Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Blackle - Saving Energy


Hai friends,

We all know about the search engine Blackle but seldom use it due to various reasons. A great initiative to save energy. Let’s see how.

How is Blackle saving energy?

Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen”.

Where did Blackle got the inspiration?

In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine.Vow! that’s the power of blogposts.
Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.
  • There is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up.
  • Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.
    Set Blackle as your home page. This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. Remember every bit counts!
  • You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load.
    Spread the word about Blackle by telling your friends and family to set it as their home page

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Ready for a Green Jean?

Jeans is the universal cool clothing liked by everyone. It’s an evergreen trendy outfit. I have been crazy on this during by school days though I have used it only a couple of times. ok. How green is your jean now?

Eco friendly clothing combining high quality clothing with socially conscious environmentalism has become a faction, and is in vogue.
Green clothing' is made from hundred percent organic materials like soy, organic cotton and hemp. Variety of clothes like skirts, blouses, shirts, pants, socks, bathrobes, pillow cases etc are made from organic fibres.

Want to know about eco friendly players in the market??You have some listed below here.


Loomstate

Loomstate organic clothing was founded on the principle of 'creating demand for certified organic cotton using socially and environmentally responsible methods of production.

Nudie Jeans

Nudie strips jeans down to the basics by using only organic cotton and dying their clothing with pre-reduced indigo for low environmental impact. They also ensure all workers, from planters to dyers, are treated fairly and humanely—and no children under 15 are employed by the company.


Edun

Edun jeans offer a great eco-friendly product with fair trade benefits. Edun's production in India, Peru, Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar is based on the premise that sustainable communities are built through 'trade, not aid.' Word to the wise: not all of their products are organic, so be sure to look at the content.

7 for All Mankind

If you want a pair of sexy, organic cotton jeans, you can do no better than 7 For All Mankind. 7 offers nine styles in California organic cotton from trendy skinny leg to classic boot cut.

Levi Strauss & Co

Classic jeans producer introduced their Levi Eco line of Jeans and it's since expanded to include jackets and skirts. Made with 100% organic and recycled cotton, these are the jeans that will take you back to high school. Called, appropriately, levi’s eco, the organic jeans also boast recycled buttons, rivets and zippers.


Aoki jeans

(Aoki is Japanese for green tea) are made from 98 percent organic cotton with 2 percent of stretch. The women’s line is designed to make you look long and lean with three different cuts to fit any body type. Get yours at http://www.shopmodify.com/. The Aoki website is not quite ready yet, but keep checking back. http://www.aokijeans.com


H&M

Sweedish fashion giant H&M has a line of organic cotton clothing, which includes jeans. For spring 2009, H&M will up their use of organic cotton by 50% (they used 1,500 tons last spring), and they're going to offer recycled clothing, including recycled cotton from fabric remnants from garment production.


James Jeans

Mainstream denim brand James Jeans is taking a different approach to eco. While the jeans are not made of organic cotton, the process that they go through to achieve the different washes is green. Rather than using potassium promagnate and a washing machine to "age" the jeans, the company hand brushes a mix of tea leaves, coffee and other natural "reactants" on each pair and then dries them in the open air and sunshine.. (http://www.barneys.com/b/browse/category.s?categoryId=522256) and http://www.shopgreenrohini.com/women39s-pan.html. http://www.jamesjeans.com/


Why Eco friendly Jeans?
Eco friendly fabrics embrace the body with a soft and supple touch. Eco friendly labels are now appearing on many products, due to the efforts of the companies to be perceived as environment friendly. Health concerns represent a potential source of benefits and demand for organic apparel. Hence, these garments are manifested as most important for children who are perceived to be more susceptible to toxins.

Not only the fibres used for manufacturing the garments are organic, but the dyes used in the process of making these clothes are also environmentally friendly, or those which have a less impact on the human skin.

Furthermore, eco friendly apparels are finding favors with environmentally savvy fashion designers. Until recent times, organic clothes were regarded as coarse, uncomfortable and unappealing. But now, it is becoming fashionable to wear eco friendly clothing. Many designers are coming out with eco friendly outfits made from organic cotton and using other dyes which are free from hazardous chemicals. Though the range of styles is lesser when compared with other materials, new patterns and styles are being developed to keep pace with the growing demand for organic clothing.

