How to deal with the growing deforestation in the Amazon rain forest?

Bad news from Brazil: The Brazilian Environment Ministry announced last Wednesday that as many as 2,700 square miles of Brazilian rain forest had been cleared from August through December, meaning that Brazil could lose 5,791 square miles of jungle by this August if the rate of deforestation continued.

This data is surprising as in the last three years there was a consistent decline in deforestation. The growing logging is probably spurred by high prices for corn, soy and cattle according to environmental officials in Brazil.

President Lula da Silva called an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers to discuss the new data. After the meeting new measures were announced including sending additional federal police and environmental agents to the Amazon. The Washington Post reports that the Environment Minister Marina Silva said that the authorities will also monitor the areas where the deforestation occurred in an attempt to prevent anyone from trying to plant crops or raise cattle there.

Reuters reported on other measures that will be taken:

1. The government will put on hold any new deforestation requests in 36 municipalities in an area that accounted for half of the forest destruction last year.

2. Landowners in the area will have to prove they maintain preservation areas, and could face penalties like being denied official credit if they fail to meet some requirements.

3. Companies like trading houses, soybean crushers and meat processors that buy commodities originating from destroyed areas of the forest will be considered responsible for deforestation.

I think that the plan is good, but I am not sure how well it can fight the economic incentives that drives the massive deforestation we see now. I think that another step to be taken is to give a counter-incentive to keep these trees alive. If local governments and municipalities will be paid to protect these trees, then they have an economic value as live trees. If this value will be high enough, then it will be worthwhile to keep them alive.

I think the measures should be based on the stick and the carrot both and not only rely on the stick. Give local communities the carrot and I promise you that you will see deforestation figures decrease again.

I also think it shouldn't be the sole responsibility of the Brazilian government to take care of it. The Brazilian rain forest is called "the lungs of the world" for its ability to consume greenhouse gases and produce oxygen, and hence I believe the world (especially the developed countries) should chip in.

Just last week we reported on Norway's willingness to contribute about $500 million a year to projects aimed at protecting forests in developing countries. I think this kind of funding (and of course other countries should contribute as well) can make some good in Brazil and help Lula protect this precious natural resource. What do you think?

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Scoot over Barbie, Popsi's in the house!

We've been reviewing here recently several green children's books, such as Lee Welles' “Gaia Girls,” and Eric Carle's “The Tiny Seed”. Today's crop of innovative greenery comes in the shape of Popsi, the hippie dippy answer to the best selling fashion doll.

So who is Popsi?

“Mother Nature is lonely. She yearns for a daughter but, with her heavy workload, her dreams have been pushed aside. However one smoggy day, while picking up trash, she came across a pile of plastic bottles and had an idea. Magically with a sweep of her hands, she turns the plastic bottles into a soft cuddly rag doll and names her Popsi.”

Geraldine Lewis weaves a story of a modern day sustainable Pinocchio, who must help her mother clean up the environment or she cannot become a real girl. I am sure Carlo Collodi, who prior to being a famous children's author was also an active political satirist, would have appreciated this variation on his old theme.

But Lewis also brings the story to life (no pun intended) in the shape of Popsi, A real doll made of recycled plastic bottles which is sold with the book as part of a whole educational package. The goal is to teach kids the values of recycling and reusing. We've already seen here recently a similar example of a whole eco edu-kit, and only wish the trend continues and is actually picked up and used by more and more educators worldwide.

So check out the Popsi website: http://www.gopopsi.com/

Now who's going to make me some hybrid G.I.Joe's ?!?!

Take care,
Eylon @ Eco-Libris

http://www.ecolibris.net/

Harry Potter and the Finnish paper

J.K. Rowling is not only a great author, but also an inspiration to anyone who wants to make reading more sustainable.

We wrote here before on her efforts to green up the printing of the seventh and final book in her series, "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows", and even celebrated the book back in July.

Today I learned that Rowling makes sure that the translation of Harry Potter to Finnish will be green as well. Yahoo! News reported yesterday that Rowling, has blocked the Finnish version of the last Harry Potter from being printed on local paper because it lacks the FSC certification.

It seems that although Finland is one of the world's biggest paper producers, it doesn't have paper with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate. Finland does have Finnish paper has labels, but I guess that none of them is similar to the FSC certificate, which is the most prestigious environmental paper certification, and therefore Rowling insisted that the book will be printed on FSC paper.

I'm only wondering if the Finnish publisher will be using recycled paper (like other Harry Potter publishers around the world). I hope that they do. In any case, this is good news and it's great to know that Rowling is out there watching and making sure that Harry Potter will stay green, even when he speaks Finnish.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Respect the environment!

Ali G is always fun to watch, especially when he's talking green. Here's a short video I found on Living Small, where he talks with some guests on recycling and other green stuff. Respect!



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Happy Tu B'Shevat!

Today is Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish "New Year for Trees". We started celebrating it last week with the blog 'Ima on (and off) the bima', and today we'll write a little bit more on this great holiday. The trees holiday.

Tu B'Shevat is a transliteration of 'the fifteenth of Shevat', the Hebrew date specified as the new year for trees. It is the date used to calculate the age of trees for tithing/taxing. Fruit from trees may not be eaten during the first three years of its life according to the Thora. The fourth year's fruit was to be tithed to the Temple (for god), and after that, anyone can eat its fruit.

