Gore says Oscar bid helps shift public opinion on climate crisis

"An Inconvenient Truth," former U.S. vice president Al Gore's dire warning about the threat of climate change, won the Oscar for best documentary Sunday.

Making use of a vast body of scientific data, the film represents a stinging rebuttal to the dwindling and increasingly discredited band of skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the extent of climate change, AFP reported.

Though the film is directed by David Guggenheim, Gore is the undisputed star, interspersing persuasive presentations about the environment with personal recollections from his life.

The central thrust of Gore's claims is that global warming is a genuine threat and largely man-made, an assertion that is backed by recent research.

The Kyoto Protocol assigning mandatory targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been ratified by 169 countries. However, the United States has failed to ratify the protocol.

But what Gore did as number 2 man in the White House for global warming during his time was very different from his documentary.

Online newsletter Green Left writes "The Clinton-Gore years were anything but environment-friendly. Under Clinton-Gore, more old growth forests were cut down than under any other recent U.S. administration.

'Wise Use' committees, set up by the timber industry, were permitted to clear-cut whole mountain ranges, while Clinton-Gore helped to 'green-wash' their activities for public consumption.

Former Vice President Al Gore said the Oscar nomination for his global warming documentary is shifting public opinion, but he's not happy about being right.

"An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary about Gore's crusade against global warming, is the odds-on favorite to win an Oscar tonight.Gore said he hopes to pull the global warming argument out of a partisan context and frame it as a moral and spiritual issue that involves responsibility to future generations.Skeptical at first at the idea of turning his slideshow into a movie, Gore said now he's grateful for all the people the movie has reached.Once criticized for his stiffness, Gore now mingles among celebrities with rock star fame, but he said his wife, Tipper, keeps his feet on the ground.

India's booming economy brings toxic hi-tech waste

By Nita Bhalla, Source: Reuters

India's booming economy is producing mountains of toxic electronic waste like discarded computers and televisions, but there are no laws to regulate its disposal, a local environment group said on Friday.

Toxics Link said while the Asian giant's economy has been growing at eight percent annually over the last three years, it has also resulted in the generation of 150,000 tonnes of electronic waste each year.

An eight-month study by the group found that India's bustling financial hub of Mumbai was the biggest source of electronic or e-waste, generating 19,000 tonnes every year.

"Being the hub of India's commercial activities, the banks and financial institutions in Mumbai generate huge amounts of e-waste," Ravi Agarwal, director of Toxics Link, told a news conference.

"But like the rest of India, there are no laws for its safe handling and this will lead to serious health and environmental impacts."

Agarwal said the government had to regulate the management of e-waste by setting up a central authority to collect all discarded electronic goods and put in place laws to deal with disposal and recycling.

India's economic liberalisation that began in the early 1990s has seen hundreds of banks, financial institutions, electronics industries, information technology firms and call centres setting up operations across the country.

The booming economy has also led to a growing middle class -- estimated around 300 million -- which has more disposable income and an insatiable appetite for electronic products.

"When electronics like televisions, PCs and refrigerators are discarded, it is the informal sector made up of tens of thousands of people who collect it and then break it down and recycle parts of it which can be sold," said Agarwal.

"They extract toxic-heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium which are sold for other uses."

These metals harm the development of the brain, kidneys and some are carcinogens which enter the food chain through the air, water and soil.

Colours of Nature

Colours of Nature

MANISHA GUTMAN, Source: The Hindu

Holi marks the end of winter and the coming of spring.

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Many colours are made up of chemical colorant with a base of asbestos or silica, and these are harmful to the skin.

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PHOTO: C.V SUBRAMANYAM

WELCOME SPRING: Joy of hope.

Holi is around the corner! So many of us love playing this colourful festival and look forward to it with excitement! But, did you know that some of the colours we buy in the market are not meant for use?

Holi began as a celebration of the end of winter and the coming of spring. This was also the time when crops like wheat and barley were harvested and the festival was a way of thanking nature. There are several legends about the festival. The bonfire on the night of Holi is symbolic of the victory of good over evil.

The colours of Holi were, originally, the colours of trees that flower in spring. These colours were made from flowers, roots and herbs and had therapeutic and medicinal value. Some of the common plants that were used include henna, hibiscus, and marigold. In addition there are roots such as beetroot and tubers like turmeric that also give bright colours.

