Floating city for startups makes waves among entrepreneurs
Blueseed, the startup ship that will bring Silicon Valley to the open waters, is quickly gaining steam among entrepreneurs. The company recently released a report announcing that it already has 133 startup firms interested in becoming tenants of its floating city. Of this group of interested entrepreneurs, 38 percent say they would be ready to [...]

Peru’s coffee growers turn carbon traders to save their farms from climate change
Global warming threatens the future of Peru’s poorest coffee farmers, but one brand thinks it has found an answer on the financial markets. In the foothills of the Andes, in the Sierra Piura region of Peru, the problems faced by coffee farmers are clear. Up to 6,600 farmers produce here for the Central Piurana de [...]

Sobi bicycles
SoBi has built a GPS-enabled bike that you can find and unlock using your mobile phone. These bikes will be used to create an affordable and scalable bike share system that makes cycling more accessible and interactive. Social Cyclists find and unlock bikes using their mobile phones, or unlock them by entering their account information [...]

Funding boost for Scottish local food network
Europe’s largest local food network is to receive almost half a million pounds of funding from the Scottish government to encourage more people to choose local and sustainably sourced food. he Fife Diet, which has 3,000 active members, will use the £448,000 grant from the Climate Challenge Fund to measure their reduction in carbon emissions and [...]

Honolulu City Council backs bill to ban plastic bags at store, restaurant checkouts
They drift about on trade winds, marring Hawaii’s landscapes and posing threats to marine life. Floating plastic bags can kill marine animals, such as green sea turtles (hono) that become entangled or ingest the buoyant trash, mistaking it for a jellyfish snack. Also, in addition to cluttering beautiful scenery in the Islands, non-biodegradable plastics and [...]

World’s largest preserve forming in Africa
Five nations in Africa have come together to create the world’s largest conservation area for wildlife. Elephants have no respect for lines on a map, especially the artificial national boundaries established by Europeans after carving up Africa into colonial empires. But national boundaries have kept elephants and many other animals cooped up in southern Africa. [...]

Community Groups Join Forces to Support Clean Energy and Save Money
In the depths of the recession, when budgets were tighter than usual, a group of churches in Washington, D.C., noticed energy bills were eating up huge chunks of their budgets. “The huge amount our institutions were paying for electricity just astounded with us,” says Martin Trimble, lead organizer with the Washington Interfaith Network, an organizing [...]

China sets up rare earth body to streamline the sector
China has set up a rare earth association in a bid to streamline the sector’s development, as it continues to face criticism over its policies. Beijing has imposed quotas on exports of rare earth elements, a move which its critics say has pushed up prices. Last month, the US, Japan and the European Union filed [...]

Carbon credits to benefit farmers
Improved farming practices, especially in rice cultivation, would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and provide economic benefits for rural farmers in Viet Nam through participation in a carbon-credit programme, according to international experts. Although Viet Nam’s greenhouse-gas emissions are relatively low, emissions will triple by 2030 unless significant emissions-mitigation options are undertaken, according to the International Food [...]

Ikea begins urban planning project
You get a certain feeling that you’re getting lost in a craftily designed labyrinth when you enter an Ikea store, The Globe and Mail reports. But the next question is: will that discomforting almost-warmth of a prototype apartment be the same in the prefabricated Ikea housing development that is in the works in the Oregon? [...]