Say NO to Plastic Bags Day – June 5th 2010

Bob — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:25:41 +0000

World Environment Day is a very special day that brings us all together for one purpose. To think of how we impact on our environment and to talk about ways we can mitigate that impact.

Every day the world consumes an estimated 1,440 million (1 million per minute) with an estimate of over 500 billion bags consumed every year. Less that 2% of these are recycled ending up in landfill, as windblown litter, or invading the rivers and oceans of the world. You can see the other devastating facts on the STOPlastic Bags Petition page. If you haven’t joined us in signing the petition please do. Sign HERE.

We also ask for your help to lobby your local elected officials and you can go here and copy the email to send to them. Not only is it good policy to ban plastic bags it is also GOOD POLITICS – Tell them so!

So on World Environment Day June 5^th join with us for the day when we all say in a loud voice ……….NO to Plastic Bags.

Grab yourself one of these Hand in Hand for Earth Bags to use on the day!

I would like to express the gratitude of the Foundation for the enthusiastic support provided for this campaign by the dedicated team of the United Nations Environment Program. Thank you everyone!

Want a weekly update of all the greatest posts on the web? Subscribe for the weekly VOICE FOR CHANGE Newsletter and never miss a story! CLICK Bob Williamson and in the subject line type SUBSCRIBE

Name The Day and lets get them to work!

Bob — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:44:56 +0000

There are lots of days floating around that are not performing any worthwhile purpose. There are a lot of days that do too. So here is the challenge the Foundation would like to set. Let’s get all these wasted days off the couch and make them perform a worthwhile job.

First lets list the ones that have already been taken and then everyone can have the job of picking one of the other slackers to get them going. You can CLAIM IT AND NAME IT!

I’m not going to try to list all that have already been taken except the obvious. Send me an email with the ones you know of and we’ll progressively add them to the list. One you’ll notice on the list below is World INTERdependence Day the 5th of July. That was declared last year by the Foundation so that one is now working for a worthwhile cause.

Now once the obvious additions you let me know should be added we’ll then take submissions for the rest of the days not doing anything worthwhile.

The person/group who names that day will have the day selected linked back to their cause web address like some you’ll notice below. So let’s get to it. CLICK HERE to send your email with the ones I have missed. You’ll note that some days are busy with more than one designation.

January

1st Jan New Years Day

19th Jan Martin Luther King Jr. Day

26th Jan Australia Day

February

14th Feb Valentines Day

16th Feb President’s Day

March

1st Mar Clean Up Australia Day

8th Mar International Women’s Day

15th Mar Cloth Diaper Day

17th Mar St Patricks Day

22nd Mar World Water Day

April

7th Apr World Health Day

10th Apr Good Friday

12th Apr Easter

25th Apr ANZAC Day

29th Apr International Guide Dog Day

May

25th May Memorial Day USA

June

5th Jun World Environment Day - Say NO to Plastic Bags Day

July

4th Jul Independence Day

5th Jul INTERdependence Day

August

12th Aug International Youth Day

September

1st Sep Labor Day USA

9th Sep 911 Remembrance Day

16th Sep International Day of Peace

October

4th Oct World Animal Day

13th Oct Columbus Day

16th Oct World Food Day

24th Oct United Nations Day

November

11th Nov Veterans Day USA – Remembrance Day Australia

16th Nov International Day of Tolerance

27th Nov Thanksgiving Day

December

1st Dec World AIDS Day

3rd Dec International Day of Disabled Persons

10th Dec Human Rights Day

25th Dec Christmas Day

26th Dec Boxing Bay

The last waltz – Bob Dylan and the band – I shall be released – HD

Bob — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:08:59 +0000

In a classic song of struggle “I Shall Be Released” performed By Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, The Band and Ron Wood, is as needed as a wake up call for many causes today, as it was when first performed.

CNNBC: “Glenn Beck Attacks Bob Williamson.”

Bob — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:25:03 +0000

Well as they say; if you don’t piss someone off every now and then – you just aren’t expressing your opinion!