You could also check these sites
http://www.shopintuition.com/categories.asp?catid=199&WebCategoryParentID=5
http://kaightshop.com/sewaje.html.
http://serfontaine.com/
.http://www.denimtherapy.com/
http://www.revolveclothing.com/index.jsp.
http://www.slingandstones.com/
http://www.goodsociety.org/

Thursday, February 19, 2009

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM


Sustainable tourism is an industry committed to making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income and employment for local people.

Characteristics of Sustainable Tourism
· Sustainable Tourism tries its utmost to maintain the importance of local culture and tradition.
· Sustainable Tourism is informatory, as it doesn’t only let tourist know about the destinations but also it helps locals knowing about the culture and civilisation of tourists.
· This kind of tourism is aimed to conserve the resources of destinations where one is visiting to .
· Sustainable Tourism seeks deeper involvement of locals, which provide local people an opportunity and make their living. Above all, Sustainable Tourism stresses pointedly upon integrity of the tourist places
.

Principles of Sustainable Tourism

With the increased footfalls of tourists, the deep need today is that tourism like other sector be planned and managed suitably. Sustainable development of tourism is possible only if its follows some of its guidelines and principles.
· Tourism ought to be initiated at any location with the help of local community. The involvement of local community helps maintaining the appropriate tourism development.

· The local community has to meet the direct benefit of flourishing tourism in their area. Link between local business and tourism enable local people gain economically as well.

· To cause large growth in sustainable development, there is need that codes, ethics and some fair guidelines be appointed.

· In order to heighten the importance of heritage and natural resources, and manage them better, training and education programme should be instituted.

Ecotourism

Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is a form of Sustainable Tourism, differing by its focus on ecology. Ecotourism focuses on volunteering, personal growth, and learning new ways to live on the planet; typically involving travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions.


Relationship between Ecotourism and Sustainable tourism
Ecotourism basically deals with nature based tourism, and is aimed “to conserve the environment and improves the well-being of local people”. On the other hand, sustainable tourism includes all segments of tourism, and has same function to perform as of ecotourism – to conserve the resources and increase the local cultural and traditional value. Though the goals of ecotourism and sustainable tourism is much similar, but the latter is broader and conceals within itself very many aspects and categories of tourism.

The case of Goa could be taken as an example.Goa is famous for the Olive Ridley turtles (Mandrem inPernem) but as a result of excessive tourism many of the turtles do not find safe nesting grounds. The very promotion of “eco holiday ” in the area by the hoteliers are defeating the purpose as littering the beach and overcrowding do not allow the turtles to hatch safely. Sustainable tourism is especially important for a small state like Goa since the influx of both Indian and foreign tourists is increasing very year.
Goa being a tiny state, the carrying capacity of the state in terms of the size, facilities available and the ecological fragility should be thoroughly studied and taken into consideration while allowing tourism; only then would such tourism be beneficial, in the long run, for the state and the people. Hence practice of sustainable tourism could be of great help.

The objective of sustainable tourism is to retain the economic and social advantages of tourism development while reducing or mitigating any undesirable impacts on the natural, historic, cultural or social environment. This is achieved by balancing the needs of tourists with those of the destination
- WTO
So friends make your next tour the most sustainable and unforgettable one.
Links

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

green living tips


hi all,

some more green living tips.

Start going green from ur garden!
Water the garden early in the morning or late in the evening. This reduces water loss due to evaporation. Don’t overwater the garden. Water only till the soil becomes moist, not soggy.


Explore water efficient irrigation systems. Sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation can be adapted to garden situations .


Make your garden lively - plant trees and shrubs which will attract birds. You can also put p nest boxes and put food.


Try growing sturdy grass in bare patches of land , and convince people in your neighbourhood to do so too.


Put waste to work in your garden- sweep the fallen leaves and flowers into flower beds or under shrubs . This will increase soil fertility and also reduce the need for frequent watering.


If you have little space in your garden , you could make a compost pit to turn organic waste from the kitchen and garden to soil enriching manure .


Don't use chemicals in the garden - as they will eventually end up in the sea and can upset the delicate balance of lifecycles.


Organic and environmentally friendly fertilisers and pesticides are available - organic gardening reduces pollution and is better for wildlife.

