A campaigner takes a sample of yellow-dyed waste water from the discharge pipe at the Youngor Textiles Factory | Image via greenpeace.com
Fashion Pollution
It has happened. Sooner or later we knew that we couldn’t keep buying our summer dresses for $19.95 without feeling some sort of eco-conscious guilt. Greenpeace has released results from a year-long investigation of the manufacturing practices of international clothing brand, H&M. The report revealed that factories in China where H&M clothes are made (as well as other big brands-Nike, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Calvin Klein and Lacoste) are dumping toxic chemicals into the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. GOOD
White Roof Project
“It’s hot out.” These three words have been on the tip of nearly everyone’s tongue all week, and with the summer in full swing it is better to accept the scorcher then fight it. One initiative in NYC that is embracing the heat is a group called White Roof Project, which paints NYC roofs white in order to reflect the sun and keep apartments cool! The group has studied the difference between black and white roofs, and found that on a 90°F day a black roof will be about 180°F while a white roof comes in at 100°F. Ecopreneurist
Clean Energy Girl Power
Clean energy is one of the most dynamic sectors in the world and women are starting to climb the industry’s ranks. Grist
Closing in on Coal
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York has announced that his charitable organization, The Bloomberg Philanthropies will donate $50 million over the next four years to the Sierra Club’s campaign to shut down coal plants in the U.S. Bloomberg hopes that this large monetary gift will help close a third of the nation’s oldest carbon-spewing coal plants by 2020, and believes that in order to get serious about eradicating greenhouse gases we must seriously remove coal. NY Times Green
