Before we say good-bye to the year 2010 and hello to the year 2011, we would like to take this interval time to introduce you to THE GOOD 350.Org global movement to solve THE BAD  climate crisis of having over 350 parts per million CO₂ in the atmosphere and replace THE UGLY environmental consequences with a global green transformation.

To transcend the language barrier, 350.org helps the whole world to understand what 350 is all about in 90 seconds and 0 words in this 350.org animation:

THE GOOD

“350.org is an international campaign that’s building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis—the solutions that science and justice demand.”

Their mission is “to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.”

On the 10th of October (10th month) of 2010, in every corner of the globe, they started to implement solutions to the climate crisis: from solar panels to community gardens, wind turbines to bike workshops.  They told leaders:  “We’re getting to work–what about you?” Join them at http://350.org

Here are THE GOOD results of 350.org’s hard work:

• in October of 2009 they coordinated 5200 simultaneous rallies and demonstrations in 181 countries,
• on 10 October 2010,  they organized a ‘global work party’ all over the world, with over 7000 events in 187 countries
• people put up solar panels, dig community gardens
• and sent a strong message to our leaders: ‘If we can get to work on solutions to the climate crisis, so can you.’

THE BAD

“Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO₂ in the atmosphere is the upper safe limit for humanity.”

Any number over 350 parts per million CO₂ is BAD for us and our planet.

Presently, the planet has about 388 parts per million CO₂ – and this number is rising by about 2 parts per million every year.

Scientists are now saying that’s too much – that number is higher than any time seen in the recorded history of our planet—and we’re already beginning to see disastrous impacts on people and places all over the world.

The UGLY

Therefore, the world has experienced UGLY consequences which are delineated by 350.org as follows:

• Glaciers everywhere are melting and disappearing fast—and they are a source of drinking water for hundreds of millions of people.

• Mosquitoes, who like a warmer world, are spreading into lots of new places, and bringing malaria and dengue fever with them.

• Drought is becoming much more common, making food harder to grow in many places.

• Sea levels have begun to rise, and scientists warn that they could go up as much as several meters this century. If that happens, many of the world’s cities, island nations, and farmland will be underwater.

• The oceans are growing more acidic because of the CO₂ they are absorbing, which makes it harder for animals like corals and clams to build and maintain their shells and skeletons.

• Coral reefs could start dissolving at an atmospheric CO₂ concentration of 450-500 ppm. These impacts are combining to exacerbate conflicts and security issues in already resource-strapped regions.

• The Arctic is sending us perhaps the clearest message that climate change is occurring much more rapidly than scientists previously thought. As shown below, in the summer of 2007, sea ice was roughly 39% below the summer average for 1979-2000, a loss of area equal to nearly five United Kingdoms.

350.org is asking us for our help  and to spread the following important piece of information to our fellow citizens, communities, countries, and the world:

“We need to stop taking carbon out of the ground and putting it into the air. Above all, that means we need to stop burning so much coal—and start using solar and wind energy and other such sources of renewable energy –while ensuring the Global South a fair chance to develop. If we do, then the earth’s soils and forests will slowly cycle some of that extra carbon out of the atmosphere, and eventually CO₂ concentrations will return to a safe level. By decreasing use of other fossil fuels, and improving agricultural and forestry practices around the world, scientists believe we could get back below 350 by mid-century. But the longer we remain in the danger zone—above 350—the more likely that we will see disastrous and irreversible climate impacts.”

For you and your friends, there is a great Green Screens event this Wednesday at the NFB Cinema.

November 3rd at 7 PM

FREE ADMISSION

NFB Cinema – 150 John St, Toronto, Ontario Canada

Directed by Marie-Monique Robin, 2008, 109 min

Green Screens partners films from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) with experts and panellists selected by the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP)

A panel discussion will follow the screening on the topic of biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with Anne Mitchell, CIELAP’s former Executive Director, who was previously a representative on the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee and is a member of the Biotechnology Reference Group of the Canadian Council of Churches; and Pinayur Rajagopal, who worked at the Max Planck Institute in Munich before coming to teach at York University in Toronto.  The two are working on a pamphlet on agricultural biotechnology to be published by the Quaker Institute for the Future.

Director Marie-Monique Robin conducted a painstaking three year investigation on Monsanto in North and South America, Europe and Asia in order to make ‘The World According To Monsanto’ film.

