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Comment by CARE on June 13, 2016 at 9:36am

Can Delhi save itself from its toxic air?

India’s capital city scrambles to tackle its epic pollution problems.

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty

A brown cloud of pollutants hangs over the outskirts of New Delhi.

On winter nights, New Delhi burns with innumerable fires. Flames flicker along pavements and street corners, where the destitute huddle to stay warm and cook their suppers, while night watchmen stand guard next to their own small blazes outside private homes. The rising plumes of smoke mingle with exhaust and dust stirred up by overloaded trucks that rumble down roads blanketed in fog. The mixture melds into a nearly opaque substance that leaves a metallic taste on the tongue. Overhead, there is not a single star to be seen.

continue on

http://www.nature.com/news/can-delhi-save-itself-from-its-toxic-air...

Comment by Angela Pitteri on June 10, 2016 at 10:35am

Thankyou Angela. My friend Nathalia told me ho you met on the beach while cleaning up rubbish. I live on the most beautiful island in the world - Lord Howe Island- with just 350 residents. In 2000 I found a seabird skeleton with the ribcage full of plastic pieces - so started research and awareness campaigns about ocean plastic debris. I would like to share some photographs and results of research - because even though Lord Howe Island is very clean and has World Heritage protection, our seabirds are feeling impacts of ocean debris from around the world that the seabirds pick up at sea thinking it is food. I am not sure how to get photos and information to you; Nahalia gave you my email , that may be easiest. I will look on your website too.

Ian

https://www.facebook.com/ian.hutton2?fref=ts

 

Comment by CARE on May 7, 2014 at 11:18am

The Easy Way to Start Composting

Despite what you've heard, composting at home doesn't have to be complicated.

By Paul Hope

Compost is king when it comes to growing a beautiful garden. This nutrient-rich black dirt forms as vegetable and plant matter decomposes. It's easy to do, is a great way to use food scraps and other items (that might otherwise end up a landfill), and bonus: It's virtually free.

Start with a space.
First, decide whether you want to use a closed container or open space near your garden. Naturally, a closed bin is easily contained, but it can make regulating moisture a challenge, and it will holds less compost. An open pile is easier to mix and monitor, but can be quite unsightly (it is a heap of decomposing material, after all). Whichever you choose, keep it outside, as the compost will emit a distinct odor as the matter breaks down.

Get mixing.
Start your heap with dirt from your garden, and begin adding food scraps. Throw them in regularly (say, after dinner each day), and also maintain a balanced mixture of wet green material (grass clippings and vegetable peels), and dry brown material (chopped leaves and shredded paper). Stir the pile every week or two evenly to distribute the beneficial bacteria growing inside. Keep the mixture moist, but not soaking wet. In time (a few weeks to a couple months), you'll have a fantastic, nurtient-packed soil.

RELATED: 13 Plants That Give You Bang for Your Buck »

Say "yes" to adding these ... 
Grass clippings, chopped leaves, vegetable and fruit scraps, weeds, straw and hay, and shredded paper and cardboard are all great additions to your pile. Even egg shells, coffee grounds and dryer lint are fair game.

... but "no" to these. 
Meat and other fatty food scraps can attract unwanted critters. And avoid any inorganic matter, like plastic, treated wood or grass-clippings that have been treated with herbicide. Some experts caution against placing weeds in your compost pile, too. If they're seeding, they might eventually pop up in your garden. 

TELL US: Do you compost at home?

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/start-composting

Comment by CARE on November 22, 2013 at 3:47pm

The Minamata Convention for Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth and final session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Geneva, Switzerland at 7 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, 19 January 2013. The major highlights of the Minamata Convention on Mercury include a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, control measures on air emissions, and the international regulation of the informal sector for artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Convention draws attention to a global and ubiquitous metal that, while naturally occurring, has broad uses in everyday objects and is released to the atmosphere, soil and water from a variety of sources. Controlling the anthropogenic releases throughout its lifecycle has been a key factor in shaping the obligations under the convention.

http://www.mercuryconvention.org/Publications/tabid/3429/Default.aspx

Comment by CARE on July 16, 2013 at 10:52am

Fiction: Drug Production Does Not Damage the Environment

Fact: The cultivation and production of drugs has harmful effects on the environment.

One of the most overlooked aspects of the illegal drug trade is how drug cultivation and production the cost of drug production destroy the environment. Illegal drugs have a far-reaching impact on the environment, including:

• Destruction of U.S. National Forests for marijuana growing
• Dumping of hazardous waste byproducts of meth manufacturing into the water supply

Illegal drug production damages forests, streams, rivers, and wildlife. If you think drug use isn’t harming anyone, think twice.

continue on http://www.justthinktwice.com/factsfiction/fiction_drug_production_...

Comment by CARE on July 16, 2013 at 10:43am

The coca and poppy cultivation in the Andean jungle is

significantly damaging the environment in the region

The main

threats to the environment are deforestation caused by clearing

the fields for cultivation, soil erosion caused by several

factors, and chemical pollution from insecticides and

fertilizers.  Additionally, the process of converting coca and

poppy into cocaine and heroine has adverse effects on the

environment as well.  These environmental issues are difficult to

address due to cocaþs position as a traditional crop and trade

item, the influence and wealth of the drug traffickers opposing

restrictions, and the issue of national sovereignty.  Most

realize the social impact of the drug trade worldwide, but few

realize the environmental impact.  Hopefully, this case study

will help bring the situation to light. 
continue on http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/cocaine

Comment by CARE on June 19, 2013 at 12:20pm

Minister ignores greatest threat to reef: industrialisation    

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has challenged the Minister for the Environment Tony Burke to address the core concerns of the World Heritage Committee over the issue that could ruin the Great Barrier Reef – industrialisation including port development, thousands more coal ships and dredging and dumping in the Reef’s waters.

