i am officially(ish) a working cog in the massive pinwheel of environmental protection that is
greenpeace.
i say (ish) due to the fact that my continued employment with the orginization is not a til-death-do-us-part type relationship unless i score a total of 3 new members in the next 3 days. so, there's an ish.
i'm working on it.
day one (or jour un, for my french canadian sisters and brothers) was a successful venture for the most part. a little too much paperwork for my taste, but hey, it's still america.
after a rousing interlude with tax forms and emergency contact lists ("someone, somewhere out there cares about you. please just write down their name and phone number.") we moved on to some of the more pressing, and exciting matters.
such as:
deforestation:
- only 20% of the world's ancient forests remain intact. they are not renewable, yet most of our breathable oxygen comes from these forests, which we are tearing down like they're on sale at macy's.
- the indonesian "paradise forest" is burned down at a rate of 4.5 MILLION (MILLION) acres per year, to plant palm trees. yes, palm trees.
- due to the cataclysmic destriction of their habitat, there are only about 10,000 orangutans left in the entire world. again, for palm trees.
- indonesia, which is roughly the size of 2.5 times the state of texas, is the number 3 largest contributer to global warming. mostly, due to the burning of ancient forest. for palm trees.
and the obvious, global warming.
- climate change WILL eliminate about 70% of all life on earth in the next century. and yes, boys and girls; that includes humans. that would account for the largest extinction of all time. not even dinosaurs can touch that one.
- the US accounts for 5% of the world's population, but contributes 25% of the world's pollution.
- US congress has yet to lift a finger to combat global warming. the only bill ever to cross the floor had high expectations, but was disolved soon after "special interest groups" in Washington spent $80 million dollars in FIVE MONTHS to weaken and dislocate it.
- say goodbye to polar bears. they have about 20-40 years left of existence. if they're lucky. more realistic numbers are in the 7-15 year range. the melting of polar ice is creating a desperate trend of slow starvation amongst them. polar bears are some of the most paternal animals in the wild, but they have actually been spotten cannibalizing their own young to survive.
and why?
if you have an answer to that question, i would really love to hear it.
note:
this is not an acceptable answer
after this, we took a break for lunch and to digest both food babies and information. personally, the thought of polar bears eating their infant young left me without much of an appetite.
after some more super-secret-society greenpeacisms we watched
this awesome video, which i have already whored all over the internet at this point, which will not stop me from doing it here.
and now, here i am, safely at home, eating bananas and dreaming of polar bears and toilet paper.
i will say that before my interview and even orientation, i really had no idea what a long and impressive list of achievements
greenpeace actually has. i mean, we all know the name (*unless you're my mother.) but do we really know what they do?
good question.
and now, a short list of greenpeace actions that i had no clue about before today, but was always secretly thankful for.
April 3, 2006: After months of pressure, consumer actions, online activism and more than 100,000 emails from Ocean Defenders everywhere, seafood suppliers Gorton's, Sealord and parent company Nissui withdraw their active support for Japanese whaling.
March 9, 2006: Electronics giant Hewlett Packard commits to a phase out plan for a range of hazardous chemicals in its products.
February 14, 2006: An area twice the size of Belgium has been given greater protection in the Amazon after a Presidential decree. The decree by President Lula of Brazil to create the 6.4 million hectare (around 16 million acres) conservation area is a great victory for the people of the Amazon battling land grabbers, cattle ranchers and loggers. The decree calls for around 1.6 million hectares to be permanently protected and totally off limits to logging and deforestation.
February 7, 2006: Take 10 years of difficult, dangerous, and at times, heartbreaking work. Add thousands of activists from around the world - some who sent emails, some who stood on the blockades, some who voted against destruction with their wallets, some who were beaten, some who were sued, some who were arrested. But eventually common sense has prevailed and one of the world's treasures, the Great Bear Rainforest, is saved from destruction.
Noveber 28, 2005 - The Swiss vote no in a referendum to determine whether or not genetically engineered (GE) crops and animals can be grown in the alpine nation during the next five years. Their verdict in each and every one of the three main languages was the same - nein, non, no, to GE.
