People who deny Climate Change Are Indirectly Helped by Media

So says Al Gore.

He describes how natural events like, droughts, melting glaciers, heatwaves, storms of stronger ferocity and floods have increased in the past ten years. For example the floods in Australia and Pakistan and the fact that the last ten years have been the hottest on record.

Environmental/Eco Globe and leaf Icon by Kendraschaefer, openclipart

In his own words, Here is the core of it: we are destroying the climate balance that is essential to the survival of our civilization. This is not a distant or abstract threat; it is happening now. The United States is the only nation that can rally a global effort to save our future. And the president is the only person who can rally the United States.

More important, the article outlines what we, the ordinary people could do. Here's the link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-of-denial-20110622?print=true


A strange twist to Al Gore's article is the one I read before it at the following link:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/al-gore-president-obama-has-failed-on-climate-chnage.php#comment-233376582

To me this article seemed like nothing Al Gore had said. It led one to believe that most of Al Gore's article must be a rave and a rant against Barrack. This it certainly isn't. And Maggie519, one of the commentators after the article seems to agree. Part of her comment is that according to Al Gore:

They (the media) gave equal time/credence to the climate deniers:false equivalency.  It's not hard to imagine how this was hijacked into an Obama hit piece by the MSM.   He actually PRAISED the Presidents efforts on this front in spite of all the odds.  The only criticism (one sentence by the way) was that Obama didn't use the "bully pulpit" to push back against the deniers harder.  

Makes one wonder about the intentions of the author of that article, Benjy something or the other. Never mind, the important issues are

• how rapidly some of our life-giving activities like cooking, keeping warm, travelling, transportation, our very way of life, are threatening the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil we grow our plants in, 
• how we could make changes so that we continue making life easy for ourselves without polluting the atmosphere
• how innovations for this is where our research efforts should be; not only will it help the environment, it is what will make the nation from where these innovations originate, the nation that invests in this kind of research, very wealthy.
• how educating everyone about these issues is essential so that we have ordinary people's buy in

and Al Gore, as usual, has pointed out only too well, the reasons why this isn't happening in the States. He has also pointed out what we, the ordinary people who believe climate is changing because of human activity, can and must do.

Here's the link again:





.

New Zealand DIY for Indian software?

Architetto Botiglia di vino, open clipart by Anonymous

Have you heard?

NZ and India are talking about a free trade deal. The NZ Prime Minister, John Key and the Trade Minister, Tim Groser are both in India.

Here's to a fruitful outcome.

When NZ signed a free trade agreement with China - the first western country to do so, it was an outright coup. Their exports to China went up from 2 billion NZ dollars to more than twice that.

Re the quantities of import and export between NZ and India I haven't a clue. But having lived here on and off for over twenty years I consider myself an authority on what I love about things Kiwi and what I miss about things Indian, with the accent on "things" and in no particular order. It is as well to let India and NZ know my opinion in advance  for whenever they are ready to deal with each other.

When I first started travelling long before settling in NZ, I used to love going into DIY shops. At that time in India, we had no concept of DIY. I remember taking home a magnetic tape for a DIY fan - a family member and he LOVED it. The kids used to love blue-tac. I don't know how things are now but I think many Indians would take to DIY even if some wouldn't. Recently I read a blog post by an Aussie woman married to an Indian man. In that post she said she enjoyed living and working in India but really missed the Aussie bathrooms and kitchens.

To me it is obvious. A NZ Mitre10 in India! Remember it would be in competition with Chinese imports. Still, I think there would be many takers. The young woman from Australia would, I am sure, be a regular customer. As would so many Indians and other expats. But easier to import would be DIY courses - perhaps taught on TV or perhaps in real life.


Dairy products - I wonder how that will pan out.

• NZ has cow's milk, India buffalo. (For a comparison of the two try http://www.indiadairy.com/info_buffalo_milk_vs.html. 
• India is the world's largest producer of milk and NZ is famous for its dairy products. 

