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From sojourners:
“We can’t let little countries screw around with big companies
like this - companies that have made big investments around the
world.”
- a Chevron lobbyist, who asked not to be identified, speaking
about a lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of indigenous
Ecuadorian peasants over the dumping of billions of gallons of
toxic oil wastes into their region’s rivers and streams. Chevron
is pressuring the Bush administration to eliminate special trade
preferences for Ecuador if its government doesn’t quash the
case.
(Source: Newsweek)
Could it be true that the expansion, or indeed explosion of mobile phone use is killing off bees?
The honey bee, bumble bee and other pollinators are vital to human survival, an apocryphal quote sometimes attributed to Einstein claims that humans would have four years of life left if the bees died out.
But for the last few years, the bees have been dying out, as the condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) takes its toll on the hives and colonies that support our native bee population.
As yet we dont know why CCD, which leaves abandoned hives in a Marie Celeste type condition, takes place - various explanations have been proffered from insectisides (I wrote about this for Organic life a couple of years ago), to fungi, and also to mobile phone masts.
Some suggest that the fact that bees navigate using magnetic particles in their bodies, may mean it is possible that radiation could interfere with this navigation process.
Some dramatic evidence - albeit limited - of the effect that DECT radiation (the type given off by masts and portable phone base stations) is available here in a document which gives the results of a study carried out by german academics.
The report chronicles an experiment with four bee hives, in which two were exposed directly to a DECT base station, which emits a similar kind of radiation as a mobile phone mast.
In each case, bees were selected from the hive, and released 800 metres away - in the case of the unexposed behives, lots of bees quickly returned to their hive.
But in stark contrast, in the hives which had been fully exposed, none or only a few bees returned and much more slowly.
Not only this, but in the exposed beehives, there was significantly less honey comb constructed, and that was of a lower weight or density than in the unexposed hive.
Given this evidence, is it time we reconsidered our massively widespread use of mobile phones? Or at least called for a in depth examination of the potential effects?
The increasing awareness of the fact that people around the world are starving, and its partly our fault, is leading more and more of us to recognise that we need to change our eating habits.
Most of the publicity at the moment is going towards the demonisation of bio fuels, which we already know are in danger of being described as a crime against humanity.
That is good, we have to acknowledge that switching from petroleum to bio fuels isnt enough, we must cut our consumption instead.
But we also can no longer ignore the issue of meat. My opinions on the future of meat eating are already clear, and I feel there is a growing ground swell of opinion which is supporting this view. George Monbiot writes today about the need to cut our meat consumption - he tried veganism for 18 months apparently, and turned grey… I’ve never been a vegan, but I’ve been a vegetarian for many years now, and am full of health!
Monbiot advocates what I call the ‘meat as treat’ solution: “The only reasonable answer to the question of how much meat we should eat is as little as possible. Let’s reserve it - as most societies have done until recently - for special occasions.”
Amen brother.
Meat production is hugely damaging to the environment, and continuing to over consume it is just not a viable option. It is not true to say that all cattle are grazed on grass land and so they arent harming grain stocks, which is an excuse I have heard some give. Apart from the methane emissions alone, which are huge, cattle account for a vast amount of grain and water consumption per kilo of beef.
Even for those who can write of environmental concerns as less important than human concerns, this has got to be a big issue - all over the world people are starving and food riots are happening. We need urgent action on this, if you eat meat, please consider your posistion. If you are a Christian and you eat meat, then that’s doubly true.
I have this real fear that should Barack Obama win the American election, the whole situation in Cuba could come crashing down. Essentially I am saying that the blockade of Cuba, has been one of the key factors in preserving the country from the ravages of capitalist exploitation.
I know that this doesnt make sense in terms of my feelings about the blockade generally, basically I oppose it, I think its an act of war on America’s part.
But what it has done is stabilise and bolster a number of things in Cuba, one of them being a growing environmentalist way of life, including widespread organic gardening and etc.
Should Obama win (of which more in a later post) I think he will possibly make moves to remove the blockade. If that happens, there is likely to be an economic explosion in Cuba, from increased tourism and export revenues, which could seriously threaten the eco system there.
Some people ask how Cuba became green, the answer is beguilingly simple.
Following the collapse of the old Soviet bloc at the end of the eighties, Cuba’s economy was thrown into crisis. Their markets and cash evaporated as one time communist allies became capitalists. Everything went, including supplies of agricultural chemicals.
Most people assumed that Cuba too would cave in, the Americans certainly did, tightening their blockade in the hope of squeezing them a bit more.
But instead something remarkable took place, and Cuba, instead of collapsing, underwent a different sort of transformation.
Responding to the lack of agri chemicals and shortage of imports, they began to grow food organically, and implemented one of the most progressive organic agriculture policies the world has ever seen.
