China Bans Free Plastic Bags

China bans free plastic bags at all stores in efforts to tackle a significant source of litter. The Chinese use up to 3 billion plastic shopping bags per day. Can you believe that worldwide only 1-3% of plastic bags end up getting recycled?

It takes 10,000 barrels of oil to manufacture 100 million plastic bags. So, this means not only a dramatic cut in litter and consumerism but also a significant reduction in greenhouse gases released by China that cause Global Warming.

Now, the Chinese will form new habits and bring their enviornmental resuseable bags to the supermarket and when shopping, if they do not want to get charged. They will be encouraged to use clothbags and baskets to hold their vegetables.

What you can do is to be sure to reduce, reuse and recylce your plastic bags. And ask for paper bags at the supermarket not plastic or better yet bring your own cloth bag , like over a Billion people are doing in China.

Other places where plastic bags are banned:

South Africa, Uganda, Bangladesh and in San Francisco, California where plastic bags are outlawed at checkout in supermarkets.

TODAY IS EARTH DAY!

Every day is earth day but today, April 22nd, we celebrate the date worldwide. On Earth Day millions of people all around the world will be going green today. Here are some things you can do:

-Call your Congressman and tell them: "The current global warming proposals in Congress are inadequate. I want renewable energy, no more new coal-burning plants, carbon-neutral buildings, and a new green economy." (capitol: 202-224-3121 and ask for your city's Congressman. Direct line to Lincoln Diaz-Balart 202-225-4211)

-Get rid of plastic bags! Use a reusable cloth or paper bags or no bag at all. Reuse your grocery bags as trash bags. If you do have plastic bags make sure to recycle them!

-Never ever liter into the ocean.

-Use empty jars to hold leftover food instead of buying Tupperware.

-Use cloth napkins or towels.

-Recycle your electronics (by either giving it away or dropping it off at a Best Buy store recycling kiosks located just inside the door. )

-Take a 5 minute cold shower.

-Plant a tree.

-Go organic today and only buy local grown organic food.

-Use public transportation or car pool to work today and if you want to be really eco-friendly use your god-given form of transportation, your pretty set of feet!

Environment impact of plastic shopping bags

The raw material of plastic bags is oil. Therefore, the more we use plastic bags, the more we waste oil - a non-renewable energy source. The petroleum-based plastic bags take decades to break down, so if they are not recycled they litter. It creates visual pollution: in the streets, on the beaches etc. Also, they can clog roadside drains, which could cause street flooding during heavy rainfall. Plastic bags can be recycled but it rarely happens: according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, only 1% of plastic bags were recycled in 2000, against twenty percent for paper bags.

They endanger wildlife and particularly sea life such as sea turtles and dolphins which can die of entanglement, suffocation, and ingestion because they assume that these bags are jellyfish.

For the past few years, there has been rising international awareness regarding the damaging and dangerous impact on the environment of plastic bags. Governments all over the world have decided to get involved in that particular issue: Some governments have decided to ban them: Bangladesh, Bhutan and Zanzibar. Plastic bags should no more be given for free in China from June 1st. These bags are surcharged in Germany, South Africa, Ireland and Israel. Several countries try and promote, trough major retailers, the use of cloth bags, paper bags or grocery bags: United Kingdom (with Tesco), France (with Carrefour), New Zeland.

Plastic bags are already used less than paper bags by American consumers, and there have been no government actions to further curb their use. But large cities such as San Francisco and Portland, OR, have planned or plan to ban plastic bags, whereas Seattle, WA will certainly launch a 20 cent “green fee” on plastic bags.

What YOU can still do!
Reuse your plastic shopping bags: use them as trash so as not to buy others that are more energy wasting; use them for storage.
Use paper bags rather than plastic bags when you are given the choice.
Use reusable grocery bags, which always have a lower environmental impact.

http://www.earthday.gov/athome.htm#waste

Is the United States the Leading Country in Carbon Emsissions? Not Anymore

And yet with all these numbers, Chinese per capita emissions remain one-quarter of our own here in the US. If the Chinese economy steps into our carbon footprint, all other greenhouse gas reduction efforts will be for naught.
But I have hope for China because their government knows that climate change will impact their country as much, if not more, than many others. That would leave them with a structural competitive disadvantage, which the Chinese have generally avoided.
Just take a look at the Chinese water situation. Half of the country's land is arid or semi-arid, and like the American West, vulnerable to drying out in the early stages of climate change. Climate change linked drying could reduce China's agricultural output by 5 to 10 percent by 2030, which would be a disaster in a country that the authors point out has 20 percent of the world's population and 7 percent of its arable land.
Chinese government officials know they have an environmental disaster unfolding within their country. If the US takes positive steps towards reducing our own emissions and helping the Chinese with theirs, I think we will find a willing partner.
After all, there is one bright spot in the journal article. China's reforestation efforts, which replant trees that act as carbon sinks. Forest cover has increased from 12% in 1980 to 18.2% in 2005. My back-of-the-envelope math says that added 348,000 square miles of forest to China. That's a whopping 223 million acres.

Courtesy of Alexis Madrigal from Wired Science

Why China Won't Save Darfur?

China is Darfur's biggest trading partner. They buy more than 75% of Sudanese oil and in addition sell guns to Sudan. Many believe this lucrative arrangement is buying Sudan diplomatic cover in Darfur. Beijing has blocked all efforts to send UN peacekeepers into Darfur. Prompting accusation that Beijing is complicit to the Darfur genocide.

