antiminke's hippie archives

Reasons not to use eBookers

Well, I say 'reasons' but I've only got one and a bit, though they're enough that I'll never use eBookers again - they don't appear to pass on meal requests. And they don't respond to customer queries, so I've no explanation as to why, or even if they could have blamed the airline for the stuff-up.

Since eBookers never responded to my comment, I might as well post it here:

Dear ebookers,

I wish to make a complaint about your service. I recently flew long-haul on tickets booked with you, yet the airline I flew with had no record of my special meal request. This may sound like a relatively minor issue, but the thought of facing another eight hour flight without food is enough to stop me using ebookers again.

I'm just glad it wasn't a flight to Australia. If you're also vegetarian, or need to make special meal requests for any other reason, you might want to give eBookers a miss. The prices are pretty much the same across all those cross-search sites anyway.

[This is in no way a random post made up from a random old email I found while doing some tidying. Ahem.]

Kill your television

Cos this is seriously creepy: The televised revolution: how the TV set watches you:

By 2011, Sky says it will be able to deliver directed advertising ("Smart TV") by using viewers' set-top boxes to insert commercials targeted to them individually. "All the boxes with a particular profile will take a decision and play a particular advert," Thexton says. "It could be regional, it may link to demographics and age range. The viewer isn't aware of being targeted."

...

Smart TV adds a whole other dimension. "What we'd really like to do is match your digital media consumption - the websites you visit, the TV programmes you watch, the radio stations you listen to - to your shopping behaviour," Humby says.

Linked-in media data is the dream. "If I knew your whole transaction profile - restaurants, travel, fashion - that could be immensely powerful," adds Humby. "You'd need a consent-based model, but you'd understand every aspect of a person's life. The credit-card data tells you how they live generally, the supermarket data tells you their motivations, the media data tells you how to talk to them. If you have those three things, you're in marketing nirvana."

Ick, ick, ick.

'The UN has let down the world's women. Now let's put that right'

Stephen Lewis writes in the Independent: The UN has let down the world's women. Now let's put that right

I have had I have had the privilege of working for 25 years internationally, including being Canada's UN representative in the 1980s. The most lamentable and heart-breaking dimension of multilateralism I have seen is the absence of any serious focus on gender throughout the UN system.

...

For me, the struggle for gender equality has become the most important struggle on the planet; the continuing marginalisation of 52 per cent of the world's population is simply unacceptable. So we're now engaged in an effort to create a new international agency for women, a fascinating undertaking that I hope will engage Parliamentarians in the House of Commons and House of Lords because of the UK's extraordinary influence in the multilateral system.

...

Everyone knows what's happening in these areas about women's vulnerability but there is never a consistent voice to bring it to the attention of the world community, to continue to hammer it home, to demand action from government. So the emergence and creation of a women's agency I think would be a Godsend internationally and would overcome the record of the United Nations on gender.

If you're in the UK, you can write to your MP to ask them to support an to call on the UN General Assembly to 'back the reforms that will create a UN Agency for Women with the resources, authority and mandate to unlock women's potential'.

'Climate change displacement has begun - but hardly anyone has noticed'

Monbiot in the Guardian, today:

Two weeks ago a momentous event occurred: the beginning of the world's first evacuation of an entire people as a result of manmade global warming. It has been marked so far by one blog post for the Ecologist and an article in the Solomon Times*. Where is everyone?

...

Their numbers might be small, but this is the event that foreshadows the likely mass displacement of people from coastal cities and low-lying regions as a result of rising sea levels. The disaster has begun, but so far hardly anyone has noticed.

Climate change is real, it's happening now - but we can still prevent it. Do your bit at home, but also hassle companies and governments to sort it out.

More on 'going vegetarian to save the planet'

A useful summary from the Guardian, presumably prompted by Ghent's going vegetarian on Thursdays. (Yay Ghent). Can vegetarians save the world?

The breakthrough came in 2006 when the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published a study, Livestock's Long Shadow, showing that the livestock industry is responsible for a staggering 18% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This is only the beginning of the story. In 2008, Brazil announced that in the 12 months to July it had lost 12,000 sq km (3m acres) of the Amazon rainforest, mainly to cattle ranchers and soy producers supplying European markets with animal feed. There is water scarcity in large parts of the world, yet livestock-rearing can use up to 200 times more water a kilogram (2.2lbs) of meat produced than is used in growing wheat. Given the volatile global food prices, it seems foolhardy to divert 1.2bn tonnes of fodder - including cereals - to fuel global meat consumption, which has increased by more than two and half times since 1970.

...

In September 2008, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a vegetarian himself, called on people to take personal responsibility for the impacts of their consumption.

"Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there," he said. "In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity."

So that should knock the 'but vegetarians eat soy and soy is evil' thing on the head - most of that soy goes for animal feed.

I do tend to assume that vegetarians try to eat local and seasonal where possible - I read one piece that said simply going veggie isn't the answer - well, der. Hopefully people smart enough to change their lifestyle to try and reduce the effects of human-created climate change will also read up and check the air miles of their fruit and veg.

The perspective of a 'food historian' is useful.

Towards the end of the 18th century, two consecutive bad harvests in Europe created shortages. There was a huge public clamour for the wealthy to cut down on their meat consumption in order to leave more grain for the poor. The idea that meat was a cruel profligacy became current, and led Percy Bysshe Shelley to declare that the carnivorous rich literally monopolised land and food by taking more of it than they needed. "The use of animal flesh," he said, "directly militates with this equality of the rights of man."

Yay Ghent! Vegetarian on Thursdays

As reported by the BBC, etc.

Belgian city plans 'veggie' days

The Belgian city of Ghent is about to become the first in the world to go vegetarian at least once a week.

Starting this week there will be a regular weekly meatless day, in which civil servants and elected councillors will opt for vegetarian meals.

Ghent means to recognise the impact of livestock on the environment.

The UN says livestock is responsible for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, hence Ghent's declaration of a weekly "veggie day".

Public officials and politicians will be the first to give up meat for a day.

I've never been to Ghent. I'm definitely going to go now, and I guess I'd better make it a long weekend so I can be there on a Thursday. And I guess it'll be easy to find something vegetarian to eat when I'm there. The Guardian reports:

Every restaurant in the city is to guarantee a vegetarian dish on the menu, with some going fully vegetarian every Thursday. From September, the city's schools are to make a meat-free meal the "default" option every Thursday, although parents can insist on meat for their children. At least one hospital wants to join in.

Privacy - you used to have it, now you don't

A small collection of reasons why not...

Firstly, private content used to be ephemeral and untraceable, but that's no longer the case. Clay Shirky on privacy in the modern age:

It used to be that the principal guarantees of a conversation being private were that no one was listening and it wasn't being preserved for posterity. Now you'd have to take active steps to hide yourself from the authorities and such steps are suspicious-making.

Secondly, we all use sites that claim rights over our stuff. mashable reports about Facebook's changed Terms of Service in Facebook: All Your Stuff is Ours, Even if You Quit:

Sure, you can choose not to use Facebook at all, but that doesn't mean a thing. Someone can still take your photo, slap it on Facebook, and now neither you nor the author of the photo can stop Facebook from using the photo in whichever way they please.

Looking at it globally, millions of people are uploading bits of information on everyone and everything, to a huge online database, and by doing so they're automatically giving away the rights to use or modify this information to a private corporation. And not only that; they now also waiver the right to ever take it back from it.

Finally, anti-terrorism laws provide an excuse for the government to change the rules. A random example, UK e-mail law 'attack on rights':

Rules forcing internet companies to keep details of every e-mail sent in the UK are a waste of money and an attack on civil liberties, say critics.

From March all internet service providers (ISPs) will by law have to keep information about every e-mail sent or received in the UK for a year.

