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October 27, 2009Another victory in Lapland
There's rejoicing in Finland, where we just notched up another victory protecting some of Europe's last old growth forests!
Just 2 months after a lawsuit against Finland's State forest service was settled by a deal which will protect the Nellim forest, we have reached a major victory on our other old-growth forest campaign. We’re pleased to announce that following intensive negotiations, Finnish State forest enterprise, Metsähallitus, has agreed to leave 35 000 hectares of boreal forests intact. It's a decision that significantly improves old-growth forest protection and will bring peace to the forests and its inhabitants.
Ask Questions
In TIME magazine's Heroes of the Environment, Cameron Diaz was praised for taking a stand for the environment. Why? For asking questions. Sounds simple but if you think about it, we spend so much of our time looking for answers that we forget about the power of questions.
As TIME rightly points out, it's easy for celebrities to put on an earnest face and tell us average folks to start driving hybrid cars and investing in solar panels because, unlike the average person, they don't gasp at the cost of a hybrid car or a row of solar panels. But unlike the average celebrity, Diaz isn't telling us what to do. Instead, she's asking questions and asking you to start asking questions, as well. Traveling across America she's posing the questions, "where does your water come from? How about the air you breathe and the food you eat?"
A Wiseman’s words: choose losing money over destructing the environment
This week, the Dalai Lama visited Calgary, Alberta, Canada and spoke about the problems the world is facing today. Thousands gathered to hear the spiritual leader’s compassionate message and opinion about issues such as military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"The destruction of your neighbour is destruction of yourself,” he said. “The concept of war is out of date."
While on the topic of destruction, when asked about Alberta’s oilsands, the spiritual leader said, in a choice between "destruction of environment or losing money, then we have to choose losing money."
His words of wisdom ring so true.
What makes Europe greener than the US?
Did you know that the average American produces three times the amount of CO2 emissions as a person in France? In this article from Yale Environment 360, a US journalist now living in Europe gives her insights in to why Europe is greener than the US.
From taking trains over taxis, and using a drying rack instead of a dryer, these are her observations. What do you think, agree or disagree?
Powering the plunder, fueling the fire.
In Chinese culture, the number 8 is considered a lucky number, as the word for eight sounds similar to the word meaning ‘prosper’ or ‘wealth’ . I am pretty sure the Chen family network of companies had this in mind when naming their fuel tanker, the MV Fong Seong 888. For them, it means good fortune and prosperity.
However, on the high seas the tanker means bad fortune and poverty for the Pacific nations.
© Greenpeace/Paul Hilton
The fuel tanker Fong Seong 888 refueling the purse seiner MV American Legacy. Both are owned by the Taiwanese Chen family network of Companies.
Solar Focus: China invests in biggest solar project, private sector struggles
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
Focus on Solar Energy:
While China invests in the world’s biggest solar project, the recession could cut the solar industry in half by 2010.
The Information Network, a market research firm, announced that 50 per cent of solar panel manufacturers might not survive next year. While the cost of solar panels is going down, making solar panels more accessible for the private sector, the economic recession is making business tough for the manufacturers. (Could we be looking at a solar energy oligopoly in the near future?)
Meanwhile, First Solar Inc., a U.S.-based renewable energy company, just announced it will build the world’s largest solar power plant in China as the country plans to increase non- polluting electricity generation.
The Dirtiest Oil on Earth and Japan's ambitious aim
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
The Dirtiest Oil on Earth
Canada's tar sands, located in the province of Alberta, are an oil reserve the size of England
On Thursday, Native American and environmental groups filed suit in federal court in San Francisco, challenging a proposed tar sands oil pipeline that would bring the dirtiest oil on Earth from Canada to the United States.
The Alberta tar sands have made headlines and television news for months but reached a high last month when the U.S. State Department approved the Enbridge Energy's Alberta Clipper pipeline, permitting 450,000 barrels of tar sand oil per day to be pumped from northern Alberta, Canada to Wisconsin, U.S. for refining.
The Tale of the Broken Freezer at Sea
Three days in the high seas, and the Esperanza has already made some disturbing discoveries:
A black dot.
