En el Día Mundial del Agua: 10 hechos que debes conocer

ORIGINAL: Greenpeace España

Tianjie Ma

marzo 22, 2013

Vivimos en un planeta de agua. Sin agua no seríamos capaces de sobrevivir. Sin embargo, a pesar de este preciado recurso, en lugares como China, donde yo vivo, industrias como las textiles están vertiendo un cóctel de productos químicos tóxicos al agua. Tan solo tienes que ver las fotos que te muestro abajo para que te hagas una idea de la gravedad de esta situación.

En Greenpeace, estamos trabajando para evitar la contaminación de nuestras aguas señalando a las marcas que se abastecen de instalaciones contaminantes. Y además, estamos poniendo de manifiesto los graves impactos que suponen las sustancias químicas peligrosas en nuestras aguas.

Por todo esto, en este Día Mundial del Agua, es importante compartir contigo 10 hechos que seguramente no sabes y que es fundamental que conozcas:

10 hechos que debes saber sobre la contaminación del Agua

Original: The Economist

1. La gran mayoría de nuestra agua está en los océanos. Solo un 2,5% del agua disponible del planeta es agua dulce. (Y de ella sólo el 0.4 está en la superficie)
2. Solo en China, 320 millones de personas carecen de acceso a agua potable limpia.
3. El 40% de agua de superficie de China está contaminada.
4. Un 20% de las aguas subterráneas que se utilizan como agua potable en las zonas urbanas de China están contaminada. A veces contiene sustancias químicas que son cancerígenas.
5. En las investigaciones de Greenpeace en las que se realizaron análiticas a determinadas marcas de ropa, revelaron que la mayoría de los artículos de ropa de grandes marcas de moda como GAP, Vero Moda y Calvin Klein contenían sustancias químicas peligrosas. 
6. Algunos de estos tóxicos se descomponen formando sustancias que son disruptores hormonales e incluso que son cancerígenos cuando se liberan en los ríos de todo el mundo.
7. Cada año se fabrican en todo el mundo alrededor de 80 mil millones prendas, lo que equivale a unas 11 prendas al año por cada habitante del planeta. 
8. Se estima que cada persona (hombre, mujer e incluso en la fase fetal del embarazo) contiene cientos de sustancias químicas sintéticas en sus cuerpos incluyendo algunas que podrían estar relacionados con la industria textil.
9. Greenpeace está reclamando a las marcas mundiales de moda que hagan una moda sin tóxicos, así como tener una cadena de suministro transparente que haya eliminado todos los productos químicos peligrosos de sus procesos productivos para 2020.
10. Muchas grandes marcas ya escuchan. Marcas como Zara, Victoria Secret, Benetton y Valentino, han acordado eliminar las sustancias químicas peligrosas de sus productos y procesos de producción para 2020. 

Lamentablemente, otras marcas vinculadas a la contaminación tóxica del agua todavía no han tomado partido ni responsabilizado de este problema tan grave.

Aquí entras tú. Necesitamos tu voz para que nos ayudes a persuadir a otras grandes marcas como Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, Armani y Metersbonwe para conseguir que no contaminen nuestras aguas con tóxicos.

Únete a nosotro/as para pedir a la industria de la moda que proteja nuestra agua, nuestro cuerpo, nuestros niños y niñas, nuestras comunidades y en última instancia, nuestro futuro. (Firma aquí) 

La contaminación del agua con tóxicos es una realidad cotidiana para muchas personas que viven en China y en otras partes del hemisferio sur. Celebremos este Día Mundial del Agua junto con todas esas personas que luchan contra la injusticia y para la protección del medio ambiente.

Juntos podemos amplificar sus voces.

Tianjie Ma, responsable de la Campaña de Tóxicos de Greenpeace en Asia Oriental

Manifiesto, moda Detox

Somos un grupo de amantes de la moda, activistas, diseñadores, bloguero/as, unidas por la creencia de que la moda no puede contaminar nuestras aguas. Queremos que la ropa que llevamos sea tan estilosa y auténtica como somos nosotros.