Human rights group Liberty says it is worried what will happen next.

The Home Office insists the data, which does not include e-mails' content, is vital for crime and terror inquiries.

(And this quote from Clay Shirky just tickled me - it's obvious when you think about it: "I removed "cyberspace" from my vernacular. The idea, which I grew up with, of going into a place separate from the real world, is something my students just don't recognise".)

Climate change, bushfires...

From The Age, Living in a climate of fear:

While state authorities focus on crucial investigations into arson, emergency advice, town planning and tree clearing, looming over all these is what role human-induced climate change is playing in Australia's weather patterns.

And, critically, how much of the country will become more at risk from bushfire because of climate change?

Victorian Premier John Brumby bluntly acknowledged this week that climate change cannot be ignored in future debate over the bushfires.

"There is clear evidence now that the climate is becoming more extreme," Mr Brumby told The 7.30 Report. Announcing a royal commission into Australia's worst natural disaster, he insisted it would look at all aspects of the events. "I want everything on the table."

In related news, for some reason I'm really tickled by the idea that 'global warming' has had a rebrand to 'climate change'. It makes sense, but it still seems odd that concepts like rebranding can apply to huge phenomenon in the real world.

'Facebook founder finally finds a way to profit from its 150m members' private data'

Facebook have possibly finally figured out how they're going to make money. Selling ads doesn't work cos no-one clicks on them. Advertising via the actions of members caused a big privacy ruckus (rightly), so this is their new thing: Networking site cashes in on friends

Facebook is planning to exploit the vast amount of personal information it holds on its 150m members by creating one of the world's largest market research databases.

In an attempt to finally monetise the social networking site, once valued at $15bn (£10.4bn), it will soon allow multinational companies to selectively target its members in order to research the appeal of new products. Companies will be able to pose questions to specially selected members based on such intimate details as whether they are single or married and even whether they are gay or straight.

The company, which has struggled to make money from advertising, has been demonstrating the benefits of its new instant polling tool to some of the most influential business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

A new date for Australia Day - which would you choose?

I've realised I can't imagine ever being able to think of January 26 as something to celebrate, but I like the idea of celebrating the good things about Australia so I'd like Australia Day to be on a different date. Kevin Rudd said 'sorry' on behalf of all Australians, but January 26 is still 'invasion day' to me.

After all, it's not like January 26 just marks the date I borrowed your lawnmower that I subsequently forgot to return. It marks the day Aboriginal people had their land nicked from them; the start of everything from genocide to appalling infant death rates.

I was going to suggest May 27, the date of the 1967 referendum about Aboriginal Australians. It's a pretty symbolic date because 90% voted for it, though its meaning isn't straightforward according to Wikipedia:

The overwhelming support for the 'Yes' vote gave the Federal Government a clear mandate to implement policies to benefit Aborigines. A number of misconceptions have arisen as to the outcomes of the referendum some as a result of it taking on a symbolic meaning during a period of increasing Aboriginal self-confidence. It was some five years before any real change occurred as a result of the referendum but federal legislation has since been enacted covering land rights, discriminatory practices, financial assistance and preservation of cultural heritage. The other aspect of the constitutional change, enabling of Aborigines to be counted in population statistics, has led to clearer comparisons of the desperate state of Aboriginal health.

I like the idea that not only is it a day off work, a day for catching up with friends and family or just lazing around, it's also a day where the nation can examine its conscience and test its actions and statements against the spirit of May 27, 1967.

The obsession with celebrity

By the chief executive of World Vision, in The Age, in response to the fawning response to Paris Hilton appearing to do a spot of shopping in Melbourne, Hilton stunt leaves society limping:

First, it is clear the media need and feed off Hilton as much as she needs them. Her story and picture dominated the front page of Melbourne's tabloid newspaper on a day when 370 Palestinians died in Gaza and Australia was poised to lose the MCG Test to South Africa.

...

Whether these admiring hordes following Hilton are victims of celebrity syndrome or not, the mass adulation of her as someone famous for being famous leads to a slippery seduction by serious social institutions such as the media and Government.

It reveals our cultural susceptibility to thin stories of glamour and gratification as opposed to thick stories of courage, self-discipline and hope. We have no right to shake our heads in disapproval if our young idealise shopping and fame as the meaning of life when we, from our leaders down, treat it as newsworthy and commendable.

'with girls increasingly pushed towards pink and princesses, being a tomboy these days takes pluck'

An interesting viewpoint in Hurrah for tomboys!

I don't have children of my own, but recently it struck me that all the little girls I know are, well, a bit girly. Where, I wondered, had all the tomboys gone?

For women of my generation - late thirty and early fortysomethings - it's almost a badge of honour to say that you were a tomboy when you were a child. The fashionable books of the time - The Famous Five, Little Women, To Kill a Mockingbird - all had tomboy heroines. Girls such as George, who could row a boat "like a grown man"; Jo, who'd rather be a soldier than a seamstress; and Scout who feels "the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me" every time she is made to wear a dress. For that matter, why couldn't JK Rowling have written a book called Harriet Potter? Surely it can't be the case that boys are still taken more seriously than girls ... ?

Alarmingly, when it comes to the box office, it seems that semi-sexualising girls is still the only way ahead. Take Disney's revamped Famous Five cartoon, Famous 5: On the Case. Jo, the daughter of George, seems forced to wear figure-hugging girl versions of boy clothes (no tomboy worth her salt would ever wear figure-hugging clothes). And what of poor Dora the Explorer? Nickelodeon recently redesigned the Dora doll to make her more "feminine" (read "profitable"). Instead of being equipped with tools, map and backpack, her new accessories include halter-tops, tiaras and glittery hairbrushes.

UK clothes shops opposed to child labour

I never thought I'd agree with India Knight:

How do we think it became possible for a new dress to cost £6? If the finished garment, including the store's mark-up, costs £6, what do we think the person who made it was paid? What kind of conditions do we imagine they were working under? And how old do we think they were? Now, I like clothes and I like a bargain. But really, who could wear these clothes and feel good about it? (Answer: millions of people. I find this insanely depressing. And they still look awful.)

The following stores have all explicitly stated their opposition to child labour: Marks & Spencer, American Apparel, H&M, Arcadia Group (includes Topshop, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins), Gap, Adili.com and People Tree.

In Credit crunch chic: how to save pots of money.

It's not about China, honest

Really, it's not. Apparently.

I'm not sure what I think about this - I guess progress and an acknowledgement of the importance of human rights and online access to information is important, and it has to start somewhere.

Big three help online rights

Three of the biggest IT companies in the world have approached the US Congress with suggestions on how to bring human rights laws to the online world.

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have explained how to extend human rights to the internet and what they could do to help spread the laws.

They suggest a code which would be based around a set of principles to which companies would have to adhere, as well as guidelines on ensuring those rights and frameworks on how to enforce the rules and guarantee accountability.

The move follows up from a development in July, when Richard Durbin, a US senator, asked each of the companies to provide suggestions.

Ethical fashion directory

The Guardian have produced an 'ethical fashion directory'. It's a little tricksy - click on titles and random new windows open, and you have to click on an image to view different sorts of clothes (which opens new windows in the background, not always obvious), but it's still useful: Ethical fashion directory.

Over the past few years I've frequently heard people say "Well I'd love to buy more ethical fashion, but I've no idea where to start ..." Here is our solution. Our directory will provide, I hope, a means of navigating the sometimes confusing world of ethical fashion and make it easy for you, the consumer, to find exactly what you are looking for.

Guess who?

From today's Observer:

'They have amassed more information about people in 10 years than all the governments of the world put together. They make the Stasi and the KGB look like the innocent old granny next door. This is of immense significance. If someone evil took them over, they could easily become Big Brother.'

The clue is in the article title, Google, 10 years in: big, friendly giant or a greedy Goliath?

