LET'S SING!!!

EARTH SONG BY MICHEAL JACKSON

What about sunrise

What about rain

What about all the things

That you said we were to gain.. .

What about killing fields

Is there a time

What about all the things

That you said was yours and mine...

Did you ever stop to notice

All the blood we've shed before

Did you ever stop to notice

The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world

Look what we've done

What about all the peace

That you pledge your only son...

What about flowering fields

Is there a time

What about all the dreams

That you said was yours and mine...

Did you ever stop to notice

All the children dead from war

Did you ever stop to notice

The crying Earth the weeping shores

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah

I used to dream

I used to glance beyond the stars

Now I don't know where we are

Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah

Hey, what about yesterday

(What about us)

What about the seas

(What about us)

The heavens are falling down

(What about us)

I can't even breathe

(What about us)

What about the bleeding Earth

(What about us)

Can't we feel its wounds

(What about us)

What about nature's worth

(ooo,ooo)

It's our planet's womb

(What about us)

What about animals

(What about it)

We've turned kingdoms to dust

(What about us)

What about elephants

(What about us)

Have we lost their trust

(What about us)

What about crying whales

(What about us)

We're ravaging the seas

(What about us)

What about forest trails

(ooo, ooo)

Burnt despite our pleas

(What about us)

What about the holy land

(What about it)

Torn apart by creed

(What about us)

What about the common man

(What about us)

Can't we set him free

(What about us)

What about children dying

(What about us)

Can't you hear them cry

(What about us)

Where did we go wrong

(ooo, ooo)

Someone tell me why

(What about us)

What about babies

(What about it)

What about the days

(What about us)

What about all their joy

(What about us)

What about the man

(What about us)

What about the crying man

(What about us)

What about Abraham

(What was us)

What about death again

(ooo, ooo)

Do we give a damn

Our Water is Even Dirtier Than Our Air

One of the oldest sayings around is, “what goes up must come down.” Even though scientists and world leaders continue to debate about what to do about the climate change issue, they have agreed that carbon emissions have largely been responsible for the pollution in the air that is fueling the “greenhouse effect.” But the air isn't the only important life sustaining element that is polluted. A statement on the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) says that, “Today, nonpoint source (“NPS”) pollution remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. It's the main reason that approximately 40 percent of our surveyed rivers, lakes, and estuaries are not clean enough to meet basic uses such as fishing or swimming.” The fact that nearly half of the nation’s rivers, lakes and streams are too dirty for human use is troubling, indeed, and it is a New Earth issue that we need to think about.

According to EPA, NPS pollution occurs when rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation runs over land or through the ground, picks up pollutants, and deposits them into rivers, lakes, and coastal waters or introduces them into ground water. A report by David Krantz and Brad Kifferstein of the University of Michigan provides a good summary of the effects of NPS. In their report entitled, “Water Pollution and Society,” Krantz and Kifferstein tell us that “Many causes of pollution including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters. This, in turn, proves very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability of fish and other invertebrates that live reside in the water.” The report also states that, “Plant productivity and water depth become reduced, and aquatic organisms and their environments become suffocated.”javascript:void(0)

A recent study funded by the New York Academy of Sciences undertook an extensive review of the possible sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (“PAHs”) to the New York/New Jersey Harbor. PAHs are components of petroleum products such as gasoline, coal, and oil and are also produced as by-products of the combustion of fossil fuels and firewood. Efforts to identify the level of PAHs in our water supply is critical because they may cause cancer and other serious health conditions. The study found that storm water runoff was the main pathway for inputs of all PAHs into the harbor, contributing about half the total load. It also showed that “Deposition from the atmosphere directly to the harbor surface was found to be important for the smaller PAH compounds.” Lisa Rodenburg, a co-author of the study, summarized her work by saying, "This is the first time that we have been able to demonstrate just how important storm water runoff is in terms of contributing pollution to the New York/New Jersey Harbor. And since the harbor is pretty typical of urban waterways, our conclusions probably apply to most other cities in the United States and across the globe."

The bottom line here is that the Earth’s hydro cycle is constantly moving pollutants, either in the air or on the ground, into all of the planet’s groundwater, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. The effect of this is that it our water is even dirtier than our air. No one knows or can even speculate on just how much of this chemical filth can be tolerated but it is certain that the levels of it are increasing.

Obviously, the pollution of our water systems is caused solely by human activity. From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution until the present day, we have been altering the chemical balance of our environment. Most of the recent attention is focused on the pollutants in the air that are causing changes in the ozone layer, as well as thickening the atmosphere enough to impact the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface. Although some attention is being paid to the water supply, it seems that the time has arrived to step up our efforts to reduce and reverse the damage that is being done to it.

