So, now that Copenhagen Climate Talk is over, some of you might be wondering on what actually is happening and hopefully changing in tropical forests now. Not much it seems. Forests remain under threat for all the same reasons that we’ve historically cut them down—illegal logging, industrial agriculture expansion, and destructive “development” projects. At least for one more year, business as usual is certainly going to continue and tropical forests will probably continue to be lost at the shocking rate of 1 acre/second.

But the most depressing fail for the forests out of Copenhagen is the lack of binding targets to reduce fossil fuel emissions and start to halt climate change. If global temperatures rise above 2 degrees C, most scientists predict that tropical forests will be profoundly affected, experiencing extreme droughts, increased forest fires and other catastrophic weather events. Even if a separate deal to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries had been agreed upon, the lack of commitment to deep fossil fuel emissions in a legally binding climate change agreement would continue to threaten the world’s forests.

We can’t save the forests if we don’t save the climate. And that means that REDD without a larger climate deal is no deal at all.

As we all know, on Wednesday (January 27), a blown-up version of iPhone was released. Weighing 1.5 pounds, just 0.5 inch thick, and 11 inches tall, the iPad makes it possible to fool around with songs, watch movies, read books, and run all the supplementary tens of thousands of applications obtainable in the Apple’s depots. The question: How green is it?

Being aware of the curious public it faces, Apple soon declared the ‘green’ feature iPad has to offer. They admit that this awaited gadget follows Apple Environmental Policies, which means no malicious chemical like arsenic, mercury, nor PVC.

Some bloggers at Engadget claims Apple’s latest iPad was the Next Green Thing by its ‘highly recyclable’ feature and if you are not interested in awards at least get familiar with its great green attributes.

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Almost earthed for more than 2,000 years, an ancient temple built for Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet, was recently discovered by a group of Egyptian archeologists. The news was broken by the Supreme Council of Antiquities on Tuesday (January 19). The Ptolemaic-era temple was first found in the form of ruins in the heart of Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. According to their statement, the temple was thought to be owned by Queen Berenice, wife of King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C. Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who escorted the excavation squad, said the unearthing may be the first mark out of the long-sought site of Alexandria’s royal quarter.

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After hiding from public spotlight for about eight years, Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden finally came out on Friday (January 29) to air his reprimands in an audio tape broadcasted by Al-Jazeera television. “All industrial nations, mainly the big ones, are responsible for the crisis of global warming,” bin Laden said in the message credited to him by the pan-Arab news channel found in Doha.

Furthermore, he criticized sharply on the U.S. government under former President George W. Bush for not agreeing the Kyoto protocol on fighting climate alteration. “Bush the son, and the Congress before him, rejected this agreement, only to satisfy the big companies,” he said. “This is a message to the whole world about those who are causing climate change, whether deliberately or not, and what we should do about that, discussing climate change is not an intellectual luxury, but a reality.”

He also was claiming U.S. dollar global usage as a proof of U.S. ‘slavery’ towards international population so public should stop using it as a global means of economic transaction.

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A few dedicated breast cancer activists relate how they tried to improve regulations to prevent breast cancer, and how they have changed their own lives to make it safer.

See full post and videos HERE!

The Global Sun Oven

Back in the Stone Age, people used sun to cook their meal. Ironically, tell 1000 Green Steps how often do you hear about this solar powered cooking in our modern era? To overcome that issue, Sun Ovens International applies the principle of cooking which had been used centuries ago, and combines it with the available technology . These are the green steps The Global Sun Oven offers you!

• Bakes, Boils, or Steams Any Kind of Food with the Power of the Sun – No Fuel Needed!
• Create your favorite recipes as you feast upon natural sun baked treats!
• Reaches Temperatures of 360 to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit!
• Totally Safe – No Danger of Fire – Never Burn Dinner Again!
• Versatile, Easy-to-use, Portable as a Small Suitcase!

Available online at $279.00, but this price is totally reasonable since you could reduce huge electricity usage and no fuel is required to make this techie appliance work!

Happy Green Living!

Gmail or Google does a remarkable job greening its massive data centers, using techniques such as water evaporation for cooling, and in general streamlining their electrical infrastructure. He says “They even take the Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) out of their servers to lessen energy requirements.” Google takes other steps to reduce the carbon footprint of its data centers, such as using renewable energy in some of them, recycling their cooling water, and so on.

Another recommended green company would be Hotmail, since it used a lot of green techniques in their offices, too.

~Happy Green Living!~

Happy Green Living!

While using organic foods and making the leftovers into compost might be too frustrating for some, planning the meal is one of the easiest ways to avoid leftovers. You should have listed down if your guests are vegetarian, pescetarian, or having some food allergies. That will make them avoid leaving leftovers for food, and mean less trash to be decomposed.

~Happy Green Living!~

Republican attorneys general in 13 states say congressional leaders must remove Nebraska’s political deal from the federal health care reform bill or face legal action, according to a letter provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday (December 30). At the same time, Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, took to the airwaves in his home state, trying to defend his role as the decisive 60th vote in favor of broad health care legislation.

“We believe this provision is constitutionally flawed,” South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and the 12 other attorneys general wrote in the letter to be sent Wednesday night to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “As chief legal officers of our states we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision and we ask you to take action to render this challenge unnecessary by striking that provision,” they wrote.

“With all the distortions about health care reform, I want you to hear directly from me,” Mr. Nelson says in an ad, which shows his face, up close, speaking straight into the camera as music plays. In the 30-second spot, Mr. Nelson goes on to describe the legislation as “a common sense approach” that will lower costs for families and small businesses, protect Medicare, guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions, reduce the deficit and, he adds with emphasis, “It’s not run by the government.”

“That’s not the way we operate,” said Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican who is sometimes suggested as a possible opponent for Mr. Nelson in 2012. Mr. Heineman said that as news of the Medicaid provision spread, people in Nebraska felt embarrassed at the thought that they had been made part of some political deal, even if it was to benefit them.

Any such exemption should affect all states, Mr. Heineman said, not just one. “Our citizens got angry,” he said. “It was an attack on their integrity.”