People around the world are celebrating the joys of mother earth- Today is April 22nd, Earth Day. As an environmental activist since the days I ran the recycling club in junior high, I realized early on just how my actions here in the U.S. had an affect on South Asia.We’ve talked here on Sepia Mutiny on the issues of shipbreaking on the coast of India, to the extinction of tigers. But the hottest environmental issue around the world right now (and the price at the gas pump only reenforces it) are the issues of energy and climate change.
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Happy Earth Day! |
The Earth’s climate has been changing slowly over the centuries. Cold periods have alternated with warm periods. However, these changes have been happening at a much faster and devastating rate in recent years. The 1980s and 1990s were the warmest decades on record.In the past, natural processes could handle the amounts of greenhouse gases generated, and the system remained in balance. In recent decades, however, human activity through increased use of fossil fuels and cutting down of forests has been overloading the natural processes. Greenhouse gases are now being generated by the burning of fossil fuels to run cars and factories and heat buildings, as well as by industrial processes.[link]
Bangladesh, being a delta, will have to deal with the rising sea level that will result in the changing in global temperature.
Experts say warmer global temperatures will increase the intensity of cyclones that form over the Bay of Bengal, sending more violent storm surges crashing into the coast. The saltwater front will crawl further inland, rendering farmland unusable and polluting much of the country’s drinking water. The Sundarbans National Forest, a wild swath of mangroves that plays an important role in the nation’s ecology, could be wiped out. Most alarmingly, as much as 18 percent of the land could slip into the bay in the next 100 years because of rising sea level, according to the World Bank, displacing as many as 30 million people. [link]
But finally, the U.S. realizes that environmental degradation is a transnational issue and will be supporting South Asia on developing clean energy technology.
“The energy sector is key to the economic growth of South Asia and the deployment of clean technologies can help balance economic development with environmental protection,” said George Deikun, mission director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) India.Deikun said USAID’s efforts to promote regional energy cooperation through its South Asia Regional Initiative/Energy (SARI/E) programme and its work in the energy sector in India and other countries of this region underscored this principle. [link]
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I know what you’re thinking- that changing a small part of your life isn’t going to make that big of a difference to decreasing the changing climate. But even the smallest thing you do can have a huge impact on decreasing your ecological footprint (this site tells you just how big your footprint is). What difference can you make?
- When buying a car, think about buying a hybrid- you can even get a hybrid Lexus these days.
- When driving to work, think about taking a buddy and using the carpool lane. Even better, take public transportation.
- Check with your local energy company to see if you can sign up for green power as your electricity source (most companies offer this).
- Drink organic beer.
- When getting your daily coffee at Starbucks, ask for fair trade coffee (if they don’t have it on tap, they are obligated to french press it for you).
- Make sure to vote environmentally and you let your elected representative know what environmental legislation is important to you.
- And of course, recycle. Compost if you can.
These suggestions may be small, but in the end, it will lead to a larger pool of folks trying to make the world a better place. Happy Earth Day!
Am I missing something? I thought fair trade coffee has nothing to do with environmentalism. Or has it?
Hey- yeah, fair trade is good for the environment- I added a link above, but check out this fact sheet as well, which states.
Well the situation is pretty bleak. Habitat destruction is the no. 1 problem for the few remaining wildlife in India.
Everyday I come across hearybreaking stories like elephants killed by trains, Sariska will never hear tigers roar again etc.
Progress in India means making rail tracks and highways right through the jungles. Why? Because it’s the shortest and cost effective route.
At this rate after 50 years we will have
Man,man amd man….everywhere
It all boils down to that old saying:
“Live Simply, That Others May Simply Live.”
World Earh Day????????????/
come again????
was this for rich akward green hippies or was the 600M poverty striken Indians not told about it.
talk to me about improving the planet when people have have a decent living. Or show me the alternatibve.
