Permaculture
Vertical farming, a real possibility?
The world’s population is expected to increase to 9.1 billion by 2050, according to the UN. Feeding all those people will mean increasing food production by 70%, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, through a combination of higher [...]
Transforming your urban background
Many people living in the suburbs and cities would like to ‘have a go’ at living a more sustainable and satisfying life and yet are daunted by what they view as lack of space and appropriate surroundings. It is easy [...]
Green walls, living murals
We can’t complain about lack of space for growing plants, since we’ve seen here on Sustentator that they can be grown on living, or green, roofs and in hydroponic systems for the home. Now we’ll present green murals, which are [...]
New York unveils new plan to extend blue and green roofs
The city of New York is decided to stop heavy storms sending sewage spilling into city waterways. The city has 14 wastewater treatment plants that during heavy storms turn into major polluters because much of the city’s water system was [...]
Are the "Green" Millenium Development Goals being met?
Five years from the target date for the Millennium Development Goals, leaders from around the world have gathered this week at the United Nations to undertake a comprehensive review of progress and together chart a course for accelerated action on [...]
World´s plant inventory reduced by 600,000 species and biodiversity decreases (but not that much)
If some years ago you had asked a scientist how many plants there were on the planet probably he or she would have said somehow like more than one million. Today he or she would say about 400,000. This doesn’t [...]
Roofs come alive
Many cities are implementing interesting green roof initiatives with the aim of mitigating the “Urban Heat Island” effect, in which cities are significantly warmer than surrounding areas. Green roofs provide various environmental benefits including decreasing water run-off from roofs, helping [...]
Connecting people to foster gardening
Shared Earth has developed a brilliant concept: getting together people who want and know how to garden with people who have a piece of land and want to share it. Gardeners and farmers get to grow plants and food, and [...]
Forget mowers, hire goats!
This is the sort of creative yet simple solution I love finding. If we can use goats to mow overgrown fields, why should we keep using fossil fuel consuming mowers and herbicides? Google has “hired” some goats to eat extra [...]
GoogleMaps now includes biking directions
Who can deny it? GoogleMaps is a fantastic tool. It includes information on directions, addresses, how to get from one place to another by car, walking or using public transport. For a while now, people have been asking Google to [...]
Why is gardening good for kids?
At Sustentator, we’re developing a project to help a rural elementary school grow its own organic garden. I thought this was a good opportunity to analyze why gardening might be beneficial for kids. It all depends on how we address [...]
One of the biggest composting centers in the US
Wilmington Organic Recycling Center opened last November. It is dedicated to composting food waste, yard waste and paper products. Thanks to it, the amount of trash sent to landfills will be reduced, lots of nutritious compost will be generated, and [...]