See what Glenn Beck is saying about me!

Time to step up the pace to BAN THE BAG.

Bob — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:49:12 +0000

On World Environment Day June 5^th 2009 the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation with the help of its dedicated staff and all of you, launched the STOPlasticBags – Global action to Ban the Plastic Bag; forever. On September 26^th 2009 we held the first ‘Say NO to Plastic Bags Day’. The petition is going strong with over 1,350 signatures to date from all corners of the world.

So here is the challenge as we move closer to World Environment Day June 5^th 2010, when we will this year celebrate the day of action with a ‘Say NO to Plastic Bags Day’ and let’s STEP UP THE PACE and commence an email campaign around the world to all elected government officials. This is how we can all make a difference NOW!

Copy and paste the following (add your own words if you prefer) and email it to your local elected official. Note You’ll need to change the font color to black after you have pasted it to your email.

Dear…….

The Greenhouse Neutral Foundation with support from the United Nations Environment Program is calling to end the use of the non-biodegradable plastic bags worldwide by the stroke of midnight on December 31^st 2010.

I am asking you as my elected official to present the case for the banning the plastic bags into legislation.

There is overwhelming evidence that the environmental damage resulting from single use non-biodegradable plastic bags, is no longer acceptable in our community. This legislative action on behalf of our community is strongly and broadly supported. It is not only good policy – it is good politics. Please support this call to action as we will support your initiative.

You can view the facts of the STOPlasticBags campaign and petition here.

http://bit.ly/6ncUxg

I look forward to hearing from you on this urgent issue.

Yours truly,

Time to Choose: Elephants or Ivory?

Bob — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:56:58 +0000

In 5 days, 2 African governments will try to pry open the worldwide ban on ivory trading — a decision that could wipe out whole elephant populations and bring these magnificent animals closer to extinction.

Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban, but this would send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it’s open-season on elephants. Another group of African states have countered by calling to extend the trade ban for 20 years.

Our best chance to save the continent’s remaining elephants is to support African conservationists. We only have 5 days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every 3 years. Click below to sign our urgent petition to protect elephants, and forward this email widely — the petition will be delivered to the UN meeting in Doha:

SIGN the Petition No More Bloody Ivory

Over 20 years ago, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) passed a worldwide ban on ivory trading. Poaching fell, and ivory prices slumped. But poor enforcement coupled with‘experimental one-off sales’, like the one Tanzania and Zambia are seeking, drove poaching up and turned illegal trade into a lucrative business — poachers can launder their illegal ivory with the legal stockpiles.

Now, despite the worldwide ban, each year over 30,000 elephants are gunned down and their tusks hacked off by poachers with axes and chainsaws. If Tanzania and Zambia are successful in exploiting the loophole, this awful trade could get much worse.

We have a one off chance this week to extend the worldwide ban and repress poaching and trade prices before we lose even more elephant populations — sign the petition now and then forward it widely:

Across the world’s cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination — Babar, Dumbo, Ganesh, Airavata, Erawan. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being annihilated. As long as there is demand for ivory, poaching and smuggling will happen, but this week we have a chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals’ profits — sign the petition now:

As long as there is demand for ivory, elephants are at risk from poaching and smuggling — but this week we have a chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals’ profits — sign the petition now:

Change in a changing climate

Bob — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:18:56 +0000

Drawing from the Loess Plateau experience in China, this documentary demonstrates that it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to restore ecosystem functions in areas where they have been lost, to fundamentally improve the lives of people who have been trapped in poverty for generations, and to sequester carbon naturally.

Is there Life in a Sea of Plastic?

Bob — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:38:06 +0000

Greenhouse Neutral Foundation comment: Although this short 30 second presentation does not dwell on the toxicity of the plastic plague in our oceans, let us not forget that many of these plastics contain BPA now being recognised as a harmful carcinogenic toxin. We are now being warned about its effect, but who will warn the oceans wildlife?

Presentation via Treehugger.