Highly toxic

But today, toxic chemical substances, many of which are meant for industrial use only, have replaced the beautiful colours of nature. The commercial colours include pastes, dry powders and watercolours and they are mostly made up of a chemical colorant with a base such as asbestos or silica. The colorants contain heavy metals like mercury, lead and chromium, which can cause damage when they enter the body causing rashes, allergies and breathing difficulties. Some industrial dyes take a long time to come off the skin and slowly enter the body through the skin!

PHOTO: SATISH H.

You can understand more about natural colours by exploring the work of the following groups on their websites: Navdanya, Delhi; CleanIndia, Delhi; Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group, Pune. To read more about the health impacts of industrial colours visit the website of Toxics Link, Delhi.This year play a safe and natural Holi.

Make your own colours

Yellow: Mix turmeric powder with besan for a lovely yellow.

Red : Did you know that if you add a few drops of lemon juice to turmeric powder it turns bright red?

Magenta: Slice or grate a beetroot. Soak in one litre of water for a wonderful magenta.

Orange : Boil the peels of 10 - 15 onions in half litre of water for an orangish-pink colour. Remove the peels before use, to remove the smell of the onions.

Green : Mix a fine paste of leaves like spinach, mustard, coriander or mint in water. Use mehendi / henna powder, separately or mix with equal quantity of any flour for a lovely green shade.

If you don't have the time for this then make sure you buy only natural colours. Locate a shop you that can supply you with genuine natural colours. How will you know that they are genuine? First, verify that the packet of colour does not say "For Industrial use only!"

The terms — herbal, natural, non-toxic and organic — indicate that the colours are probably sensitive on the skin.

Check the ingredients of the colours on the packets.

India's commercial and financial capital is generating 19,000 tonnes of e-waste annually: Study

In a grim reminder of the increasing environmental and health hazards in India's urban centres, a new study by Toxics Link, an environmental group, has revealed that Mumbai is not just the leading generator of electronic waste in the country, but also that the rate at which the commercial capital is throwing away electronic goods is far higher than believed so far.

The pioneering study shows that besides a total generation of electronic waste to the tune of 19,000 tonnes annually - inclusive of computers, televisions, refrigerator and washing machines - the city receives a good amount of it through clandestine imports from the developed world. The report, thus hints that even this shocking figure is at best modest.

The study indicates that the National Capital and its adjoining areas are receiving a substantial part of Mumbai's electronic discards, both internal as well as imported, particularly computer printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are too dangerous to be handled in congested areas of Mumbai. Delhi has been tipped as the largest e-waste recycler in the country. In an earlier study by Toxics Link, it was revealed that the slack enforcement of laws banning hazardous waste processing in residential areas of Delhi was cited as the added 'attraction' for recyclers. Further, Delhi and some of its satellite urban areas seem to have acquired specialisation in dealing with this environmentally hazards activity.

Releasing the report, titled Mumbai: Choking on E-Waste, here today, Ravi Agwarwal, Director, Toxics link, said, "This study is a part of our ongoing efforts to create a body of research that, we hope, will help to fill the void of information on the issue and, eventually, facilitate a strong legislative action in the country."

He added, "Since the release of 'Scrapping the High-tech Myth: Computer Waste in India', in 2003, we have seen the menace of e-waste grow consistently. On the good side, with it have grown the calls for action, both internationally and nationally. Carrying out these assessments guides our campaign for installing proper and adequate e-waste management systems in India."

Also, we hope to prevent the import of e waste, which is growing in India. The waste comes in both misclassified as 'metal scrap' as well as end of life products as 'second hand goods'. Currently, customs are not able to screen or monitor the import of hazardous waste, and this needs to be stopped.

India generates about 150,000 tons of WEEE annually and almost all of it finds its way into the informal sector, as there is no organised alternative available at present. The trend is likely to increase manifold in proportion to the growth in the consumption of electronic products," the report asserts.

Key findings:

• Mumbai generates roughly 19,000 tonnes of WEEE annually, which is substantially higher than the existing approximation. This figure includes not just computers, but also televisions, refrigerators and washing machines. The actual WEEE quantity is expected to be much higher, as several other electronic products, which have not been used in the study, are being dumped into the city's waste stream, and also because there are no figures available on imports from developed nations.
  
