On the Monday 5th October, we did our first talk in a local school, which was really what we were aiming for.

The talk went relatively well; the kids all listened, and some of them laughed!

I did this talk with Isaac, who will also be helping with the talk in Garden International School on Friday.

Thanks Isaac!

To view the presentation, visit: http://www.kidsforearthasia.com/?p=8

Today, I visited a small recycling center in Wangsa Maju. Itis run by Alam Flora, Malaysia’s trash collectors. They recycle absolutely everything but only if all the garbage is properly separated. Otherwise, it just goes to landfills. Probably the most discusting, dirty, smelly, (fill in any gruesome word, landfills are sure to fit the description,)places on the planet. You might want to think about sorting your garbage into these catagories:

Newspaper, Black & White paper (A4), Magazines, Carton Boxes, Mix Papers/Books, Aluminium Cans,  Mixed Plastic, Steel Cans/Metal, Glass Bottles, Bevarage Cartons.

Alam Flora will buy sorted, recyclable products from you. We don’t want our planet to end up looking like a giant landfill, because right now, it’s shooting in that direction.

Its official; the green algae that’s all over the coasts of Brittany (http://www.kidsforearthasia.com/?p=53), when in a state of decomposition, releases a toxic gas which is dangerous, and can kill humans.

Ineris (an institute which studies the air quality) confirms that the gas is dangerous to the health in certain concentrations. The gas in question, hydrogen sulfur, is (eek!) deadly if you are exposed to it for several minutes.

On the post I did about this before, I described a horse getting killed by the algae. What I didn’t know was that the rider on the horse also lost consciousness. And in 1989, a jogger was found dead at the same place.

So the algae that has grown because of the nitrates we have seeped into the sea has proven to be deadly to us.

Wonderful.

I’m not too sure what will happen to all the ‘algae picking up’ competitions that I noticed when I was in Brittany.

Another point to take into account is that people may not take it seriously enough because many beaches in Brittany are in large bays, so the algae doesn’t reach the beaches.

Hopefully, with the encouragement of the government, Brittany will take action to end this invasion of the algae.

P.S: If you can read French, and would like a more detailed report of the algae, visit http://www.france-info.com/spip.php?article332215

If you go to a school within the proximity of KL, and would like to help Kids for Earth ’spread the message’, we will be having a short informal meeting on Sunday the 13th this month.

There are plenty of stuff to do, and if you want to get involved in Kids for Earth, e-mail me at gabrieltseng@kidsforearthasia.com.

Hope to see you there.

Steve Fambro, one of Aptera’s co-founders, imagined the aptera when he was stuck in a traffic jam. He met Chris Anthony, who further pushed the design through boat structures, and finally the project was brought to California (where the first production models will be sold).

Chris Anthony showed Steve Fambro a boat, but the Aptera (meaning ‘wingless’ in Greek) looks alot more like a plane. It was designed to cut through the air instead of push it, and, more importantly, it is an electric (or hybrid, depending on the model) car.

Many people may argue that in fact, electric cars only move the pollution away; the factories creating the electricity are still creating the pollution. However, electric cars use 80% of the power to move; oil cars lose 80% of the power to heat and sound. So overall, the electric car wins over. (Especially if you look at the money saved)

The Aptera’s top speed is 137 km per hour, which is quick for an electric car. It’s range is 160 km per charge, which is well more than a city commuter needs in a day.

At US$ 20,000, this is a reasonably well priced car, compared to other electric cars on the market. (eg. Tesla Roadster, which sells for US$101,500)

However, the Aptera’s resevation list has suposedly hit the 4 thousands, so you’ll have to wait long if you reserve now.

Aptera promise the first cars to arrive ‘4rth quarter of 2009′.

Yann Arthus Bertrand filmed every one of the scenes in this film, on a plane, flying over vast landscapes. What he did before filming this was impressive enough; he has acted in two filmed, been an assistant director in one, and for 3 years, he lived amongst a Massai tribe for three years to study lions. He has also done numerous other documenteries and books.

But I digress. Yann Arthus Bertrand began filming Home in April 2007 with Luc Besson. His intention was to show humanity what it had done to the world, and the challenges we face in the coming years.

It is a very moving story, which really plays with the viewers emotions. It is very well done, and the images act as a stunning reminder that what is being told is real. It makes the viewer take into account much more what is being said.

On June 5th 2009, environmental day, Home was released internationally. In France, the music, narration, and moving music drew 8 million viewers to watch it on France 2 TV channel. Similarly, the film received more than 400,000 views in its first 24 hours on YouTube.

Since Yann Arthus Bertrand released all his author’s rights on the film, the film is available for free on the internet, and can be copied and shared.

And finally, the film is carbon offset. This means all the CO2 released into the atmosphere for the making of Home was calculated and ‘offset’; money from the film is used to pay for (through GoodPlanet) clean energy where people need it.

Kids save apes is an initiative started by Haley Stern. It concentrates on raising awareness about the dangers we pose to apes, and how we should react to them.

One of the main threats to apes is deforestation for palm oil plantations. To reduce the palm oil used, KSA has contacted airlines to encourage them to reduce the palm oil they use in their foods. The reason KSA chose airlines over other food companies is because airlines will have an easier job not using palm oil.

This initiative is great; though it is focused on apes, reducing the number of palm oil plantations will in fact save a large number of animals and plants.

I will try an contact KSA. Who knows, we could do a joint project? But that will be for later, unless there is a plastic related problem to palm oil plantations as well?

Enlighten me.

O’BON stationary is made out of recycled materials. The pencils are made of recycled newspapers with different themes to make them exiting and fun. The wildlife series is to help people understand that normal paper and pencils are made from wood which often causes deforestation leading onto homeless animals and extinction. On http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/, they say that at the current rate of deforestation, all the rainforests could dissapear in 100 years. To say that some of theese forests have been on the earth for longer then anything else and we’re cutting them down makes me so angry that I wish that only O’BON statoinary was allowed.

Pasir Ris park is located on the east of Singapore. It’s a very beautiful place, with bike and jogging lanes. There’s even a boardwalk, that leads you through a mangrove. We went at low tide, and though the tide is supposed to take the rubbish out of the mangrove, it looks more like it brings it all in. The mangrove was littered with plastic items. Most was disposable, trash carelessly thrown on the ground or blown out of a landfill. But there were also bigger objects; a salad bowl, a flip flop…

Unfortunately, it is difficult to clean up all this trash because of the mangrove’s wildlife, and because of the uneven terrain. It makes sense that someone cleans it up, but what would have been ideal is if nobody had but it here in the first place. There were lots of plastic bags,and I have to strain the point that these bags have an extremely slim chance of being recycled, now that they are stuck in the mangrove. So those plastic bags will stay on earth for ever.

Just another friendly reminder not to use plastic bags.

This is an event organised by the Recyclists ( www.therecyclists.blogspot.com ) to promote awareness about plastic bags.

It is to be held at No.235, Jalan Bukit Bintang, in KL, on the 31st of August, from 12:00 to 18:00. The items on sale will not be all about the environment. There will be pre-loved items (apparently for grabs at a steal ), a pet adoptation drive, raffle draws, and some celebrities will even be donating some bjects for an auction!

There are a host of vendors, including some green lifestyle ones:

Just Life, Tiny Tapir, Forest Voices, the Light Show, This wonderful life, Animal care and Jumble Station.

I can’t wait to go, and I’m thinking of contacting the Recyclists… Who knows, we might see some Kids for Earth wine bags at the bazaar!