For example, the Amazon rainforest covers an area of two and a half million square miles. That’s a big number, but you can’t really visualise it can you? All you see is a lot of trees.

To put it slightly into perspective, Australia is around 2.8 million square miles, so the Amazon rainforest is only a little smaller than the entire Australasian continent.

Even more astonishing is the estimate that there are still around 50 Indian tribes living in the Amazon rainforest that have never been discovered and never had contact with the outside world. But it isn’t just the big numbers which are impressive – it’s the actual contribution of the Amazon rainforest to the survival of the planet that needs to be understood.

The Amazon rainforest has often been described as the lungs of the planet, and for good reason. Every single day the Amazonian forests generate 20% of all the oxygen in the atmosphere. Without them we’d quickly start to suffocate. 70% of all plants used in treating cancer are found in the rainforests, and if you lined up every plant, animal and insect in the entire world, every other one of them would live in the Amazon rainforest.

It’s easy to be impressed by these figures and images, but sadly it isn’t all good news. Imagine an acre and a half of rainforest. Not easy is it? So imagine a full size football pitch, which is an acre and a half in size anyway.

Now picture that football pitch full of trees, animals and wildlife. Listen to the exotic birds calling to each other, the gentle drip of the heavy raindrops pattering through the leaves onto the rich soil beneath. Imagine that huge area of stunning and valuable forest.

Now blink your eyes twice. It’s gone.

Quite literally an acre and a half of Amazon rainforest is destroyed forever every single second of the day. It’s hard to visualise isn’t it?

Even harder to visualise is the irreparable damage it is causing by destroying one of the most valuable and diverse natural resources on the planet. We need to do something today, because by this time tomorrow an area of Amazon rainforest more than one and a half times the size of the UK will have vanished forever.

The controversy is based on the fact that Nestle gets its palm oil from the Sinar Mas company in Indonesia who destroys the natural forests in order to have room to plant the tropical palm plant. Once Nestle was convinced that the activists at Greenpeace were correct in their allegations about the forest destruction, it has dropped their association with that company. The problem has not gone away for the big corporation however, as it still buys its palm oil from Cargill, which in turn, also gets its supply from Sinar Mas.

Nestle was successful in the removal of one of Greenpeace’s videos from the popular YouTube site relating to the issue, but the video spread over the Internet, while Facebook and Twitter were soon flooded with massive messages of protest. In the beginning, Nestle’s top personnel dismissed the activity which only made things worse, resulting in the Swiss food giant receiving nearly a quarter of a million emails regarding the issue.

On April 15th at the Nestle shareholder meeting, Greenpeace protesters showed up and dropped themselves down from the ceiling, releasing a shower of leaflets on the heads of the meeting participants – sparking the fire once again. At the meeting, the Chairman for Nestle, Mr Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, had stated that that the source of deforestation is not related to his company and that Nestle is working on procedures and the implementation of a plan, to lower the amount of palm oil it buys. He instead blamed the deforestation issue on politics within Europe regarding the requirements of bio-fuel. (Palm oil is used in food, bio-fuels, and cosmetics).

While Brabeck-Lematch said that his company plans to bring about a halt concerning rainforest destruction, he did not buckle to the demands coming from Greenpeace to stop buying palm oil from Cargill. Nestle has promised that by the year 2015, the Swiss company will purchase only sustainable palm oil. But critics say that it is too little and too late.

The rainforests in Indonesia are key habitats for orangutan and carbon storage. Destroying these areas is a major contributor to Indonesia’s sky-rocketing emissions. In the 1960s, Indonesia consisted of 82 percent cover in terms of forest, but today the rainforest covers less than fifty percent of the country.

Greenpeace says it will continue to bombard Nestle until they have cleaned up their act and have removed any association they have with Cargill. In the middle of March, 2010, there were Greenpeace activists in Europe who went to Nestle offices and factories in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, urging the company to stop using palm oil that is the result of forest destruction. Greenpeace says, and will continue to remind the world, that we need those rainforests as they play a key roll in regulating the earth’s climate and absorbing carbon dioxide. Palm oil producing companies are literally choking the environment and are the reason that Indonesia is the third largest carbon emitter next to the USA and China. Cutting down valuable rainforests is actually responsible for more carbon emissions that all of the auto mobiles and air planes in the world.

By installing even just a few of these products, you can be assured that your carbon footprint will dramatically reduce and you won’t only feel better in yourself, you’ll notice the difference in cleaner air and less pollution. It’s not just about reusable bags (although that’s it, too). It’s about buying smartly so you get more for your money, and contribute less to the Earth living longer.

Wait; did we say ‘more for your money’? If helping the world in which you live is not incentive enough, then surely saving a penny is. By purchasing eco products, many times what you buy will not only last longer, but they can be reused (as in the case of reusable bags, such as canvas or string bags). Energy saving light bulbs will last longer, cost less to run, and won’t harm the environment as they operate. ‘Green ink’ will last longer as it is designed to use less as it prints, plus it is less damaging to the environment when the paper it’s on is thrown out (although hopefully you’d first think about printing an email, and perhaps putting it in the recycle bin when you are done with it, if you do print it).

So, now you’ve decided to get on board and do your bit. Good for you! But there is more you can do, without spending that much more. Ethical products ensure that whatever you’re buying is sourced or manufactured in areas free from slave labour, where the workers are paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work. Chocolate that has been made using cocoa beans from countries where children don’t work to gather them will taste better, and if you want to actively purchase products from countries where the people want to create the items, then there are stores that enable you to do so. Not only will you be buying something free from slave labour, you’ll be supporting the workers and supporting the communities they live in.

