Small Actions to Change the World #4 (Blog Carnival)

Hi everyone, welcome to another edition of "Small Actions to Change the World", this being the 4th edition of the series and I'm positively surprised that it has been gaining popularity. So much so, that I will post an edition every 2 weeks now! Now you don't have to wait a whole month for another edition anymore! And once an edition arrives, it will now be shorter and the chances are bigger that in total you will read more of these inspiring posts from all over the world!
Once there are enough editions I will start making "Best of" theme issues. But more on that next time :-). Enjoy the post and have a nice read!

FitBuff presents Free Water, What a Novel Idea! | FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog posted at FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, "This article explains how I'm saving over $50 a month AND decreasing the amount of plastic water bottles that I was throwing away on a daily basis."

Millionaire Mommy Next Door has a post on consumption called How to Treat Affluenza: Spend Less and Live a Happier Life posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door, saying, "David Wann (co-author of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic) encourages us to become historical superheroes. We can change our world; save our world. Let's curb our consumption so that our grandkids can read about our generation in their history books with reverence."

Dean presents 21 Tips on How to Stay Cool This Summer For Less posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff, saying, "How to stay cool with out turning off your Air Conditioner."

marguerite manteau-rao presents The Big Monster posted at La Marguerite, saying, "Thoughts on how to handle the big monster - global warming."

Tiffany Washko presents Down To Earth Guide to Global Warming posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

Melissa presents Coupon Karma posted at A Penny Closer, saying, "Thanks for considering my submission!"

Tupelo Kenyon presents Make Assumptions Obsolete by Communicating posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "We assume because we don’t know. We don’t know because we don’t ask. We don’t ask because we act as if we already know. Or, we don’t want to appear stupid. [...] The solution is clear communication. When we know the truth, assumptions are forever unnecessary."

Edith Yeung presents A Voice to Remember posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Vihar Sheth presents The Debate Heats Up: Vegetarianism & Climate Change posted at Vihar Sheth.

Todd Goldfarb presents A Simple Way to Make Your Home Green posted at We The Change, which is about switching to green power and how small changes can make a bigger difference than you think.

Activist Mommy presents It's Easy Being Green posted at Activist Mommy, saying, "Win a copy of It's Easy Being Green by sharing green living tips". Having been a regular submitter of articles, I'll gladly promote Activist Mommy's promotional activity :-)

Marilyn Terrell presents Orbitz Adds Eco Options posted at Intelligent Travel, introduces Orbitz' new eco options.

That's it for this edition. I hope you had fun reading it as much as I had fun posting it :-)! If you want to submit a post, use the carnival submission form.

Past editions of the carnival can be found here.

And as always, I will end this post with an inspirational story. It's a nice story about changing yourself and leaving the past behind. It had made me smile at the end :-).

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I'm talking about my annual "Guilt Trip."

I got tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event, the Annual Pity Party. I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know ol' Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterday's. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make an appearance. And It's Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don't Blame Me and I Couldn't Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent "pity party" could be cancelled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn't have to be depressed. One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN'T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging. Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I've made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you're planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myselfs and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don't have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. God bless you in finding this great town. If you can find it -- it's in your own heart -- please look me up. I live on I Can Do It street.

The Big Green Apple

New York has been making headlines lately by announcing its steps to make the city greener.

Just a few weeks ago it announced that by 2012 it wants to make its cab driving greener by using hybrid taxis. Though taxis still create emissions (as opposed to electric cars like the Tesla) hybrid cabs are an ideal choice for New Yorkers. The traffic in New York is very dense which means they have to "stop and go" all the time, re-charging the batteries every time they break and using it when they drive.

The Master Plan - PlanNYC 2030
This is all part of a Master Plan for greening New York by the year 2030 (I'm amazed a city will plan for that long!). They even have a nicely designed website and a 158-page report to go with it. Here are some of the interesting measures that are part of "The Plan":

• Energy: Create the New York City Efficiency Authority (NYCEEA) responsible for reaching the city's demand reduction targets
• Transportation: Increase Capacity on key congested routes - Seek to fund five projects that eliminate capacity constraints
• Water: Encourage the installation of green roofs through a new incentive program (I don't know why this was put under "water")
• Air: Waive New York City's sales tax on the cleanest, most efficient vehicles
• Air: Partner with stakeholders to help plant one million trees by 2017
• Land/Open Space: Fulfill the potential of at least one major undeveloped park site in every borough
• Transportation: Complete the City's 1,800-mile bike master plan
• Transportation: Seek to use pricing to manage traffic in the Central Business District (CBD)

These are very ambitious goals for greening New York. The question is, whether they will achieve these. But with a good plan in place and a motivated mayor it's possible. But with 23 years to go in the plan, we have to wait and see.

