Birds have sown a gigantic sunflower on my porch. It grew up beautiful, strong, vigorous, and got over one meter tall. Two months later, a bud came out and I started to get up earlier and go straight to the window in the hopes that the magic would be done and the flower would have blossomed, revealing its sunny core. One day, it happened: I got up and was greeted by a flower the size of a dessert plate. That was three weeks ago.

Since then, I’ve cared for this plant as if it were a baby, but the flower is dying—and I’m dying of sorrow. I talked to a gardener and he explained to me that plants have a different lifecycle. Some live a short life, like herbs and vegetables in general: even if you devote a great deal of care to a head of lettuce, it will grow, generate a flower, release its seeds and die within less than six months. This is their nature. Trees, on the other hand have a longer lifecycle, but even a jequitiba tree will die, eventually.

Sunflowers live from four to six months, depending on the species. “No matter how much you water or fertilize them or  fluff up their soil, as their lifecycle gets nearer the end they will slowly die,” told me Mr. Juareis. This will be the faith of my bird-sown sunflower.

Ever since he told me this, I’m making sure the plant makes the most of its last days. Instead of cutting off the dead flower, I’m letting the plant decide when it will do it. I’m doing this because it is when the flower fades away and loses its beauty that a secret chemistry happens in its core: it prepares its descendants— the dozens of seeds it will release onto the ground and which birds will sow around.

But if I know all of this, why do I feel like a little light is dying inside me, day after day?

This creation by artist Yuken Teruya gave us an idea for what to do with the cardboard toilet paper cylinders that Juliana and I have been saving for the past few months. We have already saved 30 cardboard cylinders that will be used to decorate our home, just as in Yuken’s project. Another cool suggestion, made by our friend Denise Rangel, is to reuse the rolls as wire holders.

Rodrigo Barba

There I was—happy, cheerful and content—driving back from the Sao Paulo countryside after the Carnaval holiday when I suddenly saw a sign: “Ecological rubber tire asphalt.” I smiled from cheek to cheek. How nice!

There are several kinds of asphalt. If I’m not mistaken, all of them use some oil in their composition. The difference is that 20% of eco-asphalt is made up of old, ground up tires, according to the Setor Reciclagem website.

According to a company called Greca Asfaltos, 54.5 million tires were manufactured in 2006. In 1999, it was estimated that more than 10 million tires had been disposed of. Note. Midas Elastômeros do Brasil, a company that turns tires into rubber ground, says that their technology is Brazilian.

And more. Besides the obvious advantage of using something which could otherwise pollute the environment, the eco-asphalt is 40% more resistant than conventional asphalt—some researchers say that it can last up to 5.5 times longer too, see source here.

So, here’s the question that everybody wants to ask. If this alternative is more efficient and ecologically correct, why don’t all of the cities and road operating companies opt for rubber asphalt?

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is considered to be an example of bad environmental practices. According to researchers, in 300 years, the former inhabitants of the island destroyed six million trees. But… archeologist Chris Stevenson and his team changed the direction of the past. They believe that the local population took their last breath after the arrival of the Europeans, in 1800 AC.

The researcher believes that European diseases caused the death of the islanders. Until now, scientists have claimed that, as was the case with other ancient civilizations—like the Mayans—the Easter islanders died as a result of famine, wars, etc. A consequence of the destruction of the environment.

Stevenson says that, despite the deforestation, islanders had already found sustainable ways to keep living there: by using fertilizers to restore the health of the soil and gardens to protect plants, for instance. They learned that everybody should consume in the same way in order to be able to live in balance. It is possible that even their political relationships changed. After all, no one could afford otherwise.

I saw this news article on Science Daily’s fantastic website—click here to read it in English.

Note: I have ALWAYS wanted to visit Easter Island to see those moai statues with my own eyes—they can be up to ten meters high and weigh tons. To my surprise, I found myself face to face with the big guy in the photo while visiting the British Museum, in London. By the way, read about my encounter with the Rosetta Stone here. It’s better to laugh than to cry.

Each time we dispose of an electronic product, we create a serious environmental problem. Where does that old TV, stereo, or computer that we no longer use and which is full of chemical and toxic components go? Greenpeace has been researching this topic in depth and calling attention to the export of electronic waste from Europe, America and Japan to poor countries, particularly those in Africa and Asia. The environmental organization conducted a test: in England, they took a broken, practically useless TV to be recycled. The result? The device was ‘exported’ to Nigeria. A con, pure and simple.

Check this out below:

Find out more here.

Or in the video below: