TOYOTA’S POLLUTION-EATING SHRUB
by Sarah Rich
While we’re on the subject of biotech, here’s a bit of interesting news from Japan. Toyota’s non-automotive division has developed a shrub related to the Cherry Sage that absorbs air pollution more effectively than related plant varieties. Creators say that the Kirsch Pink shrub is 1.3 times more effective at both absorbing harmful pollutants and reducing the urban “heat island effect,” which causes increased temperatures in cities due to infrastructure that deflects sunlight and heat.
Toyota says that the seemingly unrelated biotech and auto industries are actually standing on common ground in that “they are both aiming to achieve a sustainable society.” While this statement makes me groan, there are those that argue that the only ones who can get us out of our mess are the ones that got us here in the first place. If this is true, the auto industry is bound for heroism in the years to come. Selling flowers seems like a good way to start making some environmentally-minded friends.
via: Green Car Congress via The Japan Times Online
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Alright, this seems like a really great development at first but upon further evaluation I’ve come to this conclusion. Mass producing combustion engines and processing oil for petroleum products was a mistake and the environment is suffering from this mistake. Genetic engineering is another unnatural mistake that humans are bringing about, it is not the way to fix mistakes we have made in the past. We as a people have to get over ourselves and figure out a way to work with nature to solve our problems. The siple fact that nature can be expoited doesn’t make it the right thig to do!