Bihari Babu, i’m usually not one to get irritated with other comments…but you’ve got me here, so i’m responding. Here’s the alternative:
first, every small thing you do here helps this planet [that you live on!]. those 3 Rs that you heard about as a kid? reduce, reuse, recycle–they’re not a joke. people tend to put the emphasis on ‘recycle’ but what about reducing? reduce your dependence on disposable goods, make your home energy efficient, don’t set your A/C so low or your heat so high, ACTUALLY CLOSE the fridge, shut your blinds on hot days when you’re not home, get an energy efficient washing machine that uses less water too. these things sound stupid to a lot of people but in fact, in the end they end up saving you cash too. check out http://www.reduce.org. it has information about reducing garbage by buying products with less packaging, using reusable grocery bags, buying reliable products [i.e. don’t buy cheap go for quality stuff that will last a long time], etc.
second, you talk about “poverty stricken Indians” not being told about things. you’re right… that’s exactly what’s happening. indian laborers often recycle hazardous materials without being told about it and without being given the proper protective equipment. these hazardous wastes also are not handled properly and end up contaminating the local environment. so by preventing these activities you’re essentially getting 2 birds for 1 stone–you’re helping Indians who are being taken advantage of and you’re helping the environment. in my opinion, if anyone deserves a clean and healthy earth it is the world’s poor. most often they are the ones [wherever they are–including within the US] who end up living by toxic dumps and factories that spew out tons of air pollutants. their right to live in an environment free of toxins is often the first to be violated. Part of a “decent living” should be raising your children in a clean place. By protecting the environment, you are in fact protecting the rights of the poor.
To give you a non-toxic example [sorry… i’ve been working on too much CERCLA stuff this semester]: preserving biodiversity is also critically important. as plants/animals/microscopic organisms continue to invade new continents [i.e. the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes] ecosystems change and the people who depend on those ecosystems for their livelihood are the ones left holding the bag. in fact while writing a paper on ballast water movement [it’s complicated..don’t ask unless you really want me to tell you], i found out that the shrimping industry in south india was devestated by a shrimp virus that was brought to the area by foreign ships.
Another example would be the fact that many poor farmers are turning to organic cotton farming as a way of beating out richer competitors who use pesticides. Frontline did a special on this last summer–> Seeds of Suicide.
what really confuses me about people who make your argument Bihari Babu is that its so difficult for them to make the connection between helping the environment and helping the people of this world. what’s the point of poisoning our planet just so we’re all richer and more well off?
sorry for the long post… but i’m super eco-friendly [isn’t that obvious?]. the reason i’m going to law school is because i dont like seeing poor people being poisoned by lead paint, hazardous waste, and air pollutants–all of which have to do with living a decent life.
How can the Earth be spared when humans have a greedy desire to procreate shamelessly.
I would just like to second all of All Mixed Up’s comments. I am by no means an expert on environmental issues, but I have worked in the field in various capacities. The way I see it, the number one item on the environmental agenda should be doing away with the internal combustion engine. Second, and this is a bit hypocritical of me seeing as how I’m a meat eater, but the raising of livestock for human consumption is a huge problem. Livestock consumes 50% of the freshwater in the world, leads to habitat destruction in places like the amazon basin, and is generally an inefficient way of getting nutrients into a person.
What it is we want to do shamelessly isn’t necessarily procreating.
all mixed up said it well. the poor of this world depend primarily, and disproportionately, on the natural resources of this world for their livelihoods. they are the first people affected when things go awry.