But they're off to a good start. According to the SustainLane rankings (which ranks US cities' urban sustainability) New York is already in 6th place, just behind Oakland and before Boston with Portland leading the race. (article continues)

Mayor Bloomberg interviewed on green cabs



London Calling
London is another big city that is working on its green image. London's mayor Ken Livingstone has introduced a congestion charge of 25 pounds (about 50 dollars) for every day you drive in Central London. It's that high because it has to "hurt". And this actually only effects about 5% of the drivers.
People who live in Central London and who own a "gas-guzzler" will have to pay an additional annual fee with which you can buy a small car - 6000 pounds. (article continues)

Listen to London's Mayor Ken Livingstone being interviewed


Even Abu Dhabi is working on creating an almost zero-carbon, zero-waste city extension by 2009. It would be nice in the future to see a big city in one of the emerging countries like China or India to push towards greenery. Though China have set many new regulations, implementation by the local and regional government is still lacking.

It's very encouraging to see London's and New York's plans in place. The cities' high visibility and popularity will make them a role model for other cities who wish to become greener.

Small Actions to Change the World #3 (Carnival)

I'm glad to be able to welcome you to the third edition of this carnival! And it seems like it's getting more and more popular. Starting next month, I will think about making this carnival a bi-weekly thing since there are so many great submissions that have been handed in and I would really like to include so many of them, but at the same time I don't want to make one edition too long. And it also seems that some of the submitters are becoming regulars, which makes me really happy :-).

Tupelo Kenyon presents Take Time for You posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Don't put yourself at the end of the list. You deserve to be first, at least some of the time. Don't let your entire life slip by with everything else (and everyone else) getting preferential treatment over your most important priorities. Their needs are important, but yours are important too. Celebrate life by taking time for YOU!" I highly agree, too often we don't think about ourselves and taking time for us. (Don't confuse this with becoming selfish, it's more about setting priorities.)

Tiffany Washko has some nice ideas on how to host an Eco Friendly Birthday Party posted at Natural Family Living Blog. It has some really nice and specific ideas, I might use 1 or 2 of them myself :-)

Louise Manning has some great gardening tips in 10 Ways to help the Environment in your garden posted at Green Garden Chat. At first it might seem like a lot of work, but once I think about it, I don't think it's more work, it's just different work.

Stretch Mark Mama presents a very short post called You Vegan! posted at Stretch Mark Mama.

marguerite manteau-rao presents Laurie David’s list « La Marguerite posted at La Marguerite, saying, "Our family's small steps to change the world, based on Laurie David's list, from La Marguerite's blog, relating "My Inconvenient Truth: the Daily Sins of a Green Girl Wannabe"". What a long list of nice ideas - have you started implementing some of them? Why not start today?

vivek khemka presents some really nice ideas how to act and make a difference in Ten Simple Ways to save the World - One at a Time. posted at The Red Pencil.

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Memories are made of the things we DO, not the things we BUY posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door, saying, "Should we buy a boat? Or would we rather go fishing?" This gives us something to think about.

Toni presents Plants: The office cheerleaders posted at Happy Nest, saying, "A plant can help transform the dreariness of your work desk AND make you feel more positive. They're the office cheerleaders!" This is a really good idea. Fortunately, my boss also likes plants and has placed them around the office.

Patricia doesn't just give one or two ideas but presents 30 Things That Take 30 Seconds Each: Which Will You Do To Change The World? posted at Patricia. It takes 5 seconds to read each idea - for a combined 35 seconds for each action :-). Why not start now?

Stretch Mark Mama presents a second post with a really nice story (with a really cute picture) at Trash Mash posted at Stretch Mark Mama.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Curb Appeal: One Of My Best Investments Yet Or How I Turned $80 Into $5,000 With Minimal Risk posted at The Digerati Life. I've never really looked at trees in this way - what a great idea.

edithyeung presents How to Clean Out Your “Closet”, and Make Space for More Good posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. I think that cleaning out your closet doesn't just make physical space, but it also clears up your mind sometimes!

That's it for this edition of "Small Actions to Change the World". Thanks so much for reading. As always, I will end this post with an inspiring story!

