A World Without Ice Book Review

Henry N Pollack, the author of A World Without Ice was the contributing author to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, was a professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan for more than forty years and now serves as a science adviser to Al Gore’s Climate Project training programs.

The book attempts to show that it’s not difficult to envisage a world without ice, and how the relationship between humankind and ice is at a dangerous turning point. Ice is the direct source of drinking and agricultural ware for more that 25% of the earth’s population, and the possibility of “climate refugees” in places like New York, London and Japan is a distinctly real one.

It feels, perhaps deliberately, old-fashioned. I love a book with maps, black and white drawings in, and quotes at the start of each chapter. It makes the reading seem more enjoyable and “real” for some reason. The author explains why ice is such a great indicator (or barometer) of climate change and why changes have such a big impact in the world of ice, and beyond.

The historical context into which facts and arguments were presented was most interesting to me, particularly the early chapter on Arctic tourism. Each chapter has numerous sub-headings throughout that nicely break up the text for easier reading.

I actually found the background, history and factual information around ice more interesting than the later parts about the impact humans are having. Again, perhaps this was deliberate, it made ice seem much more important, and even wondrous, before telling us of what will happen if it keeps declining. A very interesting read overall though, worth a look.

Further details can be found on The World Without Ice website, and you can buy the book from Amazon.

The Million Baby Crawl

Seventh Generation, maker of those naturally safe household products that we love to use have a new campaign. Apparently “Babies everywhere are crawling to Washington and saying ‘no’ to toxic chemicals found in household products.”

An interesting, and amazing fact is that since 1976, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has required safety testing on only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals on the market.

Here you can learn more and join the crawl. A couple of their promotional videos are below (click here if you can’t see them)

Our Choice by Al Gore Book Review

Al Gore’s latest book is Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. Picking it up, it immediately struck me that is was like a school text book, but with more color pictures. It looked incredibly inviting flicking through, diagrams, explanations, graphs and maps, I couldn’t wait to read it.

First though, the front cover has kind of a gimmicky fold out globe. One that shows on one side how the earth looks now, and on the other an artists rendering of when global warming has wreaked havoc. Complete with multiple cyclones. It’s an interesting touch, but does little besides entice someone to pick up the book.

Broken down into large sections, with smaller chapters, the book goes through sources of energy, living systems, how we use that energy, the obstacles that stand in our way, and how to move quickly to overcome the challenges.

It often reads like a “How It Works” book, with great “exploded” diagrams on subject such as how alternative sources of energy work, how soil stores carbon, to where the energy in gasoline goes.

The video below shows Al talking about his inspiration for the book, and how we have all the knowledge and tools to solve the problem.

I’m still reading the book, it doesn’t have to read in order even, and is a fascinating round-up of the current solutions to the climate crisis, and couple with some stunning photographs and interesting graphical explanations, it’d also make a great gift.

Available for around $15.99 from Amazon.

Clothing Brand Finisterre Making Ethical Waves

We’re always pleased to hear from new companies which are becoming more popular due to their ethical and environment credentials. Here, Stuart Gooding from Finisterre explains a bit about his company.

“Authenticity, innovation and a strong commitment to sustainability are nourishing the growth of what’s been called ‘the perfect brand’.

“What’s in a name? Well, ‘Finisterre’ means literally the ends of the earth, and it’s a word that brilliantly sums up the way that this technical clothing brand is pushing at new frontiers – not just in terms of the performance of its products under the most extreme conditions, but also when it comes to setting new standards of ethical business practice.

“It’s also a name that’s been making impressive waves in the last couple of years, way beyond the serious surfing circles in which it first became known. GQ, for instance, listed Finisterre’s Anabatic shell jacket in their ‘100 Best Things in the World 2007′, while the global trend-spotters at über-cool Monocle magazine recently devoted a double-page spread to what it dubbed ‘the perfect brand’. Not bad for an operation started up in 2003 with a £4,000 loan from [UK charity] The Prince’s Trust and still run by a five-strong team of dedicated surfers from a converted mine-building at St Agnes on the North Cornwall coast.

