Charities Blog

Giving Something Back

Waste Trading Markets: Convenient Recycling

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I recently received an email with the following information regarding Waste
Trading Markets in my area. I think it is a great idea to get people recycling and hope that this kind of markets will come up in many more commercial areas. What do you think?

THE “WASTE” TRADING MARKETS!

Trade scrap paper for new (office/ mimeo) paper!

Trade used ink cartridges for new!

Sell your electronic waste (junk computers) and old /broken appliances!

Sell your used lead acid batteries! Redeem the following for cash:
PET plastic bottles and other plastics, aluminum/tin cans, scrap glass.

Drop off points also provided for junk cellphones, cellphone batteries, styrofoam…

These Waste Markets aim to make recycling convenient and accessible, especially for those who frequent commercial shopping areas, and also to show
that we all CAN make recycling a habit!

Please help spread the word to family, friends and colleagues. Ask around at your local community service offcice, or better yet, start one yourself. Proceeds of this can go to the needy – another fantastic way one person’s junk can help others!

Going green – Not always that environmentally Friendly (Part 2)

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solar2.jpgThe solar guy wins and the tree guy looses which is good for both but raises a moral question of who has preference over who? Both have legal environmental issues that they have tried to address and they have both done their parts in being as environmentally friendly. The courts were baffled with the said law which is now sure to get an upgrade for trees are more important in our efforts to improve air quality. Solar panels on the other hand are secondary band aid solutions and are assets which could be moved to new locations whilst the trees can be only moved by cutting them down. The solar guy wins and the tree guy has to cut down some of his trees to give way to solar guy’s need of ray’s but who’s right? This highlights the need for review of outdated laws which may or may not impact the environment as a whole and gives credence to outrageous defense by corporate lawyers in the event of environmental disasters. Many of them could have been avoided if only people have listened and done their part.
Why me, is a question many of us ask, well, you want to live and continue living? Do you want to eat, see your children grow up and many other questions to which we all know the answer to. It is time to pay attention and take part and to take a stand for something.” You have to believe in something for without it, you are nothing”.

You decide nature or man’s band-aid efforts to correct years of neglect?

Going green – Not always that environmentally Friendly (Part 1)

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solar1.jpgI had come upon a feature on CNN regarding the problems associated with some of the solutions that have been deemed as alleviating some of the pressures we exert on nature. Solar power has the ability to provide power off the grid (power that does not come from power plants that burn fossil fuel) and even sending some into it but the feature showed a clash of two neighbors regarding the trees that are natures own climate control experts and the next door neighbor who has an extensive installation of solar panels that have become blocked fro the sun due to the growing trees. As the story goes, the two neighbors have been at war with each other in attempts to protect each other’s interests one on the solar generation side and the other on the tree’s side.
As the argument goes, neighbor a planted several red woods in his backyard a few years ahead of his next door neighbor who installs and generates power using solar energy. As the years progress, each has done his own little part in contributing to the ever-growing pollution problem due to the burning of fossil fuel, one having trees that filter air and provide shade the other having power generation that does not pollute. The time came when the solar panels became overshadowed by the red woods which lowers their efficiency and does not maximize their power generation potentials. The neighbors go as far as the courts to find a little known law that was passed a few decades back that states solar power generation has the right to overcome shade and can have a court remove obstructions in certain cases.

Economics and Charities for Wildlife (part 2)

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Australia’s marsupials have long suffered from these introduced species that Bandicoots other indigenous animal life have almost been wiped out of their previous territories. Australia isolated a portion of its territory, fencing it and killing all non-native species that come in or near it to preserve and allow them to recover. In New Zealand, Kiwis(the flightless bird not the fruit) which has long been part of their cultural heritage have long been extinct in developed areas, thriving only in isolated islands where non-native species have been able to reach. In the Philippines, Sea turtles have long been used for food and commerce that the WWF through local groups and the government, have been working to establish sanctuaries to safeguard the beaches which they use for nesting from predators (dogs, cats and humans) patrolled by volunteers till the eggs hatch. The said volunteers aid the hatchling to the sea lessening the deaths that occur due to natural predation from sea birds.

The great elephants of Thailand are now beginning to receive protection with neglected ones being cared fro and rehabilitated for release into wildlife preserves. Orangutans in the Malaysian isles have been protected fro sometime with some headway in terms of breeding and the establishment of large enough rainforest to allow them to thrive and breed naturally.

All these species have been threatened and continue to be threatened by our activities, so much that some are already in the endangered species list. Many still suffer from poaching due to the huge demand for traditional medicine and cure-alls that efforts are making a small impact on the demand. The small steps we take towards a ecologically diverse and stable wildlife community should also include habitat that should be protected by their governments in order to prevent illegal activities. The West and their citizens have long promoted protection for animals and their habitat sometimes when they themselves experience them as tourists to these foreign lands. Locals too have been touched by the plight of these animals that they have banded with volunteers from other nations in the quest to preserve and protect our native species. To end it, all of us can do our share in the drive for the preservation and protection of animal species through donations and volunteer work. Check out your local wildlife centers for any needs and please donate to help them.

Economics and Charities for Wildlife (part 1)

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endangered.jpgAs we all know, awareness about nature is the sort of humane actions that has been helping wildlife all over the world for sometime now. The charities like the; World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), The UK’s Blue Cross and many others are all founded and based mainly in developed countries who have the financial might that allow their constituents to provide their time, expertise and have ample resources for funding that allow them to exist and continue working thought the hardest of times.

Many Asian countries boast some of the most diverse and untouched natural habitats the world over mainly due to the undeveloped nature of these countries. Less development means less pressure on nature in terms of habitat disruption/destruction and trade in wildlife/derivatives. Many animals have suffered due to the demand for animals that was first used for traditional Asian medicine that is now slowly being curbed by environmentalists who aim to educate the locals on how the loss of these native species would impact their environment.

The very slow development that has protected and allowed these animals (tigers, orangutans, birds, turtles and many other species) to thrive in peace has been shattered but rapid expansion and development of pristine areas for tourism and other commercial uses that habitat destruction is the most common result. Sea Turtles for example have a very low survival rate from the time they hatch to the time that they are sexually mature to reproduce that only about 2 in thousands will make the return trip to their nesting grounds (if they are still there that is). Those species that have been heavily studied and bred with the help of science are making a comeback but species like the fabled Blue fin Tuna which has eluded artificial propagation are still quite on the downhill in terms of numbers but research continues. The development of formerly pristine areas has also brought feral or introduced species such as cats, dogs, goats and pigs that destroy the habitat of native species even wiping them out totally from some areas.

More on the next post……..

Bindi To Continue Her Dad’s Wildlife Campaign

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Bindi, the 8-year-old daughter of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, made millions tear at her stoical speech during her father’s memorial service. Well, the brave little girl is now showing how she plans to continue her father’s legacy by becoming the front person of her father’s wildlide campaign, the Wildlife Warriors Charity.

The new campaign of the charity hopes to raise funds through the sale of green wristbands and dvds of Steve’s memorial service – the proceeds of which will go to saving endangered animals.

Michael Hornby, the Fund manager of the charity says that the campaign was planned and set in motion even before the untimely death of Mr.Irwin, and it will continue now, more than ever as Steve would have wished.

“It’s a project that was actually developed six months ago working with newspapers to try to find an opportunity to provide easy access for everyone to get involved with conservation,” he told ABC Radio.

“With the untimely passing of our good mate, Steve, I guess this project has brought on added meaning.”

[tags]Bindi Irwin,Steve Irwin,Australia,Environment,Wildlife[/tags]