#Pesticide degradation

[delta-remediation]

Effective Bioremediation Techniques: A Sustainable Solution for Environmental Cleanup

Bioremediation is a sustainable and cost-effective solution to environmental pollution, using living organisms such as bacteria and fungi to degrade pollutants into harmless compounds. There are various bioremediation techniques, including in situ (at the site of pollution) and ex situ (removing contaminants to treat elsewhere). Other methods include bioventing, biosparging, and use of bioreactors to promote the natural degradation of pollutants.

These techniques can handle a wide array of pollution types including petroleum, heavy metal, pesticide contamination, industrial waste, and landfill leachate. Benefits of bioremediation include its sustainability, cost-effectiveness, versatility, and non-invasiveness.

One company leading the way in bioremediation is Delta Remediation, based in Alberta, Canada. They specialize in applying these techniques to sites polluted with hydrocarbons, pesticides, and industrial waste, and have expanded their operations to Nigeria and Kenya.

Bioremediation thus offers a promising method for environmental cleanup, being both eco-friendly and adaptable to diverse environments. Companies like Delta Remediation are pioneering in this sector, making significant contributions to environmental health.

[mytapas2024]

VallaaraiRice Mix– Natural Products - MyTapas

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[farmerstrend]

Kenya’s Soil Crisis: Only 20% Suitable for Food Production – What Can Be Done?

“Kenya’s soil crisis threatens food security, with only 20% of land suitable for farming. Learn about soil degradation, erosion, and solutions like agroecology and sustainable soil management to restore fertility and boost yields.” Kenya, often referred to as the “breadbasket of East Africa,” is facing a silent but devastating crisis: soil degradation. A recent report has revealed that only 20%…

[cathkaesque]

The local population in countries that export bananas typically eat different varieties grown primarily by small farmers. The ones for the Americans and the Europeans, Cavendish variety bananas, are grown in huge, monoculture plantations that are susceptible to disease. The banana industry consumes more agrichemicals than any other in the world, asides from cotton. Most plantations will spend more on pesticides than on wages. Pesticides are sprayed by plane, 85% of which does not land on the bananas and instead lands on the homes of workers in the surrounding area and seeps into the groundwater. The results are cancers, stillbirths, and dead rivers.

The supermarkets dominate the banana trade and force the price of bananas down. Plantations resolve this issue by intensifying and degrading working conditions. Banana workers will work for up to 14 hours a day in tropical heat, without overtime pay, for 6 days a week. Their wages will not cover their cost of housing, food, and education for their children. On most plantations independent trade unions are, of course, suppressed. Contracts are insecure, or workers are hired through intermediaries, and troublemakers are not invited back.

Who benefits most from this arrangement? The export value of bananas is worth $8bn - the retail value of these bananas is worth $25bn. Here's a breakdown of who gets what from the sale of banana in the EU.

On average, the banana workers get between 5 and 9% of the total value, while the retailers capture between 36 to 43% of the value. So if you got a bunch of bananas at Tesco (the majority of UK bananas come from Costa Rica) for 95p, 6.65p would go to the banana workers, and 38p would go to Tesco.

Furthermore, when it comes to calculating a country's GDP (the total sum of the value of economic activity going on in a country, which is used to measure how rich or poor a country is, how fast its economy is 'growing' and therefore how valuable their currency is on the world market, how valuable its government bonds, its claim on resources internationally…etc), the worker wages, production, export numbers count towards the country producing the banana, while retail, ripening, tariffs, and shipping & import will count towards the importing country. A country like Costa Rica will participate has to participate in this arrangement as it needs ‘hard’ (i.e. Western) currencies in order to import essential commodities on the world market.

So for the example above of a bunch of Costa Rican bananas sold in a UK supermarket, 20.7p will be added to Costa Rica’s GDP while 74.3p will be added to the UK’s GDP. Therefore, the consumption of a banana in the UK will add more to the UK’s wealth than growing it will to Costa Rica’s. The same holds for Bangladeshi t-shirts, iPhones assembled in China, chocolate made with cocoa from Ghana…it’s the heart of how the capitalism of the ‘developed’ economy functions. Never ending consumption to fuel the appearance of wealth, fuelled by the exploitation of both land and people in the global south.