Facts in Darfur:

400,000 thousand killed

2 million displaced (chased out of their homes. Often their homes and villages are burned down. Their alternative in the best case is to live in refugee camps most end up living under trees.)

QUESTION: is targeting the Olympics the only way to get the Chinese government to use its influence to stop the Darfur Genocide?

What do you think?

Post your comments below.

My Sunday morning with the Queen of Jordan from the Middle-East

This Sunday, I was privileged with an invitation to attend the conference at La Sorbonne University, hosted by Queen Rania of Jordan. I found the conference to be quite moving and inspiring not to mention Queen Rania was absolutely exquisite. She is not only compellingly intelligent but disarmingly poised. She impeccably addressed the crowd with affection and commanded the podium with such adeptness and knowledge of the world's major humanitarian concerns of today. She is perhaps one of the most eloquent and captivating speakers I have ever heard. Her two-hour discourse and interview was given without one minute falter, stutter, incomplete thought or unclear message. With optimal use of the English language (Arabic being her native language) she began her speech with an anecdote that brought the crowd to a burst of laughter. This queen even has a good sense of humor!

HM Queen Rania is undoubtedly the face of modern royalty and is a wonderful representation of an Arab, a Muslim, and a Mother. She is constantly taken with her non-stop philanthropic work with poverty, women rights, children's issues and initiating dialogue with young people across the world to challenge Arab stereotypes.

She gave a speech and was addressed by questions from a student panel on the discussion of Civil Engagement. Civil Engagement described by Queen Rania is the sense of dedicating ourselves to the betterment of humanity…and working -- as individuals and together -- for understanding, global harmony, and peace.

Photo: Queen Rania of Jordan on April 6, 2008 at La Sorbonne University in Paris. photo taken by me.

Below is my favorite part of her speech....

For me, as an Arab, a Muslim and a mother of four, the schism that worries me most is the growing gulf of perception and trust between the Muslim world and the West. The only people who benefit from our disunity are the extremists – the very forces who threaten the hopes we all share for a brighter tomorrow.

Too often, this rift is reflected and reinforced by the tone of our interactions – whether the issue is how to balance the right to free speech with the need for respect among faiths… or the wearing of religious symbols… or the root causes of conflict… or immigration… or Islam itself. Instead of joining in conversation, each side feels that the other is shouting. Both sides feel increasingly aggrieved. Emotions overtake fact.

And just as troubling, our lack of empathy for each other can limit our own potential for progress. Because when we are blind to one other’s point of view, we often cease to look inward as well.

We know that as Muslims, we cannot complain that we are negatively stereotyped by the West, unless we ourselves address some of the factors behind those perceptions.

And while we are right to deplore Islamophobia, and the branding of Muslims as terrorists… we must face up to the fact that many terrorist attacks in recent years have been committed by people who wrongly claim to be acting in the name of Islam.

And I cannot speak for the West…I cannot suggest the issues for introspection or the areas for self-assessment, but I hope that all of you will think about what they might be… because building cross-cultural acceptance has to be a two-way street.
Dialogue requires us all to take part… to speak… to share… and to listen.

We must break that cycle. We have to restore a sense of shared humanity… of connection… compassion… and willingness to stand in one another’s shoes.

And it may sound daunting. But I believe there is real cause for optimism too – starting with the findings of a fascinating poll that Gallup released earlier this year.

On the one hand, the poll shows that many in Europe and the United States are convinced the Muslim world isn’t committed to improving relations with the West.

Likewise, large majorities in every Middle Eastern country surveyed said they don’t think the West is committed to better relations with the Muslim world.

At the same time, people on both sides say, in overwhelming numbers, that the quality of the relationship between the Muslim and Western worlds is something important to them.

In other words: East and West both honestly believe it is important to fix the relationship. But both sides genuinely think that the other side doesn’t feel the same way.

So the problem isn’t that people don’t care. It’s that they don’t see their caring reflected. They don’t perceive an equal sense of commitment from the other side.

We can change this. But we have to start by dismantling mutual stereotypes. We have to reject easy caricatures in favor of close inspection – whether we’re dealing with matters of integration and assimilation… or international relations more broadly… or the simple act of getting to know others different from ourselves.

That’s why I recently set up a YouTube account, so that the YouTubers everywhere can join me in a cyber conversation, and break down the damaging stereotypes of the Arab world which malign my region and its people. I hope to show viewers everywhere the truth about the part of the world I cherish and call home.

And the interesting thing is that as we exchange knowledge, we forge friendships in the process…virtual handshakes are extended, and new paths of understanding and acceptance are formed.

It’s that kind of caring that matters; and it can’t be decreed or imposed from above. It has to emerge from the bottom up… one open mind and open heart at a time.

Thank you very much.

Click here for Speech---http://www.californiawomen.org/conference_media.html

Darfur Genocide in Sudan

Why we need to take action in Darfur, NOW.

Visit SaveDarfur.org and sign the petitions which send emails to the White House and investment companies that invest in stocks that support the Sudanese oil companies, such as PetroChina. The petition requests these companies and the White House to DINVEST and make sure our American tax-paying dollars do not go to Sudan.

I signed the petitions and I just received email reply from the White House! Go to SaveDarfur.org now and sign the petition.

George Clooney addresses the United Nations about Darfur.