Tag: ecology

Can you create a rainforest free food supply?

September 6th, 2010 · · Environment No comments - Tags: , , , ,

The following came to me via Friends of The Earth and is an important update on their MOOvement for rainforest free food. I wanted to share it for like minds who aren’t yet involved – it’s a great debate and do make your voice heard

Rob Flello MP

My name’s Robert Flello, and I’m the MP who put forward the Sustainable Livestock Bill in Parliament.

The Bill calls for Government action to tackle the massive climate and wildlife damage caused by current processes used in factory farming of meat and dairy.

Thanks to everyone who has already shown their support by joining Friends of the Earth’s MOOvement for rainforest-free food this summer.

My colleagues are back from recess today, so I need your help to make this crucial Bill the first thing they hear about.

Please email your MP today and urge them to support the Bill.

I need at least 100 of my colleagues to be with me in the House of Commons on 12 November so that this Bill stands a real chance of passing into law.

Please urge your MP to be with me on the 12th – and thank you for all your support in getting the Bill this far.

Thank you,

Rob Flello
MP for Stoke-on-Trent South


How Can You Use Less Oil?

July 9th, 2010 · · Alternatives, Environment, Opinion No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I got this email from Greenpeace UK today and loved it so much I thought I’d share – practical tips for us to minimise our impact on the Earth:

In the wake of the ongoing catastrophe of the Gulf oil spill, lots of people have been asking us how they can reduce their oil consumption in their daily lives. Here’s our top ten:

1. Carpool, cycle or use public transport to go to work.

2. Choose when possible products packaged without plastic and recycle or re-use containers.

3. Buy organic fruits and vegetables (fertilisers and pesticides are based on oil more often than not).

4. Buy beauty products (shampoo, soap, make-up) based on natural ingredients, not oil.

5. Choose when possible locally produced products (less transport involved).

6. Buy clothes made out of organic cotton or hemp – not from oil derivatives.

7. Use non-disposable items in picnics and summer festivals.

8. Quit bottled water.

9. Fly less.

10. Demand that your government encourage renewable energy instead of oil.

(11. Register at our new website and add to this list, then forward it to a friend.)


What You Put Down The Drain Comes Back To Haunt You

July 6th, 2010 · · Alternatives, Environment, Health, Opinion No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

There’s only so much water on Earth and we’re taught from school how to evaporates to form rain that then falls on the Earth and flows back to the seas. So what happens when you add millions of humans dumping their waste into that system? Marine biologist Stephen Palumbi shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean food chain find their way into our bodies, with a shocking story of toxic contamination from a Japanese fish market in this fascinating and compelling TED talk:

The most obvious place for us to start is cleaning up our own waste. We can look to use ecological alternatives at home such as replacing bleach with a bio-degradable alternative. There are lots of ethical cleaning products available so it’s not much of a chore to find them and prices are continuously getting better as more and more consumers support the movement towards sanity in sanitation.

If you are finding that your body has become weakened then taking a detoxification course can be highly beneficial. The most important places to begin your cleanse are the colon followed by the liver and in that order. Why? The colon is the primary route by which toxins are released from the body. If it’s fully functioning, it’ll help deeper cleansing so a colon cleanse using either Oxy-powder for a gentle programme or bentonite clay for a more involved and deeper detox is the foundation.

The liver is one of the places the body is fond of holding toxins since here it can hold them without letting the body be overcome. Of course it typically is at great cost and lowers the energy levels of the host whilst opening the doorway for further problems to enter. One way of cleansing the liver is to use coffee enemas. These cause the liver to purge out toxins which are then released along with the liquid down the toilet and many people note a big shift in energy levels after completing a coffee enema detox.

Naturally, in order to do a coffee enma liver detox, the colon needs to be clear, hence the reason we recommend a colon detox first.

The most important thing is not to give up trying. Pollute less, avoid sources of contamination and take regular detoxes and you’ll soon realise why a clean life is too good not to not be fighting for.


Thoughts from Dr Brian Clements

June 29th, 2010 · · Alternatives, Events, Health, Reviews No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dr Brian Clements PhD LNC runs the world renown Hippocrates Health Institute. The Hippocrates Health Institute was co-founded by Ann Wigmore (1909 to 1994) who pioneered treatment of cancer having cured herself using natural methods.  We’re proud to support that to this day through education and distribution of some of the LifeGive health formulas from Hippocrates Health Institute.

