At Right: 396-2 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Credit: © 2006 Jessica Soler Hampejsek, Courtesy of Photoshare; A landfill in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México. This “underground” dump was supposed to have been closed more than 10 years ago, when it reached ground level. It has since grown to become an actual hill, more than 30 feet high, that threatens the health of all the families that live nearby. This is the other face of touristic Puerto Vallarta, and the local authorities are not paying attention to it.

Two days ago I discovered Photoshare, a free online service provided by a John Hopkins’ School of Public Health’s INFO Project. Photoshare boasts an extensive and constantly growing archive of public health-related images that nonprofits can use for documentary and educational purposes. This is an important point…these photos are not open source per se, as the Photoshare collection falls under the editorial photography category. Therefore, unlike stock photography, Photoshare images must be used in a context that fairly represents the real situation, subject identity, and physical location of the image in addition to credits for the photographer and the year in which the photograph was taken (see example above).

Read on, mon cher! »

Posted by Linda at 8:00 AM PDT

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One day as I was walking along the 3rd Avenue fair in NYC, my heart stopped for a second when I saw a rug draped over a chair on display. I new immediately it was an antique handmade Shirvan rug (pictured above).

I walked over to take a closer look and realized that it was a great rug and in excellent condition. I asked the sales person “How much?” and he responded, “USD20.” I moved slowly to bely my enthusiasm and said, “Oh well, I only have USD20, but can I give you USD17 so I can get a pizza?”

He demanded the full $20. I handed over my money and rolled up the rug and put it under my arm. As I began to walk away, the sales person stopped me and said, “I work for NYC Sanitation and whatever I pick up on the sidewalks that I think has value I sell later at street fairs. How much do you think that rug is worth?”

Read on, mon cher! »

Posted by Russell at 8:27 AM PDT

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The price of oil per gallon has hit new all-time highs, yet consumers haven’t seen that high cost reflected at the fuel pumps. I have a theory that the price of gas will increase dramatically before the Thanksgiving holiday season and that they’ll stay inflated throughout the winter holiday season.

Since folks usually support the idea of alternative fuel possibilities when gas prices are high, I’ll put a pitch in for seaweed so you can think about this ‘green fuel’ the next time you fill your gas tank.

While corn is proving to be one of the cheapest fuel alternatives and it’s already commercially available, seaweed can replace corn and - unlike corn - it won’t undermine global food sources.

The seaweed pools, pictured above, are filled with Mediterranean seaweed in small concentrations. Carbon dioxide allows it to grow in the pools at a concentration of one million times greater. The carbon dioxide is gathered from nearby power plants and the gas is passed through a filtration process and then enters the pools where it feeds the microscopic seaweed. The use of carbon dioxide reduces the cost of production radically, to about 50 cents per kilo of seaweed. Plus, this process reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that power plants push into the atmosphere.

Finally - according to the scientists who developed this technology - it is possible to produce a liter of fuel for every five kilograms of seaweed.

The technology was developed in the experimental farm set up by Seambiotic Ltd. three years ago in the compound of the Ashkelon power plant, with the support of the Israel Electric Corporation.

Ironically, a proposal has been made to add coal-fired units to the Ashkelon power station in 2008 to “meet increased electricity demand.” Thankfully, the Ministry of the Environment and non-governmental environmental organizations are meeting this proposal with stiff opposition.

Posted by Linda at 8:00 AM PDT

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Above: Images of disappearing Lake Chad from Earth Observatory.

Today October 21, 2007 the State of Georgia declared a water supply emergency. And then there is Lake Chad in Africa where over 20 million people rely on the lake for water - it is almost on the verge of dissapearing. Finally, “Atlanta Shudders at Prospect of Empty Faucets” while California burns.

There has been a lot of news relating to water drying up in certain areas and flooding in others. Time for action is long overdue, we have to start mobilizing. We should use Iceland’s example of phasing out fossil fuels as an example. New York Times’s magazine article “The Future Is Drying Up” goes into great details.

Posted by Russell at 8:00 AM PDT

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