I am an environmentalist of sorts… So i am in general supportive of eco friendly stuff. But i am having trouble buying small scale farms even though i grow organic vegetables my self.Its a hobby not a proffession. in india i havent seen small scale farms using land efficiently, or w/ less chemicals Efficient use of land means less land to grow the same output. The arguement about tropical forest being saved by small scale farms is silly. Only legislation can save it. Punjab is the agricultural heartland. The land is flat. Think kansas. but just ~100 years ago. It was forested(not a dense forest but a lot of wood) All of it was cleared at the turn of the century. What it contains is small scale farms. Bangladesh WILL get rid of small scale farms much more quickly than india. b/c they dont have that much land. The land b/c of silty soil is fertile but only after soil treatment requiring chemist paying attention each growing cycle. Its something small scale farmers wont be able to do. In the long run economics dictate that they will increase their food production and will find social structures that support it I dont see small scale farms being able to pull that off
tropical forests and biodiversity will be enhanced by things like enrichment planting in forests and buffer zones, shade-grown coffee and conservation of sacred forests.
so by preventing these activities you’re essentially getting 2 birds for 1 stone–you’re helping Indians who are being taken advantage of
oh yeah! Let’s make sure the poor Indians are not working on hazardous stuff and they can go back to… what?
…and most indians are not working on hazardous stuff anyways.
Mega-chains selling organic stuff is about as virtuous and as salubrious to global health as a pimp offering free wetnaps in his trade. a more realistic tactic is to buy local produce, dairy and meats, organic or otherwise. The organic stuff shuttled in by the chains may come from across the world. Let alone the cost of the sea-transportation, this translates to a tractor trailer pulling 120K miles a year. I’m sure it’s unrealistic to grow watermelons in Shawnigan, but surely – tomatoes, onions potatos, squashes can grow locally – screw the kobe beef if there’s a guy around the corner who can cut you a nice steak. farmers (those who farm to stock our tables, not to sell on the market) have been practicing good farming practices way before the marketers discovered it. They dont put anything in the market that they wouldnt eat themselves. Get to know them today.
bihari.. take a chill-pill … and look up vandana shiva and Baba amte’s work on the net. the principle articulated above is core and central to the movement in India. cheaper imports can and are pricing indian farmers out of their livelihood . They have to adapt to survive in the -sound the trumpets- new world economy (as some handjob will point out no doubt) – but this can not happen by having them starve to death until the “paradigm shift ” occurs.
for those canadians amongst us – there was a nice dialogue on http://www.cbc.ca/checkup today on what is the impact of rising gas to our daily life. related stuff.
i beg your pardon if my pitch assumed a hectoring tone – though i tried to modulate – i have a few pet peeves gnawing my jewels and this post struck a nerve.
vandana shiva is a good candidate to put on chill pills. She does hang out w/ good company like chomsky, roy etc. Its people like her who do more damage to environmentalism.
If everyone lived like me we would need 2.3 earths! I guess those of us with a footprint larger than one earth should work on ourselves first.
It is simply a human folly to believe that we can destroy life or regulate environment.
I wonder why no one talked about Kyoto 😉
Regards
What difference can you make?
Um, you left out organizing in small groups of people in hundreds or thousands of places, to talk about what’s wrong, figuring out what you can do to address it (like the things you listed…but more), and then doing them. This will generally creating more and more pressure on people (politicans and others) to stop f@#king up our inheritance. This is probably the only strategy that’s going to be effective in the long run (and it needs to happen all over, not just in wealthy places).
I like that you put all these out there, because not everyone is going to want to do what I’m suggesting (including me), but they strike me as feel-good gestures. For example, I’ve heard that buying from local producers (i.e. keeping in mind where things come from and the amount of transportation costss that went into getting them to where you consume them) is far more important than buying “fair trade” or “organic.” I also find consumer-driven ideas like “fair trade” to be a little imperialistic (and I say that mostly as someone speaking among friends and who’s done “anti-sweatshop” work not as a (complete) idiot neoliberal).
I’m sorry, someone else. I just figured that was inherent and everyday and didn’t need to be stated explicitly! (the words of someone who’s been doing it for the past 10 years). I feel you though – like you said, there are some environmental activities that are more feel good, then being actually good, but if we can get everyone to do SOMEthing to protect the environment, at least have people think about how to reduce thier ecological footprint no matter how they choose to do it, (i.e. reducing it by buying local will reduce it much more than buying organic from Brazil)at least they are doing something. Better than being cynical and doing nothing, no?
