Exploring some videos on by forest ecologists on how trees communicate via Open Culture. The following is a short educational Ted-Ed video in which Camille Defrenne and Suzanne Simard explain how trees communicate through their complex root system and the symbiotic relationship with fungi.
For a longer video on the same topic there is also TED talk by Suzanne Simard on “How trees talk to each other”.
In South-Africa there has been severe water shortages due to a long drought and bad water management. The following short video gives us a glimpse of the terrible consequences such as police cracking down prohibited water use, such as someone trying to earn some living washing cars.
The shortage has left residents fearing what’s been coined ‘Day Zero’: the moment when the city turns off the taps, and residents are forced to line up for water rations under the watchful eye of armed officials. And as this unsettling short documentary shows, the consequences of the crisis are already severe, with police cracking down on what’s considered unnecessary water use. The increasingly desperate situation has escalated tensions in a region already divided between haves and have-nots, frequently along racial lines
The photography project "Wasteland" by Kadir van Lohuizen contains some very powerful images of large cities and how they manage their waste. I think that the waste managment and recycling process has been going on too much in the background, and the only way out is to reduce our trash. See also this article in the Financial Times on why the recycling system became more visible. In the word of Kadir: “If the world is not prepared to think about waste reduction and actually treat waste as a resource, next generations will drown in their own waste.”
The following really well video from the German channel Kurzgesagt provides a very balanced view, using lots of sources, to answer if organic vegetables and fruits are really better. The overall recommendation that I can extract from their message would simple and seems quite logical: eat more fruits and veggies that are produced locally and in season.
Kids say the darndest things 🍃
“@Europarl_EN takes historic stand against #singleuseplastic #pollution!”, but please resists the lobbyist now. Via @rethinkplasticalliance.
Via @1843magazine: the old supersonic Concord plane that could fly from Paris to New York in about 3.5 hours as a symbol for the Jet Set lifestyle and indifference to the environment. Read about it here.