Are you unplugged yet?

I came across this new online community site and thought I share it with you, guys.

Britain Unplugged is a brand new community acting to make Britain a bit greener. It’s made up of people who care about climate change and are taking simple steps to do something about it.

The site gives an opportunity to take up the challenge and show others what you’re doing to help. This might be recommending a green website, insulating your loft, knitting a natty jumper to keep warm or making your own film – whatever it is it all counts.

First off, check out the video below featuring comedian, writer and actor Marcus Brigstocke.

Leatherback turtles are ancient creatures with a modern problem: Plastic

Earlier this month, Discovery News reported:

Leatherback turtles are critically endangered and highly charismatic creatures. They are big, weighing 1,000 pounds or more, with shells that can measure more than 6 feet across. These peaceful creatures have had the same basic body plan for 150 million years.

Leatherbacks are also popular for what they eat: namely, large quantities of jellyfish. The problem is that plastic bags look a lot like jellyfish, and plastic often ends up in the oceans, piling up in areas where currents -- and turtles -- converge. That led [Mike] James to wonder how often the turtles were swallowing plastic in their hunt for yummy jellyfish.

A new study has looked at "necropsy reports of more than 400 leatherback" turtles and found that about 1/3 of them had plastic in their digestive system. They're not saying it was the immediate cause of death, but as Mike James, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, says: "Eating something that is plastic can't be good for you, whether it leads to death or not." By saying no to plastic bags, you might be indirectly helping turtles.


So plastic bags - and the Pacific garbage patch - aren't just annoying eye-sores. They make their ways to all corners of the planet and can be quite hazardous to animals like the leatherbacks. First thing should be to cut back dramatically on plastic bag use, and then recycle those instead of throwing them away, and then biodegradable bags can probably help further reduce the risk to wildlife too.

Art treasures suffer damages as a result of Italian earthquake in the Abruzzo region

Italy today lives the tragedy caused by the earthquake that hit a region that is the birthplace of art and civilization. No other catastrophe can ever erase the memory of those who, throughout the centuries, marked the identity of their cities.



Roman churches, funerary monuments and museums where artistic treasures are housed have been damaged in the Italian region affected by the earthquake. Even though the extent of the damage has not been calculated, David Rijser, an expert in Classic and Renaissance antiquities has tried to calculate the losses.

"It has been a true drama, there is a lot that has been lost”, said David Rijser to Radio Nederland. “In 1985 I visited the Abruzzo region for the first time. At that time there were no tourists”, he told reporter Philip Smet by telephone. These days there are few art lovers in the region even though there are a lot of places that deserved to be visited. In L' Aguila and its surroundings there are many Roman and Gothic churches and other buildings from the XIII, XIV and XV centuries.

Among the masterpieces destroyed were the gothic church of Maria di Collemaggio, built in the 13th century in the mountainous region of Abruzzo that was the epicentre of the quake.



Source: ArtDaily.org

Don't miss 'The Age of Stupid'

The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future, which will have its world premiere in London on March 15th 2009 and then be released in UK cinemas on March 20th 2009, followed by other countries.

Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at “archive” footage from 2007 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

The Age of Stupid: final trailer Feb 2009 from Age of Stupid.

Give your soul a microphone!

Silence is intimidating.

We have learnt to fear silence since the day we were old enough to remember its consequences. It meant being totally tongue-tied when we dared not to opose an adult who accused us of mischievous behaviour or impertinent attitude. It meant the lack of knowledge when teachers suspected us of not paying much attention during classes or when they admonished us for our inability to repeat the content of previous lessons. How madly we were searching for those scattered bits of information.

Silence threatened our position at home, at school, and later in life, and so we had no reason to attach a more spiritual meaning to it. I resented silence as much as the next person, but I gradually taught myself to love and appreciate its clarity and pure energy.

The humming noises that surround us every day, the computerized drums beating out a dozen tunes, an unstoppable chatter on the TV and radio, even a ticking clock in the background: these factors of modern life leave us very little time and space to find a peace of mind.

Addiction is like a nesting bird.

It comes on its own, but within a short time it can multiply and develop into a small flock. Indeed, many of my friends and relatives are overdoing the noise. Loud music doesn't just satisfy their ears, in addition it is an effective method of how to quieten down a conscience that rebels in order to be heard. Why does the feeling of guilt prevent us from being true to ourselves?

Some days I sit alone in silence.

I stare into space.

I don't let a single melody be played.