• A substantial part of Mumbai's WEEE, both imported and locally generated, is sent to recycling markets located in other parts of the country. The National Capital Region of Delhi is a preferred recycling destination for printed circuit boards (PCBs) originating from the city.
  
• Being the hub of India's commercial and financial activities, the banks and financial institutions in Mumbai generate huge amounts of WEEE, but they do not have any method for its safe handling contributing to disastrous health and environmental impacts of WEEE. The issue of security of data on discarded computers is adequately addressed when such waste is auctioned to waste dealers as scrap.
  
• Mumbai has a large network of scrap traders. The hotspots that handle WEEE in and around Mumbai are - Kurla, Saki Naka, Kamthipura-Grant Road, Jogeshwari and Malad. Recycling in these shops and rooftops not only exposes those involved in the activity to serious health hazards, but also pollutes the surrounding environment. The rate of WEEE generation and the current methods of disposal in Mumbai pose grave environmental and health risks to the city at large due to its dense population and spatial character.
  
• The current handling practices suffer from use of crude methods for dismantling and storage, minimal capital input and zero health and environmental safeguards.
  
• Lack of a legislative framework to address the issue of WEEE management by taking on-board all stakeholders is hampering solution implementation.
  
• Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) approach, which broadly implies that producers be made responsible for their product even after the consumer has bought and used it, is emerging as popular alternative for e-waste management in various countries of the world. India needs to take steps in this direction.

Whiff of Death: Mercury in healthcare

Recent research studies have revealed a large number of contaminants that are in everyday use without most of us being aware of the threat that they pose to the environment and human health. Mercury is one such element. It is widely used in a variety of instruments and objects of daily use.

How would you react to the information that a regular thermometer can cause serious health problems to you or a pregnant woman in your house? Or on being told that a dental clinic near your home may be releasing this deadly heavy metal - an established neurotoxin - into the environment, through its waste discharge.

The present healthcare system relies on a host of mercury-based equipments. In a list of 5,000 medical products, compiled by a technical assistance organisation, over 15 per cent contain mercury. It has also been revealed that mercury is present in the indoor air of a typical healthcare setting. It gets introduced into the ambient environment of healthcare facilities through breakage of mercury-laden instruments. This places those working and visiting such facilities at serious health risk through inhalation and exposure.

Mercury usage in healthcare system is totally replaceable. All that is needed is greater awareness and willingness on the part of policymakers and healthcare administration to implement strategies for its reduction and replacement.

We invite you to a discussion on the use of mercury in healthcare settings, its lethal environmental / health impacts and the way out.

Presentation by Prashant Pastore, Senior Programme Coordinator, Toxics Free Healthcare.

Panelist:
Dr. T.K. Joshi, Project Director, Centre for Occupational & Environmental Health, Lok Nayak Hospital

Dr. Vijay Agarwal, Director-Administration, Max Super Speciality Hospital.

Moderator:
Satish Sinha, Whiff of Death: Mercury in healthcare, Chief Programme Coordinator, Toxics Link.

Date: 21st February 2007, Wednesday	Time: 6.30 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi -110003. (In collaboration with India International Centre)

From Toxics Alert

Mercury in healthcare: Clear and present danger Two recent studies have once again highlighted the clear and present risk of mercury exposure to medical staff and patients in the everyday healthcare settings. While one reinforces the global impact of mercury as a contaminant, the other shows its specific threat in the Indian context in terms of its impact on a wide social and professional group associated with such facilities.

India to demand international ban on mercury trade at UNEP meet in Nairobi

India's Toxics Link will join a large number of non-governmental organisations to call upon Governments across the globe to place a ban on mercury exports in a bid to check increasing mercury pollution at the 24th United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council meeting to be held from 5th to 9th February 2007.

India, which has no regulatory mechanism on mercury import, has emerged in the recent years as one the leading user of mercury thus contributing substantially to its increasing emission. There has been a growing shift of mercury demand towards the developing nations. One of the key demands to be raised at this meeting will be to urge the developed nations to provide new and additional funding towards mercury reduction in developing countries.