In their report, “Water Pollution and Society,” Krantz and Kifferstein say, “Clearly, the problems associated with water pollution have the capabilities to disrupt life on our planet to a great extent. Congress has passed laws to try to combat water pollution thus acknowledging the fact that water pollution is, indeed, a serious issue. But the government alone cannot solve the entire problem. It is ultimately up to us, to be informed, responsible and involved when it comes to the problems we face with our water.” Krantz and Kifferstein also provide some helpful suggestions on how average people can help control the problem. Their advice is that “We must become familiar with our local water resources and learn about ways for disposing harmful household wastes so they don’t end up in sewage treatment plants that can’t handle them or landfills not designed to receive hazardous materials. In our yards, we must determine whether additional nutrients are needed before fertilizers are applied, and look for alternatives where fertilizers might run off into surface waters.”

There is no way to understate how important this issue is. Over 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water and its entire ecosystem is dependent upon it. Everything from people to animals and from plants to fish rely on it to create and sustain life. The continual degradation of its quality is totally the fault of the human species and that is where the responsibility of fixing the problem lies. Until such time that large strides are made in cleaning up our water, this will be a New Earth issue that we need to think very seriously about.

Radiohead and Environment

Green musicians are getting easier to find these days, but if it weren't for some green players in stadium-worthy bands helping pave the path toward the merging of music and environmental respect, the music industry would be much further behind in green issues than it is today. One of the greatest bands of the last decade (or two) that I love to talk about is Radiohead..

Barcelona was one of the cities Radiohead chose to visit with their ‘Carbon Neutral World Tour’. A fantastic concert visualised brilliantly with an amazing light show. And there is much more to the pretty lights than just dancing colours.

Actually they were performed at Forum Park where the largest urban solar structure in Europe was located. The solar panel has a surface of 10.500 m2. The electricity produced by this structure is delivered to the electric public utility system and achieves an annual reduction in emissions equivalent to 440 tons of CO2. The system for capturing light energy uses monocrystalline technology and is made up of tiny silicon wafers that convert sunlight into electricity. In order to maximize solar exposure throughout the year, the panel faces south and is tilted at a 35° angle. Another advantage is that it offers shade during the daytime, perfect to keep the dancing crowd fresh.

Radiohead’s environmental theme is facilitated by energy-saving LED stage lighting designed by i-Pix, the UK-based creators of innovative theater and stage lighting systems, who use Lamina’s TitanTurbo LED light engine modules. The project started around October last year when i-Pix president and chief engineer, Chris Ewington, visited Lamina to view a demonstration of their new narrow optic. The project went quickly from prototype to full production once Watson and Radiohead production manager Richard Young and lighting crew chief Andy Beller viewed the first prototype with the new Lamina narrow optic. “From our experience, most shows spend months in discussion and a maximum of six weeks in prep, so this timescale did not come as a surprise” stated Ewington. “The design period was condensed from six months to four days, the components were produced in two weeks, and the units built over two weeks.”

Lamina is the only energy-efficient lighting company to have its entire portfolio of LED lighting products individually certified for CO2 emission avoidance. The New Jersey-based lighting company labels its products with a “green tag” which highlights their energy efficiency as compared to their traditional equivalents in the form of the amount of carbon dioxide offset. Each Lamina TitanTurbo LED has been certified to avoid over 3 tons of C02 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere.

It is clear that this English rock band pushes festival organisers to make the events more eco-friendly, based on the results of a previous study Radiohead did with Best Foot Forward. The band requested real cutlery instead of disposable plates and cutlery, as well as water tanks to refill their bottles to avoid the use of plastic ones. A Radiohead-branded reusable water bottle was on sale at their merchandise stand amongst posters and t-shirts.

Sinnamon not only made an effort backstage to reduce the environmental footprint of the Daydream Festival, but fans were positively surprised and participating happily in recycling. The biggest step Sinnamon took was the introduction of a reusable cup service, already popular at festivals outside Spain, but never before applied to large festivals in Barcelona. The cups are fully recyclable and available for 1€ at the bar. It comes with a handy clip so you don’t loose the cup, and at the end of the night you can either return it to get your Euro back, or take it home as a souvenir. After all it is a unique Radiohead-branded cup. The local company Ecofestes, who specialise in reusable and recyclable products for events, supplied the cups.

