Armchair Environmentalist Blog » Around the world

Green Choice Beijing and more

Karen Christensen — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 04:55:46 +0000

I’m in China now and amongst other things planning a new Chinese environmental book. I’ve made some great new contacts and found out about important projects like Green Choice Beijing.

Every hotel has an environmental notice, with English translations that are varied and often amusing, and the need for environmental action is starting to reach public consciousness. This is exciting, because China is developing fast. Air pollution is quite evident, for one thing, and the use of water and energy is growing. I heard of an initiative to set air-conditioners at 26 degrees, which is one of those great, simple rules of thumb that we could adopt easily, too.

Chinese version of Eco Living now online

Karen Christensen — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:41:16 +0000

I recently received a copy of the Thai edition of the Armchair Environmentalist, and am pleased to announce the free online version of Eco Living (2000) in Chinese at GuanxiOnline.

Independence day: how about energy independence?

Karen Christensen — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 13:29:00 +0000

I’ve always thought a lot of the US magazine (and now online information service) Consumer Reports, but only just heard about their Greener Choice website–available free (Consumer Reports itself is a subscription service–it’s the equivalent of the UK Which?).

Greener choices are vital, given the challenges we face if what James Howard Kunstler calls “the long emergency” comes to pass. Put down the papers and read this article: “The End of Oil” from April’s Rolling Stone (thanks, Margaux, for giving this to me!).

Celebrate Earth Day

Karen Christensen — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 01:55:45 +0000

Tomorrow is Earth Day 2005, and 35 years since the first Earth Day celebration. The original instigator, now known by the more sedate term founder, was Denis Hayes, who has, I’m happy to say, written this about The Armchair Environmentalist.

“Environmentalism involves the application of ecological values to human life–including each of our individual lives. This opportunity for personal action is uncommon in social movements. There is little for most of us to do on a personal level to end war, combat nuclear proliferation, or prevent torture. But, The Armchair Environmentalist demonstrates how we can enrich our lives, have fun, and save money while dramatically reducing our ecological footprint.”

Here are a few of the Earth Day events around the United States where The Armchair Environmentalist is being featured or raffled:

Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta Botanical Garden Event
22 April: Earth Day Leadership Breakfast at the Carter Presidential Center
23 April: Earth Day Party in Midtown Atlanta.

Kansas City, Missouri
Bridging The Gap
www.bridgingthegap.org
23 April: Earth Day Walk 2005 and Earthfest located Shawnee Mission Park

Los Angeles, California
WorldFest Events
Produced in conjunction with Earth Day LA: Woodley Park, Van Nuys
Phone: 310-477-7887
info@worldfestevents.com

San Diego, California
15 signed copies for the Earth Day VIP Earth Awards/Auction
San Diego EarthWorks
PO Box 9827
San Diego, CA 92169

San Francisco, California
World Environment Day 2005
www.wed2005.com
San Francisco has been chosen as the city in which people and leaders from around the globe will congregate for World Environment Day 2005.

New York, NY
www.earthdayny.org/resources.html
www.earthdayny.org

Talk the walk or walk the talk?

Karen Christensen — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 11:55:50 +0000

One of my brothers was in the US Army’s Delta Force when I first starting writing about green issues. “Do you walk the talk or just talk the walk?” he asked. (I wonder now what the Delta Force “walk” was.) In Rome, a city packed with gorgeous churches, heartstopping ruins, and an unbelievable density of cars and motorbikes, the contrast between talk and walk was intriguing. I saw many references to ‘ecologia’ and while stuck in traffic I noticed how many cars had stickers for the World Wildlife Fund and environmental causes.

What this suggests is not hypocrisy but a longing for ways to do things better, a love for the natural world that we are all too often pushed by advertising and circumstance to ignore. Here, for Americans who are unfamiliar with the concept of ‘bottle bins,’ the Italian version. It’s so much easier, the way at home we put recycling out by the curb, rather than hauling it to a separate location. But the real question is whether there is truly a demand for recycled products; the most important thing you can is to BUY recycled.

Witches’ Knickers

Karen Christensen — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:38:09 +0000

I’ve been in Florida visiting my father-in-law. It’s a good thing to get a look at what’s Green (or not) in another part of the United States (Florida’s an interesting case, too: a “red” state with a large “blue” population, at least in winter). I saw a “Pesticide-Free Park” sign, which I’ve never come across before, and a huge “Organic” sign in the supermarket. It was a wooden sign (or wood look-alike rustic) and hung at the front of the store above an alcove of packaged foods. We saw it only after checking out! (Talk about a half-hearted effort by Publix.)

And the checkout people wanted to pack every single item in a separate plastic bag. I know that paper bags aren’t a benign choice, but hadn’t realized just what a global problem plastic carrier bags had become till I read an article in New Scientist called “Battle of the bag” (11 September 2004) which explained that the mobility of plastic bags makes them far more dangerous than they might otherwise be. They’re called “‘witches’ knickers’ in Ireland, ‘white pollution’ in China.” Estimates are that we use 150 bags per person each year – a million a minute!

It’s a surprisingly hard habit to kick, I find, as I endlessly remind my husband to take bags with him to the supermarket. But it’s easy to say ‘no’ to them, as I did even at the airport on the way home yesterday.