If you want to submit a story, you can do so here by using the carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found in the
blog carnival index page.

Today's inspiring story is somewhat different than usual - it's a YouTube video. If you've never heard of it, it's about something really nice and simple - a hug. I've seen this video a couple of times and I've heard the news of this spread a bit. I've even seen someone doing this in Germany :-). Take a look!

When good things go bad: Re-thinking environmental choices

I've had several occurences where people try to do a good thing, but instead of checking the facts, they just assume what they're doing is the best way because it seems intuitively so or the media says so. This does work a lot of the time, but some things - some of them intuitively "right" things - might do more damage than good. This post is about debunking (or at least re-thinking) some myths:

1. Myth: Separating trash into as many categories as possible is always good. Germans are crazed with separating trash, often up to 4 different types of trash categories at home plus several others for other trash (like empty bottles - sorted by colour). And of course some bottles you can return to the store where you bought them. The fact is, in many big cities, the trash separating machines at the utility company have become so efficient that it's actually inefficient for the consumer to separate it into so many categories. Check out how your city/community does it.

2. Myth: Eating organic makes my carbon/CO2 footprint THAT much lower. It usually does make your carbon footprint lower provided that you're comparing to someone who has the same eating habits as you. But often it's the type of food that makes a bigger difference. Eating a salad instead of a steak makes SO much more of a difference than eating an organic steak.

3. Myth: Local food is always more energy-efficient to make. This generalisation is quite wrong. It depends on a lot of factors to see what food is more energy-efficient. Buying local and in season is a better guide to higher energy-efficiency. Sometimes driving to the supermarket to buy the food that is shipped in from Kenya is more energy-intensive than the rest of the supply chain altogether. The Boston Globe has a nice article on this.

4. Myth: It's ok to create a lot of CO2, I can just buy some certificates and it's as if it never happened. This is currently a very popular subject. But many difficulties arise and often it doesn't really work. Read about whether or not certificates live up to their hype in "The Big Carbon Offset Lie?". Here's one tip: Reducing emissions is much better than "compensating" for it.

5. Myth: Paper is better than plastic. Is it really? If you take a look at the whole life-cycle of plastic and paper bags, plastic actually comes up on top often. Read about this in a TreeHugger article. Re-Usable bags are usually better than either. If you re-use them.


These are just some examples of how good things or well-intentioned things do not really work. So, next time you have to make an environmental choice, check out whether the facts support your intuition. Whether it's traveling to a far-away place, buying a computer or even washing the dishes: Which choice is the most environmentally friendly?

Small Actions to Change the World #2 (Carnival)

Welcome to the second edition of the "Small Actions to Change the World" Carnival! After a short absence (more on that in a later post) I will present to you an exciting array of posts on how small actions do make a difference! It's not just about small changes to save the environment (although that will form the majority of this post) but it is also about other things that make our world a worthwhile place to live.

edithyeung presents an inspiring post I Have a Dream posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. The british readers might know about this already, but check out the video for inspiration :-). (I have to admit, after I checked out Paul's video I looked up some other videos of this show on YouTube. Look up Connie's video once you've seen Paul's :-).)

Here's a nice tip on how to save water, Dean presents How to Save the World One Flush at a Time posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff, saying, "Save up to 15% off your water bill while helping save the Earth." It's another example on how helping the environment actually saves money.

Tupelo Kenyon has a very interesting post called Meaningful Spiritual Relationships – Namaste Matters posted at Tupelo Kenyon saying "How we interact with people we meet every day has a ripple effect, and you'll never know what a difference your kindness makes. This small action of regarding others with kindness and respect can make a difference in people's lives and therefore the world."

This is a really interesting post by Frugal Panda. I learned some new things, and I will be sure to look into Habit 8 (I've never tried that before). The Beginner's Guide to Going Green: 8 Painless New Habits posted at Frugal Panda.

I like this short post, it's about a nice way on how to confront a person who has gotten into trouble (through drugs or so). Praveen presents The Anti-Intervention posted at Tao of Simplicity.

Scott presents 6 Ways College Students Can Help Save The Environment posted at College and Finance.

Neil Ransom presents Country Count 139 and Falling posted at Kate and Neil's Official Website. His comment: "Sometimes all it takes to make a difference is changing the way you talk about things." This post put a smile on my face, because I have had some discussions on this as well, especially with my girlfriend (who was a tour guide at the UN).

