The Green Social Revolution is already happening!

I am not sure you have noticed it, but there is a silent revolution going on. People are turning green everywhere, and giant sustainable projects are sprouting up all over the world. Here are my TOP 8 of the best of 2014:

1. First US-China climate change agreement (USA-China)

USA and China signed an historical agreement on CO2 emissions, promising to cut 27%  by 2025-2030.

All climate negociations have been strategically blocked by China and USA since the beginning. For the first time in history, future negociations can be taken seriously.

Let's hope USA and China will compete to be the best at cutting emissions, like a new race to the Moon.

2. The Canal Solar Power Project (India)

The Canal Solar Power Project will grow to 100 MW. The solar plants cover a canal, avoiding water evaporation (a huge deal in India) and sparing precious farming lands. The Punjab state tries to enter the Indian race for solar energy and will add 2000 MW to the solar park in the next 3 years, covering 5,000 km of canals and meeting 15% of their demand.

3. Construction of the 3 largest solar farms in the world (California)

California completed this year 3 of the 7 largest solar farms of the world. The Topaz Solar Farm is 550 MW is currently the biggest of the world and will only be overtaken next year, by the two californianDesert Sunlight and Solar I+II (600 MW).  The California Valley Solar Farm reached 290MW this year and the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch was finished with 260 MW. 5 out of the 7 largest solar plants are now in California.

4. Creation of the largest marine sanctuary (USA)

Obama extended a marine sanctuary to transform into the world's largest marine sanctuary. He multiplied by 6 the surface of the existing area in the Pacific.

This is extremely important because it allows sustainable fishing. Fishing is forbidden in marine sanctuaries, so that fish can breed and develop peacefully.  Less than 1% of the oceans are protected that way.

5. The first European ad-free city (France)

Grenoble is the first European ad-free city! They will replace the advertisement boards with trees, avoiding visual pollution.

It was easy to do: the mayor just did not renew the contract with the advertisement company.

6. NASA's cheapest greenest building (California)

The NASA SustainabilityBase won architectural"Good Design is Good Business" award for being one of the greenest building of the world for a cost only 6% higher than average, an overcast cancelled in only 8 years,

Most of the heat management is done automatically with sensors and smart programs. Cooling is done through geothermal wells and more electricity than needed is produced through renewable energy.

Water management is 10% of an average building. Each employee has a personal energy dashboard, showing how much energy she is using. Electric light will have to be used only 40 days in a year thanks to proper use of the daylight.

7. Zero-waste lifestyle is now possible (USA-UK)

Lauren Singer has received massive echo for showing that a total zero-waste lifestyle is possible: she produces only compost-able products.

I have tried it and by 3 weeks, I was able to decrease my waste to 15% of the average and my non-recycling/ compostable waste to 1% of the average. If you want to try, you can find help here, and this website is awesome.


Zero-waste restaurants are also opening. The first is a fast-food in Chicago, that uses wind energy. They cook everything themselves with no wrapping. The second, Silo, is a restaurant in London, that brews his own alcohol, uses solar panels, smart water and an expensive compost machine that can turn 640 kg of organic waste into compost in 24h.

For both of them, ingredients come directly from local farms and all deco/building materials were vintage/recycled.

8. San Francisco forbid plastic bottles to become zero-waste (USA)

The 4-million-people city plans to bezero-waste by 2020. They made composting and recycling compulsory for everybody in 2009, including hotels and restaurants, forbid plastic bags in 2007 and plastic bottles in 2014. They have already reached a 80% zero-waste.

New-York (population: 19 million) also thinks about creating garbage islands to help recycling compost and getting greener spaces in Manhattan (pic on the right).

A few more things (USA, world Emirates)

Did you know that the greenest cities of the US (SF, Austin, Portland) are also the ones with the largest economical growth. American seem to do a lot, but there is much more happening, given US ranks only 21st in the world's Green economy.

Finally, have a look on the construction of Masdar City, the first zero-waste city, totally green (see video on the right).