Getting ready

As the original ideals of Olympic competition seem to be well and truly consigned to the past (with extremely inequitable sports resourcing and training opportunities, drug cheats, political hypocricy etc), I wonder if it's time to think about replacing the Olympics with something more positive and enlightened ...


French and Slovakian branches of Amnesty International recently produced a controversial ad campaign to highlight issues of Chinese human rights abuses. You can see more images over here .

What do you think?

Hyper-packaging

The other day we received a package through FedEx: a cardboard box larger than a wide lever-arch file, that needed to be delivered by truck (and the FedEx guy actually had to make two trips to our home, 'cause I wasn't home on the first day to sign for the package). On the outside was the typical US postal service documentation, in triplicate and covered in plastic, and inside was a large quantity of plastic bubble wrap surrounding a tiny electronic device that would have fitted inside half a matchbox. Seemed like overkill to me.

Click here, here and here for more examples of senseless over-packaging.


None of the above is quite as extreme as this effort from HP - what on earth were they thinking?!

(Picture from here.)

Food for thought

My dad Skyped me today and told me about a recent public meeting held on the little island on which he lives (Rarotonga in the Cook Islands), to discuss alternative energy production options, including the establishment of a wind farm. Apparently there was a large turnout and people were very enthusiastic, which is really encouraging. Dad describes his community as "...the mine canary for the rest of the world because of our huge reliance on carbon fuels and high cost. We could be a model of tackling the problem if we do it right."


For his home my father has a solar energy system that feeds back into the local grid and he actively lobbies to bring in island-wide solar- and wind-based energy sources and electric cars: "With petrol here now over $2.80 /ltr i've compared fuel cost as 16c/km for small car on petrol, cf 3c/km for equivalent (same) car electric model as produced by a chinese manufacturer and powered by solar panel electric such as my setup. I figure savings of $900 pa on fuel cost alone."
And of course there are the environmental benefits ...


Inspiring conversations with my dad tie in well with my studies and general interests. I regularly visit the following sites 'cause I enjoy learning about important issues from grass-roots organisations rather than the maintream media/advertising juggernauts. There are some wonderful, positive things going on out there!

Carectomy

Streetfilms

Ecogeek

Envirovore


Please let me know of any similar sites that inspire you and get you thinking about the possibilities...


(Pics from here, here, and here.)