World's Most Polluted Cities

Hi, there!!!

We write here about different useful and sustainable things, homes, fashions and others. We are trying to find different inventions, which will help us to clean up our planet from our previous inventions :) And I thought, is everything can be cleaned? Are all the places and cities can be saved? What is the most polluted city in the world? And imagine my surprise that I was born in one of them - NORILSK! It's awful!!! I remember from my childhood that the gas is produced by nickel plant corroding nylon pantyhose. fter this "discovery", I decided to explore other most polluted cities in the world. And that's what I found ...

North America.

The three most polluted cities on the North American continent are Pittsburgh in the USA, Windsor in Canada and Mexico City in Mexico.

Pittsburgh. The U.S.A.

Pittsburgh's skyline. By spike55151

Polluted air is a serious threat to 189 million United States' residents and six in ten Americans live in cities where the level of ozone or particle pollution is so high that it can lead to asthma, bronchitis, heart attack and even death. Pittsburgh, the second largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, is an example of one of the most polluted cities in the country.

It comes as a big surprise that over recent years Pittsburgh has many times been named "the most livable city in the USA". Still, according to the American Lung Association's annual report, the city has reported the highest short-term particle pollution (amount of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air such as soot or exhaust) and the second highest year-round levels. Main sources of such pollution are cars, coal-fired power plants and steel industry. Some researches claim, however, that the city's air pollution comes from the factories in Ohio.

Windsor. Canada.

Windsor. Ontario, Canada. By lepiaf.geo

Windsor, the major city of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, is the country's hub of the automobile industry. However, its main source of air pollution is the industry located in the U.S. The city is situated at the Canada-U.S. border, and therefore, around 90% of smog comes from the American side. By the way of example, there are four coal-fired power plants in Ontario, while U.S. Midwest is home to around 250 such plants.In 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist, claimed that American companies made Windsor "the most polluted city in North America." According to Kennedy, the city reports some of the highest cancer rates and respiratory illnesses rates in Canada. In turn, the Weather Network has named Windsor "the smog capital of Canada", the channel underlines, however, that one of the main sources of poor air quality are vehicle emissions.

Mexico City. Mexico.

Rush hour in Mexico City. By Gary Denness

The capital of Mexico and one of the world's most populated cities is an ecological trap due to its geographical location. The city is situated in a valley, around 7,300 feet (2,240 meters) above sea level, so the air is really thin and the exhausts get trapped. Moreover, the winds in circulation are too weak to diffuse the contaminated air outside the metropolis.The recent research reveals that the smog hanging over the city is a serious threat to its residents, especially children. Apparently, Mexico's polluted air prevents lungs from growing and working properly. According to National Public Health Institute, the effect of exposure to contaminated air in Mexico City is bigger than the effect of exposure to maternal smoking among children in the U.S.To alleviate the problem of air pollution local and federal authorities have been implementing various plans, which include closing factories, " A day without a car" programs , modernizing old buses and promoting the use of bikes.

South America

La Oroya. Peru.

Mining in La Oroya. Peru. By Matthew Burpee

The town of about 33,000 residents, situated in the central part of Peru, is home to enormous smelting industry. The first copper smelter emerged in La Oroya in 1922 and since then many other plants and refineries followed. The town's heavy industry has transformed this little mountain village into one of the most polluted places on the globe. Among most serious pollutants found in La Oroya is lead, which is especially devastating to children's health. 99% of children living in the town have high degree of lead in their blood, which is especially harmful to kids' mental development.The Missouri-based Doe Run, which owns the smelting business in La Oroya, has been obliged to implement an environmental management plan that will reduce the emissions. In some areas the progress has been made as the company has managed to lower some emissions and has invested (jointly with the Peruvian Ministry of Health) $1 million yearly in the program designed to reduce blood lead levels in the area. The ecologists underline, however, that the sulfur dioxide emissions have remained very high in the town and lead will stay in the area's soil for centuries.

Europe

Pernik. Bulgaria.

Pernik in Bulgaria. By niv

Pernik, a town of about 90,000 inhabitants situated near Sofia, is considered to be the worst polluted place in the country and the entire European Union. In the mid-20th century the development of coal industry commenced in the region, transforming Pernik into the energy center of Bulgaria. Today the town is home to a large number of metallurgy plants that cause extreme pollution in the region. According to the recent report revealed by the EU, the average dust concentration in Pernik totals 92 microgrammes per cubic meter, which is the highest level among the EU member states, which report 30 mg of dust level on average.Apparently, Bulgaria itself is the most contaminated country among European Union states. It is filled with old cars with no catalytic converters and there are plenty second-hand vehicles from western European countries. Moreover, most of the country's small towns use coal-fired heating during winter, which is a great contributor to unhealthy emissions.