[10thmusemoon]

Two angsty hurt no comfort Qijiu family plots I’m microwaving right now

1. CW Omegaverse + postpartum mention

Where YQY wakes up in the middle of the night to a missed call from a private number and a pounding at the door. When he answers it, there’s a baby in a carrier, an envelope tucked between the blanket blanket with a crisp birth certificate inside. Shen Jiu’s name is listed under the mother, and to his surprise, his own is listed under the father. As an omega, YQY knows with certainty he isn’t the other parent, never mind the fact that he hasn’t seen SJ in years, but before he can linger too much on it, his phone starts to ring. SJ’s voice cuts in and out, the crisp announcement of an arriving training heard in the background, and between in all, a frantic confession of thoughts that festered in the darkness of postpartum. The whole call is less than a minute, the phone line is disconnected within a day. YQY is left alone cradling a crying child, swallowing his panic, and promising to not fail SJ’s son.

A train and a flight away, SJ’s trembling hands clutch the fabric of his jacket like a lifeline. Shen yuan will be fine, he’s left him in the care of the only alpha that won’t hurt him. YQY maybe a faithless bastard, but he knows how to care for a child. In a few years when he’s picked up the shambled remains of his life after murdering QJL, he’ll come back for his son. If YQY hasn’t mated an omega by then, he’ll take him too. If he has….SJ will deal with them both as needed.

2. Cw aging parents and dementia aka actual old man yaoi

Not related to the first but it starts from the pov of a much older SY who has been a child of divorce for the majority of his life. He’s lived his life going back and forth between his fathers, from the high rise in the city to the rural cottage with a cherry orchard two towns over. He knows for a fact that his fathers, in their own toxic way, still love each other. Or at the very least, he knows yqy has always yearned for and spoken lovingly about SJ, politely disregarding anyone that tries to catch his eye. He clings to any news of SJ like a man in a drought searching for storm clouds. On the other hand, SJ only ever speaks bitterly about yqy, and only sometimes in the way SY knows is reluctantly fond. Whatever caused their separation, SY knows SJ never got over it and refuses to ever talk to yqy directly. SY has lived his life playing one miserable game of telephone after the next. Even his own wedding was a game of hiding and seek, Ming Fan and Ning Yingying doing their best to keep his parents apart while SQH wrangled a flirtatious TLJ from from either of them.

Now, back from his first visit to the orchard in a while, SY has the daunting task of telling SJ that YQY is forgetting things. Out of their sight, he has been quietly losing himself in time, the lifelong exposure to pesticides finally taking its toll. From one visit to the next, the degradation has been noticeable enough for SY to feel the need to intervene.

Whatever job Bingqiu have requires them to travel, SY barely has the words “home care” out of his mouth before SJ is throwing a fit and packing his bags. From here the pov would switch to SJ going to YQY’s orchard with some flimsy excuse no one believes. SJ spends the first few days talking down on the orchard and YQY’s tiny home, what was the point in clawing their way out of the dirt if YQY was just going to go back to it after the divorce. SJ didn’t need the condo! (SJ explicitly listed the condo in the divorce) but the more he looks around the more he sees signs of SY’s childhood, one more carefree than the one he had in the city. He sees small indicators that there was always room for one more, whether it’s the guest bedroom painted in his favorite colors or his preferred brand of tea well stocked.

SJ takes YQY to his doctor appointments, meets the people that have known yqy in his absence and hates them for it. Slowly he starts to fall instep with yqy, slipping into old habits like a forgotten set of gloves. The mystery of whatever this au’s lingxi caves starts to unravel from the doctor appointments and things yqy forgets to censor. Between the medication and physical therapy, SJ puts the pieces together and lashes out. Throws a proper tantrum like he hadn’t and decades, stays the night at the shitty inn this backwater town has before deciding he’s too old for this shit. They both are. SJ still calls SY to bitch about his useless father though. (When he hangs up SY turn to a concerned binghe and cheerfully says “sounds like they’re getting along”)

The next morning SJ walks into the kitchen in YQY’s house and knows from the politely blank smile and the tension in his shoulders, a widening of his eyes, that yqy is lost. He’s gotten good at hiding it, but SJ has always known him best, knows what to look for before yqy can tuck away the shame like a dirty rag and pretend like it didn’t happen.

