RonMertens.com

If you have 20 minutes to spare, check this out. A great video about the consumer way of life - and what are the implications to our planet, and society, and happiness. So Michal and I are doing at least one thing right - we do not watch TV (we do watch DVD movies and shows - but no ads, and we don’t really watch a lot).

I also try to limit the stuff I buy. For example I try not to buy a lot of presents for all my nephews - I’m sure I’m less popular because of it, but it’s for the greater good.  Actually this year my sister and I decided that instead of buying birthday presents - we’ll give a donation in each other’s behalf. Cool!

I need to stop wanting new gadgets (I really need a new camera… damn). And to stop buying stuff I don’t need (which I’m getting better at). It also saves money, which is a good thing when we’re both almost not earning anything

I just received a large parcel in my mail. It was from Microsoft (which was suspicious at best). I decided to take the risk, and open it.
It was this large cylinder, saying that “the writing is on the wall - Microsoft Software as a Service”. Inside was a spray-paint can (!) with a small leaflet telling me that’s it’s time to tell the world that I know it too (that the writing is on the wall) with my name and instructions to cut out my name and spray it.

I really got annoyed. This is a huge waste - I’m sure thousands in Israel got this junk (I never actually had anything to do with Microsoft Israel - beside buying my copy of Windows XP). Probably 90% of it was thrown right away. And it’s probably really damaging to our environment - a can of paint!

Obviously I only had one option - to phone Microsoft and tell them they are annoying, they kill our planet, and should be ashamed. The phone number on the box lead me straight to the delivery company, who was as annoyed as I was, and said he doesn’t know why everyone phones him and asks whether his is Microsoft (which he is not).

So I opened the small leaflet, and found another phone number. I phoned, pressed 3 like was told to do in th leaflet, and I got a nice many with an Indian accent explaining to me that I got to the Calcuta technical support. I love india - but this guy didn’t really help me out.

At this stage I got even more annoyed, and e-mailed YNet and NRG which I hope will publish this in the ‘eco’ sections (YNet phoned me, so I hope they will indeed do something).

I then phoned microsoft again, but didn’t press the ‘3=Calcuta’, and then I got to a hebrew speaking microsoft-lady. She was nice, and later they phoned again and listened to my complains. I hope someone got my message.

So now I have this stupid can of spray on my desk (colour royal blue, or azul real). Anyone wants it?

Check this out - the world’s first OLED lamp, and a beautiful design, too!

A few years ago Michal and I decided that we don’t want to have TV anymore - we disconnected from cable, and ever since we don’t get any TV. We do watch DVD movies and TV series still.
I had just finished reading a fascination book - ‘Four arguments for the elimination of TV’, by Jerry Mander. He claims that TV is so inherently bad, that we can only eliminate it - we cannot hope to reform it. It’s hard to summarize this book - the arguments are interesting and convincing - but it cannot be summarized into a sentence or two - which is exactly what TV tends to do to issues - and one of the things Jerry doesn’t like about it.

Anyway it’s a good read - if only for the health relating argument which is fascination. I never considered ‘light’ to be so interesting!

I’ve finished reading this book, the Skeptical Environmentalist. I didn’t really read the whole thing, some parts I “skimmed through”. Basically it is a danish statistic professor, who thinks the “world is in great shape”, and tests most environmental “problems” and shows us that things are rather good. His idea is that we need to focus on real problems, and use our money to the maximum profit, not just on things that are “popular”.
It seems like there is a HUGE debate over this book. Some scientists believe he uses non-scientific methods, and other defend him.

I was really annoyed with him sometimes. He likes to take some forecasts and claim they are just “forecasts” and shows how they will not come true. But some he likes and state as “facts”. The book is from 2000-1, and he believes that oil prices will not go above 20-25$ a barrel, and backs his claims with some analysts forecasts. Ha! it’s funny to read that now, with oil price hovering over 70$.
He agrees that global warming is a problem, but he believes it will be too expensive to change to renewable energies. He doesn’t really mention the “positive” feedback theories I read in the “carbon war” book, and he claims that even if catastrophe happens, we should not buy an “insurance” now because, again, it is too expensive. He cliams that the move to renewable energies will cost us a lot of money. When he talks about the Ozone layer, he is happy to say we have solved the problem, and moving away from CFC “did not cost anything”. So maybe this will be the case with solar and wind?