Much of Dr Clement’s wisdom comes from his daily work with terminally ill patients having taken over the helm from Ann Wigmore sometime earlier and his annual talk in London is always full of insight. Big thanks go to The Fresh Network for organising it. Here are a few of the gems we picked up from attending:

  • Irradiated foods will permanently damage your chromosomes and DNA. That includes Micromeals so do stay away from the microwave. Incidentally, in the former Soviet Union, microwaves were banned due to their track record of increased cancer. This law was disbanded after capitalism came to the country and Russia now enjoys a much higher cancer rate.
  • 90% of cancers cured by Allopathic medicine recur.  This might sound shocking and yet it’s pretty obvious that if you don’t treat the cause of a problem it’ll keep on coming. It’s all very well giving someone chemotherapy but if they keep smoking or doing other toxic habits, the illness just comes back somewhere else
  • Children born today are now having a shorter life expectancy than their parents. This difference – on average 5 years – is attributable to the build up of toxicity in the environment. All that nuclear waste dumped at sea isn’t going away fast. Nor are the chemicals poured down drains, nor the plastics and petrol fumes burned into the air. It’s now a fact that even in the North Pole there is DDT and other toxic chemicals. These are causing hormonal development issues for many life forms, particularly larger life forms like Polar bears.
  • Everything was organic up to World War II. Polyester is nowadays sold as  microfibre since it’s not popular under it’s original name. Manmade fibres give of hormone disrupting chemicals as strong as the day they were made even after 10 years and thousands of washes.
  • Fake estrogens (xenoestrogens) both feminise males and masculinise females. Affecting your sexual preference and/or gender identity is one thing; more seriously they are implicated in a host of degenerative illnesses since a properly performing endocrine (or hormonal) system is vital for health. If your hormones become blocked, other functions in the body that should be triggered by them become troubled.

Most importantly, Dr Clements said the following:

Strong and healthy people talk back. Weak and unhealthy people can’t.

Today, health and the environment affect everyone. As Dr Vernon Coleman states in his book, How to avoid your doctor killing you, we have at least a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer and if the rate continues, it’ll soon be 1 in 2. That’s 50-50. How many others will be affected by transgenderism, infertility, developmental disorders in their children or the host of other issues lined up against us? On top of that, everyone is being affected by the effect these same toxins are having on wildlife and the eco-systems they create.

Now is the time for us to stand up. Your daily choices make a difference. Could you avoid using bleaches and switch to non-polluting alternatives? Can you support the organic trade by clothing yourself in fashions that aren’t harmful? Will you make a conscious effort to say no to goods made of plastic that could be made of natural materials like glass, wood or metal?

You may be the unknown soldier who’s story is never told, but now is the time to be strong. Your actions make the difference whether or not anyone sees or cares. Most importantly, at least you won’t be one of the many who don’t care simply because they’re to weak and unhealthy to make the difference.


CEO2 – Climate Business Leaders wanted

May 27th, 2010 · · Alternatives, Environment, News No comments - Tags: , , ,

We were passed the following Press Release and wanted to share it as it may be of value to you or you may be able to share it to someone who can take action upon it:

UN-climate talks in Bonn ahead: WWF and Allianz are calling on the internet-community worldwide to test climate business strategies online

27.05.2010 - While politics and a lot of companies are losing precious time in climate protection, every user can now play the online-game CEO2 launched by financial service provider Allianz and WWF (World Wide Fund For Nature). One can slip into the role of a CEO and show which business strategies work out to reduce carbon, reduce risks and increase the long-term profitability. The aim of the game is to identify which investments at what time will set the course for a profitable growth in the low carbon economy of the future. CEO2 shows the possible impacts of business decisions in the chemical, automobile, utility and finance industry over the next 20 year. The success of the player is measured according to the development of the stock price and the carbon emissions.

Ahead of the UN-climate negotiations, politics and business are hesitant when it comes to climate change. Although according to RECIPE (Report on Energy and Climate Policy in Europe) drawn up by the Potsdam Institute for climate impact research and supported by Allianz and WWF, Europe especially could profit from climate protection if it sets the framework for middle- and long-term reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

After 2020 the window which is open for ambitious global CO2 reductions until 2050 will close entirely. The reductions are necessary to limit the temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels and avoid dangerous consequences of climate change. A cost-optimal mitigation strategy for the transformation of the energy sector alone requires an increase of investments in low-emission technologies to an annual level of 400 to 1,000 billion USD by 2030, most of which would have to be provided by the financial markets and industry.