The whole nation worked together to adopt a more sustainable way of life, now urban gardening, renewable energy, and permaculture practises are widespread. International support has boosted Cuba’s ability to survive and even thrive despite the blockade.
Could all that be about to change? I really hope not. As much as I despise the blockade, and all that it means, I recognise too that it has helped preserve Cuba from capitalism, and find alternative ways of living, which are the kinds of things the ‘developed’ western world, are now beginning to take seriously decades later.
The maverick Scientist James Lovelock, who has consistently been the outspoken forerunner of climate change science was interviewed in the guardian at the weekend.
I’ve only just got round to reading it, and as is to be expected from the original science malcontent, it makes rather grim reading for those of us who are keen to make an impact on the world.
Lovelock’s view is that we have gone long past the tipping point in terms of climate change. There is no point in making the kind of consumer lifestyle changes that are promoted - switching to renewable electricity and so on.
His view is that in the next few decades there will be dramatic climate changes which change the face of the world, desertising parts of Europe, flooding parts of London, so on and so forth. There are also suggestions of a flood of immigrants coming here as climate refugees, and the notion that we may need to synthesise food… The latter I recongise is already with us, the first smacks of the fears of an old man.
Rather than advise us to cut our emissions or change our lifestyles, he says: “Enjoy life while you can. Because if you’re lucky it’s going to be 20 years before it hits the fan.”
At the same time as finding these claims deplorable, I am also aware of the massive scale of change that is needed if we really are to change the world. It simply isnt enough for middle class people to recycle, and to buy freerange eggs. Either the majority of society needs to change their lifestyles completely, or else I fear Lovelock’s predictions are likely to come true.
Over the coming years wars really will be fought over food and water, nuclear power will have to be our main source of energy - with all of its risks. People will die on a massive scale and only those wealthy enough to protect themselves will survive.
The trouble is that I dont see many people really being willing to make the necessary changes in their lives. Why? Because we’re bound into a system that is so reliant on a growing economy, that it is impossible for us to opt out.
Our very governmental systems have evolved to promote the interests of those companies which bring in the wealth, we’re busy storing up treasures on earth.
There needs to be some effort put into fiding ways we can live outside of this structure, because unless there is a way, not enough people will make the shift, and then we’ll all suffer. More importantly the first ones to go will be those who deserve it least.
The UN has admitted what looks like defeat in the battle to keep global malnutrition at bay. Essentially the organisation has said that it just does not have the funds to feed the many starving people who require its help.
The reason? Commodity prices, which are sky-rocketing. People who were just outside of the hunger gap, are now unable to afford the basic foodstuffs they need.
“We will have a problem in coming months,” said Josette Sheeran, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). “We will have a significant gap if commodity prices remain this high, and we will need an extra half billion dollars just to meet existing assessed needs.”
“This is the new face of hunger,” Sheeran said. “There is food on shelves but people are priced out of the market. There is vulnerability in urban areas we have not seen before. There are food riots in countries where we have not seen them before.”
WFP officials say the extraordinary increases in the global price of basic foods were caused by a “perfect storm” of factors: a rise in demand for animal feed from increasingly prosperous populations in India and China, the use of more land and agricultural produce for biofuels, and climate change. (The Guardian)
Two of the big villains in all this - are meat and bio fuels. So its a stark reminder that simply switching to bio fuel for our cars, (or airlines) is no magic trick to save the world.
Its also a spur for those of us who claim that we must all eat less meat. The fact that to produce a kilo of beef requires many kilos of grain doesnt need a great deal of explanation, and it simply requires us all to cut back our meat consumption.
The upshot of all this is that the UN’s World Food Programme may well have to cut back food aid now, this in an era when we’re putting grain into our cars…
“the World Bank reports that the US has used 20 per cent of its maize production for biofuels and the European Union 68 per cent of its vegetable oil production. This change in usage has boosted prices, reduced the supply of these crops available for food and encouraged the substitution of other agricultural land from food to biofuel production.” The Financial Times.
Sobering.
Noticed any random trees popping up in the middle of previously paved areas? You could be witness to the actions of guerilla tree planters…. yeah I know, the concept has the air of silliness about it, and perhaps a whiff of futility, but the FOE initiative is aimed at highlighting the issue of illegal deforestation, and the widespread use of illegally logged timber.
So for a number of reasons, not least the anarchic part of my brain, I like this concept, and I happily encourage civil disobedience in such a good cause!
I think its fair to say that I’m not your classic royalist. What with being something of a republican and all… yeah that means something different in America, I know.
But I was fairly impressed by bonnie prince Charlie’s appearance at the alternative energy summit in Abu Dhabi - where he was beamed holographically! That’s pure star wars!!