Do I see an oppotunity to trade in dairy?
(The Indians have already captured that market here. What we call our banya shops in Mumbai are known as dairies here and the majority of dairy owners in NZ are Indians :-)) But I digress.

Going back to dairy products, to give New Zealanders a taste of the Indian mawa, khoya, shrikhand and barfi, to have NZ export its really fine varieties of cheeses and chocolates - a perfect win-win.

NZ apples - There are many varieties. They are delicious as also crunchy, juicy, sweet and free of critters.  The green ones are slightly tart and some people use them for cooking.  I love the red  "granny-smiths".


One of our NZ fruit exporters who already exports apples and pears to India complains that the tax on his fruit is as much as 50% making the fruit prohibitively expensive for ordinary folks. Obviously he's looking forward to the free trade agreement. It made me laugh to hear Radio NZ quote him as saying, if every Indian ate one NZ apple a day, his orchards would run out of apples in just three days.

As for the Alphonso - haven't eaten it for years. After migrating to NZ I haven't ever been in India during the hapus season and it is way too expensive in NZ. Am I looking forward to a hapus! And the biggest baatli keri. Or a chikoo for that matter.

Goat by ArtFavor, open 

clipart

NZ lamb versus Indian goat - one is tender, the other tough; one is extremely fatty and the other lean. If I cook red meats in NZ I make sure I drain off the fatty oils. They smell - my personal opinion. If we cook goat, we use the pressure cooker to ensure tenderness.

And how could I forget - the NZ kiwi fruit. Don't know how much it costs in India but with an FTA, it could be much cheaper. The kiwi is full of vitamin C and I not only love it by itself but also a slice on sweet pastry with a dollop of custard cream or as a topping for cheescake. I know, I know. That would take care of not only vitamin C but my monthly quota of fat!

But we could work it all out. Recently I have seen Indians enjoying and training for gymnastics and other sports as never before. NZ is a country of less than 4.5 million people. But they have always been outdoors people. Their activities (apart from going to the pub, watching TV or firing up the good old barbie or barbeque in summer) also include a variety of sports from a very young age. Playing in the school band, having access to a variety of musical instruments is another. So many Indians I've spoken to believe these extra curricular activities (except cricket - are for later - pehle padhai bete, studies first. Or the other option is expensive private tutions. NZ, aware of this trend and showcasing its good track record in sports would like to open up a few sports training facilities for paying Indians. Perhaps for every 50 paying Indians if they throw in one scholarship, it would be good publicity for these facilities. Or they could open up sports and gymnastics training in India itself. Are you listening Susan of 5*gym whose classes my son loved as a kid?

And we Indians could provide textiles to make uniforms for these schools. Perhaps the All-Black T-shirts too? But for that we would face tough competition from the Chinese. Their textiles have all but captured the world market.

Indians already export technology, leather jackets, accessories, handbags and footwear, bling and diamonds to NZ. Obviously, with free trade agreements, the tax on these would decrease considerably, making things more readily available and affordable to locals here.

Bollywood comes here quite often too and with an FTA, the frequency could be increased.

But before we count our kiwis - there are a few crimps to iron out. Apparently there are strong lobbies and a need to set up up a yearly business forum between India and NZ for better understanding. There's nothing like regular firsthand meetings to overcome preconceived notions or prejudices although I am not sure about lobbies!

http://www.asianz.org.nz/our-work/action-asia-business/action-asia-insights/india-fta talks of the various difficulties to overcome.

Having a foot in each of these countries I'm obviously happy both our current PMs, John Key - astute, amiable and from an accounting and business background, Manmohan Singh - knowledgeable, experienced and the person who opened up the Indian economy as Finance Minister in 1991, have taken that first step towards an FTA.



.

Carbon Tax-Who benefits? Governments? The Air We Breathe?

MY KEY QUESTION - WHAT WILL THE MONEY THEY COLLECT BE USED FOR?