CEO2 has been developed by Allianz and WWF to show long-term connections of investment cycles and the remaining leeway for strategies and decisions in a playful way so that a broad public audience can access these issues. The game is available at www.ceo2-game.com for free. It has been developed and implemented by the Berlin-based communications agency LGM Interactive (http://www.lgm-interactive.com).

Munich, 27.05.2010
For further information please contact:

Sigrid Goldbrunner, WWF Deutschland     Tel.:   +49-30-3087-4242
Mobil:  +49-151-18854804
E-mail: HYPERLINK “mailto:sigrid.goldbrunner@wwf.de” sigrid.goldbrunner@wwf.de


Nicolai Tewes, Allianz SE       Tel.:   +49-89-3800 4511
Mobil:  +49-171-860 2154
E-mail: HYPERLINK “mailto:nicolai.tewes@allianz.com” nicolai.tewes@allianz.com

These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided below.


About WWF
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost
5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation
of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by
conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable


About LGMi

LGM Interactive is an agency that specializes in green digital communications. It focuses on interactive solutions for NGOs, organizations, governments and companies with activities in the fields of CSR, social change, and environmental awareness.
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, LGMi works with NGOs and businesses around the world. Their team of experienced designers, programmers, producers, editors, project managers, and marketing specialists all share a desire to make sustainability engaging and inspiring.
For further information contact:
Eric Mahleb, Partner LGMi
tel: +49 (0)30 6483 2609
Cell: +49 (0)171 788 7582
eric@lgm-interactive.com


About Allianz
Allianz SE is member of Transparency International Germany and supports the Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinationals through its Code of Conduct.
Allianz SE is one of the leaders of the insurance sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, listed in FTSE4GOOD and in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP6).

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. In addition to statements which are forward-looking by reason of context, the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential”, or “continue” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation, (i) general economic conditions, including in particular economic conditions in the Allianz Group’s core business and core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, and including market volatility, liquidity and credit events (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including from natural catastrophes and including the development of loss expenses, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) the extent of credit defaults, (vii) interest rate levels, (viii) currency exchange rates including the Euro/U.S. Dollar exchange rate, (ix) changing levels of competition, (x) changes in laws and regulations, including monetary convergence and the European Monetary Union, (xi) changes in the policies of central banks and/or foreign governments, (xii) the impact of acquisitions, including related integration issues, (xiii) reorganization measures, and (xiv) general competitive factors, in each case on a local, regional, national and/or global basis. Many of these factors may be more likely to occur, or more pronounced, as a result of terrorist activities and their consequences. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

No duty to update
The company assumes no obligation to update any information contained herein.

Allianz SE
Group Communications
Press

Allianz SE
Koeniginstr.28
80802 Munich; Germany
Phone: +49.89.3800.2586
Fax: +49.89.3800.2114 / 2016
www.allianz.com/news

Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Dr. Henning Schulte-Noelle.
Board of Management: Michael Diekmann, Chairman;
Dr. Paul Achleitner, Oliver Bäte, Clement B. Booth, Enrico Cucchiani,
Dr. Joachim Faber, Dr. Christof Mascher, Jay Ralph, Dr. Gerhard Rupprecht,
Dr. Werner Zedelius.
For VAT-Purposes: VAT-Registration Number: DE 129 274 114; Insurance services are exempt from VAT.
Allianz SE, Munich, Comm.Reg.: Munich HRB 164232
release 01/2010


Update on Amnesty’s Shell Advert

May 18th, 2010 · · Environment, Events, News One comment - Tags: , , , ,

We recently shared how Amnesty UK are raising awareness of environmental concerns about Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta, Africa. They’d asked people to donate for them to run an advert in London and National Press on the day of Shell’s AGM so that shareholders would be reminded to think of both sides of the equation, people and planet vs progress and profit. The hope was that Shell shareholders would press management to up it’s standards. After all the company has record profits. It can afford to be careful with what it does.