Ravi Agarwal, Director Toxics Link, the Delhi-based group that has pioneered research and advocacy on the issue of mercury hazard in India, will be at the meeting to lend a voice to an overwhelming opinion in the anti-mercury international community to call for adding more teeth to their efforts by enacting a globally binding instrument for control of use and supply of mercury.

He said that though the threat posed by mercury is global, as the heavy metal has the ability to travel widely across a number of environmental mediums, its health and environmental hazard locally, ranging from hospitals to schools, in day-to-day setting have been documented. India is also one of the largest importers of this deadly metal.

Two studies, highlighting the wide social group being exposed to this neurotoxin in a regular basis, were released last month. One by Toxics Link detailed presence of mercury in hospital indoor air exposing staff and patients, while the other by Health Care Without Harm, a global coalition of 443 organisations in 52 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in the healthcare industry, found mercury in hair samples of volunteers, mostly women from 21 countries, including India.

"Governments must now agree on tough and binding rules to reduce mercury contamination," said Elena Lymberidi from the Zero Mercury coalition. "Mercury poisons the brain and threatens all of us and future generations, at both high and low levels. So this Governing Council Decision must have teeth to ensure global action."

In the five years, since UNEP's Global Mercury Assessment report, there has been no significant reduction in mercury use worldwide, according to its new mercury trade report. As mercury use has gone down in industrialised nations, developing countries have become increasingly reliant on this toxic metal. Air pollution experts also report that global mercury releases into the atmosphere have increased over the past 15 years.

"UNEP's Governing Council first identified mercury as a serious global threat over six years ago," said Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project. "It has since supported extensive research that all leads to one conclusion - serious, concerted global action must be taken immediately to reduce the level of mercury in the environment and protect fish as a viable world protein source."

Anti-mercury campaigners believe that the fundamental cause of failure over the past two years has been that governments have only supported voluntary 'partnership' programmes, instead of backing a meaningful, legally binding agreement, with the necessary financial assistance and explicit reduction goals. Advocates insist that global, binding agreements are the only way to curtail mercury's worldwide reach.

The NGOs recommend curtailing mercury's global reach by:

* Immediately working towards a globally-binding instrument on mercury using the UNEP trade reports' findings
* Reducing global mercury demand by setting a target to reduce it by 70 per cent by 2017, ending mercury use in electronics, button cell batteries, thermometers, and other non-electronic measuring equipment, phasing out the mercury-cell chlor-alkali process, and setting a sector-specific demand reduction goal to halve artisanal and small-scale gold mining by 2017, eliminating mercury use in whole ore processing, and other practicable measures
* Instructing UNEP to develop a global air emissions report for the next GC, to form the basis for setting goals to reduce major sources of airborne mercury emissions
* Reducing mercury supply by halting primary mining, except where mercury is a by-product from other ore processing, and restricting developed nation mercury exports and managing mercury from closing mercury cell chlor-alkali facilities
* Developed nations providing new and additional funding to support these activities in developing nations.

Mercury is a potent nerve poison and affects the brain and central nervous system. Workers exposed to mercury, eg. small-scale gold miners, often suffer from tremors, memory loss and other neurological damage. Those most at risk from methylmercury-contaminated food are babies and small children. The brains of babies in the uterus are the most vulnerable. The greatest risk is to young women, before or during pregnancy, eating fish containing high levels of methylmercury (e.g. shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and some types of tuna) or miners being exposed during gold mining.

From Toxics Alert

Breathing Asian nightmare Asia's urban population is dying a slow death. The very economic growth that made the Asian developmental dream very real and palpable is now threatening to choke it as well, writes Parvinder Singh.

Documentary series to depict borderless humans and the environment in a global world at two-day festival in Delhi

As the global environmental crisis continues to capture more and more space in our everyday communication, films are emerging as a potent means of giving this concern a cross-cultural unity by highlighting commonalities that go beyond statistics of ecological degradation and rising sea levels and touch a chord at a more experiential level.

Toxics Link, Max Mueller Bhavan and ECOMOVE International have joined hands to bring to Delhiites some of the most outstanding international and Indian documentaries on the environment and struggles associated with it through a two-day film festival from 9^th to 10^th February 2007 at the Max Mueller Bhavan's Siddhartha Hall. These films strongly underline that events like global warming, climate change and natural disasters are not only on the rise but also require solutions beyond borders.

