2007-12-28

Happy "BillionTreePlanting" in 2008


-- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - BillionTree Campaign Site --: "The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a major worldwide tree planting campaign. Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments are encouraged to enter tree planting pledges online with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide each year."

We kept our commitment for 2007 and have already planned our 2008 contribution!

Best Wishes for a happy & healthy 2008

2008 Environmental Photographer of the Year

The CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2008 - competition now open!

2007-12-21

Cult Post-Apocalyptic SF feature films of 2007-2008

It seems as if post-apocalyptic movies are en vogue again.
After the hugely succesfull 28DaysLater, Danny Boyle issued 28WeeksLater and is preparing for the 2009 release of 28MonthsLater!



Earlier this month, the release of the Matheson-inspired cult classic SF thriller "I am Legend", starring Will Smith will bring us back to desolate and vampire-invested cityscapes...



And last but not least: CLOVERFIELD... the viral video

2007-12-19

Foreign Policy: the top 10 stories you missed in 2007


Take this little quiz: which of the following did not happen in 2007


  • first real-life cyberwarfare at international level

  • first deployment of robots as soldiers, equipped with killing devices on battlefields

  • outbreaks of Dengue all over the world get officials to worry about your kneecaps

  • extremists loose faith in Jihad and abandon Al Qaida

  • Thai fat cats give themselves a raise to preserve country tourist destinations

  • Belgium splits into 4 parts and cvil war breaks out (oh no, this one was from 2006...): the newsstory of 2007 should be: "Belgium remains a federal country and after 192 days finally has an.... interim cabinet"

Read more on http://www.foreignpolicy.com/TopTenStories2007_print.html

Water & Health: the real and hidden casualties... right in front of us


From the excellent CNN article

The next time you fall sick and someone suggests it's because of something in the water, they could be right. According to the World Bank, 88 percent of all diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. The number are daunting. Annually, water-related problems are responsible for:

4 billion cases of diarrhea, resulting in the deaths of more than 6 million children.
300 million malaria sufferers;
200 million schistosomiasis sufferers;
6 million people who have been struck blind by trachoma;
and 500 million people who are currently at risk of contracting it, the World Bank says.
The U.N. also suggests that unsanitary water is to thank for 1.5 million cases of hepatitis A (and 133 million cases of intestinal worms).

At any one point in time, 50 percent of all people in the developing world will be in hospital suffering from one or more water-related diseases. Most will be children, water-related diseases being the second biggest killer of children worldwide (after acute respiratory diseases like Tuberculosis), according to Water Aid. (Diarrhea alone has killed more children in 10 years than all the people killed in wartime since World War 2, according to UNICEF).

Stubru Music for Life - in support of the Flemish Red Cross "Water Projects"


Support the Flemish Red Cross' campaign on drinking water: donate to www.stubru.be and select your favorite song to play.
For the second time, the Flemish rock station hosts a 6day radio marathon to benefit a concrete solidarity action: our kind of music, our kind of action!

2007-12-05

In your Faeces! what do you do with YOUR shit?

Do you know where your water comes from?
What do you do with your shit?

2 prime questions: easy to answer? Check out this viral video by India's CSE (led by Sunita Narain).

Water - H20 = Life (exhibition in NYC)

In New York, check out the exhibition in the American Museum of Natural History: Water: H20=Life. Today, more than a billion people still cannot get enough safe drinking water to keep them healthy. This kind of water scarcity isn't just about too little rain-it's a problem of lack of funding, politics, infrastructure and sustainable use. The AMNH exhibit explores the many facets of water.

the World's Worst Toilet