Garuv, kyoto. Sigh.
Vandana Shiva is speaking at UCLA on Wednesday, for those interested!
Better than being cynical and doing nothing, no?
Word.
Relatedly, I got this today from a friend who does sustainable agriculture work:
I would like you to think about your consumption. And since I know how hard it is to tell and understand about all the parts in your ipod, think about the food you consume. I had to do a similar exercise for one of my classes hereÂ….For one day (tomorrow), I would like you all to ask “where does my food come from” and IÂ’m not entirely referring to the restaurant, or the super market, but where does your chicken come from, or your eggs, or your apples, etc. And beyond where does it come from…how is it produced, and how does it get to you? What information can you find?
A few things to think about: Why is sugar grown in Hawaii and then refined in California and then shipped to NY for distribution only to be shipped back to Hawaii for purchase? Why is it cheaper for me to buy organic bananas grown in Colombia at the grocery store in Iowa, than for me to buy conventional bananas grown in Puerto Rico at a grocery store in San Juan? And most importantly, why is corn the single most important crop in the United States?
My snark answer was:
“A global structure of corporate nation-state imperialism that has a legacy in european colonialism? :)” but the questions she asks are worth thinking about 🙂
You might also be interested in this study from a website she linked to as well as the comment thread from a post on Saheli’s blog about tactics/strategies (same conversation, really).
can some ask her many hours soes Vandana Shiva spend on airplanes what is the ecological foot print of that ? also she does have a mighty ass print she must leave on chair. if she were to consume less food and maybe donate it to a scrawny homeless dude
savin gas…check recycle…check electricity..check
ORGANIC BEER????? i dont think so, I am not gonna live that long anyway
uh.. huh.!! but… see, this is where my prop makes the most sense… go local – to the microbrew… and get a long refreshing pint on a warm summer night … me…I’m strictly a Steamwhistle, Sleeman or Brick man (from Toronto, Guelph, and Kitchener respectively)… and this is not even going into the designer brew… mmm… I’m sure y’all have some favored locals – now that’s a cause that unites us all – brings a tear to my eye.
ओए गुलाब! तैन्नूं कोइ तकलीफ हैगी टिड इच ? vaai get personal? but vaai? 🙂
Look you mention vandana whose bitchiness leaves nader in the dust, and expect no response… I have a fair amount ecofriendly vegan lifestyle and see a lot of folks attracted to her. She is a fraud. I dont see an evil MNC lurking around out there to make the solar panel uneconomical. I installed one my self and can tell you its uneconomical(hacker economics are different for some one else getting inverters + panels would be a lot more expensive, but from time to time i see such things being thrown and pick them up from going into trash) I acknowledge imperialims including islamic imperialism(which vandana never does so why the fuck was it evil that the british east india company exploted indians, yet bin qasim ghazni are not seen as exploiter)
Her views on everything including industrialization, immigration, food are all wierd to say the least, add to that a pompous attitude that her and her followers have that only they have the right balance of intelligence,spirituality and heart and that no one else cares.
I’ll make it more personal. I am no fan of friedman. IMNHO he tends to highly oversimplify complex social phenomina and under report certain facts. He’s not an evil hatemonger. Just a bit overrated)hen i saw her and friedman together friedman appeared a 1000x better than he normaly does. In Shiva’s view you too would be considered a thief. u do fly back and forth from india for your job you are consuming more than there resource then you need and so you are stealing from others. The indians who get a bottom rung job in an MNC are slaves to global capitalism. Ie the fella that work in your firms indian operation would be exploited workers. Consider that when you talk to them next time. Ask them if they are being exploited. Consider the hindi writer app you used was written by one such indian dude, he would be an abused and exploited worker who had such a thing as liesure time and decided to write code for fun Shiva had mentioned language imperialism in india, yet its folks like mr parikh who probably have done more for indian languages than shiva ever could. I have never hears shiva adress indians in any other language.
