Ecofacts V.9 n.13 Big Box, Big Impact
You know that things are starting to shift when the big box stores take notice and…perhaps even act. The actions mentioned here if seriously pursued, could have tremendous results in human and...
View ArticleEcofacts V.9 n.14 galluping for answers
You’ve probably heard the news about the recent IPCC report on climate change, it was a doozy, describing in detail the potentially and quite certain disastrous effects of a warming planet due to...
View ArticleEcoFacts v.9 n.15 – States of Dryness
No news here: as we enter the dry season in California, we are coming from one. Our water supplies sure are not looking good. If you look here you can see extreme and exceptional drought areas in...
View ArticleEcoFacts v.9 n.16
August 22, 2014 is the 44th Earth Day, an idea born after a senator came to Santa Barbara to experience the devastation of the ’69 oil spill. The international Earthday.org site states that over a...
View ArticleSolar Energy Potential – Ecofacts v.9 n.25
No one can doubt the abundance of solar energy potential, and that it can provide fuel to use in place of the more polluting ones. Solar panel technology has been improving the amount of electricity...
View ArticleWhat Is BioChar? Ecofacts v.9 n.26
In the past several years, this stuff called biochar has been seen as a potential planet changing product, providing ways of simultaneously mitigating climate change, cleaning the air, generating...
View ArticleState of Wind Power Today – Ecofacts V.9 n.27
Windmills have been doing work for us for two millennia. The Danes began using them to produce electricity at the dawn of the previous century, and are now leading the pack with wind power per capita....
View ArticleThe state of electronic devices today – Ecofacts v.9 n.28
The state of electronic devices today – wow, it’s a big one, probably even a country’s worth! We are wed to our electronic devices and the manufacturers must continue to produce and sell as many as...
View ArticleEnvironmental Value of Kelp Forests – Ecofacts v.9 n.30
Those of us who do ocean sports here and elsewhere are intimately familiar with kelp, the fly gathering mounds of it on the beach, becoming entangled in it in the water, but also its sheer graceful...
View ArticleSeaweed, Kelp, Wakame, etc. Why Does It Matter? Ecofacts v.9 n.31
My eyes were opened, reading about kelp and other marine algae, and my curiosity whetted. Could all that plant matter out in the great oceans be used even more as a source of nourishment for our...
View ArticleEcofacts V.9 n.32 Seaweed – too much of a good thing
Seaweed is algae, and is, as with so many things, necessary and all good. Until there’s too much of it. As home and food for myriad creatures, as a CO2 sink and as an ecosystem filter, it consumes...
View ArticleEcofacts v.9 n. 33 Desalinization During Drought – Pros and Cons
To be sure, desalination has been a hot topic in California and other drought stricken parts of the globe. Fresh water supplies are always limited to less than 1% of all water on the planet. Needs...
View ArticleWhat We Drink, Part I – Ecofacts v.9 n.34
Okay, to state the obvious: Every living thing needs water to survive, every drink that touches our lips, every bite that enters our mouths, every thing we encounter and use, every day. Our current...
View ArticleWater Bottles and Soda Bottles in Landfills – Ecofacts v.9 n.35
Water has returned to first place in popularity of beverages in the U.S.. Water consumption has increased in the last decade with the sales of bottled water, to 58 gallons per year, more than a third...
View ArticleCoffee Culture – Ecofacts v.9 n.36
Coffee culture – sure is different than it was 50 years ago, that coffee that was poured in homes and coffee shops. Now, 83% of Americans drink coffee, 63% daily, and a third of all Americans drink a...
View ArticleU.S. and Global Soda Sales – Ecofacts v.9 n.37
Although soda sales are down in the U.S., global soda sales are still rising. More interesting is that while soda sales in general are down 3% and have been declining for nearly two decades, diet Coke...
View ArticleNuts for Coconut Water – EcoFacts v.9 n.38
Coconut water is a perfect symbol for the confluence of globalization and marketing, for the internet-viral speeds of health claims, for our thirst for convenient and healthy alternatives to soda and...
View ArticleClimate CHANGE – EcoFacts n.9 n.39
A globally coordinated day of action last weekend mobilized thousands in Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, Melbourne, Jakarta – in 162 or more countries – with the People’s Climate March in New York City being...
View ArticleEco Musings… EcoFacts v.9 n.40
It is not a facts day. I’ve been thinking about “connection”, and how the uses of this word have evolved in recent history, and in my own I ride my bike and walk quite a bit and so very often I connect...
View ArticleLED Lighting the Way to a Better World – EcoFacts v.9 n.41
Nobel prizes were awarded this week to the inventors of blue LED lighting, including Shuji Nakamura, a professor here at UCSB. You may ask what the significance is. Red and green LEDs were invented in...
View Article