Photo by Pete Oxford
The Trouble with Water in the Galapagos
Please Use Only as Much Water as You Need. Conserve Water.
In the Galapagos, slogans like these are ubiquitous in tourist-heavy zones—the messages these appear on door-hangers in hotels, introductory speeches on cruise ships, and travel pamphlets all over the islands.
And though the plea is inserted into lightly worded tourist literature, the problem with water is among the most severe and urgent issues facing the Galapagos Islands. …
Scenes such as this, where a store clerk, probably on minimum wage, is trampled to death by a mob of greedy consumers…
Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede
Wal-Mart spokesman Dave Tovar called the incident a “tragic situation.” “The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority,” Tovar said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this difficult time.”
Before police shut down the store, eager shoppers streamed past emergency crews as they worked furiously to save the store clerk’s life. “They were working on him, but you could see he was dead, said Halcyon Alexander, 29. “People were still coming through.”
Only a few stopped.
“They’re savages,” said shopper Kimberly Cribbs, 27. “It’s sad. It’s terrible.”
This occurs with a manufactured (store imposed) shortage of goods, on Black Friday - the day after America expresses their gratitude for cheap goods. Will these scenes be replayed when there is a real shortage of goods during the impending long emergency that James Howard Kunstler envisages?
Technorati Tags: Black Friday, Business, consumer, Halcyon Alexander, Kimberly Cribbs, long emergency, Long Island, Long Island Wal-Mart, malls, Marketing, Minimum wage, peak oil, stampede, Wal-Mart
Every time I feel as though L.A. is finally on the cusp on improving its (woefully) underfunded public transit system, something comes along to scuttle my excitement. The latest controversy surrounds the Expo Line, an $862 million light rail project that will connect downtown Los Angeles to Culver City and which is slated for completion in mid-2010. (That will be the first phase; the second phase will eventually extend the line from Culver City to Santa Monica — see the “subway to the sea.”) The plan could be delayed, however,…
In the nights just before this Thanksgiving, Canadian cold air flowed over the wilderness cabin I was staying in, reaching a night time low of zero degrees F, and blanketing skies with myriad stars, such as I could never have seen from any US city.
Sometime after midnight of the first night, the cabin grew very cold, forcing me to get up to stoke the wood stove. Reluctantly, I stepped out into the night to answer ‘nature’s call.’ Transfixed by the brill…
We learned the true meaning of black Friday early this morning when a Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York was trampled to death by stampeding consumers.
The New York Times reports that Jdimypai Damour was knocked over and crushed by 2,000 shoppers this morning in Valley Stream, Long Island:
At 4:55 a.m., just five minutes before the doors were set to open, a crowd of 2,000 anxious shoppers started pushing, shoving and piling against the locked sliding glass doors of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y., Nassau County police said. The shoppers broke the doors off their hinges and surgedin, toppling a 34-year-old temporary employee, Jdimypai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, who had been waiting with other workers in the store’s entryway.
People did not stop to help the employee as he lay on the ground, and they pushed against other Wal-Mart workers who were trying to aid Mr. Damour. The crowd kept running into the store even after the police arrived, jostling and pushing officers who were trying to perform CPR, the police said.
What in Wal-Mart could lead to such callous behavior? What discount? What special?
In his new book — The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability — NRDC Trustee Gus Speth says that we will never solve our environmental problems until we change our consumer-driven ways. In her blog on the book, NRDC President Frances Beinecke wrote that Gus believes that we must “question our devotion to economic growth above all other values.”
As he calls it, we must rethink “our pathetic capitulation to consumerism.” This unquestioning drive toward more and more creates a paradox: we have achieved abundance but it is teetering on extinction.
As a shopper and collector by heart, I find it hard to accept the idea of rejecting consumerism. And doubt that as a society we will ever change our consumerist ways.
But after today’s fatal stampede I cannot agree more with what Frances wrote last May:
Gus’s book reminds me that fighting to protect the planet is not just about policy and proposals and legislation. It’s about what we value, what is meaningful to us, what brings us peace and long-lasting health.
Amen.
Enterprising young artists in the London scene are usually presented with the dilemma of having to rent extremely expensive studio space in order to be able to work. This led furniture designer Auro Foxcroft to a rather ingenious and environmentally conscious solution. What was it? Take old subway cars, mount them on a rooftop, and use them for office space! A bit sparse? Sure! But these recycled subway cars are sure to inspire other green-minded, socially conscious artistic efforts.
Filed under: Kids and Parenting, Tips
If you spend a lot of time figuring out the very best green items for your children, you might want to check out the new contest over at Huddler. You can use your knowledge of products to win stuff from HappyGreenBee, Badger Balm, Little Twig and more.
If you haven’t heard of Huddler, let me help you out. It’s a user driven site with reviews of all kinds of products. To win the contest you have to create an account (or use a Facebook account) and write reviews of green baby stuff. You could win a nice little prize pack full of organic baby goodness.
Sure, it’s a little lame to be writing product reviews to win and it’s obvious they are trying to beef up the website with these reviews but, you can win some nice stuff and you might learn about some products you haven’t heard of before.
You have until January 5th to enter.
[Via Eco Child's Play]
Are You a Green Mommy? Win Stuff From Huddler originally appeared on Green Daily on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:54:00 EST 0. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Bangkok Post. General Motors will delay its US$445-million diesel project in Thailand—which included building an engine plant and upgrading an existing vehicle assembly plant (earlier post)—by at least one year and halt the introduction of new products next year, according to Steve Carlisle, president of GM Thailand.
The new 14,492 m2 (156,000 ft2) facility would be GM’s first diesel engine plant in Southeast Asia and is designed provide 2.5- and 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel engines for use by Chevrolet in Thailand and other global markets and brands. Output is targeted at more than 100,000 units annually.
GM announced earlier this month that it would halt production in Rayong in December and January but keep its workers on at 75% pay. It said vehicles already on hand would be sufficient to meet demand, which has been declining worldwide.
…Antonio Zara, vice-president for GM Southeast Asia Operations, said the automotive industry in Thailand recorded a drop of 13% for two consecutive months since July due to political and economic concerns and the trend was expected to continue for a while.
Alt Fiber: 25+ projects for knitting green with bamboo, soy, hemp, and more by Shannon Okey from Ten Speed Press. She was the lucky winner of our contest. Hopefully this book will expand her knitting horizons.
Debra writes …
I’d love to learn more about alternative fibers. I’ve been knitting about 4 years now, I learned from researching on the internet.
As always, I enjoyed your comments especially from Pat who has been knitting non-stop for 26 years (yikes!) and Janet who shared a knitting story about her mother-in-law.
If you are interested in another good book about knitting, you might want to try, Knitter’s Lib by Lena Maikon which promises to free you from patterns by developing a betting understanding of garment construction.
Don’t forget, today is the last day you can enter to win two boxes of LED Snowflake lights from Holiday LEDS. Be sure to enter by 5 pm today!
Alt Fiber Winner Announced originally appeared on Green Daily on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:26:00 EST 0. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Thanks to the gang at Daily Candy for their great tip on new eco-store Hammocks and High Tea. The designs are described as “home goods inspired by life and fusion of the tropics” and the cute, simple designs are a beautiful touch to any backyard retreat or bedroom hideaway. All materials are eco-friendly, recycled and/or non-toxic, and make great gifts for a housewarming party….
