Japan holds whale activists without charge

Japanese police have arrested two Greenpeace activists for exposing a whale meat scandal involving the government-sponsored whaling programme. The two activists, Junichi Sato, 31, and Toru Suzuki, 41, are being investigated for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat which they presented as evidence.

Read the Full dossier of evidence HERE

You can join in and write to the Japanese Prime Minister in a simple online for HERE

Watch the Japanese problem :

Popularity: 7% [?]

Connect2Earth

Heard of connect2earth.org ?Its a initiative driven by WWF,IUCN and Nokia to get everyone to do their part in conserving the environment and the world!! The video above shows you that you don’t need to be a superhero to save the world.

What is it about?

We give you the one, the only, incredibly amazing, astoundingly stunning planet Earth.

It’s all we’ve ever had, and it’s pretty much all we’ve got left.

Yet research shows that we are using our planet’s resources at a faster rate than it can replenish them.

Climate change, deforestation, pollution, you name it. It’s all pretty much down to us and our insatiable appetite as a species.

So what do we do then?

How do we go about ensuring that the world we live on can indeed be lived on; within its means, within its capacity to support us. All of us.

How does it work?

You upload your photos, your videos or your text (a message, a poem, a slogan, a rant) via this web site or your mobile device.

Once your stuff is up, it can be voted and ranked by everyone else coming to this site. Those getting the most votes and the highest overall ranks will win some really cool mobile phones courtesy of Nokia (awarded at the end of each calendar month).

As we get closer to the World Conservation Congress in October 2008, a leading panel of figures will choose from all entries the ones that will be shown to the global gathering in Barcelona.

And from all of those, one person will be invited to come and attend the meeting and speak to the assembled mass of brains and influential brawn.

So now is the time to blow your trumpet, ring a few bells, sound the alarm - c’mon people!

Now’s our chance.

Let’s seize this day!

Popularity: 8% [?]

Bag It Up!

This is a awesome write up i got from one of my contacts on facebook about plastic bags. Everyone should read this one and well done Cass!!

It can take up to 1,000 years for plastic bags to biodegrade.

Yet, we continue to give out over a billion plastic bags worldwide every day.

Why then, isn’t the recent discussion of possibly banning plastic bags in Malaysia not treated with more gung-ho than Germany getting a kick in the goalpost in Euro 2008? Perhaps because those familiar with the perils of encouraging the use of plastic bags are shrugging their shoulders and saying, ‘Well, it’s about time,” while those who aren’t are questioning, ‘What’s the big freaking deal?’.
The big freaking deal - is that now that petrol price has gone up to RM2.70 per litre and global rates are at US$130 per barrel, we should realise more than ever the importance of reducing petroleum wastage. And the correlation to plastic bags? - It takes 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million non degradable plastic bags.

Lets consider this - we’re dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the manufacture of plastic bags that we ultimately use for a grand total of one time before dumping them into the waste bin. Grand way of depleting the earth of precious resource, eh?

And that’s not withstanding the other impacts we’re inflicting on ourselves every time we use a plastic bag.

According to the San Fransisco Department of Environment, we use about 4 trillion to 5 trillion non-degradable plastic bags worldwide annually. However, because plastic bags are essentially polybags made of recycled materials, recycling it any further is difficult while burning them creates air pollution. If that‘s not enough to pour cold water over your altruistic integrity, it costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags before reselling them for $32. The exceedingly ’profitable’ economic equation means you’d be lucky to find three people in a hundred who will lean towards recycling plastic bags.

The rest of the 97% of plastic bags that don’t get recycled end up at dumpsites. In fact, China and India are increasingly becoming targeted as Third World dumping sites for wastes of the west. We in Malaysia aren’t so irresponsible toward other countries. We just dump them into our own backyards.

If that fills up, we head to the local rivers where the flow of nature will take trash away to be filtered and diluted by the great sea.

Or will they get diluted?

It’s true that plastic bags don’t biodegrade. They photo degrade. Plastics merely get broken up into smaller fragments of plastics until finally becoming plastic dust particles called ‘mermaid tears’ or ‘nurdles‘.

Great news? Hardly. This process could take hundreds of years. And even then, nurdles are inclined to soak up toxic chemicals such as the deadly PCBs and DDE compound (from the disreputable insecticide DDT) not to mention the toxic dyes used in the production of plastic bags, all of which is then dispersed into the food chain when microscopic plastic gets swallowed by marine wildlife. Another reason to avoid the sushi, no?

But while the effects of eating plastic-flavoured fish may come to light years from now, more than a million wildlife die every year from plastic ingestion or getting caught in plastic and other debris. Endangered animals such as the leatherback turtles, harbour porpoises and the black footed albatross are especially ungrateful to the worldwide acceptance of plastic bags. They should be - most of them are now dead. With plastic bags found in their stomachs. You see, most marine creatures don’t come equipped with contact lenses. They think plastic bags look like jelly fish. And plastic particles look like food crumbs. So they eat them. Only to find that internal infections, choking or blockages in their intestines forces them to give up eating. These animals then suffer a prolonged death of starvation.

Plastic trash in oceans don’t just affect wildlife. They are responsible for beach litter, degrading commercial value of properties and hurt the fishing industry. 750,000 plastic bags were found during the 2006 International Coastal Clean-Up which took place in over 60 countries. The UN Environment Programme says it’s impossible to thoroughly clean parts of the ocean that extends 100 feet below the surface and spans the area of a continent. So most plastic bags that float easily to the deepest ends of the ocean, stay there.

