Category — 40 days

The Chinese have imposed at deadline for today (17th March 2008) by which time the Tibetan people must give up their claims of freedom and independence and stop all demonstrations.

If the Tibetans do not comply, then the Chinese Government will use whatever force necessary to ensure the order is complied with.

Martial law has been imposed across Tibet and a “Peoples’ War” has been declared against the Tibetans

Join the demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy to show your solidarity with the Tibetan People

Chinese Embassy 49-51 Portland Place, London W1B 1JL

March 17th 2008 4.00 pm (to coincide with the deadline set by the Chinese)

Today is the 40th and final day in our series of 40 small steps to change the world and out theme for today is celebration.

Over the last few weeks we’ve covered a huge range of topics including sewage disposal, activism, animal rights, slavery, carbon emissions and tourism. We’ve probably all taken a few small actions but I doubt many of us have managed all 40. What matters is that we’ve done something. One more step in the right direction is also two less steps in the wrong! (work it out!)

Recognising and celebrating our achievements is crucially important. It is so easy to concentrate on what hasn’t been achieved and to go into a totally negative and totally unproductive guilt trip about it. Instead give yourself a pat on the back and a bar of ethically sourced chocolate/wine/whatever and realise that if we all keep moving in the right direction we WILL achieve our goals.

Slavery in the UK is not just alive and well, its growing rapidly.

The slaves are often people who have paid considerable sums of money to enter and work in the UK.

On arrival their passports and entry documents are taken away by the trafficker leaving them with no evidence to demonstrate that they entered the country legally and have a valid work-permit.

The traffickers then find them a job. (Main industries include food and food packaging, construction, hospitality, nursing and, increasingly, prostitution.)

They never see any pay. Instead it is “deducted” at source to pay off a real, or imaginary, debt and to cover the “costs” of their food and lodging.

Soon enough their visas will expire and then they become illegal immigrants and the traffickers have complete control.

The British Government is aware of the problem. In 2004 trafficking for all forms of labour exploitation became a criminal offence. In 2007 the government set up the Human Trafficking Centre, which is supposed to investigate and prosecute all forms of Human Trafficking. To date there has not been a single successful case brought to trial.

So for our 39th small step to make the world a better place please but pressure on the government to end the slave trade.

Thank you.

On March 13th 1988 Maung Phone Maw, a student, was killed by the Burmese junta during a peaceful demonstration at the Rangoon Instiute of Technology. By the end of that year the military had killed thousands of others; some on the streets, many in the closed trucks used to transport prisoners.

Two years later, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won the general election but Aung San Suu Kyi was prevented, by the military junta, from assuming the role of Prime Minister. Instead she was placed under house arrest; where she has remained, pretty well ever since.

Last year the the people took to the streets again. The protesters, including thousands of monks, pleaded for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the start of talks aimed at ending military rule.

The government’s response was mass arrests, imprisonment, torture and death.

Since that time the government has forced the closure of hundreds of monasteries and the population live in terror of arrest and torture.

Please support the people of Burma

By signing Avaaz’s online petition. To date they have collected 836,000 signatures but are aiming for 1 million.

By boycotting TOTAL. Total is of the biggest foreign investors in Burma. Its business partnership with Burma’s military dictatorship earns the regime hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Take a trip down a supermarket aisle and be amazed at the sheer volume and variety of cleaning products available. Most of these, whilst being stuffed full of harmful chemicals, play lip-service to the environmental movement by containing a minute amount of some plant extract. A pox on them all!

Today’s small step in our series of 40 small steps to make the world a better place is to review how you clean your home. Here are my tips.

General

Use re-usable cloths. Get good strong ones from somewhere like John Lewis and they will last and last and last.

Ecological cleaning products. Not just the great stuff from the likes of ecover but better yet 100% natural products like

• lemon juice (general surface cleaner mix with 3 parts of water),
• vinegar (mix with same quantity of water and use as a surface cleaner or use it neat to remove lime scale),
• bicarbonate of soda (good abrasive cleaner use with a damp cloth or mix with salt and a little lemon juice to remove burnt on stains) and
• salt (another abrasive cleaner – use damp)

Avoid bleach – there are alternatives such as Borax which both cleans and disinfects.

Air fresheners? One of life’s biggest gimmicks – open a window to get real fresh air or light a candle or essential oil burner to mask smells (or if its just too cold)

Laundry

Fill the machine – using half loads uses a lot more than half the water and half the energy.

Use ecological laundry products. Especially recommended are the new laundry balls containing mineral salts. These use less water, contain no bleach and do away with the need for conditioner as they soften the water. The balls, although initially pricey are refillable and work out at about 3p per wash.

