Clean, Green.

{http://climateprogress.org/2008/04/30/a-vicious-cycle}

Two good mates S & N returned from Bolivia recently, in a trip that saw them attend the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. They held a meeting last night in Sydney to report back to us on what they learned.

Click to read more on "Clean, Green"

In response to the failure of Copenhagen, the Bolivian government called this People's Conference, which ran over four days and was attended by over 35 thousand people. People came together from all over the world to discuss real action on the climate crisis. The end result was The World People's Agreement, a formal document being discussed at the Bonn UN climate negotiations right now, providing new hope for people fighting for global climate justice.

This isn't the first climate event I have attended, and it wont be the last. I always come away from them learning many things that I would never have had the chance to. A few points that I took away from S & N's experience was:

• The people in Bolivia have been so adversely affected by the climate crisis that it has brought communities together in big conferences like the World People's Conference. Climate change is the topic of conversation daily in these people's lives.  
• Glaciers are the life-force of many in South America and around the world. In Bolivia they have been worshipped for thousands of years and soon this will not be possible. In the last 40 years climate change has reduced these Glaciers by over 50%. Some have completely melted away during that time. For thousands of years the people in communities surrounding the Glaciers have lived off the melt in the dry seasons, and watched as the glaciers restored themselves yearly during the wet season. Now they watch helplessly as their remaining glaciers melt away rapidly with little or no hope of restoration.
• Coal exports are Australia's biggest contribution to the climate crisis. The greenhouse pollution from our coal exports exceeds all of our domestic pollution combined. Every power station, every landclearing operation, every car, truck, train, and bus, every source of greenhouse pollution in Australia combined is eclipsed by the pollution from our coal exports. Burning a tonne of black coal produces 2.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases, and the mining, processing and transportation of coal contributes enormously to greenhouse gas production.

As Australians it is easy to be ignorant about climate change. It's hard to appreciate the perils of those whose lives are being so severely affected by the climate crisis when in the comfort of our homes we can control our environment. The majority of the world get to see the changes first-hand. My hope is the developed world change to a greener way of living before it's too late.

It's so inspiring to see that after the complete failure of Copenhagen people haven't lost hope. Through everyone sharing their knowledge and experiences we can build up more awareness and help us better handle this issue which will eventually affect our lives a great deal.

To read more about S & N's insights go here.

Kind Deeds

Check out our little friend growing on our windowsill:

{chilli plant - fully ripe}

Whenever I walk past this little pot, it reminds me of how powerful it is to do good things for people. Even random people. Like paying for the car behind you when you go through a toll. Or picking up rubbish by the ocean. Or letting a chef or a musician or host or taxi driver know that they made your night. Small things make a difference i reckon.   

Click to read more on "Kind Deeds"...

Last year T and I tried to grow some herbs and veggies in pots out the back of our apartment building. Its only a small block, with 8 units in total, and separate lock-up areas out the back for washing machines and dryers. Everyone we had met in the building and around the area were so lovely and friendly we felt like our new babies would have a safe environment to grow.

T spent so much time and energy getting these little plants into a happy space with roomy pots, lots of sunlight and fresh water every day.

One day, he went outside to give our green friends some water, and they were all gone! Someone had come into the backyard and stolen 8 (pretty substantial) pots! It would have taken a lot of effort on their behalf to complete this mission stealthily. We looked around to see if we could track the thieves but to no avail. Who could have done such a thing? It was a very sad day for us.

A girl living in the apartments next door is often seen tending to her plants which line the sides of the brick building, so we got worried there might be other victims. We got chatting to the neighbors, asking if they had anything stolen or if they saw anything. No one had.

Later that week we found a bunch of pots sitting on our doorstep. They were cuttings, placed in an assortment of containers. The girl next door had prepared them for us! Our faith in humanity had been restored! Happy days again.

So this little guy grew from one of the cuttings. A (very spicy) habanero plant. A reminder of the wonderful people on this earth.

{our garden with ripening chilli}

Ahh I understand now...

Some friendly office banter between the working parents here at a client I am working at, really enlightened me this morning about why the world has taken a very wrong turn somewhere along the timeline.


Click to read more...

Two of the women were discussing how hard it is to have young children at home, juggling work and all of the kids activities as well as keeping up the house, when the boss here (a dad to a few teenage children) said its even harder as they get older. In response to their confused expressions, he explained that his wife has to cater to all the different dietary requirements of the picky teenagers, having dinner ready and on the table at all hours of the evening for everyone as they arrive home. Someone pointed out he should let them fend for themselves, maybe cook up a big pot of dinner and allow them to reheat whenever they like. Another women told him he needs to teach them to feed themselves, otherwise their future husbands/wives will have a tough job.

I just sat quietly not wanting to bring attention to myself (or my company), but inside I was making a mental note of what a man looks like when he's completely lost the plot.

He then goes on to say that his kids don't need to know how to cook or clean. That he and his wife are allowing their teenagers to focus all their energy on becoming "even more educated" than their parents, in order for them to earn so much money that they can pay for people to cook for, and clean up after them.

Hang on... Did I hear that right??!!

Now I get it.. I understand the booming popularity of take away food, the unwillingness of young people to do things for themselves, and the absurdly high expectations of 20-somethings to live to work in order to achieve this mostly unachievable, and highly unnecessary goal.

Some people have completely lost the big picture.

This makes me so mad. We should be teaching our children that to be rich is to have a tree full of avocadoes in the backyard, and friends to cook dinner for. Oh well. I guess this is what you get for living in a corporate world.

I promise I will be a lot more positive tomorrow.

Keeping in line with my thoughts of today, is my Hump Day cartoon:

What are your thoughts? Have you had a similar experience?

Nicely put.

{postsecret 31/5/10}

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Humph Day Inspiration

As it is Wednesday (aka hump day), and we all need a little something to get us through the rest of the week, I would like to share with you a drawing from one of my favorite artists.