#sustainable oils

[digiaarnav]

Organic Essential Oils for Diffuser

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[gatorpond]

for those who would like to support Palestinian olive farmers, equal exchange has Palestine-sourced olive oil! they're an amazing worker owned co-op that works closely with local farmers to support sustainability and pay fair wages.

i frankly cannot afford it, but i know some folks can and would like to get some. it comes in packs of 6 bottles, so if you can get 6 friends together, each person can pay for one bottle!

they also have some of the most delicious coffee and hot cocoa mixes that i've ever gotten, and the same approach applies. given how horrific farming and labor practices are in both of those industries, i highly recommend supporting them and getting some amazing products in return if you can afford it.

[catboymafia]

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - May 22-28

Like these weekly compilations? Support me on Ko-fi or $Kaybarr1735! Also, if you tip me on Ko-fi or CashApp (and give me some way to contact you if it doesn’t automatically), at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week - almost double the content!

1. Scientists Invent Healthier More Sustainable Chocolate

“The new chocolate recipe from researchers at ETH Zurich uses more materials from the cocoa pod that are usually discarded, including more of the pulp as well as the inner lining of the husk, known as the endocarp. […] The resulting chocolate also [was “deliciously sweet” and] had 20% more fibre and 30 percent less saturated fat than average European dark chocolate[, and] it could enable cocoa farmers [to] earn more from their crops.”

2. Vermont Is Coming for Big Oil, Making It Pay for Decades of Climate Pollution

“Legislators in Montpelier are on the brink of enacting the "Climate Superfund Act," modeled after the federal Superfund law, that seeks to make oil, gas and coal companies pay for damages linked to historical greenhouse gas emissions. […] Companies would be held liable for the costs associated with […] floods and heat waves, along with losses to biodiversity, safety, economic development and anything else the treasurer deems reasonable[, that were caused by their emissions].”

3. Important bird habitat now protected in the Rocky Mountain Trench

“Grassland-reliant species in the Rocky Mountain Trench now have more protected habitat thanks to a new [270-hectare] conservation area near Cranbrook. […] About one-third of the Skookumchuck Prairie Conservation Area is forested[…,] Most of the site is a dry grassland[…, and] Three hectares of wetlands add to the landscape diversity and offer crucial benefits to wildlife and water systems in the area. This conservation gem also provides habitat for endangered American badger and excellent winter range for elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer.”

4. Lemur Week marked by 70th breeding success

“A wildlife park has celebrated its 70th lemur breeding success ahead of a week raising money to help save the endangered primates. […] The park's open-air Madagascar exhibit is home to 31 free-roaming lemurs and was officially opened in 2008. […] Females are only sexually receptive for just one or two days a year, leaving a small window of opportunity for males to father offspring. […] The two playful siblings, one female and one male, were born to father Bernard and mother Hira.”

5. Innovative material for sustainable building

“Researchers introduce a polymer-based material with unique properties. This material allows sunlight to enter, maintains a more comfortable indoor climate without additional energy, and cleans itself like a lotus leaf. The new development could replace glass components in walls and roofs in the future.”

6. Isle of Wight eagles don't pose threat to lambs as feared

“While there had previously been fears that the eagles would feed on livestock, such as lambs, the project has found no evidence of this. [… “W]hite-tailed eagles effectively steal meals from other predatory birds[, which is] a really important ecological role that had been lost within the landscape and is being restored.” [… The birds’] population was boosted by a chick last year – the first time the species has bred in England in 240 years.”

7. Breakthrough discovery uses engineered surfaces to shed heat

“Cheng's team has found a way to lower the starting point of the [Leidenfrost] effect by producing a surface covered with micropillars. […] The discovery has great potential in heat transfer applications such as the cooling of industrial machines and surface fouling cleaning for heat exchangers. It also could help prevent damage and even disaster to nuclear machinery.”

8. New malaria vaccine delivered for the first time

“A total of 43,000 doses arrived by air today from UNICEF, and another 120,000 are scheduled to show up in the coming days. […] They're the first vaccines designed to work against a human parasite. […] Across four African countries, these trials showed a 75% reduction in malaria cases in the year following vaccination of young children. […] The Serum Institute of India, who will be manufacturing the new vaccine, says a hundred million doses will likely be available to countries by the middle of next year.”

9. Urban gardening may improve human health: Microbial exposure boosts immune system

“"One month of urban indoor gardening boosted the diversity of bacteria on the skin of the subjects and was associated with higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the blood. The group studied used a growing medium with high microbial diversity emulating the forest soil," [… whereas] the control group used a microbially poor peat-based medium. [… N]o changes in the blood or the skin microbiota were seen. […] “This is the first time we can demonstrate that meaningful and natural human activity can increase the diversity of the microbiota of healthy adults and, at the same time, contribute to the regulation of the immune system."”

