The Science Barge

“The Science Barge is not only an invitation to ideas and learning, but to change.”

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University
and special economic advisor to the United Nations


The Science Barge is a prototype, sustainable urban farm and environmental education center. It is the only fully functioning demonstration of renewable energy supporting sustainable food production in New York City. The Science Barge grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with zero net carbon emissions, zero chemical pesticides, and zero runoff.
From May to October 2007, the Science Barge hosted over 3,000 schoolchildren from all five New York boroughs as well as surrounding counties as part of our environmental education program. In addition, over 6,000 adult visitors visited the facility along with press from around the world.

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Proposed U.S. bill says designers must do their part to combat e-waste

From core77.com:





The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that "over 2 billion computers, televisions, wireless devices, printers, gaming systems, and other devices have been sold since 1980." A fair amount of those are now sitting in landfill, ready to leach their environmentally-poisonous flame retardants, lead, and other chemicals into the ground.

The U.S. Senate is currently fiddling with a bill to deal this ever-growing pile of "e-waste," and it looks as if a large part of the burden to prevent the pile from growing will fall to product designers:

[One of the] research aims of the bill [is] to "reconsider product design and assembly to facilitate and improve refurbishment, reuse, and recycling of electronic devices, including an emphasis on design for recycling." The bill acknowledges that the problem is endemic to current product design standards, and many designers will have to take into account the total life-cycle of their devices to help mitigate the gadget pileup.
The bill is called the Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act, or the more manageable S.1397, and it's been posted in its entirety online; click the link above if you want to wade through the legalese, and click the link below if you'd just like to read a summarization.

via ars technica