For a list of the most peaceful nation in each region of the world you can click here.

The list was compiled by the Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations.

Via the Canadian Press

Toyota has created two flower species that absorb nitrogen oxides and take heat out of the atmosphere.

The flowers, derivatives of the cherry sage plant and the gardenia, were specially developed for the grounds of Toyota’s Prius plant in Toyota City, Japan.

The sage derivative’s leaves have unique characteristics that absorb harmful gases, while the gardenia’s leaves create water vapour in the air, reducing the surface temperature of the factory surrounds and, therefore, reducing the energy needed for cooling, in turn producing less carbon dioxide (CO2).

The two new plants are part of a wide-ranging plan to reduce the impact of Prius manufacture on the environment. Since 1990, the plant has reduced CO2 emissions by 55 per cent.

Read more at Drive.

The timing was great as both Nike and Apple have left the Chamber of Commerce in protest over the lack of action on climate change.

The Washington Post has an article on the Yes Men press conference.

Environmental activists held a hoax press conference Monday morning, pretending to be the business group mdash; and pretending to announce that the chamber was dropping its opposition to climate-change legislation now in Congress.

The event, complete with fake handouts on chamber letterhead, at least a couple of fake reporters, and a podium adorned with the chamber logo, broke up when a spokesman from the real chamber burst in.

What followed was a spectacle not usually seen in the John Peter Zenger Room at the National Press Club: two men in business suits shouting at one another, each calling the other an impostor and demanding to see business cards.

The theme of the nine-day festival, which started Saturday and will feature more than 100 movies, is ecology. Films include The Cove , a documentary that depicts an annual hunt of dolphins in Japan. Festival organizers added it at the last minute in part because of pressure from overseas.

Read about it at Energy Matters or see more pictures at Ecofiend.

One of the other unique features of the bridge is how it is lit and powered. The bridge employs a sophisticated LED lighting scheme that can be programmed to produce an array of different lighting effects, which will become a feature of Brisbanersquo;s annual Riverfire celebrations.

75 per cent of the power required to run the LED lighting in the fully lit mode is generated by solar energy, but in most lighting configurations, 100 per cent of the power will be provided by solar with any surplus electricity returned to the main grid. The 84 solar panels used on the bridge will have an average daily output of 100kWh and an average yearly output of 38MWh

Public Works Minister Robert Schwarten said the bridgersquo;s grid connect solar power system will see savings of around 37.8 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

This is a great idea for people who enjoy local produce ndash; even better for those who have their own vegetable garden. You can use the site to trade surplus produce from your garden with someone who has a surplus of another type of produce. This means that your local garden can be stretched a little further by finding and trading with other gardeners.

Itrsquo;s local, affordable and sustainable, but wersquo;ve noticed a lot of it goes to waste. You plant too many tomatoes, or your plum tree has a bumper crop, most of which is enjoyed by the sidewalk and the grasshellip;

Wish you could turn your excess plums into lemons, or maybe

even a little cash? Use this site to find neighbors to swap with

or sell your excess produce to. Or if you specialize in growing tomatoes, find neighbors who specialize in other produce and

form networks to share in the variety. Even if you donrsquo;t have a garden, Veggie Trader is your place for finding local food near you

Read about the posture study here.

Brinol et al. (2009) divided 71 students into four groups, then fed them a cover story about why they had to adopt two different poses: half slouching, the other half sitting up straight, chests puffed out. These two groups were then split again, and half were asked to write down three positive personal traits, the other half three negative personal traits.

hellip;

The results showed that people who had been sitting up straight were much more likely to believe the positive things theyrsquo;d been writing about themselves, whereas those who were slouching werenrsquo;t so sure. Meanwhile a doubtful posture had very little effect on the half who were thinking negatively about themselves.

Read the list of five things you can do here.

Don’t throw it away! We have a tendency not to think about items we throw away. They disappear from our sight, so they are out of our minds. But all those things that the garbage truck hauls away every week do have to go somewhere, and that place is a landfill. Landfills are a major cause of greenhouse gasses and ozone depletion. So next time you get ready to throw something away, ask yourself if you could possibly use the item in another way or donate it.

Read all about at the BBC.

Bangladeshrsquo;s official dress code has been rewritten ndash; after Sheikh Hasina ordered government employees to do more to ease the countryrsquo;s energy shortage.

Even ministers now will no longer be expected to wear suits and ties.

During the hot months between March and November, men have been ordered to wear trousers and shirts instead, and these do not have to be tucked in any more.

Officials and ministers have also been told not to turn their air-conditioners below 24C.

In June, the government introduced daylight saving, and the clocks moved forward by one hour, in another attempt to cut energy consumption.

OPG will close two of eight coal-burning units at its Nanticoke station near Simcoe and two of four units at its Lambton plant near Sarnia by October 2010, Smitherman said at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday.