Recent research is shedding light on the disturbing state of our planet’s oceans and the incredible amount of waste that has collected at sea, but sometimes a shocking video is more helpful in advancing the urgency of the problem. In this animated PSA produced for The Surfrider Foundation’s project Rise Above Plastics, the message is clear: “Plastics kill 1.5 million marine animals each year.” Sure, the video’s portrayal of the ocean being impassably cluttered with plastic waste may be a bit hyperbolic, but for the ocean life killed by the world’s refuse washed at sea, it couldn’t be more appropriate.

Plastic waste has become so widespread throughout the world’s oceans that there are 46 thousand pieces of plastic in every 2.5 square kilometers of ocean surface, according to the United Nations. Much of this plastic is mistaken for food and ingested by marine life, like fish, turtles, whales, and birds.

According to Jornal A Tribuna, six years ago, a Minke whale was found dead in Normandy, France, with 800 pounds of plastic bags in its stomach. Birds have also been seen trying to feed bits of plastic to their young, believing it to be food.

While large pieces of waste could hypothetically be collected in an attempt to clean the ocean, the real problem lies in the granule remnants of degraded plastics–which is often mistaken for food by smaller animals. Once ingested, the plastic can remain inside the digestive tract of fish, birds, and turtles for 10 to 15 months, making it more difficult to absorb nutrients from real food.

So many of the problems facing the world’s oceans can be traced back to improper waste management, and increasing awareness about its impact on sea life could be capable of slowing the trends–and sometimes a 30-second PSA is just the thing to catch people’s attention.

Awakening with Nature

Bob — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:47:24 +0000

Over the coming weeks and months the Foundations very special guest contributor Lee Hiller, will share her rekindled love of all that makes our fight on Terra so essential that we win for future generations. The fragility of this ecosystem she is privileged to roam and share will inspire many. Thank you Lee!

When Bob Williamson asked me to write for his very popular Greenhouse Neutral Foundation online publication, I was both thrilled and surprised. Although I had always been what I would call environmentally aware, it was only recently that I had begun to voice my opinion in a very public way. I had never considered myself to be a warrior in the battle to protect our planet earth. That changed as I began hiking nearly every day in Hot Springs National Park, taking photographs and blogging about my experiences.

Growing up in the suburbs outside Portland, in the State of Oregon, in the USA; I was no stranger to environmental issues. When I was growing up Tom McCall, the last Republican Environmentalist was Governor of Oregon and signed into law Oregon’s 1971 bill, the first such legislation passed in the United States. The Governor and other community leaders established SOLV (originally called Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) in 1969. Like many Oregonians starting in the early 80s I participated in the biannual clean up of the state, by hiking the beaches and waterways picking up trash. I never considered participating recycling and picking up litter as anything special, it was part of being an Oregonian.

Thirty years later I have worked and lived in many parts of the world working as an Information and Technology (IT) Specialist. Computers became my focus and exploring the great outdoors as I once enjoyed doing with my Father fell by the wayside. I had become a tech driven gadget loving couch potato, rarely spending anytime outside and totally disconnected from Nature.

In 2009 I met my fiancé’ Cartoonist Rick London and one of the first things he said to me was “I live across the street from a national park; you are going to love my mountain”. What I discovered when I arrived in Hot Springs was our home is surrounded by Hot Springs National Park and there are five different mountains to love. My new home is America’s oldest and only urban national park in the United States.

A month after my arrival in November of 2009 I began hiking in the park once or twice a week for recreation and to take photographs. Everything changed in January 2010, I became aware of the subtle elements that made up the various eco-systems within the park and began blogging about them. What began as a hike a couple times a week has grown to a near daily hike to see what the park would reveal. Each blog entry became evidence to support the changes that are needed to ensure the park and the wildlife that calls it home more than survive, but thrive.