Peering through the binoculars, that's how the Taiwanese fishing vessel appeared - a black dot silhouetted against the horizon.
In the past few days, activities have been like tricks from a magician’s hat – you never know what the hand will pull out. Just yesterday, we fished out a banned fish aggregating device (FAD). Today, during a routine reconnaissance, we chanced upon two fishing boats transferring tuna from one to the another.
Where the honeybees at?
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
The Buzz behind the honeybee headlines:
Affected by climate change, pesticides and insect deceases, the number of honeybees in the wild and in managed honeybee colonies continues to decline. In 2006, scientists witnessed a decline so bad they gave it a name - Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). What's strange about CCD is that, while it leaves colonies bereft of adult bees, there are no dead bees to be found near the hives.
Recently this topic has been grabbing headlines again as a declining honeybee population profoundly affects agriculture. While other species are capable of pollination, none do so as efficiently as the honeybee. Organizations and governments are trying hard to raise awareness about this growing problem (some in more entertaining fashion than others, see below).
Engaging Generation Y in environmental activism
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
In the same way previous generations engaged in anti-war activism, Environmental organizations and political leaders alike, are trying to find ways to engage people, particularly young people, in environmental activism.
Well aware that young people, a.k.a Generation Y, are connected to some piece of digital technology at all times, leaders and organizations are experimenting with new and trendy ways to get their message out and people in. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Web chats, Blogs, etc – they’re all up on their technology.
The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for example, likes to tweet. He’s also on the various social networking sites and recently held a live webchat about climate change. Now if only he’d listen to the demands and did more acting than talking…
Men, pick up the slack!
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
Men are slacking when it comes to climate change, at least that’s what a recent survey in Australia showed. The survey conducted by the Australia Institute, found women are doing more to tackle climate change, and plan to do more in the future, than men. (Maybe that’s why the emissions trade scheme isn’t getting passed in Australia’s gov’t)
The survey showed that women are taking climate friendly actions such as installing energy-efficient light globes, spending less time in the shower, and turning off appliances at the switch.
The online poll of 1000 people, who the institute said were representative of the general population, found about 80 per cent believed climate change was occurring and Australia needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
So either women spend more time on computers filling out surveys or men, you need to pick up the slack.
Don't let us down, Australia
As expected, Australia's parliament rejected a plan for the world's most ambitious emissions trade regime yesterday. The defeated carbon pollution reduction scheme intended to reduce emissions in the biggest per-capita emitter in the developed world, Reuters reports.
Despite the rejection, the government renewed its pledge to push through the scheme before the December U.N. meeting in Copenhagen, where world nations will try to hammer out a broad global climate pact and where Australia is eager to take a leading role.
Insults and actions at the Pacific Island Forum, June was devastating for Amazon forest, and developing countries want to see money.
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
Coal or Climate, Kevin?
When Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australia’s Prime Minister in December, 2007, his statements were promising as he signed the Kyoto Protocol and called climate change "the greatest moral, economic and social challenge of our time." His actions since however, have been hypocritical.
Timed with the Pacific Islands Forum, where a regional approach to climate change will be discussed, GP activists climbed the Abbot Point coal terminal in north Queensland to protest Australia's inaction to climate change.
"As Pacific Island leaders call for the 40-45 per cent emission cuts needed to save their homes, Kevin Rudd presides over a massive coal industry expansion while posing as a climate hero,'' said Fijian Greenpeace campaigner Lagi Toribau. "Australia's Prime Minister needs to back Pacific calls for concrete action, not try to bully their leaders into submission.''
Putin touches the bottom of world's deepest lake, Indonesian fires still raging, the debate about organic food, and more
This is the first in a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
In Short:
Reuters reports that India will pump about USD 200 million into the protection of its forests. Forests are critical to India's climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, the environment minister said. Forestry forms will also play an important part of the international negotiations for a new U.N. climate change deal in Copenhagen in December. India considers its efforts to conserve and increase forest cover as vital as reducing deforestation.
Don't be a twit on twitter
We found this animation on Boing Boing and all of us here at the secret Greenpeace mountain laboratory fell out of our chairs with laughter.