“Finisterre is tapping into a hunger to connect with something more authentic than the shallow, clichéd values associated with so many of the big, global brands. The guys behind the company are not just talking the talk. For one thing, they’re personally testing their own products on a pretty much daily basis in the most challenging of labs – the Atlantic surf whose thunder is audible from their office. The results are posted on the Finisterre blog, along with vivid reports from other product-testers around the world, including international big-wave surfers, adventure racers and BBC film-crews working in the Antarctic.

“For another, they’ve translated the idea of ethical business into much more than a vague aspiration, finding imaginative ways of reducing the company’s environmental impact in every area, from raw materials supply to product life and recycling. The success of these initiatives helped win Finisterre the Observer Ethical Business Award (2008), The Surfer’s Path Green Wave Award (2008), a Cornwall Sustainability Award (2008) and an ISPO New Brand Award (2008), as well as invitations to address international conferences alongside speakers such as Al Gore.

“In 2007, Finisterre decided to pull production out of China in view of concerns over working conditions and employee rights. Manufacturing now takes place in Devon and Portugal, and at a facility in Colombia run by nuns as part of a rehabilitation project for at risk women, and more recently the company have been spearheading an initiative with a small sheep farmer to bring back a rare breed with the intention of sourcing high quality wool right on their doorstep.”

We hope to have more about Finisterre and its wool breeding programme soon.

Surya Moisturising Hand Sanitizer Eco Product Review

With Swine Flu being in the news so much, hand santisers (although spelt with a ‘z’ on this product) are all the rage with every shop form the cheap to the high-class selling them. But this is the first natural and organic hand sanitiser I’ve seen.

Made by Surya Brasil, this Moisturising Hand Sanitizer kills 99.9% of germs and says on the packet it comes with Jua and Acai. I don’t know what either they are but it says Acaiis rich in proteins and Vitamin E and Jua is a cleansing and refreshing fruit.

It’s also hypoallergenic and is certified organic by Eco Cert, but how well does it work? The first time I tried it I found the smell quite strong and similar to those cleansing pads they use to clean skin when you’re giving blood. But after a few goes I realised the smell was only so strong as I used too much. You don’t really need a lot as the clear gel spreads easily over your hands and quickly, but not too quickly, absorbs into the hands.

Once absorbed there’s not much of a smell at all, it leaves your hands feeling quite soft and presumably very clean. There’s now sticky residue and my hands did feel moisturised too. I don’t usually use a moisturiser on my hands so am not sure how it compares to a straight moisturiser.

Available for a very reasonable £3.50 for a 60ml bottle from Liberty or elsewhere online, it’s also available in a 200ml bottle for £10.

Grow a Mo for Movember

Not strictly to do with the environment, but growing a moustache/mustache may err save on shaving products or something. Anyway, Movember is an international even where men get involved in raising money for prostrate cancer by growing a moustache.

I (Adam) have joined in with this and I am 16 days in – you have a clean shave on the 1st. The latest picture of me is below but you can check out how it’s going at http://uk.movember.com/mospace/291540/ and also sponsor me too. Smiling makes me look even weirder…

Solar Panel Roof Tiles

Shaped just like regular roof tiles like I have on my house, these dark blue Solé Power Tiles are roof tiles designed to sustainably convert sunlight into electricity “without compromising aesthetics”.

Made by SRS Energy in Philadelphia, who say “the Solé tiles are made from a high-performance polymer often used in car bumpers, are lightweight, unbreakable and recyclable. Flexible solar technology by United Solar Ovonic is embedded inside each tile, allowing them to function independently of each other. Meanwhile, the performance of the system as a whole is monitored remotely by SRS Energy and US Tile. The director of engineering at SRS Energy is J.D. Albert, who also developed the electronic ink technology used in Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.”

Coming in 2010, it’ll be interesting to see if they catch on. Bright blue roofs that is.

[Via: Springwise]

Next Page »