The Write Future

Thinking out of the closet

Even though I expected (and wished!) that my kids would have grown out of their poo & pee giggle phase by now, I'm afraid I'll have to be a bit more patient. With all 4 of them still enjoying a good laugh about it and having mastered the principle of "jokes get better every time you repeat it", I still find myself regularly "covered" in poo & pee jokes.

So I'm not sure if I will share this video with them so close to half term break. I don't really want to put ideas into their head like "Let's make a carbon board loo and use it" or "We better pee over dad's Basil plant in the garden". But as soon as they will appreciate the true "value" of pee slightly more than it just being a source for jokes, I will show them this video. It will encourage them to think out of the box (or better: think out of the closet) and come up with new ideas for a more sustainable future!

  

Worst World Record....

While surfing on internet for news for my blog I noticed this horrible world record: The Russian city of Dzerzhinsk holds the unfortunate record of being the most chemically polluted city in the world. 

Between 1930 and 1998 nearly 300.000 tons of chemical waste were improperly dumped in this city.

This pollution results in an average life expectancy for men of only 42 years, for women 47 (average in Russia 64 years for men and 76 years for women). The death rate in the area was reported to exceed the birth rate by 260 percent. Still 25% of the people in this city work in factories that produce toxic chemicals. 

This city must also be high on the list of worst places in the world to live in! 

More Info (and other stories of horribly polluted places)  

Black Smith Institute, Dzerzhinsk

Guinness World Records

Green Guinness

I'm not much of a Guinness World Records fan and scrolling through the website my first thought with most records is: "You really don't have anything more meaningful to do with your life (then to create a loo that can speed up to 60 km/h)?" But last week I had some time to kill in a waiting room (yes, I had indeed nothing better to do then to read about a speeding loo) and was glancing through a hard copy of the Guinness World Records Book when I spotted some remarkable environmental records. 

What do you think about this one:

The most plastic bottles recycled in one week is 39,627.42 kg was achieved by CIMA KIDS 2012 at Parque La Carolina, Quito, Ecuador on 27 October 2012.

 Photo AgenciaAndes 

CIMA KIDS is an event organised by three companies - SAMBITO, Maruri and Comefex - to promote environmental awareness amongst children in Ecuador. 109 schools took part in the collection of the bottles which totalled approximately 1,559,002. The bottles were then collected and taken to a central location for weighing by EMASEO, this took six days in total. The bottles have a value of $30,000 once recycled which was donated to Yasuni-ITT an initiative that aims to preserve a national park from oil exploitation. At the time of writing this was the first-ever Guinness World Records record adjudicated in Quito, Ecuador.

Or this cool one:

 

The largest vertical garden is 1,516 m² (16,318.02 ft²) and is situated in the new Seoul City Hall, Seoul, South Korea. The record-breaking garden was created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and completed on 31 August 2012. 

 

 

 

There are sad ones like: 

The Devil's Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) numbering between 200 and 500 is restricted entirely to an unusual system of water holes in Nevada. Its main threat comes from the pumping of groundwater for irrigation, desert development and the introduction of exotic fish species into their environment.These tiny fish are interesting not only because their species is at least 10,000 years old but also because they can resist extreme temperature changes and can tolerate high mineral concentrations in the water. They eat aquatic plants and small creatures like mosquito larvae. Devil's Hole pupfish grow to about 22 mm (0.9 in) and reach full maturity within 2–3 months, although they have been known to survive for about a year.

And where do you think the most sustainable city is? A city:

 

(...) designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners, is the world's first city designed to be zero-carbon and zero-waste. All of its power is generated from renewable resources, and all waste material is recycled. Cars are banned in favour of electric, driverless, underground vehicles, meaning that the city's projected 50,000 citizens should leave no carbon footprint. 