If you're on Twitter like me you'll know that there's a whole heap of s#!t out there but despite all the noise it's a powerfully popular communications tool. I'm finding twitter more and more useful for engaging with people who can help make this world a better place.
Some folks like Jon Stewart might not be convinced (and we've got a few in our communications department!) but like it or not - twitter is here to stay. You might as well do something good with it.
Are you just twasting twime on twitter or are you using the twitterverse to make a difference in the real world?
Follow us on twitter but don't expect us to follow you back if you're only yapping about how much you love pickles or that you have a warm fluttery feeling in your chest!
Mass Civil Disobedience
If you are anywhere near Washington, DC today and you want to be part of the what will likely be the largest demonstration on climate change, get yourself down to the capitol to be a part of the action.
Ninety organizations and thousands of people will be marching right down to the the Capitol Power Plant to demand that the administration confront the climate crisis and make a solutions a priority. The power plant is a 99-year-old facility that heats and cools the halls of Congress, still burns coal and accounts for one-third of the legislative branch’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Save the Planet: NOW stops in Belém
The Arctic Sunrise arrived in Belém, Brazil as part of the Save the Planet: NOW about a week ago. Our first open boat was a success despite the heavy rain during some parts of Sunday: more than 2,500 supporters visited the ship during the weekend (some waiting in line for more than 2 hours!)
Special thanks to all of the supporters that came down to the open boats and the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success!
When change is history, and change is common sense
Karen Sack writes:
Washington DC, 20 January 2009; 12.48pm -- I have just witnessed, along with millions of others around the world, the swearing in of President Barack Obama of the United States of America. I was going to be on the Mall just left of the Washington Monument (had the jumbotron screen all scoped out after the concert on Sunday), and was all ready to go, when, as life would have it, my 11 year old son woke up with a horrible cold and fever. Standing in the freezing cold for 6-7 hours was just not on the cards for today, so we said farewell to the other half of the family and settled down in front of our minitron (tv).
We watched along with everyone else around the world, and tears streamed down my face at the thought of this great man, an African, just like me, taking on the mantle of one of the greatest offices in the world. Our stories are a bit different (ok, a lot different), but I like to think that somewhere there are some parallels. Obama grew up a black African in the white world of the United States. I grew up a white African in the confused and oppressed country of South Africa – what should have been a black world.
When change is history, and change is common sense
Karen Sack writes:
Washington DC, 20 January 2009; 12.48pm -- I have just witnessed, along with millions of others around the world, the swearing in of President Barack Obama of the United States of America. I was going to be on the Mall just left of the Washington Monument (had the jumbotron screen all scoped out after the concert on Sunday), and was all ready to go, when, as life would have it, my 11 year old son woke up with a horrible cold and fever. Standing in the freezing cold for 6-7 hours was just not on the cards for today, so we said farewell to the other half of the family and settled down in front of our minitron (tv).
We watched along with everyone else around the world, and tears streamed down my face at the thought of this great man, an African, just like me, taking on the mantle of one of the greatest offices in the world. Our stories are a bit different (ok, a lot different), but I like to think that somewhere there are some parallels. Obama grew up a black African in the white world of the United States. I grew up a white African in the confused and oppressed country of South Africa – what should have been a black world.
Pink is the new green
The Greenpeace world is full of surprises. I was looking around our national websites to see if there was anything new I had missed, and found more than I bargained for. One of my all-time favorite authors, Meg Cabot, is donating all the profits from her latest book, Ransom My Heart, to Greenpeace USA. The name Meg Cabot might not be familiar, but her most popular book series, The Princess Diaries, should be, at least if you have a daughter under 16. I'm not going to write an entire review, but let's just say that Meg Cabot's books are too often dismissed as "brainless" by people who can't seem to look further than the pink sparkling covers and the tiara overload. Her teenage books tend to feature high school girls, but the dilemmas they are faced with are generally a lot more important than make-up and dresses.
Who is your hero?
Emily is my hero - who is yours?
As it's coming up to the end of the year I've been clearing out the closets in my laptop and tying up loose ends on our website. As a result I have found myself reminiscing about things that have happened over the last year or even further back...
