Skip Eating Meat Once a Week to save Environment

Looking for ways to contribute your bit to the environment? Here is one powerful idea by Dr. Pachauri.

The European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance (EVANA) has published the statement of Dr. Pachauri on meat consumption and climate change:

Dear reader,

Worldwide, livestock-farming is responsible for no less then 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions (Source: FAO, Livestock's long shadow, 2007). Greenhouse gas emissions through meat production and associated land-use changes are one of the most important causes of climate change/warming. Yet people, especially in high-income societies, continue to eat large amounts of meat. This high meat intake not only has negative effects on the climate and biodiversity; it is also harmful for our health because it increases the risk of cardio vascular disease, obesity, diabetes and other diseases of affluence. Hence, it is very important to limit our meat consumption. Eating less meat means less greenhouse gases will be emitted.

Because our food, and especially meat consumption is such a significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions, an essential means we have in the fight against climate change may very well be. our fork. Each time you eat a vegetarian meal instead of a meat based meal, you contribute to mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases which cause climate change. Even if you would only skip meat once a week, you would still save 170 kilograms of CO2 every year. That is about the amount you emit by driving your car 1100 km. So skipping the meat now and then is a good recipe against climate change.

But of course one person can only do so much. It is also the responsibility of governments and industries to ensure that sustainable alternatives like vegetarian food are widely available and affordable. Several alternative policies and options could lead to lower consumption of meat and climate-friendly lifestyles, which a society may decide on with its own wisdom. EVA has provided a menu of actions that could be adopted as provided below, and it is for communities and governments to decide how to consider them.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri
IPCC President
Nobel Peace Prize winner 2007

Profitable & Environmentally responsible business practices

Recycline believes in striving to "combine socially and environmentally responsible business practices with groundbreaking design to create products that people feel good about having in their homes. We believe that choosing eco-friendly products doesn’t mean having to sacrifice quality, price, or performance."

Download their full plastic safety statement here.

Excerpts from Executive Summary:

Some additives in plastics are increasingly being shown to have interactions with the body’s hormone system (a.k.a., the endocrine system). While our plastics do not contain harmful additives, we follow the scientific research and debate closely, and think the precautionary principle should apply. Thus we do not introduce any possible endocrine disrupters into our plastics. Furthermore, our systems are designed to make all of our Preserve plastics from recycled products and packaging that have not had these chemicals introduced to them.

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Recycled plastics have a variety of benefits. They decrease waste sent to landfills; reduce use of non-renewable resources, like natural gas and oil; decrease energy use; and decrease emissions of carbon dioxide. Preserve products are better for the earth for these reasons. And, because of the care we use in selecting and testing the materials we use for Preserve, we are confident that our products are BPA and phthalate free and safe for use by you and by our families.

21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle

21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle: This reports lists resources for Americans to reduce, reuse, and recycle all kinds of things one likes to dispose - including working appliances, Batteries, Cardboard boxes, CDs/DVDs/Game Disks, Clothes, Bulbs, Computers, Eyeglasses..upto Toothbrushes and razors...

To download the entire recycling issue of the Quarterly, visit archives page.

Any Business Ideas coming to your mind?

A Wet Bomb!

Wetlands, which contain an estimated 771 gigatonnes (771 billion tonnes) of greenhouse gases -- both CO2 and more potent methane, are in news as 700 experts from 28 nations meet at the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference in the city of Cuiaba on the edge of South America's vast Pantanal, the largest wetland of its kind.

The concern is that evaporation and ongoing destruction of world wetlands, which hold a volume of carbon similar to that in the atmosphere today, could cause them to exhale billows of greenhouse gases.

If all the wetlands on the planet released the carbon they hold, it would contribute powerfully to the climate-warming greenhouse effect, said Paulo Teixeira, coordinator of the Pantanal Regional Environment Program in Brazil. He said:

"We could call it the carbon bomb.....

Humanity in many parts of the world needs a wake-up call to fully appreciate
the vital environmental, social and economic services wetlands provide --
absorbing and holding carbon, moderating water levels, supporting biodiversity
and countless others."

