Your Daily Greens – Whales First, Up the Green Bin Ante, and Freshman Digital Orientation

Daily happenings around the GreenSphere (People, Companies & Communities):

Whales First: A lawsuit is in progress regarding protected marine areas and the blue whale population on the west coast. U.S. researchers carrying out controversial seismic testing, along with federal government lawyers, want the Federal Court to dismiss the case, while a coalition of environmental groups, along with Ecojustice lawyers, are asking for an injunction. The plantiffs claim that seismic testing, which includes sending 180-decibel blasts into the water every couple of minutes creating noise equivalent to army artillery firing, is harassing and causing harm to underwater giants, including endangered species like blue whales.

Up the Green Bin Ante: Toronto’s Green Bin Recycling Program is only half of what it could be, according to city documents. Lamentably, homeowners are only putting 16.2 per cent of household waste into the organics recycling bin, instead of the estimated, and often claimed, 30 per cent that should make up ‘green bin organics’. The discrepancy means Toronto could lag behind in the race to become the best at land-fill diversion, and raises some questions about the mayor’s statement last year that “Toronto is a North American leader in recycling and composting programs”.

Freshman Digital Orientation: In an attempt to green up the beginning of school at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University, student unions are planning to impart information to freshmen via one gigabyte flash drives included in their orientation kits. In addition to saving on paper that would afterward be tossed in the garbage, organizers claim it’s a green idea that keeps on giving. Students can delete almost all of the information on the drive, and reuse it as a handy storage device for their studies.

Human Powered Monorail: How about being late for work because the commute was so much fun you wanted to do it again…and again, and again? The futuristic concept of transportation via hanging, human-powered bicycle capsules attached to a monorail (sounds more like a rollercoaster ride) already exists at an adventure park in New Zealand. Employing the most energy efficient vehicle design, the human body can power it with much less exertion than it takes to ride a bicycle. The carbon-free form of transport may eventually have a place in tourism, perhaps for scenic routes overlooking vistas that are best left untrodden. A conundrum when it comes to urban commuting is, among other things, ‘how does User A, with ‘the need for speed’, pass User B, who hasn’t eaten his Wheaties for breakfast’?

Tagged as: Commuting, Composting, Law, Ocean, Organics, School, Toronto, University