Yet its shiva could have sent her message to america with the least amount of ecological footprint. it would be so easy to send an email to all her listners why fly here ?
So just because a woman makes it in a man’s world and is smart and assertive and articulate and successful. that makes her a bitch. is that what you are saying? hunh? hunh? …
O! sorry, I was channeling someone else – and trying to pre-empt another tangent. No, GGK wasnt saying the above – so steer off now – pretty please 🙂
Dont mean to be flippant but you have no right to be so rational and honest GGK. you remind me of Naseeruddin Shah in Jaaney bhi do yaro and we both know how that went, right?
I’m being flippant again. The truth is, I dont know Vandana Shiva. Never met her. Never read her. She came to my campus once, when i was in school and i remember seeing this pic of her with a big fat bindi, or maybe that was ma amritandyi. that’s the extent of my knowledge. even so, shiva does serve a purpose to me- it isnt her message – but her existence as a woman, a media-savvy woman, articulate to the western media with some eco-credentials that serves as a prop in quasi-intellectual circles. it was how i was using her the last time around, but you caught me. That’s it.
Baba amte’s history, I have read in some detail, hagiography though it may be. i’ve heard of him through my mum as well on the chipko andolan, and she’s from a different era, different media – so i do believe he is a man of some substance and spine.
the point i wanted to make was that Taz’ post was to promote world earth day – and we shouldnt have got sidetracked on one person’s individual failings – though i respect you callign my bluff. even the discussion on beer was more productive, dont you think.
to finally add my 2 cents on this…
There’s a simple way to make eco-awareness part of our lives and help us live healthier, stronger… Explore the elements. I enjoy open water swimming, running through the outdoors. That gives me a heightened awareness of pollution and makes me want to do something about it, when i find a tampon floating near my face, or when i’m cycling my heart out on a road and someone throws a diaper out a window and something spatters on me (true stories). Case in point – Some might find it ironic, but some of the biggest supporters of forest preservation etc. are the rod and rifle types – because once the outdoors are in one’s blood, it’s not something one can live without. so a simple request. pick up an outdoor activity – running, walking, skiing, swimming, hiking, climbing, caving – it’s a small step that will pay rich dividends indirectly – through your effort and of those who derive a sustenance through coaching, facilitating your lifestyle.
How the hell is this a masculine/feminine issue. Shiva came to my attention about 3 years ago and just about everything i have read from her indicated to me that she is a fraud. What has she done for bio diversity? Regarding environmentaly friendly lifestyle i am all game for that, and do that I went as far as installing a squat toilet in my home(less water). But realisticaly i do expect changes and they are NOT going to come from farters like her, but from environemental entreprenuers and engineers who come up with solutions. she is nothing but a hate mongerer. All the issues i raised about her you can do a google search and there are complete video interviews and atleast 2 pbs documentarty floating around where she is shown. She is as phony as they get. She wont have any impact on any one culturaly or in lifestyle matter. The guy who runs a part time toilet sales business for environmentaly concious buyer like me already has.
guru – ease up buddy – i was yanking your chain there … umm… but maybe that ties up with your side business 🙂
ok – th-th-that’s all folks.
If that would have been my side business i’d be selling something w/ some of these wackos drawn on the porcelelain.
Ah, I got here too late.
GGK: Yo, what’s with the haterade? What exactly is so “phony” about Vandana Shiva? Is there no value in publishing research and criticism and then granting requests to talk about your work? Is Rushdie a phony because all he does is write stuff and doesn’t actually do anything except oogle over supermodels half his age? What would you say about someone like Anuradha Mittal?