There were also recycling points for plastic water bottles. For every 5 empty bottles you received a full one instead. The result of these two recycling actions was clearly visible compared to other festivals: Nobody had to walk home though an ankle-high sea of plastic rubbish.

Of the many reasons to love Radiohead, perhaps the most important is that they simply lead by example: creatively, musically, ethically, socially, communally, digitally and, now, environmentally…do you have same opinion like me??heheheh……

Sustainable Business Practices

Here is a useful and substantial article on the environmental economics and sustainable, from Environmental News Network: Majority of Executives and Consumers Think Businesses Not Committed to Sustainability:

The majority of executives and consumers polled in a survey in July 2010 do not think the majority of businesses are committed to “going green.” Only 29 percent of executives and 16 percent of consumers polled think that the majority of businesses are committed to “going green.” Almost half (54 percent) of executives and 48 percent of consumers think that only “some” are businesses committed to sustainability.

Harris Interactive polled 2,605 U.S. adults over 18 years old, and 304 Fortune 1000 executives for Gibbs & Soell Public Relations. Gibbs & Soell is the eighth largest independent public relations agency in the U.S.

Ron Loch, Senior Vice-President for Greentech& Sustainability at Gibbs & Soell said, “While surveys consistently show consumers have a preference, and even a willingness to pay a premium, for green products, the question is often asked without the full context of performance and convenience.”

The majority (78 percent) of executives cited an insufficient return on investment as an obstacle to “going green,” and 71 percent cite consumers' unwillingness to pay a premium for green products or services. More than two in five executives (45 percent) cited a difficulty in evaluating sustainability across the entire life cycle of a product as an obstacle.

More than two-thirds of executives (69 percent) said their companies have people responsible for sustainability, but the majority only added responsibilities for green efforts to the primary duties of a team of individuals (35%), or a C-suite or another senior level position (15%). Only about one in 10 (12 percent) said their company has a C-suite or other senior level position dedicated only to sustainability. Over a quarter (31 percent) said there is no one responsible at their company for “going green” initiatives.

So, how about business practices in Malaysia?? In my opinion, the awareness that green is good may not have engulfed Malaysian businesses yet. So far only the plantation and oil and gas sectors are seeking ways to promote sustainability on a formal basis. But for me, there is a lot of “green washing”, the practice of companies spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly when they may not really be so. Or they may assume a veneer of being green by having certain elements of it but the bulk of the project and policies are far from that. Being green takes time, effort, money and resources.

The main question here is, what actually the meaning of sustainable business practices?Sustainability in business is about “ensuring long-term business success while contributing toward economic and social development, a healthy environment and a stable society.” As part of their core principles, companies that are committed to sustainable business adopt high standards in areas that can include environmental protection, gender equity, working conditions, employee benefits, capacity development, community development and a set of transparent relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders that fall under the term ‘corporate governance.

Defining a leader in financial performance is fairly straightforward. Stock performance, cash flow and net income are some of the indicators. Determining who the environmental leaders are is more difficult to measure. There is no structure or tools to measure how green a company wants to be.

But thinking and living green is a way of life. To be really effective and to make a difference, it has to go down to the sinews and veins of a company and the individuals that make up that company. Just as there are shareholders in a company, each living being is a shareholder of a very big and important company called Planet Earth.

For more information, please read further in http://www.sustainablescale.org/AttractiveSolutions/SustainableBusinessPractices.aspx

Green Tourism

This is news that I read this morning is about how serious our government in emphasize on protecting environment and balance it with tourism development. I do agree that if government could adopt and implementing green technology as it will benefit not only the environment but also our country as whole. Below is the citation from the news.

“KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia is on the right track in tourism development because of its focus on preserving the natural beauty and environment. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia had drawn up specific guidelines on the development of the tourism industry without harming the environment.

"We are on the right track (in striking a balance between tourism development and protecting the environment), but we need to stay focused," he said after launching the 2010 World Tourism Conference (WTC) here yesterday.

Malaysia was mindful that tourists were increasingly more discerning and environmentally conscious, he added.

"Tourists may shy away from Malaysia if we compromise on the environment in our push to make tourism a major revenue-earner," Muhyiddin said, noting that Malaysia was ranked the ninth most-travelled destination in the world last year by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

He called on the UNWTO to develop a mechanism on the best practices in green tourism, saying that promotion of the "green" initiative would benefit member countries in terms of development of green technology, conservation of natural resources and minimizing the negative impact on the environment as a result of tourism activities.

"Green technology could potentially be a driver in generating new areas of growth and promoting sustainable development."