But unlike every other time, YQY doesn’t chuckle to himself and shake it off. Instead, he asks, “excuse me sir, have you seen my husband?”

[herpsandbirds]

Rusty Patched Bumble bee? I'm kinda bummed that they havent been seen in my area for over two decades

ENDANGERED BUMBLEBEE:

Rusty -patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis), family Apidae, found in the eastern U.S.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

Massive population declines ar due to overuse of pesticides, habitat degradation and loss, and pathogens.

This large bumblebee requires 3 different habitats for different life stages: nesting, foraging, and hibernation.

Relatively cold tolerant, and sometimes found at higher elevations.

photographs: Larry Reis, Heather Holm, & Barbara C. Williams

[fiftysevenacademics]

Here's the thing that gets my goat about Colossal Biosciences trying to sell itself as a conservation group: We already know how to save endangered species and have brought many back from the brink. They claim to have introduced badly-needed genetic variation into several red wolves using their cloning technology, although so far I've seen no independent confirmation of this. If so, this may be of some benefit to species undergoing a genetic bottleneck, although I will wait for further research and expert commentary before I make up my mind on that one.

Saving endangered species requires protecting their habitat, helping them grow their population through captive breeding programs or other measures, and protecting them from intentional and unintentional harm by humans, predators, or a degraded environment.

Some of you might have seen me posting about how excited I am to watch a peregrine falcon from my office at work. The reason is because when I was a child, there were only 324 nesting pairs left in North America, where I live. Thanks to banning the pesticide DDT and a captive breeding program, they are now a species of least concern that has surprised everyone by adapting very well to urban life.

You may also have seen me completely lose my mind over sea otters, which, like peregrines, were nearly extinct when I was a kid. Although it's still listed as endangered, legal and habitat protections plus breeding programs have tripled the population and they are a regular, common sight along some parts of the West Coast.

These are just two particularly charismatic animals that I am privileged to enjoy seeing wild and free in nature because of multipronged conservation efforts.

The thing is, these efforts require a lot of political heavy lifting, restrictions on access to and use of environments and resources that are often very unpopular with the public, and lots of money and human labor. There's no scientific magic wand, which is the impression you get from Colossal's press releases.

IF Colossal really has such a great tool for undoing genetic bottlenecks, the right thing to do is publish it so every other conservation group can adapt it free of charge. But keeping it this super secret IP that's somehow part of an elaborate bid for venture capital investment is not good for conservation in my opinion. The most realistic outcome of their efforts is that a few rich people will get really expensive designer pets-- they probably already have people lining up to buy the designer wolves and fluffy mice.

[blueiscoool]

Research Discovers Ancient Egyptian Mummies Smell Nice

At first whiff, it sounds repulsive: sniff the essence of an ancient corpse.

But researchers who indulged their curiosity in the name of science found that well-preserved Egyptian mummies actually smell pretty good.

“In films and books, terrible things happen to those who smell mummified bodies,” said Cecilia Bembibre, director of research at University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage. “We were surprised at the pleasantness of them.”

“Woody,” “spicy” and “sweet” were the leading descriptions from what sounded more like a wine tasting than a mummy sniffing exercise. Floral notes were also detected, which could be from pine and juniper resins used in embalming.

The study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society used both chemical analysis and a panel of human sniffers to evaluate the odors from nine mummies as old as 5,000 years that had been either in storage or on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The researchers wanted to systematically study the smell of mummies because it has long been a subject of fascination for the public and researchers alike, said Bembibre, one of the report’s authors. Archeologists, historians, conservators and even fiction writers have devoted pages of their work to the subject — for good reason.