Sometimes it's the small thing that make people happy. Samir Bharadwaj demonstrates this in his post Rediscover The Pure Pleasure Of Paper Crafts And Pop Up Cards posted at SamirBharadwaj.com.

Josh Brady presents What The Dr Ordered posted at Green Bag Blog. This is an update post on his campaign to reduce the number of plastic bags used in his community. Take a look at the whole blog, you might just get inspired.

Mary Jo Manzanares presents the post Backyard Sanctuary Program Helps Keep Washington one of the Best Places to Live. Read it and maybe you can start something similar in your community!

Alvaro Fernandez presents Mental Training for Gratitude and Altruism posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, "on why, and how, we can become more altruistic and more thankful for the gifts we receive. For example: what about writing every day a quick list of 5 good things that happened to us that day?"

That's it for this edition. Thanks for reading and I hope this edition of the carnival makes a small difference in the world!

If you want to submit a post to the next edition of the carnival, use our carnival submission form.

Past posts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Just like the first edition, I want to end this post with an inspiring story (which I've found here):

Gandhi went from city to city, village to village collecting funds for the Charkha Sangh. During one of his tours he addressed a meeting in Orissa. After his speech a poor old woman got up. She was bent with age, her hair was grey and her clothes were in tatters. The volunteers tried to stop her, but she fought her way to the place where Gandhi was sitting. "I must see him," she insisted and going up to Gandhi touched his feet. Then from the folds of her sari she brought out a copper coin and placed it at his feet. Gandhi picked up the copper coin and put it away carefully.
The Charkha Sangh funds were under the charge of Jamnalal Bajaj. He asked Gandhi for the coin but Gandhi refused. "I keep cheque worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh," Jamnalal Bajaj said laughingly "yet you won't trust me with a copper coin."
"This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands," Gandhi said.

"If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two, it doesn't mean much. But this coin was perhaps all that the poor woman possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees."

We can't even decide on how to save the world

I was once in a meeting that was organising part of the G8 rally in Germany's Heiligendamm (G8 summit 2007). I didn't really know what kind of meeting it was at the time (I'm talking about the meeting, not the G8 summit :-)), I was only told it had something to do with G8 and I was sent by my organisation to represent us. Not knowing how to dress, I'd rather overdress than underdress. So I wore my suit and my tie, and after a 5-hour trip I was anxious to see who's involved.

Where have I landed?
I finally arrived there, I found the door, and reached for the handle. I enter a room with people in their pullovers and T-Shirts, as casual as they come. The closest thing to formal was a buttoned-up rolled-up shirt. There were about 30 people from 20 different organisations in a big round table ordered in a circle (I think only 4-5 women were there).

So after a short time of amazement, I took my tie off, loosened the top shirt button and now fit better into the group. Though I still had the feeling they think I was some traitor with a corporate background. As it turns out they were discussing about the logistics, the planning of the G8 rally and the main message they wanted to present to the G8 leaders. Some very left representatives were there, the most notable fellow was a mid-20 year old german student with a pullover and rasta curls (I don't want to judge by appearances, but it was obvious after the first hour he was quite a left activist).

No, I won't listen to you, but you're sure as hell are going to listen to me
The problem is when 20 different groups all want to be heard there can often only be one outcome, either everyone has to make a compromise or not much happens. The problem at the meeting was, many times when we were close to coming a decision, someone would say: "Sorry, no, I can't accept that. The document is missing the phrase [enter phrase here]." This phrase or word could be peace, it could be social justice, it could be climate change. So at that point an endless argument would break out, and already in agenda point 2 we're not on schedule anymore. One guy even pretended to take a nap because he was offended no one would understand that his idea was the best one (this guy was annoying and destructive in the discussion process, but he wasn't the only one).

The Economist's Green.View had a report on the breaking up of environmental groups and had an analogy that they found in a movie:

Among the many targets of “The Life of Brian”, a satirical Monty Python film, is the tendency of radical left-wing political movements to splinter. The film’s would-be revolutionaries of the People’s Front of Judea, the Judean People’s Front and the Popular Front of Judea are too busy quibbling and accusing each other of treachery to cause much trouble for the occupying Romans.

"But my priority is more important"
It was similar to where I was. There were peace groups, environmental groups, 3-in-1 groups (economical, ecological and social), activist groups, networking groups, discussion groups. It was a wide range of people and they couldn't decide on even wording of some of the documents.