Prof. Junk, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology shares:

Wetlands act as sponges and their role as sources, reservoirs and regulators of water is largely underappreciated by many farmers and others who rely on steady water supplies. They also cleanse water of organic
pollutants, prevent downstream flood inundations, protect riverbanks and
seashores from erosion, recycle nutrients and capture sediment.

The US will spend $700 million over two decades to revive the Florida Everglades. It will include six artificial wetlands ("storm water treatment areas"), to receive and cleanse excess nutrients from neighbouring farm districts.
Sources:

• United Nations University (2008, July 21). Massive Greenhouse Gases May Be Released As Destruction, Drying Of World Wetlands Worsen. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/07/080720150209.htm
• http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN1745905120080720

Mostly Convenient Truths From a Technology Optimist

In 2001, Vinod Khosla was named as "most successful venture capitalist of all time" by Fortune, and similarly felicitated by Forbes and Time.

Now, he is being labeled as "The King of Green Investing".

Richard Shaffer shares:

Over the past four years, Khosla has become the world's foremost investor in environmental startups. He has committed an estimated $450 million of his personal fortune to financing 45 ethanol factories, solar-power parks, and makers of environmentally friendly lightbulbs, batteries, and automotive components.

You may want look at Khosla's "Mostly Convenient Truths From a Technology Optimist".

The Artificial Wealth Gap in the world

There is more than enough wealth in the world to comfortably take care of all 6 billion people on this earth.

According to a study released by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University:

• The richest 2 percent of adults in the world own more than half the world's wealth
• 1 percent of adults owned 40 percent of global assets in the year 2000
• The richest 10 percent of adults accounted for 85 percent of the world's total.
• The assets of half of the world's adult population account for barely 1 percent of global wealth.
• The average American's wealth amounted to $144,000 in the year 2000, more than 100 times higher than the average Indian or Indonesian, whose assets totaled $1,100 and $1,400, respectively.

Whatever has been done so far in terms of foreign aid programs, trade and immigration policies, etc. have not effectively impacted this wealth gap.

In fact, according to Anuradha Mittal, Oakland Institute, the rise of free trade has increased the wealth gap, both internationally and inside many countries.

She refers to the example of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed in 1992 by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. "Instead of Mexico being able to export its food to the United States, what's really happened is that U.S. corn exports to Mexico have tripled, pushing 2 million Mexican corn farmers out of business. And those are the very people who then migrate [to the United States]."

She continues:

• Those migrants then work for low wages inside the United States, pushing wages for all workers down.
• Regarding "the ability to export", the big plantations take the cake, "which creates further inequities inside of countries. You're not going to be talking about [improving livelihoods for] small farmers in Mexico or Honduras or India."

Communism failed, and capitalism does not work for most people on this earth.

Time for a NEW PARADIGM?

Trainers for All-India Requirements

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Mail your profile to help@omnizient.com.
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A Gift to the world - Dakshana

Dakshana is a sanskrit word meaning to give or receive a gift. The Dakshana Foundation is a young philanthropic foundation focused on providing world-class educational opportunities to economically and socially disadvantaged gifted children worldwide. The have targeted the 750 Million people living in India’s 640,000 villages.

Dakshana has partnered with the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV - http://navodaya.gov.in/) to provide 2 years of IIT JEE prep for about 300-400 Dakshana Scholars annually of the best and brightest students at 7 JNV campuses throughout India.

Dakshana was founded by Mr. Mohnish Pabrai and spouse, Ms. Harina Kapoor. They are inspired by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus (Grameen Bank), and intend to be a “non-loss entity.” They say:

"We believe in recycling most of their estate back to society. Effective giveback is very hard to do. One is forced to confront problems that have defied solutions for decades on end - after tremendous resources and brain power has been directed by them. Billions of humans still do not have the fundamentals of adequate food, shelter, education, healthcare and a sustainable livelihood. To this end, Dakshana's management is pragmatic. We do not believe we can solve the problems of the world. We do, however, believe that we can make a small dent if we approach charitable giveback with a laser-focus and a business mindset."

The first Dakshana Scholar is Shashank Dube of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, who was "awarded a full scholarship by the foundation to undergo 12 months of IIT JEE training at Bansal Classes - one of the best IIT JEE coaching centers in the world (www.bansaliitjee.com). Shashank is the son of a deceased pan shop owner who has virtually always topped his class. "

If you would like to volunteer, check here.