I have been thinking about all of the wonderful projects I have been involved with this past year notably - defending the Pacific Commons and the Climate Rescue Station in Poland. And I feel lucky to be involved with such wonderful campaigns that are proving to have positive results! One of the questions I get asked when I discuss my work with friends and people I meet - is how I got involved with Greenpeace in the first place. I usually tell people that I became an online supporter and won a competition to be a volunteer for the GE campaign in China. But I often forget to mention that the reason I became an online supporter is because I read a tribute about a girl called Emily who was a Greenpeace activist that died while protecting the Amazon rainforest in December 2003.
She was without a doubt - the loveliest person anyone could ever hope to meet. I was totally inspired by her story and signed up as a Greenpeace online supporter as soon as I put down the January 2004 issue of the Ecologist Magazine where her tribute was printed amongst stunning photos illustrating the amazing work Emily had been involved with.
Now 5 years on - I'm looking back at her tribute page on our website and wondering what she would be doing now if she were still around today. I imagine that she would be on the Arctic Sunrise right now - as it prepares for an action packed visit to the Amazon. I am sure in spirit - she is. I hope that you will take a moment to read about Emily and enjoy her blogs from the Amazon tour she was on in 2003.
She is certainly one of my heroes (considering where she led me - she is actually my greatest) and I will always be grateful for learning about her life that day when I picked up the Ecologist.
Given the environmental challenges that we now face I figure we could all use some green heroic inspiration as we look to the year ahead of us. If you have an environmental hero from this year or from any other year - please tell us about them by leaving a comment.
Sharpe's Longclaw and nature conservation
Biodiversity is in the air! It's Heritage Week in my country, and there's a healthy number of emails and stories going around of nature conservation and appreciation. There's a great "what can we do ourselves, right now, to help" attitude too (could it be the effect of summer holidays?) -- it's so uplifting.
Like last week's carrotmob, A group of birdwatcher-bloggers have started a small environmental project which could really take off some day. For now it's simply an experiment to answer the question: Can a birdwatchers' blog (10000birds.com) gather enough donations to support a conservation project in Kenya?
The photo above is from that website -- a Longclaw in grasslands in Kenya. Take a look at this blog post to learn more about it, and how you can chin in to help.
(By the way -- over 400,000 people have watched our ForestLove video in just under a month. I'm telling ya, biodiversity is hot!)
The business press won't leave us alone
What do all these newspapers have in common: The Wall Street Journal, Germany's Financial Times and Handelsblatt newspaper, and the Dutch Financieele Dagblad? They've all reported positive stories about our campaigns and campaigners around the world in the past few days.
First Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal and the Netherlands's leading business paper, covered the success of our Dove palm oil video, and the effect it's having at Unilever HQ.
And this weekGermany's FT says the unlikely shift that GMO campaigners helped create in the European Commission has "seriously set back" the agro-chemical industry, something the industry would like to play down.
Finally (how's your German?), Handelsblatt.com printed a detailed feature on Lo Sze Ping, our top guy in Greenpeace China.
Iran centre of WWD proliferation
February 2, is World Wetlands Day, marking the date of the Convention on Wetlands in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. People from environment groups and conservation agencies working on wetlands protection and education are celebrating today under this year's banner: "Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People".
Maybe there's a Ramsar site near you -- they're all over the world.
The Ramsar Secretariat would love to hear from people (email link) who've done something today for World Wetlands Day -- photos from a group outing, or some crafts or art made with materials from your local wetland.
Want to make a cut-out marine or freshwater turtle? Download one of these beautiful print-and-make turtles from the Ramsar website.
UPDATE: Environmental News Service reports that to mark World Wetlands Day the Republic of Congo designated four new Wetlands of International Importance, including one that is the second largest in the world.
Bush's State of the Union
Personally, I didn't have the stomach to listen Bush's speech last night. Greenpeace USA executive director, John Passacantando did, and he doesn't mince words in his blog about it:
Tonight the President was in classic form, grinning and winking like he had just pulled off a great fraternity stunt at the Delta House… not acting like the first president in US history to start and oversee the loss of TWO wars. A President who fueled a Holy war and put our young people in front of shrapnel with the cavalier attitude of a man who has never done an honest day’s labor.
