Environmental Defense associations distinguish Carla Castle and Carlos Pimenta (with video)

Today, instead of Messenger, the green economy is notice. Or rather, the program coordinator and SIC journalist Carla Castle, which received yesterday the National Environmental Award, awarded by the Portuguese Confederation of associations of environmental protection (CPADA).

"Unlike the environmental activists, it's my job, to inform journalistic. But I think it's a fundamental work to raise awareness of this issue and for your connection to quality of life, "said Carla Castelo in Mãe D ' Água, Amoreiras, where took place the event.

In the same ceremony, the former ruler Pimenta received from the Minister of the environment, spatial planning and energy, Jorge Moreira da Silva, the Career Award. "We have a moral obligation to take care of the heritage that we have inherited, which is our Earth. We have an obligation to those who will succeed us, "explained Carlos Pimenta.

The CPADA awards are awarded since 1999 and, this year, gave an honorable mention to the draft keg and photographers Louis Fifth and Ricardo Warrior.

The National Environment Award is named after Fernando Pereira, one of the martyrs of the environmental cause who was killed aboard the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace vessel that was trying to stop nuclear testing at Muroroa atoll in the Pacific.

In previous years, the national prize of environment was assigned to the EPAL (Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres) Diário de Notícias, Arq. Ribeiro Teles, SEPNA â€" Special Service of protection of nature and Environment of the GNR, the journalist Pedro Almeida Vieira, the lawyer José Sá Fernandes, the magistrate and Prosecutor Helena Cluny, Cine Eco Jose Maria Saraiva, Sociedade de Advogados Miranda Correia Amendoeira and Associates, John Lawrence, the secondary school of Barcelos, José Carlos Marques, the Editors Always standing, and the Television Program biosphere.

The prize is intended to distinguish the person, institution or company that year, stood out in their activity as "environmentally friendly".

Released in February 2013, the green economy is the result of a partnership between the SIC Notícias, Green Savers and the Green Project Awards. All episodes can be seen on our page of Megavideo and the site.

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Joke can take American city empty reservoir with 143 million gallons of water

At a time when drought proliferates by several u.s. States, the city of Portland, Oregon, are studying the emptying of a reservoir with 143 million gallons of water.

This thread is recurring in the United States, and the reason is usually the same: someone peed to the tank, which is filled with treated water.

The cameras recorded the action of the 19-year-old boy, at the beginning the morning of Wednesday, April 16 â€" a week ago. Because of the joke, the authorities are doing tests of water quality and one of the possibilities is to empty the reservoir.

In an interview with Associated Press Agency, the spokeswoman for the local water company said that the urine presents little risk, and that animals routinely deposit waste in the tank without creating a public health crisis. The problem is that, now, the company does not want to serve water that was deliberately contaminated.

"I may be wrong about this, but the reality is that our clients will receive drinking water that has been contaminated by someone who decided to pee in the tank," explained David Shaff.

If the disposal occurs, the water will drain to the sewer system that eventually, and after treatment, is dumped on the Columbia River.

Click here to see the video, released by the Associated Press.

Foto: Tom Topped/Creative Commons

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Brazilian environmentalist movement wants to promote world day of the Environmentalist to June 4

The environmental movement the Greens, a member of the International Environmentalist Federation (FAI), launched a petition to ask the United Nations establishing the day 4 June as world day of Environmentalist.

"[We want], in all nations where the defenders of the Environment Act, of animals and of human life, is celebrated the date for reflection and support for environmental causes, in defence of planet Earth," says the petition.

The objective of the environmental movement is reaching the 5,000 signatures. If you agree with this action, you can subscribe to it here.

On 5 June, recalled, the United Nations celebrated the world environment day.

Foto: aloshbennett/Creative Commons

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Exhibition on packaging reuse kicks off Thursday at NorteShopping

The NorteShopping receives, on 24 April, about 40 pieces of art â€" hearts constructed from reusing cartons for liquid foods â€" which were developed within the framework of a school contest sponsored by Tetra Pak, in collaboration with the ABAE-blue flag Association of Europe and the network of Eco-schools.

The exhibition, open to the public in the square 0 floor industry, combines environmental awareness to children's art, arousing us more new the ability to reuse the packaging used in the creation of original parts which, by its high originality, led to Tetra Pak to consider their public display, by selecting for effect more than four dozens of the best works that will be featured now at NorteShopping.