The funniest part for me is that he cliams our rivers and beaches are “cleaner than ever”. I think he should come to israel, and swim in the Yarkon river, it might change his mind (if he survives).

I just finished reading “The Carbon War”, by Jeremy Leggett. Jeremy was an Oxford professor, until he decided to do something about Global warming. He joined Greenpeace, and the book tells of the years 1990-1997, from the early warning signs to the signing of the Kyoto agreement.

The troubling part is that Jeremy (and obviously he is not alone in this) believes that the environment will exhibit “positive feedback” to the greenhouse effect. What it basically means, is that once we heat the planet to a certain degree, it will start to heat itself more and more, even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases. There are a lot of possible reasons: Methane gases that are trapped beneath the ocean today, and might get loose, trees that will start to release their CO2 gas at a certain temperature, and many more reasons. Read the book if you want to find out more.
The Kyoto agreement was a step in the right direction, but obviously it is not enough, and many countries (including the US) will not even do what is required of them in that agreement.

If what he’s saying is true, then in about 10-15 years (or even less), we might reach the ‘no-turning-back’ point. It might mean the extrinction of most life on earth. Including humans, of course. Even without this positive feedback and ultimate death things, things are grim. Corals are dying all the time (Around 80% of corals in Syachelles, for example, have died in the last few years), ocean life is effected (for example, the Cod population in england is virtually non-existant today), etc.
So is there some issue that is more important than Global Warming? I guess not. While I’m not 100% sure Jeremy is correct, most evidance today seem to point in this direction, and we simply can’t efford to take that chance, can we? it is quite simple. It means that we must take action today, because in a few years it will simply be too late.

So what can we do? As individuals, we must first learn a bit more… I strongly suggest reading this book. The next book I am going to read is “The Skeptical Environmentalist”, which might give some opposing views, we’ll see. After we educate ourselves, we can educate others, and convince them to help too.
Then we can start saving some energy ourselves. Drive more efficient cars, use energy efficient appliances (lamps, fridges, etc.), eat organic food, try to lower your meat consumption, etc. It’s a small effect, and it only “delays”, but it helps.

We must make this our top issue, and it might effect those in goverment and business companies. There are a lot of companies that are on the right track. Whole Foods, for example, the biggest US organic store, is now a “zero-emmision” company - all their energy comes from renewable sources. We ourselves try to use only EcoVer products (For cleaning, laundery) who are also friendly to the environment. The more we buy from those companies, the more companies that will understand that this is the way to go.
We can invest some of our money in clean-energy companies. There are funds and ETFs that track those companies (even in israel there is a clean-energy fund, and an index-tracking stock, as well). If we can make solar or wind cost-competitive with coal, gas and oil than we might have a chance. Obviously we should not invest or help companies that pollute our planet. After all, what good is a good investment if you are not alive to enjoy it?

An interesting site I just found is Carbon Fund. This is a US non-profit organization, that fights global warming. The idea is that Carbon fund helps you to reduce or eliminate your carbon “footprint”. You can donate money, which goes to build solar or wind farms, or to “buy” carbon and “retire” it. They also do education and other stuff. The basic idea is that global warming effects us all. So if you help build a solar farm in the US, it helps you in Israel or wherever you are. They can help you calculate how much carbon you emit every year, and then they tell you how much money you need to give in order to offest this. It turns out that an average person needs about 100$ a year, which is not a lot of money when you consider the alternative.

In the last years or so, I’ve become more aware and more concerned about the environment. I hope to write a bit more about this issue, once I can get my own thoughts fixed about it. Obviously there is no time to lose.