10. Cities Are Switching to Electric Vehicles Faster Than Individuals

“[M]ost large cities have adopted some kind of climate goal, and some of them are buying EVs for their municipal fleets at a faster rate than the general public. And that progress could speed up as more EVs enter the market and as cities get educated about grant funding and tax incentives that were passed over the last four years.”

May 15-21 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[reasonsforhope]

"The amount of electricity generated by the UK’s gas and coal power plants fell by 20% last year, with consumption of fossil fuels at its lowest level since 1957.

Not since Harold Macmillan was the UK prime minister and the Beatles’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time has the UK used less coal and gas.

The UK’s gas power plants last year generated 31% of the UK’s electricity, or 98 terawatt hours (TWh), according to a report by the industry journal Carbon Brief, while the UK’s last remaining coal plant produced enough electricity to meet just 1% of the UK’s power demand or 4TWh.

Fossil fuels were squeezed out of the electricity system by a surge in renewable energy generation combined with higher electricity imports from France and Norway and a long-term trend of falling demand.

Higher power imports last year were driven by an increase in nuclear power from France and hydropower from Norway in 2023. This marked a reversal from 2022 when a string of nuclear outages in France helped make the UK a net exporter of electricity for the first time.

Carbon Brief found that gas and coal power plants made up just over a third of the UK’s electricity supplies in 2023, while renewable energy provided the single largest source of power to the grid at a record 42%.

It was the third year this decade that renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, hydro and biomass power, outperformed fossil fuels [in the UK], according to the analysis. Renewables and Britain’s nuclear reactors, which generated 13% of electricity supplies last year, helped low-carbon electricity make up 55% of the UK’s electricity in 2023.

[Note: "Third year this decade" refers to the UK specifically, not global; there are several countries that already run on 100% renewable energy, and more above 90% renewable. Also, though, there have only been four years this decade so far! So three out of four is pretty good!]

Dan McGrail, the chief executive of RenewableUK, said the data shows “the central role that wind, solar and other clean power sources are consistently playing in Britain’s energy transition”.

“We’re working closely with the government to accelerate the pace at which we build new projects and new supply chains in the face of intense global competition, as everyone is trying to replicate our success,” McGrail said.

Electricity from fossil fuels was two-thirds lower in 2023 compared with its peak in 2008, according to Carbon Brief. It found that coal has dropped by 97% and gas by 43% in the last 15 years.

Coal power is expected to fall further in 2024 after the planned shutdown of Britain’s last remaining coal plant in September. The Ratcliffe on Soar coal plant, owned by the German utility Uniper, is scheduled to shut before next winter after generating power for over 55 years.

Renewable energy has increased sixfold since 2008 as the UK has constructed more wind and solar farms, and the large Drax coal plant has converted some of its generating units to burn biomass pellets.

Electricity demand has tumbled by 22% since its peak in 2005, according to the data, as part of a long-term trend driven by more energy efficient homes and appliances as well as a decline in the UK’s manufacturing sector.

Demand for electricity is expected to double as the UK aims to cut emissions to net zero by 2050 because the plan relies heavily on replacing fossil fuel transport and heating with electric alternatives.

In recent weeks [aka at the end of 2023], offshore wind developers have given the green light to another four large windfarms in UK waters, including the world’s largest offshore windfarm at Hornsea 3, which will be built off the North Yorkshire coast by Denmark’s Ørsted."

-via The Guardian, January 2, 2024

[mishacollins]

Because this was a non-union PSA, I can share it again without violating the strike. At a time when we are starved for new material, it is comforting to know that we still have access to content like this. Please watch and share. #TBT

[hiddenstashart]

NE Portland

- this is my 18th oil pastel study based on photographs of my stickers.

if you’re new here: I’m trying to make as many of these drawings as possible between now and August. Potland offered me the art wall for that month, and it seemed like a fun opportunity to focus on, and display, a cohesive series

[tomorrowusa]

Russia and Iran are both terrorist states whose economies are propped up by fossil fuels.

If you'd like to see dictatorships and theocracies collapse, use less fossil fuel. Of course doing so is also helpful to the planet. 🌍

If I were an entrepreneur, I'd print up and sell stickers featuring pictures of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Iranian theocrat Ali Khamenei which people could place next to their thermostats and on their vehicle dashboards to remind them who is being empowered by oil and gas usage.

There is no downside to using less fossil fuel. Sustainable energy has a pro-democracy valence.

[head-post]

Just Stop Oil protestors vandalise Stonehenge

Two activists from Britain’s Just Stop Oil painted Stonehenge orange on the eve of the solstice on Wednesday to protest against oil, coal and gas extraction.

Police have arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument. A video released by environmental group Just Stop Oil shows two protesters running towards two Stonehenge megaliths and splashing paint while another man tries to stop them.

