Chandra Clarke

Award-winning entrepreneur. Author. Professional Optimist.

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Ecoactionists

March 3, 2020 By Chandra Clarke Leave a Comment

Project: Ecoactionists.com

A new site is promising to unite action-oriented environmentalists around the world.

Ecoactionists.com, billing itself as a Facebook for greens, currently features a series of forums, a blog focussed on member success stories and more positive environmental news, and a recommended book list. In development are a course marketplace for learning green skills, and a product marketplace for environmentally sustainable or regenerative products.

“[This is…] A better world umbrella group. A really big tent for everyone that wants progress,” says the site description. “Think of it as a way to channel your energy into something positive and proactive.”

To participate, you can register here for free, participate in the forums, and the site especially would love to have a guest blog about a successful project you might have completed at home, work, or in your community.

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Knock on Wood

August 3, 2018 By Chandra Clarke Leave a Comment

Trees: We grow them, we depend on them, we even hug them. But have you ever wondered why? This short, humorous, fantasy story will make you see them in a whole new light.

Available at Amazon and other book retailers:

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Assessing Flood Risks through Crowdsourcing: Floodcrowd

November 1, 2016 By Chandra Clarke Leave a Comment

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Project: Floodcrowd

Flooding, though a naturally-occurring process worldwide, can cause damage on a variety of scales. Obviously, in more severe cases, a flood can cause structural damage, bodily injury, or death. Even on a smaller scale, though, a flooded street can cause you to be late for work, or a submerged park or field can lead to a cancelled rugby match. Water back-ups are just a part of life, right? Well, Floodcrowd is harnessing the power of citizen science to see what can be done about preventing and controlling future floods in the United Kingdom.

Many flooding events have been previously unreported, especially in rural parts of the U.K. Floodcrowd aims to improve knowledge about floods by asking those who have witnessed floods to share their experiences and pictures. This program was begun as part of a PhD research project as Loughborough University, however, it has become a truly valuable resource for public officials aiming to assess flood risks in various communities, understand the effects of storms, evaluate current flood-prevention infrastructure, etc.

Researchers and participants are already seeing positive results from this crowd-sourced data. In December 2015, a storm hit north-west England which brought torrential rains and extensive flooding, killing one man and leaving thousands without power. The village of Carlisle was hit particularly badly, after key flood defenses failed. In the days after the flooding, Floodcrowd partnered with a Colorado-based company called Tomnod, making satellite map images public to encourage as many people as possible to view and tag a small section for signs of flood damage, including water markings on buildings. Over 700 people helped tag 13,000 affected areas! That’s some pretty extensive public participation! The information gleaned from this campaign is now being used to prevent future flooding in this area–citizen science being used for practical solutions. Pretty cool!

So back to the present–how do you get involved? Well, reporting a flood event on Floodcrowd’s site couldn’t be easier–just fill out this simple form here. You’ll be asked to include your location, the date and time of your observation, the type of flood you’re witnessing, a picture, and any other notes you’d like to include. The flood doesn’t have to be happening currently. No matter how old or recent, how big or small, Floodcrowd wants your observations! You can also check out the map of past flood records and see if there are any in your area. Hopefully, with Floodcrowd, wide-spread citizen participation can make dangerous–or even just inconvenient–flooding a thing of the past in U.K. communities!

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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The Grass is Finally Greener

October 18, 2016 By Chandra Clarke 1 Comment

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You’ll have to excuse us newly minted hybrid car drivers. We’re both slightly distracted and a bit smug.

Earlier this year, my husband and decided to get a Prius. We’ve only had it a few months, but already the changes it’s produced in us are remarkable.

First, you must understand that never in a million years did I see myself driving a sedan. The word “sedan” is entirely too close to the word “sedate” for my liking. Second, in spite of a brief, but meaningful relationship with a red Tiburon back in the (pre-motherhood) day, I’ve never really liked driving much. Driving is incredibly boring, but it requires your full attention — or at least, that’s what the officer who caught me trying to catch up on the latest issue of New Scientist told me.

Meanwhile, my husband, who’s never met a train he didn’t like, has an innate suspicion of anything that doesn’t blow steam or require a third rail.

So it comes as a great surprise to find that we really enjoy piloting our hybrid. I say “piloting” because it feels like you’re on board a starship. The regenerative braking sounds like you’re dropping out of warp, and it’s completely silent at stop lights and stealthy in parking lots. As it comes with push button controls and digital readouts, plus a way to pipe your cell phone calls through the dash hands-free (“Scotty! Are you there?”), my husband is seriously debating getting new plates that read NCC-1701.

Thus far, we’ve only discovered two drawbacks to our new car. One is that the feedback system encourages you to play a ‘video game’ of sorts with yourself while driving, by scoring you on your consumption. You find yourself constantly watching the fuel use meter, trying to drive with a feather-light foot, and thinking of more efficient routes to work. Do not be alarmed if you see me doing a little victory dance in the driver’s seat when I rate an “Excellent!”

That’s the distracted part I mentioned earlier. The smug part is when you silently glide up beside the big, noisy, fuel sucking SUV driver who impatiently pulled out and around you two blocks ago. You see him jump in surprise, and then watch him realize he’s no further ahead than you in traffic but about $20 poorer to boot. I think I may have to develop a special dance for those occasions too.

The second drawback is that now entirely too easy to rationalize a trip into a Tim Horton’s drive through because you don’t have the carbon footprint induce- guilt associated with idling as you wait. If we’re not careful, our doughnut weight gain will more than offset our fuel efficiency.

Chocolate glazed overdoses aside, what really strikes me about the hybrid and other more environmentally friendly products is that the market is finally getting it. It used to be that the only way to be kinder to the Earth was to be a Certified Hippie. You know, the people who actually wore those coats made out of recycled plastic bottle pieces, could find time to make all their own cleaning products and who lived in reclaimed transport containers.

These days there are all kinds of choices out there. Want to reduce electricity use? Store shelves are full of low energy, long life bulbs. (Bonus: Fewer trips up the ladder.) Worm composting to reduce your kitchen waste not your thing? (And let’s face it, worms should not be present in any kitchen that also has toddlers). Get a low wattage electric composter. (Bonus: In two weeks you’ll have enough soil to re-pot the petunias your toddlers discovered).

Tired of the energy drain that is the ironing pile? Behold and hallelujah, we’ve invented no-iron shirts and pants. (Oh c’mon, tell me you don’t think that ironing is toxic to *your* environment.) And I don’t know about you, but I’ve already picked out my mid-life crisis car: the all-electric Tesla.

Not easy being green? That was so twentieth century. There are all kinds of easy to implement changes that can make a difference right now.

Let’s hop to it.

Photo Credit: Chandra Clarke

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