More:

Chester, however, is an outspoken critic on a crusade. He continues: 'Google have been very hypocritical. They try to place a digital halo around their activities. They should be at the forefront of acknowledging that these are the most powerful marketing tools around and there should be safeguards in place. Google claims it's there to provide information but it's really there to collect data and provide advertising, and they simply can't own up to it.'
...
[Google CEO] Schmidt raised eyebrows on a trip to London last year when he declared: 'We cannot even answer the most basic questions about you because we don't know enough about you. The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask questions such as "What shall I do tomorrow?" and "What job should I take?" This is the most important aspect of Google's expansion.'

A month later, the human rights watchdog Privacy International ranked the company bottom in a major survey of how securely the leading internet companies handle their users' personal information. Liberty, the civil liberties organisation, and the National Consumer Council have also expressed concern.

See also Into the future: Pros and cons of a Google world:

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK

We have long-standing concerns about Google regarding the way it is betraying its own principles in going against established international norms around freedom of information. When you go on a Google search engine in London and look for a picture of Tiananmen Square, you get that iconic picture of a man standing in front of a tank. If you go to google.cn and do the same search you'll get a picture of happy smiley tourists. Specific words such as Tibet, democracy, Tiananmen Square are heavily censored. We think that filtering process should be transparent. The rest of us who know that we're using Google in an uncensored fashion have a duty to stand up for people who don't have that access.

Celeb magazines in 'evil' shocker... also, real faces more beautiful...

The Guardian turns the tables for a CELEB MAG EDITOR SPECIAL!

Greetings, stardust consumers, and welcome to Lost in Showbiz's first ever Circle of Shame feature - wherein we highlight the bits celebrity mag editors would rather you DIDN'T see!

Every week, this collection of ringable body parts heave themselves into their offices, where they churn out unsourced stories, BMI porn, blatant untruths, and endless quotes from anonymous "close pals" of celebrities. But as media influentials, they're public figures too. How can I prove they are? Because a close pal just told me. So without further ado, let's get all the juicy goss on their work.

In other news, last week the Sunday Times put a gorgeous, apparently un-airbrushed Naomi Watts on the front cover of their Style magazine. It was surprisingly lovely and touching to see a real face - tiny wrinkles and skin with pores. And she was all the hotter for it - so thank you, Sunday Times.

London under Boris - racism solved. Apparently.

The Rise music festival is today. But since there's no racism in London anymore, it's no longer an 'anti-racism festival'. Who knew that electing Boris Johnson as Mayor would have such an immediate effect? Racism is gone. Thanks Boris! If only he was Mayor of Everything, racism would be a thing of the past. Wouldn't it?

The Guardian, Mayor drops festival's anti-racism message:

Rise has been held in London since 1996 and has become the biggest anti-racist music festival in Europe. It was supported by the previous mayor, Ken Livingstone, as well as by trade unions and the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR).

But yesterday a spokeswoman for Johnson said this year's event, on July 13, would no longer carry an anti-racist message: "Boris has made a commitment to go ahead with the Rise festival this year but wants to emphasise its cultural and community dimensions." During his election campaign Johnson was forced to apologise for describing Africans as having "watermelon smiles" and writing of "piccaninnies". He said his comments were taken out of context and he was committed to fighting racism.

But last night a spokesman for the NAAR called that claim into question. "The sincerity of Boris Johnson's claimed commitment to opposing racism in his election campaign is shown to be false by the fact that one of his first decisions is to abandon Europe's biggest anti-racist festival," he said.

Why the Sunday Times is bad for you

Usually I'm just amused by the self-loathing articles and columns in the Sunday Times, but lately they've been pushing more pieces on plastic surgery (in no way a reflection of recent ad placements, I'm sure). Elective plastic surgery freaks me out - why risk death, permanent pain or disfigurement to 'fix' some imaginary flaw that doesn't even bother anyone else?

An article today, The man who wants to reshape your private parts, is a step too far:

"My customers say, 'You know what, I don't like the length of my labia minora. I don't want the small lips projecting outside the outer lips.' We can take that excess skin away. They say, 'I don't want my labia majora. They're too flat, I want them full.' We can inject fat there. Or, 'I've got too much fat in my mons pubis. It looks like I have a penis.' And we can do that. Or, 'I've had children, I'm too relaxed, I want intense sexual gratification', so we tighten the muscle. Or, simply, 'I just look too old.' Because it's all about youth, youth, youth."

...
But is he really helping us out, or giving us one more area of our bodies to feel paranoid about?

"Look, demand for these treatments comes from women," he says. "I didn't create it, the market was there, and I discovered it because I listened to women. Every single one of the procedures has been developed because it has been requested. And it's going international. There is demand."

And why is an article like that giving him publicity? How many more women suddenly feel paranoid after reading this article?

The author does that lovely 'women's mag' thing of pretending to be objective while undermining any position that offers a real alternative.

In fact, there are no studies to prove that the diameter of a woman's vagina is the determining factor in her sexual pleasure.

Real-life testimonials, however, speak volumes.

Right - so scientific evidence doesn't count, but a single anecdote does? Never mind that the outcome given in the anecdote offered could have come from a number of sources - a placebo effect, the general effect of positive action on self-esteem.

The article at least offers this, from another plastic surgeon:

To tell someone otherwise is to promote body dysmorphia. What is the mentality of this person? It's not progressive, it's entrepreneurial. It's about money. And doctors should never be about the money.

And call me a hippie, but surely there's a better use of medical resources? The money could be better spent on education and preventing female genital mutilation, or trying to help the '100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM'. [WHO figures, May 2008]

'Top tips for the lazy environmentalist'

The Guardian says "saving the planet doesn't have to be confusing, or hard work".

Ten reasons to go vegetarian

Not that I had any idea it was 'world vegetarian week'... Top Ten Reasons to Go Veggie During World Vegetarian Week includes:

"While there is ample and justified moral indignation about the diversion of 100 million tons of grain for biofuels, more than seven times as much (760 million tons) is fed to farmed animals so that people can eat meat."

" A recent United Nations report entitled Livestock's Long Shadow concludes that eating meat is "one of the ... most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.""

Sir Paul McCartney sums it all up, "If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That's the single most important thing you could do. It's staggering when you think about it. Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty."

Why do I live in the UK? 'The vendetta waged against vegetarians'

From the Independent in December last year: Raw deal! The vendetta waged against vegetarians

A new survey reveals that diners who don't eat meat are dished up a poor choice by high street restaurants. But it's all too true, says Martin Hickman, our consumer affairs correspondent, who became a vegetarian 18 years ago and is fed up with being offered boring cheese bakes...

A lack of effort and imagination characterises the failing of vegetarian food in Britain.

It isn't a problem of availability, generally. Apart from the countryside, pubs, or an Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse, you can almost always find something a vegetarian can eat.

No, the problem is that the lone, sad "vegetarian option" is there because the restaurant is expecting to serve a lone, sad vegetarian. It is not meant to be delicious; it is perfunctory it ticks the box.
...
But, as Ethical Consumer magazine has found in a new survey, most high street restaurants are emphatically unimpressive when it comes to vegetarian food. The author, Sarah Irving, writes in the January edition: "Vegetarianism is a fairly mainstream dietary choice nowadays... so it is surprising and depressing how poorly vegetarians and especially vegans are served in chain restaurants."

My emphasis above. I guess I'll never really understand it - it's as if chefs in the UK have a huge blind spot when it comes to vegetarian food. So many places don't go beyond 'take the meat out and serve what's left, which is a real shame because other countries manage to produce amazing vegetarian food. If Montreal can combine a French and English heritage with an open imagination to come up with tasty veggie meals, why can't they manage it here?