I’m all for holographic monarchs, much better than real ones. It is not clear to me from this article whether Charlie (the young Chevalier) was speaking live, or it was a recording (I imagine it was the latter) - but its a jolly good way to avoid the air travel.
Interesting also to note his comments: “Scientists are now saying that the problem of climate change is now so grave and so urgent that we have less than 10 years to slow, stop and reverse greenhouse gas emissions. Common actions are needed in every country to protect the common inheritance that has been given to us by our creator…”
Cant disagree on that score Charlie boy - round one to you.
Politics of the environment have long been associated with hippies, ‘new agers’, wiccans and others who combine a reverence for the earth with spiritual aspects - the earth as divine for instance. But many people from many faiths and none recognise a spiritual aspect to care for the physical world around us.
Quite an interesting piece on the Guardian where a former Jain monk, turned anti Nuclear activist, turned enviro spirituality guru talks about his beliefs. I like the suggestion that those who say ‘you’re being unrealistic’ should evaluate where realism has got us all thus far. But I’m somewhat hesitant to agree with the whole of what’s said - mind you that’s true of most things.
I’m not into the gaia type theories, but I am interested in reflection of divinity in all of creation, and this should in my view be one driving force behind our care for the planet.
I am not a real student of Australian politics, and I suspect most people who read this stuff arent either.
But one thing (or rather one person) made me particularly interested in the outcome of the recent Aussie poll - and that was baldie old Pete Garrett.
I’m on record as being a fan of Midnight Oil, who I rate not just because of their guitar riffs and catchy lyrics, but because of the passionate social comment that lay behind much of their output. A few years ago when the Oils split up, Pete donned a suit and tie, and went into politics.
Now he’s the Australian minister for the environment. I reckon that can only be good news for the land down under. On the other hand of course, power has a funny habit of changing people, and my sincere hope is that Pete will stay true to his beliefs and principles.
I tried to get hold of him to interview him once, couldnt get through boo-hoo. I did see the Oils in concert though, and I thought they were excellent, even though Pete was wearing a jumper… not very rock and roll.
So I’m expecting a lot from the guy who said: “it belongs to them, lets give it back” and “don’t turn back the ships of freedom” amongst a myriad of other progressive, and environmental statements.
Come on Pete, I’m rooting for you.
music is often about loops anyway, so it makes poetic sense to have a guitar that is made of recycled stuff right?
This guy seems to be doing something very cool, although the prices are somewhat out of my range, plus of course there is the fact that I dont play the guitar to take into account…
He’s making guitars out of recycled polymers, often post consumer waste, saving stuff from landfill which is always a bonus in my book. Also not chopping down rainforest trees to make guitars has got to be regarded as a good idea… surely.
He’s even sourcing his pick ups etc from a british firm which manufactures in Devon, local sourcing see…
Well done Simon Lee, long may your expensive guitars be produced.
Did you know that of the World’s ancient forests, 80% have now been destroyed? And half of that amount has been in the last 30 years?
Me neither, until today. Read it on the guardian site of course - fascinating stuff, horrifying too.
Make no mistake, we destroy forests at our peril. Also, as someone who believes in a created universe (without specifying method) I believe that there is something very wrong with destroying our surroundings. Seems like our ever warming earth agrees with me.
Also didnt know that Russia is home to one fifth of the world’s total forest area! Blimey!
Episode 1.
Arriving in Phnom Penh in an aeroplane which had propellers on the wings – was not what I had expected. Having been delayed in Heathrow by two hours before setting off, when we made it to Kuala Lumpur there was precious little chance of making my connection.
Nevertheless dashing out of the plane, I found a man holding a sign saying transit to Phnom Penh – charging over to him I desperately asked where I should go for the Phnom Penh flight – he directed me to gate G10, and told me I would have to hurry.
Hurry I did, bowling along through the sedate ranks of travellers, already looking slightly dishevelled after an 11 hour flight, and finding suddenly that my bags were much too heavy to carry when running.
But within the 15 minute deadline I had made it to gate G10, flinging myself through the security with gusto, and presenting myself boarding pass in hand at the desk.
The Malay girl at the counter looked confused.
“You are going to Phnom Penh?” She asked.
“Yes!”
“From London?”
“YES!”
“This is not the gate for Phnom Penh. This is Phuket.”
I felt like I was going on a bear hunt… ‘You can’t go round it, you can’t go over it, oh no, you have got to go through it! Through the mud, squelch squerch, squelch squerch, through the river, splish splash, splish splash…’
Newly redirected to gate H10, I set off again, charging along like an out of breath red-faced animal, wild eyed and flailing. Reaching the gate I again attempted to breeze through security. But they found my contraband.
“I am sorry sir, we need to look in your bag”
“Yes, yes, ok, but please quick!”
They were not quick.
