Computer Recycling – The Downside of Upgrading
February 2, 2010 by Caryn Green
Filed under Africa, Blog, Cancer, China, E-Waste, Front Page, Ghana, Health, Heavy Metals, Pollution, Recycling, Toxins
In an era when prices for goods are escalating while product quality seems to be decreasing (“they don’t make ‘em like they used to”), electronics equipment is one bright spot on the consumer landscape. The products keep improving, and the prices keep dropping. That flash drive you’re carrying is about the size of a stick of gum, yet it has quadruple the storage capacity of the laptop you were using on the job ten years ago. With all these advancements in the computer arena, why not upgrade?
The downside of upgrading is disposing of all that old equipment. You can’t sell it, and you can’t give it away. Your local charities and schools won’t accept electronics donations — you’ve checked. So you make the environmentally responsible decision to recycle. Congratulations, you’re living green.
Or are you?
What if you knew that the obsolete cellphones, TVs, and computers you just recycled with a clear conscience are on their way to a “burn village” in China? …
Read Full ArticleDispatches from Copenhagen – Talks Extended
December 18, 2009 by Simeon Talley
Filed under 2009, Ban Ki-moon, Blog, COP 15, China, Climate Change, Front Page, Global Warming, Obama, Slideshow, U.S., UN, Wen Jiabao
COPENHAGEN – COP15 TALKS JUST EXTENDED TO THE WEEKEND.
So much has happened, while so little real progress has been made.
Obama’s speech essentially reiterated the US’s already stated position: mitigation commitments by all major economies, transparency by both developing and developed countries alike, and US commitment of $10 billion in the short term/$100 billion in the long-term by 2020 for climate finance….
Read Full Article“This Product Is Made from GARBAGE”
December 2, 2009 by Julia Wasson
Filed under Blog, Community, Consumer Goods, Ecopreneurs, Front Page, Indonesia, Repurposing
At first glance, the title of this post might seem like a slam against an inferior product. That’s not the case at all. In fact, the title comes directly from a product insert I received with two sample items from XS Project.
When a representative for XSProject first contacted me, I was intrigued with the description of how their products are made — and why. The email I received said, “Don’t be surprised if you soon spy some hipster with an accessory you can’t take your eyes off of (something that makes you think, ‘Oh, what a piece of garbage’).”
Who could resist finding out more? …
Read Full ArticleGrameen Bank – “Working toward a Poverty-Free World”
June 12, 2009 by Julia Wasson
Filed under Bangladesh, Banks, Blog, Ecopreneurs, Financing, Front Page, Grameen Bank, Micro-lending, Poverty, Sustainability
On October 13, 2006, Professor Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh stepped to the podium in Oslo, Norway, to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. The work for which Yunus was being honored had started a financial revolution of sorts in 1976, when he turned the banking industry on its head by giving microloans to poor people. With the success of his initial loans, he founded the Grameen Bank. (The definition of Grameen is rural or village in the Bangla language.)
“We were happy that the world has given recognition, through this prize, that poverty is a threat to peace,” Yunus writes on the Grameen Bank’s website. “Grameen Bank, and the concept and methodology of micro-credit that it has elaborated through its 30 years of work, have contributed to enhancing the chances of peace by reducing poverty. Bangladesh is happy that it could contribute to the world a concept and an institution which can help bring peace to the world”…
Read Full ArticleProject GreenHands – Compensating the Earth
April 8, 2009 by Makur Jain
Filed under Blog, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Forest, Front Page, India, Natural Resources, Organic, Sustainability, Volunteers
In 2005, drawing extensively on community involvement and large-scale volunteer participation, Project GreenHands planted more than 25,000 trees in tsunami-devastated coastal areas of Tamil Nadu. In 2006, PGH volunteers planted 856,000 trees in just three days, securing the project a place in the Guinness World Book of Records. By the end of the 2008 planting season, PGH had planted a total of 7.1 million trees and introduced a newly designed model of agro-forestry among the farmer community. The Project’s current aim is to inspire and support the citizens of Tamil Nadu to plant an astonishing total of 114 million trees statewide by the year 2010, adding 30% more to the existing level of green cover in Tamil Nadu.
Read Full ArticleMy 5: Earle Canfield, Founder, ANSWER
March 11, 2009 by Julia Wasson
Filed under ANSWER, Blog, Front Page, Michigan, My 5, Nepal, Volunteers
Blue Planet Green Living asked Earle Canfield, founder of the NGO ANSWER, “What are the five most important things we can do to save the planet?”
EARLE CANFIELD:
* Total disarmament. Dismantle all war industries and limit armies to simply police forces-this is one of the most wasteful use of our time, money and effort….