Chernobyl. Ukraine.

Abandoned amusement park in Chernobyl. By Pedro Moura Pinheiro

Chernobyl, a small town in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus, is associated with the Chernobyl accident - the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. The accident occurred in April 1986 causing many deaths mainly due to the radiation poisoning. About 336,000 people living in some areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia had to be evacuated because of extreme contamination, and nuclear rain was observed in Central, Western, and as fas as Northern Europe.Today Chernobyl remains one of the most polluted places on Earth. There is a 19-mile (30 km) exclusion zone around the town where people are not allowed to live. Still, between 1992 and 2002 around 4,000 of thyroid cancer cases were found among children living near the zone.

According to various estimates between 60 and 200 years is needed before the land could be used for some industrial purposes, and farming would be very dangerous for at least 200 years. The place where Reactor #4 exploded is estimated to be fully safe in 20,000 years.

Asia

Norilsk. Russia. (Still can't believe I was born there)

Smelting industry in Norilsk, Russia. By Lvovsky

Norilsk, the second largest city above the Arctic Circle, inhabited by about 130,000 people, is the mining and smelting industry hub of Russia. The first plants appeared in the town in the 1930s and today Norilsk is home to the world's largest smelting complex. The town of acid rain and smog is the country's greatest polluter - it releases 500 tones of each copper and nickel oxides and 2 million tons of sulfur dioxide annually.
The main culprit for this situation is Norilsk Nickel, a huge firm that controls one-third of the world's nickel deposits and is Russia's main producer of nickel, cobalt, platinum and palladium.Such heavily contaminated air causes serious health problems such as respiratory diseases, higher mortality, pregnancy complications and lung cancer. According to the Blacksmith Institute, an organization supporting pollution-related environmental projects, "children living near the nickel plant were shown to become ill at a rate 1.5 times higher than children from further districts."Linfen.

China.

Fields in front of a new factory emerging in Linfen. By sheilaz413

Smog covers the city of Linfen that sits along the banks of the Fen River in China. In 2007 the city, home to around 4 million people, was considered by the Blacksmith Institute the world's most polluted town. Linfen is home to an enormous coal industry, filled with hundreds of legal and illegal mines, steel plants and refineries, providing almost two thirds of China's energy. The air is dark in the town and its inhabitants literally choke on coal dust. The level of sulfur dioxide and other particulates exceeds any acceptable limits and there is a shortage of water due to contamination of drinking water sources by arsenic.The Linfen's residents suffer from various diseases such as lung cancer, bronchitis, pneumonia, and the children's blood lead level is many times higher than any acceptable norms.According to the World Bank, 16 out of 20 of the world's most polluted cities in terms of air quality are in China.

Africa

Kabwe. Zambia

Abadoned industrial site near Kabwe, Zambia. By Les Amis de la Terre

Kabwe, home to 210,000 residents, is the capital of Zambian Central Province, Zambia. In 1902 lead and zinc deposits were found in the town and soon after the smelting and mining industry were set up and operated until 1994. The plants were closed down but they left the city's soil and water polluted by lead and metals. Children's blood lead levels are up to 10 times higher than the acceptable limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Since 2007 some serious actions have been undertaken to clean up the most contaminated areas of Kabwe. By the way of example, the World Bank allocated $40m for a clean-up program and the Nordic Development Fund granted $10m to the region. In fact, many areas of the town still need to be relocated.

Dr Noki

DR NOKI                                                                                                                                                       Dr. Noki, also known as JJ Hudson, is the superhero of eco-fashion and design, naming his signature piece to be “The Noki-SOB (Suffocation Of Branding) mask.” He started his career as a stylist in the late 90’s, working with MTV, ID magazine, and now famed creative director and designer Nicola Formichetti. He is the John Wayne of the eco-fashion and up-cycling movement with the axiom ‘rejection breeds re-invention’; he does what he wants and, luckily for society, what he wants is “an exclusive garment that compliments the raw energy that defines ‘street style’ and all of what we see in the designer collections”, but carefully utilizing the ‘sustainable canvas’ as a positive way forward using ‘New World Textiles’. Dr. Noki is a leader in Estethica’s commitment for nurturing and mentoring young talents and will continuto be a designer that ignites the fashion world with innovation and design                                                                                                                                                                                              

      

                                                                                                                                                                   NOTES ON THE POLITICS AND AESTHETICS OF NOKI CUSTOM                                                               At its most obvious, Noki custom mounts a challenge, a symbolic critique or even
a form of resistance, against mainstream, mass-market, homogenous and
depersonalised commodity fashion.

