Sustainable development blog : ecology and humanitarian aid

– Get rid of indoor pollution in a natural way

You must have spent practically thousands of dollars to buy the latest vacuum cleaner and the latest floor cleaners that help you keep your house clean.

However, there comes a time when these machines fail to work leaving you to the unhealthy dust particles and other pollutants in your house. Rather than artificial machines, you must opt for natural pollution fighters that come in the form of plants. Read more »

George Clooney and his Tango

Some of the wealthiest people on the planet are making the move towards green. This fact is demonstrable by the new trend of billionaire investors putting massive amounts of their money into electric cars, solar and wind power and geothermal energy initiatives. Read more »

Surveying 15 economic zones and 48 craft villages, the National Assembly Standing Committee’s supervisory group has warned of seriously environmental pollution caused by a wrong policy, which aims for raising budget revenue, but neglecting consequences.

A polluted river in Bac Ninh province.

According to the supervisory group, environmental pollution at trade villages is “alarming”. However, it is difficult to deal with this situation since all provinces are running after the goal of increasing budget revenue and economic growth. Read more »

23 September 2011: The seventh “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference concluded with the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration titled “Save water, grow green!” Through the Declaration, ministers agree to take the lead in the transition to a green economy and to make substantive contributions to the discussions on green economy within the context of sustainable development, poverty alleviation and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). Read more »

Watch the full documentary now !

The 10-minute-documentary "Mine: Story of a sacred mountain" aims to increase public awareness about a real Avatar issue in our planet earth.The Dongria Kondh, one of India’s most remote tribes, live in Orissa state’s Niyamgiri hills and worship a mountain as a God. The documentary shows their Read more »

As the threats to marine ecosystems continue to build thanks to things such as climate change, overfishing, pollution and non-sustainable uses of this finely balanced natural resource, a leading research scientist discusses what we can do about problems associated with the world's oceans.

Dr Dr. Alex Rogers, Scientific Director of IPSO and Professor of Conservation Biology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, makes the important point that what is going on today in our oceans is morally corrupt, as we destroy an essential resource that will be needed to provide sustenance to people long past our own limited lifespans.

  Read more »

Watch this great video from the Center for Investigative Reporting about the true price of gasoline. Read more »

More than 35 countries recently participated in a United Nations-sponsored effort to protect  traditional medicines from bio-piracy. At a three-day meeting in New Delhi they discussed a database that has been developed in India – the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) – that documents and protects centuries old knowledge about country’s traditional medicines and treatments. The idea is to try and help protect these traditional medicines, which should be the property of people and nations, from being patented by unscrupulous companies and individuals for profit.

Traditional medicine is, according to the World Health Organisation, "the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses."

Every natural environment, regardless of where it is, produces plants which can be used both as food and medicine, and all First Nations peoples retained knowledge and uses for them.

The plants used in traditional healing will vary from place to place, as is explained by Katsitsarishons (Suzanne Brant) is a Health Programs Coordinator at the First Nations Technical Institute, Tyendinaga 

Mohawk Territory in Ontario, Canada:

“Whatever [plant] you need is right around you. It’s conditioned to its environment, so it grows in certain soils and certain areas. It’s the same with us as human beings. We grow in a certain place, so we utilize those plants that are around us. And [plant use] shifts depending on where you’re at.” Read more »

“Why You Can Now Kiss Organic Beef, Dairy and Many Vegetables Goodbye” screams a recent AlterNet headline. This story, like so many others that have appeared in the press over the past week or two, revolves around the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to deregulate genetically engineered alfalfa.

Nitrogen nodules on alfalfa roots.

As most of these articles correctly point out, alfalfa is a major feed crop for the dairy and beef industries, and as a perennial, bee-pollinated crop, the risks of contamination spreading into non-GE alfalfa crops is great. I’m afraid Iwon’t be finding any good reasons to cheer this particular decision by the USDA, which I agree with most critics, is short-sighted and completely unnecessary from either a farming or consumer standpoint. But, nevertheless, the decision has been made and farmers in the Unites States will now be able to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa.

My question is why would they want to? Read more »