The fifteenth of the Hebrew month Shevat was the cutoff date for determining when the fruit of the tree was to be tithed. If the tree was planted prior to Tu B'Shevat, it would be considered to have aged one year. If it was planted afterward, it would become one year old at the following year's Tu B'Shevat. Thus, 'Tu' (the alpha-numeric for the number 15) denotes that the holiday is on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat.

Tu B'Shevat gradually gained religious significance, with a Kabalistic fruit-eating ceremony (like the Passover Seder) being introduced during the 1600s.

Customs associated with Tu B'Shevat include planting trees and eating dried fruits and nuts, especially figs, dates, raisins, and almonds. Over the years Tu B’Shevat has taken on the theme of planting trees in Israel, but because this is a shmita year (the seventh year of the agricultural cycle during which time the Torah prohibits Jews from planting the land), there won't be any plantings celebrations this year in Israel.

For more information on Tu B'Shevat please check these websites:

http://www.shalomctr.org/taxonomy/term/118

http://www.torah.org/learning/yomtov/tubshvat/

I love Tu B'Shevat very much. It's one of my favorite holidays and as a kid in Israel I planted trees every year to celebrate Tu B'Shevat. Today I'm happy to be part of Eco-Libris, where with your support, every day is a Tu B'Shevat.

Happy Tu B'Shevat,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Monday's green book: Big Green Purse

Today we have a great new book on our Monday's green book series targeted especially for green women:

Big Green Purse - Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World

Author: Diane McEachern

Diane MacEachern is a bestselling environmental writer, sought-after public speaker, and founder of www.biggreenpurse.com. She has advised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, World Bank, World Wildlife Fund, and many other agencies and nonprofit organizations focused on protecting the planet. The author of the bestselling Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up the Earth, she lives in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in the energy-efficient home that she helped design and build more than twenty years ago.

Publisher: Avery Publishing Group / Penguin Group

Published in: March 2008

What it is about: Diane MacEachern argues in Big Green Purse that the best way to fight the industries that pollute the planet, thereby changing the marketplace forever, is to mobilize the most powerful consumer force in the world-women.

This book is a call-to-action for women to use their power as buyers (women spend 85 percent of every dollar in the marketplace) to make a difference. MacEachern's message is simple but revolutionary: if women harness the "power of their purse" and intentionally shift their spending money to commodities that have the greatest environmental benefit, they can create a cleaner, greener world.

In the book, McEachern targets 25 commodities where women's dollars can have the greatest impact, including food, clothing, cars, computers, coffee, cleansers, furniture and flooring.

Why you should get it:

1. We forget too much how much power we hold in our hands as consumers and how much good we can do with it. This book is a perfect guide for using this power in a green and wise way.

2. The book demonstrates the important concept of small steps can make a big difference.

3. You can find in the 'Big Green Purse' recommendations (both 'thumbs up' and 'thumbs down') on hundreds of green options.

What others say on the book:
"Big Green Purse explains, in layman's terms, concepts like nanotechnology, lists names of companies women can trust and walks buyers through difficult choices in everything from food to lawn care to clothing" (Plenty Magazine)

This book will be published on March, but you can already preorder it. You are also welcome to check Diane's website - The Big Green Purse, which offers eco-lifestyle tips and shopping suggestions, as well as opportunities to join One in a Million, a campaign to encourage one million women to shift $1,000 of their household budgets to eco-friendly products and services.

Enjoy the book, and if you're looking for the full list of green books reviewed and presented on our blog, check out our green books page.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Norway presents: green vision and inspiring goals

Today I would like to praise Norway. Not only that it announced last week on a bold target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, but it also becomes one of the biggest supporters of forests' protection.

The Norwegian government announced last Thursday on a new target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, 20 years earlier than previously planned.

How will Norway get there? well, according to their plans, up to two-thirds of the emissions cuts will be made domestically and the other third will be offset by investing around 3 billion crowns ($553.1 million) per year to combat deforestation in developing countries (carbon credits).

I wrote here before about Norway's support of protecting forests as a tool to fight global warming. Norway announced its willingness to contribute about $500 million a year to projects aimed at protecting forests in developing countries at the U.N. climate conference last month In Bali. In this conference, as ENN reminds us, it was agreed to launch pilot projects to grant poor countries credits for slowing deforestation under a new long-term climate pact beyond 2012.

Now Norway is reinforcing its commitment - according to ENN, Norway's prime minister on Friday, a day after Norway set the new goal that "protecting forests and burying greenhouse gases are key ways of slowing world climate change."

So, I think Norway deserves kudos for three reasons:

1. Becoming carbon neutral by 2030 is a bold move and it's great to see a country that has the guts to do it and become a role model to all the other countries, especially the developed ones.

2. It's important that most of the CO2 reductions are based on cutting the total emissions by two-thirds domestically and only one third is based on carbon credits. This is a good balance that shows a real commitment to take steps and change what needs to be changed (although it's still very vague how these cuts will be made).

3. I'm happy to see that the carbon credits will be focused on protecting forests in developing countries. Deforestation accounts for about 20 percent of total greenhouse gases, and I think that protection of forests can definitely become an efficient and valuable tool in the fight against global warming. And not tom mention all the other environmental and social benefits that these forests have. It's good that these forests has a powerful reach ally such as Norway - they need it!

I hope to see many countries follow Norway. It's not only their future. It's our future.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!