Sometimes the disagreements are over priorities. In 2005 Britons saw David Bellamy, a noted naturalist and wildlife enthusiast, threaten to chain himself to a wind turbine to protest against plans to build a wind farm in Cumbria, a remote and unspoilt part of England. Mr Bellamy objected on the grounds that the turbines would ruin the natural beauty of the moorland. At other times, global problems are cast against local concerns. Diesel engines produce less carbon dioxide than do petrol ones, so some greens want to see the use of diesel fuel encouraged. But diesel also emits more carcinogenic particles, earning the ire of campaigners for cleaner urban air. Finally, there are arguments over basic facts. There is much debate among environmentalists as to whether plant-derived biofuels are a good thing (since they emit no extra carbon into the air) or a bad thing (since producing them can involve deforestation).

But perhaps the biggest rift is over nuclear power. Here, disagreements reach the most rarefied levels. James Lovelock, a chemist who invented the Gaia hypothesis (the earth is a balance of interdependent mechanisms) and is godfather to a generation of greens, provoked much anger and soul-searching in 2004 when he declared that nuclear power offered the only credible solution to climate change. Opposition to atomic energy, said Mr Lovelock, was based on “irrational fear fed by Hollywood-style fiction, the Green lobbies and the media”. Equally influential organisations such as Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace preach the traditional anti-atomic doctrine.

[...]

Caught in the crossfire, many of the green movement’s foot-soldiers are tormented by doubts. Many will tell you that their own attitudes have shifted from outright opposition to nuclear power a few years ago to grudging acquiescence as the scale of the climate-change problem has become apparent.

Well, all in all, it was a very long day, but I left earlier (6-7 hours of multi-group debating was enough). I was put on their mailing list and saw similar things going on in their mailing list. Back and forth, back and forth. In the future I will try to avoid that type of meeting. It was fun and informative but not productive - not my type of meeting. There were too many people, too many didn't have interest in listening to other people's point of view. 3-4 people were the talkers and once they started talking they couldn't stop, dragging and provoking the discussions endlessly. Some people did have interest in finding a solution and were very productive and constructive, but unfortunately their voices were drowned by the bickering over small details.

I have nothing against activist groups, I think peaceful protests are needed to make your voice heard. But deciding on one direction with 30 different representatives from 20 different NGOs or NGO-ish groups just seemed impossible that day.

I'm glad the G8 summit did produce some results (nothing tangible yet) and protest were mostly kept peaceful and I hope to see some good results on climate change in Bali 2007. It would be a nice year, the G8 green light was made in my country of nationality and the decision will hopefully be made in the country I grew up.

A nice BBC report on the G8 protest in Germany 2007 (9:48 mins)

7 Reasons why you should NOT care about the environment

With all this "greenery" going around, climate change and global warming, environmental protection, biodiversity and so on and so on I have made a list of why we should NOT care about the environment.

<sarcasm>

1. Research towards the environment takes money away from other good research. Why should we invest into forests, cleaning water and clean technology? Research in these areas is just taking money away from reasonable research such as faster automobiles and stronger air-conditioners. When global warming comes I don't want to spend too much time in the over-heated car and I don't want to be sweating at home.
   
   
2. It looks ugly to have clean energy. Windparks are just so ugly with their white blades and their turning. And who wants a solar-cells covered roof? Roofs are the first thing you see when you fly over a country with an airplane. It just ruins the first impression for tourists.
   
   
3. Humans should rule earth, not insects. There are about a million known insect species, 3 times more than all other species together. If humans really want to be king of the earth, we should eliminate as many other species possible. The good thing with insects is we don't know many of them and how they function, so it's safe to kill them.
   
   
4. A rise in the number of graduating biologists. We would have a rise in the number of biologists, including marine biologists if we eradicate many types of animals and plants, because then there won't be so many different genus and species to remember. And we can always use more academics. To be more efficient, we should eradicate a whole family or even class of animals, that gets rid of a whole branch in the biological nomenclature that students have to remember.
   
   
5. Non-natural objects like buildings don't "heal" themselves like trees, therefore they need more maintenance, creating more jobs! I hope you don't oppose against this air-tight reason for creating more concrete roads and high-rise buildings. If you are against this reason, you are not very sympathetic towards the working people.
   
   
6. We would save a lot of time! We can cut the small talk short because we don't need to talk about global warming anymore or Al Gore's latest book. In meetings we can focus on money and financial growth instead of being occupied with natural resources.
   
