Mother Nature Network has taken over defunct Plenty Magazine but still has some of their articles like their list of seven enviro-friendly "wonders" to visit.
Plenty Magazine reports on the planned revitalization of the Los Angeles River and writer Frederick Reimers takes an illegal kayak trip down the length to check it out. [In 2007] the city council adopted the $2 billion, 20-year Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, an incredibly ambitious blueprint of 238 potential projects, from creating parks and bike paths to reducing flooding and removing concrete banks to restoring wildlife habitats, wetlands sites, and recreational boating opportunities.Reimers three-day kayak trip however was successful. Police didn't arrest his group, he encountered other people interested in river revitalization, and the ending at Long Beach came to a bird-filled finale.
But months after the council’s decision, the Army Corps of Engineers jeopardized the plan by ruling that the waterway isn’t traditionally navigable and is, therefore, exempted from the Clean Water Act.
Ecotravel News hopes that everyone is already at their Independence Day locales and has gotten there agap (as green as possible).
Plenty Magazine reports on crocodile-sighting tours in Belize where the tourist money also goes into research and saving the once-endangered reptiles:Ironically the research could also open commercial exploitation on the crocs:"For the past five years, residents from Lamanai [Outpost Lodge] and scientists from the University of Florida have been tracking and monitoring the formerly endangered Morelet’s crocodiles. The mainly freshwater reptiles measure up to 14 feet, and are only found in Belize, Guatemala, and parts of Mexico. Researchers hope that the data they acquire will uncover more information about the creature, which scientists know little about."
"Officials at the Forest Department say they haven’t made any decisions yet about commercial exploitation, but it is something they will consider when developing a management plan. 'What we are looking for is creating that proverbial human-croc ecological balance,' says Wilber Sabido, chief forest officer with the Forest Department."Read the full story: Take a trip to Belize and save a crocodile
Plenty Magazine reports that Indian car maker Tata along with the French Motor Development International will manufacture cars that will run on compressed air:"The Air Car works similarly to electric cars, but rather than storing electrical energy in a huge, heavy battery, the vehicle converts energy into air pressure and stores it in a tank. An onboard air compressor can be plugged into a regular outlet at home to recharge the tank in about four hours, or an industrial compressor capable of 3,500 psi (likes those found in scuba shops) can fill it up in a few minutes for around two dollars."A spokesman for Tata speculates that the technology needed to get the car on the market is still a few years down the road.
Plenty Magazine reports on a San Francisco car repair shop that works mostly on hybrid cars. The owner of Luscious Garage, Carolyn Coquillette, says that because most hybrid car owners are environmentally conscious her garage is too:"Large plants placed around the 2,000-square-foot work area help to filter the air. The floor is made out of non-toxic concrete, and skylights line the ceiling. Many of the materials Coquillette uses are low-impact, too: The oil isn’t derived from virgin crude, rather it’s refined from oil that’s been used before. She washes parts in biodiesel and brews her own windshield solution from vinegar and water. And the list goes on."Read the full story: Green Garage
"Despite their best intentions, the explorers still need a little technological help while working toward their goal. Every night the pair camps and eats locally-grown food cooked on a portable camping stove using natural gas. Their support team’s trailer, which follows the determined duo, has been fitted with a solar panel.A much better and ecofriendlier way to make a long-scale sponsored trip than our previous post about the car-safety awareness trip overland Asia.
Inevitably there will be “a moderate carbon footprint due to the logistics of such a large expedition” explains [explorer James] Hooper. But this is being calculated and offset as they go."
