The Great Green Wall gets creative

 

Africa's Great Green Wall has thankfully received more attention as of late. Branding is always helpful for selling products and programs, it's wonderful to see what these students created, like the poster above, to publicize the campaign.

-As many of you know, China is attempting their own green wall, affectionately called "the Green Wall of China", to hold back desertification. And they've done a lot, 66 billion trees planted since 1978. The problem? Fast-growing and thirsty, non-native species were planted making things worse! And they were all cuttings, meaning they are all dying at the same time. Encroaching deserts threaten 400 million people in total with poor agricultural land, water shortages and air pollution from giant sandstorms. Officials are even worried about civil unrest. If you have a chance, read the story.

-Aquaponics and marijuana are two of the hottest trends in agriculture. What happens when you combine the two? I'm predicting really big things for this Hamilton, Ontario outfit.

-Building owners in Geelong, an hour long drive south from Melbourne, Australia, have a chance to win $10,000 for their green roof. If you live there, throw your hat in the ring!

-A design competition in Italy has yielded some fantastic renderings and further interest from local cities to make a combination pre-school/urban farm.

-Two weeks ago France banned supermarket waste, this means companies must find other ways to dispose of their food. Hopefully they won't dispose of it, but it becomes another revenue stream if they sell it to supermarkets, which exist in Denmark, which only sell second hand food.

The world's first desktop edible insect harvester

 I think this week marks an important point in the urban agriculture revolution. A group (which may or may not be based in Germany, it's hard to tell) launched a Kickstarter campaign to manufacture the first desktop edible insect harvester. As many know the idea of eating insects, in much of the West, is absolutely foreign to most people. But with people now keeping chickens in urban environments instead of depending on farms, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to up the game.

I predict that there will be a slew of imitators very soon, who strive to make desktop harvesters sleeker, easier to use, smaller, you name it. But this is the first. Tell your kids (or grandkids) about it.

-Singapore now has 72 hectares of rooftop greenery (enough to cover 100 football fields, says this article), an increase of 8 hectares in a year. There's of course room for growth. In Melbourne, Australia they currently have only 5 hectares of green roofs and rooftop gardens, but the city council is really behind the idea and have mapped out over 240 hectares, across the city, which would be suitable for greening!

-In Memphis, Tennessee, if you mow the vacant lot adjacent to your piece of property, you can now own it! Wow!

Philly official wants a green roof tax credit

Although the New York City green roof tax abatement deadline for 2014 ,just passed on March 15, beginning July 1, 2014 the per project allotment has doubled from $100,000 to $200,000 and one can receive $5.23 per square foot, up from the already generous $4.50.

-State Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia introduced several bills designed to stimulate green job growth. Of particular note is his proposed Green Roof Tax Credit, available to all sectors with at least four layers (waterproof membrane, drainage, medium and plants). The tax credit would be up to 25% of total cost incurred. The tax credit will not exceed $10 million per year.

-In Australia horticultural researchers from the University of Melbourne have released a new study in the Journal of Plant and Soil detailing some fantastic native green roof plants. The lead researcher, Dr. Claire Farrell, is a true superstar. You can see some of the other papers she has published over the last couple of years.
Speaking of Melbourne, I forgot to throw up a link to Melbourne and Victoria new green roof, wall and fascades guide released last month.

-I'll wind up with some green (living) wall information. London is hosting a green walls forum in mid-April. Mayor Boris Johnson has a target of 5% coverage (in central London) by 2030 and this conference (one of the first in the world) confirms his support. It seems like a collegial gathering, focused on information sharing the latest academic research, systems and life cycle analysis.

Aquaponics for profit

Across the world those involved with aquaponics are trying to make it work. We've seen some failures recently and some will succeed, some won't. In Melbourne, Australia a local non-profit is giving it a go, while in New York State a two year old operation needs an influx of cash to keep things going.

-If you're in New York and want to provide some expertise to get their green infrastructure program off the ground,  don't dawdle...there's only 2 weeks left to apply. (See middle row, bottom of page 7).

-I forgot to post this a while ago but it's not too late to join a free course on the Sustainability of Food Systems.

-And lastly for today check out how Russians are proving small scale organic farming can feed a village and more!