The housing crisis has forced many to find imaginative solutions to housing themselves but it has also provided an opportunity for low impact living by thinking small and compact. The tiny house movement founded in the US uses vehicle trailers as the foundation around which a home is constructed. The limitations of size means that compact arrangements need to found resulting in a home that uses less raw material and less energy to run. … Read more
The Sharing Economy Looking Beyond Consumerism
The concept behind websites such as Streetbank, a virtual hub where users can advertise and exchange everything from a cup of sugar to their personal skills and expertise, encourages sharing and helps build community. Follow the links to Streetbank and for full report from Positive News. … Read more
Positive News Uplifting Good News
Positive News is published by Positive News Publishing Ltd, a not-for-profit social enterprise, with support from Positive News Trust, a registered charity. By publishing news relating to initiatives that are creating positive social and environmental change, Positive News magnifies their benefits. By drawing attention to such initiatives, it inspires and facilitates their development, expansion and replication. Positive News also brings direct social benefit through its impact on people’s … Read more
Polluted Mine Waste Turned to Resource Algae Extracts Heavy Metals and Provides Bio-Fuel
An alliance of English Universities is researching the use of algae to extract heavy metal pollutants from toxic mine waste. Once absorbed by the algae the hope is to extract the metals and then to use the algae itself as a bio-fuel. Described as a win win by Dr Chris Chuck of the University of Bath it restores the land, reclaims heavy metals and provides a fuel source. If successful the scheme could have benefits worldwide … Read more
Earth Deeds Local Solutions to Global Warming
Earth Deeds' online tools to enable all of us to acknowledge our environmental impacts and support meaningful projects that build local community resilience. We call this new system onsetting. Rather than “neutralizing” our environmental “sins” through carbon offsetting, Earth Deeds says, “Let’s be grateful for all that fossil fuels have enabled; let’s also recognize the environmental costs of burning these fuels; and let’s ‘pay it forward’ in ways that can help heal our world.” … Read more
Earth Deeds Local Solutions to Global Warming
Earth Deeds' online tools to enable all of us to acknowledge our environmental impacts and support meaningful projects that build local community resilience. We call this new system onsetting. Rather than “neutralizing” our environmental “sins” through carbon offsetting, Earth Deeds says, “Let’s be grateful for all that fossil fuels have enabled; let’s also recognize the environmental costs of burning these fuels; and let’s ‘pay it forward’ in ways that can help heal our world.” … Read more
Poo Powered Bus Fueled with Gas from Sewage and Food Waste
The 40 seat 'Bio-Bus' operating in Bristol UK uses biomethane as its fuel and demonstrates that a greener, more sustainable, public transport is possible. The biomethane fuel is generated from sewage and food waste and because the bus' engine produces lower emissions than conventional diesel, it helps improve air quality and presses the case for more waste-to-fuel projects. … Read more
Compost Power The Jean Pain Method
Using brush wood cleared from forests in order to reduce fire risk Jean Pain developed a composting method that generated direct heat from the composting process and also enabled him to collect bio-gas with which he ran his car. The system benefited the whole forest eco-system around his home. The Compost Power Network was established in 2010 inspired by the work of Jean Pain and aims to further develop and promote the ideas and practices. There is a considerable amount of material on the web … Read more
Off-grid Living Now Recognised as an Economically Viable Option
Renewable energy systems are now well established and generally available but with costly or problematic electric storage issues few have risked going off-grid. However initiatives like Tesla Motors commitment to increasing battery production and halving their cost make the economics of off-grid living comparable to buying power from the Utility Companies. It might require an initial capital input but from there onward costs are principally maintenance and renewal and the power itself is free … Read more
Playing for Change Music to Unite and Inspire Peace
Playing for Change is a multimedia music project, created by the American producer and sound engineer Mark Johnson with his Timeless Media Group, that seeks to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. With fellow producer Enzo Buono, Mark traveled around the world to places including New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East and Ireland. Using mobile recording equipment, the duo recorded local musicians performing the same song, interpreted in their … Read more