   
7. Less worrying and no need to change lifestyles! It IS a huge hassle to get into an electric car or a hybrid instead of a normal fuel-based SUV (it just feels weird when the car makes no noise!!). And there's no need to look on a different shelf to get an energy-efficient lamp instead of the normal light bulb. I'd rather pay 4 times more for electricity than looking on another shelf! Nobody tells me where to look when I'm shopping!

Maybe you have some more ideas on how we can further ignore the environment and create a better economy? Let me know!

</sarcasm>

Just to make sure: I hope everyone understood the sarcasm behind this post :-). I wrote this to make a bit clearer how ridiculous it is to not care about the environment. There's no real reason why we can't protect our environment and create a more sustainable planet. And it might take some getting used to, but it won't hurt the quality of life - the opposite is true. Being more friendly towards the environment makes us more conscious about our surroundings.

If you want a good read on how civilisations went under because of neglecting or mis-using the environment, pick up a copy of Jared Diamond's Collapse.

Want to know more about how well-being and environmental sustainability can be used to create a happy planet? Read more about it in the Happy Planet Index.

The Big Carbon Offset Lie?

Many of you will have tried carbon offset to get a carbon neutral life or at least head towards that direction. Numerous companies are springing up from everywhere offering carbon offsetting. But are they really what they claim to be?

What is Carbon offsetting?
The world can only take so much emissions of greenhouse gases. Since people in industrialised countries emit more CO2 and other greenhouse gases through e.g. flying, driving, food packaging and production, electricity usage than the earth can handle, they try to buy carbon credits through special companies. What these carbon credits do is that for e.g. 1 tonne of greenhouse gas we "over-emit" they will save up somewhere else. Since developing countries still use old and inefficient technology, it's very cheap to invest there. So by, for example, replacing a wood-burning stove with a solar-cooker, the developing country might save a tonne of CO2 per year because solar cookers don't emit greenhouse gases. And that's how a person in an industrialised country can compensate/offset the "over-emissions".

The problem: The projects aren't working
Now, according to a very well-written Guardian story, this doesn't seem to be working.

One company, Equiclimate, which is run by Christians and recommended by the [UK] government, has sold thousands of tonnes of offset which are now worthless in financial and environmental terms. It bought up some of the special permits which allow European companies to emit specified amounts of carbon. The idea was to sell them to customers who would "retire" them, thus cutting the amount of carbon which those companies could produce. But the European commission distributed 170m too many of the permits and so the thousands which have been bought by Equiclimate's customers make no difference at all. People may believe they are offsetting the emissions from their patio heaters by signing up to the Calor Gas offsetting scheme, but the sad fact is that Calor Gas is relying on 5,000 tonnes of EU permits which it bought from Equiclimate when most of the permits were already worthless. "We chose them because they were recommended by government," a Calor Gas executive said.

[...]

Atmosfair, a German offsetting group which is well regarded for its commitment to the environment, undertook to rewrite a section of its website following a phone call from the Guardian. Since 2004, it has been offering air travellers offsets which carry the gold standard awarded by a Swiss-based group backed by dozens of environmental NGOs. In an uncertain market, this gold standard is highly desirable. But none of the five projects on which Atmosfair is relying has yet produced a single verified gold standard reduction in emissions. One project was never intended to reach gold standard; one has been withdrawn; one is stalled. The remaining two - solar-powered kitchens in India and energy from palm oil waste in Thailand - are up and running, but neither has yet completed the gold standard process. Atmosfair's founder, Dietrich Brockhagen, acknowledged that what he was selling was "forward" credits even though the two projects might fail finally to generate them. "You have a point, that the customer might not understand this," he said.

Even worse, private companies that have tried to be seen as a pioneer in greenery - even in very polluting industries - have fallen way short.

It is 20 months now since British Airways proudly announced a new scheme to deal with climate change: for the first time, passengers could offset their share of the carbon produced by any flight by paying for the same amount of carbon to be taken out of the atmosphere elsewhere. "I welcome warmly this move from BA," said the then environment minister, Elliot Morley.
And how much carbon has BA offset from the estimated 27m tonnes which its planes have fired into the air since that high-profile moment in September 2005? The answer is less than 3,000 tonnes, less than 0.01% of its emissions - substantially less than the carbon dispersed by a single day of its flights between London and New York. The scheme has been, as BA's company secretary, Alan Buchanan, put it to a House of Commons select committee earlier this year, "disappointing".

The project has failed, according to one well-placed BA executive, because one part of the company wanted to improve its image by going green while another part wanted to protect its image by saying nothing at all about the impact of air travel on global warming. The result was that the scheme was launched and then banished to a dark corner of BA's website.