While Shopping

Buy fruit and vegetables that are in season to help reduce enormous transport costs resulting from importing produce and, where possible, choose locally produced food.


When buying fish look out for a variety of non-endangered species and buy local fish if possible.


Prefer vegetarian options for your meals.

On-line Shopping

Purchase solar powered products.


Send e-cards, if you can, rather than buy paper cards.


Shop online, not only will this reduce fuel consumption and emissions by not driving to the shops, but each time you buy something on-line WWF receive a donation. You may even buy products from the nature shop.At your workplace .


During Holidays


Go on holiday during the off-peak period to prevent over straining resources - you'll also avoid the crowds.


Find out about your destination before you go on holiday - it may be an environmentally sensitive area. Doing this will also ensure you are informed of what to see and any local customs.


Don't travel by air if you can avoid it because air travel uses up large amounts of fossil fuels and creates greenhouse gases.


Avoid taking things on holiday that you will throw away.
Dispose of any rubbish responsibly - it can be hazardous to wildlife.


Ask your travel agent or tour operator what they are doing to be environmentally responsible.


Use public transport, cycle or walk instead of using a car.
Use facilities and trips run by local people whenever possible.
Don't be tempted to touch wildlife and disturb habitats whether on land, at the coast or under water.


Be careful what you choose to bring home as a holiday souvenir. Many species from coral and conch shells to elephants and alligators are endangered because they are killed for curios or souvenirs.


Don’t leave any rubbish at the beach - turtles are often killed by plastic bags they've mistaken for jellyfish and many items take years to degrade as well as being dangerous.

Boats and jet-skis create noise and chemical pollution which is disturbing to wildlife - don't keep the engine running unnecessarily.
Try these to make a difference.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Green Clothing Online

Redewin, a new online eco-store that sells unique vintage and reconstructed clothing, just launched last week. It offers eco-conscious consumers a new option in shopping for stylish, one of a kind clothes, and it’s great destination for choosing green clothing.

All of the items on Redewin are created from used garments—they take button-ups, t-shirts, dresses, doilies, sweaters, jeans, etc, and stitch them together to create innovative, intriguing new fashion blends. The clothes are creative and singular—and they elevate the term ‘recycled clothing’ to new fashionable heights. The site features a wide range of items—from men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing lines to re-stitched pillows, everything gets the chic, reconstructed treatment at Redewin. And shopping online is a lot easier than making your own recycled clothing.

Friday, September 19, 2008

EcoButton


The ecobuttonis an illuminating USB device that acts as a reminder and a prompt for the user to press the ecobutton at every opportunity whenever the computer is going to be left idle. This could be from taking a phone call or break, to doing paperwork or going to lunch and meetings where otherwise the computer would normally be left on.

This is because people generally do not like turning off their computers because of the time it often takes to restart. When the ecobutton is pressed it engages the computer into energy saving ‘ecomode’. This ensures that both the computer and monitor are set to operate in the most efficient, lowest power mode available, which actually draws only the same nominal power as when the computer and monitor are turned off!

When you need to use the computer again, simply press any key to instantly return to where you left off!

Energy Savings

The amount of energy that a computer and monitor use varies depending on its age, model, and the programmes and applications in use. A PC switched on 8 hours a day engaging ‘ecomode’ for 3 hours could save around 4200 rupees in electricity cost per year.
Indirect savings can be made with air conditioning systems as they do not have to work so hard because less heat is generated from computers actively using the ecobutton. Because the ecobutton stays illuminated even during ecomode, this can provide a useful reminder that all uneccessary computers, lighting, heating and air conditioning etc... should be be switched off at the end of the day.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Getting Rid of Ur Old Gadgets


Hi all,

E Waste is a threatening problem which has been discussed in the previous article. Here are some sites where your old gadgets could find a second life.

http://www.gazelle.com/
http://www.venjuvo.com/

The above two sites accepts used camcorders, gaming consoles, digital camera, laptop, mp3 players and gps devices. They offer cash and/or would recycle yr products.

Another site is http://www.techforward.com/ where u cud trade ur used gadgets.

The site http://www.myboneyard.com/ accepts PCs, Laptops; Flat panel Monitors in exchange for Visa Gift Cards.Its better to compare the price each sites offer and then go for it.