How have the Vietnamese maintained edible gardens in their densely populated cities? We'll discuss micro-farming, food anxiety, rooftop gardens, backyard gardens, and planting in public spaces.
Month: April 2021
Lesser-known renewables: tapping into the power of Nature
Wonders and damages have been done during the 300-year reign of fossil fuels. We are now presented with even more renewable energy sources to choose from. We'll discuss low grade & high grade energy, heat and electricity, biomass, biogas, biomethane, geothermal energy and solar thermal.
Our growing addiction to energy: what could be the remedy?
What does it mean "moderate energy consumption", when it is almost impossible to name one activity in our lives without the use of large-scale produced energy? We discuss humanity's addiction to energy, individual choices on energy consumption and new hobbies developed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Different sources of energy: which one is less “bad”?
Any choice we make on our energy source will have an impact on the environment. Something that does not have an impact simply does not exist. In order to make informed choices, we'll examine here the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources: coal, oil, natural gas, hydropower, wind power, solar power while comparing their energy density and carbon intensity.
Beyond zero-waste restaurants: celebrate local yields
The catering and restaurant industry is a wasteful milieu. Yet, two hundred years ago, every restaurant was a zero-waste restaurant. We'll talk about zero-waste restaurants, locally sourced ingredients and products, natural sweeteners, heavily subsidized dairy products, and two wonderful experiences at two bistros in France.
The absurdity of gardening
Formal gardens were never meant to nurture man. These high-energy and labor-demanding green ornaments were made to “manifest glory and power” and only accessible to a handful of the population. Until we decided to clone this practice - applied to a handful, to the majority. What if edible gardens become the new norm, both for private residences and urban green spaces?
Build our houses the way we build LEGOS?
What if we can build our houses the ways we build LEGOs, where nothing is wasted and can be reused for new structures almost infinitely? The same can be applied to other human-made objects? In this article, we'll also discuss circular building, Earthship architecture and e-waste.
To combat food waste: let’s take a look at our fridge
There is nothing dumber than the food waste problem that humans have created. To solve this, we can start looking at our frenemy - the fridge. What are better, less energy-demanding alternatives for food storage? We'll take a look at ancient storage techniques (ice house, Zeer pot, root cellar...) and food preservation (fermentation, fruit preserves...).
Less waste, less energy: better ways to heat places in a temperate climate
In a temperate climate, heating takes up a big part of your energy budget - and the current solutions are not optimal. What are better ways to heat our home? We'll discuss underfloor heating, heat pump, passive house, tile stove, rocket mass heater and ancient thermal insulation objects such as folding screen, four-poster bed or Japanese food stove Kotatsu.
Waste is a Failure of Design 