How the world sees Greece
Energy Minister Panayiotis Lafazanis has instructed the Greek Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME) to carry out a series of tests at the recycling center in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, which was recently destroyed by a fire.
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Authorities are investigating possible links between last week’s toxic fire that destroyed a recycling plant in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, and an illegal waste shipment from Greece that was intercepted by Bulgarian police last month.
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Ever since I was young, I've loved the ocean. I grew up in Southern California near the Pacific Ocean. Any excuse to jump in the water was good enough for me. In the course of my life, I've noticed increasing amounts of plastic pollution in the sea. Initially, I would gather what I was able to collect, tie it to my bikini, bring it out and find a garbage can on land. The problem is that I started seeing more and more. In 2007, I heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and my first response was, "Oh my gosh! We have got to go out there and clean this thing up!," which I described in a TED Talk on Mission Blue in 2010. We now know that the entire ocean has become a "plastic soup" and filled with particles so tiny that some describe it as "plastic smog." With more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing more than 250,000 tons afloat at sea, we have a disaster on our hands. Plastic pollution is an urgent problem, and unless we intend to live in a garbage dump, constantly exposing ourselves to the chemicals (which leach from plastics) and to eat seafood (which has also ingested these plastics), the time has arrived to address this issue. The Plastic Pollution Coalition was founded in late 2009 and since then, we've grown to include more than 400 organizations and businesses around the world, working to stop plastic pollution, to educate and to raise awareness of the toxic impact of plastic and the chemicals that leach from plastic on humans, animals, the ocean and the environment. Our first, and what continues to be our most successful campaign, is the REFUSE campaign. We've adapted the three "R" model of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle -- and added a fourth "R" onto the front, which is to Refuse; whenever possible, refuse single-use plastic. While cleaning up this mess in the ocean is important and, in fact plastic and micro-plastics have now been discovered in every ocean in the world, including in the Arctic ice, the truth is that we must become part of the solution by putting energy toward source reduction. So, let's talk about solutions and alternatives and look at what's working right now. This a tremendous time for innovation -- to take a look at what was used in the past and what we are developing. It's important to identify alternative products, which exist right now and can be utilized in place of disposable single-use plastic. Plastic is a valuable material, which we are using in an irresponsible way when it's designed with intended obsolescence in mind. In other words, designed to be used for a short amount of time. Plastic Free Schools: The goal of Plastic Free Schools is to invite and encourage schools to conduct a single-use and disposable plastic audit and then proceed to measurably reduce plastic pollution on their campuses around the world, with a special focus on the reduction and ultimately the elimination of plastic bottles, straws, utensils, bags, and food packaging. This means different things for different schools, from hosting a plastic free sporting event, to ending bottled water sales across the campus. Plastic Free Towns: Part of the PPC network of communities around the globe, we share best practices across the range of coalition members and provide tools to support their efforts to eliminate disposable plastic and measurably reduce their overall plastic footprint. Plastic Free Events: We encourage touring performers to reduce their plastic footprint on the road, and suggest best practices and ways to do so. We continue to expand the Refill Revolution this year at Bonnaroo 2015, originally launched in 2014 at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee, an outdoor music and camping festival that hosts more than 80,000 people each June. Plastic Free Island: Started on the island of Kefalonia, Greece in the Ionian Sea, the primary objective of this multi-year pilot program is to shrink the island of Kefalonia's own disposable plastic footprint by offering strategies for measurably reduction. By the end of the PPC's 10-year commitment to this project, Kefalonia will be able to share a "road-tested" template for integrating active-learning programming, engaged community research, and public-art activist projects, all directed at raising awareness of the ecological crisis, and creating the public will to combat it. So For this World Oceans Day, let us say this: The ocean is in peril due to many factors, but the growing amount of plastic pollution and micro-plastics currently being released into the sea and waterways must stop. We can be a part of the solution by making smarter daily choices and always thinking reusable rather than disposable. The simplest actions can make a world of difference: bring your own bag to the market, take a reusable stainless steel or glass bottle with you when you're on the go, choose real utensils over plastic ones, and say no to plastic pollution. This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with World Oceans Day (June 8), as part of HuffPost's "What's Working" initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Greeks are coming around finally to recycling their waste instead of putting it in garbage cans with most saying they now do the practice. The post Greeks Are Taking To Recycling appeared first on The National Herald.