Scent was an important consideration in the mummification process that used oils, waxes and balms to preserve the body and its spirit for the afterlife. The practice was largely reserved for pharaohs and nobility and pleasant smells were associated with purity and deities while bad odors were signs of corruption and decay.

Without sampling the mummies themselves, which would be invasive, researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia were able to measure whether aromas were coming from the archaeological item, pesticides or other products used to conserve the remains, or from deterioration due to mold, bacteria or microorganisms.

“We were quite worried that we might find notes or hints of decaying bodies, which wasn’t the case,” said Matija Strlič, a chemistry professor at the University of Ljubljana. “We were specifically worried that there might be indications of microbial degradation, but that was not the case, which means that the environment in this museum, is actually quite good in terms of preservation.”

Using technical instruments to measure and quantify air molecules emitted from sarcophagi to determine the state of preservation without touching the mummies was like the Holy Grail, Strlič said.

“It tells us potentially what social class a mummy was from and and therefore reveals a lot of information about the mummified body that is relevant not just to conservators, but to curators and archeologists as well,” he said. “We believe that this approach is potentially of huge interest to other types of museum collections.”

Barbara Huber, a postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany who was not involved in the study, said the findings provide crucial data on compounds that could preserve or degrade mummified remains. The information could be used to better protect the ancient bodies for future generations.

“However, the research also underscores a key challenge: the smells detected today are not necessarily those from the time of mummification,” Huber said. “Over thousands of years, evaporation, oxidation, and even storage conditions have significantly altered the original scent profile.”

Huber authored a study two years ago that analyzed residue from a jar that had contained mummified organs of a noblewoman to identify embalming ingredients, their origins and what they revealed about trade routes. She then worked with a perfumer to create an interpretation of the embalming scent, known as “Scent of Eternity,” for an exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark.

Researchers of the current study hope to do something similar, using their findings to develop “smellscapes” to artificially recreate the scents they detected and enhance the experience for future museumgoers.

“Museums have been called white cubes, where you are prompted to read, to see, to approach everything from a distance with your eyes,” Bembibre said. “Observing the mummified bodies through a glass case reduces the experience because we don’t get to smell them. We don’t get to know about the mummification process in an experiential way, which is one of the ways that we understand and engage with the world.”

[probablyasocialecologist]

Biodiversity loss in agriculture is a pressing threat to global food systems, reducing our ability to cope with climate change, environmental degradation, and nutritional challenges. Over the past century, about 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers have shifted toward high-yielding, genetically uniform crops. Today, just nine plant species account for 66% of global crop production, with rice, wheat, and maize alone providing more than 50% of the world’s plant-derived calories. This reliance on a narrow set of crops undermines food system resilience, leaving us vulnerable to pests, diseases, and climate extremes. It has also created a monocultural vulnerability reminiscent of the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, when reliance on a single, genetically uniform crop led to catastrophic losses due to disease. Genetic diversity within and among species acts as a natural buffer against environmental changes. Different crop varieties respond differently to stressors, providing farmers with options to manage risks. When one crop fails, others can compensate, helping to safeguard harvests and livelihoods. However, as the diversity on our farms diminishes, farmers have fewer tools to adapt to the growing volatility brought on by climate change. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and heat waves are becoming more severe, and monocultures are ill-equipped to withstand these shocks. The environmental impact of current agricultural practices further exacerbates biodiversity loss. Agriculture is responsible for about 90% of global deforestation and contributes substantially to habitat destruction, driving the extinction of countless species. Excessive use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides pollutes soils and waterways, disrupting ecosystems and degrading essential natural services such as pollination and soil fertility. Soil degradation now affects one-third of the world’s soils. In sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture is responsible for 80% of soil degradation on farmland, leading to reduced plant diversity because only the few species that can tolerate poor soil conditions survive. Moreover, the heavy use of nitrogen fertilizers and livestock manure, particularly in regions such as Asia and Latin America, has disrupted natural nitrogen cycles, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions such as nitrous oxide and methane. These emissions not only drive climate change but also accelerate biodiversity loss by reducing the resilience and health of ecosystems. The decline of agricultural biodiversity also impacts human health. Diets worldwide have become increasingly homogeneous, dominated by a few staple crops that are energy-rich but nutrient-poor. Less than 200 species currently contribute to global food supplies, and this lack of variety has serious health consequences. Low dietary diversity is now a leading driver of diet-related deaths, with about 11 million premature deaths annually linked to unhealthy diets. The decline in biodiversity means that fewer nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds are available, exacerbating malnutrition in all its forms, from undernutrition to obesity.