The utility also closed Torontorsquo;s Lakeview Generating Station in 2005. Once the next four units are taken off-line, Ontario will have reduced its coal-burning capacity by 40 per cent.

In the garden/around the house

Kill grass and weeds: Pour or spray full-strength vinegar on grass or weeds poking through your driveway or rearing their heads in other unsavory places.

In the car

Frost-free windows: If you know a chilly night is on the way, you can ensure that your windows will be frost-free when you wake up in the morning. Simply mix three parts vinegar to one part water, and coat your windows with the mixture the night before.a

Except for the police and other people of privilege. Thatrsquo;s the mixed part of todayrsquo;s good news: people in positions of authority began roaming the city like gangs while other people ndash; average people ndash; helped each other through the disaster.

Read about here.

The story that few can wrap their minds around is that ordinary people mostly behaved well – there were six bodies in the Superdome, including four natural deaths and a suicide, not the hundreds that the federal government expected when it sent massive refrigerator trucks to collect the corpses. On the other hand, people in power behaved appallingly, panicking, spreading rumours, and themselves showing an eagerness to kill and a pathological lack of empathy.

hellip;

Most people behave beautifully in disasters (and most Americans, incidentally, believe Obama was born in this country). The majority in Katrina took care of each other, went to great lengths to rescue each other – including the ldquo;cajun navyrdquo; of white guys with boats who entered the flooded city the day after the levees broke – and were generally humane and resourceful. A minority that included the most powerful believed they were preventing barbarism while they embodied it.

What this means for the future of music piracy? Well I think yet again we may find that piracy is surprisingly green.

That scenario involves a customer buying a CD online and having it delivered via a light-duty truck; the more carbon-intensive options examined by the study are express air shipment of the CD, and the customer visiting a store to buy the CD.

The advantage for digital comes largely because CDs must be manufactured, packaged and transported over long distances.

Even in a situation in which a consumer downloads the music — and then burns it onto a CD and puts it in a CD case — the carbon differential is 40 percent in favor of the download, the study found. If the downloaded music is not burned onto a CD, the differential rises to 80 percent.

PublicVoice.tv has been created as an online source for leading edge thinking and ideas about critical public policy questions.

PublicVoice seeks to be a forum for those issues that affect us all ndash; and will give you unfiltered access to some of the best minds of our time, providing their unique insight in areas of great policy challenge, including pro-growth economic development, food security, the future of energy, the dynamics of poverty and citizen engagement ndash; to name only a few.

Herersquo;s a video on public service and citizen engagement in the information age:

The ldquo;treerdquo; uses plastic leaves that capture the carbon dioxide in a chamber. The carbon dioxide is then compressed into liquid form. The tree captures the carbon without the need for direct sunlight, which means that, unlike traditional trees, the synthetic trees can be stored in enclosed places such as barns, used anywhere, and transported from one site to another regardless of conditions.

Lackner says the captured CO2 could be used to create fuel for jet engines and cars, the two most common carbon emitters. In other cases, the CO2 could be used to enhance current production of vegetable produce.

I wonder if yoursquo;ll need a fake plastic watering can for these trees. I know that doing that would wear me out; if only I could be who the trees wanted.

The only reason I posted this is because when I read the article I couldnrsquo;t get this song out of my mind:

Letrsquo;s take this economy from one based on exploitation of finite resources to an economy that is based on renewable resources.

“We are not necessarily tree-huggers but we try to make informed decisions regarding the environment,” Mr. Carli said of his family. They use cloth shopping bags, walk to the grocery store and try to buy local produce. Ultimately, however, their household buying decisions are decided by price.

At a time when the economic recession is straining many household budgets, families such as the Carlis are looking for ways to marry their need to be frugal with their desire to be green. Turns out, a reduction in income does not automatically mean a drop in eco-consciousness as people continue to stop and consider the true cost – environmental and monetary – of their purchases. Unlike the 1980s, when the economic downturn stopped the environmental movement in its tracks, concern over the fate of our planet is still going strong, says Rick Smith, executive director of advocacy group Environmental Defence. “The environmental movement has proven to be recession-proof.”

Ela Beres, a Toronto-based consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, interviewed several Canadian families on the impact green choices were having on their everyday spending. People are definitely interested in helping the environment if it costs the same or less, she says. “Thatrsquo;s a no-brainer. But when it comes to saying I want to spend more money to protect the environment, that is more iffy.”

In this short film, Halifax gardener Carol Bowlby harvests a mouth-watering crop from her small backyard plot. In considering soil quality, lack of space and a short growing season challenges rather than obstacles, she offers a wealth of practical growing tips for urban gardeners. By heeding Bowlbyrsquo;s advice, bountiful organic gardens work equally well on apartment balconies, in small or large city lots or in a rural setting.

