Quick Action, Quick Results on Cleanway

The first time I heard of Cleanway Technology Corporation was back in 2005. I had just come from a Congressional oversight hearing for the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act on the IWMI incinerator in Cavite. After the hearing, most of those who attended, legislators included, went to visit Cleanway, a facility that treated hospital and industrial wastes in Barangay Maguyam, Silang, Province of Cavite.

I was particularly interested in their hydroclave technology which was a non-burn alternative for hospital waste. At the time of the visit, the company had just started operating and was processing mostly medical wastes. To me, the technology looked promising. But I wondered what toxic wastes they would be treating because that is usually the tricky part. Greenpeace strongly believes that the problem of toxic wastes can only be effectively eliminated by phasing them out in production and finding safer and cleaner substitutes.

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Vigilance Pays

Ka Noli Abinales is a community leader from San Mateo, Rizal Province in the Philippines. I have worked with him for more than a decade on different issues. This time, it is solid waste.

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…given what’s at stake..

Ms. Earth

Miss Earth beauty pageant contestants pose with a banner for Climate change adaption and mitigation.

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Staying positive in Indonesia

From the Climate Rescue Blog

Hi! My name is Pablo, Greenpeace activist from Spain, and I’m writing this e-mail from the Climate Defenders Camp, that Greenpeace set up in Sumatra, Indonesia.

It has been pretty depressing to see all the forest destruction here. Big areas of jungle have been burnt and other deforested areas are now full of plantations of palm, eucalyptus trees and other commercial species.

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It ain’t over till the fat lady sings

From the Climate Rescue Blog

It’s the last day of the climate negotiations in Barcelona, I’m sitting in my hotel lobby after attending the final session at the negotiations in Barcelona and reflecting on all that has happened – and failed to happen – this week.

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Musicians going Green

From Making Waves

In 2007, Aussie musician Missy Higgins and her band toured the US in a Prius, participated in Live Earth and helped PETA campaign against animal abuse. That same year, KT Tunstall also jumped on the green bandwagon, touring in a biodiesel-fuelled bus and supporting the “carbon diet” campaign by Global Cool. And Moby is currently participating in the Play4Climate campaign co-created by the EU and MTV to educate people about climate change with a musical backdrop.

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Mission Possible: Restoring the Peatland

I am now on the peatland area of Semenanjung Kampar, half an hour away by boat from Greenpeace Climate Defender Camp.

As far as I can see are bushes, grasses, several trees, and bushes again. Man, this is not the rainforest. Here I am, at Semenanjung Kampar that has more than 700.000 hectare area of forest, storing more than 2 billion carbon in it. Oh yeah, I remember now, the latest data said that almost half of Semenanjung Kampar forest, approximately 300.000 hectare now already destroyed for plantations.

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Mélanie Laurent enjoys the spirit and friendship of Climate Defenders Camp

Mélanie Laurent witnesses forest destruction - where climate change starts - in Indonesia.

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All Souls Day: Daisies and ginko leaves no longer adorn cemeteries

garbage, flood, dead peopleThe Church observes All Souls Day today as the living remembers their dearly departed. Filipinos commemorate this day and make it a point to visit the tombs of their departed loved ones and offer prayers. I remember when I was younger I used to go with my parents to the cemetery. I was always in awe of the place. The appalling tranquility and solemnity of the cemetery used to have a grip on my being. The surroundings take my breath away (figuratively) because lovely flowers, thick bushes and shady trees adorn the place. I always bring a good book to read as I wait for my parents finish cleaning my grandfather’s tomb. The cemetery’s serenity gives me not a creepy feeling but a cool, peaceful one.

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Dam – it’s even harder than it looks!

Activist Petteri has been hard at work, blocking the drainage of carbon-rich peatland in Indonesia (read his first update – and why they are building a dam here).

Update 2

This morning we left camp with two pong pongs – local small boats – and headed for the canal we are damming. Next to the canal we have built a small shelter to protect us from the sun and occasional rain. There we fill our canteens with fresh water and have lunch breaks. I drink about 4 liters of water every day to replace fluids that I sweat out of my body. It is difficult to explain how demanding physical work is in this heat and humidity. It must be experienced – to be believed!

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