Tuesday, February 22, 2011

11. Who should pay for recycling appliances after natural diasters?

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters result in the massive collection and recycling of "white debris" or destroyed appliances by governmental entities.  They contain hazardous materials that must be removed before they can be recycled for their scrap metal value.  The oils and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have to be evacuated by trained technicians.  Foam insulation has to be dealt with separately.  It's an  expensive process.  FEMA does assist communities with the cost of recycling white debris.  Yet today, taxpayers are demanding that manufacturers--and their shareholders--take-back and recycle their own products.  Should a recycling fee be collected at the point- of-sale for appliances to offset these expenses?  Who should

Monday, February 14, 2011

10. From Sweden: Official Trailer One Tonne Life



We're watching the English videos on the One Tonne Life Channel on YouTube.  We like the fact that the house produces its own energy and that the family can track its energy use in real-time.  The presentations are sometimes like infomercials.  We'd like to see more data posted on the project's homepage and hear more from the family on their social networking pages.  The unique house

Friday, February 4, 2011

9. Fun UNFCCC-winning animation: landfill methane to electricity


This entertaining short video by Olivier Diamant won first-place in a 2010 UNFCCC competition.  It's about a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in Colombia.  The UNFCCC website states: "Under the Clean Development Mechanism, emission-reduction (or emission removal) projects in developing countries can earn certified emission reduction credits. These saleable credits can