Felicity Wishart, Great Barrier Reef campaign director for AMCS, said that Minister Burke did not once mention dredging or dumping, shipping or port development in his response to the World Heritage Committee which yesterday denounced Australia’s performance in protecting one of the wonders of the world.

“The Environment Minister has a responsibility to protect the Great Barrier Reef from industrialisation. However he appears to be ignoring the risks, the warnings and the impact of dredging, dumping and shipping.

“We are witnessing the biggest, fastest and most widespread industrial development in the history of the Queensland coast and it deserves to be addressed by Minister Burke.

“The world is worried, Australians are worried, scientists have expressed their concern, local communities are up in arms and no one along the coast wants what happened in Gladstone to spread up the Reef.

“The Queensland and Australian governments are claiming that everything is fine and there’s nothing to worry about, according to their press statements yesterday.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

“We call on both governments to actually address the concerns of science, communities, fishers and the international community.

“If Minister Burke is serious about protecting the Reef, and the $6 billion dollars and 60,000 jobs that go with it, he must start by rejecting the proposal to allow three million tonnes of dredging proposed for Abbot Point.

“We have heard consistently that the Reef is safe because the governments have put funds into decreasing farm run-off and improving water quality. That is progress – but it won’t stop the shipping, dredging, dumping and port development that could undo any good work by farmers and ruin the Reef.

“Minister Burke has a choice. Does he want to leave a legacy that will protect the Reef from this massive new threat or be seen to have contributed to its decline.

“We urge Minister Burke to take a stand and defend our Great Barrier Reef,” said Ms Wishart.

For more information please call Adrian Dodd on 0401726476

http://fightforthereef.org.au/

Comment by CARE on June 17, 2013 at 3:15pm

Monetary valuation as one approach to demonstrate the value of wetlands 

Different approaches and tools can help assess the benefits that flow from water and wetlands by providing different and complimentary information to demonstrate their value. Examples of these approaches and measures include qualitative, quantitative, spatial and monetary. Monetary valuation can significantly help demonstrate the importance of wetlands to society and the economy, and thereby help argue for their protection, wise use and restoration. However, a single methodology cannot reflect all values embedded in water-related ecosystem services and wetlands, and therefore it is important to use a combination of different approaches monetary and non-monetary to demonstrate value. Monetary valuation can translate part of the information obtained through qualitative and quantitative indicators into monetary figures. For example, the wastewater purification service provided by healthy wetlands can be valued in monetary terms through the equivalent cost of a wastewater treatment plant that would provide a similar service. Additionally, the revenues generated from tourism can give an indication of the importance of the cultural ecosystem services provided by wetlands. Some ecosystem services have a direct economic value that can be readily monetised, such as the local economic value of fish catches. Monetary valuation can give an indication of the society’s preferences that is easily understandable and communicable. It can help make explicit preferences that are normally hidden and not reflected in market prices for example the preference for clean water. In many cases, provisioning ecosystem services such as food or timber are more visible and are favoured in the policy-making process, because they have a market price. But there are many other ecosystem services that are less visible and often overlooked or underrepresented in the policy-making processes. The calculation of the economic value of traditionally less well covered provisioning services such as the value of some genetic materials or of water provision from wetlands and non-provisioning ecosystem services such as water purification, waste water treatment, and erosion control contribute to the arguments for their conservation, wise use and restoration. The outcomes of any valuation process depends on what the various stakeholders value, whose values count, who benefits, and the manner in which social and ecological systems interlinkages are accounted for. Values and the process of valuation reflect socially and culturally constructed realities linked to worldviews, mind-sets and belief systems shaped by social interactions ,as well as political and power relations operating within a realm of local, regional and global interdependencies. Extracted from the report: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Water and Wetlands, section 3.4 Monetary valuation The report presents insights on critical water-related ecosystem services and the wider ecosystem services from wetlands, in order to encourage additional policy momentum, business commitment, and investment in the conservation, restoration, and wise use of wetlands.

http://www.teebweb.org/monetary-valuation-s-one-approach-to-demonst...

Comment by CARE on May 7, 2013 at 4:57pm

Committee Application UMass Permaculture Committee: A Garden at Hillside The UMass Permaculture Committee is a three credit cooperative experience where students and staff get together to design the permaculture landscapes on the UMass Campus! We have spent all winter analyzing the site of our newest garden, and developed design options to present to UMass Chancellor Subbaswamy for a garden in his Hillside property! During this stage of the permaculture design process, we're revisiting our goals for the site, and the goals of the client, while finalizing our design. Jono Neiger, a professor at the Conway School of Design teaching regenerative design and co-founder of Regenerative Design Group, has helped with the design process along the way. Connect with us on Facebook @ UMass Amherst Permaculture to learn about upcoming garden workdays!

http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=054c96ceadff564798153417d&i...

Comment by CARE on January 24, 2013 at 12:57pm

GOOD NEWS: a milestone reached as gibbons in India welcome a new baby to their family

Sharing with you all the exciting news from our gibbon rescue project in Arunachal Pradesh.

The female in one of the gibbon families that we had moved about a year ago has given birth!

The baby has been named 'Ouiji', which stands for 'Hope' in the local dialect.

The project lead, Kuladeep, managed to secure some first photographs of the gibbon with the baby. Sharing those with you.

Those of you who were involved in the project would be aware, that it took us nearly two years to plan out the best method possible to save these gibbon families.

The birth marks a milestone in the project and establishes that the gibbons are doing well in the release site.

Sashanka Barbaruah, Communications Manager, IFAW/Wildlife Trust of India

http://www.ifaw.org/united-kingdom/news/good-news-milestone-reached...

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