Bleeding Earth
If you were to stand on a satellite orbiting the earth, everything would look like it’s at absolute harmony, the deep blue oceans scattered with its masses of brown and green land with cloud blankets hovering above them. Nothing would seem out of the ordinary except when you start to descend down towards it and touch down on the ground. On the surface is a totally different story, one of devastation and destruction.
Earth is in danger of losing what sets it apart from other planets, the existence of life. With everyday that goes by, some feature of earth or form of life is threatened of its existence by the phenomenon of global climate change and the avarice of man. In our callous pursuit of riches, we have abused our earths resources, endangered its inhabitants and raped the future of life.
Everyday, animals are affected as their habitats are lost to modernization, trees are cut down without remorse, skies are saturated with toxic chemicals and yet nothing significant is being done to stop it. Though we maybe the smartest species on earth and at the same time the dumbest, to have engineered our own destruction, we are lucky to have realized what we have caused.
We seriously have taken for granted everything we should spend so much time taking care of and conserving. Even now as you’re reading this, you’re using electricity that maybe generated by means of a thermal power plant, which pours pollutants into the air every second, thereby contributing to global warming. Has that ever occurred to you?
So now we are at a crucial pivoting point to what will become of life to come. We can either change our ways and counter climate change or we cant just let it be and rape the future for those to come after us. The choice is obvious, we have to stop the pollution and end the abuse of our earth because without earth there is no life.
The earth is bleeding today because we have abused it with our so-called change. So if it is change that started this, then it should very well be change that should end it.
Lasantha David
Beyond Borders
350 in Colombo
Let me begin by saying that October 24, fondly known to us BB-ites as World Action Day, or towards the end just The Day, was a great success. We had a great turn out, much more than we had anticipated or even hoped for, and everyone (I hope) had fun. We sure did. And our message came across loud and clear, and is up on the 350.org site to prove it!
We started off bright and early, and by bright and early I mean the crack of dawn, and gathered at the Wellawatte beach by 7am; quite a sight in our fancypants Go Green shirts! Tents were set up, plants were set up, bins were set up.. basically a lot of setting up, and by 7.30 we were ready, pens and folders neatly lined up, for the registration to begin.
The crowds began to come in around 7.45am; Interacters, Roteracters, HSBCers, individual volunteers and beach boys all lined up, and I use the term ‘line’ very loosely, for their gloves and bags to begin the clean up. For us at BB, one of the most important things about this clean up was that it should have some significance, some long term impact toward the environment. This is why we went to great lengths to ensure that it was not just a bunch of people haphazardly picking up trash but that the waste would be properly separated on-site, and handed over to the CMC to be recycled accordingly. So as the participants began their registration, we briefed them on the how-tos of a proper beach clean up, emphasizing on the importance of separating the degradeables from the non-degradebles, the need to pay special attention to the vegetation, and to avoid hazards like needles and drugs.
The clean up was well under way, with the clean up crew bringing in the garbage and our super efficient separation crew sorting it into paper, plastic, glass and miscellaneous, when the 350 event began. Special guests included Hon. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranawaka, the Director of British Council Gill Westaway, the Director of Press and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of the United States Jeff Anderson, Omar Kamil, Special Commssioner CMC, Justice CG Weeramanthri, Roshan Gunawardena from the CEA and Anjali Watson from the Environment Programme CHA.
After a round of ice breakers, introductions to Beyond Borders, Project Act and 350, the signing of the pledge “I pledge to ACT wherever, whenever and do whatever to help Srilanka GO GREEN”, the demonstration crew left with their placards and banners to create a stir on the main road. More on that when I manage to bribe a demonstrator in to writing about what happened on the streets.
Back on the beach, the separation crew was diligently carrying out their job. Some findings: needles, of the druggie variety, clothes, bags, and shoes.. shoes by the hundreds. If anyone needs shoes, you now know where to go. A very big thanks out to those who stuck around sorting that stuff. It definitely wasn’t the most pleasant of tasks, but they did it with a right good will, and carried out one of the most important jobs of the day. Also, a big thanks out to the CMC crew who hung around til the very end, helping us haul the waste back and forth.
The highlight of the event was the forming of the 350 to be uploaded onto the 350.org site. Take it from us, forcing 200 odd people into giant numbers isn’t a dream job; a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into that 350, but the deed was done, and with Nooranie perched precariously on a ladder, while the Project Act crew held on to it for dear life, the picture was taken. Then we decided to get fancy and forced Hasmin up on the ladder to video tape everyone yelling ‘go green now’, while Halik pranced along the beach orchestrating the madness.
The event wrapped up with almost everyone getting drenched one way or another (some not quite voluntarily). Group pictures were taken (await!), trees were handed out, the pledge was signed and good byes were said as everyone headed home after a job well done.
