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POPSCity Slickers Turn Tropical Entrepreneurs: An Eco-Adventure
Imagine going after your dream business…on a tropical island. What does it really take to build an island resort? In 2002, four city slickers set out to build their dream business in the Panamanian rainforest: called Tranquilo Bay. All of the buildings at Tranquilo Bay—are constructed from steel, virtually unheard of in that corner of Panama: but they wanted to protect against termites, sea air, and earthquake damage. Jim Kimball and Jay Viola knew nothing about construction before beginning work on the buildings. They learned everything they needed from the Internet during Sunday visits to the mainland. “We built Tranquilo Bay inside the rainforest overlooking the Caribbean Sea and the beautiful Panamanian Jungle. Our central location within the archipelago of Bocas del Toro permits us to explore some of the most biologically diverse areas of Panama and Central America: an archipelago of some 68 tropical islands” http://www.tranquilobay.com/home.htm
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POPSUrban Gardener Thinks Higher: A Rooftop Garden for Room to Grow Why should you consider a rooftop garden? * Increase access to private outdoor green space within the urban environment * Support urban food production * Promote individual, community, and cultural diversity * Improve air quality and reduce CO2 missions * Delay stormwater runoff * Increase habitat for birds * Insulate buildings * Increase the value of buildings for owners and tenants alike * Create job opportunities in the field of research, design, construction, Iandscaping, gardening, health, and food production
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POPSThe Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You Despite its many flaws, I’m a big fan of human civilization. I marvel at our capacity to organize matter and information, at our ability to learn from mistakes and pass that learning down to subsequent generations. Civilization—writing, cities, trade, the whole lot of it—makes us unique on this planet and, as far as we can tell so far, in our part of the universe.
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POPSIncredible World Wildlife Fund Posters From Around the World WWF’s ultimate goal is to build a future where people live in harmony with nature. Here are a couple of the messages: “Preserve your world. Preserve yourself.” “Global Warming is changing the world’s climate rapidly. Icebergs are melting, oceans are rising, nature is revolting. Act now, conserve energy and treat the planet with respect, or we’ll have a world at sea.” “Animals around the world are losing their habitats due to climate change. By choosing a hybrid or fuel-efficient car, you can help prevent this. Take action now.” “Save the world with a few coins” “For Nature, small animals are as important as the big ones.” “A single can of dissolvent, or tin of paint, can pollute millions of liters of water.” “Building a single golf course puts thousands of trees at stake.” “Where is your home?” http://www.wwf.org/
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POPSTree Nation To Plant 8 million Trees in Niger: You Can Adopt One! “A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless.” - Theodore Roosevelt More than 90% of Niger is in a deserted zone and is the poorest country in the world: To not plant in a deserted area in Niger would be to abandon the best hope of development for the country. Tree-Nation: an online community, where members can buy their own tree and become the guardian of a tree that Tree-Nation will plant in its park in Niger. Members can play an active role in the development of the project online: contributing suggestions, sharing photos and gathering ideas in the Tree-Blog or creating their own projects. Prices range from USD 10 for an acacia to USD 75 for a baobab tree. So far, over 26,000 members have raised money to plant over 19,000 trees...with the goal of a park of 8 million trees in the shape of a giant heart, visible from space.
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POPSWhen Nature Re-claims the Planet: Life After People Humans won't be around forever...Imagine when humans leave the Earth...What happens to its biggest and most prosperous capital cities and other attractions when mankind is gone! Check out the book: "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. He offers an approach to examine humanity's impact on earth, by envisioning the Earth without us.
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POPSSalt: The Key to Successful Solar Power SolarReserve will be able to produce electricity at night or in inclement weather. This product is more predictable than water reserves, the supply is free and inexhaustible, and the environmental impact is essentially zero.
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POPS7 Eco-Resolutions for 2008: I Will Try To Live Green Do you really need berries from Chile? Don't collect stuff you will never use. If you trash those once-new goodies when you’re no longer interested in them, they will live in a landfill for years and years. Cut the power to your electronics by plugging them in to a power strip and flipping the switch to off when you’re not watching or listening. Public transportation use saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline each year, and can reduce household expenses by $6,200. Plastic bags are made from petroleum and only about 1 percent of the estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion Annie Bell plastic bags consumed worldwide are recycled each year. Most end up in landfills (wherethey take perhaps 1000 years to decompose) or in the sea. By purchasing recycled paper products you’re preventing trees from being chopped down, and paper waste from ending up in landfills. In addition, less energy and water is required to produce a recycled paper product.