The Washington Post also fact checked key statements in Bush's speech.
Nuclear winter, Tiny cars and Green IT
Here's 3 articles I thought were worth sharing from my morning reading - after yesterday's entirely predictable and depressing announcement that the UK Government is going to spend more billions on failed nuclear power, Polly Toynbee has a good analysis on how it happened in the Guardian:
The danger is that politicians have decided they have taken the "hard decision" and nuclear is "the answer". If a "mix" is needed, the nuclear concrete mixers may grind up the wind, solar, wave and tidal generators that will be needed before the first lightbulb is lit by a new reactor. Meanwhile, the "nuclear answer" deceives the public and delays yet further the necessary great national energy-efficiency drive that politicians continue to avoid.
On another big environmental story - the Tata cheap car for India, Desicritics has an entertaining article, 'The Tata Nano: The Second Coming or Satan's Car?' It covers the debate around the launch of the car and its implications and includes a few barbed comments about our own slogans!
PRO - It's a marvel of engineering! The world will never be the same again! Tata rocks! The car has been reinvented again! And also, Jesus, Vishnu, Moses, Mohammad and the Buddha called and said this was the best they could have hoped for humanity. Amen.
CON - It's a disaster of unimaginable levels! Civilization as we know it has come to an end! Tomorrow we shall wake up and find ourselves choking to death! Polar bears will drown, whales will be eaten and tigers will end up as Viagra. I hope you're all happy, doing Satan's work!
Less entertaining but also informative about Green IT trends - 'More Steps Toward Eco-Friendliness: Lead-Free, Halogen-Free and Energy Efficiency' from GreenComputing.com. Green was definitely the PR buzzword at the annual gadget fest of the Consumer Electronics Show this year.
Your choice 2007
Here at Greenpeace we like to think we know a good story when we see it, but hard numbers count more than hunches - here's the top ten of what you, our audience liked reading on our website, viewing on our YouTube channel or in our newsletter in 2007:
Back in Sept we asked you to suggest names for humpback whales tagged as part of our Great Whale Trail site. Lots of interesting, moving, earnest and exotic names were on the short list but Richard had a hunch that including one slightly silly one on the short list just might be a good idea (personally I was rooting for 'James Bond: Licensed to Krill') and so Mister Splashy Pants made the short list. The story was BoingBoing-ed and Reddit-ed and the meme did what memes do. Over 150,000 votes later there's now a humpback whale called Mr Splashy Pants swimming around the Southern Ocean.
2: Baring all to highlight climate threat
We all know sex sells, so when our Swiss office revealed plans for famous artist Spencer Tunick to photograph six hundred people shedding their clothes on a glacier in the Swiss Alps we knew it would as some would say - 'have legs'. One of our team even took part - the rest of us just put up the photos. Unsurprisingly some 849,000 of you found the YouTube video more interesting that the written story!
First launched in August 06 our quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics has been attracting a lot of you gadget lovers to see which companies are doing most for the environment. The addition of games console makers in November drove a new peak in links from many gadget/technology blogs. With an average of more than 10,000 visitors every month it's also not gone unnoticed by most of the major companies.
God doesn't do waste
That's the message from the Archbishop of Canterbury for the new year. You can see his New Years address in full at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6qGu4vQJFA
France's Revolution Ecologique
Greenpeace campaigners are still in heated discussions this morning with the French government and representatives of other social partners at France's environmental policy making forum, le Grenelle de l’Environnement. If you can read French, keep an eye on the Greenpeace France homepage for the latest updates. If Al Gore is right, this is the beginning of an historic process.
Last night Al Gore joined Nicolas Sarkozy on stage, after the French President announced decisions made during the first two days of the forum, including notably a freeze on GM field trials and a ban on incandescent lightbulbs.
How many years does it take to change a lightbulb? If the lighting industry had their way, it would take until 2019. Sarkozy yesterday agreed to ban the most inefficient lightbulbs by 2010.
France's Environment Minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, said in an interview on Tuesday "if all of France switched lightbulbs, we could save (turn off) a nuclear power station."
