Photo source: ©© Xsphotos
Excerpts;
Solid, rugged, inexpensive, and twice as fire-proof as conventional lumber, straw bale construction is an idea who’s time has come…
Read Full Article, Mother Earth News
Gorgeous Brittany House Built By Hand of Straw, Wood and Earth, Tree Hugger
Building eco-friendly straw homes – panel by panel, Europa
The EU-funded project EUROCELL (‘EU market development of ModCell: a prefabricated eco-building system utilising renewable materials’) is paving the way to using straw bale as a building material, employing a method pioneered at the University of Bath in the UK. The project aims at further developing the environmentally friendly method and at gaining market certification as a step towards its widespread introduction. The system, patented as ModCell, employs the superior thermal insulation qualities of straw bales to create prefabricated panels…
L’immeuble en bois et en paille le plus haut de France est sorti de terre, Le Figaro
Sand Thieves Are Eroding World’s Beaches For Castles Of Cash, by Martine Valo, Le Monde
The pillaging of sand is a growing practice in the world. Taken by hand, three or four meters deep in the Maldives archipelago and transported on a donkey, or sucked up by huge sand boats in Asia, coastal sand mining, authorized or unlawful, is exploding.
Sand, the second most important natural resource in the world after water, is present in a number of products, from glass to microprocessors. However, it is because it represents 80% of the composition of concrete that it is the object of such greed…
” Le Sable: Enquête sur Une Disparition” / Sand Wars; An Investigation Documentary, By Denis Delestrac, a Film Documentary Produced by Rappi Productions and La compagnie des Taxi-Brousse
Sand: Most of us think of it as a complimentary ingredient of any beach vacation. Yet those seemingly insignificant grains of silica surround our daily lives. Every house, skyscraper and glass building, every bridge, airport and sidewalk in our modern society depends on sand. We use it to manufacture optical fiber, cell phone components and computer chips. We find it in our toothpaste, powdered foods and even in our glass of wine (both the glass and the wine, as a fining agent)!
Is sand an infinite resource? Can the existing supply satisfy a gigantic demand fueled by construction booms? What are the consequences of intensive beach sand mining for the environment and the neighboring populations?
Based on encounters with sand smugglers, barefoot millionaires, corrupt politicians, unscrupulous real estate developers and environmentalists, this investigation takes us around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: the “SAND WARS” have begun…
Let’s Talk About Sand: Denis Delestrac At TEDxBarcelona
Denis Delestrac latest feature documentary, “Sand Wars” is an epic eco-thriller that takes the audience around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: we are running out of sand! In this TEDxBarcelona talk, he explains us where sand comes from and where it ends up…
BE THE CHANGE:
PETITION: Take Action To End Global Beach Sand Mining, Coastal Care
Illegal sand mining, near Tangier, Morocco. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
