Visions of Green and Blue

My dream home is made from a shipping container....

... okay, maybe not one container but several, intricately stacked together to build a house.

Shipping containers have become the new material of choice for many architects and builders around the world. There is an estimated 18 million TUE (Twenty foot Equivalent Unit which is the measurements of a container) around the world, and each year many of these are deemed unusable for shipping. The out of service containers have started to pile up in port storage areas and people are now taking advantage of these useful steel boxes. Constructed to endure incredible weight and pressure, as well as withstanding mold, fire, and harsh weather, the containers make for excellent building material.

Image: maisonidekithome

In many cases it is almost impossible to tell that the house has been made from containers. The builders of this home, Bernard Morin and Joyce Labelle, from Quebec used 7 containers and opted to cover the exterior with foam spray insulation and regular siding. The home is 3,000 square feet. While a traditional home of this size would cost approximately $400,000, the container version cost $175,000 and only took 10months to build. Not only did this house save the family a lot of money, but it also saved a lot of trees.

Images: maisonidekithome

Morin and Labelle chose to leave the interior of their home raw, so that the viewer is able to see the marks and serial numbers on each container.
Keith Dewey, of Victoria, B.C. has done the opposite with his container home, leaving the outside raw and creating a modern look on the interior.

Image: Zigloo

Dewey chose to paint the shipping containers mint green, as that is the colour that many containers are today and he wanted to create a link to the containers original use in the shipping business. The interior of the house is quite a contrast to the exterior, being open concept, very modern, and bright.

Images: Ziglo

As the world's population continues to grow, ideas like these will become more important to take note of and to put into practice. Not only do shipping container homes reduce the number of trees being chopped down to build homes, they are also reusing material that is piling up as 'trash' in ports around the world. Reusing these materials uses less energy than if we were to make new materials for homes, reduces the amount of Co2 which would be emitted, and eliminates the wasted space that is used to store the unwanted containers.

Some interesting links:
http://www.zigloo.ca/index/projects/zigloo_domestique_gallery
http://www.lowimpactliving.com/blog/2009/07/07/affordable-shipping-container-house-in-quebec/
http://weburbanist.com/2008/05/26/cargo-container-homes-and-offices/
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/articles/containers.htm

Blog Action Day: Ocean Acidification

Labels: climate change, ocean

With each passing year humans are emitting more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We do this through burning coal, driving cars, deforestation, and the list goes on. We have been told repeatedly through the news that emitting C02 into the atmosphere is bad for the environment, but did you know that it is having a serious effect on the oceans and all of the animals that live in it?
The level of carbon Dioxide in the environment is measured in parts per million (PPM), in the pre-industrial age the level was around 280ppm, we are now hovering around 380ppm, and it is said that by 2065 levels will reach 560ppm.
Oceans absorb a large portion of the CO2 that humans put into the atmosphere; however, this absorption of CO2 is now altering the pH level of the oceans around the world. We are literally changing the chemistry of the oceans. Scientists and researchers have just begun tackling this subject and are finding horrifying results. Ocean creatures are very sensitive to pH levels and any small change can have catastrophic effects. An example is that some plankton (which produce half of the oxygen in the atmosphere) are having trouble creating their calcium based shells, if they do not create shells, they cannot survive, and if they do not survive they will not create oxygen...
The chemistry of the ocean will continue to change as the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise. It is easy for humans to ignore the issues surrounding the oceans because they are not visible to us in our daily lives; however, it is important for us to remember that the oceans are the key to life, without them we will not survive.

Image from: http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/top-20-greenhouse-gas-emitter
s-including-land-use-change-and-forestry

Aquacalypse Now

Labels: fish, Interesting people, ocean

'Aquacalypse Now' is yet, another important article written by Daniel Pauly, which everyone should read. The piece focuses on the overfishing and careless destruction of the worlds oceans, on behalf of our governments* irresponsible decision making.
For Daniel Pauly eating a tuna roll is the equivalent of harpooning a manatee; and to be honest, after reading more on the topic of overfishing, I couldn't agree with him more.

Click on the link below to read the article:

Aquacalypse Now | The New Republic

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* our governments: governments around the world.

Be Green Forever and Recycle Yourself. Guest post by Elizabeth Fournier.

Labels: Guest post

As the green movement reveals its reach, proponents prove that no aspect of life is without an outlet for applied sustainability. Take green burial, in which a casket is replaced with a biodegradable box or shroud that allows a body to decompose freely.

So what does a green burial look like? Picture the following setting: A body completely wrapped in quite a few yards of cloth, with four friends and family members on hand to cautiously lower it into the ground. There is no vault, no liner, and no embalming chemicals. Embalming fluid contains toxic chemicals -- including up to three gallons of formaldehyde -- that can seep into soil and ground water. What few people may know is that embalming is unnecessary, and it’s rarely required by law.

Soon the plain grave is covered with Earth, with a knoll of dirt on top to compensate for settling that will happen over time. There is no marker here, just native foliage. The backdrop doesn’t look so much like a cemetery, but more like a nature conservancy.

A similar wood casket is buried in a traditional cemetery. Instead of a cement vault that surrounds it, a liner goes on top. Similar to an upside-down shoebox, there is no bottom, and the casket, sitting directly on the dirt, decomposes in time, along with the body inside.