John Key has just been to Australia. He is being touted as the first NZ PM to go there and address their parliament. The Aussies, on the other hand, are quick to point out the largesse with which they see New Zealand and its PMs. Good guy, one of them said, but our real issues took a back seat. Julia Gillard, our PM would've been relieved there was no question time. She would have him speak for a week if she had her way.

Julia Gillard, from what I gathered, has taken a nose dive in the popularity polls. Australia is a coal mining country and she wants to introduce a carbon tax. John Key, in his address spoke about the carbon tax that NZ has already introduced bolstering her argument.

Which brings me to my topic - the carbon tax. If I understand correctly, this tax is imposed so that businesses hesitate to release carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Coal and other fossil fuels like petroleum release many polutants when they are burnt. These are very dangerous for human health and the health of anything living. Some of these are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide in huge quantities, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ground level ozone, smog... What exactly they do to us, to plant life, to animals, fish, the plankton in the sea, which industries are responsible - these issues are addressed here on my blog. (http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-some-gases-are-deadly-dangerous-i.html)

Air pollution by netalloy, open clipart

To reduce carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere governments have come up with the carbon tax. Businesses have to pay a tax for every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted due to their activities. People always toe the line if it hurts their pockets. Weighing the bottom line against high faluting ideas like saving the atmosphere, saving future generations from ill health like asthma or heart disease, breathing clean air, not having eyes water, guess what wins? More's the pity but that is why a carbon emissions tax is considered a good idea.

What I'd like clarified is what governments will do with all that money. What will they use it for? To clean up the atmosphere? Plant more trees? Educate people to have their buy in? Show them the benefits of recycling? Composting? Terraced gardening? Alternatives to fossil fuels? Where exactly will every penny of the carbon emissions tax be spent? Do let us know.

It somehow reminds me of speeding and drunk driving fines in NZ. The New Zealand police department might always have fined people for drunk driving or speeding but of late, to my mind, collecting that fine had become a very prominent activity in Auckland. If that fine went towards helping to educate these people or towards Alcoholics Anonymous or anything to do with people buy-in to improve speeding and drunk driving, I would feel better about it. I am not arguing the police department doesn't need funds - I hope it always has enough funds to do a good job of protecting people and doesn't need what's collected from speeding and drunk driving fines.

And similarly, the carbon tax could be used to educate people about the dangers of using fossil fuels, research in alternative energies, new technologies and anything that would reduce carbon emissions into the only atmosphere we humans have to sustain life.



.

What I love / hate about NZ

Oceania Globe by rorzer, openclipart

Before your eyes glaze over at how clean and green I think my adopted  country of residence is, I'd like to tell you straight away this post is more about what I feel, whether right or wrong, about the people of NZ.

“Awwww,” said the two old ladies, eyes melting as they spotted my little dog. They ran across to stroke her. Kara wagged her tail – she loves humans. She just hates big dogs, barking at them with indignation from behind the safety of our garden fence when they approach her territory. The two ladies chatted with her. I smiled and we exchanged a few pleasantries before going our separate ways.

“Doggy, doggy,” squeaked the little child in the pram, body straining forward, both arms reaching out to touch Kara as the mother, with a smile at me continued walking, chatting with the baby. “Yes, that's a cute little doggy...,” her voice faded as we went our way in opposite directions.

Puppy by Gerald_G, open clipart

It is obvious. The people here, on the whole, love dogs. The ones who don’t are extremely few and far between. They might be “cat” people or they are afraid and instil, to my regret, the same fear in their children, or very rarely, they really do hate dogs.

Sport - All five fingers not being equal, NZ has a sprinkling of those who love outdoor activities, the ones in-between and the ones who hate them passionately. But I've always seen some people jogging on the streets come rain or shine or young kids playing out in the fields and parks. Rugby is a religion and NZ is over the moon as they are hosting the Rugby World Cup 2011 in September. Luckily, for us Indians, there are enough cricket enthusiasts for cricket to feature quite prominently on the NZ radar.  I can't help looking on with pleasure as I see a parent - mum or dad - teaching their toddlers to kick ball at the park. Not sure if this is a good idea but I've seen babies in prams zoom past with parents behind the handlebars (wheel?). They start young and schools lay a lot of stress on outdoor activities.

