Inspiration..

Yesterday, WWF awarded China it's highest conservation award for their continued effort to save the Pandas. Right now there's about 20 fragmented populations of Pandas, and China is poised to gain another 100 million hectares of conservation land to try and link these populations into one healthy population.

Anyway, there's still less than a 1000 left in the world, so there's still a long way to go for the pandas.

Green Olympics

Okay, so if no one read this,the 2008 Olympics in Beijing would just come and go like every other. But no one would know all the work that's been put in to make this the 'greenest' Olympics ever. Instead of using the money to build new stadiums and buildings, Beijing is using the money to install solar panels, low-emission engines on buses and grass roof tops to help curb the environmental impact that usually accompanies the Olympics.

It's quite smart really, because once it's built then it's there to stay and the city will benefit for time to come. There's no downside whatsoever. If only more cities were like this instead of trying to impress the world with the biggest, most impractical things just for 2 weeks of fame.

Getting to the root of the cause...

To stop the haze, you quite literally have to dig deep into peat soils and put out the fires burning deep within. Peat soil is essentially composed of dead plants that can't decompose due to the high mineral and water content. Takes about 10 years to accumulate 1cm of peat soil...but really...doesn't matter when it goes up in flames every year does it?

An Inconvenient Truth

I managed to catch Al Gore's presentation on global warming called 'An Inconvenient Truth'. It really spoke to me. Well of course it did...he was talking about all the warning signs i've been giving and he was sharing this with auditoriums full of people and what more...he's gone all over the world giving this presentation.

What i loved best was all the times he paused to let people reflect on what he was saying. Especially one part, where he had a slide showing a balancing scale with the Earth on one end, and gold bars on the other. Which do you value more? Money or Earth...your home? And it wasn't about pointing fingers at people. He just let them know that these problems were there. And it was up to us to change it..and how easy it was to change it..by just making the right choices.

Download it guys...it's really easy to watch. And why not learn something new instead of watching another comedy?

Poverty vs. Greed = environmental problems?

So the other day, i was having a chat with a friend of mine, and we got around to talking about poverty and greed...and which one causes environmental problems..

Well if you look at it, you could say that both cause problems because well, without money, a country can't afford to educate their people about the environment, or buy/implement expensive 'green' technology, or protect their environment. And with greed, the want for more everytime will inevitably lead to unsustainable development and use of resources and therefore lead to environmental problems.

But of course sitting on the fence is an easy job. For me, i say GREED is the catalyst for all environmental problems. The world is NOT poor. Just like the supposed 'shortage of food', it's merely an uneven distribution of resources which goes to the richer countries. And poverty is definitely not an excuse for countries such as the US and Australia who, as rich as they are, refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement and remain as two of the biggest contributors in CO2 emissions. Plus the fact that richer countries can help poorer countries financially, but no, they must satisfy their greed first.

Money drives the world, and the want and need for money to survive will ironically be the end of the human race if they continually put the environment in the background.

Dying polar bears

Today it was highlighted in the newspapers that the Singapore Zoo has been practically 'boiling' their polar bears to death. While panda bears are used to temperatures at -20 degrees celsius, their indoor habitat at the zoo is at +17 degrees. They've shown signs of distress for many years now but apparently nothing has been done.

Help them today by appealing to the Singapore Zoo to stop the slow death of their polar bears!

Tip of the day

ALL RECEIPTS, yes, those annoying pieces of paper, are RECYCLABLE.
It's easy! Just have a small box to keep them in, and when it's full, bring them to a recycling centre!

Anyway, it makes for good account-keeping since you'll have all the receipts to look at how much you've spent! =)