Muhyiddin said it was Malaysia's aim to adopt green technology and best practices in sustainable development to resolve adverse environmental issues often attributed to tourist inflows.

He was confident that developing green technologies would not only benefit the economy by attracting foreign investors but also help preserve the natural environment.

Attended by about 500 local and international participants, including tourism ministers from several countries as well as ambassadors and high commissioners, the three-day WTC, which commenced yesterday, is jointly organized by the Tourism Ministry and UNWTO.

Present were Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen and UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai.

The conference aims to uncover the secrets of leading destinations and organizations in the tourism industry, which can be adopted to generate income and accelerate growth in the industry.

It is also an avenue for policy-makers, industry players and stakeholders to share experiences and information on tourism trends and innovation, government initiatives and tourism business success stories.

Taleb said it was appropriate that the conference was held in Malaysia as the nation was one of the world's top 10 destinations with 23.6 million in tourist arrivals last year.

Taleb credited Malaysia for its efforts in protecting and preserving its natural beauty and environment.

"I hope Malaysia could share its success in the tourism industry for other countries to emulate."

(5 October 2010, NSTP)

KEEP MALAYSIA BEAUTIFUL

The issues of pollution and the state of the environment have become worldwide concerns. Every time we turn on TV or read the newspaper we are treated to the latest environmental disaster. Issues like water pollution, the Greenhouse Effect, ozone depletion and acid rain are discussed in every corner of the globe. This new awareness brings hope for the future. We need to work together to keep our planet clean and free of toxic wastes. Remember, earth is our only home.

So let us start reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery.


Reduction & Reuse

Waste prevention, also known as "source reduction," is the practice of designing, manufacturing, purchasing, or using materials (such as products and packaging) in ways that reduce the amount or toxicity of trash created. Reusing items is another way to stop waste at the source because it delays or avoids that item's entry in the waste collection and disposal system.

Source reduction, including reuse, can help reduce waste disposal and handling costs, because it avoids the costs of recycling, municipal composting, landfilling, and combustion. Source reduction also conserves resources and reduces pollution, including greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Benefits of Reduction & Reuse

• Saves natural resources. Waste is not just created when consumers throw items away. Throughout the life cycle of a product from extraction of raw materials to transportation to processing and manufacturing facilities to manufacture and use waste is generated. Reusing items or making them with less material decreases waste dramatically. Ultimately, less materials will need to be recycled or sent to landfills or waste combustion facilities.

• Reduces toxicity of waste. Selecting nonhazardous or less hazardous items is another important component of source reduction. Using less hazardous alternatives for certain items (e.g., cleaning products and pesticides), sharing products that contain hazardous chemicals instead of throwing out leftovers, reading label directions carefully, and using the smallest amount necessary are ways to reduce waste toxicity.

• Reduces costs. The benefits of preventing waste go beyond reducing reliance on other forms of waste disposal. Preventing waste also can mean economic savings for communities, businesses, schools, and individual consumers.

Recycling

Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Collecting used bottles, cans, and newspapers and taking them to the curb or to a collection facility is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental, and social returns. Some of these benefits accrue locally as well as globally.
Benefits of Recycling :

• Recycling protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness.
• Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
• Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
• Recycling saves energy.
• Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
• Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.

Recovery

Recovery is defined as any waste management operation that diverts a waste material from the waste stream and which results in a certain product with a potential economic or ecological benefit.

There are many environmental and economic benefits to be gained from recovery, recycling and reclamation efforts worldwide. The major benefits include:

• Minimized atmospheric emissions and reduced environmental impact;
• Expanded market opportunity for used refrigerant;
• Reduced environmental compliance costs;
• Reduced need for new refrigerant; and
• Increased lifetime of refrigeration equipment due to contaminant removal;

Paper Clip - A green Solution

This is something that I would like to share. Maybe, we can make use this knowledge in future and share with our friends. Basically, it is about being a bit more creative and innovative. After this, it is hope that we will change our point of view on a paper clip to not just use to hold documents together. Instead, paper clip can be used in various ways. Year 2010 is also known as Innovation Year and in the PTD Innovation Challenge 2010 that was recently held, PTDs are challenge to be more creative and innovative. In one of the video clip by the MOSTI PTDs, they demonstrate that paper clip can be used in various ways and it is also very cost effective and even green. Some of the used of paper clip are as notebook stand for better ventilation, door stopper, to tidy a messy cable, as a zip handle and as a compass. Please click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwXiFki6uiU&feature=related to enjoy the clip.