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Even at a time when the number of tourists interested in visiting places of historical interest has dwindled to some extent, Prague has maintained its repute as one of the most popular historical destinations of the world. The city with architectural splendors in the form of palaces, museums and galleries is a must visit for those who have a keen interest in history or architecture. This city never ceases to surprise people and has something new to offer at all times. As a result, it is commonly believed that one trip to Prague is not enough because it has a lot to offer. Prague is known as the home to several well-known museums some of which that date back to the 18th century.
Lobkowicz Palace in Prague houses perhaps the most famous museum in the city. This vast palace has a museum that treasures some of the most precious art prices and antiques possessed by the Lobkowicz family. The Prague national museum is another well known museum in the city. Located in the Wenceslas Square, this museum is to be found inside a building which is the landmark of the Square. Being the oldest museum in the city, the National Museum hosts several exhibits that reflect the glorious past of the country. In addition, this museum is known for exhibiting some rare paintings by world famous European artists.
If the National Museum is famous for reflecting the history of Czech republic, the Museum of the City of Prague is a tribute to Prague city. Its chief attraction is the 20 sq ft model prepared by Antonin Langweil which depicts the city. Furthermore, there are some unique sculptures and ancient artifacts housed by this museum. Likewise, the National Gallery at Veletrzni Palace and Museum of Communism also deserve a special mention as these museums have depicted history from close quarters enabling visitors to travel back in time.
Roland Poitevin is a dedicated writer with a passion for business and environmental issues.
You can check out his new website at Island Range Hoods which helps people find the best new Range Hoods and information they are looking for relating to this subject.
Cleaning up Fossil Fuels 5 of 5 World Debate – BBC Discussion
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Although kelp grows in many locations, the kelp forests off the coast of San Diego are some of the richest and most developed beds on earth. Kelp is generally found in areas where nutrient levels are high. This often occurs where there is an upwelling of nutrients from deep waters or where nutrients are provided locally but other mean such as seal wastes. The size of the kelp beds vary from year to year, determined by water temperature and storm actions as well as various pollution and harvesting issues.
Kelp creates flat patches on the water, as the vegetative growth mutes the wave and wind action on the ocean’s surface. Close up, it looks like you are moving through the leaves at the very top of the forest canopy. Under water, it looks like a dimly lit forest with the sun’s rays piercing through a submerged forest.
The Kelp Plant
The kelp plant is one of the fastest growing plants on earth and under ideal conditions may grow a couple feet per day. It prefers water temperatures in the 50 – 65 degree F range and may reach upwards of 120 feet in height. Kelp anchors itself of the ocean floor by mean of a “hold fast” – a bunching together of the roots on rocky reefs or onto anything it can find to hold on to. As the leaves reach the surface of the water they spread out to form a canopy much the way trees in a forest do. Often the kelp branches will appear like deer antlers sticking out of the water – perhaps the analogy is a result of the author’s rural upbringing in Canada.
The kelp bed provides a habitat for a host of creatures, both herbivores and carnivores. It is a rich ecosystem with some eating the plant itself; some eating the plants springing up in the environment created by the kelp bed; and some eating the other animals that come to the kelp bed for food and shelter.
Uses for Kelp
The kelp plant has been used for thousands of years and has many uses. The beds off of San Diego were harvested beginning in 1911, which continued until 2005, when operations ceased due to economic issues.
Kelp is very rich in iodine and extracts are used to treat thyroid problems, as well as used to treat arthritis. Kelp-derived alginate is used as a thickener for ice cream, salad dressing and toothpaste, as well as a host of other products. Literally, it is contained in dozens of common consumables used each day.
Boating around Kelp
The kelp beds extend a couple miles off the shoreline of San Diego, but they are especially prevalent off of Point Loma. While boating, it is necessary to be careful venturing too deeply into kelp for a couple of reasons:
The kelp may wrap around the boat keel or prop shaft and you may get stuck;
Motoring through kelp may cause pieces of it to break off and clog the water intake ports on the engine, resulting in engine overheating.
The kelp beds provide a rich habitat and valuable natural resource that need to be protected. Many local residents are unaware of kelps existence or importance within the local maritime systems. Now that the reader has an understanding of this issue, please work to protect the kelp beds off our coast.
Captain Parks having spent many years chained to his computer desk, now spends most of his time working on the water in some manner. He has a USCG boat license, is a ASA Sailing instructor and a PADI Divemaster.
He owns a luxury charter yacht company in San Diego, CA and thoroughly enjoys sharing his passion for the ocean and it’s creatures with others.
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what are some environmental issues on long island new york?