Anyway. It's not like food is generally amazing here anyway, though it gets better all the time, and in the meantime, check out The New Vegetarian column in the Guardian (and go to Ottolenghi's for properly amazing salads when you're in London).

Montreal so far...

Not that I've done much - I've realised I probably can't get any more cash out for a few days while a bank transfer goes through, so it's places that take credit card or very cheap things only for me! I'm uploading photos to Flickr from my phone as I go so check there for stuff too.

From my phone yesterday: "First impressions of Montreal - I thought the airport was a construction zone, with loads of sand heaps, but it was old snow.

Not the most glam people so far, but earthy and good humoured. Not sure where I got earthy from after only five minutes, to be honest. Maybe the [arrivals area] reunions and slight roughness of aspect?"

I managed a quick dinner last night before passing out - every time I fly, I hate it a little bit more. I had to leave home five hours before my flight to get to the airport on time - ridiculous! Give me a train anyday.

Money vs warm fuzzy glow

Interesting random find on 'social versus financial thinking':

economics students - who presumably spend a lot of time thinking about money - have been shown to act more selfishly than students of other disciplines

I'm off out of London next week, will do some random updates if I get time.

The visible effect of trawling

The difference a photo makes is interesting.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Loving Our Oceans to Death has a Landsat satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico

The cloudy water that you see is the direct result of commercial bottom trawlers dragging large, heavy nets across the seafloor, denuding it of all life in their quest for a few marketable fish and shrimps. Unfortunately, most bottom trawlers destroy as much as 20 pounds of "bycatch" -- unmarketable corals, sponges, fishes and other animals -- for every pound of commerically valuable "seafood" that they retrieve, while they leave behind huge, choking clouds of mud and sediment that take weeks or longer to settle. ...

"Until recently, the impact was basically hidden from view," he continued. "But new tools -- especially Internet-based image sites, like Google Earth -- allow everyone to see for themselves what's happening. In shallow waters with muddy bottoms, trawlers leave long, persistent trails of sediment in their wake."
...
What can you do to reduce this enviromental destruction? Until the industrial fishing industry proves that they are acting in a more environmentally responsible manner, you can boycott eating orange roughy, Chilean sea bass (Patagonian toothfish), and all shrimps. (Keep in mind that those shrimp species that are not caught by trawling are usually farmed in shallow coastal mangroves, which also leads to tremendous, and possibly irreversible, environmental damages).

But don't just stop buying trawler-caught seafood - tell your supermarket or fishmonger why you've stopped buying it. Your consumer action can make a huge difference.

Tim Berners-Lee on tracking and privacy on the internet

From the BCS, Berners-Lee 'wary' of all web tracking:

Mr Berners-Lee explained that this type of targeting could lead to information about a user's habits getting into the hands of unwanted parties and that instead, ISPs should have to comply with the same rules and regulations that any other utility company would.

...

Mr Berners-Lee said a user's internet activity information was akin to a person's private property, however.

"It's mine – you can't have it. If you want to use [that data] for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return," he said.

BBC on sustainable food

Their 'Quick guide: Sustainable food' covers what sustainability is, and how you can eat sustainably.

The Observer also finally acknowledges that maybe eating fish just isn't sustainable.

When online campaigns work (go hippies!)

I just got an email from NRDC Biogems saying that their campaign to prevent a 'waiver issued by the White House that would have exempted the U.S. Navy from obeying a key environmental law during sonar training exercises that endanger whales' succeeded.

If you're stuck for presents...

intelligentgiving.com rates charity gift sites so you can give a goat or a water pump with confidence.

Good news for the environment

The Age: Governors take action to save rainforests

Vast tracts of tropical rainforests will be protected under a declaration signed last night by the governor of Brazil's Amazonas state and his counterparts from the Indonesian provinces of Aceh, Papua and West Papua.

Dubbed the "green governors", they will impose moratoriums on logging across their provinces, home to much of the world's tropical forests.

With growing frustration at faltering negotiations in Bali to include programs to reduce deforestation in a post-Kyoto climate treaty, the governors have decided to take the lead.

Oh yes! Australia signs up to Kyoto

Australia pledges to sign Kyoto protocol on climate change

Australia won applause at the start of UN-led climate change talks in Bali on Monday by agreeing to ratify the Kyoto protocol, isolating the US as the only developed nation outside the pact.

Soon after an Australian delegate promised immediate action on Kyoto, the new prime minister in Canberra, Kevin Rudd, took the oath of office and signed the ratification documents, ending his country's long-held opposition to the global climate agreement.

In a piece of funny timing, I'll be in Melbourne by NYE, so I'll have a chance to see how Rudd is going for myself.

Some random travel/hippy articles

US immigration 'worst in the world'

Entry requirements in the United States are the "worst in the world" and visa rules are "cumbersome", causing tourists to steer clear of America, according to a leading figure in US travel and tourism.

It's certainly one reason I'm not going to or through the US.

In other news, organic food really is better:

The biggest study into organic food has found that it is more nutritious than ordinary produce and may help to lengthen people's lives.

The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice.

The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease, Britain's biggest killers. They also had higher levels of beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc.

Call to use leftovers and cut food waste

Research by the government's waste reduction agency, Wrap, found that one third of all food bought in Britain is thrown away - of which half is edible. Wrap will claim that this discarded food is a bigger problem than packaging, as the food supply chain accounts for a fifth of UK carbon emissions and decomposing food releases methane, the most potent of the greenhouse gases. Wasted food is estimated to cost each British household from £250 to £400 a year.

'If we stopped the amount [of food waste] that we could stop, it would be the same as taking one fifth of cars off the road

Biofuels ban?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7065061.stm

A United Nations expert has condemned the growing use of crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol as a crime against humanity. ... It was, he said, a crime against humanity to divert arable land to the production of crops which are then burned for fuel.

He called for a five-year ban on the practice.

Within that time, according to Mr Ziegler, technological advances would enable the use of agricultural waste, such as corn cobs and banana leaves, rather than crops themselves to produce fuel.

Interesting piece from the BBC: UK 'exporting emissions' to China

The New Economic Foundation (Nef) says such reliance is adding to CO2 levels because China's factories produce more CO2 per item than British ones.

The report also says many similar goods are both imported and exported, adding needlessly to CO2 output in transport.
...
Nef also said the international trade pattern prompted higher greenhouse gas emissions from transport but had little discernible benefit for the consumer.

During 2006, the UK exported 15,845 tonnes of chocolate-covered waffles and wafers, but imported 14,137 tonnes.

During the same period, 20 tonnes of mineral water were exported by the UK to Australia, while the UK imported 21 tonnes. And thirty-four tonnes of vacuum cleaners went from the UK to Canada, with 47 tonnes travelling the other way.

The top 100 travel sites?

From the Times Travel site, 100 best travel websites including Best for holiday bargains (cheap flights, insurance, etc) or Top-value rooms; Road, rail, ferry, cruise (including the fabulous www.transportdirect.info, seat61 (how to get anywhere by rail), deutsche bahn (train timetables across Europe)); Specialist travel ("Cook, dance, trek, surf, paint, go single or go green - these sites will guide and inspire, plus there's some great tips for travellers embarking on a gap year adventure") and Travel 2.0 (news and tips from other travellers, but see also Inside info).

Woo! The Eurostar is faster *and* nearly at St Pancras

BBC: Eurostar is making its inaugural journey from Paris to London via Britain's new high-speed line

Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, said he hoped that by 2010 10m people would travel by Eurostar each year.

"Today marks Britain's entry into the European high-speed rail club."

He said journey times to Paris, even for people travelling from Yorkshire, would be broadly the same as for those flying due to lengthier check-in times at airports.

"It's as quick and more frequent... and we will be matching airline prices."

Can't give up the cheap flights?

The BBC says, "Britons are "addicted" to cheap flights and confused about the climate impact of flying".