Wash at 30% – it does work!

Avoid using a dryer but if you simply must then check out dryer balls. These reduce energy consumption by 25% and, like laundry balls, mean you can dispense with the conditioner. Better still use a clothes line or hanger.

Washing-up

Using a machine does make sense if you use it with a full-load. Half-loads are a no- no.

Don’t leave the tap running for rinsing. If you don’t have a rinsing sink then stack the washed stuff in a bowl and give it a final rinse when you’ve completed the washing phase.

If you’ve got a large sink use a bowl and save water

The bathroom

Loo – a cupful of vinegar, left overnight removes stains and prevents build up of lime scale.

Windows

Mix vinegar with water (50-50) and use an old newspaper to wash the glass. I was taught this when I was a kid and never believed it would work. It does.

Happy cleaning!

The world might be a small place but there’s still so much of it we all want to see. For those of us who aren’t interested in “sun, sand and sea” type holidays this usually means travelling to the other side of the globe to visit a developing country.

Most such countries are crying out for tourism as its often the only way they can earn substantial foreign currency. But badly done all the profits will go into the pockets of the big, overseas, operators leaving the local people with nothing or in the worst cases damage to their environment and culture.

So before you start booking that well-deserved summer break consider a few tips for travelling ethically.

1. Do you actually need to fly away? Is there another destination you could visit that won’t have such a high impact on your carbon footprint but would still satisfy your wanderlust?
2. Consider where your money ends up. With an all-in-one package holiday most of the money will stay with the tour-operator and the airline. Instead try using local hotels, restaurants and tour-operators and leave your money in the country your visiting.
3. Before you leave home check out a few websites for recommended eco-friendly hotels and tour-operators. Recommendations are important as you won’t want to spend too much time checking out green-credentials during your trip.
4. Eat local food. This will be made of local produce and support the small growers. It will also cut down on the eco-costs of importing food to satisfy the tourists’ demand.
5. Be sensitive in all that you do. Watch what the locals do and wear. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because some things you just won’t notice unless they’re pointed out to you. For instance in some cultures feet are considered dirty. Therefore if you’re sitting down its considered rude to point your feet at anyone else.
6. Don’t be afraid to challenge a business-owner but be your usual tactful and polite self. Personally I always ask questions about child-labour.
7. If something seems to be really cheap, ask yourself why. In India, where I travel a lot, it is often because the staff are paid a pittance or a child is working long hours to serve you.

Step 36 in our series of 40 small steps to change the world is to review your holiday plans and see if there’s someway to make them a little bit more ethical.

The unregulated and irresponsible trade in weaponry is responsible for sustaining some of the most despicable governments imaginable. It fuels crime, perpetuates poverty and prevents development.

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), originally launched by Dr. Oscar Arias and seven other Nobel Peace Laureates in 1997 aims to establish a comprehensive international treaty with a core, common set of minimum standards that would prevent the most irresponsible arms transfers from ever happening.

• States should adopt and apply a requirement that all arms transfers be authorised by the issuing of licences;

• States should not authorize arms transfers that violate existing obligations under international law in relation to the transfer of specific weapons or the transfer to specific end users;

• States should not authorize arms transfers in circumstances in which they have, or ought reasonably to have, knowledge that transfers are likely to violate the UN Charter; commit serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law; commit genocide or crimes against humanity; or be diverted for these uses;

• States should take into account the impact of arms transfers on regional security and sustainable development;

• States should report on international arms transfers to an established inter- national authority

As our 35th small action to make the world a better place let’s follow the ATTs suggestion and send a letter to our own government demanding it support the principles of the ATT.

And just in case you think this doesn’t apply to the UK consider this: -

• The 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (USA, UK, Russia, France & China) are the top 5 exporters of arms. The UK come in as number 2.
• 60% of arms sales go to ‘developing’ countries
• Britain regularly sells arms to the countries which the British Foreign Office lists as being of major concern in its annual Human Rights report.
• The UK regularly exports arms to countries designated as areas of major armed conflict.
• The UK even supplies technology and materials to countries which are under an active arms embargo.

Today’s small step to make the planet a better place is to boycott Texaco.

In 1992, after extracting 1 billion barrels of crude from the Ecuadorian Rainforest Texaco pulled out; leaving behind a truly colossal and hideous mess. It is estimated: -

• that the amount of crude they spilled is 50% more than in the Exxon Valdez disaster.
• That 2.5 million acre of rainforest was destroyed in order to open access roads
• That they discharged 20 billions gallons of highly toxic waste water into the environment
• that the native people who use the river and rain water for bathing and drinking are suffering from a wide range of serious, and often life-threatening, health issues.

