This week in the world of gardening, climate change threatens the staple crops of Provence, GOOD magazine visits an almost zero-waste town in Japan, and bees get all the pollinator credit—but they don't do all the work.
Researchers Aim for 'Bioreceptive' Buildings
Above: Ann Demeulemeester store in Seoul via Retail Design Blog.
The BiotA Lab at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London is researching ways to make building materials more "bioreceptive," or actively fostering growth of organisms like lichen and moss. In the big picture, the lab wants to encourage architects to think of buildings as "hosts" for any number of living organisms. Lab director Marcos Cruz says that will require a shift in thinking: "We admire mosses growing on old buildings—we identify them with our romantic past—but we don't like them on contemporary buildings because we see them as pathology." Read it at the Atlantic.
Bees Don't Do All the Pollinating Work
Above: A rose chafer beetle in Wallingford, UK via Urban Pollinators.
Ecologists at the University of Queensland reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that honeybees get all the credit but aren't the only ones doing the pollination work. The study notes that flies are likely the second largest group of crop pollinators in the world, and that butterflies, moths, beetles, ants, and wasps pollinate as well. In the crops studied, non-bee pollinators accounted for 40 percent of pollinator flower visits, while some crops did not rely on honeybees at all. Listen to the report at Scientific American.
Climate Change Threatens Provence Olives, Lavender
Above: An olive mill worker in southern France adds olives to a crusher for oil. Photo via National Geographic.
In the midst of climate talks in Paris this week, National Geographic reports that the famed luxury crops of France's Provence region—olives, lavender, truffles, and wine grapes—are under threat from climate change. Last year alone, olive production fell 17 percent due to climate-related bacterial infections, low rain, high temperatures, and fruit fly infestations. "We're Provence," said one ecology professor at Aix-Marseille University. "Without these things, we're not Provence." Read it at National Geographic.
NASA Tests Sustainable Building Technologies
Above: Sustainability Base in California's Silicon Valley. Photo via NPR.
Sustainability Base at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California is a test center for sustainable building technologies including electricity sourced from fuel cells and solar panels, an exterior steel skeleton for earthquake safety, and a closed loop water system for toilets. The program is testing technologies in part to help meet a US mandate that all new federal buildings have no reliance on fossil fuel energy by 2030. Read it at NPR.
By 2020, a Zero-Waste Town in Japan
Above: Photo of Kamikatsu, Japan via the Guardian.
GOOD magazine profiles Kamikatsu, Japan, a town of 1,700 people with one of the most rigorous recycling programs in the world. Residents sort trash into 34 different categories, 80 percent of which is destined to be recycled, reused, or composted. The town has pledged to send nothing to landfills by 2020. Watch the video report at GOOD.
More from this week:
- Visit the Remodelista + Gardenista Holiday Market in San Francisco from 11:00-3:00 on Sunday
- Spend $150 at True Nature Botanicals and Receive a Free Gift
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