10 October 2024

[cognitivejustice]

Agroecology is far more than a set of sustainable agricultural practices

Agroecology puts peasants and indigenous voices at the center. It seeks to preserve biocultural diversity and strengthen resilience while challenging existing power structures in the food system.

The ever-busy schedule at the Bio-Gardening Innovations (Biogi), a hands-on farmer training centre in Elununi, Vihiga County is a clear testament of how smallholder farmers are eager to learn about techniques that can help them remain productive despite the changing climatic conditions.

According to Ferdinand Wafula, the founder and coordinator of the training centre, farmers from Vihiga, and as far as Kakamega and Nandi counties, have been streaming in every week to learn about regenerating seeds so as to maintain unique traits and adaptability to local climates, health and fertility of soil through the use of ecological farming practices, and to mingle with other farmers from different parts of the region.

“We support smallholder farmers in transitioning to ecological farming systems by employing principles of agroecology, and we teach them about designing permaculture units that are both productive and sustainable, integrating crops and vegetative cover to create resilient ecosystems,” said Wafula.

Agroecology, an approach that blends ecological science with traditional farming knowledge, is emerging as a sustainable solution to the multiple challenges faced by agriculture today—rising input costs, soil degradation, water scarcity, and growing climate risks. By reducing reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides, promoting crop diversity, and prioritising soil health, agroecology offers a way forward that benefits both farmers and the environment.

“Agroecology is not just about growing food; it’s about rethinking the entire food system,”

[our-lady-of-the-forest]

Many Small Steps

This is the list written by Andrea Cohen-Kiener in her book "Claiming the Earth as Common Ground". It is her list of how to join the Ecology Action Alliance. There are no dues, or any requirements for membership other than to choose three things from the list to begin immediately, and to add one item from the list each week until you are living the most ecological lifestyle possible FOR YOU.

I highly recomend reading this book.

I will recycle whatever I can through my municipality.

I will buy snacks and other foods in degradable (paper) containers whenever possible

I will avoid buying/using clothes that require dry cleaning

I will choos food and other products in the most ecological packaging availible(Paper, cotton and glass as opposed to plastic).

I will not buy/use Styrofoam products

I will not buy/use aerosal cans.

I will start/expand my garden

I will reduce/eliminate toxic pesticides in my lawn and garden.

I will purchase clean, renewable energy through my electric utility (www.gocleanenergy.com)

I will join a gardening club.

I will establish a bartering relationship with a neighbor.

I wil set a radius (two blocks/two miles?) and make a commitment to walk everywhere I need to go within that radius.

I will choose one day a week to refrain from driving.

I will buy/repair/use a bicycle.

I will make a serious and sustained effort to carpool and combine driving errands.

I will prioritize my neighborhood merchants.

I will repair and reuse major appliances whenever possible.

I will donate or finds a use for items I no longer wish to use whenever possible.

I will patronize the used goods market whenever possible.

I will buy/utilize hand-powered appliances and tools whenever possible.

I will become an urban livestock keeper (bees, eggs, poultry).

I will copy this list and encourage one persona week to become a member of the Ecology Action Alliance.

I will reduce/eliminate toxic cleaning supplies and replace them with nonpoisonous cleaning supplies in my home/workplace.

I will make a sustained effort to turn off appliances and lights that are not in use.

I will encourage retailers and manufacturers to reduce/simplfy packaging material.

I will contract for a home energy audit (contact your utility company for details).

