The Story of Stuff Posted on July 20th, 2009
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
This is a great video. It’s about 20 minutes long and explains the process of resource gathering, manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and waste. It explains how this could be made into a cycle rather than a linear march towards the garbage pit.
It explains a lot of other things about our consumer-culture too, including how it got started.
Great video and well worth watching. You can visit TheStoryofStuff.com and download or stream the video for free. I’ve included a teaser video:
Karma: When Poop Becomes the Toilet Posted on July 10th, 2009
At first glance, this is pretty nasty. I mean, a toilet made out of sh…er…poop? It’s called the LOOWATT and not only is it made from what it receives, but it composts what it gets and turns it into electricity. Hence the catchy name.
The innovative commode was created by Virginia Gardiner as a low-cost, eco-toilet that encourages people to eat their fiber, trading in their waste for biofuel.
Here’s a great video from Dwell that explains the concept and the LooWatt:
Cap and Trade: Will It Save the Earth? Posted on July 1st, 2009
This is a short video of just over four minutes that does a very good job of illustrating why Cap and Trade is doomed to fail, whether it passes in its current form or is further padded by Senatoral special interests. There is literally nothing in Cap and Trade worth keeping or “saving.” The whole idea is pointless.
Just watch:
The World According to Monsanto Posted on June 29th, 2009
The question of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), specifically foods and crop seeds, is becoming more and more of a hot-bed issue. The world’s leader in GMO production is Monsanto, makers of other products like RoundUp weed killer, Bovine Growth Hormone, and the infamous Agent Orange.
Most genetically modified crop seeds coming from Monsanto’s laboratories are being modified to be resistant to the pesticides and herbicides that Monsanto also sells (namely RoundUp and several of its derivatives for full-scale farming).
Two huge questions come from this practice: will these modifications cause resistance to the herbicides by spreading their genes to the very weeds they are meant to kill off? Second, will these GMO plants, by being so ubiquitous in massive-scale corporate farming, virtually wipe out all heritage and time-proven hybrid plants already being used?
Either of those questions is troubling, especially given the squirrely answers that Monsanto gives to them when asked. Those questions, however, become almost secondary once you begin to realize how much political and financial clout Monsanto has put into suppressing any real research or inquiry into answering those questions.
The World According to Monsanto is a documentary film asking those questions and exploring the power that Monsanto has over farming world-wide. This documentary is available on both DVD and for free, online, through the twilightearth.com website.
I’ve taken the liberty of posting the first of the series of YouTube videos which comprise the entire video. To watch teh whole thing, I suggest going to TwilightEarth.com (the makers of the movie) and watching it there or purchasing a DVD from them for home viewing.
After you’ve watched the movie, go to Shelly Roche’s information at Bytestyle.tv and take the Roundup Challenge!
Don’t Worry, Obama Will Save Us All (video) Posted on June 26th, 2009
This video is just hilarious. Funny, no matter what your politics are. JibJab (the makers of this little cartoon) are awesome, so check them out too. :)