And I’m not defending him just because he’s Bihari 🙂 but the Babu has a point. I live in Santa Barbara, and I’m all too familiar with the racism, classism and overall exclusionary logic of environmental liberalism–the stuff practiced by “rich akward green hippies.” Unfortunately, they make up a large part of the Western environmental movement. These people generally don’t have any problem with the issues brought up in Dhaavak’s comments in #15. I was at the Earth Day festival in downtown SB, and there were two booths whose environmental campaigns were both anti-immigrant and pro-population control (i.e. eugenics). And then there were hippie booths selling clothes from India, as well as a performance by white belly dancers who, at the end of their set, bowed with their hands together in a “namaste” gesture (because Middle Easterners use the “pranam” salutation and South Asians belly dance, of course).
The real phonies are upper-class greens and idiotic hippies.
hey, better late than ungulate.
i was going on below…
and realized later that i should have put in gardening as another splendid outdoor activity one can continue into the sunset. so… i know you (Shruti) had some knowledge of this. what was the term – micro-farming? could you please post those links for general edification?
It looks like none of you guys have not read her writing. To lump her with Amte is bordering criminal behavior. Amtes chipko amdolan(i can take you to the locations where it happened) was a truee grassroots movement dealing w/ real issues. And Amte did accomplish reasonable accomodation for tribals, collective ownership and environmnetal protection that was acceptable to all. she is nothing but a hatemonger. Read her writings about america, business environmentalism cultural impearalism. etc. She does not propose any solution let alone any acceptable solution. She is a crook.
since we’re talking about the earth day and eco-friendly practices, it is relevant that i post that jane jacob passed away today at the age of 89.
Here’s an excerpt from the news article
I do not know whether her position will prove right in the long run. I suppose it is an article of faith to believe that we should live in neighborhoods without fences, and enjoy green space to enjoy a stroll now and then. She echoed and amplified my personal beliefs and I am glad to have been able to conduct a conversation with her thru her books.
Guess what? Brian Mulroney, ex-Canadian PM, was deemed the most enviornmentally concious PM ever. Interesting, considering he’s a member of the Conservatives. Good to see it can be a non-partisan issue, but I have to take note of what the cynics have to say.
well… consider the competition he was against :-/
seriously, i dont know if canada is truly more illuminated when it comes to eco-friendly practices, or we just have a larger rug under which to sneak our trash – we dont seem to have a politcal will or vision for earht friendly practices
or maybe we do – not becaause we are more illuminated, but because we live in such close proximity to nature we cant help but be touched with whatever crap we make and so are careful about making a crap.
another thought… I noticed tht jane jacobs’ wiki entry has open stubs for dark age ahead. I think i’ll oblige – if anyone wants to collaborate and do a rough-n-tumble online book club – let me know. 4 week timeline i estimate. i wouldnt midn doin’ the wealth … either… but need to check it out from the library.
I’m not surprised at Brain Mulroney at being Canada best PM for the environment. The Conservative party in canada is alot closer to the centre then GOP.
Permaculture (other links here, here, and here). You can buy a book on permaculture gardening, or go all out and take classes on how to make your entire surrounding more sustainable. I’m not sure what I think of study abroad programs in Third World countries, like the programs in Auroville, Kerela, but I’m all for learning how to be more sustainable in your own home and community. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to stay local whenever you can, and in as many ways as you can. Have your own garden for fruits and vegetables, build green, establish cooperatives (food, energy, housing), shop at locally-owned stores and restaurants (NOT Starbucks, even if they do sell “fair trade” coffee), use locally-owned banks, etc etc. It’s all easier when, like you implied, you have a personal connection with the environment–in this case, your local environment–so invest a little in learning how to appreciate what you have right in front of you instead of striving for cosmopolitanism all the time. Dhaavak, what the hell happened to your blog?
GGK: I have read a lot of Vandana Shiva’s published work. Not that she doesn’t provide any solutions, but even if she didn’t, I think her role as a researcher and activist calling out corporations, institutions and processes is impressive in and of itself. Your over-the-top bashing (calling her a crook??) with little evidence makes it hard for me to take you seriously here. What do you want from her? Perhaps I can relay the question when I see her this weekend 😉