Which brings me to my son's school principal. This is an individual - and I don't guarantee every principal is like her - who is everywhere, knows every kid and cares. My son was six or seven years old. One of the students in his class was deaf. He talked in sign language. Thanks to his principal's go ahead the entire class learnt to speak the language. At the end of the year they did a song and dance routine and apart from singing it, they acted it out too --- in sign language. If I find the video clip I'll put it up here. As for the young hearing impaired boy, he was soon very much part of the mainstream, being boisterous and happy and carrying out some animated conversations with everyone in his class --- in sign!

Another observation: Like people the world over, the ones who are in the majority on any given day or in any given situation, have this need to show how superior they are; how refined, how very cultured. What do they feel about the minorities? To my mind many of them are prejudiced. But they know it is “politically incorrect” to openly say so. So they manage to convery it with their facial expressions, their body language and the inflections in their voices. 

I have seen this happen EVERYWHERE, including India. Think about anyone from another community married into your family. Are you critical? Does he / she need a little instruction in your way of behaviour? So why shouldn’t it happen here? Again, New Zealanders, just like us, aren’t a homogenous lot – they are as varied as we, in India, are. You will find some who are respectful of other cultures – even curious and eager to try something new and different. They find the food, the clothes, the adornments, the festivals of other cultures fascinating.

Finally, there’s one person who I guess I feel the need to talk about – Paul Henry. I can hear you all cringe - why dredge up something you'd rather forget? But please indulge me. I saw him recently in an interview and surprisingly, felt sad. To me, he was always crass but funny. Sometimes I felt myself squirm at his remarks and sometimes I laughed. But none of his remarks were to be taken seriously. After he spoke about the NZ governor general's name and face - Sir Anand Satyanand - not being local enough, our PM felt the same – didn’t know whether he should smile or not. (Just to clarify I mean the NZ PM - I seem to have two PMs in my mind - Manmohan Singh and John Key, which is another story.) If he could have, he would've complained to the queen about the "Sir" in Sir Anand Satyanand too. Grow up Paul. Have you, as yet, complained to the Americans about "Obama" not sounding American enough? For that matter why not complain about Sonya not being Indian enough, to the Indians? And of course, Paul on a run simply couldn't stop - the theme was Indians. He made the "dixit" remark on another occassion. I don't remember which came first but he made both those comments on TVNZ.

The, mostly white, New Zealanders decided enough was enough and stood outside the TVNZ studios yelling for Paul's resignation. A young and idealistic Ben – http://www.ben.geek.nz/2010/10/no-more-breakfast/ - who, on the "breakfast show" - Paul's programme, showed us new gadgets with a lot of fun comments from Paul, resigned in protest over "Paul’s dixit”. Hats off to people like Ben as I am not sure I would’ve done the same for them or for my principles, had the situation been reversed. Another lady who is a New Zealander living outside the country said she was proud of NZ being so multicultural and now he'd (meaning Paul Henry) gone and changed the face of her country. Many people spoke out for and many against Paul.

Anyway, Paul was forced to resign.

In the interview, a year after his unfortunate comment and subsequent resignation, I saw a man who was hurt by the "racist" slur from his own people against him. He did not see himself as racist at all. And he stuck to his guns about the “dixit”. He noticed how some New Zealanders had changed the pronunciation to “dick-sit”.

Now that things have calmed down, I can’t help wishing he had received a deserved rap on his knuckles and that’s it. Somehow, to my mind, the whole thing got bigger than it should have. Perhaps it is wrong of me to say so when he upset so many people, when young Ben gave up his job in protest.

In India I had a piano called “Moutrie”. If you speak Hindi or Gujarati, does that make you smile? Let’s just realise words in other languages do sound funny and that’s all Paul Henry was trying to be – funny and irrepressible. Do I think Paul, after this incident, might think before speaking so he doesn’t appear quite so insensitive? I honestly don't know.