‘The World According to Monsanto’ film depicts “Monsanto’s quest for market supremacy, to the detriment of global food security and environmental stability.”

Here is a brief bio with shocking revelations of Monsanto:

• founded in 1901 as a chemical company in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
• has 17,500 employees
• 2006 sales figure of $7.5 billion
• operations in 46 countries
• world leader in genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
• one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history
• since 1901, faced trial after trial due to the toxicity of its products
• toxic products include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polystyrene, devastating herbicides like Agent Orange, used during the Vietnam War, and bovine growth hormones, which are unauthorized in Canada and banned in Europe
• has “reinvented itself as a “life sciences” company converted to the virtues of sustainable development”

‘The World According to Monsanto’ points out that “thanks to its genetically modified seeds engineered among other things to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup, the world’s bestselling herbicide, the company claims it wants to solve world hunger while reducing environmental damage. Where does the truth lie?”

Watch ‘The World According To Monsanto’, and then join the conversation. What you think is the truth behind the controversy? Do you think Monsanto exploits environment and nature in our world for bigger business profits? We would love to hear from you in our comments section below.

Please click here to see the trailer for ‘The World According To Monsanto’ because what matters to Monsanto matters to us from dioxin to genetically modified crops.

Toronto Mediatheque

At the NFB (National Film Board of Canada) Mediatheque in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,  the following free Green Screens  event will occur:

FREE

GREEN SCREENS presents WORST CASE SCENARIO

September 1 at 7 pm

Location:
NFB  Mediatheque
150 John Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3C3
416-973-3012

Also, you can watch 5,500 NFB films, all for free, all the time on the Internet

Green Screens is a monthly program at the NFB Mediatheque which highlights a different environmental issue each month, in partnership with the  Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP). The NFB Mediatheque selects the NFB (National Film Board of Canada) films to screen, and the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy  provides the panellists and experts.

If you are interested in the environment, Green Screens will entertain and inform you!

Free Green Screens Animation Workshop for Adults

REMIXING OUR WORLD
A special Green Screens animation workshop for adults

August 4 at 7 PM
NFB MEDIATHEQUE
FREE!

In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, you can create your own short animated film about the environment and bring your vision to life! Participants will arrange cut-out images from magazines to critically address environmental issues and superimpose them on an untouched landscape – remixing the portrayal of our environment and challenging how we think about it. A fun hands-on experience with stop-motion animation, whether it’s your first or fiftieth time!

Green Screens partners films from the NFB (National Film Board of Canada) with experts and panellists selected by the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP). If you are interested in the environment, Green Screens will entertain and inform you.

FREE – REGISTRATION REQUIRED. For participants 18 years of age and older.

Call 416-973-3012 to register.
NFB MEDIATHEQUE | 150 John St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada | 416-973-3012 | NFB.ca/mediatheque

What are you being today?

Being Green! Being Environmentally Friendly!

Our Green Kudos goes to The Living Christmas Company in Los Angeles, California, U.S.  for being a green caring company that keeps Christmas trees alive and upholds the value of  “Christmas without waste.”  Scott Martin, the founder, merrily provides an environmentally friendly service to bring live trees to your home and/or business. Both delivery and pick-up services  are free of charge. Here is an amazing array of The Living Christmas Company’s responsibilities to our environment:

• raising awareness of the general public to switch from artificial and cut trees to an environmentally friendly alternative: living trees
• living trees significantly improve indoor safety because they are less flammable than either cut trees or plastic trees
• living trees help produce a positive indoor air quality
• delivery trucks run on Bio Diesel fuel
• you can watch your tree grow (up to 6 annual rental times) until it’s too big
• overgrown Christmas trees eventually become part of an Urban Reforestation Project earning Carbon Tax Credits

photo credit: SmilingSunflower

Also, the eco-conscious and fair trade products and ornaments can be ordered from the Living Christmas Company website at http://livingchristmas.com.

More info on the above and other environmentally friendly initiatives of the Living Christmas Company can be found at http://livingchristmas.com/info/environmental_init.php.

Furthermore, 10% of the sales go to the local charities. Certainly, The Living Christmas Company is a  green company caring about the environment as well as people.

The following news video shows the very merry actions of the Living Christmas Company:

http://us.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2009/12/22/gutierrez.tree.for.rent.cnn.

Let’s be really green next Christmas! It would be so great if all Christmas trees, after the Christmas celebration is over,  go back to the  environment to grow and  produce many benefits for everyone to enjoy.