In a government-funded study, even people living generally "green" lives said they were reluctant to fly less.

The Exeter University team that carried out the research says cheap flights have become a lifestyle choice.

Aviation accounts for about 7% of the UK's emissions, and research suggests Britain will not meet its climate targets without curbing the industry.

...

"And it's not people on lower incomes taking these flights, it's middle class people taking more flights to go on city breaks, and they can afford to pay higher prices."
...
But some observers believe there is an inherent contradiction within a government that wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while expanding airport capacity.

The BBC "asks why search engines are so keen to keep hold of our personal data" and raises some interesting issues:

"This is a general problem with free services," she added. "You have the impression that you don't pay for this, you don't pay. In fact, you pay a very high price, because you pay with your own privacy, your own intimacy. You pay with yourself." ... With Web 2.0 now moving so many of our desktop applications, and therefore data, online, campaigners feel we would do well to get these privacy issues sorted out sooner rather than later.

Just because they are so damn cute.

Damn it. I really hate that I can't fly whenever I want to, but there's just no way to justify it.

Two degrees of difference: the science that backs the protest

Air travel really is in the front line of the climate change debate. But instead of tackling it we’re planning new airports

It is vitally important that we stabilise global temperature rises below the danger line of 2C – and the aviation industry stands in the way.

Probably the single most polluting thing that you or I will ever do is step on to a plane. Take that tempting return flight to, say, Thailand and you immediately become responsible for about six tons of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere – three times more than is likely to come from any other activity that you do in the year, including driving and heating your house. This is why aviation is the most bitter and divisive issue in environmental politics today.

Good things

I had a really good Sunday (kayaking then a few blissed out hours in the sun (! actual sun!) in the beer garden of the local lezza bar), then a crap Monday morning - visa hassles for Turkey, my porridge exploded, I forgot my Oyster card, the bus was diverted, blah blah blah. So this story in The Age about the power of learning and the benefits of the internet has helped renew my happy Sunday mood.

Armed only with his intelligence, a book on electricity, some plastic piping and found objects, Kamkwamba built his first windmill, which generated enough power to run a light in his room.

His second, larger windmill uses a bicycle to increase efficiency and was able to generate power for his parents' house and charge car batteries or mobile phones for people in his village.

Hopefully he won't end up wasting his life on social networking sites like the rest of us.

Encouring news: Young Americans Are Leaning Left, New Poll Finds

From the New York Times: Young Americans Are Leaning Left, New Poll Finds

Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll. The poll also found that they are more likely to say the war in Iraq is heading to a successful conclusion.

Greenpeace are running at 'Energy saving [r]evolution - first 7 steps' campaign - why not sign up and see how it works for you.

"We need to kick start an energy [r]evolution! By burning fossil fuels for energy, we're altering our atmosphere - causing climate change. To reverse it, we'll need to stop burning so much coal and oil. Renewable energy like wind and solar power is part of the answer, but the fastest (and most cost effective) way to reduce our global warming pollution is simply use less energy."

Guardian: Most British women now expect to have cosmetic surgery in their lifetime. How did the ultimate feminist taboo become just another lifestyle choice?

A practice widely regarded not a decade ago as physically risky, morally doubtful, prohibitively expensive and socially embarrassing has been rebranded as something so innocuous and sensible as to be mundane. ... For a large part of the 20th century, patients who wanted cosmetic surgery would generally have been recommended therapy, their desires interpreted as an indication of pathology. ... When cosmetic patients talk about their bodies, dissociation is a recurring theme, as though they no longer inhabit their own skin. ... By identifying with actresses and models and pop stars - people who really are judged on their looks - women exchange a three-dimensional identity for an image, and life becomes an unending audition, involving all the anxiety and rejection of Pop Idol. ... Feminism would once have expected to offer a viable alternative, but its unresolved attitude to beauty has created an ideological vacuum. ... For all the rhetoric of "individual choice", surgery is a symptom of something much larger than the body - of faulty self-identity and celebrity obsession, and the transfer of moral authority from disinterested health professionals to the commercial media.

It's not a new article - it was published in 2005, but given the BBC articles that suggest breast implants are now uncritcally mainstream, I think it's timely.

Random but funny (if you're a geek): The Lonely Mathematician.

Nestlé 'bypasses' baby milk code

"Thirty years after a boycott of Nestlé products was launched to highlight its unethical marketing of baby formula in developing countries, baby formula manufacturers are still failing in their responsibilities towards the world's poorest mothers and babies, Save the Children claims today.

It says around 1.4 million children die each year of illnesses such as diarrhoea that could have been prevented if they were being breastfed. But - despite the dangers of mixing infant formula with dirty water and using unsterile bottles - food companies continue to use aggressive marketing techniques to keep their share of a multi-million pound market.

Since 1981, baby milk manufacturers have been bound by a World Health Organisation-ratified code which bans direct marketing to mothers and free samples, which can undermine successful breastfeeding. But, the report says, "manufacturers are still flouting the code by heavily promoting manufactured baby milk and food".

A Guardian investigation in Bangladesh found widespread use of "prescription pads", where Nestlé reps give health workers tear-off pads, with pictures of their products, for them to pass on to mothers. Nestlé spokesman Robin Tickle said he did not believe the pads equated to promotion of the company's formula milks. The device was "a safety measure", to help mothers to be sure the milk they were buying was the right kind for their baby."
Guardian, Tuesday May 15, 2007

My bold, above. I don't even particularly like kids, but it's incredible that a major corporation could have so little respect for humanity. I wonder what the difference between the baby formula market profit and the amount they'd gain back if people could stop boycotting them is.

And a 2003 BBC article for more background on the baby milk marketing code: Baby milk marketing 'breaks rules'.

Mars bars get veggie status back

"Mars has abandoned plans to use animal products in its chocolate, and has apologised to "upset" vegetarians."

Hooray!

Now if only Nestle would sort it out, I could eat Milo again.

Chicken-Eating Spider Keeps Frog As Pet

Chasing the Chicken-Eating Spider

But warning - do not read, and really, I mean it, don't read it if you're afraid of spiders.

But go right ahead if you think tarantulas can have cute furry legs.

A great leap backward...

"Some of the UK's best-selling chocolate bars, such as Mars and Twix, will no longer be suitable for vegetarians.

Also affecting brands such as Snickers and Maltesers, owner Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product rennet to make its chocolate products.

Masterfoods said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part."

I think the Vegetarian Society got it right:

"At a time when more and more consumers are concerned about the provenance of their food, Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step"

BBC

This is supercool (well, superhot really, I guess)

Power station harnesses Sun's rays

"A concrete tower - 40 storeys high - stood bathed in intense white light, a totally bizarre image in the depths of the Andalusian countryside.
...
It is Europe's first commercially operating power station using the Sun's energy this way and at the moment its operator, Solucar, proudly claims that it generates 11 Megawatts (MW) of electricity without emitting a single puff of greenhouse gas.

It works by focusing the reflected rays on one location, turning water into steam and then blasting it into turbines to generate power."

South Pacific to stop bottom trawling

"A quarter of the world's oceans will be protected from fishing boats which drag heavy nets across the sea floor, South Pacific nations have agreed.

The landmark deal will restrict bottom trawling, which experts say destroys coral reefs and stirs up clouds of sediment that suffocate marine life." BBC

I've been following this issue for years, from back in the days when I still ate seafood. Good news on a lazy Sunday.

Life in Laos...

BBC: In pictures: Life in rural Laos

It explains a lot of what we saw as we travelled around - cows or buffalo grazing on scraps of grass in what looked rice paddies. It was 'burning season' while we were there and it was amazing to see how much land was being cleared, particularly on the trip over the mountains from Luang Prabang to Vang Viang, and on down to Vientiane. I couldn't see how much was being cleared in the south because it was dark. I really don't understand why the government lets people clear land they won't be able to irrigate, and I worry that they'll lose their top soil in floods and dust storms once they've cleared the trees and destroyed the infrastructure of the soil. I guess sometimes you can only go for short-term solutions, but it was kinda heart breaking.

