US residents can now check out what they’re being poisoned with by checking out this new tool provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Google Earth. It’s a useful tool to track air quality in your community or if you are planning to move to another area to escape airborne toxins. Check for levels of carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, VOCs, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide. You can also identify big emitters easily, like cement plants, chemical manufacturers and petroleum refineries, amongst others. Focus on a particular state or sector to get the most accurate details. You need to have Google Earth already installed on your computer for the EPA file to work, or if you’d prefer not to install it, you can download the text version. It’s not as much fun to use as the Google Earth file, but it contains all the information you’ll need.
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The lines are closed, the votes have been counted and I can now reveal that the winners of the British Environment and Media Awards 2007 are:
Award for Best Television News and Current Affairs Coverage - BBC1 Ten O’Clock News – Climate Change
Best Television Documentary - Granada and KQED Public Television – China – Shifting Nature
Award for Journalist of the Year - Fiona Harvey
Award for Newspaper of the Year - The Guardian
Award for Best Coverage by a Magazine - Sunday Times Magazine
Award for Best Radio News or Current Affairs Programme - BBC Radio 4 Costing the Earth – Mermaids Tears
Best Website - Surfers Against Sewage
Best Campaign - People and Planet – Green League 2007
Congratulations to all for a job well done! And on an ironic note, at the awards presentation, Surfers Against Sewage made an on-stage protest against Northumbrian Water, one of the sponsors of the awards, presenting the company’s communications director with a gold toilet brush for “showing a disregard to the health of the marine environment”. We’d expect nothing less from the SAS.
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In this digital age we can find that all of our photographs end up on our computers and not being displayed the way that they would traditionally have been. Obviously, digital photography has meant that we don’t print out all of our dud photographs anymore and that’s good for the environment, but there are some photographs that still deserve pride of place in our homes, pieces of art, or mementoes of loved ones and special occasions.
e-photoframes supply sustainable, ethically sourced and fair traded photo frames with a unique “one frame one tree” guarantee. For each frame that you buy, they will plant a tree in partnership with the Forest Restoration Research Unit and Plant a Tree Today. The full cost of the tree planting is covered by the mark-up on the frame. The costs of planting are kept to a minimum by the partner organisations working with volunteers and the tree planting projects being based in developing countries where saplings and seedlings are relatively inexpensive.
There are three different types of frame to choose from at e-photoframes. The Wood frames are created from plantation cut rubber trees with an expertly finished natural grain pattern; The Mulberry range is hand crafted from Mulberry bark by a fair trade co-operative in northern Thailand; and the Silk frames are crafted from high-quality Thai silk and packaged in a reusable mulberry paper box. All frames are available in 6”x 4” and 7”x 5” sizes with prices from £7.95.
These frames make great gift purchases for ethical and environment conscious consumers who want to give gifts that will not only be appreciated by the recipient but also cause minimum harm to the environment. These photo frames are a gift that will last for years while also making a genuine contribution to forest restoration.
Giveaway
We have one e-photoframes Wood frame to give away to a lucky reader. To be in with a chance to win it, simply enter your details on the form below. The draw will take place on the 30th November 2007. The winners will be notified by email.
Enter the competition
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