Where sportswear relies on brands and powerful logos to make its selling
proposition, Noki abducts these signs, reconfigures them, uses, abuses and
reuses them and creates the new and unorthodox.Oink. Not pis. Geddit?
With French philosopher De Certeau, the operations of Noki can be seen as
tactics of the weak, pitted against strategies of the strong. David’s fast and sneaky 

movements, too fast for Goliath, strong, but slow and inflexible.

So, at its most obvious, the story of Noki is the story of resisting monolithic
corporations and their hardnosed profit mentality, wherein individuals are reduced
to passive but unfaithful consumers and clothes are objectified and turned into
mere ‘stock’, which needs to be invested with attractive myths and promises
through intensive marketing. While certain multinational clothes retailers design,
manufacture (outsourced to underpaid workers through a complex supply chain?)
and distribute the same bland jumper to identical outlets all across the world,
Noki custom makes one-off pieces. With care. With dedication. With aura.
The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (the title of Walther
Benjamin’s famous essay) – it’s not always reproduced. This is the second time then I post the information about designers ho creates their works from utilized clothes. But this one is really seams to me exiting because has a status couturier. Dr Noki collaborates with singers as Beth Dito, Lady Gaga, Skin from Skunk Anansie, with contemporary artist. Probably his protest against mass production fashion just a PR.

Is it sustainable approach or not?

Let me introduce you to my first project as a Product designer. The main task was to design a black box to brew coffee by making of existing technical layouts/components (or to invent new technically and commercially viable solution).

Through very different thinking about this task I came to the conclusion that it seems like a good idea to make a device which can keep safe time and energy and space at the same time.

My Coffee Black Box consists of two devices which use the same heating system. It helps to save electric energy and time for incandesce of one heating system instead of two.

Because of the good amount of breakfasts consist of coffee and hot toasts or sandwiches I decided to join two devices in one: coffee maker and sandwich maker. Especially because of both of these devices are equipped by similar type of heating system – tubular. The electric energy consumption of these devices is equal also.

The main idea of construction is placing the tube with water close to heating element in main body of the device. The second heating element is placed in cover (on top) of device. When cover of device is closed the water is heated up by joined energy of both of heating elements. In case of sandwich cooking the heat energy is divided in this way: the water is heated up by lower heating element which also heats up a sandwich together with higher heating element (which is placed in the cover in top of device).

Also it allows solving some problems of usage like evidence of interface (functional elements) and interaction, which were discovered due to research. Therefore the form and construction of my object was created with taking into account all this problems solutions.

For example the problem with non-obviousness of containers with water and coffee is solved by highlighting this details by colour. Moreover they are placed away from main device body. Also there is used push-to-open mechanism. It allows to simplify the process of coffee beans and water reload.

The part with a sandwich maker is positioned on the top of device because of technological and fire protection requirements. The cover on the top of device has a special handle for easier opening/closing.

What do you think about this decision? Can it be estimated as a sustainable approach?

SchmidttakahashI

                                                                                     

                       

                

                    

                                               

                                      

Schmidttakahashi is a Berlin based label that specializes in upcycled and restyled, redesigned clothing. As the name suggest, there is a decided Asian aesthetic to the collection of women’s wear.  Reanimation / Wiederbelebungsmassnahmen, is the name of their project, to value, track and communicate the history and heritage of each item that goes into their recycled design collection.  With a belief that garments carry with them a heritage, a history, and multiple stories absorbed through the wearing, schmidttakashi undertake a laborious process of collecting discarded and used clothing in their custom made containers. Each collected item is carefully washed and ironed, then assigned an identification number, identifying the former owner, without breaching their privacy of course, the color, material and style is catalogued, and archival photographs taken.  All the information from the archiving and photographing of each donated item is then saved in a small RFID transponder, basically a simple digital number chip, which can be read with an RFID reader; simple technology available on most smart phones as an application download.  RFID tags are quite robust, and can easily withstand washing, so each uniquely numbered item has the relevant RFID tag sewn into it, which can be access at anytime to learn its history, as well as to track its new life.                                                                                                                                            This  is  very  popular  tendency nowadays  to  create new  items  from  used  things. I think that besides this type of  production  ecologically  clean and so on, this  m e t h o d   gives to d esigners an opportunity to find some new silhouettes and combinations

                                 

                                        

Guys, I have an information how to write an essay from Michail. Email me, I will resend you.
ezberova@gmail.com

Alexandra

Useless into the useful

The story of company Alchemy Goods (http://www.alchemygoods.com/) begun from one accident: When inhabitant of Seattle Eli Reich’s messenger bag was stolen, he decided that instead of buying another, he would make one himself. With plenty of bicycle inner tubes lying around, he decided to make it the primary material for his new bag. Long story short, the completed product was a huge hit at the office, and Eli began to make them on a much larger scale. Today, Alchemy products are carried in many stores across the country.