Although the Financial Times dropped the Amnesty Shell ad at the last minute, several other publications accepted it. Amnesty have created this short video to summarise the issues that Shell needs to address:

Shell in the Niger Delta from Amnesty International on Vimeo.

If you have views on this share it on Twitter with the tag #shellagm, or send it directly to @shelldotcom. You can also follow the Protect The Human Shell Ad blog by Amnesty. We’re still hopeful that Shell can take the responsibility it’s privileged position requires and contribute it’s wonders to the world in a fashion that doesn’t harm people, animals or endanger the planet for future generations.


Run for the Health of The Planet

May 13th, 2010 · · Environment, Events, Health No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

We’re not affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, yet we’re all for the essential work they carry out preserving the planet. We therefore wanted to highlight that they’re challenging us all to raise our own health standards together with that of the planet in one of their countrywide fun runs.

First off don’t panic! Countrywide fun runs doesn’t mean you need to run the country! These aren’t marathons, they’re 5k Fun Runs and WWF have charity assured places in all of them for participants bringing a minimum of £50 sponsorship. That means they only need you to find someone prepared to challenge you a tenner for each kilometer. As well as having lots of fun, it’ll be a great way for you to test your health and if you commit yourself now, you could use the date as a reason to get into training.

Here are the dates and locations:

10 July – Stirling – Stirling University
11 July – Aberdeen – Hazlehead Park
17 July – Dundee – Camperdown Park
18 July – Perth – North Inch
24 July – Glasgow – Bellahouston Park
25 July – Edinburgh – Holyrood Park
31 July – Middlesborough – Albert Park
1 Aug – Sunderland – Silksworth Sports Complex
7 Aug – Liverpool – Sefton Park
8 Aug – Sheffield – Rother Valley Country Park
14 Aug – Leeds – Roundhay Park
15 Aug – Manchester – Whythenshawe Park
21 Aug – Derby – Darley Park
22 Aug – Norwich – Whittlingham Estate
4 Sept – Cardiff – Bute Park
5 Sept – Leicester – Abbey Park
11 Sept – London Crystal Palace
18 Sept – Coventry – Memorial Park
25 Sept – London – Victoria Park
26 Sept – Milton Keynes – Willen Lake
2 Oct – Watford – Cassiobury Park
3 Oct - Cheltenham – Race Course
9 Oct – Southampton – Southampton Common
10 Oct – Maidstone – Mote Park

There are full details and sign up are at http://www.wwfscotland.org.uk/what_we_do/about_wwf_scotland/events/running_events/. Maybe we’ll bump into you at one?


Take a Share in asking Shell to clean up with Amnesty UK

May 10th, 2010 · · Environment, Events, News One comment - Tags: , , , , , ,

The Royal Dutch Shell company is one of Britain’s biggest corporations. It’s exploits enable many wonders of the world in which we live today and it’s vast cash flows fund pensions around the UK. At the same time, Shell is noted in many environmental fiascos around the world. As it’s annual meeting approaches, Amnesty UK are looking to remind shareholders in Shell that the black gold has a dark side and that bumper profits mean we need to push bosses to enforce better ecological and social standards through their system. This short trailer from Amnesty explains the problem well:

There is a full report by Amnesty International on Shell’s activity in the Niger Delta in pdf that you can read if you want to examine the situation more fully.

In order to remind Shell’s shareholders that Shell’s recent bumper profits have come at a huge cost to the environment, to local populations and wildlife and to urge the shareholders to insist on higher standards from management, Amnesty UK is looking to take out a full page advert in a UK national paper. They’d like you to buy a share in this advert as £10 will buy a 1cm2 section of prime publishing real estate for the following ad:

Amnesty Shell advert

Amnesty Shell advert

Please participate in whatever way you can. If you can support the ad financially it will help. If you can’t, ask someone who can. If you are a shareholder or have a pension that is investing in Shell, start letting Shell know you need them to do better. You can email Shell CEO, Peter Vosser, and ask him how Shell is living up to words like these which were taken from their own website:

“As we work to help meet the world’s growing energy needs we aim to bring benefits to local communities and reduce impacts of our operations”, “A career with Shell is more than just a day job. It’s an opportunity to join a company who tackle real world problems”.

~ Shell.com via Amnesty UK

Amnesty’s campaign is at http://blog.protectthehuman.com/shellad and you can buy a share in their ad from there.



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