Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.
-- Cree Indian Prophecy
 
 LAST UPDATE:  18th November 2008  also see documentary on GM Crops

 

This doco is a must see.. mindblowing stuff!  What the bleep do we know

 

 Choose your language to translate the website

 
PLEASE FORWARD

Until the world's governments act on global warming, it is important that you know what you can easily do to help yourself and, in the process, save the planet.  The present economic crisis will be nothing compared to what is coming, so make like a boy scout and Be Prepared. 

The Bad Stuff

I initially created this site mainly to inform people about the increasing world wide decline in the insect population in general and the honeybee and butterfly in particular, and show easy things  they can do to help, cos every little bit added to another little bit makes a bigger bit!  However, this has become also about global warming and keeping people informed of what is really happening and what technologies there are to combat it, some of which we can now use in our homes.   I am also lobbying government to act quickly on this issue. 

I know I am tired of hearing about the problems of global warming, with no solutions so I am attempting to provide them through links to informative web sites and feeds (right).  There will also be things that take a bit more effort for those with more time and inclination. 

 

So back to the bees.  Recently a book was published on the subject of the honeybee decline, bottom of line of which is that without the bee mankind will not survive, and their numbers are decling fast.  A documentary is now being made exploring the problem, and hopefully the solutions.  Click here for why it matters.   The situation has become so bad in Sichuan Province of China  that they are forced to hand pollinate, which is ultimately unsustainable.  Sir David Attenborough has also recently launched a campaign to highlight the increasing butterfly decline.  This is of course also affecting our birds and small mammals as they have nothing to eat, and so their numbers are down too, and so it goes on.  There are unfortunately people who say this is not a problem (see GMTV report).  Reminds me of the people who said there was no global warming! 

On the positive side there are beekeepers who are trying to breed bees that are resistant to the varroa virus that is believed to be one of the causes but it needs more government funding.  As of today (18th August 2008) the funding for Defra's bee health programme is £1.3 million each year and this has remained the same for the last 5 years. They are allocating a further £190,000 over the next year.  Meanwhile the National Lottery funded our Olympic team to the tune of £230 million and predicts £400 million for 2012 in London. Now I have really enjoyed the Olympics 2008, but I quite like to eat too! 

You only need look on Google Earth or Google Maps to see how little there is in our cities to feed the insects, if we all just had a little something for them it would soon add up. Unfortunately its not much better out in the countryside, particularly in the more intense farming areas.  

 

 

This is not just about bees, but the birds too.  I was shocked, when returning from New Zealand (a very environmentally aware country having lost many of their native birds) after 20 years, to find that here in the UK things had got so bad that we too, were loosing our birds,  albeit for a different reason.  The Starling was pretty much a pest when I left.  Now they are rarely seen inland.  Sparrows! There used to be hundreds of them!  Where have they gone?  Loss of habitat, loss of food and effects of global warming seems to be the problem.    Help the insects and you help the birds and small mammals and on up to us.  Interestingly, the solutions for this are much the same as we need to combat global warming, A two for the price of one deal!


 

 

The Easy Stuff

Stop using insecticides  That includes fly spray.  All insects are needed to feed the birds and small mammals. So let the flies live. You can always put up a screen or net curtain to stop them getting in the house, or just let the spiders catch them naturally! 

Check out easy things to do in your garden on the Breathing Places website.  They really are simple things and actually less work.

Check out what I am doing generally and in my own small garden, mistakes and all,  and the wildlife that it has attracted. But you don't even need a garden... a window box will do.

There are various sites here  where you can get further information or donate money if that is easier for you.

See also Bee Friendly Plants,  Roof Gardens and wild flowers.

 

 

If you sign up to the website in the feed above, and it costs nothing, they will plant a tree for you.  They also have some great tips. 

For further sites you can sign up to, click on Support Sites tab above, and Green Technology tab for the latest developments.

 

 

Check this out!  Click once and see the cities and towns people visiting this site are from, click again and see the countries, click again and you can see your own town... thats you!

 For the more Proactive

Write to MPs, councillors Senators Congress or your local representatives in whatever country you reside.  Give them the power to push central government to look at other fuel methods NOW, not in a distant future when it may be too late. They can't do anything unless you let them know what you want. You don't necessrily need a petition with hundreds of signatures, just write to them yourself.  That will be enough.   Biofuels may or may not be the answer, but there are many more ingenious ideas out there including using water, wood and air to as fuel for cars (see Green Technology tab above).  If nothing else, there are tips to reduce car emissions here.