Today the company enlarge the list of used stuffs and now it includes used seatbelt straps, nipples, awning fabric, including large outdoor street advertising banners.

Access to materials critical to success

One of his biggest raw materials is used bicycle tires that come from bike shops. Without Alchemy Goods these tires would end up in the landfill. Forming relationships with shop owners and people in general is one of the most important parts of the business for Reich. He gets used tires from many of the same shops that now carry his products. It’s this sense of coming full circle that adds to the appeal of his products for consumers. What makes Alchemy Goods products so attractive to consumers is that they can actually see the recycled content in the product.

In addition to junkyards and bike shops, Reich also works with community groups to procure materials. Some years ago Alchemy Goods established a relationship with Portland’s Community Cycling Center to take nearly 15,000 used bike tubes. Sustainable Industries reported on the positive impact of this partnership, noting that CCC had been struggling to find a recycler for its used rubber when its previous partner could no longer process the bicycle tire components.

Customer suggestion leads to creation of new product - the Ad bag

Customers have even helped Reich secure materials, and some have suggested new directions. One woman worked for a company that dealt with large outdoor advertising banners. The banners were simply discarded after use, and she thought Reich might be able to find a use for them. Sure enough, he did. The banners are now the primary material in his new Ad bag. The Ad bag is 95% recycled material by weight and made of the old vinyl mesh signs, seat belts for handles and a section of a bike tube for the grip on the handle. Selling for a very reasonable $30, the Ad bag is a perfect of example of Reich’s goal to make a quality product and get it into as many people’s hands as possible.

Main piece of advice to other budding eco-entrepreneurs: have patience

Reich’s main piece of advice for people looking to go into business with an eco-friendly product is to have patience, pure and simple. He hammered home this point several times during this chat. Start slow: when he started making bags he was still working his other job, which gave him the security to continue to explore and develop his product, as well as looking for sources of raw materials. In his first year he made only around 100 bags. His advice for people out there like him is to develop a high quality product, then have the patience to allow it to develop; it will succeed.

Every product on site of this company is accompanied by story of it’s creation. For example:http://www.alchemygoods.com/bottle-reopener.html

My opinion: It might be possible to organize such company or activity in our country. However there are some obstacles: first of all because of climate there aren’t so many addicted by bicycle people and used bicycle inner tubes correspondingly. However there are a lot of street advertising banners which have very short period of usage. The second problem might happen because of suppressing by administrative and government interference. And even if this activity is organized by eco-geeks or eco-fanatics who overcome every problem this enterprise might have very short life time because of slighting attitude to objects from garbagre and eco-problems in general.

GoodGuide For Safe, Healthy and Green Products

GoodGuide, Inc. is an American "for-benefit" corporation whose mission is to build tools that "transform how people see and interact with products and companies by delivering comprehensive and rigorous information at the point of purchase", as its official mission statement puts it. To the most extent we, buyers, are still in the Dark Ages and when we know the brand and the price we naively believe that we know quality. In reality however our knowledge is extremely limited in terms of the product's impact on us and the planet. GoodGuide, represented by a strong team of ecologists, chemists and engineers, surfaces a product's backstory -  summarizes all the possible information about the components of the product, the production processes and the social conditions at the producer's plant, and presents it in the easiest and most convenient way to the consumer. GoodGuide integrates hundreds of complex databases that evaluate everything from the company's policy on animal testing (if there is any) to the carbon emissions in its supply chain to the chemicals of concern in its products. GoodGuide can evaluate a company's policies, disclosure of a company's impacts on consumers, workers, communities, and the environment. GoodGuide does not tell us what to buy but instead helps us focus on what matters most in a product.

In the US the GoodGuide application for mobile phones allows shoppers to point their cell phones at the bar code of a  product and click its image to the GoodGuide server. Within seconds you will get a three-bar rating of that item, revealing in red, yellow, or green the relative level of virtue generated by that product's life cycle impact in three dimensions: environmental, health and social.

There is a long way when ordinary buyers in US will see GoodGuide's ratings next to the products' prices on the store shelves. Here in Russia we can only dream of any analogical program as GoodGuide which allows assessment of products' hidden environmental impacts at the point of sale. Movement towards ecological transparency is just gathering pace and we need a lot of time and efforts to turn the marketing balance.  However, we can easily use the GoodGuide page and check the products that are on the Russian market at the moment. There are a lot of them, believe me. This program can help us to make that consultaion a habit, and eventually we will be more conscios in our routine shopping. We will be mindful in our choice. As a result, changes in our choice will make the companies respond respectevely and modify their businesses in our country as well. 

GoodGuide