I will use natural light and ventilation (windows!) whenever possible.

I will use simple measures (massage, tea, rest) when dealing with common ailments.

I will ask friends to consider natural products and materials when choosing gifts for me.

I will bring my own cloth or paper bags for shopping trips.

I will eat the most wholesome and unadultered diet possible.

I will support bussinesses that promote environmental awareness.

I will join/contribute to an environmental group.

I will buy/use recycled paper whenever possible.

I will ask my grocer to carry local/organic produce.

I will ask my grocer to carry alternatives to Styrofoam products.

I wil lobby political representatives to make the enviorment a priority.

I will petition my civic groups (school, business, congregation) to conserve, recycle and consume responsibly.

I will enjoy moments outside each day.

I will learn about the vegetation and wildlife in my area.

I will study and be a resource for my community for one aspect od the enviornmental agenda (solid waste, conservation, the charitable network, ecology legislation, whole foods, alternative healing, etc.).

[mytapas2024]

Aloe Vera Gel Moisturizer – Rose | MyTapas | Natural Products 

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[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Guardian:

Governments risk another decade of failure on biodiversity loss, due to the slow implementation of an international agreement to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, experts have warned.

Less than two years ago, the world reached a historic agreement at the Cop15 summit in Montreal to stop the human-caused destruction of life on our planet. The deal included targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade (30x30), reform $500bn (then £410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and begin restoring 30% of the planet’s degraded ecosystems.

But as country representatives dig into their second week of negotiations at Cop16 in Cali, Colombia – their first meeting since Montreal – alarm is growing at the lack of concrete progress on any of the major targets they agreed upon. An increasing number of indicators show that governments are not on track. They still need to protect an area of land equivalent to the combined size of Brazil and Australia, and an expanse of sea larger than the Indian Ocean to meet the headline 30x30 target, according to a new UN report.

Weak progress on funding for nature and almost no progress on subsidy reform have also frustrated observers. At the time of publication, 158 countries are yet to submit formal plans on how they are going to meet the targets, according to Carbon Brief, missing their deadline this month ahead of the biodiversity summit in Cali, where governments are not likely to set a new deadline.

The world has never met a target to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems. Amid growing scientific warnings about the state of life on Earth, there has been a major push to make sure this decade is different, and that governments comply with targets designed to prevent wildlife extinctions, such as cuts to pesticides use and pollution.

Leading figures in conservation and science have raised concerns about the progress governments are making towards the targets in Cali. Martin Harper, CEO of Birdlife International, said meaningful action on commitments was vital.

“We cannot accept inaction as the new normal. This means more action to bolster efforts to recover threatened species, to protect and restore more land, fresh water and sea, and to transform our food, energy and industrial systems. We have five years to raise hundreds of billions of dollars. If we don’t see it materialise, I dread to think where we will be in 2030,” he said

[tzifron]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a major influencer and funder of agricultural development in Africa, with little accountability or transparency. Leading experts in food security and many groups in Africa and around the world have critiqued the foundation’s push to expand high-cost, high-input, chemical-dependent agriculture in Africa. Critics say this approach is exacerbating hunger, worsening inequality and entrenching corporate power in the world’s hungriest region.

This fact sheet links to reports and news articles documenting these concerns.

[...]

What are the main critiques of Gates Foundation’s agricultural program?

The Gates Foundation’s flagship agricultural program, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA, which recently rebranded to remove the term “green revolution” from its name), works to transition farmers away from traditional seeds and crops to patented seeds, fossil-fuel based fertilizers and other inputs to grow commodity crops for the global market. The foundation says its goal is to “boost the yields and incomes of millions of small farmers in Africa… so they can lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty.” The strategy is modeled on the Indian “green revolution” that boosted production of staple crops but also left a legacy of structural inequity and escalating debt for farmers that contributed to massive mobilizations of peasant farmers in India.

