Filed under: News, Climate Change

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Credit: TORU YAMANAKA, Getty Images

You’ve probably seen references to the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Conference that is being held this December in Denmark. The goal of the gathering, which will include (almost literally) every country in the world, is to create a new global protocol to address climate change, and that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.

I have to admit that news about this conference had become a sort of “cap/emissions/2 degrees warmer and we’re all dead!” white noise to me. Climate change is another one of those topics that can be so overwhelmingly scary and negative that, like most people, after a while I tune it out.

An interview with UN climate chief Yvo de Boer simplified the goals of the conference for me, and made it seem more practical and less dire. It turns out they just have to answer four questions

Continue reading The Copenhagen Climate Conference Simplified

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Original post by Hank Green

By Janice Clements

image from www.clementsinteriors.com

As a professional interior decorator, I am constantly on the hunt for new and fabulous finds for my clients. I regularly help them replace unwanted items in their homes with the latest-and-greatest decor trends available in what seems to be an ever expanding home fashions industry.

Typically on a renovation site I am presented with the question of what to do with the materials removed during the demolition process. In the course of doing business, our company has made many trips to the local dump to dispose of unwanted materials. Recently, some on our crew carefully removed and chose to reuse some cabinets from a site which were destined for the dump but where in perfect condition. Though this may sound elementary to some, I was thrilled to see the materials were not going to waste and were in fact being put to good use elsewhere, and I was even happier to know that there were people who saw the intrinsic value in these items. It made me begin to question my own role in the cycle of wastefulness, one that goes far beyond the extent of my personal recycling and composting habits at home.

Since that experience, I have begun to ask myself some tough questions: Does my role as a decorator unnecessarily overshadow my role as a member of the larger society who should be making more of an effort to protect the environment and avoid needlessly adding to landfills? Do I as a professional have a greater opportunity and responsibility to be lending a helping hand to those in our community who are in need and simply want to build a home of which they can be proud?

So, I turn the tables on myself to see what I am made of, and I look to the wonderful charitable organization Habitat for Humanity to help me consider what impact I can make by learning to creatively “re-purpose” old building materials and household items; to help with looking away from the home decor trends laid out like an all-you-can-eat-buffet by the industry around me and towards setting my own trends which will ensure that I avoid unnecessarily contributing to the growing wastefulness problem. I cannot vow to be perfect in this endeavour, but I do vow to do my best.

If like many, you’ve already heard of Habitat for Humanity, here’s what you may already know:

· Habitat consists of over 35,000 volunteers and 72 affiliate organizations from coast to coast.

· Habitat Canada is a member of Habitat for Humanity International which is now building a new home for a needy family every 21 minutes.

· Habitat for Humanity Canada is a national, non-profit organization working for a world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live.

· Habitat’s mission is to mobilize volunteers and community partners in building affordable housing and promoting homeownership as a means to breaking the cycle of poverty.

If like me, this is where your knowledge about this organization ended, here’s what you’ve been missing:

· Habitat for Humanity has building supply stores open to the public which accept and resell quality new and used building materials.

· In addition to building materials, some of the Habitat ReStores carry items like furniture, appliances, fabric, lighting, window coverings and other household items.

· The sales made at Habitat for Humanity Re Stores generate funds to support Habitat’s building programs – the dollars you spend in the store help ensure that new homes will be built for those in need in your local communities.

· When you purchase something from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, you reduce the amount of used materials that are headed for overflowing landfills

I have challenged myself in my own life and where possible in my professional life, to make a habit of regularly visiting the Habitat ReStore to search out useful building materials that when purchased, will be reused and not dumped into an already crowded landfill while simultaneously ensuring my money goes to a worthwhile organization, and equally importantly – will save me money!

I hope you will accept my challenge to drop by your local ReStore and to discover this untapped resource in your local community, and I encourage you to visit www.habitat.ca and click on ReStore to find a store near you!

About the Author

Janice Clements is the president of Clements Interiors and her 11+ years of experience includes not only fully managed renovations in Toronto and the GTA, but also custom designed furnishings in her most of her clients’ homes. Janice is active within the Toronto and York Region design community. With appearances on CityLine with Marilyn Denis and published in Canadian House & Home, Janice’s designs are decidedly clean-lined and focus on both form and functionality. Janice’s background in customer service creates the foundation for her work. “We go beyond the call of duty to ensure that every client feels that renovating and decorating their home has been valuable, efficient and enjoyable.”

Original post by blogs@bobvila.com (Dave)

We love our Kindle, and for many reasons. No more newspaper deliveries at 5AM or cold walks outside to pick them up. I can bring 15 books on vacation without slipping a disc. And my bedside table no longer looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But a recent study seems to confirm another reason […]

Original post by Hank Green

One thing I’ve learned over the years is remodeling a home can put a major strain on your marriage - the bigger the project, the bigger the strain. That’s why it was no surprise to read that the owner of Clingstone Mansion in Jamestown, RI burned through two marriages in the course of remodeling the unique home since purchasing it in 1961.The home, in its finished form, is spectacular. It sits on a narrow rock in Narragansett Bay, accessible only by boat and offering panoramic views of the …

Original post by blogs@bobvila.com (Dave)

BIG Architects have unveiled an incredible new library that will serve as a multifunctional cultural center for Astana, Kazakhstan. Named Nursultan Nazarbayev after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the new library will encompass not just books, but space and time as well. The design comprises 4 archetypes - the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt - which all merge into the form of a Möbius strip. In designing the structure BIG also used high-tech modeling to calculate the thermal exposure of the building envelope and maximize shading.

Read the rest of BIG Architects Unveil Massive Mobius Strip Library for Kazakhstan

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Post tags: BIG Architects, energy modeling, Kazakhstan, library, national library

Original post by blogs@bobvila.com (Dave)