The show makes known the works that were up for tender in the initiative "on mother's day, the heart is Yellow" and whose motto of the hobby took students of Eco-schools around the country to create hearts, from cartons for liquid foods, combining the theme of mother's day the preservation of "mother nature".

Parallel to the exhibition, visitors can also participate, Norteshopping on 25 April and on weekends (from 10:00 to 11:00 pm), in the workshops of construction of useful objects from Tetra Pak cartons, through which you can prepare the gift to give on mother's day, for example, or take a photo against a backdrop drawn, from the theme of the exhibition, and they can take with them at the moment.

Learn more about the exhibition at Protects What's good.

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Quercus will help municipalities to promote green economy. Murtosa and Vouzela have already joined.

The municipalities of Murtosa and Vouzela were the first two to join partnerships for Biodiversity, a network of Portuguese municipalities that will collaborate with Quercus to demand that can be positively discriminated, with more revenue and more public investment directed to their economic and environmental recovery.

According to Quercus, the project aims at increasing the values transferred to the municipalities with classified areas, by means of a better weighting of allocation coefficients laid down in the law of Local Finances and from other taxes.

On the other hand, it assumes the increase of national and Community funds allocation to carry out private investments which allow the creation of jobs linked to the preservation and enhancement of biodiversity.

Is the proposal promoting entrepreneurship still connected to the environment, to encourage the sustainable recovery of hazardous areas; the creation of alternative models of taxation that discriminate positively investments and economic activities; and the implementation of local strategies for the conservation of biodiversity and adaptation to climate change, actively involving local communities.

The Protocol between the municipalities and the Quercus will be signed next tomorrow, marking the world day of the Earth.

Photo: Vouzela.  guymoll/Creative Commons

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Italy will sell Islands, castles and palaces

The new Italian Government, led by Matteo Renzi, will alienate a good portion of its real estate and natural heritage â€" from the island of Poveglia (View gallery), of which we have already talked in Green Savers, until a castle on the border with Slovenia.

The aim is to allocate the money raised from these sales to reduce its public debt, which amounted to 130 percent of GDP. According to El Pais, the Italian Government is unaware of the magnitude of its heritage, but it is estimated that he is among the €218 billion, according to a recent report by the Ministry of economy and finance in the country, and the €400 billion, as various private organizations.

Despite having 634 thousand buildings, which occupy a total of 300 million square meters, the Italian State spends $ 1000 million a year to rent offices and offices for officials.

Renzi's plan â€" which had already been put into practice by the new Prime Minister at the time of their passage by the House of Florence-provides for the disposal of empty buildings, neighbourhoods semi-abandonados or other infrastructure that are not being used â€" including castles, palaces and abandoned Islands, as Poveglia, which can be leased for 99 years.

Until then, however, Renzi has no other remedy that continue to sell State-owned companies, for which looks for a recipe between eight and € 10 billion in the short term.

Remember the photos of the island of Poveglia, considered the most haunted of Italy â€" maybe that's why the Italian Government the ponders to divest.

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Toyota has already begun to replace robots by humans

Carmakers have long embraced automation and replaced humans for robots. However, Toyota is taking a step back and replace the machines by people in some factories in Japan.

Toyota's decision is an unconventional choice for a Japanese company. The Japan has by far the largest number of industrial robots of any country. Is only surpassed by South Korea with regard to the ratio of robots for humans.

This new Japanese manufacturer's strategy is based on two aspects. First, Toyota wants to make sure that their workers perceive the work they are doing rather than just do get machinery and parts do not have utility when they malfunctioned. Second, the brand wants to develop ways to increase the quality of the Assembly process and make it more efficient in the long run. Automation assumes that the enterprise has many average workers and few artisans and masters.

Since Toyota has implemented this strategy in 100 factories, the waste of material on the production line has decreased 10% and the Assembly process has become shorter. Improvements were also recorded in the process of cutting of parts and reducing the cost of assembling the chassis.

"We can't just depend on machines that repeat the same task over and over again," said project director Mitsuru Kawai, quoted by Quartz. "To be master of the machines it is necessary to have the knowledge and tools to teach the machines", asserts.

Foto: epSos.de/Creative Commons

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