Airplanes Can Save Fuel with ‘Continuous Descent’ Landings

There’s been a lot of talk about how airline could save fuel and cut their carbon dioxide emissions if they switched to biofuel.

There’s hardly been anything written about how arlies could accomplish the same thing if they adopted “continuous descent” arrivals. 

Basically, this is where a plane lands in steady, gradual fashion. Alas, given the volume of air traffic, this is impractical much of the time.

But a Japanese airline, Peach Aviation, has just announced a trial of continuous descent arrivals during late night and early morning hours.

Surely there must be other airlines serving other cities where continuous descent arrivals during off-peak hours might make sense. After all, not every city has airports as busy as Chicago and New York.

Toxic Soil Cleanup Could Cost Pair of Bald Eagles Their Home

The nest of a pair of bald eagles in Ridgefield Park may be threatened by construction. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE MALZONEIn Ridgefield Park, NJ there’s a pair of bald eagles (people call them Al and Alice) that make their home in a tree just off the New Jersey Turnpike. Sure, they could have picked a prettier location, but that’s not the problem. Ridgefield Park is a community in the northeast corner of New Jersey, USA

The problem is that Al and Alice’s home is in the middle of a large parcel of land that is
thoroughly contaminated by toxic chemicals including DDT that were left there by an old paper mill.

Now, as this newspaper story explains, a developer wants to build an office park on the land. In order to do so, the state is requiring him to clean up the property. That’s something to cheer about, right? But what about Al and Alice? Environmentalists fear they will be chased away from their home.

It’s been suggested that the developer build an “artificial” nest, but experts say that almost never works. There’s also the problem that federal law requires a buffer zone around bald eagles’ nests, so as not to disturb them.

What would you do?

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Donate Your Car to This Group and It Will Plant Trees in Your Town

When you donate your old car to “Trees for Cities,” this British charity will either auction it off or sell it for scrap and use the proceeds to plant trees in your town.

“Cars do a lot of damage to the environment during their lifetime,” the group notes on its website before emphasizing that the money raised from one scrapped car can plant about 13 tree, while the money raised from an auctioned car can plant an entire grove.

What would you do if you had an old car that you were ready to get rid of? Would you donate to a group such as Trees for Cities? Or would you sell it for cash or trade it in on a new car?

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Would Creating New Currency Called ‘Eco-Money’ Help Protect Environment?

Americans spend dollars, British spend pounds, and Japanese spend yen. What if, in addition to people’s usual currencies, they could also spend “eco-money?”

Kyoto, JapanPeople in Kyoto City in Japan did just that for several weeks last fall. They earned “eco-yen” by doing things that protected the environment, such as using their own mugs at coffee shops instead of plastic cups, and bringing old clothes in for recycling at participating retailers.

When you think about it, there are hundreds of things a person could do to earn, and then spend, eco-dollars, pounds, yen, etc. In Kyoto City, people were allowed to spend their eco-yen on locally-grown vegetables and public transportation. Eco-money might also be spent on buying an all-electric or plug-in car or truck; on home insulation and solar panels; when they recycled their holiday trees, and so on.

So here’s our question: Should we have a new currency called “eco-money?” Do you think it would lead to people taking better care of the planet? Would you work to “earn” eco-money the same way you and/or your parents work for the regular kind?

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Electronic Waste is a Big Problem 4th Bin Recycling is Trying to Solve

Think about all the electronic stuff in your life -- cellphones, laptops, TVs.

Now get mad at the fact that every year, millions of tons of electronic waste gets dumped in China, Africa and elsewhere, ruining the land and water, and exposing thousands of people to the toxic materials contained inside.

Now get excited at the thought of a company dedicated to making sure electronic waste gets safely recycled. That’s the goal of 4th Bin Recycling in New York City. On its website, 4th Bin describes how it provides end-to-end recycling services, everything from picking up your old stuff to recycling it into new stuff.

Sounds like the sort of company that should be in every city!

To learn more, read this story about a new law in Pennsylvania that bars people from throwing out their electronic waste.