点废成绿 Greening the Beige (GtB) is an eco-minded arts collective and not-for-profit community network dedicated to nurturing awareness of environmental issues. 点废成绿 GtB promotes and celebrates earth friendly artists and organizations in Beijing.
"Why are we being forced to choose between the economy and the environment? We tend to forget that without an environment we would not have an economy, as everything we consume and I mean everything comes from our environment."
~ Franke James (contemporary artist, photographer, writer)
Beijing's landfills are getting full fast! Reduce the "trash" you throw away by purchasing products with minimal packaging. Look for reusable, recyclable, and biodegrable items and remember to carry your reusable shopping bags!
Two weeks ago saw Spain lift the trophy for the Soccer (Association Football) World Cup. Then last week saw Australia lift our 'Green World Cup'. Unfair to the Soccer finalists, who we overlooked in our 'Green' tournament, let's see how the two equate:
Spanish Environment Factsheet
(How do they compare with their neighbours, France, Italy and Portugal)?
1． Spain is ranked 25th out of 163 countries on the Yale EPI ranking chart: http://epi.yale.edu/Countries, putting it above (performing better than the average result) the median for Europe. It performs relatively well in environmental health, but not so well on ecosystem vitality.
2． Spain has the 41st highest GDP emissions per capita in the world.
3． Extensive forests are now limited to the Pyrenees and the Asturias-Galicia area in the north because centuries of unplanned cutting have depleted stands. Fire eliminates 700,000 to 1,000,000 hectares of forestland each year.
4． Government reforestation schemes meet with difficulties where sheep and goats graze freely over large areas. During the 1980s, an average of 92,000 hectares (227,000 acres) were reforested annually.
5． Erosion affects 18% of the total land mass of Spain.
6． Industrial and agricultural sources contribute to the nation's water pollution problem. Spain is also vulnerable to oil pollution from tankers which travel the shipping routes near the nation's shores.
7． Spain's cities produce about 13.8 million tons of solid waste per year.
8． Principal environmental responsibility is vested in the Directorate General of the Environment, within the Ministry of Public Works and Urban Affairs. As of 2001, 8.4% of the country's total land area is protected. In the same year, 19 of the country's mammal species, 10 bird species, 10 types of freshwater fish, and 822 plant species were endangered. Endangered species include the Spanish lynx, Pyrenean ibex, Mediterranean monk seal, northern bald ibis, Spanish imperial eagle, Cantabrian capercaillie, dusky large blue and Nevada blue butterflies, and on the Canary Islands, the green sea turtle and Hierro giant lizard. The Canarian black oystercatcher and the Canary mouse have become extinct.
9． In 2005 Spain became the first country in the world to require the installation of photovoltaic electricity generation in new buildings…
…and the second in the world (after Israel) to require the installation of solar hot water systems.
10． Spain was also the first country to ever have a commercial solar energy power tower, PS10, located near Seville.
11． Spain is the world's third biggest producer of wind power, after the United States and Germany, with an installed capacity of 16,740 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2008, a rise of 1,609 MW for the year. More than 11% of Spain's electricity came from wind power in 2008. The largest producer of wind power in Spain is Iberdrola, with 27 percent of capacity, followed by Acciona on 16 percent and Endesa with 10 percent
Holland Environment Factsheet
(How do they compare with their neighbours, Germany, Belgium and Denmark)?
1． The Netherlands is 3rd in the world in Cumulative Installed Offshore Wind Power Capacity by Country, as of 2009, standing only behind the UK and Denmark.
2． The Netherlands has the 16th highest GHG emissions per capita in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissio...
3． The Netherlands is ranked 47th out of 163 countries on the Yale EPI ranking chart: http://epi.yale.edu/Countries, putting it below the median for Europe.
4． The Yale EPI survey shows that the country performs well on forest cover but badly on air pollution, fisheries and water effects on ecosystems.
5． The Netherlands has 11 cu km of renewable water resources, of which 68% is used for industrial purposes. Severe pollution of the country's rivers results from industrial and agricultural pollution, including heavy metals, organic compounds, nitrates, and phosphates: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Netherlands-ENVIRONMENT.html
Read on for much more positive news concerning these areas!
6． The City of The Hague has developed an innovative energy concept that consists of a seawater central supply unit with a heat exchanger and heat pump unit that uses the nearby sea as a temperature source: http://www.c40cities.org/bestpractices/energy/hague_seawater.jsp
7． As of 2001, 5.7% of the country's total land area was protected. Six mammal species and three bird species are threatened with extinction. Endangered species include Atlantic sturgeon, slender-billed curlew, Atlantic ridley, and Spengler's freshwater mussel:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Netherlands-ENVIRONMENT.html
8． A Netherlands-based solar sensor maker Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) had the quarter’s largest IPO earlier this month, raising $569 million in its offering on the New York Stock Exchange: http://cleantech.com/news/5742/cleantech-venture-investment-first
9． In 2007 Netherlands-based BioKing introduced new, small scale photo-bioreactors designed to produce algae for biodiesel production, stating that the patented technology in its scalable photo-bioreactors can contribute to the production of biodiesel and "other valuable bio-commodities" from algae oil: http://cleantech.com/news/node/1073
10． In Groningen, Netherlands, a model of continuous bicycle integration in transportation and land use planning policies has been used for over four decades, this cycling city boasting 37 percent of all trips by bike. Bikes have right-of-way over cars in areas with heavy cycling traffic and are given preference at traffic stops.
11． In 1971, the Ministry of Health and Environment was established; a countrywide system of air pollution monitoring by the National Institute of Public Health has been in place since 1975. Since the mid-1970s, discharges of heavy metals into industrial wastewater and emissions of most major air pollutants from industrial use of fossil fuels have been substantially reduced. Progress has also been recorded in reducing automotive emissions. An excise tax surcharge on gasoline and diesel fuel was imposed for pollution abatement in 1981: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Netherlands-ENVIRONMENT.html#i...
