EcoWorldly

With bike weddings, bike parades, hundreds of naked bicyclists, bike fashion shows, popular & interesting cargo bikes, and travelling bike pubs, Portland is #3 on this great bicycle city photo tours list.

Portland has great bicycle facilities (colored bike lanes, bike boxes at intersections, great bike signs, off-road bicycle paths, etc.), a large number of people using the bicycle for transportation, and a bike culture that brings the fun of bicycling to another level.

As a result of these factors and more, Portland was the first large city in the US to achieve the Platinum level Bike Friendly award from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) — the Platinum level being the highest level possible (above Gold, Silver and Bronze). It is truly a world-class bicycle city now, and the amazing photos in this photo tour help to show that.

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Quebec has taken a long hard look at itself, and decided it doesn’t like what it sees.

Its policies simply aren’t working.  Overall waste generated has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, with waste going to landfill rising by over 10% in the same period.

One of its key targets was to get 60% of the province’s waste food into composting by 2012 has had to be abandoned: the current figure is only 12% and the target just cannot be met.

However, rather than just trying to fiddle with green taxes, the government has gone straight for the jugular and announced plans to make it illegal to dump rubbish and food waste. Read the rest of this entry »

With the US and Canada sharing a border while Mexico meets with the United States, in order to protect North American wildlife and wilderness a collaborative effort is necessary, particularly as global climate change is beginning to put many North American species at risk.

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A lawsuit to overturn the approval of Tejon Mountain Village - a luxury development which will destroy fragile California condor habitat - has been filed by a coalition of environmental justice advocates, Native Americans, endangered species advocates, and local residents.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Wishtoyo Foundation, TriCounty Watchdogs, and the Center on Race, Poverty & The Environment filed the suit under the California Environmental Quality Act in Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield.

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Is Ross Perot Jr. taking legal action over the head of a rhino he shot and wounded during a trophy hunt?

The son of former American Presidential candidate Ross Perot - Henry Ross Perot Jr. - is reportedly engaged in a legal battle involving South African wildlife authorities over the head of rhino he wounded during a trophy hunt earlier this year.

Perot supposedly shot a bull rhino at Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, but the animal escaped. However, Perot believes he’s still entitled to his trophy - the rhino’s head.

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Today the Center for Biological Diversity announced that the winner of its third annual Rubber Dodo Award is Michael Winer, portfolio manager for Third Avenue Management, LLC (”TAREX”).

The Center for Biological Diversity awards the Rubber Dodo each year to the person who has contributed the most to driving endangered species extinct. Winer was selected this year for his leadership role in Third Avenue Management, LLC (”TAREX”), a giant real-estate investment firm responsible for unsustainable sprawl in California and Florida - and the driving force behind the proposed destruction of Tejon Ranch with a luxury development known as Tejon Mountain Village.

Last year’s recipient was former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

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Taylor Mitchell, an up-and-coming Canadian singer-songwriter, died after being brutally attacked by coyotes earlier this week.  The talented 19-year-old musician was performing at several locations in the Canadian Maritimes.  In between gigs on Tuesday, the Toronto-native went hiking alone in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.  Two coyotes attacked the singer while she was walking along the Skyline Trail.    Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded 6 grants totaling $800,000 to determine the cause and stop the spread of deadly white-nose syndrome that has killed over a million bats in the Northeast.

Six grants have been awarded through the USFWS Preventing Extinction program for research to determine the cause, find a cure, and stop the spread of deadly white-nose syndrome in bats. Since its discovery in 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than a million bats of six species in nine states - and biologists warn this is most devastating wildlife health crisis to face North America in the last 100 years.

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Bats may be considered a spooky Halloween mascot, but they are actually one of the most beneficial animals on the planet: 70% of the world’s bat species feed on insects - and one bat can consume up to 1,000 insect pests in an hour. Bats also play a critical role in pollination and seed dispersal.

Despite the fact that bats occur nearly everywhere on earth (except for arctic and desert extremes), 60 species of bats are listed as endangered. And in the U.S., an estimated million or more hibernating bats of six species have been killed by White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in nine states since 2006.

To help raise awareness for bats, here is a compilation of 10 facts about bats - and a diverse photo gallery of bat species celebrating the surprising cuteness of these creatures. Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

Bogota is a true testament of how a city can be transformed. Through “radical” action for a better city and clean green transportation, Bogota has become a leader in bicycle transportation.

One step ahead of Basel, Switzerland on this list, Bogota boasts an amazing transformation in the transportation infrastructure and alternative transportation usage of a modern city. Unlike many cities that are renovating primarily for cars or, more admirably, mass-transit, Bogota made sure to put a lot of focus on improving their city for bicyclists and pedestrians as well, the greenest transportation modes!

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