Today Forced Green is going off topic with the dictation of a guest speaker, Grandma Anna Bell. Although this site does not normally go far off our environmental topic, it will today because – I was told to.

An open letter to President Mubarak of Egypt from Grandma Anna Bell

Photo Credit: Lisa Solonynko

Dear President Mubarak,

Old Man, what are you doing? You’re 82 years old and you’ve been “President” for 30 years? Why aren’t you drinking tea under the shade, enjoying what little time you have left on this Earth, watching the tourist plod up to the pyramids, happily spending tons of money in your country?

You’re own people are doing everything they can to tell you to get out of the fast lane, you old fool, you’re holding up progress. Leave it to the kids, right or wrong it’s their turn.

I heard you took their internet away. Do you have any idea how much the kids love that internet? Well, how could you, you’ve been holed up in your ivory tower for 30 years, out of touch with the whole wide world. I didn’t know you could shut that internet off, I know I’ve had hundreds of those internet providers bugging me to sign up with them. If our President tried something like that, our internet companies would politely tell him to kiss their freedom (and money) loving behinds!

How can you still be President? Really now, did the majority of the citizens of your country over the age of 18 freely vote for you in every election for the past 30 years? Well, if they didn’t – you ain’t.

And what’s with the black hair dye?  Only the wise are grey.  I’ve been proud of my grey hair since I found my first one 30 years ago – named it after my oldest child. I mean really you’re not fooling anyone but yourself. It’s just plain silly.

That’s about it, since you’re a bit busy trying to hold back the future. You just need to do the right thing and ride off into the sun set – a wise old man would have along time ago.

Sincerely,
Grandma Anna Bell

….. as the green future unfolds.

General Sam Would Be Extremely Proud Of His Sustainable Namesake And Her Green World Class Medical Center

photo credit: inhabitat.com

Just outside of downtown Houston is home to the world’s largest medical complex the Texas Medical Center (TMC), a campus encompassing a cluster of 42 university-affiliated schools, hospitals and clinics. One of which is TIRR Memorial Hermann the one U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a bullet through her brain, was transferred this week.

Houston, Texas is built on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, only 43 feet (13.1 meters) above sea level, and with four major bayous passing through the city, it has the moniker of “The Bayou City”. Add to this, 175 years of unrelenting urban sprawl has made flooding a recurring problem. With that in mind, starting nearly two decades ago the Texas Medical Center started earnestly researching avenues for storm water management. (more…)

A Burst Of Positrons Emerged From An African Thunderstorm – Earth Created Antimatter – And Possibly An Avenue To Future Clean Energy

Clouds of antimatter have been observed in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, and antimatter is created in the Sun’s solar flares but with the exception of particle accelerators, the phenomenon has never before been seen on Earth – Until Now -

Unknown until the launch of NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray space telescope on June 11, 2008, designed to monitor gamma rays, (the highest energy form of light), from its orbit 350 miles above the Earth. Fermi was above Egypt on Dec. 14, 2009, when a thunderstorm was raging in Zambia, some 2,800 miles to the south. The distant storm was below Fermi’s horizon, so any gamma rays it produced could not have been detected. Even though Fermi was out of “the line of sight” of the storm, (more…)

Creating Beautiful Islands From Recycled Plastic Water Bottles To Give Mother Nature A Helping Hand

Floating Islands West LLC , headquartered in Mokelumne Hill, California, is a company that creates beautiful artificial floating wetlands, called BioHaven Floating Islands, from 100% recycled non-toxic PET plastic drinking bottles. The islands are basically floating filters that suck pollutants out of the water, sustain abundant riparian vegetation, and provide habitat for high densities of fishes. (more…)

Please welcome our guest writer, Lloyd Burrell who has a website offering Office Desk Reviews. I am sure you will consider his methods in going green in the office.

Go Paperless In Your Office And Help Save The Environment

Have you stumbled through a few piles of paper in your office and wondered where they came from? Not from an alternative universe, that’s for certain. Lists, receipts, bills and catalogs can take over our lives — if we let them. Don’t let that happen to you, because it’s depressing. Really, depressing — and it can be dangerous, as well, a fire hazard. What’s the point in having a swishy Techni Mobili computer desk if you can’t even see it?

Work on the paperwork which you still need, a few minutes a day or week, and try and reduce or eliminate the inflow of most of it, for the future. Get rid of this menace and get yourself more time. Being organized and less cluttered makes a person feel much better, and it saves on stress as well. If we all strive to reduce, recycle and reuse, then we’ll breathe easier and our planet will thank us. (more…)

While killer floods are ripping through Australia at the speed and power of a tsunami and gale force winter storms are immoblizing the rest of us in the northern hemisphere, seems like what we need is an Ark.

Well ok then … “The Ark”, designed by Russian architect Alexander Remizov, head of the Moscow-based architectural firm Remistudio, and his colleague Lev Britvin. Looking more like a giant slinky, the Ark is a biosphere concept that can endure extreme floods, earthquakes, and tornadoes. A fusion of science and architecture that won’t pollute the environment. Either on land or sea – via a variation of the honeycomb-style hull that can float. (more…)

There’s More Shades Of Green In A Sustainable World Than One Can Imagine.

Since 1968 Harding Steel, Inc. headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has been manufacturing, installing, and servicing parking lifts in home garages, commercial parking lots, and condominiums. They can fit double, triple, or quadruple the vehicles as a traditional parking lot, allowing a smaller construction footprint.

Harding Steel developed the hydraulic car lift system and is the largest manufacturer of the mechanical parking lift systems. They offer 14 different models of above ground, subterranean, and semi-automated parking system (also known as “puzzle parking” structures). The systems are affordable and provide a quick return on investment. Systems from production facilities in North America and Asia are sent to customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Jessica Shaw with the Christie Nye Company told Forced Green, “The nature of this type of parking system is “green” in its purpose – using the space that already exists to fit more vehicles, instead of having to build an additional parking structure, or dig several floors underground for a multi-level parking garage. It’s not only more cost effective for builders, it’s also convenient and quick for people to retrieve their cars (usually 30-40 seconds—much quicker than a traditional parking garage).”

Below is a video featuring Harding Steel’s CarMatrix system installed in The 20 on Hawthorne, a 51-unit building in Portland Oregon that was sustainably designed and built to a LEED Gold Certification standard. Along with the puzzle parking system, the building also utilizes such sustainability features as high-efficiency appliances, glass windows, lighting, recycled materials, and eco-terrace, just to name of few.

It amazing to watch the diversity of sustainability …..

…. as the green future unfolds.