6 Amazing Inventions Made Possible by Nanotechnology

ORIGINAL: MyLifeScoop

By Rebecca Paul (from Inhabitat) on March 21, 2012

Nanotechology has evolved by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and we've seen scores of big developments made possible by designs smaller than the eye can see. To get you up to speed on the latest and greatest in nano-scale technology, we've put together a mind-bending list of six of our favorite inventions - from water purifying tea bags to self-heating roads and clothing that cleans the air you breathe!

Nanotech Water Purifying Tea Bag

Millions of people around the world have limited access to drinking water - and diseases caused by contaminated water sources kill 1.8 million people each year. As both private and public entities continue to look for viable solutions to the problem, one promising development comes to us from South Africa, where researchers have used nanotechnology to create a water-purifying tea bag that costs just half a cent. In order to activate the tea bag, the user places it into the neck of a water bottle and then drinks water that passes through it. The design is portable and instantly effective! However, none of this would be possible without the help of nanotechnology - researchers have combined ultra-thin, nano-scale fibers with grains of activated carbon to filter harmful contaminants and kill bacteria.

Artificial Muscles to Propel Nanobots Through the Body

Nanotechnology has already had a significant impact on the world of medical science - however the next generation of nano-scale medical technology will blow your mind. For example, researchers from the University of British Columbia are currently working on a line of nanobots that will aim to diagnose and heal the body from the inside. In order to accomplish this amazing feat they have developed artificial muscles that are extremely flexible and strong enough to rotate objects a thousand times their own weight. By spinning carbon nanotubes into helical yarns, researchers were able to control the yarn with an electrochemical charge that causes them to twist and untwist. The muscle can be incorporated into bots with artificial flagella, or tiny tails that would rotate to propel them.

Self-Heating Roads Save Cars From Icy Conditions

When it comes unpredictable winter weather, maintaining safe driving conditions is a major concern. Luckily, over the past few years researchers at the University of Houston have made some great strides in turning the threat of icy roads into a worry of the past. Their self-heating roads are embedded with sheets of carbon nanofiber that are warmed by an electrical element. It only takes two hours and 6 watts of power to take a block of concrete from -10 to 0 C. We probably won't see streets across the states upgraded with the technology come December, but areas known for having dangerously icy conditions could be prime candidates for the first installations. 

Nanotechnology Makes Poop Power 20 Times More Efficient

As researchers continue to explore new ways to harness renewable energy from the wind, sun and waves, many people overlook another renewable resource -- the one we flush down our toilets. That's right, with a little help from fuel cells, engineers at Oregon State University are taking poop and turning it into clean, green electricity. These mad scientists discovered that by applying a nanoparticle coating to the anodes inside the fuel cells, they were able to increase the cell's energy production by a staggering 20 times. The energy produced could potentially power future waste management systems and alleviate their energy expense.

Catalytic Clothing Cleans the Air You Breathe

Fashion finds a new purpose with Catalytic Clothing's amazing pollution neutralizing textiles. Their innovative fabrics are designed to act as catalytic surfaces capable of scrubbing the air of nitrogen oxides and the volatile organic compounds that are emitted by factories and gas-guzzling modes of transportation. To create these air-purifying textiles, raw titanium dioxide is washed into clothing as an additive in a detergent. Once the fabric has dried, the garment is activated and the resulting titanium dioxide nanorods begin to attract and neutralize polluting particles that touch them. Catalytic Clothing's venture is simple, efficient, and it has the potential to turn all of us into walking air-filters.

Tube Shape Photovoltaic Cells Could Result in Solar Powered Clothing 

Today's solar-powered clothing sadly lacks fashion sense - garments typically consist of a solar panel strapped to a backpack or shirt. But this could soon change, as a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Xiamen University have developed a flexible tube-like photovoltaic cell that can be woven discretely in to fabric. The technology uses semi-conducting nanorods made from carbon fibers and titania that look similar to the bristles on a hairbrush. The industrial process to create the fabric is rather laborious and time-consuming, but these nanorods can be applied to photocatalysts to generate energy from the sun. The technology is still in its early stages, but we hope to see more breakthroughs on the horizon.