As a society, we should look for a means of closure that is more natural. There is no disgrace in surrendering our loved ones, and eventually ourselves, to the embrace of the earth. It is a ritual of reunion between body and soil, not to be restrained by artificial preservation. This is, perhaps, the ultimate gesture of reuse and renewal.

Sustainability, it seems, can be practiced in all aspects of one’s life, including death.

Review: Hot, Flat, and Crowded. By, Thomas Friedman

I cannot claim this to be a true 'Review' due to the fact that I have only struggled my way nearly 200 pages into this book, with no end in sight. Most reviews that I have found online for this book are positive, some claiming that it is 'profound', 'amazing', and 'ground breaking'.
Am I the only person who had a lot of trouble getting through it?? I felt as though within the first 100 pages Friedman said 'hot, flat, and crowded' about 50 times. I understand that he is trying to make a brand, but such repetition is unnecessary, we get it, it's not that difficult of a concept to grasp! Friedman also has a tendency to make the reader feel unintelligent, repeating the same statement several times, dumbing it down a little more each time he time he says it. We are not elementary school children, and that fact of the matter is, if we picked up your book, we are probably interested in the environment and have a little background knowledge on the subject.
What really gets me is the way that Friedman talks about North Americans and how we have the largest carbon footprint and that we all need to cut back, (which I completely agree with)- and then you see a picture of his house! By the way he talks in his book you'd expect to see windmills, well at least some solar panels - you couldn't be more wrong...

Photo: Planet Gore

There are a lot of interesting ideas and quotes that Friedman uses from outside sources for his book and because of this I do plan on finishing it, but when I will get around to finishing...? I can safely say it's going to take me a long while.

Did you know that Thomas Friedman is a billionaire??? Follow this link to find out more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/31/121447/985

William Kamkwamba and the wind

Labels: Interesting people

William Kamkwamba is an inspiration for the rest of the world. Growing up in Masitala Village, Wimbe, Malawi he worked on the family farm and attended school. However in 2001 famine struck the country and William was forced to quit school as his family was struggling to buy enough to eat. William was determined to continue his education and began visiting and borrowing books from the library. At the age of 14 he borrowed a book called 'Using Energy', which guided him in building his first windmill using scraps found at the junkyard. The windmill produced energy for his families home for lights, radio, and to pump water to irrigate their maize crops.
Now 22, Kamkwamba has since expanded his windmills to clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and more lighting. He has returned to school at the African Leadership Academy.

Watch William Kamkwamba's TED Talk below:

On October 1st 2009, Kamkwamba's autobiography 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind' was released.

Related links:
Moving Windmills

What do you know about the fish you are eating?

Labels: fish, seafood, water

When making a big purchase we usually take some time to consider our options, and we always ask lots of questions about the product: what company made it? (ie. what kind is it), where did it come from? how was it made? (what materials were used), what's inside?, etc.
These are all important questions that we need to ask before purchasing, say,a computer.
So, why don't we ask these same questions when purchasing our food. Buying food may not cost as much as a computer, but we are putting it inside of our bodies.
When I say food, I am thinking mainly of meats; cow, pig, and specifically fish. In a world where the fish populations are rapidly decreasing, it amazes me that local supermarkets and restaurants still stock their shelves with 'Fresh Fish' on a daily basis - and customers continue to buy it with no questions asked. The list of questions above can easily be applied when purchasing fish, and your local market or restaurant should be able to provide you with some answers.

Let's quickly go through some of these questions regarding fish and the reasons why they are important to ask.
1. What kind is it? This is the first question that you should ask, especially when it comes to fish like tuna: is it bluefin, yellow tail, big eye... Asking this question allows you to make an ethical choice; was that Atlantic halibut really worth eating if you know that it is a long lived species that matures slowly and abundance has been extremely low. This is an important question as it allows the customer to make a healthy decision and also informs the restaurants and markets that people are looking for answers and sustainable products.

2.Where did it come from? This is an important question because you will be told whether the fish is farmed or wild caught and what body of water it was taken from. Some people believe that eating farmed salmon is a sustainable alternative to wild caught salmon; however, it is important to remember that farmed fish are usually fed with feed made from wild fish, they are usually given antibiotics and vaccines to fight the infections that occur in farmed fish, and the large pens also create water pollution. When ordering salmon the best option is Alaskan Salmon, which is managed well and has a fairly healthy habitat.

3.How was it caught? The answer to this question will provide you with information regarding how much damage was done to ocean life in order to catch your fish. Bottom trawls, longlines, dredges, midwater gillnets, and pelagic longline are the ones to stay away from. These methods of capture have a negative impact on habitat, both physically and biologically, and they also produce high bycatch volumes. The methods of capture with the lowest impact on the ocean are hook and line, purse seines, and midwater trawls.

4. What's inside? With this question you are not literally asking about what is inside the fish, but about what kind of pollutants are in the fish. If the fish was farmed, was it pumped full of antibiotics? If it was wild caught what are the common mercury levels in the species.

Here is a list of websites that are very helpful when trying to find information about edible fish:
www.seachoice.org (Canadian)
www.blueocean.org
www.fishbase.org
www.fao.org
www.mbayaq.org
www.redlist.org