TimeOut on ethical shopping in London.

Vegetarian Passport phrase 'book'

I always dig this link out before I go on a trip, so here it is again: the vegetarian passport has phrases explaining what vegetarians and vegans can and can't eat in lots of international languages.

But I'm not looking forward to weeks of vegetarian joy in Laos, though it might be ok.

(Did I mention I was going on holiday? Oh yes. Back in a few weeks).

No wonder gardening is ace...

'Exposure to dirt may be a way to lift mood as well as boost the immune system, UK scientists say.' BBC

Wi-fi buses drive rural web use

"Buses equipped with wi-fi are being used to deliver web content to remote rural villages in the developing world.

In rural India and parts of Rwanda, Cambodia and Paraguay, the vehicles offer web content to computers with no internet connection."

Point/Counterpoint: (RED) Raises $100 Million, Spends 82% On Advertising

"(RED), the global co-branding experiment that directs a percentage of (RED) product revenues towards fighting AIDS in Africa, has only directed $18 million out of $100 million spent. AdAge reports that this is raising eyebrows other than our own."

The disproportionate ratio between the marketing outlay and the money raised is drawing concern among nonprofit watchdogs, cause-marketing experts and even executives in the ad business. It threatens to spur a backlash, not just against the Red campaign -- which ambitiously set out to change the cause-marketing model by allowing partners to profit from charity -- but also for the brands involved.

"Prime Minister John Howard has clashed with Sir Nicholas Stern over climate change, saying the former World Bank chief economist's views should not be treated as "holy writ" and could do great damage to the Australian economy.

Sir Nicholas has called on Australia to be an international leader in the fight against climate change by slashing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 per cent by 2050, ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and being at the forefront of new technologies, such as clean coal.

But when asked by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd if he would commit to the 2050 target, Mr Howard declared he would put the national interest first." The Age

Is he really that short-sighted? Or does he think a political win justifies the environmental damage? From this distance it seems Australia is already suffering the effects of global warming, I don't understand why it's not the first country to respond.

Yet another reason not to fly.

Fantastic photos of Saturday's lunar eclipse.

Facts and fictions about climate change

"It has become fashionable in some parts of the UK media to portray the scientific evidence that has been collected about climate change and the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities as an exaggeration. Some articles have claimed that scientists are ignoring uncertainties in our understanding of the climate and the factors that affect it. Some have questioned the motives of the scientists who have presented the most authoritative assessments of the science of climate change, claiming that they have a vested interest in ‘playing up’ the potential effects that climate change is likely to have.

This document examines twelve misleading arguments (presented in bold typeface) put forward by the opponents of urgent action on climate change and highlights the scientific evidence that exposes their flaws."

This PDF from the Royal Society, A guide to facts and fictions about climate change, goes through the evidence (or lack of) for claims like 'Many scientists do not think that climate change is a problem', 'There is little evidence that global warming is happening or, if it is happening, it is not very much', 'Even if climate change is occurring, it won’t be that dangerous' and 'There is no evidence that climate change will be bad for people. In fact, warmer weather will actually be good for those people who live in cold countries'.

So the next time someone says "there's no point doing anything about global warming because..." you can point them to that document.

Depressing reading:

'Tourism is already out of control, and unless the Cambodian government takes some pretty radical action to rein it in now much of Angkor's magic and heritage could be lost forever.' Guardian

Yes, blah blah blah, I'm even getting sick of hearing myself crap on about it. But how do I reconcile my travel bug with my hippydom? Is going by rail or road where possible, and flying less and staying longer really enough?

"Travel educates and broadens the mind, and connects us to the rest of the world - which is especially important for Australians.

But how can we do it without being environmental vandals, especially as poor nations are expected to suffer the most from climate change?" Age

Social justice vs the environment vs all a Guardian readers' issues in one complicated bouquet in this BBC article.

To me the easy answer is 'don't buy out-of-season flowers'. Ok, I know it's not that simple, but it doesn't seem like European or African flowers are entirely ethical and green, so maybe buying flowers like this just isn't realistic anymore.

In other news, I think I just saw a robin in the garden. I've never seen a robin before!

I went on a tree planting holiday with Treesponsibility on the weekend. It was too snowy to do any planting on the Saturday so we went for walks instead, but on Sunday most of the snow had melted, and the sun even came out. It was lovely to get out of London, and even nicer to do something proactive for the environment. Treesponsibility are based in the Upper Calder Valley but it would be ace if similar projects were available all over the UK.

A quick round up of travel sites that have been mentioned in various papers recently. I haven't used any of them myself yet, so bear that in mind that these aren't exactly recommendations.

yoursafeplanet.co.uk is "a global community of local people who can offer information and support for travellers", for a fee.

travellersconnected.co.uk is another online community with forums, photo galleries and journals.

thelmandlouise.com is "an online community of women worldwide which enables members to meet like-minded women, find travel companions and fulfil their aspirations".

While on the subject of travel, this documentary tells you everything you need to know about eating Japanese food. If you try it out let me know how you get on.

Greenpeace: 2006 - a year in pictures

"Supermarket chain Tesco pledged last night to revolutionise its business to become "a leader in helping to create a low-carbon economy" with a raft of new measures to help combat climate change.

In the most significant step announced yesterday, the UK's biggest retailer, which produces 2m tonnes of carbon a year in the UK, said it would put new labels on every one of the 70,000 products it sells so that shoppers can compare carbon costs in the same way they can compare salt content and calorie counts." Guardian

"The UK government is to set standards for carbon offsetting schemes to bring "greater clarity" to the industry.
...
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has named just four offset providers that meet its new guidelines -Pure, Global Cool, Equiclimate and Carbon Offsets."

BBC

Save money and do the right thing for the environment: Recycle old mobiles

"Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life, a study says." BBC

Blimey!

"One of the best ways to go green at Christmas is to give up the turkey. The meat industry is responsible for more of the world's greenhouse gas emissions than cars, according to a UN report." Guardian

I love number 11 on Greenpeace's 12 steps to a greener holiday guide:

Hang lots of mistletoe. This won't really help the environment. But more kissing has got to be good for world peace ;-)

Number 12 is worth a read: 12 tips for individual action on global warming.

It's Buy Nothing Day on Saturday.

From the website: "It's a day where you challenge yourself, your family and friends to switch off from shopping and tune into life. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!

This year our message is simple, shop less - live more! The challenge is to try simple living for a day, spend time with family and friends, rather than spend money on them.

Buy Nothing Day also exposes the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. The developed countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth."

I'm not generally drinking alcohol at the moment, which makes it easier because the hard part would be getting through the different events I'm meant to be going to without buying someone a drink.

"Parents have forced a school trip to a mosque to be abandoned because they did not want their children exposed to a religion that was not their own.
...
But a number of parents withdrew their support saying their children were too young to learn about other faiths." BBC

It's not April 1 so this must be real. I know I was a precocious brat, but I'd rejected the Catholic church and become an atheist by seven or eight. How can ten year olds be too young to learn about other religions? What better time to teach them?

I don't know if my primary and secondary schools were unusual but we studied comparative religion the whole way through. (And I turned out just fine... oh, ok, fair enough.)

Worried about climate change? Check out the Big Ask.

Not just in London, but wherever you are...

BLACKOUT LONDON
4th November 2006

Starting at Sunset
4.30 pm to 7.30 pm

You are invited to take part in the largest demonstration of People Power that London has ever seen on Saturday 4th November 2006, by turning off all your lights, and switching off all your non-essential electrical equipment at Sunset.

