THE END!
This is my final post! I have learned so much throughout this journey of blogging and it has been an enjoyable experience. It has taught me many things along the way, some of which were very shocking. Greenpeace is an incredible company and I plan to keep visiting their website in order to be informed on global issues, as well as becoming an active part of saving our world. I can do this by signing petitions on their websites which I already have been doing. I hope all of you were inspired by my blog and plan to do the same as me.We only have one earth, so we must do everything we can to preserve it- before its too late..

"Only when the last fish is gone, the last river poisoned, the last tree cut down... will mankind realize they cannot eat money."- Greenpeace

Pictures are worth 1000 words.....




For many years, Greenpeace has been campaigning for countries to switch to more energy-sufficient light bulbs. In February 2009, India with a population of 1 billion made an agreement to changed about 400 million wasteful incandescent bulbs to CFLs (a more environmentally friendly light bulb) by 2012. By doing this it will save about 55 million tonnes of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere. Other countries that have also joined in on this legislation is Australia, Ireland and Argentina. Some of these countries even plan on banning these wasteful incandescent bulbs. If the whole world followed in India’s footsteps it would be equal to shutting down around 220 coal-fired power plants- cutting down a large amount of emissions. Using the Kyoto protocol, India was also able to make the CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs) the same price as incandescent bulbs, so ordinary people can be part of this light bulb revolution. Next time you are going to buy light fixtures make sure you use light bulbs that are environmentally friendly. Remember, the change starts with you!

The picture is an AD that relates incandescent
lightbulbs to death in the form of a hanging rope

We lose 1.5 acres of Rainforest every second, that’s an enormous amount! And now the Brazilian Senate approved destructive changes to the laws governing forest protection. This is called the Forest code and with these new changes even more destruction is going to occur. Even though we don’t live near the Amazon Rainforest it is vital to our survival, without it we would endure a huge loss. It is home to 1 out of 10 species on the planet and is a huge carbon storage system. If deforestation of the Amazon doesn’t stop it will “transform the Amazon into part of the problem instead of part of the solution”. The emissions from the destruction would increase global temperatures (because there will be no trees to filter the air), and forest fires in the area would increase as well. This new Forest Code that the Brazilian Senate is trying to get approved reduces the size of the areas that are protected, weakens protection laws, and pardons people who deforested illegally. But there is some hope to save the beloved Rainforest, and that is through the President of Brazil- Dilma Rousseff. She has the power to veto this code, and the only way she will know that we care is if we send her a message. I already signed the petition, and you can too at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/amazon/Tell-President-Dilma-Rousseff-to-veto-the-new-Forest-Code-bill/?thingstodo

Have your voice heard and make a difference!

Did you know that it takes 90 years to grow a box of Kleenex? The company Kimberly-Clark who are makers of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle, clearcut ancient boreal forests in North America to manufacture their products. The Greenpeace Kleercut campaign began in November 2004 and successfully ended in August 2009. Previous to the victory, inside a box of Kleenex were ancient boreal forests which are home to endangered species and they are also a massive carbon storehouse. Throughout the 5 years there were 50 arrests worldwide, scientific reports, media engagement and much more to raise awareness and support of this campaign. Greenpeace added this to their long list of victories when Kimberly-Clark agreed to one of the world's strongest paper policies. "Implementation of the policy will lead to protection of the world's most endangered forests, increased support for sustainable forest management through Forest Stewardship Council certification and the increased use of recycled fibre in Kimberly-Clark products”. This contract also helped create the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, which is made to protect 72 million hectares of forest (twice the size of Germany). So next time you reach for a Kleenex, remember to choose a brand that cares about the environment and not only their profits. Here is one of the many advertisements Greenpeace created for this issue- to raise public awareness.

Would you break the law in order to save our planet? The people part of Greenpeace never think twice, and sometimes as a result of their peaceful protests they are arrested. Just recently on June 14, 2011 eighteen arrests were made in Greenland. These people were protesting the drilling of an Arctic oil rig, and did this by climbing on the equipment- so that they were unable to drill. This incident not only ended with the arrests but also a court date, which the oil company will try and sue Greenpeace for the money the wasted for not letting them drill (about 4 million per day). In Australia on September 27, 2010 several Greenpeace activists were arrested for labelling the baby formula, “S-26 Soy” as genetically modified. They went to a supermarket to label the baby formula in order to make parents aware and give them the right to chose. Sometimes these activists even put their own life on the life, an example of this is when eleven climate activists climbed Mount Rushmore in January 2010 to put up a banner with a direct message to the president. They wanted Obama to take more leadership on the issue of climate change, and for this they were sentenced to community service as well as expensive fines. There are many more stories about determined activists being punished for the peaceful protests. I wonder, would I ever risk that much to save the planet? For now I’ll keep contributing by signing petitions, living a “green” lifestyle, and making others aware of the issues.