Indians didn't say much then. How could we? We were all disgusted and shamed by that image. Our upbeat mood of being able to showcase India to the world at the commonwealth games took a crashing dive. And the added dimension to Indians paying taxes in India was the awareness that the sports minister was spending billions - $80 for toilet rolls, $125 first-aid kits, $220 on mirrors costing $98 retail, $61 on soap dispensers costing $1.97, and $250,190 on high-altitude simulators costing $11,830 (according to business week quoting Economic Times and India Today magazine, and any number of other newspapers and magazines).

Where are things now?

Right now, Indians are burning with anger at the amount of money being pocketed by our ministers in scam after scam amounting to billions. Ordinary Indians have joined a movement, “India Against Corruption” in their droves. According to IAC, there are problems in our present anti-corruption system. For example, corruption charges against politicians ultimately land on the desks of people working under the very person who's being investigated. In effect, employees have to investigate their bosses. ABSURRRD.

This is where we are at, right now. Paul Henry, we have had to move on.

Here is my hope - that IAC and the wonderful work they are doing, and the fight they face from our (Indian) government, is something the world watches closely. (A clarification - I mean people the world over and not governments the world over which thought somehow gives me the heebee jeebees.)

If you would like to find out more about IAC, go to
 http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/p/india-against-corruption.html
Or go directly to the IAC site at http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/



.

Proposed Government Anti-Corruption Bill an Eye-wash says India Against Corruption

If you want to know how and why the proposed Government version of the Lokpal Bill will let corrupt elements in our government continue being corrupt, read this article carefully.

India Against Corruption (IAC) has drawn up a chart which explains what exactly the government wants in the bill against corruption, what IAC's view (the IAC view is open to discussion and suggestions by anyone here - http://www.lokpalbillconsultation.org/) is and the many ways in which the government wants to retain a hold on who ultimately investigates corruption against themselves. 

For example, the government want the CBI to investigate corruption charges against themselves and guess who they say should be in charge of the CBI? You guessed it. Themselves!

Here's a sample of what IAC's chart contains:

The Issue: Who will Lokpal be accountable to?

IAC View: To the people. A citizen can make a complaint to Supreme Court and seek removal.

Government View: To the Government. Only government can seek removal of Lokpal

Comment from IAC: With selection (previous point) and removal of Lokpal in government’s control, it would virtually be a puppet in government’s hands, against whose seniormost functionaries it is supposed to investigate, thus causing serious conflict of interest.

To my mind, this is the worst point - punishing the ordinary citizens who dare to lay charges against anyone in the government. In IAC's own words: Rather than gunning for the corrupt and corruption, government’s Lokpal seems to be gunning for those who complain against corruption.

IAC thinks a fine for frivolous complaints would suffice. The government wants fines and imprisonment. Especially notice IAC's comment in the last column.

Issue: False, Frivolous and vexatious complaints

IAC's view: No imprisonment. Only fines on complainants. Lokpal would decide whether a complaint is frivolous or vexatious or false.

Govt: Two to five years of imprisonment and fine. The accused can file complaint against complainant in a court. Interestingly, prosecutor and all expenses of this case will be provided by the government to the accused. The complainant will also have to pay a compensation to the accused.

Comment: This will give a handle to every accused to browbeat complainants. Often corrupt people are rich. They will file cases against complainants and no one will dare file any complaint. Interestingly, minimum punishment for corruption is six months but for filing false complaint is two years.

And there are many more points. This is the link:

http://news.indiaagainstcorruption.org/?p=3022&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=govt-lokpal-bill-vs-jan-lokpal-bill

And after reading those, if you, as an ordinary citizen, as a lawyer or anyone from India or abroad have anything to say (about any point) I think IAC will really value your input. Don't forget the link http://www.lokpalbillconsultation.org/



.