“I am sorry sir, but you can’t take this on the plane.” The stern security guard holds up the 120ml bottle of mosquito repellent purchased 13 hours before hand in Boots, in the Heathrow departure lounge.
I look at the guy…
“I bought that in Heathrow departure lounge!” I protest dimly.
“Nothing more than 100mls sir.”
“FINE!” I yell, grabbing bags and coat and sweatily heading towards the desk.
“Oh sir, you are late!”
“Yes, I know, I am on the delayed flight from London.”
“Oh sir, you are too late.”
“No! No I’m not!”
“Yes sir, too late.”
“But there’s the plane. I can see it!”
“Sorry sir, doors closed.”
“No! Please, please let me on the plane!”
“Sorry sir, you’re too late.”
“But, but, they sent me to the wrong gate… I ran all the way, but they sent me to the wrong place…”
“Sir, why didn’t you check?”
“Because I was running! And anyway, the guy wrote it on the boarding pass, look!”
“Very sorry sir. Too late.”
As I spoke I looked again at the plane, and saw the tunnel begin to retract from the doorway. At that point I realised the futility of my quest.
“My bags?” I bleated plaintively.
“Don’t worry sir, your bags are not on the plane.”
On hearing that, I was suddenly glad that I’m not either.
The next flight to Phnom Penh was leaving in 5 hours… via Ho Chi Min city.
“Great”, I thought, eating a chewy microwaved croissant, and trying fruitlessly to log on to the wireless signal to check email. I love it when wireless signal is partial… just enough to keep you trying, but not enough to actually do anything. So productive and encouraging.
Ho Chi Min was wet – dashing from plane to bus and later from bus to considerably smaller plane I could smell and hear the thunder and see the lightning crack above me.
“Great.” I thought. “Good flying weather.”
Despite the rather shaky flight I made it to a much drier Phnom Penh to be reunited with my baggage! Even better a friend turned up to take me to my hotel… where I checked in and slept the sleep of the dog tired traveller.
Easing myself through the first day I made it out to a friend’s house for a chat about business. In the early evening I got to a meeting with some friends which was great, and then headed off to meet a contact for a drink and a chat.
My drink and chat meeting went really well – we began to understand each other and things were feeling very positive, we come from pretty different points of view, he would probably describe himself as a bhuddist if anything, but I found myself agreeing with his comments about the problems concerning the church, and its triumphalist, imperialist approach to spreading the gospel.
As I stepped from the motorbike which took me back to the hotel, I noticed what seemed to be an unusual amount of activity in the street for the time of night. Heading up to my room I wondered again about what was happening outside.
Leaving the lights off, I walked to the window and looked out.
“That hairdresser’s is open unusually late” I mused, as I watched a group of young women mill around in front of the shop.
Then I watched as a motorbike rider pulled up outside the shop, and after a short conversation, one girl detached herself from the group, climbed on the back of the bike and rode off.
“Oh.” I thought.
For the next couple of hours I internally lamented the fact that the hotel I was booked to stay in for the next twelve nights was slap opposite a brothel.
Thinking that as a journalist I should attempt to document this outrage I held my phone up to the window, setting it on video capture mode I shot some footage of the girls milling around outside their workplace.
As I mused despondently on the tragedy of their situation in a country where the spectre of aids and other venereal disease looms large, and brutality is far from uncommon, I saw one of them glance up at the window where a dim glow was being emitted by the phone.
I withdrew it at once, feeling immediate shame at the fact that I was powerless to help these young women – and worrying that in filming them I had further commoditised their plight.
With the noise of the street and the sadness inside me I only got about four hours sleep that night.
Despite my lack of sleep, I managed to get to the shop, and internet café before being picked up from the hotel at 6.45 am.
After a brief moto ride, I jumped into the back seat of a slightly rusty Toyota pick up truck and headed out of the city.
There were eight of us in total – three people joined the original five, jumping in the back of the pick up, and clinging to the sides as we jostled through the traffic.
Looking out of the back window I saw one of the rear passengers was a young woman, and felt an immediate pang of guilt. Why was I sitting in the air conditioned interior when she was perched in the trailer?
At the next stop I made my move – “Would you like to go inside?” I asked, feeling noble.
After about five minutes of hurtling along the road, overtaking lorries and swerving to avoid rogue motorbikes, I no longer felt so noble.
I began to think of those games you play sometimes, when you have to choose who would be thrown out of a sinking boat. If you can only carry three people in the boat, and four people are in it, then who should be chucked out?
As the needle wobbled around the 80 mark, I began to think that while I may have done a good thing letting the girl take my place in the relative safety inside the car, I doubted my wife and kids would share my feelings should an accident happen.
I looked at my two companions in the trailer, both wearing motorbike helmets, and felt the inadequacy of my own floppy sun hat, as the brim slapped me in the eye.