 

Answer:  ıqɐɥp nqɐ 'ʎʇıɔ ɹɐpsɐɯ

 

For many more funny, interesting and completely useless records you can check the website:

Guiness World Records

Bracelet for a good cause

At this moment there are world wide more slaves than ever before. At least 30 million people are victim of human trafficking and many of them sexually exploited and/or children. Cambodia is an important centre of this horrendous practice and is used as a "hub" to other countries. That is such a big practice here is a horrible idea when walking around in the amazing city of Phnom Penh.

For work I'm in Cambodia right now and noticed a number of different leaflets and stickers in the hotel room warning guests to stay away from sexual abusing children. But I also noticed an poster of The Brave Collection. A wonderful initiative to create a slave-free world by providing exploited women new opportunities by teaching them sewing and metal smith techniques.

The bracelets are stunning and the cause even better. I think I can't leave this wonderful country without one! 

Face of Climate Change

On 22nd April all over the world, more than one billion, people will celebrate Earth Day and call world leaders to (finally) act together to stop the Climate Change.  The theme of the 43th Earth Day is: "the Face of Climate Change". 

On the website it describes the impact of Climate Change and the urge to stop it:

 

A man in the Maldives worried about relocating his family as sea levels rise, a farmer in Kansas struggling to make ends meet as prolonged drought ravages the crops, a fisherman on the Niger River whose nets often come up empty, a child in New Jersey who lost her home to a super-storm, a woman in Bangladesh who can’t get fresh water due to more frequent flooding and cyclones…

And they’re not only human faces.

They’re the polar bear in the melting arctic, the tiger in India’s threatened mangrove forests, the right whale in plankton-poor parts of the warming North Atlantic, the orangutan in Indonesian forests segmented by more frequent bush fires and droughts.

These faces of climate change are multiplying every day.

For many, climate change can often seem remote and hazy – a vague and complex problem far off in the distance that our grandchildren may have to solve. But that’s only because they’re still fortunate enough to be insulated from its mounting consequences. Climate change has very real effects on people, animals, and the ecosystems and natural resources on which we all depend. Left unchecked, they’ll spread like wildfire.

Luckily, other faces of climate change are also multiplying every day.

Every person who does his or her part to fix the problem is also a Face of Climate Change: the entrepreneurs who see opportunity in creating the new green economy, the activists who organize community action and awareness campaigns, the engineers who design the clean technology of the future, the public servants who fight for climate change laws and for mitigation efforts, the ordinary people who commit to living sustainably…

Up till Monday you can upload photos and videos of people, places or animals affected or threatened by climate change. But also of people stepping up to do something about it. On Earth Day all entries will be shown digitally at events around the world, including next to federal government buildings in countries that produce the most carbon pollution. The display will also be made available online to anyone who wants to view or show it.

My entry will be a photo of my 8 year old daughter who -already for more than a year- donates half her pocket money to WWF to support the pandas. Last week we took her to Edinburgh Zoo to meet up with her "long time friend". In the zoo she also saw gorillas with information about the -endangered- mountain gorilla. My daughter instantly decided to adopt a mountain gorilla with the other half of her pocket money. Not sure where we have to take her to meet up with them thought!

I love listening to her when she tries to convince me that it's time to adopt a new endangered animal. I have to say, she is pretty good at it! She has not only spent all her pocket money on WWF, but also made us adopt a few animals as a family. We are the proud adoption family of: a tiger, panda, snow leopard, jaguar (Christmas present 2012!) and now a mountain gorilla. It is good to see the (my) next generation already so engaged and aware of the urgency to take action. I think though that the generation currently in charge, should make a (big) kick start to -at least- bring the changes to a stop. We may need the next generations input for improvement. As Einstein once said:

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

More information:

Earth Day 2013

WWF adopt an animal

James Bond in Scotland!

Yesterday we came back from a lovely family break in the Northern part of the UK. Of course we took the kids to (many) castles, the Lake District (beautiful!) and we spotted a stranded whale in Scotland. But, according to the kids, one of the highlights was definitely our visit of the Cruachan Power Station near Oban, Argyll. 

