HOW TO PURIFY THE AIR IN YOUR HOME?

We spend %90 of our time indoors.  As it is known, indoor air is much more polluted than outdoor air.  American Lung Association gives some indoor air quality tips :

*Do not allow smoking indoors

*Install a carbon monoxide detector

*Do not idle the car in garage

*Test for radon

*Use low-VOC paints

*Fix leaks

*Clean your air conditioner

*Ventilate to control humidity

*Be wary of old lead paint

*Vent your wood stove

*Avoid toxic products

*Ventilate your kitchen

*Know the limitations of air purifiers

*Do not install carpets

CNN HEROE OF THE YEAR

I gave place the article about clean water problems in Africa.  It is not valid only for Africa,but also for all of the world.  US has the same problem.   The following news is about a man, Chad Pregracke, who has dedicated his life to cleaning Missisipi River and other U.S. waterways.  For his effort, he was chosen as CNN hero of the year 2013.  Here are the details about the news from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/world/hero-of-the-year/  :

"Pregracke, 38, grew up in East Moline, Illinois, where the Mississippi River was in his backyard. As a teenager, he worked as a commercial shell diver and began to notice the heaps of debris in the fabled waterway, which supplies drinking water to 18 million people in more than 50 U.S. cities."

"I saw thousands of barrels, thousands of tires, cars, trucks and tops of school buses. ... I got sick of seeing it and just wanted to do something about it," said Pregracke, whom some have called "the rivers' garbageman."

For nine months out of the year, Pregracke lives on a barge with members of his 12-person crew. They go around the country with a fleet of boats, and they try to make cleanup fun for the volunteers who show up in each city.

They use skits, music and mock motivational speeches to get the volunteers amped up, and sometimes they even do a little karaoke. Teams also compete to see who can find the "best" garbage.

Close to 90% of what they recover is recycled; Pregracke said the rest gets disposed of properly.

In addition to the river cleanup, Pregracke has launched a floating classroom barge where his staff educates high school students and teachers about the damages of pollution on river ecosystems. In 2007, his nonprofit implemented a program to plant 1 million trees along river shorelines to protect and restore the natural environment. The group is halfway to its goal.

CLEAN WATER FILTRATION: BASIC NECESSITY

Interesting article again in Environmental News Network about clean water issues especially in Africa.  Because, we know that one of the biggest problems in most of the African countries is finding a pure and clear water.


"Clean water is a vital concern as many parts of the world struggle with its availability. Kenya is a prime example of a country on the edge. Kenya's people have long struggled with lack of availability of fresh water creating hazardous health conditions. According to the World Bank, the country's population is well over 43 million people. The country is one of the poorest on the earth with one of the most arid climates. Only a small portion of the land is suitable for agriculture.  Further, Natural resources available to Kenya do not support adequate or equitable delivery of water forcing people to spend many hours of each day, procuring water for basic sustenance."

"For those lucky and strong enough to get water, the rate of exposure to pathogens are a massive problem due to the contamination of basins and pumps where water is collected.

Water issues in Ghana are similar where the population pushes 25 million.  Only 13% of Ghana’s dense population has access to adequate sanitation facilities.  Eighty percent of all of the diseases in Ghana are caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.

Moving westward the people of Honduras are also in the throws of a water crisis. An existing humanitarian crisis was exacerbated by Hurricane Mitch, in 1998 which devastated the country leaving 75% of it without safe drinking water. Because of the nation’s poverty, rebuilding continues to be slow forcing residents to depend upon contaminated water sources.

In response to the crisis, NativeEnergy of Burlington, VT has teamed up with National Geographic and REVERB, an environmentally driven music organization, to bring clean water to these people. The three part consortium has been responsible for the installation of more than 2,300 water filters in homes, rural watering holes and urban canals.

Added climatic benefits are that the need to burn firewood to boil water for sanitation is eliminated further reducing greenhouse gases.

NativeEnergy is the provider of carbon offsets which help finance projects like this, National Geographic's participation provides educational, research and adventure trips that foster interest in the plight of countries like Kenya, Ghana and Honduras and REVERB is a musical community that engages musicians and their fans in environmental concerns globally.

Recipients of the water filters report a decrease in waterborne illnesses and the ability to apply money previously used to purchase firewood to education related expenses and entrepreneurial activities."

WHAT IS THE TRUE COST OF FOOD PRODUCTION?

Interesting article in Environmental News Network about why do we need sustainable food:

"We must account for the real costs of food, or sustainable food systems will never break through to the mainstream.
We live in a time when the need for sustainable food and farming systems has never been more urgent. Earlier this year, over 200 leading scientists signed a consensus statement on Maintaining Humanity's Life Support Systems in the 21st Century. It expressed deep concern that society has reached the tipping points for a range of environmental and social consequences to our behaviour, which could significantly degrade life on earth by 2050.

Our current industrialised agriculture is at the very heart of these impacts. Increasing demand for food due to population growth, plus changing patterns of consumption as we eat more meat and heavily processed foods, means our systems of farming and food production are coming under increasing pressure.

Yields of conventionally produced food are falling. Soil the world over is being degraded ten times faster than nature can restore it. Widespread damage is being done to the earth's ecosystems through the use of chemical pesticides and nitrogen based fertilizers. Farming is making an immense contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

In short we are fast approaching a sustainability cross-roads. The long-term viability of our current globalised food system is being seriously called into question."

http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/46739