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Greeks are embracing waste recycling, with the overwhelming majority saying it is part of their daily lives, according to a survey carried out by Alco for the Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation (HERRCO). A total of 96 percent said recycling was impor... ...
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The Hanukkah story is an account of a religious miracle, but in it lies another important message -- one that is inspiring some Jewish activists in their work for the environment. Liya Rechtman, an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, is using the Jewish month of Kislev, which runs Nov. 23 - Dec. 22, to do a "Hanukkah Conservation Challenge," during which she will replace all of her incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. The challenge is light-specific to highlight the miracle at the core of the Hanukkah story. After years of battle between the Jewish Maccabees and the Syrian-Greek army, the Maccabees finally defeated the last fortress and returned to the Second Temple in Jerusalem. They had only enough oil to light the temple for one day -- but it miraculously lasted for eight. Rechtman writes in an article about her conservation challenge: Hanukkah, which begins on 25 Kislev, puts light at the core of our celebration, reminding us on cold and dark winter days how integral light is in our Jewish tradition. By replacing our light bulbs, we can minimize the damage done to our earth when we use unnecessary energy to light our homes and uphold our Jewish obligation not to destroy our earth and not to waste its resources, bal taslich (Deuteronomy 20:19). HuffPost Religion spoke with Rechtman to hear more about the Hanukkah Conservation Challenge and how others can get involved: What inspired you to take on this challenge? We were inspired to create the Monthly Green Challenge this year because it’s important to realize the ways that by slightly altering your lifestyle and daily routines one person can make a real impact on energy conservation. Our hope for the series is that others will join the challenge! So far I’ve gotten positive feedback from several readers. How can the Hanukkah miracle translate into conservation work for Jews today? The celebration of Hanukah connects well to themes of conservation. In the Hanukah story, the Maccabees have oil only enough for one day and are miraculously able to make it last for eight days. As helpful as a miraculous solution to the challenges of climate change would be, we can create our own miracle by reducing our use of non-renewable energy sources, specifically oil. We need to increase our usage of wind, solar and other cleaner energies if we are to save ourselves from the devastation of the climate change crisis. Have you seen any synagogues or Jewish group taking on this challenge or doing other environmental work? Many Reform Jewish synagogues and affiliated organizations, like our summer camps and youth groups, are doing environmental work. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is partnering with an organization called GreenFaith to support our congregations in doing energy audits, making congregational spaces more energy efficient, and educating our community on environmental issues through worship services and programming. Some, like Temple Jeremiah in Chicago, are working on GreenFaith certification right now. In Boise Idaho, Congregation Ahavat Beth Israel runs a community garden for the local refugee congregations. Community gardens have become very popular among our congregations and summer camps, many of them donate the food they grow, working to protect the vulnerable within their communities at the same time that they are working to protect the earth. What stories, lessons or rhetoric do they use to inspire their congregations? Congregations talk about environmental issues and Jewish values through a couple of different lenses. One of our central values is to pass on our tradition from one generation to another, from parents to children. In our text this is call l’dor v’dor, from one generation to the next. In the same way that we are taught to pass on our tradition, we also believe that we must pass on a heritable, viable earth to the next generation. We also often talk about the command to be environmental stewards, citing genesis 2:15, in which God tells Adam to “till and tend” the Garden of Eden. In the same way that Adam is commanded to till and tend the earth, we believe in protecting our earth. Will you continue the challenge beyond this month? The Monthly Green Challenge is actually something I have been writing every month, with challenges specifically related to that month. I wrote one for the month of Tishrei about recycling grocery bags (here) and one in Cheshvan about turning down your thermostat (here). So yes, the challenges will definitely continue past Kislev throughout the Jewish year! I’ll present – and try to live by – a new challenge each month. Read Rechtman's blog about her Hanukkah Conservation Challenge here.
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While the Greek islands are normally associated with happy sun-and-sea holidays, mountains of trash are also a common eyesore that authorities have failed to deal with in an effective manner. It was this failure that recently prompted the University of th... ...
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