Kathryn Ryan, interviewer extraordinaire

The interview reinforced once more what a wonderful and important organisation the UN is. What admirable work they do. Why I thought of this is because I've just finished reading Nobel peace prize winner and previous head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei's book, "The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times" in which he mentions how certain factions in the United States view the UN as merely a tool, "to be used when convenient, as a way to make U.S. driven actions more palatable to other countries, but to be discarded and circumvented when UN objectives are not in U.S. interests..."

Call Bubble by Ryanlerch, open clipart

I admire Kathryn. She runs the 9 to noon section of Radio NZ National every weekday. Every time I listen to her in depth and thoughtful questions about so many and varied topics, and unfortunately it is only when I am in the car from 9 to about 10 am once a week, I come away feeling satisfied. If the car goes through a tunnel as it does for about 5 minutes and I lose the radio waves, I feel I am missing out.

Unlike so many interviewers who pride (admire?) themselves for being hard hitting, who constantly put the interviewee on the defensive, Kathryn has no such agenda. She has no desire to draw blood but won't hesitate to ask those hard hitting questions if she feels the public has a need to know. On the whole she simply draws out the most useful information from each interview.

This is the link to her program.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon

My SECOND reason is because today's interview was with Baroness Valerie Amos. Her title requires a whole line (or perhaps two) by itself -

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Never mind all those titles - Baroness plus the above - the work she does and the challenges this job entails are so much more impressive. And this is only one of many branches of the UN.

Drapeau Flag by Improulx, open clipart

The baroness oversees all emergency relief work that requires UN assistance - natural disasters like floods, volcanoes, earthquakes as well as humanitarian aid in areas of complicated conflicts around the world.

Trying to make sense of what can be a very chaotic situation, trying to keep out of political issues, trying to be safe from people who want to kill UN workers because that brings these people publicity cannot be easy. When thousands of NGOs turn up, bless them, knowing there are things to be done but not absolutely certain what and where exactly, wanting to help with a natural disaster or even during a conflict when so many of the country's own civil servants who would've responded under normal circumstances have had to flee or have been killed, they need some sort of guidance so their time is not wasted. Again it is the UN Emergency Relief Co-ordination plus their other international partners who try to work with them so that the people who are most desperately in need get that help. Help can be with much needed food and water, clothing, shelters, medical assistance, search and rescue, communication. The UN try to co-ordinate whatever information is available so that they know what the needs are. This co-ordination, as you can imagine is crucial.

They also deal with the national government of the country where help is needed. These governments are diverse all over the world, some very strong, with robust economies and therefore strong institutions for relief already in place and yet needing a bit of assistance from the world community because of the scale and nature of the disaster, others fragile and vulnerable, with poorly funded institutions whose people desperately need help during such emergencies. The UN respects and works closely with all.

The baroness made a special mention of the local people anywhere in the world who are always there to help their own people - so many as members of the UN. For the complete interview - as there is so much more - go to Radio NZ National.

Note: Even as I wrote this post Christchurch felt more devastating aftershocks on the 13th of June, 2011. To have to face more flooding, liquifaction, to start tidying up all over again - some people were so despondent it was heart breaking. Yet others - especially school principals - said they would simply have to step up once more and tidy up - get on with it. Here's an important site that lets us know about  resources available as well as where we can donate. http://www.radionz.co.nz/specialfeatures/canterbury_earthquake_resources 

23Jun2011 - According to "One News" today is the day of reckoning. Which areas of the city will be abandoned and the compensation to be offered to home owners will be announced by the PM. Such an emotional time for people who want to stay, don't want to stay or don't have an option but to stay.

 The link again:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon

Link to the United Nations:

http://www.un.org/




.

India Against Corruption - A Unique Photo Exhibition

India Against corruption has captured the hearts and minds of Indians around the world. This photo exhibition shows the support this movement has received from ordinary people, from well known individuals, Non Resident Indians, street actors - a huge spectrum of Indians who are totally fed up of and disgusted with corruption in government.

