A Zero Waste Town
July 14th, 2008 cateVery inspiring story about a place in Japan with zero waste. Can you imagine? Read about it here.
Very inspiring story about a place in Japan with zero waste. Can you imagine? Read about it here.
From AP:
PALENQUE, Mexico (AP) — North American Indians assembled in the shadow of ancient Mayan pyramids Monday discussed how their tradition wisdom could help save the planet, and were told that even indigenous cultures have struggled with environmental abuse.
More than 200 leaders from 71 American Indian nations in Mexico, the United States and Canada came together in this Mexican jungle to find indigenous solutions to pollution and ecological problems threatening the planet.
“Our Mother Earth is being polluted at an alarming rate, and our elders say that she is dying,” said Raymond Sensmeier, a Tlingit leader from Yakutat, Alaska. “The way the weather is around the world … a cleansing is needed.”
The conference began with a pre-dawn ceremony that included fire, copal incense, chants in Lacandon Maya and blasts from a conch shell.
Speakers reminded attendees that even Indian cultures have battled with environmental abuse and pointed to theories that deforestation contributed to the collapse of the Maya who built the temples at Palenque.
“As we stand here, very near Palenque, I am mindful that some scholars have suggested that environmental stressors contributed to the decline of the Mayan civilization,” said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Elin Miller. “The planet-wide stress on the environment today means that collaborative efforts … are not just good things. They may well be essential for our survival.”
But, as Bill Erasmus, a representative of the indigenous people of Canada’s Northwest Territories noted, “part of our role is to wake up the world. It is very obvious to us all that the climate is changing.”
Mexico’s environment secretary, Juan Elvira Quesada, said the gathering is meant “to present the teachings of the original peoples of North America.”
“In this way, the indigenous communities can become the natural guides to restoring balance and harmony in the world,” he said.
The lessons they have to teach are simple – based on reviving Indian notions about ownership, use, compensation and respect.
“I sometimes talk to scientists,” said Sensmeier, “and they compartmentalize things, put things in boxes and disconnect them, and doing so promotes disharmony and imbalance.”
From bbc:
“A 101-year-old man has his sights on the London Marathon in a bid to become the world’s oldest competitive runner.
Working plumber Buster Martin ran Sunday’s Roding Valley half marathon in Essex in five hours 13 minutes, and is now focusing on London’s 26-mile event.
On finishing the run, the first words of the ex-member of rock band The Zimmers were: “Where’s my beer?”
Mr Martin, who has 17 children, started work at Pimlico Plumbers in London three years ago because he was bored.
He drank a tankard of ale before signing autographs and chatting to fans near the finish line of the Essex race.
‘A revelation’
Charlie Mullins, managing director of Pimlico Plumbers, said he was “amazed” when Mr Martin appeared at work on Monday morning after his exertions.
He said: “I was amazed and delighted, he turned up on time and set to work polishing the vans. He’s a revelation.”
Mr Martin’s trainer is marathon enthusiast Harmander Singh, who helped Fauja Singh, 96, break the London marathon record for the over-90s.
Buster, who lives in London, made headlines last year when …”
From the slttribune:
“Most Utah consumers want to know what’s in their food and how it is produced. Some prefer vegetables and fruit that are grown without pesticides, and milk and meat that are produced with no growth hormones.
Food grown under those conditions and other federally mandated standards can be labeled “certified organic.” with a description of the required production standards.
That’s not to say non-organic food is unsafe or inferior. The two are simply produced differently, and consumers have a fundamental right to make a choice. To do that, they have to have the information contained on food labels. But a Utah House member who is also a non-organic dairy farmer wants to restrict labeling for organic foods, keeping important information out of the hands of consumers.
Rep. Kerry Gibson, R-Ogden, says that labeling milk as having been produced without the use of the bovine growth hormone rBST is “misleading” and implies that non-organic products are not as safe as those labeled organic.
That’s bunk. And self-serving bunk at that.
Gibson and others, including Monsanto, the company that produces rBST and makes a lot of money selling it to farmers, are proposing a Utah Agriculture Department rule change. The new rule would prohibit milk being labeled “rBST-free” or any food labels or ads that make any claim, true or otherwise, that can’t be proven by an “analytical test.”
That’s bunk, too.
The label “Made in Utah” would be prohibited, since such a claim cannot be verified by an analytical test. A sentence on a soup can reading “just the right herbs and spices in a flavorful broth” would have to be verified by an analytical test.
The rule would allow milk to be labeled…”
From the independent:
“When he’s expecting visitors, Steve James watches out the windows so he can catch the look on their faces when they see his house for the first time. “It’s always the same,” he say. “There’s an intense stare and total mystification, as if they can’t quite believe what they are seeing.” This may be because James’s house is made of straw and has a turf roof covered in flowers.
James is passionate about eco homes and deeply proud of the cottage, which huddles by a loch near Dumfries. His kitchen is made from a cedar that blew over in a Glasgow park. His sink came from a skip. To one side is a Moroccan marbled shower room, to the other are sofas and a log-burning stove. He sleeps in a galleried bedroom. A compost loo and rainwater filtration system complete the picture.
The total cost:…”
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