Stories from Quick Reads and Environment
Cleaning Up the Coastal Areas of Singapore
Since 1992, the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore has been organizing activities to remove garbage from the beaches and mangroves of Singapore. Every year, about 1,500 volunteers are joining the cleanup events that are able to collect 60,000 pieces of litter.
Worst Drought In A Decade Hits Taiwan
As a subtropical/tropical island, Taiwan usually covers with wetness and green. However, last year, there were only two typhoons, the island is now facing the worst drought in a decade. Independent reporter Chu Shu Chuan reported that the storage of 12 major reservoirs is reduced to less than 50%, according...
Indigenous People, Afro-Colombians and Peasants Unite Against Illegal Mining in River Ovejas, Colombia
Despite threats, indigenous people from the Laguna Siberia, members from five different areas within the ancestral territory of Sat Tama Kiwe de Caldono, Afro-descendents from the La Toma Community Council and resident campesinos in the surrounding areas joined together to protest against illegal mining in the area of Río Ovejas...
Mining and Ecocide in Santander, Colombia
Illegal mining is a problem affecting the Colombian department of Santander, where residents have seen first-hand how extraction and other processes linked to mining cause pollution. The video below was produced by Corporación PODION, as part of the project “Caravan for the awareness and collection of complaints in defense of...
COP20: Responsibilities of Capitalism On Climate Change
The 20th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP20/CMP10) was held in Lima between December 1 to 12, and was chaired by the...
How to Reduce the Production of CO2 in Daily Life?
Rut Abrain reflects on her blog Esturirafi about one of the main cause of climate change: the production of carbon dioxide (CO2). In this sense, the blogger stresses out that not only factories, vehicles and planes produce CO2, but also each one of un in our daily lives. To have...
VIDEO: How Palm Oil is Causing Environmental Destruction in Indonesia
The team of Coconuts TV went to south Sumatra in Indonesia to document the impact of the burning of peatlands and forests to make way for the expanding palm oil plantations. The burning of forests in Sumatra is causing the displacement of endangered species in the island; and it also...
Lima Offers a Space for Reflection on Climate Change With the People's Summit
The Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change in Lima reunites social organizations, trade unions, indigenous communities and peasant groups.
Video: Amazon Indigenous Tribe Protests Hydroelectric Dam Construction
Indigenous people from the Munduruku ethnic group are fighting against the construction of the São Luiz do Tapajós dam in the state of Pará, Brazil. The dam will mean the flooding of 700,000 km2 in their homeland. The Brazilian Federal Government plans to build up to five dams in the Tapajós...
Do You Read Ecolabels When Shopping?
Rut Abrain Sanchez on her blog Esturirafi defines and identifies legal and volunteer product labels. Among the latter we find ecologic labels, “so manufacturers show us they are abiding by a series of requirements and for the consumer to be able to identify products environmentally more sustainable”. There are Type...
Do You Know What Sustainable Fashion Is?
After watching Sweatshop TV series, where three Norwegian youngsters travel to Cambodia to discover the miserable living conditions of garment industry workers, Rut Abrain reflects on sustainable fashion. Sustainable garments are those that take care of the environment on the electing their raw materials and their manufacturing processes. Likewise, those...
VIDEO: How a Laos Dam Project Could Endanger Communities in Cambodia
EarthRights International has uploaded a video about the threat posed by a mega dam construction in Laos to communities situated along the Mekong River in Cambodia. Laos and Cambodia are neighbors in the Southeast Asian region.
#ThrowAwayYourGum, Recycling Initiative in Argentina
In some streets of the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, pink boxes have appeared specially for bubble gum to keep public spaces clean. The gum collected can be recycled in items such as rubber boots and sandals, among other things. On Twitter, some users thought the initiative was a good idea,...
What is Your Carbon Footprint?
Today it is becoming increasingly common to hear about climate change, a topic everybody talks about but are rarely aware of its real impact. We've heard many times that we are all contributing to the destruction of the planet, but how can we know the footprint we are leaving behind? This...
A Mouse Amidst the Mist
First thing in the morning, amidst the mist that populates the waves in the township of Guetaría, a typical fishing village in the shores of Guipuzkoa (Basque Country), we can discern the shape of Mount of San Antón, which as we can see on J. G. del Sol Cobos in...
Hirotan Forest, an Increasingly Rare ‘Satoyama’ School Connecting Rural Japanese Kids to Nature
As farming communities shrink because of Japan's ageing population, parents in one rural community has resurrected a "satoyama" school to put their children in touch with the land.
Video Animation Explains How Principle of “Free Prior and Informed Consent” Can Empower Indigenous Peoples
The Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact has uploaded a video animation explaining the principle of “Free prior and informed consent” or how communities should have the right to decide for the development of their lands.
Peruvian Amazon Faces Cold Temperatures: Consequences of Climate Change
Peruvian journalist and writer Paco Bardales, comments with other colleagues the waves of cold weather, or friajes, that recently affected usually hot Iquitos. These weather phenomena have gone from sporadic, as the group remembers from their childhood, to more frequent and longer lasting, so much that the state agency Meteorology...
Will Trinidad & Tobago's Government “Listen, Learn & Lead”?
Blogger and public relations professional Dennise Demming is disillusioned with Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who claims to “listen, learn and lead”, but then takes action to the contrary. Demming first cited the example of the country's recent Constitutional Amendment Bill, with which, “despite popular objection, the Government...
Film Shows How a Malaysian Tribe is Stopping Loggers from Destroying their Land
Sunset Over Selungo is a 30-minute film documenting how the indigenous Penan tribe is defending the remaining rainforest of Borneo island in Malaysia. Borneo is the largest island in Asia. The film was made by independent British filmmaker Ross Harrison
Industrial Pollution Kills Hundreds of Wild Birds in Inner Mongolia
More than 500 dead wild water birds appeared in the lake areas of Inner Mongolia since this summer as a result of water pollution. The poisonous water, as reported by local herdsmen, came from factories from a nearby eco-industrial area. Annie Lee from China Hush wrote a photo feature on...