Water pollution in Long Island Sound
MTBE contamination in groundwater wells
Pros and cons of wind power (should there be wind farms on LI?)
Smart growth/preservation of open space and farmland
What can LI do to slow climate change?
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In these days of environmental focus, nothing seems to arouse the passions like packaging. Unfortunately, much of the “bad news” that circulates on the topic is based on myth and hearsay. Maybe some of the following thoughts will help to correct some of the commonly quoted inaccuracies!
Myth 1: Food Packaging is filling our landfill sites
Publicly available information suggests that the total volume of waste produced from all sources in the UK per year is about 335 million tonnes. Only some 10% of this is accounted for by household waste – about 30 million tonnes. Building sites, as one good point of comparison, produce about four times as much rubbish as UK households. Packaging of all types represents some 5 million tonnes of household waste, and the amount actually due to food packaging is likely to be no more than 1 million tonnes. The weight of food packaging per person is less then 20kg per year.
Compare that 20kg of packaging with the 100kg per person per year of food waste that is put straight into the bin and you begin to see that packaging is actually the least of our worries. The environmental impact of the food waste is compounded by the fact that the vast majority of this is also dumped into landfill. Food going to landfill will gradually rot and produce methane – a gas of significantly greater concern regarding global warming than CO2.
Myth 2: Everything is over-packaged
Whilst there may be some mileage in this statement in certain sectors, food is unlikely to be one of them. The protection offered to food products by packaging provides a significant benefit, as illustrated by statistics from the World Health Organisation which suggest that food wastage in the third world can be as high as 50%, whilst in developed economies as low as 3%. Much of this difference is due to good quality packaging. Under-packaging is ten times worse for the environment that the same amount of over-packaging, as ten times more energy and material resources go into the production of goods and food than into their packaging.
Additional fuel in favour of sensible packaging is provided by the Cucumber Growers’ Associated, which showed that unwrapped cucumbers are unsaleable after three days. Plastic wrapping keeps them fresh for 14 days and untouched by dirty hands.
Cleaner and fresher produce and foodstuffs less likely to be damaged during transportation equals product less likely to be thrown straight into the waste bin. Smarter shopping and cooking, and more focus on producing less food waste is far more likely to provide the answer to environmental issues than simply reducing packaging. Myth 3: Cardboard packaging destroys trees
An unfortunate perception of the print and packaging world is that it “eats trees”! In fact, of the world consumption of wood only 12% is actually used for the manufacture of paper and board, and of this, just one tenth is used for cartons. Over half the cartons used in Europe are manufactured using recovered fibres from waste paper.
In Europe over 90% of the wood needed by the paper and board industry comes from European forests, and responsible packaging producers ensure that their purchases are made from FSC and PEFC certified suppliers, which means that any new wood used has come from responsibly managed forests. Overall there are more trees planted than felled in Europe, and as forests absorb CO2 they combat greenhouse gases, and therefore have a positive effect with regard to climate change.
Myth 4: Burying plastic is harmful to the environment
OK time for a bit of a controversial thought now! Anything that is taken to landfill and rots will give off methane – fact! Methane, as already mentioned, is a significantly harmful gas in environmental terms, and is the probably the weakness of the argument for so called “degradable packaging”. Whilst no one likes the idea of burying plastic, it will not rot, and therefore represents less of a climate change issue than burying food waste or even card and paper (which will also rot, but should, of course, be recycled instead). This text is not advocating burying plastics – just pointing out that actually in some ways it’s not as bad for the environment as burying other things!
Myth 5: Not enough packaging is being recycled
This might appear to be another controversial comment to describe as a myth, but the statement does require further analysis to extract the real truth. Some packaging materials are more difficult to recycle than others, and some are particularly expensive or energy inefficient to recycle. Generally speaking cartonboard is easy to recycle, and an ever increasing percentage of the population is doing so on a daily basis. Boxes and cartons are easy to disassemble and place into the recycling bin for fortnightly collection, as is probably typical across much of the country. Card that is not recycled will at least compost easily. More cartonboard/paper is recycled than another other packaging material. Once recent claim suggested that recycled waste paper represented around 63% of the fibre used to produce paper and board in the UK.
Summary
Food packaging represents a small fraction of UK waste
Food waste is significantly higher in terms of volume
Food waste is also significantly more damaging to the environment
Good packaging helps to prevent more waste
Cardboard packaging is produced from sustainable resources
Cardboard packaging is easy to recycle, and is being recycled
About the Author:
The Benson Group is one of the UK’s leading privately owned food packaging manufacturers, producing both food packaging and Healthcare packaging. The company employs some 790 personnel across four sites. Headquartered in the Midlands, the company also owns production sites in the North West and North East of the country.