I don't let the voices distract me.

I don't look outside for the treasure that is inside me. And it is inside you, too! Inside all of us!

We all read the papers. We know that globalisation has spread out into each sphere of life affecting the entire planet; movements are becoming extremely rapid, and technological advancements don't seem to have boundaries, but there is so much more to life than power, money and status.

Greediness transforms people into machines, ready to receive and execute any command without questioning its nature. Once you tried a small dose, you start craving for more - it's like a destructive fire that goes on to burn down the whole forest. Do we not care about the terrible blows that hit our spirit anymore?

Silence heals.

It gives us enormous amounts of freedom thus we can literally swim through stagnant waters to a higher dimension.

Through silence we allow the soul to start its monologue.

The truth is quietly knocking on the door. Will you answer it?

The 'clean coal' nonsense

The proposed new coal plant, Kingsnorth in Kent will release the same amount of carbon emissions in a year as 30 developing countries.

Burning coal has contributed 50% of the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. We must stop emissions from coal urgently if we are to keep global warming below 2°C. The UK must say no to coal power stations without Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This is an experimental method of removing the CO2 pumped out of power stations - but not one commercial station worldwide has made this work.

Below 2°C

I wrote to Satu Hassi MEP, European Parliament Rapporteur of the Effort Sharing Decision, about the imminent need to take action to keep global warming below 2°C.

I am writing to you as one of the key EU decision-makers deciding Europe's response to climate change. The following action is needed in Europe if we are to lead the world in keeping global warming below 2°C:

• At least 30% cuts in European greenhouse gas emissions (made inside Europe, not by buying carbon 'credits' from overseas);
• Strong measures to ensure that EU member states keep their commitments on emissions cuts;
• Additional financial help for developing countries to cut their emissions too.

Will you show real leadership by supporting these measures in the EU Climate and Energy Package? It's time for Europe to lead!

The greens have argued from very beginning that EU climate legislation for period of 2013-2020 should be based on at least a 30% reduction. Such a target would send a strong signal to the international climate negotiations, showing leadership on the part of the EU with regards to the achievement of an international deal. As a Rapporteur of the Effort Sharing Decision (for emissions outside the ETS-sectors for the years 2013-2020) I proposed in my draft report, along with several other strengthenings, to include all of these three elements you are asking about:

1. to take the -30% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels as a basis for legislation and this to be done domestically,
2. to strengthen compliance measures in case a Member State does not deliver the required emissions reductions by fines and other measures,
3. to include a new external emissions reduction target on top of Member States own internal emissions reduction targets to finance mitigation in developing countries.

The EP environment committee voted on the 7th of October and included most of my proposals into European Parliament position in an almost unanimous vote (66:1:0).

• Despite our efforts there was no majority to change the Commission basis in the Parliament to have -30% as a starting point, but the reference to the higher target was included in the article and Member States are required to start with projections and planning already for the higher target, and must also report on this planning. The automaticity (proposed by the Commission) of the step up of EU internal effort to an internationally agreed target was maintained in EP position.
• CDM/JI external quota that is used to offset EU emissions in developing counties is restricted to 8% of the emissions in 2005, which is a third compared to the Commission proposal and means approx 20% of total emissions reduction obligation 2005-2020 instead of 65,7%, which the Commission proposal had meant.
• Compliance measures were reinforced in case a Member State does not deliver the required emission reductions through a direct penalty equal to the one applying to installations in the ETS (100€), in addition the Member States loose corresponding auction rights. Also any underachievement has to be compensated by factor 1,3 in the following year.
• For external offsetting the committee improved the quality of the credits used: only credits from renewables and efficiency allowed if they fulfil other sustainability, additionality, environmental and social criteria.
• Shipping emissions were included (also in the reduction targets) unless they are covered by other community measures
• Committee also endorsed the binding energy efficiency targets for member States.
• EP position includes an external adaptation commitment starting at 5 billion €/year in 2013 going up to 10 billion € in 2020 as well as an additional external emission reduction commitment.

The European Parliament will now enter into negotiations on the climate package with the Council of ministers and we are hoping to have a result in the end of November to have good basis for international climate negotiations in Poznan in mid December.

"As the Rapporteur and the main negotiator of the Parliament on Effort Sharing I will do my best to ensure that the elements mentioned above will be in the final legal text also. What comes to other parts of the EU climate legislation for 2013-2020, e.g. reform of the emission trading system (ETS) I have worked along the same lines."