The biggest irony of my life.

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-fashion/25-shocking-fashion-industry-statistics.html

The Green Thing

So many forwarded mails going in and out of the inbox, sometimes we don't bother reading them through before bulk forwarding or simply deleting them. This one struck a chord, even though I don't belong to the "previous generation" that it talks about. So much of it is true about my childhood and some, even my present. I don't really know who the authors of this are, but I thought I'd share it:


At the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own shopping bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The cashier responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so they could use the same bottles over and over. Yes, they really were recycling.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen; and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But, we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up the stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every shop and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But, she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an 'energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts;' wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But, that young lady is right. We didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And, the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the county of Yorkshire.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the post, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.

We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But, she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank water from a fountain or a tap when we were thirsty instead of demanding a plastic bottle flown in from another country.

We accepted that a lot of food was seasonal and didn’t expect that to be bucked by flying it thousands of air miles around the world.

We actually cooked food that didn’t come out of a packet, tin or plastic wrap and we could even wash our own vegetables and chop our own salad.
But, we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the tram or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.

And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But, isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Recycling Ideas and more..

http://www.recyclethis.co.uk/

Updates on The Story of Stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.org/capandtrade/

A very lucid video on Climate change and what should be done.

Numbers!

Let this freak you out

http://www.worldometers.info/

Diary entry after watching “Home”

And as my thoughts drift, I asked myself this question, who are we fighting climate change for?

The reason why We have to do something, no matter whose fault it is, is that our previous generations screwed up knowing that the consequences won’t be seen in their lifetime. But with our generation, the changes are happening RIGHT NOW. We have to fight to have a secure future in our own lifetimes.

The problem is not just about the temperature going up or the air becoming a little more smoky. Rising sea levels will bring in millions of climate change refugees to higher altitudes. Resources like food and water will be scarce and only those with a lot of money and power will have easy access to those. There will be violence, wars for these basic things everywhere. And all this will happen within ten years, in our own lifetimes.

What we don’t see right now is that climate change is going to bring about huge social and economic problems, not just weird weather!

I’ve been trying to make changes in my life, but the truth is, I haven’t been trying hard enough. But on the other hand, watching documentaries and reading about these issues, being exposed to so much information in the past 3 years in NID has made me even more environmentally conscious. So I guess awareness can change people, little by little.

“It’s too late to be pessimistic”

The point is that too much needs to be done in too little time. Apart from making changes in our own lifestyles, we have to force out governments to become more environmentally conscious; to switch to clean sources of energy, to invest in sustainable development. We really have to unite and force our governments, because individually, we cannot install windmills in the seas or gigantic solar panels in the deserts, or stop creating plastic junk. But individually also, we have to get a little uncomfortable and change ourselves. Resolve to buy less, buy local (it takes a lot of energy to import and transport goods through air / sea), walk / cycle / use public transport instead of car / plane (planes have enormous amounts of emissions), eat less meat (meat is highly inefficient as a lot of farmland and crop is used to feed the animal through its lifetime before it becomes one meal), reuse plastic, reuse scrap, throw away less, use less.. and be more aware and sensitive towards our future.

Home

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

HOME: A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

"We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film. HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet."