Canadian Company Collects 80% of City’s Recyclable Plastics and Turns It All into Lumber

Posted on January 20, 2020 by

recycled plastic chairsGOOD NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!  This trailblazing Canadian company is building a new standard for sustainability since they started recycling the bulk of their municipal plastic waste into lumber.

Roughly 80% of the plastic recyclables collected throughout Halifax, Nova Scotia are now being processed by Goodwood Plastic Products Ltd so they can be turned into building blocks.

The plastic lumber can be drilled, nailed, glued, and handled the same way as wooden lumber—but without any of the same deterioration.

Read the whole story HERE!

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Building Designed to be Recycled!

Posted on November 27, 2019 by

Circular BuildingGREAT NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!

This office building was built with 165,312 screws with intent to allow for all building components to be recycled when the building outlives its purpose.  Comprised mostly of wood, it is designed in ways that allow for more use of natural light and has many other features that are environmentally friendly.

solar powered parking garageOne amazing aspect is that solar panels over the parking lot charge electric cars (the system uses bidirectional charging, so the cars can send energy back to the building when it needs electricity). Changing rooms and showers encourage commuters to bike, and the site is near a train station. A green roof captures rainwater for flushing toilets. The office uses geothermal heating and cooling.

We read it first at Optimist Daily or you can read the full article here.

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Ted Danson Speaks for the Oceans!

Posted on October 29, 2019 by

Ted Danson

GREAT NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!
Actor Ted Danson spoke so clearly to congress about the critical need to initiate policies to curb the production and use of one-use plastics, praising the European Union and Peru for their phased bans on the sale, import, and production of one-use plastics.  This article is a worthy read and a nutshell of all the issues involved.
Consider one:  If plastic were a country, it would be the fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.  That’s unacceptable.

We need everyone to find their voice and step up to the plate as Ted Danson has done. Click here for the full story!

Malama Honua,


Calley
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Celebrating Mushrooms!

Posted on August 16, 2019 by

unnamed

GREAT  NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!  Optimist Daily is collecting and sharing articles on the marvels of mushrooms.  From meat substitutes to fighting depression, curing tuberculosis and metabolizing plastic into organic material, mushrooms are emerging as superpowers.  Click on the photo above to read nine articles sharing the amazing wonders of mushrooms.

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Engineers Have Created a Robot to Reseed Coral Reefs with Heat Resistant Strains of Baby Coral

Posted on July 19, 2019 by

coral robot

GREAT NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!  Scientists have found a way to harvest spawning baby corals who have survived a bleaching episode caused by a heatwave, nurture them until they are ready to plant and redistribute them on degraded reefs.

This approach, called “larval restoration,” can be done by hand, but the robot can help cover much larger areas or 1,500 square meters in an hour.  Learn more here.

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Doctors are Prescribing Museum Visits as Medicine ~ Art Heals!

Posted on July 10, 2019 by

Montreal-Museum-of-Fine-Arts-1460-1080x810

GREAT NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!  Doctors are teaming with the Montreal Museum of Fine Art to offer prescription passes to patients.  These prescriptions can be ‘refilled’ at will, and allow patients and family members access to the museum.  In addition, the museum has hired a full-time art therapist who sees 1,200 patients per year.

It’s a fascinating story that might also point to new possibilities for art museums eager to play important roles in their local communities by teaching people to learn from and engage with art.

In Canada, an incredible new program allows doctors to prescribe museum visits to their patients. Hyperallergic’s Zachary Small visited the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to talk with Stephen Legari, the first full-time art therapist on staff at a North American museum (he sees 1,200 patients a year), about his work in the city’s encyclopedic museum and what role art can plan in healing.

It’s a fascinating story that might also point to new possibilities for art museums eager to play important roles in their local communities by teaching people to learn from and engage with art.  Listen to the podcast here.

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When Alexandria Casio-Cortez Meets Greta Thunberg, “Hope is Contagious!”

Posted on July 4, 2019 by
AOC and GT

Click the photo to read the entire script of these two dynamic women, and how they can have hope for the future.

GREAT NEWS IN A NUTSHELL!  Youth is not a handicap when it comes to seeing clearly that if we don’t do something now, our youth will not have a hopeful future.  These two powerful young women have made a difference, and in this interview, they meet for the first time and have a moving discussion about how to continue forward to make the necessary changes in time.

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