Read Full ArticleANSWER – Ending Caste in Nepal with Education and Jobs
March 11, 2009 by Julia Wasson
Filed under ANSWER, Blog, Education, Front Page, Health, Kids, Michigan, NGOs, Nepal, Sustainability, Volunteers, Youth Programs
Conscientious donors around the world give money to NGOs with the full expectation that their contributions will work toward the benefit of the intended recipients. But, as Earle Canfield, explains in today’s post, the reality is often quite different, with too many NGOs working ultimately for their own sustainability and not delivering “real help.”
Canfield’s NGO, American-Nepali Student & Women’s Educational Relief (ANSWER), is different. “Instead of fostering dependency,” Canfield says, “we empower students.” ANSWER gives “just enough help” to impoverished low-caste families by paying for one child’s private school education. The families, in turn, pay for a small part of their children’s school needs. By requiring a personal investment, ANSWER motivates families to continue the child’s participation through college, whereupon the graduate secures a good-paying job. Education not only breaks the cycle of poverty for the families, it also empowers low-caste students to become part of the new middle class that will overturn the caste system in their lifetime.
This is Part 2 of a two-part interview with ANSWER’s founder, Earle Canfield.
Read Full ArticleANSWER — A Sustainable Future for Low-Caste Children
March 10, 2009 by Julia Wasson
Filed under ANSWER, Blog, Education, Front Page, Nepal, Orphans, Sustainability, Volunteers, Water
“We could see the end of the caste system in Nepal in our lifetime,” said Earle Canfield, addressing an attentive audience in Iowa City this past Sunday. Canfield had come to talk about an NGO he started in Nepal eight years before. American-Nepali Student & Women’s Educational Relief (ANSWER) “places low-caste Nepalese children whose families cannot afford to pay for an education in private, high-caste schools,” according to Canfield.
Several members of the audience are ANSWER sponsors, committing to pay $5 a week to support a child’s education. Unlike many nonprofits that provide assistance to children in developing countries, ANSWER puts every single penny of a sponsor’s donation to work directly helping that person’s sponsored child. Joe and I were moved to hear Canfield speak about the work ANSWER is doing to help Nepal’s forgotten children, the impoverished, low-caste untouchables, earn their high school and college diplomas, then go on to jobs that will help them become productive members of Nepal’s emerging middle class.
Read Full ArticleGreen Cuisine: Understanding Organic and Natural Cooking
February 3, 2009 by Chef Matthew J.G.
Filed under Australia, Blog, China, Cooking, Ecopreneurs, Environment, Front Page, GMOs, Green Cuisine, Green Living, Organic, Organic Food, Restaurants, Sustainability
When Chef Matthew J. Goudge says that a green cuisine is as delicious as it is good for you, you’ll be wise to listen. Chef Matthew is widely known and respected as a talented organic chef and an industry leader. Having cooked professionally in St. Lucia, Malaysia, China, Australia, and England, Chef Matthew’s view is that the world is an interconnected place where all should benefit from each other’s knowledge. In his blog, ProChef360, he invites professional chefs from around the world to join in an open forum, sharing their ideas, their tips, their wisdom, their food photos, and their frustrations. We’re pleased to carry on that tradition by sharing Chef Matthew’s thoughts on organic foods and natural cooking.
Read Full ArticleMatthew J. Goudge, Executive Chef, Contributing Writer
February 3, 2009 by Chef Matthew J.G.
Filed under Australia, Chef Matthew J. Goudge, China, Cooking, Ecopreneurs, Front Page, Green Living, Organic Food
Matthew J. Goudge is an Australian citizen, who possesses a wealth of knowledge in the culinary field. He has worked in St Lucia, Malaysia, China, Australia, Austria and England in various capacities. His career began in February of 1987 at the Tura Beach Country Club in New South Wales, Australia.
Read Full ArticleMakur Jain, Ph.D., Contributing Writer
February 2, 2009 by Makur Jain
Filed under Front Page, Green Living, India, Iowa, Makur Jain, Sustainable Living
Contributing writer Dr. Makur Jain lives in Lucknow, India, where she earned her Ph.D. in English literature. During the 2007–08 school year, she was hosted by the U.S. State Department as a Fulbright scholar to teach Hindi at the University of Iowa.
Read Full ArticleJagdish Poudel, Contributing Writer
January 6, 2009 by Jagdish Poudel
Filed under Blog, Climate Change, Conservation, Forest, Jagdish Poudel, Nepal
Jagdish Poudel is a Master of Science (M. sc.) student in environmental science from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He works as a researcher and environmentalist for the nonprofit organization Living Earth Nepal.
Read Full Article