Back on land, plastic bags continue to clog up drains and sewerage contributing to stagnant water and mosquitoes breeding. Indeed, who hasn’t seen a plastic bag flying with the wind?

In China, this sight has gained the nickname ‘white pollution’. In South Africa, plastics bags are all over the place, earning itself the nickname the ‘national flower’.

So, what can we do?

If we resort to paper bags, we’re just forcing trees to grow faster to feed our appetite for bags. Paper bags can be used once before usually getting stained or wet.

But lo-and-behold the reusable degradable bag!

Choose from the fashionable ones with bright colours and design or settle for any cotton tote you have. Reusable bags are already the norm in Ireland where a tax of about 20 cents is levied on the usage of plastic bags since March 2002. This tax has raised millions which is then channelled toward environmental concerns. Usages of plastic bags has also dropped by 90% - showing signs that it is a system that can be adopted worldwide.

“There certainly hasn’t been an angry uprising of shoppers (in Ireland) saying we want our bags for free,” says Claire Wilton, senior waste campaigner at Greenpeace-UK . “I think a lot of people recognize they are wasteful. That’s why they try to save them to use again.”

Other countries that have discouraged the use of plastic bags are Australia, Bangladesh, Italy, South Africa and Taiwan. Mumbai, India has banned the bags while London is hot on its heels. Several cities in United States has already banned plastic bags though a national ban has not arrived. In contrast, China recently placed a national ban on plastic bags - effectively putting 37 million barrels of oils to better use.

“Every time we use a new plastic bag, they go and get more petroleum from the Middle East and bring it over in tankers,” said Stephanie Barger, executive director of Earth Resource Foundation in Costa Mesa, California. “We are extracting and destroying the Earth to use a plastic bag for 10 minutes.”

The solution? Bag it up!

by Cass Nirmala

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11th Hour

11th Hour is the latest environmental documentary to come out of Hollywood that speaks of the scary pace our planet is dying and bringing the issues to the screen. This documentary was produced and narated by actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Its time for everyone to take action and do their bit before its too late.Watch this documentary if you get the chance too. Its a eye opener for those who dont know the extend of things

Popularity: 15% [?]

Global Warming

I got this email from WWF Passport and i think its a superb innitiative that we should all try to participate in.

Email Reads

At 8pm on the 29 March millions of people around the world will use the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

Mark your calendar and join WWF and our partners in the global “Earth Hour” movement by turning your lights off from 8-9 p.m. on March 29.

But there’s much more to Earth Hour than the one-time event. Visit www.earthhour.org to see how you can make Earth Hour a part of your everyday life and find out ways to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions.

You can take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced. Join the Earth Hour movement now at www.earthhour.org

Where Will the Lights Go Off? Anyone can get involved and individuals around the world will be shutting the lights off in their homes and businesses. In addition, major participation is planned in 25 cities, on six continents, including Chicago, San Francisco, Copenhagen, Sydney, Manila, Tel Aviv, Bangkok, Dublin and Toronto. Find out more about what’s happening in these cities or get your town or local community involved.

Go to www.earthhour.org and sign up to create a bigger, better Earth Hour, and reduce your impact on climate change.

Thank you for switching your lights off and making a statement for planet Earth.

 So..Mark your calender and lets try to get this message across! 

Popularity: 8% [?]

Vote For Malaysia!

The Greatest Race on Earth…Race for a Living Planet

Select up to eight pledges you will make and pick Malaysia as the country to support to help fund our conservation work. Standard Chartered will donate to WWF’s environmental projects which will benefit the three nations that receive the most pledges per capita. Your pledge will make a positive difference and could also benefit Malaysia’s environmental landscape.

Go HERE and make your pledge Now!

Malaysia is sitting on 10th place sad….Make your pledge now and bring us up the ranking!!

View countries rankings HERE

WWF Malaysia

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WWF Turtle Idol

Have voted yet?? WWF needs your help to choose a name for the hawksbill turtle that has been fitted with the satellite transmitter. Why are is this turtle fitted with the transmitter?

To establish the migration route and feeding ground of the hawksbills to facilitate the protection of their habitat and to gather as much information of the behavioral patterns of these turtles to help in their conservation work to name a few.You can read all about it on the WWF Site

How to vote?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Carbon Contributor

In line with our crowning as the highest growth in carbon emisson, Ever wondered how much damage you contribute to the environment or global warming? There is this nice site that allows you to calculate how much carbon you contribute! Click on the image above and see how much damage you cause!

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Global Warming

Article on how fast global warming is hitting us without us realising.Imagine that,islands getting eaten up by nature!

At this pace what would be the scenario say in 50years?? Scary isn’t it!

Visit WWF Malaysia site on how you can do your bit in slowing down global warming

Popularity: 8% [?]

Orang Utan are Endangered

WWF is running a appeal to the general public in their conservation work.Did you know that the Orang Utan’s can only be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.Now you know why there is soo much said about the Orang Utan on this region as compared too anywhere else.The status of the Orang Utan is endangered Globally and vulnerable in Sabah & Sarawak.

Good News - There is almost no hunting of this species in Malaysia this year

Bad News - They are loosing their habitat

How can you help??

No you don have to plant a tree or give up your job and go save Orang Utan’s ,lets leave that bit to the safe hands of the people at WWF to do that.They need our support in order for them to do their job.

All you need to do is SMS WWF to 36188 now! (RM 5 per SMS) or you can donate to the cause directly via the WWF site.

Source

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