This movement (IAC) has explained how the government manages to swindle the tax payers of their money. IAC explains the laws that have allowed the government to get away with duping India of zillions of rupees.

IAC has come up with a bill known as the "Jan Lokpal Bill" to improve our lax laws.

Exactly as predicted by Gandhi in the following photo - the government ignored, laughed and is now fighting the Jan Lokpal Bill tooth and nail, using delaying tactics, introducing amendments which would render it ineffective in curbing their excesses or introducing exemptions to the bill. They've also tried to malign the drafters of the bill who, along with Anna Hazare have started this movement. And now, the latest I've heard is that they would like to curb blogs they feel are "maligning" the government.


Two photos from the exhibition to pique your interest:

 

What's admirable about this photo is that Anna Hazare is a Hindu but quotes from the Quran.

IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA...

This link will take you to this most unique photo exhibition.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=224865794209780&set=a.186653318031028.51064.165845033445190&type=1&theater 



.

The Environment or Life Giving Activities?

Do we have to make a choice?

Some of our life-giving activities involve burning fossil fuels like coal and oil so we can cook, keep warm, travel and transport goods made in factories to our shops and ultimately, our homes. This is our way of life. Unfortunately, this wonderful way of life is under threat from the very activities that have made life easy so far.

Also published on GD's website

Why are these activities adversely impacting our health and the environment? Very often, it isn't the activities per se. It is the by-products of our activities that are the culprits. To date what we've been doing is taking a resource, using it to make whatever is useful and ending the process there. We haven't had to think about what by-product we've created. All too often this has been a pollutant - poisonous for our health and for the environment.

Previously, it hasn't made such a huge difference to the quality of our environment. In recent years the volume of human activity has increased so much it is releasing too many of these by-products (pollutants) into our soil, waters and air.

The World Health Organisation has set safety standards for these pollutants. According to WHO, these pollutants cannot exceed a certain level in our air, soil or water. Besides WHO, our government has set safety standards and maximum allowable limits too. But where enforcement and implementation are concerned, our government is extremely lax.

We obviously cannot stop our activities but what we can do is complete the cycle of taking a resource from the earth, the atmosphere and waters we live off by giving back a reusable resource instead of poisonous ones as the end product of our activities.


To answer the question in the title to this post, "The Environment or Life Giving Activities?" it makes sense to say, BOTH.

======================================================

Let's take resources from our soil, air and water as long as we give back re-usable resources. Giving back pollutants is not an option any more as eventually pollutants will choke the life out of everything living. 

====================================================== 

Why, and to what extent are these pollutants dangerous for our health and well being? The following series of articles is to help us understand why they are deadly dangerous for our health and how they are created by us humans. Once we understand this, we begin to think about the simple solutions that are in our hands with innovative ideas and knowledge.

What exactly can we do? We could make informed choices. If we understand why some gases are deadly dangerous for humans and other living beings, we'd ensure they are not the end product of our activities. To find out more: https://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-some-gases-are-deadly-dangerous-co.html

-x-x-x-x-x-

I support "Green Dream Foundation". They are focused on generating awareness, drive action and influence formulation for a better environment globally. 

My environment posts are reproduced at these links

Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/greendreamfoundation 
website: http://www.greendreamfoundation.org
Website link:  http://www.greendreamfoundation.org/life-giving-activities-or-the-environment-do-we-have-to-make-a-choice/


In their own words Green Dream Foundation, in collaboration with its partners will develop a sustainability education and advocacy platform for young people to raise their awareness of the why and how of climate change. Our objective is to inspire, educate, and promote personal behavior alternatives to carbon-intense consumption and lifestyle habits, and empower young people to play a significant role in developing climate change solutions. All our endeavors have the sole objective of bringing about change for a cleaner and a greener world.

Details: You can contact Abhishek Agarwal (Co-founder at Green Dream Foundation) at 9958866676 or abhishek@greendreamfoundation.org to discuss more about this.

Support: Green revolution, aforestation, anti-pollution, environmental awareness, reducing carbon footprint, recycling







.