 

UK gardens cover about 270,000 hectares, which is more than all the National Nature Reserves combined.  For the most part this is an underused resource.  In the coming global recession we can help ourselves by growing our own vegetables and support wildlife, even in the smallest garden (see my garden on the tab above).  We can also produce our own power through wood burning stoves, solar panels and small windmills among other things.  You can find out more about this from links on this site, which is here to help and inform.  This will not only help you as an individual but go someway to help global warming and the increasing extinction of wildlife.  We have also launched a not for profit organisation to help those who need it.  Please see The Birds and The Bees

The Bigger Picture

 

Don't you wonder sometimes what it will take for governments of the world to act on global warming?  We have seen the loss of coastal towns and cities (New Orleans), countless lives lost through Tsunami, heat waves (14000 in France died from the 2003 heatwave), drought in Australia, increased hurricane activity, ice caps melting (can't watch those polar bears dying out at sea.. too distressing), extinctions on a major scale...well the list goes on and on.  The insects I believe are the last warning. We, individually really have to do something now.  Earth Charter is a call to all people of the world to lobby governments, easier still add your voice to the We can solve it site.  For more sites click on the Support Sites tab.  I believe we can turn things round with that spirit that was shown at the Beijing Olympics.   One World, One Dream .

 

There are still people all over the world who are surprisingly still quite ignorant of the full implications of global warming.  With the technology we now have most people in the world can at least be informed of these changes, via internet, TV, consols or phone, and make a personal choice as to what they can do. Which is one of the goals of this site, so please pass this on to your contacts, they might not know!. The feed on the right shows the latest alternatives to fossil fuels, which may also be used in our homes!  Every little bit helps.  See further links at green technology.

 

 

 

An interesting find in S. America is a substance they call Terra Preta which could change the need for fertilizers if used properly. Perhaps an idea would be for the richer nations to chip in and pay people to look after the rain forests throughout the world for us?  They are the lungs of the world after all.  Maybe that extra tax on our cars could be used for that... perhaps not but you get the idea.   As they say in New Zealand, 'Think outside the box'.

 

I belive that it is now our personal responsiblity to act, that this is in our hands and each little thing we do IS making a difference.  Really think about those car trips. Walk, cycle, skateboard, its much better for you. Keep on buying the green and organic products.  I know.  I stopped too thinking that they were all the same, they are not!  Better still,  you can get Martin Lewis's book Thrifty Ways For Modern Days , which will tell you how you can clean most things using (amongst other things) vinegar!    There are many more ideas on the Green Living Tips site which is excellent.  Many councils in UK provide compost bins and water butts at reduced prices, or you can make a dirt cheap compost bin. And just so you know that I don't just talk the talk you can see what I am doing here.   :)

 

 

Other Countries

For those in other countries I would like to add links to your local groups on this page, so please let me know who they are, or if you have a similar site, or can start one. 

Some sites I have already found are: 

Homeowners on the Coastal USA are being encouraged to plant hurricane resistant trees  These reduce the impact and suck up the excess water and flooding caused by the hurricanes.

Monarch Butterfly numbers are also down in US due to intensive farming practices that have resulted in a decline of food and habitat, which could be helped by gardeners and conservation areas of Milkweed and trees, may be even at the edges of the fields, which also looks nice and acts as a wind break.   Let parks support wild flowers instead of mowed lawns which are fine for us but a desert for butterflies and bees.

Information and videos on MySpace for the younger generation and further sites in USA.

See also Bee decline in USA, Butterfly decline USA, What to do USA  Desertification of China

 

Please pass this on to all of your contacts, friends and family so that we can clean up our wonderful beautiful planet..... it is unique you know, and the more I find out about it the more I fall in love with it... and so will you. I realise that some people still believe this is all a natural process and nothing to do with us... but can we really take that chance? And what I am suggesting will certainly do no harm.  I want to emphasise that this a World Wide problem and I believe we all need to act as quickly as we can, with as much as we can.  You can see how amazing we are when we work together, like at the Olympics :).  Take care

Note:  I saw a documentary that suggested the rise in sea level may contribute to increased volcanic activity, like squeezing a spot!  This in itself lowers world temperatures.  Not quite sure what that all means as I can find no further information on the internet as yet, but will update as soon as the info is available.

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