My photographs are a look at the lives of the park inhabitants, climate variations and the external forces that impact their lives. The “who and what” that affects the park, this includes the presence of dogs, litter, traffic and vandalism. Each day I am compelled to learn more about the animals, plants and micro climates on each of the trails. I realize this park is under siege from the very urban environment that makes its access so unique. There appears to be little or no local voices advocating for the changes needed to ensure the park will be conserved for future generations as per the National Park Service mission statement.

I have become an “Eco-Angel”, not the fluffy winged harp playing version, but a warrior in the mold of the arch-angel Michael; my purpose, defending the rights of the park and its inhabitance. If I at least in some small way help to preserve and restore this one park, then I can be proud of my life on this planet we call Earth. As my 53^rd birthday draws closer I believe this is what I was meant to be doing and I am on the right path.

Visit Lee and say hello at her inspiring blog Hike Our Planet: Hot Springs National Park

Australia drops to its knees and weeps – A future without BEER?

Bob — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:35:11 +0000

In the book ZERO Greenhouse Emissions I deal in some detail with the future issue of water scarcity, so this article in Techeye.net caught my attention ‘Beer threatened by climate change’. In the book I point out – excerpt Fosters Group openly and transparently in their “Sustainability report for 2007” details global operations water usage of 27,198 megaliters, 3.3 litres of water per litre of beer. End excerpt. And of course when you add in that the aluminum can consumes 25.75 litres of water in the smelting process; the future of a can of Fosters looks pretty bleak. So enjoy the article and the rendition of ‘A pub with no beer’ by the Dubliners. I’m off to the pub before they run out!

Beer threatened by climate change

Entire world thrown into sheer panic

The adverse effects of climate change are manifold and well documented, but to be honest they aren’t really affecting us here in merry old England so why the hell should we actually care?

So some country that no one has ever heard of is going to be underwater in a few years? Fine. Much of the Netherlands will be flooded? Bovvered. Swathes of people on the African sub-continent are going be subject to ravaging droughts? Ain’t my problem.

Well not any longer. Climate change has officially become A BAD THING folks. That pint of cold, frothy, amber liquid that you look forward to at the end of every hard days’ work is now under threat as brewers face up to the affect of climate change on the production of beer.

A report by Times Online has shown that a global water crisis is creating panic among many industries, and is likely to be of particular harm to brewers with a pint of beer containing 95 percent water.

“Of course the ingredients and knowhow that go into making a good pint are crucial, but water is the lifeblood of the brewing,” says David Holmes, master brewer at Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Kent.

Responsible for creating such favourites as Bishops Finger, Spitfire and Canterbury Jack, Shepherd Neame is Britain’s oldest brewery producing 200,000 barrels of beer a year. Unfortunately Holmes’ brewery is situated in Kent, one of the driest areas in England and already subject to many water restrictions, a situation likely to be pushed to breaking point with expectations that by 2025 there will be shortages of more than a billion litres a day.

Holmes, who is married to a master brewer, the lucky sod, is already trying to adapt to the shortages:

“These days we’re very conscious of water usage. In former times water would be spraying everywhere as barrels and storage tanks were cleaned — it would take 12 or 14 pints of water to make one pint of beer. Now, with strict computer controls, we’ve got that ratio down to between five and six pints of water for one pint of beer.”

And it is not just smaller scale breweries that are being hit. SABMiller, who are responsible for Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller and Grolsch – and therefore responsible for most of the aggravated assaults in and around Wetherspoons pubs – are highly susceptible to the global effects of water shortages. Producing 37 million pints of beer every year, they are feeling the drain of resources across the globe.

“In many areas we’re going to have to cut back on water usage fairly dramatically. The beverage industry as a whole is highly aware of the long-term risks water scarcity holds – if the issue isn’t tackled then sales and revenues are going to be hit,” warns Andy Wales, head of sustainable development at SABMiller.

In Australia the situation is looking equally dire. With further water shortages expected down under and greater competition for small supplies, climate scientist Jim Salinger is not optimistic for the future of beer production. “It will mean either there will be pubs with no beer or the cost of beer will go up,” claimed Salinger, tears falling into his can of Fosters.