Watch this movie on youtube - A hymn for the planet
I actually haven’t got a chance to view it myself but I intend to (therefore I put it on my blog). Please let me know what you think of the project =). Some info:
HOME is an ode to the planet’s beauty and its delicate harmony. Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet, to contemplate it and to understand it. But HOME is more than a documentary with a message, it is a magnificent movie in its own right. Every breathtaking shot shows the Earth - our Earth - as we have never seen it before. Every image shows the Earth’s treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve. “From the sky, there’s less need for explanations”. Our vision becomes more immediate, intuitive and emotional. HOME has an impact on anyone who sees it. It awakens in us the awareness that is needed to change the way we see the world. (HOME embraces the major ecological issues that confront us and shows how everything on our planet is interconnected.)
Synopsis
In 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. The price to pay is high, but it is too late to be a pessimist: humanity has barely ten years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth’s riches and change its patterns of consumption.
A People’s Project
By bringing us unique footage from the Earth and sharing with us his wonder and his concern, Yann Arthus-Bertrand lays a foundation stone for the world that, together, we must rebuild. The film HOME intends to shift people’s perceptions, to make us aware of the tectonic movements at work and to incite us to act.
We have a greater impact on the Earth than it can bear. We over-consume and are depleting the Earth’s resources. From the air, it is easy to see the Earth’s wounds. HOME simply sets out our current situation, while saying that a solution exists. The film’s subtitle could be “It’s Too Late To Be A Pessimist”. We have reached a crossroads; important decisions must be taken to change our world. Everybody knows about what the film says, but nobody wants to believe it. So HOME adds its weight to the argument of environmental organizations that we need a common sense approach to change our consumerist way of life.
I came across the Traffic & Marketing Design website today which is marketing and selling “world’s greenest business cards” as one of the products. It uses 100% post consumer paper and is produced in Canada. The ink is vegetable based. I like the idea and I think companies should consider these green business card options. However, I’m not convinced with some of the envirnemental benifits claimed as shown in the table below. The references included there were not useful in convincing me. I agree that no new trees are cut to make these business cards, but the water and energy savings as well as emission and waste reduction need to be further verified. Recycling paper is quite an energy intensive process which requires a lot of water and chemical; further, not all paper is recyclable and I would think that there is still solid waste associated with paper recycling process. Furthermore, the process energy and solid waste would all results in emissions. It would be more realistic and environmentally responsible for such comparison. Just my thought… what do you think?
1 FriendsOfTrees.org: http://www.FriendsOfTrees.org/
2 H2Ouse.org: http://www.H2Ouse.org/tour/details/
3 EPA.gov: http://www.EPA.gov/cleanenergy/powerprofiler.htm
http://www.EPA.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html
4 Montgomery.gov: http://www.MontgomeryCountyMD.gov/
HI came across this “eco infographic” which demonstrate how we can change our lifestyles to mitigate and adapt to climate change. A lot of actions, not suprisingly, are easy to accomplish.
Your thought? I’ll share mine later =)
Michael Ignatieff officially became the leader of the federal Liberal Party of Canada; he also officially erased Liberal’s connection to the carbon tax issue, formally known as the Green Shift when Stéphane Dion was the leader. In today’s sparring with Stephen Harper (Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader of Canada), as reported on the Globe and Mail, Ignatieff said:
“I made it very clear in a press conference on Sunday that we do not propose to go into the next election with a carbon tax, period. Is that clear? I sure hope it is.”
- Michael Ignatieff, leader of Liberal Party of Canada
I guess since the Green Shift made the Liberal party quite unpopular in Canada, there are good reasons to brush off the carbon tax. Especially since the US is very keen on a cap-and-trade system. I’m not clear what’s Ignatieff’s new policy on the environment, but there is no doubt that carbon is going to have a price tag. I’ll stay in tune to see what he does in the near future, because it’s too early to judge….
As much as we’re up in the “north”, Canadians really do care about what the US is planning in all areas of policy, including carbon! Whether we follow US policy or develop our own set of policies is another matter, but whatever the Obama administration has/will have implement can affect us greatly. This is a pretty good article summarizing what Obama has done in his first 100 days in the office. I’ve extracted the summary section of it:
I guess these initiatives are great, but haven’t really get down to the carbon business. Carbon Tax? Cap and Trade? Hybrid? It’s interesting to see what’s going to happen!
Population and climate change | flo | 
June 17, 2009 2:32 am | 
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