The generators of the Cruachan Hydro plant are powered by water from a reservoir on the slopes of Ben Chuachan, 396meters above.  When electricity needs to be generated it can be at full speed within a few minutes. But what makes the Cruachan Plant special is the design that it works as an enormous rechargeable battery. When the demand for electricity is low and overcapacity exist on the grid the idle electricity is used to pump the water back up the mountain, ready to for reuse. This makes it a cost effective plan and as the Cruachan's operation doesn't (directly) result in air or (CO2 & SO2) gases emission it is considered to be a green provider of electricity.

Even though the plant is more than 50 years old, driving into the mountain to see the generators gives a real "007" feeling. So it is definitely worth a visit if you're in for a James Bond (or Bond girl) experience. But also to learn more about the environmental advantages of Hydro Energy in the information centre at the entrance of the plant!

More information:

Chuachan Power Station Station: Site Information

Oban, visit Cruchan Power Station

WWF: Dams, Blessing and Curse?

Earth Hour 2013

Yesterday at 8.30pm all over the world people switched off their lights for 60 minutes to join Earth Hour 2013.  My kids are fully aware of the necessity and turned off all the lights at 7 pm already, just to make sure we were on time. This meant my husband had to prepare our 4- course dinner (for 6 guests) in a dark kitchen and was told off every time the light in the fridge was switching on when opening it. By the time we had finished our first course (amazingly good considering it was prepared in the dark), Earth Hour 2013 was over and the children had made a map with all the houses in the neighborhood that did not comply and kept their lights on. They can expect a note to remind them next year. 

It makes me feel happy to see that my children are so engaged. Next year I will just tell them that knocking on the bathroom door to tell guests off for switching on the light, may just be a little too much.

Watch the video below for some awesome pictures of Earth Hour 2013.  

   

   

Stunning Tiger

Every year the National Geographic has a photo contest and this years winner (in the categories Grand-Winner and also Nature) is Ashley Vincent with this brilliant photo. 

 Ashley Vincent about the photo taken in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Chonburi, Thailand

 

The subject's name is Busaba, a well cared for Indochinese Tigress whose home is at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand. I had taken many portraits of Busaba previously and it was becoming more and more difficult to come up with an image that appeared any different to the others. Which is why I took to observing her more carefully during my visits in the hope of capturing something of a behavioural shot. The opportunity finally presented itself while watching Busaba enjoying her private pool then shaking herself dry. In all humility I have to say that Mother Nature smiled favourably on me that day!

For more absolutely stunning photos of our planet (just to make us realise again that we better take good care of it!) visit the website National Geographic, photo contest 2012 . My favorite is the red fox!

  

 

Wings of Waste

My son is so fascinated with airplanes, flying and pilots that whatever computer, laptop, Ipad or Ipod I fire up, it will always show planes if he has been the last user. But he is also passionate about the environment and wants to work for a company that is sustainably engaged, as soon as he quits as a professional football player that is of course! I think he will just love the following story.

Mr Rowsell, a 41-year old pilot will be the first one ever to fly from Sydney to London using only diesel made of discarded packaging and waste collected from rubbish dumps. This so-called "end-of-life" plastic cannot be recycled otherwise and would end up as landfill. A Dublin firm will help in the process of turning the waste into diesel using a process (pyrolysis) that doesn't pollute the air. 

As mr Rowsell will not be able to take all this fuel on board of his little Cessna (I have to ask my son for the model-number...) he will have to make numerous route stops in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Karachi, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, France before he finally lands in London. For sure my son and I will try to be there when he arrives!

More info:

Telegraph

Ataltitude

Farewell Green Pope I

I don't agree with some of his ideas but the today resigned Pope Benedict XVI has been the most green Pope so far. From placing photovoltaic cells in the main auditorium of the Vatican to driving an electric car.

Let's hope that the next pope will continue this good work (and be more modern on other topics!) For more green achievements of Pope Benedict, click here.

For more information:

National Geographic

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