Volume 17: Two Plants That Can Save The World • The Baltimore Wood Project • A Whale Of A Tale

Two Plants That Can Save The World

Hemp and bamboo are two such ideas. These are, by any measure, amazing plants. They can grow virtually anywhere and they both have a myriad of practical usage in today’s world.

This article by Jori Hamilton on the Green and Save web site, does a pretty good job of explaining just how beneficial these plants actually are, and how they can offset the demand on both the cotton and wood industries, both of which are in a constant demand vs supply challenge.

“As we are becoming more aware of the negative impact of industrialization, we are looking for natural alternatives. To do this, we need to reduce the number of manmade building materials we use such as concrete. We also need to turn to more natural alternatives for textiles. Hemp and bamboo are not only natural alternatives for building and clothing but also a means to save our environment….”

https://greenandsave.com/green_news/green-building-green-science-and-technology/how-bamboo-and-hemp-can-help-environment

Hemp itself is an incredibly versatile plant, that on a per acre basis is 3 times greater than the yield of cotton.

Hemp is also quite useful when it comes to creating eco friendly building materials, as this article illustrates.

https://www.loveproperty.com/gallerylist/79314/hempcrete-bamboo-and-cob-eco-home-building-materials

With the ever growing legalization of marijuana and the need for farmers to start growing more profitable crops, we may not be too far from seeing hemp farming and the entire industry it will spawn become a majop player in a number of different vertical markets.

The Baltimore Wood Project; A Great Re-Use Idea

One of the most frequent of these sources is the World Economic Forum, which literally pumps out dozens of stories every week. What is nice for me because I get to pick and choose the ones I want to feature here.

This one caught my eye because it was about re-use, which is one of the key components of the green economy, but doesn’t really get talked about a ton, because it’s not as sexy as the stories about people starting amazing marketable businesses in the energy sector.

This story is about a project in Baltimore where there are more than 18,000 abandoned houses.

Here’s the lead paragraph on their site:

“Wood is an abundant, renewable resource—we should use it more. The Baltimore Wood Project brings new partners and ideas together to be smarter and more thoughtful about urban wood “waste” in the city. More than creating a boutique urban wood niche, this project is about building a networked regional economy around wood and land restoration that is rooted in reclaiming wood, reclaiming lives, and reclaiming neighborhoods in urban and rural areas. What we are building in Baltimore is the pilot—we intend for this model to be replicated in any community struggling with similar challenges.”

This is one of those ideas that can create its own local small business industry, and can also offer employment opportunities, as it dramatically lessens the impact on local landfulls as these houses are eventually demolished.

http://baltimorewoodproject.org/

A Whale Of A Tale

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated the value of a single great whale at more than $2 million - which comes to more than $1 trillion for the current stock of great whales. The IMF based its figures on each whale’s contribution to carbon capture, the fishing industry and the whale-watching sector, which is worth over $2 billion.”

https://tinyurl.com/74d6auck

It’s very interesting because it points out just how beneficial whales are in terms of the massive amount of CO2 they actually store.

I never thought of whales in that way. And I’m pretty sure that many of us haven’t either. This, in turn, led me to another article on the International Monetary Fund web site. https://tinyurl.com/25pjmz7h

Apparently whales are worth saving for a lot of good reasons, even some you may not have considered before.

More Brand New Days

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