India with its rapidly growing economy is facing both the opportunities and risks of globalisation. On the one hand, for a limited section of society, wealth is growing, on the other, the social inequalities seem to be worsening. To counter environmental abuse and consequent inequities, it is paramount to act locally, while looking across borders to learn about common concerns and solutions.

ECOMOVE International is a network of international environmental film festivals. Its primary purpose is to promote environmental media -in particular the audio-visual. ECOMOVE works to improve the image and appreciation of environmental films, by increasing quality and quantity of media productions. It also conceives and implements educational and media projects on a national and international level. Michael Greif is project manager with ECOMOVE International. This series of films is supported by the German Ministry for the Environment.

On the opening day a panel discussion is scheduled on the topic 'Creativity versus Agenda in the Genre of Environmental Film Making'. Veteran documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak will moderate it. Michael Greif, Down to Earth Managing Editor, Pradip Saha and Rahul Roy from Delhi Film Archives will be the participants.

Among other highlights are the Delhi premier of '100 per cent Cotton: Made in India' by Inge Altemeier. The film portrays the merchandise 'cotton' from its breeding and processing in India to its sale in the form of clothes in the industrialised countries – along with the grave consequences this involves for humans and the environment. From its polluted landscapes to its poisoned workers, India is paying a heavy price for Europe’s desire for cheap cotton.

SCHEDULE

9th February, Friday
* Inauguration at 1500 hrs
* Introduction by Michael Greif at 1515 hrs
* Premier Screening: 100% Cotton, Dir.: Inge Altemeier, Germany: 30 mins at 1530 hrs
* The many faces of madness, Dir.: Amar Kanwar, India: 19 mins at 1605 hrs
* PANEL DISCUSSION: Creativity versus agenda in the genre of environment film making-Michael Greif, Pradip Saha, Rahul Roy, Sanjay Kak at 1645 hrs

10th February, Saturday
* Drowned out, Dir.: Franny Armstrong, UK: 75 min at 1000 hrs
* Water business is good business, Dir.: Sanjay Barnela/Vasant Saberwal, India: 26 min at 1120 hrs
* Thirsty planet, Dir.: Henning Hesse/Martin Fensch, Germany: 30 mins at 1200 hrs
* Looking for Coal, Dir.: Gunnar Walter/Roland Wagner, Germany: 67 mins at 1315 hrs
* Ship breakers, Dir.: Michael. Kott, Canada: 72 mins at 1430 hrs
* Surplus - Terrorized into being consumers, Dir.: Erik Gandini, Sweden: 52 mins at 1600 hrs
* Life running out of control, Dir.: Bertram Verhaag/Gabriele Kröber, Germany: 58 at mins 1700 hrs
* Harvesting hunger, Dir.: Krishnendu Bose, India: 53 mins at 1800 hrs
* Bullshit, Dir.: Pea Holmquist/Suzanne Khardalian, Sweden: 58 mins at 1900 hrs

Contact: Parvinder Singh, +91-9811703798, T: +91-(0) 11-24320711, 24328006 or Mary Therese, +91 9818068589, T: +91-(0) 11-23329506, 23329890

Greenpeace warns deluge of E-waste with Vista

The international environmentalist group Greenpeace Saturday warned of a potential deluge of electronic waste or "E-waste" as companies and individual users replace their computers to achieve compatibility with Microsoft's new Vista operating system.

"With Vista, Microsoft could effectively hasten the obsolescence of half the world's PCs, especially in the absence of fully-functioning global take back systems for PCs," Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner Beau Baconguis said in a statement.

"Companies will feel the need to upgrade more computers sooner -and when they do, the world is unfortunately not prepared for the massive E-waste the upgrades will generate," Baconguis said.

Greenpeace cited a study conducted by U.S. technology marketer SoftChoice Corporation of inventory data representing 112,000 PCs from more than 472 organizations, which showed that "50 percent of the PCs are below Windows Vista's basic system requirements" and "94 percent are not ready for Windows Vista Premium edition."

"We maintain that the useful lives of existing electronic and computer equipment should be prolonged as much as possible," Baconguis said.

"In the end, this is about social responsibility. The idea that software innovation would result in more mountains of computer scrap ending up in the dumps of Asia and Africa, contaminating the environment, and affecting the health of communities, is both offensive and intolerable," she added.