Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Indoor air pollution is not something we come across very often in the western world. But according to WHO, indoor air pollution kills over 2 million! people each year from diseases like pneumonia, lung cancer and heart disease. More than half of them are children under the age of 5. That's 5500 persons each day or 230 persons each hour that dies because they are cooking a meal for their family.

This is due to the fact that half of the worlds population cook their meals on open fires or stoves that burns biomass (wood, agricultural waste, charcoal, animal droppings etc). When cooking on inefficient stoves in poorly ventilated homes the fumes is highly toxic to both people and the environment. It can reach up to 200 times the level of toxins that's safe to breathe. In you own home!

Apart from being dangerous to your health it also highly impacts our environment. When those fuels are being burnt it creates carbon dioxide and methane which is a factor to climate change. Cutting down trees to use as fuel also leads to deforestation and erosion of the soil.

In a larger perspective, having a better way to cook food would benefit the economies of developing countries. Instead of spending up to 20h a week collecting fuel, women could work and children could go to school. That would benefit the entire family and in the end the entire country.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is an initiative started by U.N. in 2010 and is meant to bring together governments, the private sector and other actors in a joint effort to develop and produce new stoves that will be cleaner, more efficient, more durable and cheaper. Their goal is that, by the year of 2020, there will be 100 million households using this kind of stoves.

In an effort to empower women it's also one of the goals that selling and repairing these stoves will create new business opportunities for women all over the world.

To work locally and share your knowledge globally is the best way to sustainability I can think of.

Read more and work together with Julia Roberts and Hillary Rodham Clinton and many many more to reach the goal by 2020 on Clean Cookstoves.

Solvatten - how to get fresh water from the sun

Solvatten (Sun Water) is such an amazing invention!

Petra Wadström came up with this idea when travelling with her family in Indonesia in 1997, and it took her ten years of research and testing before production could begin.

Solvatten is a container of 10 liters that, when put in the sun, cleans water from bacteria, viruses and parasites. Apparently UV-light kills microorganisms as well as boiling does, and combined with heat and a built-in filter this really works. And without any chemicals being used! The container can be used in any country as long as there is sun. Doesn't matter if it's cold as long as the sun is out. Solvatten can produce up to 30 liters (8 gallons) of safe drinking water in a day.

It's so easy. You fill it up with water and leave it in the sun for two-six hours and voilà, when the indicator tells you the water is safe, you've got water ready to drink. It almost sounds to good to be true, but the water from Solvatten is approved by both WHO and FDA.

In many countries wood or charcoal is being used to heat up water to make it safe. In Africa 70% of household income is spent on that kind of fuel. Solvatten can help reduce that cost as well as help preventing deforestation.

Such a great and simple way to use free solar-energy and completely organic too!

You can find a long list of the organizations Solvatten cooperates with on their homepage.

I'm so proud of this Swedish innovator!

Power of consumption

Nobody can do it alone, but with the small steps and choices we make every day, we can all do our part. That's the most important thing I want to show with this blog. We can really do it together. All consumers of food, drink, clothes, fuel, skincare etc etc can put the pressure on our governments and all companies to work for a better and more sustainable future for all of us simply by choosing what we spend our money on.

-Buying organic milk/wine/juice/coffee instead of regular shows our farmers that we don't want to drink chemicals and hormones.
-Buying toys painted with non-toxic paint or made of non-toxic plastic shows our toy-stores that they need to produce and sell things that won't give off poison when our children put them in their mouth.
-Buying organic skincare will tell the producers that we don't want to rub chemicals on the biggest organ we have; our skin.
-Using public transportation whenever possible and buy cars with alternative fuel-sources will show the oil-industry that enough is enough.

If we keep asking at our local stores for those products and keep buying the things that are good for us those things will be produced in a larger scale. We can make the power of money work in our favour.

Yes we can!

Rooftop farming New York

In USA the art of rooftop farming is picking up. It sounds simple enough to start gardening on your own roof to get fresh vegetables and fruits, but you have to consider the impact of wind, sun and rain and plan accordingly. The rooftop farms are carefully planned to protect it's harvest and produce as much as possible on the limited space.