Critics have said the green revolution is a failed approach for poverty reduction that has created more problems than it has solved; these include environmental degradation, growing pesticide use, reduced diversity of food crops, and increased corporate control over food systems. Several recent research reports provide evidence that Gates-led agricultural interventions in Africa have failed to help small farmers. Critics say the programs may even be worsening hunger and malnutrition in Southern Africa.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazilian singer Leonardo accused of having slave-like conditions on one of his farms

One of Brazil’s most iconic musicians, country singer Leonardo, is embroiled in a scandal involving the use of slave labor at one of his farms in the state of Goiás. The Ministry of Labor has included the artist’s name on its “dirty list” of employers who keep people working in conditions akin to modern-day slavery.

During an inspection of the property, federal authorities discovered six workers, including a 17-year-old, living and laboring under extremely degrading conditions. Located in the town of Jussara, the “Talismã” farm spans over 1,000 hectares and is valued at R$60 million (USD10.5 million).

Throughout his career, Leonardo  – whose real name is Emival Eterno da Costa – has expanded into the livestock and agriculture business. The farm in question is dedicated to raising cattle and horses. In addition to space designated for raising livestock, the farm also houses an extensive leisure structure for the artist’s family and friends, with volleyball courts, a swimming pool, and a large lake that surrounds the main residence of the farm and where it is possible to go jet-skiing.

In stark contrast to the luxury of the farm’s social spaces, the workers’ accommodations were found in a dire state. The house in which they stayed was dilapidated, lacked potable water, and had no proper sanitation. Inspectors reported that the workers slept on makeshift beds fashioned from wooden planks and pesticide barrels, while the quarters were infested with insects and bats, and reeked of a foul odor.

Continue reading.

[yourreddancer]

Researchers tested the fire safety and strength of hemp blocks, a sustainable building material made from hemp, lime, and water.

The study, published in the Journal of Building Engineering, found that Hemp blocks don’t catch fire with open flames but instead smolder slowly, producing very little smoke. In fact, walls made of hemp blocks stayed structurally intact for 2 hours during fire tests.

In terms of heat tolerance, hemp blocks retained most all of their structural strength up to 200°C (392°F). At 300°C (572°F), they still showed controlled burning without collapsing. The study also suggests that plastering hemp block walls can further enhance their fire resistance, making them even more reliable for building projects.

In short, hemp blocks are not only safer in the event of a fire but are also a sustainable building option. The use of hemp, a fast-growing crop, helps reduce the environmental footprint of construction materials and the minimal smoke produced during fire scenarios makes hemp blocks a safer choice for both occupants and first responders.

That said, hemp blocks have a compressive strength of 1.0 MPa, making them suitable for non-load-bearing walls. This means they aren’t intended for primary structural support but are perfect for walls that don’t carry heavy loads.

Hemp does not need fungicides, herbicides, or pesticides. It has been used for building for thousands of years. Right now the museum of natural history in San Francisco uses in their storehouse for climate control (temperature and humidity) of artifacts that would be damaged otherwise. It draws carbon out the air becoming stronger as it ages instead of breaking down like standard building materials we use now. Hempcrete is made by mixing hemp hurd (the woody inner core of the male hemp plant), water, and a lime binder. That's it

. It's starting to be more widely used in England and Europe. Imagine buying locally grown hemp hurd to build a home that would never dry rot, no termites, no bugs or vermin in the walls, self insulating, hypoallergenic, soundproof, never needs painting or siding, and doesn't burn. Imagine what it could do for the economy. As it grows it restores the natural biome of soil, absorbs toxins rendering them inert, and it uses 75% less water. It's is used to restore land overrun by invasive species because of it's rapid growth. It chokes them out. 

Growing hemp was required for the shipping industry to make the sails, rigging, ropes, clothing, deck shoes. You're probably not old enough to know the term "canvas shoes" but the heavy fabric used was made from hemp because it was much more durable and resistant to salt water degradation and ultraviolet radiation. Sails made from cotton only lasted 2 years but hemp sails lasted for 5. Considering the sails etc were the most expensive part of the ship (well over half the cost of the ship) you can see why farmers were required to grow it. For the colonies to conduct trade they needed lots of hemp. You could pay your taxes with it for over 200 years.