July 5 , 2005- Bad Barbies, toxic Teletubbies and rotten rubber ducks could have been slowly poisoning small children. The very chemicals that made these toys so soft and tempting to teething toddlers have been shown to damage organs in animals. But the European Parliament has banned manufacturers from using six of these toxic chemicals, freeing Europe from many toxic toys for good.
October 22, 2004: A decade of lobbying, scientific research, and direct non-violent action by Greenpeace and environmental groups around the world comes to fruition as Russia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol, bringing to force the world's sole global effort to address the dangers of global warming.
June 22, 2004: Unilever, Coca Cola and McDonalds promise to phase out climate killing chemicals in their refrigeration equipment. In 1992, Greenpeace launched Greenfreeze with the help of two scientists who pointed out how to avoid HFC's altogether.
June 1, 2004: Iceland steps back from plans to kill 500 minke, sei, and fin whales over two years, announcing a quota of only 25 minkes for the year. Greenpeace web activists fueled domestic opposition by gathering 50,000 worldwide signatures of people who pledged to visit Iceland if the government would stop whaling. With a potential value of more than US$ 60 million in tourist spending against a whaling programme, which generated $3-4 million in profits, the pledge dramatically illustrated that whales are worth more to Iceland alive than dead.
February 18, 2004: The Stockholm Convention comes into force following years of lobbying by Greenpeace and other environmental organisations. A key feature of the Convention calls for the elimination of all persistent organic pollutants. They include intentionally produced chemicals, such as pesticides and PCBs, as well as by-products such as cancer causing dioxins that are released from industries that use chlorine and from waste incinerators.
February 15, 2003: Thirty million people worldwide hold the largest anti-war protest in the history of humankind.
2001: After years of negotiations and pressure from Greenpeace, a global agreement for the elimination of a group of highly toxic and persistent man-made chemicals (Persistent Organic Pollutants or POPs) becomes a reality in May 2001 when a UN treaty banning them is adopted.
2000: Turkey's plans to build its first nuclear reactors at Akkuyu as part of a larger project to construct 10 reactors by the year 2020, is finally cancelled in July after eight years of campaigning by Greenpeace and others. The only remaining market for all major western nuclear companies is China.
2000*: The Biosafety Protocol is adopted in Montreal, Canada. It aims to protect the environment and human health from risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by controlling international trade of GMOs. Greenpeace has campaigned to stop the irreversible release of GMOs into the environment and to protect biodiversity from genetic pollution since1995.
1999: Nine countries ban the use of harmful phthalates in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) toys for children under three and the EU introduces an "emergency" ban on soft PVC teething toys.
1997: After campaigning for urgent action to protect the climate since 1988 by Greenpeace and others, ministers from industrialised nations adopt the Kyoto Protocol agreeing to set legally binding reduction targets on greenhouse gases.
1996: The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is adopted at the United Nations.
1994: After years of Greenpeace actions against whaling, the Antarctic whale sanctuary, proposed by France and supported by Greenpeace, is approved by the International Whaling Commission.
1994: Greenpeace actions exposing toxic waste trade from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries culminate in government negotiation of the Basel Convention banning this practice.
1993: The London Dumping Convention permanently bans the dumping at sea of radioactive and industrial waste worldwide.
1985: French nuclear testing in the South Pacific again becomes the subject of international controversy, particularly following the sinking of Greenpeace's ship, the Rainbow Warrior, by the French Secret Services.
1983: The Parties to the London Dumping Convention call for a moratorium on dumping radioactive waste at sea. As a result of Greenpeace's repeated actions against ocean dumping, this is the first year since the end of the second world war when officially no radioactive waste is dumped at sea.
1978: Greenpeace actions halt the slaughter of grey seal on the Orkney Islands, Scotland.
1975: France ends atmospheric tests in the South Pacific after Greenpeace protests at the test site.
1972: After the first Greenpeace action in 1971, the US abandons nuclear testing grounds at Amchitka Island, Alaska.
okay, so maybe the list isn't that short. but believe me, i tried to include only the most important. i don't think you'd want me to continue with the other 83 pages or so, so this should do.
tomorrow begins... early, to say the least. and i've got a lot of green homework to get done around here instead of inventing tasty dessert specials. so, that about does it for me today!
stay tuned for jour deux: return of the dirty hippie.
[end]