I then began to wonder if my travel insurance would cover this kind of activity… somehow I doubted it.
A good chat at the village ended with me being given a bunch of picked cotton, which was very exciting. As we talked and laughed, me mostly laughing as I had no real idea what was being said for most of the time, I felt a sense of comfort and community. I watched puppies scamper on the ground nearby, and heard goats bleat from their small home a few feet away.
I began to wonder what would be for lunch, my usual vegetarian status had been updated to ‘freegan’ or ‘eat whatever I’m given’ setting as is usual when I’m travelling in places like this. Still my stomach doesn’t like meat, and doesn’t cope terribly well with digesting it these days.
Then one of my friends from the back of the pick up, who had come to teach the village kids, turned to me with glee. “Today they kill goat!”
“Oh good.” I thought.
The goat was surprisingly tender, although one piece that I had was suspiciously spherical. I managed to avoid the sour soup and stick with the goat, which was curried beautifully. The rice was local, and it tasted very good, my friends didn’t seem to mind that I ate mainly rice, leaving them to attack the goat curry and sour soup with gusto.
When I was a child we had goats. In my memory we lived in a kind of rural idyll – and I often long to go back to it. Our goats (the ones I remember) were called Nanny and Skippy. We didn’t eat them
One of them I recall eating washing from the line, and once or twice I remember one goat having an identity crisis and thinking it was a sheepdog, rounding up sheep in the pasture behind our house.
Our goats were, I’m sure, a bigger kind than the sort kept by the Khmer. Even so, I felt sentimentally sorry for the goats I saw living in a kind of goat prison, raised up from the ground on stilts. I have a fairly utilitarian view of these kind of animals, but I do like to see them kept in greater comfort.
I took another look at the goat prison, and felt a sudden jolt as I realised that one enterprising guy had managed to get out of the prison’s inner sanctum, and perch on the outside edge of the goat house, about ten feet from the ground.
I don’t think that goat would have any real problem jumping from such a height – they are such strong creatures. But this one was making no attempt at further escape. He just looked at me with deep dark eyes – lacking the confidence to take the next step which would lead to an attempt at freedom.
“Perhaps,” I considered, “He just has nowhere to go. No escape route seems open to him. Perhaps he lacks the necessary self confidence to go it alone, away from what he knows. He just feels trapped.”
In my mind the goat became the young prostitute who had gazed dimly up at the window the previous night. Meat for someone, a commodity, a possession for another. Lacking the escape route, the self confidence necessary to make a change – living a life that she is trapped in.
Arriving back in Phnom Penh after another two hours in the pick up trailer clinging on for grim death, I thought about the journey. I had clung to the side, feeling the peril of the journey, while one guy simply sat on the ice box they had taken for water. Seemingly unnerved by the perils of the journey, only occasionally did he lurch forward or back when we took a sharp turn or braked suddenly.
On the way back to my hotel I made a detour via a shop and bought some cotton wool to put in my ears and perhaps help me get some sleep that night.
Only when I got to my room did I consider the irony of having bought a bag of cotton wool balls, when I had just returned from the village with a bag of raw, organic cotton. “Ho hum.” I thought.
At the hotel I needed to pay for my room, taking the plunge and confirming the booking there for the remainder of my stay, I handed over the money. The manager gave me a sly glance.
“You want a girl? In your room?”
“Oh! No – no thank you!”
“Why not?”
“Um, well, I mean, I’m married!”
“Oh.”
I twisted my wedding ring around my finger as if for good luck, the manager gave me another sideways look, clearly unimpressed by my reasoning, and wondering whether to strengthen his pitch.
Before he got the chance I was in the lift and heading up to my room for a sound night’s sleep, wishing all the while that I’d been able to come up with a better off-the-cuff response.
an interesting post on treehugger goes some way towards explaining why meat is relatively cheap - although strictly speaking the stats they look at are applicable to the US not the UK, it is still worth looking at ways of cutting meat consumption here… I think I may have mentioned this before…
A strongly worded attack on Bio Fuels by Jean Ziegler (U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food) is reported on Treehugger, he has called for a five year moratorium on the use of bio fuels, something which George Monbiot also suggested some time ago.
But as far as I know Monbiot has never claimed that bio fuels are a crime against humanity! The idea is based on the fact that poorer people spend a higher proportion of their income on food, so food price rises hit them harder…
I wrote a few thoughts about bio fuels as part of a longer post on transport in the Green My World blog recently. Whatcha think?
an interesting thought from Rob Bell, ‘Green is the new seatbelt’… what he means is that a few years ago nobody wore a seatbelt, and nobody thought it was important to! Now it is illegal not to wear a seatbelt, and all of us - save a few die hards - recognise it’s a good idea.
his perspective is that in the coming years green will become the new seatbelt, the new thing we all recognise we need to do/become.
he’s probably right.
