Green Daily

The mile-high club just got dirtier. A report by leading aviation experts says that CO2 emissions from air travel are some 20% higher than previously thought, and could reach 1.5 billion tonnes a year by 2025. That's roughly equivalent to the CO2 emissions for the entire country of Russia, with about 141 million people. The percentage of global greenhouse gases produced by planes is also expected to rise from the current 2% to 5% or higher.

The increase comes in spite of cleaner jet engine technologies and flying tactics designed to reduce fuel use and pollution.

The report, entitled Trends in Global Noise and Emissions From Commercial Aviation, was presented at an FAA organized conference in Barcelona last year, but never published.

Also, the number of people seriously affected by aircraft noise will jump from from 24 million in 2000 to 30.3 million by 2025. Good thing we'll all be deaf from iPod use by then anyway.

via [The Independent]

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Trying to make green changes in your life, but it all seems overwhelming? Taking small steps could be the way to go.

Janet Rae-Dupree explores the science behind how our brain makes new habits, in the New York Times this week. Brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths in our brain and even new brain cells. Pretty cool. The more new things we try, and force ourselves to try, the more creative we become.

Free the celery! Switzerland could be the first country in the world to give rights to plants. The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology has issued a report saying that plants have certain inalienable rights simply by virtue of being living things, and we can't just do whatever we want with them. In the words of the report, "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

The report does allow - rather grudgingly - that human life takes precedence over plant happiness, so eating a potato now and again to stave off starvation is probably ok. However, casual violence against say, tulips, is an affront to the dignity of the flower, to avoided at all costs.

Is veggie liberation the next great frontier of social justice? Can we look forward to being taken to court by our hibiscus for underwatering? Will we see a million-melon march on Washington?

Probably not - this concept is a little extreme even for the most committed treehugger, and likely doesn't demonstrate much except that there are people within the Swiss government who have way too much time on their hands. Still, something to think about next time you're torturing steaming that head of broccoli.

The full English language report is available here .

via [The Weekly Standard]

• Buy a card and sent it to a worthy recipient (you can choose from pre-made cards, or custom-design your own)
  
• Once the lucky recipient receives the card, enjoys the sentiment (and removes the cash, if applicable), they simply drop it in a mailbox (it comes with an prepaid envelope)
• The card is sent to Shaw Industries, where it is combined with tons of others and used to make carpet tiles