Via Worldchanging

Nixonrsquo;s farm isnrsquo;t out near Milton or Orillia. Itrsquo;s on Indian Rd. and Marion St. – just a few blocks from Roncesvalles in the cityrsquo;s west end. She grows flowers in back and front yards around Parkdale and then sells them for weddings, office receptions and, perhaps this season, to one Ossington Ave. florist.

What do the landowners get in return?

ldquo;They get a free flower garden without lifting a finger,rdquo; says Nixon with a smile.

Nixon is part of the new wave of farming, called SPIN – small plot intensive farming – which is growing in cities across North America. Riding on the crest of the local food wave, SPIN is cashing in on a new eager market.

There are some surprising benefits to growing crops in the city, says the movementrsquo;s leader, Wally Satzewich.

You canrsquo;t turn a tractor in a tiny backyard, so there are fewer expensive start-up investments, for one. Then, therersquo;s the cityrsquo;s asphalt, which absorbs the sunrsquo;s heat and makes us all sweat more on hot summer nights. But, for farmers, it means a longer growing season in the spring and fall. And there is the garden hose.

ldquo;All I have to do is turn on the water faucet in the house and there is irrigation,rdquo; says Satzewich, who moved from his 20-acre farm outside Saskatoon into the city 10 years ago. ldquo;If I had to go back to getting my tractor to a river bank and getting the pump going hellip; When yoursquo;ve learned the hard way out in the country you really appreciate the benefits of the city.rdquo;

The researchers housed a 2-centimetre-square section of material bristling with the tubes inside a metal chamber with a quartz window. They then pumped in a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapour and placed it in sunlight for three hours.

The energy provided by the sunlight transformed the carbon dioxide and water vapour into methane and related organic compounds, such as ethane and propane, at rates as high as 160 microlitres an hour per gram of nanotubes. This is 20 times higher than published results achieved using any previous method, but still too low to be immediately practical.

If the reaction is halted early the device produces a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen known as syngas, which can be converted into diesel.

From Mike:

Each camper, POLARIS, and WCIT is planting a tree at Camp this Period thanks to donations from LoveTrees. Neat little idea – they donated 2000 trees to the Canadian Camping Association

More on Love Trees:

Love Trees is a business built on giving.

• giving kids a Wish Tree as an educational tool to as many children as we can;
  


• giving businesses and individuals a chance to help kids and the planet by purchasing tree planting certificates;
  


• giving the planet more trees;
  


• giving environmental charities a portion of every sale



.

Love Trees manages a powerful and unique educational tree planting program. We sell Wish Tree Certificates to clients worldwide. Love Trees then donates and distributes tree seedlings to schools and kidrsquo;s organizations in North America and Africa so kids can have a Wish Tree to plant and make a wish for the planet. Itrsquo;s a great way to learn about the environment ndash; and help make the world a better place!

Through a new training program called “One Thousand Environment-Friendly Youth Ambassadors Action,” eight Chinese ministries, along with the UNDP, hope to educate 1 million people about the actions they can take to preserve the environment and limit climate change.

The program started last month with training for 1,000 high school and college students in Beijing (north China), Shanghai (east), Xi’an (northwest), Chengdu (southwest) and Guangzhou (south).

Each young ambassador is expected to train another 1,000 people, hence one million people around the nation will be informed of professional environmental knowledge. The program is sponsored by the national Center for Environmental Education and Communication, China Environmental Awareness Program, Ministry of Environmental Protection, UNDP and Johnson Controls.

ldquo;Some 250,000 Malawians are receiving ARVs. We are doing well because many of these could have died by now,rdquo; Mutharika said at an AIDS candlelight memorial on the outskirts of the commercial capital Blantyre.

Describing the drugs roll-out as a ldquo;success storyrdquo;, Mutharika said Malawi would establish a local company to ldquo;produce ARVs locally and export extra drugs to neighbouring countriesrdquo;.

Operators of the nearly 36-year-old, 110-story building say they have cut annual electricity consumption by 34 percent since 1989 and that increased energy efficiency has reduced annual CO2 emissions by 51 pounds since 1984.

Proposed renewables at Sears Tower.

Their five-year renovation plan is expected to bring base building electricity consumption down by 80 percent. The reduction is estimated to be equivalent to 68 million kilowatt hours or 150,000 barrels of oil a year. The retrofit project is also expected to slash annual water consumption by 24 million gallons. And the work is expected to create 3,600 jobs.

The improvements, detailed on the Sears Tower website, are to involve replacing and glazing the 16,000 single-pane windows; and upgrading boilers, elevators, escalators, lighting restroom fixtures and water management systems.

Sears Tower and hotel.

Wind turbines, solar panels to heat water for the building and green roofs are to be installed on various terraces and tiered roofs of the complex.