Is this undeveloped ground ripe for transformation into a cotton farm?
I sent out an email tonight about the cotton project I’m working on, given that I’m back off to Phnom Penh again in a couple of weeks, I thought I should try and update people.
For those of you who didnt get the email (my fault for certain!) I’ve pasted most of it below - happy reading.
First a quick catch up: About three years ago I was prompted to begin working on setting up a fair trade garment business in Cambodia. The vision for this enterprise was to enrich and empower impoverished people, make great clothes and make an impact socially and environmentally. This is part of what I see as taking the gospel – the good news of the Kingdom of God – to the many people who are least reached in the world. The bible tells us that the kingdom of God is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, there is no getting away from the fact that this affects bodies as well as souls!
Cambodia like many countries has many who live in dire poverty, and that has been made unusually bad in some situations, by the dreadful civil war which wiped out huge numbers of Khmer people, and set the development of the country back many years.
Anyway, the garment enterprise hit a number of obstacles. One of the key factors was that upon investigation, it transpired that none of the ‘ethical’ manufacturers in Phnom Penh that I met, were using materials which were totally ethically sourced. Instead they were relying on imports of poor quality materials, which had been produced in questionable conditions. In short – there were severe supply chain issues.
On investigating this further – I realised that the best way to take this project forward would be to start from the ground up, and work on developing the raw materials. In particular I could see the amazing potential offered by organic cotton production in Cambodia. I was inspired by what I saw of other organic cotton projects in other countries.
One particularly successful project was set up in India – the aim of that project was to alleviate the plight of small holder cotton farmers who were struggling for survival. The project’s stated aims were: “to address the problems of bankruptcy, rural-urban migration, deteriorating soil and water quality, crop vulnerability to pest attacks, and market access in an effort to create economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable livelihoods for smallholder cotton farmers. The objective of the project was to create more vertical supply chains to open the market for organic fair trade cotton.”
This project has gone on to be successful in every way – an evaluation survey of some of the small holders later found that: “90% reduced their indebtedness, 98% experienced less financial hardship, 58% saw a check in urban migration, and 100% attributed reduced incidences of illness in their families to the adoption of organic cultivation.”
You can read more about the Agrocel project here and visit their website too.
My aim is now to establish a project with similar redemptive qualities in Cambodia.
Last year I visited Cambodia again with some friends who were able to advise me on different areas of production. Together we visited potential sites for growing cotton, and made a number of contacts who were interested in helping with the project in different ways.
In particular we were taken to a village where some land is available for the start of such a project – it is peopled by former Khmer rouge soldiers. The village also has a school set up by an NGO to teach agricultural techniques. In some respects it seems like an ideal place to start the project.
This summer along with the rest of my family I visited Phnom Penh for a few days, and during this visit I was introduced to someone who had previously grown cotton successfully just outside of Phnom Penh.
At the beginning of November I will return again to Cambodia – this time for two weeks, to try and see if I can marry the diverse elements which currently exist together, and try and get some cotton growing. Of course this is only the first hurdle. Although there exists a huge market for Organic cotton, because there is currently none grown in Cambodia, finding someone either to buy the raw cotton, or to process it locally still remains a challenge. However this does not seem insurmountable – the possibility of seeing real transformation at a community level is getting closer!
I would like to ask you to pray for the project over the next few weeks – this is likely to be a crucial time.
After last year’s trip I ended up wasting a lot of time by being distracted - I don’t want to waste time like that again.
My hope is that through this project, and others like it, we can make a significant impact on the lives of people in desperately needy communities. Moreover, as Cambodia is heavily dependent on garment production for its export economy, and currently it imports all its raw materials – we could make a significant impact on the economy of the nation should organic cotton production take hold in Cambodia!
I’m some way out of my teens, but I still want to see the world changed – I hope you do too.
If you are willing to pray for this project, these are some points I’d like to ask for prayer on:1) That the links in the chain would fall into place – that none of those important links would be missing!
2) That funding would come through in order to pay for the materials and so on which are necessary if we are to get this thing started.
3) God’s grace for both my family and me, as we are apart again.
4) Wisdom and discernment as I deal with lots of different people – all with different motivations.
If you know of someone who might be interested in being involved in this, or another organic cotton project, then please direct them to me, a basic description of the project is to be found on the organic cotton project page of this site.
If you have any questions – about any aspect of this project, I’d be delighted to try and answer them.
I’m off to Cambodia again in November to see if we can move the organic cotton project on a bit - unfortunately I’ve just spent the best part of a year being led up a garden path by someone who shall remain nameless… he knows who he is… a lot of time has been wasted, and when you are dealing with very poor people, time is valuable!