The principal cause of Global Warming is the rising Carbon Dioxide emissions into the atmosphere from the burning of Fossil Fuels, for electricity generation, transport, manufacturing, industry, space heating and air conditioning.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE FOURTH OF NOVEMBER !

For one day in November, we are asking everyone who receives this message to think about what they can turn off, switch off and unplug, toshow support.

We want the power demand in the United Kingdom to reduce so much that the newspapers are obliged to report it. We want the lights to go out in London, so that on the evening of 4th November 2006, the dimming effect will be visible from space.

If you are at home, switch off your set-top boxes, pull all the chargers out of the wall sockets, turn off lights in any room you are not using, switch off any machine with a digital clock in it, unplug the hi-fi and the TV and the games console, de-frost your freezer, switch off your fridge for a couple of hours. Turn the central heating thermostat down to 16 degrees and put a woolly sweater/jumper on if you're cold.
http://www.workface-limited.co.uk/html/powercut.html

COME OFF IT !
Blackout London is being called in cooperation with Come Off It the
campaign from Dave Hampton, the Carbon Coach, as part of a series of regular events to produce negawatts - negative power demand - from the People's Power Station :- http://www.carboncoach.com/comeoffit/index.html

An excellent site for cyclists.

Cute story, if you like kids and stuff like that: "Albert Park Primary is one of more than 30 schools encouraging students to travel using some form of sustainable transport instead of the family car." Age

I'm off to Ireland tomorrow. Instead of flying, I'm trying the Sail Rail deal. It's £45 return for a train and ferry from London to Rosslare, which has already saved me the cost of getting to an airport, let alone the flight and charges. It'll take longer, but I'll see parts of England I've never seen, and I don't have to squeeze into a Ryanair tin can, and I can take whatever the hell I like on board. If it's a rough crossing I may regret it but so far it's looking good.

I'll be travelling with my entire family, visiting places our ancestors came from. If I survive, I'll be back next Sunday.

"A YouGov survey to be published tomorrow will show 3% of people have already stopped flying and another 10% have cut down because of concerns about climate change." Times

"We're Greenpeace, and we want a fresh green Apple.

Right now, poison Apples full of chemicals (like toxic flame retardants, and polyvinyl chloride) are being sold worldwide. When they're tossed, they usually end up at the fingertips of children in China, India and other developing-world countries. They dismantle them for parts, and are exposed to a dangerous toxic cocktail that threatens their health and the environment."

Write to Apple to demand they:

• Remove the worst toxic chemicals from all their products and production lines.
• Offer and promote free "take-back" for all their products everywhere they are sold.

via greenmyapple.

I added this to the form letter part:

"I've been a Mac fan for a long time, and I was really disturbed to learn that Apple scored so badly on environmental impact. As much as I've loved my Macs, if I have to choose between my green values and my Mac, my green values are going to win."

"This Green Electronics Guide ranks leading mobile and PC manufacturers on their global policies and practice on eliminating harmful chemicals and on taking responsibility for their products once they are discarded by consumers. Companies are ranked solely on information that is publicly available."

Greenpeace on how IT companies line up against the Toxic Tech campaign.

It's a shame Apple do so badly but it's good to see Nokia doing so much.

"A federal judge in California has ordered the US Navy to temporarily stop using sonar equipment because it might harm whales and other sea mammals." (BBC). Hippie joy!

Interesting boycotts list from the ethical consumer site.

Interesting reading at a time when the nuclear power PR people are getting lots of positive stories in the popular press:

"If you believe newspapers and watch the news, nuclear power is part of the answer to global warming. Nuclear power is greenhouse-gas emission friendly, we're told.
...
But nuclear power only looks greenhouse-friendly from a distance. If you take a closer look, it's far from a solution to the climate crisis.

The first problem is the widespread idea that most greenhouse gases come from electrical power. Unfortunately for all of us, that's not the case. In 1999 the International Energy Agency estimated the world emissions from electrical networks at less than 39 per cent of total emissions.
...
Going on the figures on the World Nuclear Association website, if the present global output of electricity were obtained entirely from nuclear reactors, and as efficiently as best practice allowed, the uranium in all the known rich-ore bodies in the world that they list would keep them going for just under nine years. Thereafter, the world would have no nuclear power stations operating and therefore no power stations at all.
...
In other words, nuclear power isn't neutral when it comes to greenhouse gases. On the contrary, greenhouse gases are emitted at every step along the way to generating nuclear power.

In dismissing solar power, Homer has to overlook the recent United Nations report saying that an 800-square-kilometre area of the Sahara could generate enough electricity for the whole world. He is, of course, still entitled to his opinion that solar is a pipedream. But so too is the popular notion that nuclear power is greenhouse-gas friendly."

Debunking nuclear myth of greenhouse friendliness, The Age.

I was just looking for information about recycling plastic on the Hackney website, and came across this:

"Yellow pages directories are made into separate components and reprocessed into new batteries or reused as raw materials."

Batteries made out of phone books? That's quite impressive technology.

Amnesty to target net repression

"Internet users are being urged to stand up for online freedoms by backing a new campaign launched by human rights group Amnesty International." (BBC)

"Just try logging on to the BBC News website from an internet cafe in China. You can't. The same goes for websites for The New York Times, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a host of others which could hardly be described as pornographic or "dangerous".
...
In its quest to control the internet China has sought help from overseas. Some large, US-based computer software companies are believed to have sold Beijing the sophisticated software needed to run its filtering system. Companies like Google and Yahoo! have also been accused of co-operating in China's internet censorship." (BBC)

"Some 45 years after an Observer article launched Amnesty, The Observer and Amnesty International have teamed up again to campaign against a new threat to our freedom - internet repression." (Observer)

Find out more at http://irrepressible.info.

You can add a badge to your site or email with content that is censored somewhere in the world:

And more in the 'depressing environmental news' section: "Fish stocks in international waters are being plundered to the point of extinction, a leading conservationist group has said.

Illegal fishing and bottom-trawling in deep waters are to blame, according to a report from WWF.

It says the current system of regional fishing regulation is failing to tackle the problem, with not enough being done to enforce quotas or replenish stocks." (BBC)

Really depressing pictures of the seabed before and after trawling:

People sometimes ask why I don't eat fish - this is why.

Extract from 'Field Notes From a Catastrophe' by Elizabeth Kolbert in today's Observer:

"As Britain faces its worst drought in 100 years, engineers in the Netherlands are preparing for a water-logged future. In this extract from her acclaimed book on climate change, Elizabeth Kolbert reports on how changing weather patterns and rising sea levels are threatening the world's coastlines."

I really hate the way the Red campaign is co-opting the global aid movment. My rage is impotent but at least this piece on Bono editing the Independent made me laugh:

"Inside lurk about 2,000 adverts for the new Motorola RED phone. If you buy one, an Aids charity receives an initial payment of £10, followed by 5% of all further call revenues. This is clearly a good idea. But somehow, it's also annoying. For starters, the phone costs £149, of which £139 goes toward helping Motorola. Second, it's bright red and seems doomed to appeal to arseholes who want to add conspicuous compassion to their list of needless fashion accessories. I'm not just jabbering mindlessly on the phone in your train carriage - I'm saving fuckin' lives, OK?"
...
"Stella McCartney interviews Giorgio Armani, who has designed a pair of sunglasses for the RED charity range. These cost around £72 and will make you look like Bono: buy a 10 quid pair from Boots, bung the remaining £62 to an Aids charity and not only will you enjoy a warm philanthropic glow, no one's going to shout "wanker!" at you when you walk down the high street."