In a statement, Just Stop Oil said stone structures like Stonehenge are on every continent and people who focus on them don’t think enough about climate issues.

Stonehenge is a group of giant stones set in a circle around 2,500 BC on the Salisbury Plain. Its heaviest stones weigh 30-40 tonnes. The true purpose of the complex is still unknown. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986. On the days of the winter and summer solstices, as well as the spring and autumn equinoxes, people can visit the complex free of charge, being able to go inside and touch the boulders.

The Just Stop Oil group has become well known in Britain for its disruptive environmental protests: its activists have blocked major roads, disrupted cultural and sporting events and even poured soup on a Van Gogh painting.

Read more HERE

[queerbrownvegan]

Sadly, The Willow Project has been approved, but I know we can count on it being fought against every single day - starting now and lasting for its entire existence (there's already an open lawsuit against it). -qbv

[digiaarnav]

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[realcleverscience]

Highlights:

One common rationale against climate action is that the resulting fossil fuel investment losses could impact people's retirement or long-term savings. However, researchers report in the journal Joule on June 22 that the loss of fossil fuel assets would have a minimal impact on the general populace. In high-income countries, most financial losses would be borne by the most affluent individuals for whom the loss makes up a small percentage of their total wealth. In contrast, the financial loss of lower-income individuals would be minimal and feasible for governments to compensate...

Their results found that, in the United States, two-thirds of the financial losses from lost fossil fuel assets would affect the top ten percent of wealth holders, with half of that affecting the top one percent. Because the top one percent tend to have a diverse portfolio of investments, any losses from fossil fuel assets would make up less than one percent of this group's net wealth. When the researchers repeated this analysis for the United Kingdom and continental European countries, they found similar results.

"Investing in a stranded asset is like buying a rotten apple," says Chancel. "In this case, the apple is rotten because of climate change. Who owns these rotten apples? We find that the richest 10% of the population owns the vast majority of these assets."

In contrast, 3.5 percent of financial losses would affect the poorest half of Americans. Asset losses make up a larger proportion of wealth for this group. However, because their overall net wealth (assets minus liabilities) is significantly lower, researchers estimate that these losses could be compensated for $9 billion in Europe and $12 billion in the United States...

"There's this idea that it's the general populace that should be opposed to climate policy that creates stranded assets because their pensions are at risk or their retirement savings or just their savings," says Semieniuk. "It's not untrue that some wealth is at risk, but in affluent countries, it's not a reason for government inaction because it would be so cheap for governments to compensate that."

[twodeluxe]

I wanna see the necklace omg! That’s so cool of y’all

THANK YOU FOR ENABLING ME you are my favorite

we used to have a silver otherkin star that we wore daily, but the top fixture snapped. rather than replace it, we figured the plural rings were a little more accurate for us now, anyway.

a friend ended up doing the model (albeit while we sat behind and gave feedback), we paid shapeways for the printing, for speed & just to save us the trouble of actually producing something to "daily wear" standards. would recommend.

[fantasticfibers]

Learning Process no. 1.2: Extracting lanolin from sheep wool

I'm trying to different processes for extracting lanolin

Cold prewash: I've washed it 4 times while it has soaked for a few hours about 5.

"The wool grease is continuously removed during this washing process by centrifugal separators, which concentrate it into a wax-like substance melting at approximately 38°C" - Sengupta, Amit; Behera (2014). "Comprehensive view on chemistry, manufacturing & applications of lanolin extracted from wool pretreatment,also used in vitamins" (PDF). American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER).

That means the cold wash may still have the lanolin oil

I possibly have to investigate how to do some centrifugal separation?

Boiled: I would prefer not to use this method as i understand from my research that the wool will not be useable after having it boiled. "Wool felt melts between 105 and 110F" - p. 50. the Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos

The water needs to boil for a few hours.

I'm reading from different sources especially this thread on permies.com

https://permies.com/t/65837/extract-lanolin-wool#2624426

And watched different videos on YouTube:

Extracting Lanolin from Sheep's Wool, Edwardian Farm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2pEIsyWD-Y

Lanolin extraction from Sheep's wool DIY : My learning Process, homemade from scratch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoH3Cv5AS4A&t=635s

If you have some knowledge to share, please do! It will be much appreciated

[thecleanmethod]

Organic Houseplant Care Guide | The Clean Method

Interested in organic gardening? Here are #organic compounds and products you probably already have at home that can help create a vibrant, #indoorgarden! #organicgardening #theleanmethod

Gardening should also be clean. Shop More Clean Goods Natural Houseplant Care with Everyday Organic Compounds Welcome to The Clean Method, your go-to source for sustainable and eco-friendly living. As more people embrace natural lifestyles, the demand for chemical-free houseplant care solutions has grown. In this blog post, we’ll explore various methods for maintaining healthy houseplants…