So I think it’s back to where I left off, working on setting up a small community based project. I think I can get the seeds, the land too shouldnt be a big problem, the expertise is at hand, now the next stage is fiding someone who can process the stuff - no point in growing it if we can’t sell it.
I’m considerably happier about the idea of setting this up on a small scale again, it allows the project to be much more personal, and to have a real community level impact. Hopefully too it should be replicateable and scalable - in other words there should be some sustainability built in, something which is far from guaranteed when one works on a larger/commercial scale.
I am encouraged, although to be honest still annoyed at having wasted so much time on someone elses’ ego trip.
More as it develops… and yes I am looking for people who can process cotton on a small scale (or any scale) in Cambodia, so if you can help me in any way, please let me know!
It’s been great reading the guest blogs on backyard missionary from Jarrod McKenna - who has written eloquently about Ghandi - and the outworkings of what he said. The latest addition to the series is no exception!
McKenna seems an interesting an intelligent guy - and I was able to take a few minutes to read more about the work he does in Australia this morning. Seems like he’s in the same line as Shane Claiborne - the prominent activist from the US, and indeed the two reference one another here and there.
McKenna’s thoughts make inspirational and encouraging reading for anyone who wants to embrace the radical nature of the Christian faith - just as Shane’s book provides a good platform for those who want to learn what it means to live a Jesus following life - rather than just ‘be a Christian’. I did enjoy McKenna’s comment that if he were to write a book, it wouldnt be ‘how to live as an ordinary radical’ but rather “A how [not] to”.
McKenna also quips that: “Maybe our book would be called ‘The Resistible Revolution’ or ‘The Very Resistible Revolution’.”
I particularly like the focuses on peacemaking and community which both of these guys espouse - in my view this is integral to Christianity.
I would encourage anyone interested to read more about what Jarrod has to say in his guest blogs on bym, and to take a closer look at both the Simple Way community and EPYC in Oz.
on the today program the other day - last week actually - said: “societies have to make choices, as to whether they want more material well being, or more tranquility. They cannot have both.”
I think it came the same day as George Dubya made his ‘historic’ announcement that America was going to lead the ‘war on climate change’ or whatever he calls it, just so long as, that war on climate change doesnt impact on America’s material well being of course…
I have finally begun posting stuff on the green my world blog.
After setting it up, I had a crisis of confidence about how to approach the whole issue - whether to advocate small scale personal lifestyle changes, which have little effect in isolation, or to go for larger societal issues.
I opted for the former, as this was my original intention, and so I have now posted an article about something which has been described as ‘the single most effective thing that the average person can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions‘ - I have blogged around this subject before particularly after a post on Steve Taylor’s site. If you are interested to read more, my original post is here, and my follow up to Steve’s post is here.
The new green issues blog is beginning to take shape - green my world is the concept, here’s hoping it will help one or two people lessen their impact on the environment!
Feel free to post comments about subjects you’d like me to discuss, it will probably contain less of my opinionated ramblings, but they will of course continue here 
I am thinking of doing a new blog, entirely devoted to simple ways of greening up your life, I know there are others out there, but none of them are doing exactly what I am thinking about, so I may crack on with it in the next couple of weeks.
Watch this space - I’ll let you know how it goes on
well after a lightning fast visit to Cambodia, and an overnighter in Singapore, we’re now in the Phillipines, where I at last have decent internet connection again… but still nothing important to say 
Actually some interesting movement on the cotton growing front in Cambodia, where I met someone who has grown organic cotton on a small scale there, and is willing to get involved in a larger scale program, also great to see others of our friends there, who do incredible work with people who melt your heart.
We’re in the Phillipines for a fortnight on holiday, and I’ll blog some more while we’re here, but just to say that I heard from Wales that the celebration was awesome… still waiting for more details on that score.
Back soon!
I’m more and more fascinated with off grid living, perhaps because I’m in no danger of doing it.
I remember visiting my Aunty when I was a youngster, she lived in a bender, which is a house made of a tree bent to the ground, with a tarpaulin roof. It was kind of freaky and kind of fascinating at the same time.
Years later I had the opportunity to visit Mongolian nomads who live in Gers or Yurts, round felt tents, which they pack up and move with them.
I also enjoy wild camping, although I havent done much of that in the past little while.
Not far from where I live in Wales is a place called Tipi valley, where a lot of people live in alternative dwellings, be they Tipis, Yurts, cabins, caravans or whatever.
There is something very liberating about the idea of off grid living, but the reality of it can also be quite restricting, for me no broadband would be a real challenge for instance, and I dont have a wind up digital radio…
But off grid living does present a real alternative to the kind of overbuilt urban environments that dominate our society presently. Land prices for a bit of meadow or grazing land is vastly cheaper than prices for land with planning permission for residential dwellings, and an off grid dwelling can be constructed relatively cheaply too, so this could pose a potential answer to the lack of affordable housing out there.
