Nature Ramble

Year of the llama: Bolivia calls for 2016 to be dedicated to camelids

South American nation wants UN to raise awareness of the animal family, which includes alpacas and dromedary camels

A woman is seen with a llama as Bolivia is lobbying for 2016 to become the international year of camelids. Photograph: Alamy

For centuries they have hauled loads up the Andes and through trackless deserts with no more acknowledgment than a slap on the rump. Now, however, the llama’s moment may finally have come: the Bolivian government is lobbying the UN to make 2016 the international year of camelids.

The proposal – which would include not only llamas but alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos, found in Andean South America, and the Bactrian and dromedary camel, found in Asia, Africa and Australia – is contained in a draft resolution which proclaims “the economic and cultural importance of camelids in the lives of the people living in the areas where they are domesticated and used as a source of food and wool and as pack animals”.

The resolution, which will be considered by the UN general assembly, encourages the international community to “raise awareness at all levels to promote the protection of camelids and the consumption of the goods produced from these mammals in a sustainable manner”. The move has been welcomed by those who have studied the animals’ contribution to society down the centuries. “Historically, the development of Andean cultures is based on camelids,”…

Source: TheGuardian Read more

Satireday on Eco-Crap

Change the World Wednesday – 26th Nov

A sure sign that it’s Christmas… Small is taking a break until the New Year.

It’s been a quiet week, not a lot has happened.

We’ve had some rain since last CTWW, and are expecting more today, possibly a storm. The weather change over the weekend left me all stuffed up, but getting over that now.

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This week’s CTWW is not so much a CTWW as a plea for help by Small.

What would you like to see on Reduce Footprints in 2015?

Pop on over to see the rest on her blog and add some ideas.

Me, I don’t have much. I rather like her blog. I don’t follow product reviews, nor Special offers, not on any blog. Some of the recipes I like, even though they tend toward the vegan. Meet & Greet, I think that needs a facelift. I must admit since it was reduced to once a month, I have been rather lax about participating because I forget it.

However, I am going to throw out a challenge.

Once Thanksgiving is over people begin thinking about Christmas trees.

A slow Christmas death

The last thing the world needs is another dead tree.

Please don’t do it. Don’t kill another tree.

If you must use the imitation tree you saved from last year, but don’t buy another.

Think outside the box; in fact you can use the box, or just branches, or just your imagination.

If you don’t like this, search ‘alternative christmas tree’ on Google, there are plenty of ideas there.

But please don’t fall victim to commercial products, or become a serial Christmas tree killer.

Simple Green Ideas

Got tins, empty cans?

This idea from Mom Endeavours with full DIY instructions

Monday Moaning

We are hearing all the time about meetings, conferences and the like about global warming.

There are billions pledged; the latest $9.3bn, to fight the problem.

Australia is thumbing its nose at carbon footprints, China is racing away with fossil fuels to stoke their furnaces and economy. And, they’re not the only ones.

But is anything actually being done?

Polar caps are melting, Greenland is too. The seas are getting warmer and sea levels rising. Islands like the Maldives and some Pacific nations are on the verge of disappearing.

Everybody is on the bandwagon.

Then there are the climate deniers, claiming it’s all a hoax.

Where is all this money and rhetoric taking us? It seems to me as though we’re no further ahead than we were at the beginning.

Talk, talk, talk, blah, blah!

How about someone actually doing something!

Nature Ramble

Fish and chips harming eider ducks

Eider ducks in Northumberland’s coastal areas are being harmed by people feeding them fish and chips, a wildlife expert has warned.

Chris Watson says people living or visiting the area often wrongly believe eiders are tame as they are “friendly”.

He told BBC Radio Four’s Broadcasting House the sea birds may seem to enjoy the food but it damages their eggs.

The Northumberland coast is recognised as a haven for wild birds, including colonies of eiders.

Mr Watson, whose work as a nature sound recordist includes documentaries with Sir David Attenborough, said: “Normally eider ducks eat shellfish not fish and chips – [which is] lacking calcium so the eggs are failing.

“There’s a problem because they are such attractive, friendly birds to feed, and yet the food that we are giving them – bread and things like that – is actually causing a dietary problem.”

The RSPB says eiders are the UK’s heaviest ducks and the fastest flying. As well as the Northumberland coast, they are resident off Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Source: BBCNews

Satireday on Eco-Crap

Make you Fink on Friday

China’s New Great Wall Threatens One Quarter of World’s Shorebirds

Human disregard for other species is disgusting.

The following by Richard Conniff.

Every spring, tens of thousands of plump, russet-breasted shorebirds drop down onto the wetlands of China’s Bohai Bay, ravenous after traveling 3,000 miles from Australia.

This Yellow Sea stopover point is crucial for the birds, called red knots, to rest and refuel for the second leg of their journey, which will take them another 2,000 miles up to the Arctic tundra.

Unfortunately for the red knots, the intertidal flats of Bohai Bay are rapidly disappearing, cut off from the ocean by new sea walls and filled in with silt and rock, to create buildable land for development.  In a society now relentlessly focused on short-term profit that seems like a wonderful bargain, and the collateral loss of vast areas of shorebird habitat merely an incidental detail. As a result, China’s seawall mileage has more than tripled over the past two decades, and now covers 60 percent of the mainland coastline. This “new Great Wall” is already longer than the celebrated Great Wall of China, according to an article published Thursday in Science, and it’s just getting bigger every year—with catastrophic consequences for wildlife and people.

