The story of stuff...

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever..

Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

The story of bottled water

"The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand—how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap. Over five minutes, the film explores the bottled water industrys attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces. The film concludes with a call to take back the tap, not only by making a personal commitment to avoid bottled water, but by supporting investments in clean, available tap water for all.

Our production partners on the bottled water film include five leading sustainability groups: Corporate Accountjavascript:void(0)ability International, Environmental Working Group, Food & Water Watch, Pacific Institute, and Polaris Institute."

See the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

Développement touristique: « La destruction du lagon mauricien » révélée par Thalassa

Ce vendredi 23 avril sera diffusé sur France 3, un documentaire réalisé dans le cadre de l’émission Thalassa. Il fait état des dégâts irréversibles causés à l’environnement par le développement touristique non-contrôlé.

Thalassa, magazine de la mer, consacre une série de reportages sur Maurice. Les sujets traités interpellent et dénoncent les dérapages et dégâts engendrés par le développement touristique : privatisation du littoral à outrance et des lagons détruits. L’océanographe Vassen Kaupaymoothoo est d’avis que le documentaire «choque et montre une autre image du paradis île Maurice».

Certification - les initiatives internationales

La certification des bâtiments "verts" est un outil de reconnaissance de leur performance environnementale. Obtenir un tel certificat prouve non seulement aux potentiels acheteurs/tenanciers qu'un bâtiment est de très haute qualité environnementale et a été conçue avec une vision de développement durable, mais cela donne aussi la possibilité de comparer le bâtiment a d'autres bâtiments similaires a travers le monde. Tout comme la qualité et le confort d'un hôtel sont indiques par des étoiles, la qualité d'un bâtiment vert est indique par une échelle similaire. Les initiatives internationales sont nombreuses, comme l'explique l'article suivant. Plusieurs pays ont adopte leur propre "green label", prenant en compte les principaux éléments locaux comme la culture, la gestion d'énergie et d'eau, etc. En attendant que l'ile Maurice ait son propre outil de certification, il y a plusieurs options pour ceux voulant obtenir un certificat de performance environnementale. L'article suivant parle des différents outils internationaux et de leurs avantages et inconvénients.

Read interview of Emma Kauppaymuthoo-Ozsen on l'Express newspaper (17/12/09)

"La construction durable et la création de bâtiments à haute qualité environnementale ont une meilleure rentabilité, estime Emma Ozsen. Elle nous explique les avantages de construire vert."

Read more on l'Express property blog below:
http://lexpressproperty.blogspot.com/2009/12/questions-emma-ozsen-consultante-en.html#more

Save energy by controlling the climate at your desk

Thanks to its subtropical climate, the weather in Mauritius is warm all year round, attracting tourists from around the world as a fantastic holiday destination throughout the year. This means however that the amount of energy used for air-conditioning each year is enormous. Offices are another example of very high energy-consuming buildings. The amount of lighting used in typical office buildings, as well as the heat generated from internal electrical appliances and people within the building means that air-conditioning used in a typical office building is very high and so are the operational costs of the building. The New Scientist Magazine issue 2737 talks about the savings possible by using individual air-conditioning vents at desks rather than entire rooms. The research clearly showed that in countries where air-conditioning is required all year round, these systems would pay for themselves in energy savings. Results showed the building energy use was cut by 50 per cent.

"We're used to taking command of our personal climate in planes and cars by using simple controls. Why not in buildings too?

How much does building green really cost?

"Green building skeptics sometimes argue that it's difficult or even impossible to build green without paying a big cost premium. But real-world examples show that you can complete a LEED-certified green building project for an average of 2 percent more in upfront costs, and sometimes even below standard market construction costs. Plus, any extra first costs you pay can be recovered through faster lease-up rates, rental premiums and increased market valuation. And by making experienced green building professionals a part of your team and learning to control costs, you can escape paying any green premium at all as early as your second green building project. A 2004 study by Davis Langdon Adamson, a construction cost-planning and management company, found that the first costs of constructing a sustainable building tend to match or only slightly exceed those of comparable non-green buildings. The study, Costing Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budgeting Methodology, measured the square-foot construction costs of 61 buildings seeking certification under the LEED green building rating system against those of buildings of similar type that did not aim for sustainability. Taking into account a range of construction factors including climate, location, market conditions and local standards, the study found that for many of the green projects, pursuing LEED certification had little or no budgetary impact.

The study's findings also underline that incorporating and integrating green features into a project early is critical to the success of any green building project. "It is the choices made during design which will ultimately determine whether a building can be sustainable, not the budget set," the report concluded."

Source: Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) Fact Sheet