoy/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:36:24 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=337 mount asama

california has earthquakes, japan has 108 active volcanoes. which would you prefer?

two volcanoes in japan and one in russia all erupted overnight. mount asama, one of the volcanos in japan and only 145km from tokyo, was captured on several webcams from different angles. the time-elapsed videos are nothing short of astounding. even the aftermath is breathtaking with a beauty of its own.

mount asama

mount asama

video links via pink tentacle

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2009/02/03/volcanoes-ahoy/feed/ 0 firestorm http://www.betteroffed.com/2008/06/16/firestorm/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2008/06/16/firestorm/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:03:16 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=292
Totally mesmerizing time lapse video of the 2005 Simi Valley fires.

via boingboing

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2008/06/16/firestorm/feed/ 0 it’s bottled water… http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/08/16/its-bottled-water/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/08/16/its-bottled-water/#comments Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:18:28 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=201 canned bottled water

…but it’s in a can…um…head…hurts…

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/08/16/its-bottled-water/feed/ 0 the EPA could learn from China… http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/07/29/the-epa-could-learn-from-china/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/07/29/the-epa-could-learn-from-china/#comments Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:36:46 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=199 From an article in the August 2007 issue of Popular Science…China’s SEPA (State Environmental Protection Agency), which is in charge of enforcing China’s environmental laws, is rumored to resort to drastic measures in an effort to crack down on China’s “dirty factories”: “if needed…it sends in an explosives team and simply blows up the offending businesses.” That’s *one* way of stopping polluters; blow ‘em up!

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/07/29/the-epa-could-learn-from-china/feed/ 0 bottled water statistics http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/07/22/bottled-water-statistics/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/07/22/bottled-water-statistics/#comments Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:59:38 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=195 estimated amount of oil used to make the bottled-water containers sold in the U.S. in 2006: 16 million barrels
ratio of water use to make the containers cs the amount of bottle water consumed: 2 to 1

source: harper’s index, august 2007

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/07/22/bottled-water-statistics/feed/ 0 america, land of cheap gas! http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/03/25/america-land-of-cheap-gas/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/03/25/america-land-of-cheap-gas/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2007 08:40:32 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=151 next time you hear someone complain about the price of gas, maybe you should point out that the u.s. has some of the cheapest gas in the world. maybe if more people focused on being more efficient with our gas instead of driving hummers that extra 100 feet so you have the closest parking space at the 24hr fitness, we’d all be better off.

Share This ]]> http://www.betteroffed.com/2007/03/25/america-land-of-cheap-gas/feed/ 0 just park dammit! http://www.betteroffed.com/2006/11/12/just-park-dammit/ http://www.betteroffed.com/2006/11/12/just-park-dammit/#comments Mon, 13 Nov 2006 04:22:12 +0000 edjusted http://www.betteroffed.com/?p=138 Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of looking for a parking space? In a study done in Los Angeles by UCLA professor Donald Shoup, “in just one 15-block area in Los Angeles that Shoup has studied, cars hunting for parking on the street drive a total of 945,000 miles each year. That’s enough to make it around the earth 38 times, or to the moon and back.”

So for those of you that care about the environment, just find a parking space and park! Don’t drive around looking for that magical space that’s only 10 feet closer to wherever it is you wanna go!

…From an article in the Nov-Dec 2006 issue of Utne reader.

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