Guardian

It's that time of year when I start collecting sites of travel information. I'm booking my flight to Turkey today, and I've booked my flight back from Krakow already, so all I have to do is fill in the gaps to get from one to the other. I've never been this organised about a trip, but we've already worked out how to get from Istanbul to Romania (via Bulgaria), and we're starting to work back from when Min must leave to see what we can see in Romania and Moldova. I'll have nearly a week in Ukraine by myself, but even then there are vast distances to cover so it's not as much time as it sounds.

At least I'll have two weeks of vegetarian food on site but then I'll be needing IVU's Vegetarian Phrases in World Languages and Vegetarian Phrases In Other Languages.

Responsible Travel Tips from Lonely Planet.

"The permits effectively make the right to pollute a tradeable commodity - giving companies the ability to buy and sell permission to emit extra carbon dioxide." (BBC)

Why we don't be flying again from January's Guardian doesn't go into the environmental impact of flying, but it does make a good case for the joys of other methods of transport.

The Post Punk Kitchen has some pretty cool vegan recipes, and it's a great name.

A new site, www.noflying.info has gone live. "The site has potential to be a huge success and be highly beneficial to the cause of sustainable travel." They're looking for people to contribute content or help with development before the full launch around May 20.

"A SHEFFIELD feminist group is claiming a victory after campaigning for city stores to stop selling Playboy accessories to girls under the age of 16.
...
Sheffield Fems member Jayne Taylor said: "We are not having a go at Playboy but we feel these products perpetrate the sexualisation of children." (Sheffield Today)

This story is great. Partly because I hate the idea that young girls are being sold images of commodified sexuality and partly because I'm glad to see that some radical feminist groups are still active.

I'm loggin' it

Greenpeace on McDonald's suppliers using illegally cleared land in the Amazon:

"New Greenpeace research has shown that McDonald's are partners in forest crime that is creating a trail of destruction right into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The chicken they sell is fed on soya grown in areas of the Amazon that have been illegally cleared. This means that every time you buy a Chicken McNugget, you're taking a bite out of the Amazon.

We want McDonald's to tell their suppliers they will not buy animals that have been reared on soya that comes from the Amazon rainforest."

You can send a comment to McDonald's via the Greenpeace site.

This Vegetarian passport site has text or images of phrases explaining lacto-ovo vegetarian and vegan diets in 80 languages. Perfect for the vegetarian traveller.

"Virtually all indicators of the likely future for the diversity of life on Earth are heading in the wrong direction, a major new report says." (BBC)

The bad news on food miles: "At the moment, science can't help - as we simply don't know enough. My personal advice would be to do what ever best satisfies your conscience, but don't kid yourself that by so doing you are saving the world." BBC

"The Australian Government has joined the United States to oppose efforts by the United Nations to protect world heritage sites such as the Great Barrier Reef from global warming."

My emphasis, and my disbelief. I never realised the Australian/US 'special relationship' would go that far. I think we need to describe Howard as a PIMBY - "Please, In My BackYard".

The Age

These clips from the BBC's Planet Earth are brilliant. I couldn't help but laugh at the bird of paradise, jumping and clicking like a lunatic and I loved the moment it turns around to reveal blue, blue eyes, though it also kinda scared me.

Ah, Australia. My travelling correspondent reports the following conversation:

me: [My friend Mia] was complaining about the lack of types of tofu in london supermarkets
mum: there's not much here either...
me: no?
mum: ...I think there are only 4 types at coles. And it's not local and fresh.
me: the tofu is imported?
mum: no, it's from nsw or vic. In chinatown they make some types in the shop.

This Bono-led Red campaign worries me.

He's hooked up with brands like Converse (owned by Nike) and GAP (of sweatshop fame) to produce a few limited edition token items, some of the profits from which go to 'fight poverty in Africa'.

So the companies get to spruce up their image without impacting the vast percentage of their profits, and Bono gets to look like a saint, again. Seems a small price to pay for priceless positive spin that counters their 'evil, exploitative multinational' image.

Is it me or is watching big business co-opt and subvert the ethical and fair trade movements incredibly depressing?

I've been struggling a little with my intention of reducing the number of flights I make each year, but this unintentionally ironic sales email from EasyJet helped:

"Snow time like the present...
Catch the white stuff before it melts!"

I'm sure they didn't mean to make an unintentional reference to global warming, but it does remind me of these Greenpeace Olympics videos about the impact of climate change on the Winter Olympics.

"A Nigerian court has ordered oil giant Shell's local operation to pay $1.5bn to the Ijaw people of the Delta region.
The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for environmental degradation in the oil-rich region." (BBC)

I wonder if that'll set a precedent.

I probably shouldn't laugh, but ha ha!

This article is practically tofu pr0n. Seven types of tofu, anyone?

"Capitalism is not sustainable by its very nature. It is predicated on infinitely expanding markets, faster consumption and bigger production in a finite planet. And yet this ideological model remains the central organising principle of our lives, and as long as it continues to be so it will automatically undo (with its invisible hand) every single green initiative anybody cares to come up with." (Age)

Is global business hijacking the Fairtrade bandwagon? Guardian

What is the real price of cheap air travel?

"The arguments against flying are compelling. ... A return flight to Australia equals the emissions of three average cars for a year. Fly from London to Edinburgh for the weekend and you produce 193kg of CO2, eight times the 23.8kg you produce by taking the train. Moreover, the pollution is released at an altitude where its effect on climate change is more than double that on the ground.

More frightening is the boom in the number of people flying, fuelled by cheap flights with carriers such as Ryanair and Easyjet. In 1970, British airports were used by 32 million people. In 2004, the figure was 216 million. In 2030, according to government forecasts, it will be around 500 million. The trouble is that the people most likely to be aware of these figures, are the ones who probably enjoy popping over to Europe for a weekend. It makes for a large amount of guilt, and a lot of denial. "

Guardian

This article almost matches the course of my thinking about cheap flights. At first I was off-setting flights by donating to Future Forests to have trees planted, but I've come to realise I just can't justify taking so many short-haul flights.

On the other hand, I hope I'll be taking longer trips and savour them more, or travel more by train. I love train travel anyway - the trip Min and I are planning to Ukraine, Moldova and Romania is designed around the European rail guide.

Serves him right.

Amazon 'stealth' logging revealed (BBC)

Go to Greenpeace to sign a petition asking the EU to ban the import of illegally logged timber.

Nestle to get Fair Trade mark?

To make up for that, here's the ethical shopping guide.

How many harmful chemicals are in your home? How do they affect you? And how many of them could be avoided?

Friends of the Earth has a campaign for real food. You can take action on issues like Tesco's dominance of the UK market, and GM foods.

Which reminds me, a while ago I signed a petition at Bite Back (a site about shark and marine conservation), and got this email a while later:

"Thank you. The Bite-Back campaign emails you sent have helped inspire Tesco, the country's biggest food retailer, to stop selling swordfish and marlin.

It is now impossible to buy either fish species from any of Tesco's 1779 stores. In fact, because of your support for Bite-Back it is also impossible to buy shark at any ASDA store and it's no longer possible to find swordfish or marlin on the shelves at Sainsbury's.

Your emails have helped inspire these retailers to amend their buying policies in favour of some of the most threatened fish on the planet. Congratulations!"

It's lovely to know that petitions can work. A few clicks, and some re-writing of emails to personalise them takes a tiny bit of my lunch break, and it can make a big difference. Yay!

If you stopped buying Converse when they were bought by Nike, consider the 'ethical, worker-friendly, environmentally friendly' blackspot sneakers/trainers instead.

In other news, I've booked the flights to go to Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Romania at the end of September, arriving back in London just in time to hang out with my friend Cat.

Oh, and they've called the election in Australia, so we can look forward to lots of flying bullshit.

I'm going to have some trees planted to make my long-haul flights carbon neutral, which makes my hippy heart glad.

Guides to ethical buying from ethicalconsumer.org.