Now we come to the part where I thank everyone. Thank you everyone who came out to be a part of this event and show your support for positive environmental change in Sri Lanka, and hopefully, Copenhagen. Special thanks to the crew from HSBC, and all the Interactors and Roteractors who made up the bulk of our cleaning crew: you guys did an impressive job! Thank you to Naren and Anjali from the Environment Programme at CHA for your help in planning the event and all the technical support. Thank you to the work crews and the CMC team for all their help. And finally a big thank you to the Project Act committee for putting together this event on such short notice and making it such a success, especially Shehan, who worked absolutely tirelessly to make sure everything ran seamlessly, and Hanim, media goddess, for all the last minute creative work behind the scenes.
A rather long post, I know, but it was an event worth documenting. Stay tuned to this space for pictures from the event and thoughts by the participants and Project Act committee.
Cause for Change
In a much publicized event, the Maldives cabinet recently took to the seas to mark the 350 International Day of Climate Change Action on 24 October, and show their concern for global warming and rising sea levels. If the estimations are accurate, the 1,192 islands which form the lowest lying nation on earth could be underwater within the next century. The Maldives cabinet members signed a document calling on a global cut in carbon emissions to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. Read more here and here, and there are some fantastic pictures here.
If the world proceeds as it has, 350, 000 people could be out of homeland in a hundred years. That’s a startling figure and may just be the beginning [of the end].
*Dramatic pause*
As Maldivians watch their homeland disappear under water, we as Sri Lankans should realize that we are not far behind. Maybe not in terms of land loss, but other factors, like agriculture, coastal degradation, disease, sanitation and rainfall are all susceptible to change with global warming.
The take home message for us here at Project Act is this: Action. Awareness. Adaptation.
As a country with a small carbon footprint and relatively environmentally-friendly lifestyles, Sri Lanka needs to focus on adaptation more than mitigation. Because, as with all great ironies, the small countries with low carbon emissions and the least clout towards climate change are the ones that will get hit hardest and suffer the most. Which is why we’ve planned our 350 action event around a problem that is most pertinent to us, and will help us best deal with the sanitation and disease issues that will undoubtedly worsen with time (and temperature!).
Waste Management. On the 24th of October, our team, along with volunteers from the Interact and Roteract movements, Sri Lanka Youth Climate Action Network, the International Climate Champions and other interested parties (that’s you!), will meet at the Wellawatte beach to get some serious cleaning done. It won’t be just another beach clean up either, as we will be showing you how to separate your waste into what can and cannot be recycled, so you can take that with you and apply it at home, at school, and wherever there is a significant amount of waste produced. There will also be a downright snazzy eco-demonstration, where you will be given license to make a bit of a commotion over all things green. So come prepared with your hats, water and assorted sun-defense tools, and prepare to make a difference!
Read more here.
Project Act meets the Press
Project Act will be kicking off its International Climate Action Day event with a press conference on the 16th of October. It is designed to brief the media on the event on the 24th of October, as well as give a brief introduction on waste management problems in Colombo and the goals and objectives set by Project Act to target these problems.
Event: Press Conference to Launch Beyond Borders’ environmental initiative: Project Act
Date: 16 Friday October 2009
Time: 6. 30pm
Venue: Sri Lanka Lanka College of Journalism, (Sri Lanka Press Institute) 96, Kirula Road, Colombo 05.
All journalists, bloggers and writers are invited to participate.
Yes, there will be food. Good food.
Go Green Now
Project Act is an initiative by us at Beyond Borders to encourage sustainable, environmentally-friendly, ‘green’ living. Climate change is now an accepted fact and the sooner we move towards taking positive action and making positive change, the better. Why should we care? Well, if the melting ice caps, rising sea levels, coastal degradation and the prospect of Jaffna eventually being submerged don’t worry you (and personally, it scares the crap out of us), well, its just getting too damn hot in here.
Understanding that Sri Lanka is but a small fish in the big sea of climate change policy and action does not mean we are prepared to sit back and do nothing. Even though, as Sri Lankans, we already have an innate culture of practicing the environmentalist’s mantra Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, there is still much that we can do to towards sustainable development and the environment. As for any doubting Thomas who asks ‘why should we care?’, a quick stroll down any road and a quick glance at the piles of garbage on street corners, the dirty drains and rivers, the polluted beaches and the dengue death toll should be satisfactory answers.
The team at Project Act has identified Waste Management as a core environmental concern in Sri Lanka. What? you may ask. Exactly. There is a startling ignorance among the general public on how to mange the waste they produce on a daily basis. And they produce a lot of waste. 650 tonnes to be precise. If that number is too big for you to wrap your head around, picture 150 elephants. Now think of where to put them. Daily. That’s the problem faced by the Colombo Municipality. And that’s where we come in.
Through a series of events and small projects designed to not only create awareness on waste management, but also to actively promote and implement it, Project Act hopes to make a small but lasting difference in the community and more importantly, the environment.
To kick things off we will be having a demonstration and beach clean up on the 24th of October in Wellawatta, which, coincidentally, coincides with the International Day of Climate Action. Join us as we show our support for a new global climate treaty at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.
Follow us on Twitter, check out our Facebook event page and 350 page, and watch this space for more details.