A couple of days later the Guardian published another article saying that certain standards need to be set, because at the moment anyone can set their own rules.

The fast-growing but increasingly criticised carbon offset industry is at risk of being discredited by "cowboy" operators unless it draws up a recognisable set of standards that customers can trust, one of the most senior figures in the sector has warned.

The comments, from Jonathan Shopley, chief executive of the CarbonNeutral Company, highlight growing unease that blue-chip businesses could turn away from carbon credits amid increasing evidence that some schemes are of dubious value.

Even worse for the fledgling industry, many environmentalists are increasingly opposed to offsetting because they fear companies are opting for cheap and ineffectual swap schemes instead of cutting their CO2 output.

"There are credibility issues and there are cowboys around," said Mr Shopley. "It is probably to be expected for an industry at this stage but we need a set of standards and outside verification so that self-regulation can engender trust and integrity in the market."

But at least it's good that efforts are being made.

CarbonNeutral, one of the biggest offsetting companies in the UK, has already developed its own off setting standards, verified by independent assessors. The growth of the London-based firm underlines the growing interest in climate change and carbon off setting around the City.

"We have doubled our revenues over the last financial year and whereas two years ago we would get one inbound call a week about offsetting, it is now over 100," said Mr Shopley, who is supporting the Climate Group, a non-profit organisation, in its attempts to draw up rules under a "voluntary carbon standard".

This is a good thing, because some companies, well-intentioned in their drive towards carbon neutrality have run into problems.

HSBC, the global banking group which promised to go carbon neutral in 2005, says its experiences of trying to offset carbon led it to draw some harsh conclusions.

"The police, the fraud squad and trading standards need to be looking at this," Francis Sullivan, an environment adviser to the bank, told the FT.

SustainaBee says: I've never believed that much in carbon offsetting. Maybe once doubts can be cast aside, I will put a little money there. Until then, why not take that extra money that you would have spent on buying carbon credits and use it for implementing measures that can reduce your carbon emissions? E.g. change all your light bulbs to energy-efficient ones (save up to 80% of electricity!), switch your water tap with a more water-saving one (save up to 40% of water per tap!), save up the money for a flat-screen TV or a flat-screen monitor, or maybe get an iMac, a very energy-efficient PC.

Will my bank save the world?

I've been waiting for weeks for the letter. Though their processing may not be as standardised and super-efficient as big institutions, I think the company's idea is a really cool one. And that's why I waited, day after day. And then, one saturday morning, I looked into the mailbox and: Voila!

GLS Bank
Today it finally arrived! "Dear Mr. Adria, as per request we have opened your internet banking account..." and so on. What I'm talking about is that I finally have my GLS Bank account. The bank was founded about 30 years ago and was the first german bank to have an ethical philosophy as their driving force. GLS is an abbreviation for (translated) Community Bank for Loans and Gifts.

What's so special about them is that all the money I have in my account will only be loaned for purposes that they have deemed loan-worthy (such as renewable energy, organic farming, health, social causes). Even better, they choose about 10 areas they will invest in, and I can choose specifically in which of these 10 areas my money will be put in. I chose renewable energy. So, by law, for every 1 EUR I have in my bank account, they can loan 12,5 EUR for a renewable energy project - isn't that great?! There's a second bank like this in Germany, the Umweltbank (Environmental Bank) and I think UK's Cooperative Bank has a similar idea behind it. I don't know which other countries have banks like this, but if you do, write to me!

Big Finance catching up on sustainability issues
Of course big finance institutions don't want to get left behind, CitiGroup wants to direct 50 billion USD in the next 10 years towards fighting climate change and HSBC goes carbon-neutral. Financial Times has even set up a Sustainable Banking Award and many banks want to get on this list.

The Dilemma: 50 billion USD or 100%?
My dilemma now lies in whether I should stay with CitiBank, who are willing to finance huge sums to projects against climate change or whether I should move to the bank that will invest ALL its money into sustainability-related projects (environmental, social, cultural, community)?

This is similar to the investing dilemma of best-in-class approach (where I invest in the most sustainable companies in ANY sector, even oil) vs. a sector-only approach (where I only invest in a certain sector, say, environmental technologies).

For now I will have money in both accounts, but I can see in the future that I will change completely to the GLS Bank.