Source: GarryRoberts.com Read more

UK’s first ‘poo bus’

UK’s first ‘poo bus’ goes into service between Bristol and Bath

The 40-seat “Bio-Bus” runs on biomethane gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste

The UK’s first bus powered entirely by human and food waste has gone into service between Bristol and Bath.

The 40-seat “Bio-Bus” runs on biomethane gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste.

The eco-friendly vehicle can travel up to 300km (186 miles) on one tank of gas, which takes the annual waste of about five people to produce.

It is run by tour operator Bath Bus Company and will shuttle people between Bristol Airport and Bath city centre.

The biomethane gas is generated at Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth, which is run by GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water.

GENeco general manager Mohammed Saddiq said: “Gas-powered vehicles have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities but the Bio-Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself.”

• A single passenger’s annual food and sewage waste would fuel the Bio-Bus for 37 miles (60km)
• Its combustion engine is similar in design to diesel equivalents in conventional buses
• Compressed gas is stored in dome-like tanks on the roof of the Bio-Bus
• The gas is generated through anaerobic digestion – where oxygen starved bacteria breaks down biodegradable material to produce methane-rich biogas
• To power a vehicle, the biogas undergoes “upgrading”, where carbon dioxide is removed and propane added
• Impurities are removed to produce virtually odour free emissions
• Compared to conventional diesel vehicles, up to 30% less carbon dioxide is emitted

Source: BBCNews Read more

Change the World Wednesday – 19th Nov

Is it too early for seasons’ greetings?

Christmas is just five weeks away. Somehow, I don’t seem that excited any more.

We finally had two days of rain, not torrential stuff, but it wet the ground and brought some new life to the praça.

The plants I donated to the botequim are doing nicely, better than they did alongside the house where they only got sun for half the day. They are all showing new growth.

My herbs are also doing well. The guava tree is full of fruit and I have harvested three lots of chillies. The passion fruit vines are growing prolifickly and I watch each day for signs of the first flowers

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With the silly season nearly upon us CTWW is seasonally appropriate.

Cheers!

If you are planning to entertain friends and family this season, and plan to serve “adult” beverages, do a little research and plan an Eco-friendly bar. Here are some things to consider:

• Wine is the most Eco-friendly alcoholic beverage. Choose organic varieties which don’t include preservatives. While boxed wine may not look classy, it is the most earth-friendly of wine packaging options. Glass bottles would be the next choice.
• If you’re serving beer, cans are better than bottles because they weigh less which gives them a lower carbon footprint.
• Opt for liquors and wine with natural cork instead of synthetic corks or metal tops.
• Avoid frosted bottles. Chemicals are used to create them.
• Look for beverages which are distilled locally and check that the company uses minimal energy and water to create their libations.
• Serve drinks in glass rather than plastic and use glass straws.
• Use cloth cocktail napkins instead of paper.
• Use local, organic fruits and herbs in mixed drinks. And don’t forget organic “munchies” to go along with the cocktails.
• Make ice in an ice tray rather than use the automatic ice maker in the refrigerator. You’ll use less energy.

The idea, this week, is to plan ahead to ensure that your home bar is “green”.

OR …

If you aren’t including alcohol in your celebrations, make plans to “green” any get-togethers you are hosting or attending. Consider local, organic foods and reusable serving pieces. If you are traveling to an event, share a ride with others. Use natural elements to decorate. Supply visitors with comfy slippers or socks so that they will feel comfortable to remove their shoes at the door.

 

OR …

If you’ll be spending quiet time at home this season, plan to make the experience green. Use all the ideas above, on a smaller scale, to make your personal time fun and Eco-friendly.

Well, the purple bit doesn’t apply, that’s just plain silly. Imagine Christmas and New Year without a tipple ot two, takes all the fun out of it.

I’m not planning on anything extravagant, so I’ll do the blue bit with the green bits added.

Screw tops I leave on the shelf

Yes, wine will be included. Some orgnic wines are appearing here in Brazil, but they are invariably stoppered with synthetic corks or screw-tops, both of which I try to avoid, particularly the latter; I hate them. When I buy wine, it sometimes sits for years before I get to drink it, so cardboard is out; besides, I think that is so tacky. Boxed wine also has a plastic bladder, so I wonder at the environmental value of boxed wine.

I refuse beer in cans, mainly. With the exception of three options; Guinness, Murphy’s Stout (both imported as cans) and a São Paulo beer that is only available in cans. Beer cans are lined with BPA or BPS, and for that reason I avoid them.

Non-alcoholic drinks, soda, etc don’t feature in my celebrations, unless for the kids, that’s unavoidable. But I do make fresh fruit juice with no added sugar.

There are some beers here in Brazil that are made with GMO corn, I refuse to buy them as well.

Plastic, wouldn’t consider it.

Plastic cups… I continue in my crusade at the bar to get the regulars to return to glass. Even at work, I encourage my students to drink from glass rather than the disposable cups provided by my bossette.

At the botequim, if there is a spill, we use cloths to wipe up. Generally speaking serious drinkers don’t spill their drinks, but it does happen, and there is the condesation that drips of bottles and glasses, that also gets the cloth treatment.

Pestiscos (bar snacks, munchies), I prefer to make my own at home and take to the bar, which I share around of course; they are always welcomed. Organic they may not be, but they are better than the flour-based commercial ones.

I wouldn’t consider using an auto-ice maker, all my ice is made in ice trays. Domestic appliances like this I consider a waste of resources that panders to consumerism.

So within limits, I do adhere to green principles, even for the silly season; and beyond.