There's more stuff in there about the climate and energy efficiency in particular. Indeed, at a glance much of this government's stated Révolution Ecologique (except the nuclear bits for now) looks like Greenpeace's Energy Revolution.
Protests about working conditions in France didn't stop after the original Grenelle (on labour issues) in May 1968. They spread, and inspired more protest and organizing around the world. It's that time again.
(Picture of Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson is especially for the Dutch Government, which last week U-turned on it's promise to ban the ill-fated incandescent lightbulb.)
UPDATE: The Grenelle is over. La Vie Verte just published a good roundup in English of what happened.
The Hip-Hop Environmentalist
Dr Octagon's latest single "Trees" is being used by MTV to promote awareness of the environment through the THINK campaign and $1 of each downloaded single will go to Friends Of The Earth on their BIG ASK campaign.
Respect!
Five eco blogs to visit for Blogday 2007
- First up is EKO((b))logas, a blog in Lithuanian about climate change and eco activism. (I spotted this blog via our who-links-to-us log for the Greenpeace 7 steps energy efficiency campaign... I don't speak Lithuanian.)
- Matt Prescott's Ban the bulb blog is another excellent grassroots activism site, chock full of useful information about those ill fated incandescent lightbulbs that waste so much energy.
- I read Cursor.org's Media Patrol every weekday for news on U.S. politics and foreign relations. It's easier to read than a newsreader filled with RSS feeds.
- I don't know how Pepijn and Juliette find the time to keep their blogs updated, and still do such sterling work in the Greenpeace Forum. They're stars! Go visit their blogs and say hello!
- Wait, that's five already! :-P
Still reading? Got a technorati account? Why not fave Greenpeace's MakingWaves blog (this one).
(technorati.com tag: BlogDay2007)
Thank you, Rachel Carson
©Greenpeace/Newman
I was a child of the 60s, and the place where I spent most of my youth was upstate New York in the United States.Largely agricultural, the area was heavily sprayed with pesticides. The marshes at the north end of Cayuga lake were sprayed with DDT. Because of this, as a child, I thought of eagles and herons as exotic species that featured in picture books, and lived far away. Not so. Eagles, herons, and a handful of other raptors and large bird species once ranged across upstate New York. But by the time I was a child, they were all gone.
It took a Zoologist named Rachel Carson to figure out why. Because before she wrote Silent Spring, there was nobody charged with noticing. There was no Environmental Protection Agency. There were no eco-activists. If the US Department of Agriculture wanted to cause widespread collateral damage to birds and aquatic wildlife in its relentless pursuit of eradicating perceived pests, who was to raise a hand in protest?
The book Rachel Carson wrote so profoundly awoke a complacent public, it changed the world. The EPA, Greenpeace, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts in the US are arguably all direct decedents of Silent Spring, along with bans on dozens of chemicals she targeted in her pages.But Silent Spring wasn't about chemicals.
What Carson exposed was more: a corporate, government, and social blindness to consequences, to linkedness, to the basics of balance and response in natural systems.
When Greenpeace rocks Beijing
by Kontau in Beijing.
I was standing behind the stage when Imogen Heap, Nadirah X, Greenpeace guitarists and Chinese rock musicians joined together to perform the song "Go Green". Thousands of young people were waving their hands with the peace sign, and singing along the chorus "Go green, Greenpeace!" This was truly the most memorable moment of my Greenpeace life.
Mammalian Super Tree
Via the BBC I just found this rather wonderful image. It shows the explosion of types of mammal species that happened over time. If you download the complete pdf file (it's 1.6 MB) you can zoom all the way down to the individual species.
The tragedy is that this explosion of diversity is now being put into reverse, the next decades will see this tree becoming less, not more dense as man made extinctions wind back the evolutionary clock. Unless of course we do something about it.
Cultural Baggage
I was taught a lesson today that I suspect will live with me for a long time. To cut a long story short, I had written an article for the website about the Congo rainforest. A Belgian colleague asked me to change the wording in one paragraph as it could be perceived as offensive to African people.