Why we still need a CitiGroup
In the end, we will still need the CitiGroups of the world. It's the big ones that can move the markets, the small ones often give the impulses and the ideas. It's quite improbable that a small bank will grow so fast just through their environmental action. It's improbable that the small sustainable local store chain will be bigger than "big bad" Wal-Mart, and I don't think they want to. But it is probable that Wal-Mart will move towards a more environmentally friendly direction. And this is what we need: The big movers moving in the right direction.

But at the moment it's often mini-steps they're taking. CitiGroup, with profits at 21,5 billion USD in 2006 and assets close to 1,9 trillion (that's one thousand nine hundred billion!) it makes the sum of 50 billion USD in financing seem quite small now. So until they make bigger steps, I will move my money to my new environmentally friendly bank.

Small Actions to Change the World #1 (Carnival)

I'm delighted to launch the first edition of the Carnival "Small Actions to Change the World" with this post! This will be a monthly carnival with articles that contain small actions any person can make in order to create a better and more sustainable world! Although some articles were posted after deadline, I will still include them here, I'll make it my Small Action to Change the World :-).

We kick-off this Carnival with an article from Chris Baskind from LighterFootstep, he tells us Why small changes matter. This is an excellent introductory post for this first Carnival.

Tracy from The EcoStreet Blog presents How to host an eco-friendly children's party. To the parents: Small actions with little kids could result in big action with big grownups later :-).

PlasticLess presents Five Easy Ways to Reduce Your Plastic Use. Be sure to check it out and start saving today!

Jess Sand from Small Failures gives you 5 Steps to a Better Farmers' Market Experience. Keep these in mind next time you go to there!

Jeremy Hobbs from Jeremy's Consumer's Corner presents an innovative web platform SwitchPlanet.com. His opinion on the site "I'm loving the combination of reducing waste, and charitable donations. Great service!"

Astrid Lee from Therapeutic Reiki presents World Healing a worldwide distant healing initiative which you can join from anywhere. Why not give it a try?

Riversider from Save The Ribble present a photo-rich article on the Mud and Maritime Festival. He explains: "We help explain the importance of River's Mud for wildlife at Preston's Maritime Festival."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of "small actions to change the world!" using our carnival submission form. The next deadline is July 20th! Also visit our blog carnival index page to get more information.

I want to end this article with a story. An old man once walked along the beach. Suddenly in the distance he saw colours on the beach. He went over to see what it was. It turns out that these were starfish. There were so many of them washed up from the sea. Though he was amazed, he didn't think about it twice and just went further for a walk when he saw a child - this child was throwing starfish into the ocean. One by one. The old man walked up to him and said: "What are you doing? There are so many of them - you won't be able to save them all!" To this the child replied: "I might not be able to save them all." The child picked up a starfish and said: "But I can save this one. And this one. And this one."

130 Scientists on the Polar Star to check European Seas' Ecosystems

The ship "Polarstern" (Polar Star) is in icy waters. Just a couple of months ago it was on the Atlantic Ocean doing measurements on the climate and atmosphere.
Now it is on a big journey to Northern Norway and Spitzbergen, where they will examine the Ecosystem of the deep European oceans.

130 Scientists from 11 countries are taking part in this adventure, which is split into 3 phases as part of a project for the International Polar Year 2007-2008. With the help of the manned underwater vehicle JAGO the coral reefs of the deep ocean can be analysed, photographed and tested. Additionally to the Pilot one scientist can sit in this vehicle which can go as deep as 400 metres.

For about 3 weeks, until the 21st of June, 4 pupils will take part in the expedition as part of HERMES (Hotspot Ecosystem Research on the Margins of European Seas). From then on, the scientists will report on the happening on board the Polarstern for about 3 weeks and after that it's the teachers' turn to report for two weeks.

Found via:

• Pupils on the journey with Polarstern - A diary (Readers Edition, german only)

SustainaBee says: Wow, how exciting! The students must be also very delighted to be on board! I hope the EU has more projects in the future where kids, pupils and students can participate.
I will surely report back once the journey is over!

Ads, Ads, Ads: UNEP's Creative Gallery on Sustainable Communications close to 1000 ads!

The UNEP Production and Consumption Branch has created a gallery of sustainability advertisements. At the time of writing the advertisement database has grown to 970 ads! Some of them are quite funny, such as the ads which were shown in Thailand (created by Saatchi & Saatchi) featured below. The themes range from Energy to Production Patterns, from Disaster Reduction to Education and Awareness. They have also recently introduced a rating feature, so you can rate the ads after registering.

Take a look and browse around!

(the video quality is better in the UNEP gallery)