This kind of way of life also is a much lower level of pollution, after all if you are using less, then you are emitting less.
But of course you’re up against the bureacracy which has no desire presently to encourage this kind of living… which is a shame. I remember learning about how madness is socially defined, if you dont go with the norms of society, then you can be called mad… which is a great way to control people huh.
more thoughts on this later… but you might like to read this article, by the guy who edits this website.
I came across this old post from Keith at under the acacias.
Perhaps due for an update, and maybe renaming: “wwjb - what would Jesus buy?”
I read on treehugger about this box which will eliminate our Co2 emissions from the exhaust pipes of our cars - so that’s a good thing isnt it!
Of course along the lines of what has been being discussed over at greenguy (et tu Kyb?) this has only limited value. Worst case scenario: “I can keep driving, consuming fuel as much as I like, because it doesnt pollute anymore… hoorah! Get the hummer out of the garage again!”
On the other hand, for those of us (including me) who still need to use a car from time to time, this could be a good way of cutting our footprint.
And nice to think that algae are doing something useful for once… instead of just being green scum!
is good, went to see it this morning with the girls, a lorra lorra laughs chuck, and with a somewhat less than po faced look at environmental destruction and the American way. Doh!
says that Monbiot is wrong about ethical consumerism. For what its worth, I say that the green guy is wrong. Read all about it!
One of the first things I learned as a tabloid reporter, was that people always want to assign blame. If ever there is a big problem, a killing, a disaster - the cry goes up: “who’s to blame?”
So its kind of inevitable that in the almost aftermath of the flooding that has dominated the summer people are already demanding to know whose fault this is. The government who ‘knew’ the danger was coming? The polluters who have ’caused climate change’? Who?
An article this morning says that scientists have found a human fingerprint on the flooding : “
Chris Huntingford a climate modeller at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, said: “It has now been confirmed that the burning of fossil fuels has altered rainfall patterns at the global scale. Next we need to understand how these observed large-scale adjustments translate to local changes in extreme rainfall events.
“These highly regionalised estimates of rainfall will be essential in aiding governments to prepare for what might, in some circumstances, represent dangerous climate change.”…”
I kind of wish the scientists would make their minds up. They used to tell us that climate change was going to leave us with wet winters and hot dry summers. My wife - a prescient person if ever there was one, has long declared she thinks the weather will become wetter in the winter, and wetter in the summer. She had no evidence for this claim. Until now
But the reality is that yes, there is more water in the atmosphere, but that hasnt made it rain in buckets. That is down to freak weather… these things happen every now and then. There is nobody to blame for the freak weather (unless a supervillain somewhere is controlling the weather) freak weather happens.
So what about the floods, are they inevitable? Well here’s the thing. Joni Mitchell sang: “they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot”, she could have sang: “they paved/concreted/decked/tarmacked paradise, and failed to maintain ancient ditches and dykes, which combined means that while there are lots of parking lots, there isnt anywhere for the rain to go.”
She could also have added that conventional farming techniques have damaged the soil structure, making it less able to hold water, which simultaneously means that we use more water than we should, and that when it rains the water isnt retained in the ground, and it puddles up instead.
The reality is that the kind of development we consider necessary to keep us at the dorefront of economic growth is not compatible with working hand in hand with nature. Its time more of us got hold of living in harmony with the earth, and quit paving paradise, and needing more parking lots…
George Monbiot has a good groan about ‘ethical consumerism’ which I have always said is an oxymoron - yes buy ethical products but only if you are going to cut your consumption overall…
The eloquent Mr Monbiot says it better than I: “…Green consumerism is becoming a pox on the planet. If it merely swapped the damaging goods we buy for less damaging ones, I would champion it. But two parallel markets are developing - one for unethical products and one for ethical products, and the expansion of the second does little to hinder the growth of the first. I am now drowning in a tide of ecojunk. Over the past six months, our coat pegs have become clogged with organic cotton bags, which - filled with packets of ginseng tea and jojoba oil bath salts - are now the obligatory gift at every environmental event. I have several lifetimes’ supply of ballpoint pens made with recycled paper and about half a dozen miniature solar chargers for gadgets that I do not possess…”
Cut consumption… lets not prat around telling everyone how green we are by consuming our way into the future!
I see on Treehugger that apparently a shrinking glacier is threatening the very existence of the Ganges, the holiest river in the Hindu religion.
I’m not sure what the effect of the drying up of the river would have on Hinduism, but I can imagine this will get a mixed response, some will doubtless say its prophetic, others will say it could prove a turning point for India’s attitude to climate change…
Interesting.