My initial reaction was to be a little defensive, both because I believe that I am culturally sensitive and also because sometimes I can be a little possessive about my writing. The conversation in my head was full of indignation, the very suggestion that I wasn't being culturally sensitive was in itself, offensive.
Bush chills with MSN pals
Savaglio/TBWA, an ad agency in Argentina, recently tendered for some work with us. Tucked onto a CD chuck full of good ideas ranging from an entire TV series concept to new T-shirt designs, they included this minty-cool piece of digital candy as a present. Given George's lackluster performance and unambitious State of the Union address the other night, it seems the right time to share it. Click on the image.
Queen Elizabeth goes green for Christmas
It's the same every year - each time Christmas comes around, your shelves become littered with cards featuring bedraggled robins and mawkish fireside scenes until they go into the recycling bin. But not this year, because we've cooked up something a little bit different.
It's an e-card, but not just any old e-card. With the help of Her Royal Highness Queen E (or at least, someone who looks very much like her), you can send friends and family alike the Queen's Alternative Christmas Speech, a customised message full of Christmas cheer that's eco-friendly in two ways. First, no trees will have been harmed in making it, and secondly Queen E has plenty of practical advice to impart that will help one and all have a greener Christmas. If you know someone who could improve their ways, this is the card for you.
For those not in the know, here in the UK (and, I believe, across the Commonwealth), our television screens are blessed each Christmas Day with a personal message from our Head of State. It's kind of like the US Presidential address but with more corgis and tweed, and receives a fair bit of lampooning.
Green and Happy Christmas...
Elaine's been driving us all mad (well, at least since I arrived in Amsterdam yesterday) with her Christmas card plans. For me, it's a little early - am I a Scrooge to not really think about Christmas until about December 20th? Anyway, enjoy, and spread far and wide!
300 million and counting
At 07:46 East Coast Time on the 17th October 2006 in the United States, a momentous event occurred. The 300 millionth American was born. Or as some people in the US have been pointing out, they most likely just walked across the border. The media not surprisingly prefers the baby story; a photogenic child untainted by the dirty politics of US immigration so we'll stick with the script. 300 million seems small potatoes compared to the enormous populations of China or India, both well over a billion people and still growing, but it is the average US citizen's consumption of resources that makes 300 million such a frightening milestone.
Humanity has started eating the planet
There was a fairly stiff article in today's Independent (UK):
"Today is a bleak day for the environment, the day of the year when mankind over-exploits the world's resources - the day when we start living beyond our ecological means."
That's it, folks today was Overshoot Day. According to Global Footprint Network, October 9th was when we began using more than our fair share of the Earth when "humanity started eating the planet".
Assuming that the world has a certain quantity of natural resources that can be used sustainably each year, October 9th is the date on which we've used it up. We've gone into the red, and the interest rates have started kicking in.
Our place in the world (Röyksopp video)
For me, having a good attitude towards the environment is realising that "the environment" isn't somewhere else - it's where you're sitting right now. And part of that realisation is how certain actions - those that we take for granted - have a knock-on effect. The electricity used to read this webpage has to come from somewhere - from fossil fuels, nuclear, hydroelectric or maybe wind. So there's a chance that reading this page has caused chimney somewhere to pump a few more particles of CO2 into the sky. When you wash up or flush the toilet, the water has to come from somewhere - and go somewhere else.
While this amazing video by Norwegian band Röyksopp doesn't actively promote a green message, it really struck me on how well it illustrates the interconnectivity between things - even at a mundane, domestic level. There are no isolated actions...
Daryl Hanna has a vlog
It's an eco-focused video blog. Looks pretty professional, but in a friendly way. Basically, it looks like she travels around doing cools stuff and make video blogs about things that are important to her. Lots of animal rights and environmental topics. I like it.
My favorite episode so far is "bike culture". Riding a bike in most US cities is an act of activism. It's almost like civil disobedience. Most cities are so car focused. You have to get out there on the streets to understand what I'm talking about. But it's fun, it costs less, you stay healthier.
Right now I'm living in Amsterdam, where biking to work is the normal thing. And it's great. Tons of bike paths, and my route goes through Rembrandt Park. Very relaxing.
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