Greenpeace relies on their ships as a way to witness and take action against environmental destruction. They have 3 different types of ships called the Rainbow Warrior, the Artic Sunrise, and the Esperanza. This organization also has a number of inflatable boats, which are often the most effective at sea. Greenpeace began its first journey on a boat in 1971, where a small group of activists sailed to Amchitka, an island off the coast of Alaska. They wanted to stop a US nuclear weapons test and raised the money for this mission through a concert. In 1978, Greenpeace acquired their first vessel with financial aid from WWF, (World Wildlife Foundation) and they called it the Rainbow Warrior. Just starting off as an organization, Greenpeace had many difficulties with finances, like how they were going to pay for fuel, legal issues and shortage of equipment. In 1985, they switched the diesel engine for sails- which is much more environmentally friendly. In the same year, the ship was bombed by French secret service agents while they were protesting French nuclear testing in New Zealand. One member of Greenpeace (a photographer) died as a result of the bombings. The organization was still practicing the same peaceful protests as they do today, however the French decided to use a deadly force. After the bombing, the second Rainbow Warrior took its place, which had many victories to its name. October 14, 2011 was the day the 3^rd Rainbow Warrior began its journey. This ship is very reliable and unique, as it is one of the most environmentally-friendly vessels (biological treatment of sewage and grey water, biological treatment of sewage and grey water, biological treatment of sewage and grey water, just to name a few). All of their ships are on constant missions to make our world a better place through peaceful actions.

I keep on learning new things while writing this blog, how producing clothing can create toxins in the water, website data centers emit greenhouse gases, and now how there are even worse gases produced by refrigerants. You all should know that the main greenhouse gas that causes climate change is CO₂ which comes from car and factory emissions. However refrigerants that are used to cool our cars, stores and of course refrigerators are the ones that have an even worse impact on the climate. These gases are known as HFC’s- hydro fluoro carbons part of a group called F-gases. Releasing a little amount of this gas has a much a greater impact on the environment than a large number of CO₂ emissions. In 1992, Greenpeace launched “Greenfreeze” which is a natural. F-gas free refrigerant. Greenfreeze has been used for over 20 years around the world, everywhere except for the US. They were made illegal in America because it wasn’t certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

It was not certified because companies who created the HFC’s for refrigerants were protesting against the use of Greenfreeze because it would effect their profits. Like all companies, they were worried more about money than our precious planet. Just recently, the US Environmental Protection Agency finally approved the use of Greenfreeze through persistent Greenpeace campaigners. Over 600 million “greenfreeze” fridges have been sold worldwide which is equivalent to taking 4.5 million cars off the road. However, this technology has not been set in place everywhere and Greenpeace is petitioning to get rid of all HFC’s by 2020.

GO TO WWW.GREENPEACE.ORG/F AND SIGN THE PETITION!

Through the unfriending coal victory, Facebook and Greenpeace might be able to send a message to other companies to become more environmentally friendly. Greenpeace has created a report called “How dirty is your data?” which is the first report ever made on energy choices of companies such as Akamai, Amazon.com (Amazon Web Services), Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo. In the last decade, the Internet has become a way of life- its where we post pictures, send emails, read the news, and much more. All this information must go somewhere, the data centers which are full of computer servers. These servers are run on huge amounts of electricity- “if the Internet was a country, it would rank 5th for the amount of electricity usage”. The data centers are found all over the world and mostly use nuclear and coal as their source of energy. Below is a report card of the companies and how they rank on being “green”. Hopefully in the near future, they follow in Facebook’s steps and commit to 100% renewable energy.

When we think of our environmental footprint we usually think about how we commute to work, if we recycle and how much water we use. But we never take into consideration how much energy we use when we surf the web or even use our Facebook profile. Facebook is the social networking site that is used by over 800 million people worldwide. In February 2010 the company announced that they were going to build a massive data centre in Oregon, US. The electricity for this centre was going to rely entirely on coal, the dirtiest source of energy in the world and the largest source of global warming pollution. Greenpeace, in April 2010, began campaigning for this company to drop coal and commit to 100% renewable energy. Facebook is a giant corporation which has the power to choose clean sources of energy to become a climate leader. Previously when Facebook users complained about the privacy settings, changes were made. So Greenpeace decided to use the same tactic by “greening facebook from within”, by providing awareness of this issue and gaining the support of the websites users. After 20 months of negotiation and hard work Facebook has agreed to run on clean, renewable energy. Over 700,000 people helped make this possible by using the Internet to voice their opinions.