Texaco has refused to either clean up their own mess or compensate the people whose environment they have ruined.

If that wasn’t enough – Texaco collaborates with Burmese dictatorship in an offshore natural gas project. Supporting a dictatorship which has directly suppressed democracy and actively kills those who try to protest.

If that wasn’t enough – Chevron -Texaco along (with Esso) are supporters of the war against Iraq. Why? They want access to the world’s 2nd largest reserve of oil.

If that wasn’t enough – In 1966 Texaco paid $176 million to settle the largest race discrimination law suit in US history.

If that wasn’t enough – Texaco blatently violated the UN oil embargo in Haiti. An internationally agreed embargo designed to bring pressure on the Haitian dictatorship.

I could go on – but I think you’ve got the picture!

Let us consider the environmental costs of travel in CO2 alone.

By car: An average UK sized petrol car emits 300g of CO2 per mile, with diesel cars coming in 1/3 less polluting and petrol driven 4×4 or SUVs 1/3 more

Bus: A passenger on a double decker produces 150g per mile (you’d think it was less wouldn’t you?)

Train: works out at 100g of CO2 per passenger mile

Tube: Is the clear winner at 90g per passenger mile. (So it is worth all that suffering!)

Planes: These get a bit more complex to calculate as with long-haul flights the route is seldom a straight line from A-B. The Guardian recommends multiplying the distance in miles by 290g for a short-haul and 180g for a long-haul flight (The difference being accounted for by the extra passengers on long-hauls.) Surprisingly, to me at least, that makes air travel a bit more economical in terms of CO2 than travelling by car. But then how often do you drive 9000 miles?

Your action for today in our series of 40 small steps to make the planet a better place is to consider how you can save some CO2.

Walk or cycle for short-distances. I avoid the busy main roads and walk through the back streets – its quieter, much nicer and far easier as you don’t have to keep stopping, starting and changing direction to avoid other people.

Use a motorbike/scooter for longer daily commutes. Be sure to get a 4 stroke with a catalytic converter (2 strokes are very dirty). Better yet, an electrical one. These really cut your journey time but parking is becoming a problem as the number of motor bike bays hasn’t kept up with the growing number of riders. Lobby your MP and local Council.

Share your car, offer a lift use a car pool. Two people in a car is twice as efficient as one. Filling the car up will reduce your bill and share you’re emissions.

Avoid flying short distances. Lobby your MP to get something done about the ridiculous cost of travelling by train in the UK. Flying within Europe is a no no. The Eurostar will whisk you away and there are plenty of high-speed trains on the other side of the channel.

Consider carbon offsetting. This is a help but should never replace attempts to cut down your emissions.

Everyone who has been following this blog over the last 32 days is an activist at heart. But most of us aren’t as active as we’d like to be. The dream is there but the act is missing.

So today’s small step in our series of 40 small steps to change the world is to look at why. Why do we put off doing the very things that we want to do?

There are loads of sites on the web discussing procrastination but the majority only address the most superficial causes. In order to move on it is essential that you dig deeper and become aware of the conflicts that stop you acting. Here are my top 4.

Fear of Failure – this is usually linked to perfectionism. The fear is that if you don’t do the job perfectly you’ll be criticised or even ridiculed. With that sort of threat hanging over you its going to be incredibly hard to get started and you’ll find yourself looking for other ‘essential’ things to fill your time. These can then be used as ‘valid’ excuses when you finally complete the task about 2 nano-seconds before the deadline. “Oh if only xxxx hadn’t happened I could have produced such a great piece of work”.

Fear of Success – this may seem strange at first but its dead common. It includes the beliefs: -

• That being successful will not bring you the happiness or satisfaction that you seek
• That you don’t deserve to be successful
• That you won’t be able to sustain that level of performance and will soon be shown up
• That other people will be jealous or resentful and reject you

Anger – I’ve come across this most with people who’ve had very difficult childhoods. They often have a deep-rooted fear that, if they succeed in life, then their parents have somehow ‘got away with it’. They are torn between the success and demonstrating to the world how damaged they’ve been.

Fear of Rejection - You may find yourself agreeing to do all sorts of things that you have no interest in. It can feel impossible to say ‘no’ to someone because you fear they will reject you. There are many people who base their relationship around being the “always available friend” but, deep-down resent that role and want to be appreciate for who they are not for what they provide. The conflict that arises means that they will accept the task as requested but somehow not get round to doing it.

Most people will fall mainly into one of these 4 categories. Recognising which of them you fall into is the fundamental first step to overcoming procrastination. So today’s task is to make your choice.