Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2006 - Muhammad Yunus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-W6y0HzFWk

An Economic Professor turned Bankir of the Poor - Grameen Bank.
He started the microfinance movement in Bangladesh, that is to lend money to the poor, even to beggars.
Impossible ?
Think again.
He's succeeded in MicroFinance and is very positive about eliminating poverty.

The power of one :)

If your heart is in the direction of making the world a better place.
then You'll like this book.
Creating a World Without Poverty - Muhammad Yunus - 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
The book tells you how Muhammad Yunus starts his Grameen Bank, about Social Business Innovations and about his achievements of making the imposibble possible.

Generation Disposable Everything

Remember the old days where you can fix everything you own.
Be it your old Radio, Watch, Clock, Pans, almost everything.

But now....
Some Mass production isn't followed with the productions of spare parts.
Maybe because it's cheap to mass product, so there's no need to fix.
Just throw and buy a new one, fixing cost more.
or Maybe it's just marketing, If customers can't fix a broken handle of a pan and can't find a replacement for the handle then they'd have to buy a new one.
Throw away everything and Buy new ones with a "cuter" model.
This creates Disposable everything.
and what do we get ? Waste waste waste..... Lots of waste.

You know when you buy pens in a bookstore.
The ordinary cheap pens.
Yes they may have a pen refill available.
But they're hard to find.
and when you try to look a pen refill for your cheap pen, You can't find it, coz they have a new pen model out that has a different refill model and the old ones are already discontinued.


That's a picture of the stuff I have on my table right now. At least 7 of them is almost unusable with no Refill available. That's just from 1 person.

Then comes the promotional pens they give away for free.
Those tiny little cute pens that can't be refilled.
more waste.

Then comes the free give-away mugs.
Who needs another mugs ??

then comes everything else in life, every little products that's in your home.
Mouse for your computer for example, they break down oh so fast.

So is it the Manufacturer's fault ?
Yes... it's the greedy manufacturer's fault, BUT, It's not entirely their fault.
It's our fault as well.
We customers are ignorant lazy people.
We've become the Generation Disposable Everything.
What's the point of refilling a pen when buying a new one cost less than 1 dollar ?
Who cares what happens to the waste ?

Well, it all comes back full circle.
All the waste, all the pollutions, it all accumulates slowly and affects us all in return.
Result is global warming, Rising sea level, Acid rain, Unpredictable weather, Unbreatheable air, Natural Disasters gone crazy, etc.

So please....
Try not to waste so much.
Care a little :)

Adopt a Baby Tree

I found this website

www.mybabytree.org

WWF will plant your real baby tree for US$5.50 in Rinjani Protected Forest Protection in Lombok Island, Indonesia, and you can see your baby tree via Google Earth.
Kinda cool, right ?

They even have this cartoony thingy where they fight those illegal loggers and finally plant the baby tree safely.



Okay....
I totally support the Environment and I really appreciate WWF actions and I'm not being cynical about this, well actually I am a little bit.

I was just wondering what will happen to the tree in 10-20 years time when it's full grown ?
It's a baby tree now, but when it's a giant tree, How can mybabytree.org and WWF protect all those trees from illegal logger or the natives who want to use the land for farming ?
I mean, the reality at the moment is, trees are being cut down even inside the Protected National Parks in Indonesia.
Park Rangers who are responsible to guard the National parks also live under threat there.

I'll email askme@mybabytree.org to find out more and will post here when I get a reply.
13 May 09, I just resent the email , hopefull will get a reply :)
So, I haven't got a reply and probably never will. Are they even alive ?
Anyway.... I guess it's better to have baby trees alive for 1 or 2 or 3 or hopefully more years, rather than a bald forest, right ?
What happens after the trees are full grown ? ready to harvest ?
will they be able to protect the trees from illegal loggers ?
Nobody knows. So..... again, it's a starting effort to green the forest and hopefully it will last !! :)

In the meantime, it's great to see that people are getting more concerned about the environment and there are more sites dedicated to help save the environment. :)

Image : www.mybabytree.org

What happens to all the stuff I threw out ?

Have you always wondered where all your stuff come from ?
Where were they made ?
Why are they so expensive ? Why are they so cheap ?
What happens to them after you threw em out ?

Well....
Here's a site that might help you answer those questions.
I hope it's an eye opener



www.storyofstuff.com
Watch the clip to find out :)

Image : www.storyofstuff.com