*FUN FACT: Campaign supporters even set a Guinness world record (for the most Facebook comments in 24 hours).

"A small group of determined and like-minded people can change the course of history"- Mahatma Gandhi

This quote to me is exactly what describes Greenpeace. However in order to save our precious planet, they need your help as well. There are many simple ways you can help such as: running your own campaign, making your life a little more greener, donating and volunteering. They make it very simple to get involved on their website: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/getinvolved/

You can also follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube!

DETOX OUR FUTURE. Water is the world’s most threatened essential resource and in China as much as 70% of their water is affected by water pollution. Clothing brands such as H&M, Adidas, Lacoste, Nike and textile factories in China are threatening this resource by releasing hazardous chemicals into the water. These chemicals break down in water and create toxins which harm humans and the environment. Not only do these chemical get into the water system through dumping by the companies, but also by the shoppers. As consumers of these products, we unknowingly spread water pollution by washing our new clothes. Starting July 2011, Greenpeace began working on making the world’s largest sport brands to have a toxic-free future. They succeeded by having Puma, Adidas and Nike to commit to completely eliminating hazardous chemicals by 2020. H&M also joined these companies, but they went one step further by agreeing to publicise information about chemicals being released by their suppliers to promote awareness of this issue. “H&M’s landmark commitment has the potential to be a catalyst for wider change across the fashion industry”. From this story and the toy company story we see that Greenpeace has a huge impact on our world as they create awareness and change to better our world.

"Barbie, It's over! I don't date girls who are into deforestation."- famous words from one of the most famous dolls, Ken. Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie, is the largest toy company in the world and who were previously linked to APP- the notorious pulp and paper company responsible for destroying Indonesian rainforests. However, due to the efforts of Greenpeace they completely dropped deforestation. To get people interested and aware of this issue, Greenpeace created a feud between the famous couple of Ken and Barbie. This public altercation included a twitter feud between the couple, inappropriate photos of Barbie carrying a chainsaw, and over half a million emails sent to the company. The strong responses from activists using social media such as facebook and twitter completely contributed to Mattel becoming a more environmentally friendly company in October of 2011. Their new policy of removing rainforest destruction from its supply chains influences other companies to do the same.

When we were little we all loved playing with toys, and were so excited when we got a new Barbie or a Lego figurine. There was no time to waste- the packaging was ripped right off and we began to play. However, no one ever thinks about this useless packaging that is destroying our rainforests. Companies such as Mattel, Disney, Hasbro and Lego use rainforest fibre from Indonesia. This fibre is linked to the infamous and largest pulp and paper company, APP who operate in Indonesia. This company uses mixed tropical hardwoods (MTH) to produce high-quality pulp that they use for the glossy and print packaging. “It’s estimated that about 20% of the fibre going into its pulp mills comes from clearance of natural forest”, and the rest comes from plantations. Greenpeace investigated this issue and found that the toy companies I previously stated all use APP paper for their merchandise. Packaging for these toys destroys rainforests which include many habitats for animals, such as the endangered Sumatran tiger. Greenpeace provided links on their website as an easy way to contact these toy companies. The toy companies started dropping deforestation one by one and this was only possible through the efforts of Greenpeace and people around the world. The companies such as Disney, Hasbro, Lego, and lastly Mattel (in which I will go into greater detail in my next blog) have all taken up environmentally friendly ways of packaging.

Greeenpeace has created many "advertisements" to raise awareness for the environment. In this illustration it shows a man cutting down a tree, in addition the tree is in the shape of a nuclear explosion. They are trying to send a message that deforestation is as destructive as the catastrophe in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945-atomic bombings).

http://blog.humanityy.com/en/greenpeace-ads

Everyone states that they care deeply about the environment, but do nothing about it. I believe that we should all be focusing on taking care of our world because once it is destroyed we can never get it back. Most of us, including myself, do not change our words into actions. However, there is a non-governmental organization that does this for us and they are called Greenpeace. The main focus of this organization is to change the attitudes and behaviours of the world, conserve the environment and to promote peace. They try to complete these goals by:

• Catalyzing an energy revolution
• Defending our oceans
• Protecting the world’s ancient forests
• Working for disarmament and peace
• Creating a toxic free future
• Campaigning for sustainable agriculture

Greenpeace has been working against environment degradation for 40 years and has made a lot of progress. Throughout this blog I will be telling you about there many victories and about their current objectives. I chose this topic because I want to learn more about the environmental problems we face in our world today and how we, the general public, can help. I find this organization very interesting as they do not use violence and there message still comes across. They mainly centre around the issue of the environment and in university I plan to go into this field. Blogging about something that I find very interesting will make this experience enjoyable. I hope to learn many new things from my own blog as well as my other classmates’ topics.