Casper’s Arctic Voyage

So this clip is about 500 ducks landing on a ‘toxic pond’.

But it’s about much more than that. The Canadian state of Alberta (known as the Texas of the north), contains a large amount of tar sands - from which oil can be extracted, at a very high financial, ecological and carbon price. But when oil is selling at record levels, it’s a ‘financially viable’ project.

Alex, our WWF mentor, has visited this region and was appalled by what she saw. Higher rates of cancers, massive deforestation, mining that will cover the size of England and massive trucks that cost 6 million dollars a go. The ‘lakes’ of waste can even be seen from space.

And all this when we have clean, renewable energy if we want it.

Sometimes the environmental movement can seem very white and very middle class. Thankfully, that is changing. If we want to reach as wide an audience as possible, we need a wide range of people to speak to those different audiences.

An organisation in New York, Sustainable South Bronx, is dedicated to holistic community development, sponsoring projects that create green jobs, protect the environment and bring beautiful green space to the inner city, in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the USA.

Majora Carter, who set it up, spoke at TED in 2006. In this charismatic presentation (which received a prolonged standing ovation), she explains her commitment to environmental justice and her vision for a renewed South Bronx.

Bottled water surely counts just as high as this, in terms of stupid inventions.

Tap water tastes just as good (sometimes better), is cheaper, cuts carbon emissions, saves filling more landfill, doesn’t look stupid or spill over your bag.

We Want Tap are taking on this madness.

‘Every year, Britons quench their thirst, empty their wallets, and discard 3 billion empty water bottles, filling landfills with plastic.  Tap is taking on the bottled water industry and asking people to enjoy tap water instead.  It’s refreshing, clean and free - and doesn’t muck up the planet.’

Check out their awesome website to find out more.

(And for more hilarious stupid inventions, check this site).

Throughout my teens, for some unknown reason, I would devour the annual Sunday Times Rich List and gaze at the millions made by someone who’d invented wheelie bins or something.

We’re so concerned about the wealth of the super rich, that sometimes we forget what we have ourselves. The Global Rich List makes your mind boggle - check this:

I guess that’s why some people see it as a moral decision that we should lead the fight on Climate Change (especially when you consider how much we are spending in Iraq).

I spotted this in the IHT recently, the idea of ‘eating the view’. It’s a campaign to plant healthy, edible landscapes in high-impact, high visibility places, whether it’s the lawn in front of the White House, or the lawn in front of your school.

Apparently, the ‘First Lawn’ was used to rear sheep and grow vegetables in previous wars - so it makes total sense to do it again!

Here’s the website for more information.

This video is pretty frightening, although it’s only a child talking to camera. It doesn’t follow the ‘keep positive’ rule (at all), but I guess sometimes you have to shock.

Remember the Norwegian Voyager Maria?

Well, check this!!

Maria and the WWF Norway team put this poster together - I love it!

What’s your Green Finger?