There are a lot of different reasons why people want to start a rooftop farm. Some value the marketing potential of a rooftop farm, some are interested in managing stormwater, and others want to supplement their commercial kitchens with locally grown food.  

Gotham Greens is situated in Brooklyn and sells their produce to local chefs, markets and retailers. They started in 2008 and their goal is to produce over 80 tons of fresh greens annually. They care about keeping the entire chain sustainable. From fair treatment of workers to biodiversity and preserving water. Their main goal is to produce tasty, safe and nutritious greens. The greenhouses are powered by solar-panels and they have an advanced computer systems to manage heating, cooling and plant nutrition.

Brooklyn Grange is another rooftop-farm. They sell their produce directly to the local people and businesses. Everybody is welcome to visit and to participate. They visit different markets to sell their produce, and in the sping of 2012 they will start an apiary project which will include 25 bee hives and produce over 1000 pounds of honey.

Follow up on their projects and read about the driving spirits behind them on Brooklyngrangefarm and Gothamgreens

A Positive Greenhouse Effect

By 2050 up to 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. In the same time the population will increase with 2 billion people. How will we provide food for everybody?

Plantagon is an interesting Swedish company working on a solution. They have developed architecture and technology for urban agriculture.

They've designed several different types of greenhouses; from houses used only for farming to solutions integrated in already existing office buildings. They've taken into consideration both the architecture itself and also ways to provide as much natural light as possible.

The entire farming process is based on a sustainable system with organic fertilisers, water recycling and ways to convert waste into biogas. They want to integrate farming with cities in ways that saves both money and the environment.

Their first greenhouse is currently being built in the city of  Linköping in Sweden.
They will be the first city in the world to test this new technology and break new grounds for future cities to develop sustainable farming solutions.

Read more about Plantagon's truly amazing inventions here.

Exciting  information about Vertical Farming can also be found on Verticalfarm.

Earth Hour 2012

Today people all over the world turn of their lights, computers and phones at 20.30 in the largest worldwide manifestation for our planet.

Read more: Earth Hour

Whole Foods - Whole People - Whole Planet

Whole Foods Market started their first store in 1980 in Texas. Today, there are 310 stores in North America and the U.K and WFM are the world leading retailer when it comes to natural and organic food.

Apart from the actual stores they also contribute in spreading the message of a sustainable future. Among other things, they work together with farmers to get meat free from antibiotics and to reduce the use of pesticides in the fields.
WFM take great pride in not only caring for the animals and the planet but also to educate their customers in ways to reduce their impact on the environment. That includes discussions about animal cruelty, sustainable agriculture and why we should use environmentally-friendly cleaning materials etc. There is an extensive program designed to educate children, teachers and parents about healthy eating and to give children access to nutritious food.

They have also started a foundation, Whole Planet, that deals with micro-lending operations and sponsoring af neighborhood events to support organic farmers and expand the market for organic produce.

Whole Foods Market's vision is a sustainable and holistic future where we all work together with an in-depth knowledge of the environment and that we all are connected to each other. A future where everybody accepts resonsibility.

They see this vision as something that's going to seep through every company, organisation and individual and they lead by example through sustainable and ethical business practices.

It's a grand vision, and one for all of us to believe in to make it happen.

Read more; Wholefoodsmarket

Six Senses

Apart from beeing absolutely amazing resorts, their spas and hotels are something out of the ordinary when it comes to environmental issues, and they are highly involved in reducing the impact of their activities.

There is a very extensive program to try to achieve this in every possible way; from waste management to energy saving, from environmental concerns during constructions to raising awareness among staff, guests and the local community.

Apart from the smaller things, they are also involved in sustainability issues on a larger scale.

They have a fund, SERF, that is to be used primarily for social and environmental projects and initiatives in responsible development. All of the resorts and spas contribute 0,5% of their total revenue to this.

Six Senses is also dedicated to a water saving project. Half of the sales of water on their resorts are invested in organisations that helps to provide clean water for people around the world who doesn't have access to that.

In 2008 they started a symposium called Slow Life. The hope for this is that politicians, philosophers and influential people, sharing insights and making connections, can make way for a better and more sustainable future. Some of the speakers on the 2011 symposium were; Daryl Hannah, President Mohamed Nasheed and Richard Branson.

Read more and dream away at; Sixsenses