It’s easy to contribute to a better world, and it costs very little. The rewards, however, are great. What’s stopping you?

Not only are rainforests a vast repository of potential medicines they also play a vital role in producing oxygen and in maintaining global climatic patterns. The Amazon rainforests alone for example are responsible for 28% of the global oxygen turnover.

The role of green house gases like methane and carbon di oxide in global warming and climate change is well documented. Automobiles, ocean liners and aircrafts have been roundly criticized for belching these gases that threaten to bring doomsday to the earth’s doorstep. What is little understood and appreciated is the fact that rainforest destruction releases more than 1.5 billion tones of green house gases (IPCC estimates), a fifth of the total global emissions and more than all the other sources mentioned above put together (Houghton, 2003; BBC report). Destruction of an acre of rainforest releases a thousand tons or more of carbon dioxide (http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/06/16/australia-forest-carbon.html). The importance of conserving rainforests thus becomes obvious.  Detractors have long hidden behind Odum’s view propounded in the 60’s that old rainforests do not help in trapping carbon dioxide. However a 2008 study has shown that these old forests continue to trap close to a billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. (Luyssaert et al., “Old-growth forests as global carbon sink,” Nature, 2008).

Rainforests have been at the receiving end of human greed and short sighted harvesting. Rampant rainforest destruction has shrunk rainforests to 50% of their earlier size, limiting them to a mere 6% of the earth’s surface. Estimates of the extent of rainforests lost vary from 17 million acres (United Nations estimate) to 50 million acres every year.  The WWF puts destruction rates at 25 to 50 acres every minute. To put in perspective, an area of tropical forest large enough to cover North Carolina is deforested each year. Today rainforests are being lost in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Zaire, Guinea and many other countries. Some projections suggest that the remaining rainforests could be lost within the next 4 decades.

Aspirations of economic growth in third world countries and lifestyle choices in the developed world are the twin driving force behind deforestation in poorer Latin American, Asian and African countries. Livestock grazing to meet the increasing demand for beef is alone responsible for a large part of deforestation. Close to 55 square feet of rainforests are cleared for every pound of beef produced releasing 500 pounds of carbon di oxide in the process (The burger that ate a rain forest – London Times, Feb 26, 1989)! Forest land converted to pasture also contributes to global warming by increased emissions of methane by cattle.

In Brazil alone 24,000 square kilometres of rainforests are cleared every year (Santilli et al., Climatic Change; 2005). Besides pasture, rainforests have been cleared for timber – with concessions sold as cheap as $ 2 per acre, cropland, bio fuel cultivation, to feed iron mills with charcoal and paper factories with wood pulp. A single multinational pulp manufacturing project in Brazil consumes close to 2000 tons of pristine rainforest every day! International debt repayment obligations have also been instrumental in encouraging many nations to hawk their forest resources for hard cash in place of higher returns they could have realized in the longer term by sustainable forest management practices.

Climate Change – What is it?

In the current day lexicon of scientists, climate modification isn’t really a term of use anymore. The reason for this is that we have come to understand that the effect of the changes we make to our environment will increase the temperature in many locations on the planet, but will also cool a few places. In light of this, the thing you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global climate change. Over all, however, the world is definitely warming.

We need a straightforward definition for climate transformation in relation to the warming of the planet, one that gets the general picture without excluding the simplicities. The simplest and most accurate definition is that climate change is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth’s climate. Greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to, carbon dioxide and methane. While this sounds like a simple definition, there are a couple of important things to realise.

First, climate change is both a natural phenomena and one created by mankind. Put an alternative way, greenhouse gases are a natural part of the biosphere and would exist if man did not. Indeed, they are a crucial component to the existence of life on this planet. If greenhouse gases didn’t exist, the temperature on planet earth would average zero degrees! Naturally occurring gases, however, keep the temperature at a much more liveable 59 degrees.

So, if global warming occurs naturally, what is the big panic about? The problem we are facing is the volume of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases act as thermal blankets for the atmosphere. The more gas in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket and the less heat escapes. Over the last 80 years, we have been pumping massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the sky. At the same time, we have witnessed major deforestation around the planet, the primary plant collection that sucks greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. This double whammy is starting to show damaging results; the increased heating of our world.

The ultimate question with climate alteration is what could come to pass as the Earth heats up. We are already seeing signs with the retreat of the glaciers. Glacier National Park, for instance, will soon have to be renamed since it has already lost 65 percent of all of its glaciers! While the exact end result of these environmental changes is not apparent, we can expect significant climatic changes over the next 80 years.

Preserving energy, or saving energy, means reducing energy consumption during our everyday activities. There is a close relationship between ‘us’, ‘our’ environment and ‘our’ energy. The population of the world is rising very rapidly, and people are cutting down forests with even more speed. As a result, the forest area is reducing and cities are expanding. This has further resulted in hasty climate changes, melting of polar ice and glaciers, global warming and many more things that could prove to be extremely detrimental to mankind in the near future.

There are some simple ways that each one of us should adopt to save energy;

• Try to utilise solar energy wherever possible. For example, solar energy can be used as an alternative for fuel in your vehicle, or it can be used for boiling water.
• Save on power by switching off all electrical appliances whenever they are not in use. For example, you can turn off the lights during the day; turn off your television when you are interested in working on your computer and vice versa.
• These days, air conditioners (which consume a lot of power) are prevalent. Try to use a table or ceiling fan, if you think that an air conditioner is not required.
• Replace all the lights with eco bulbs. By doing this, you can actually reduce your energy consumption and save a lot of power.
• Utilise devices that switch off appliances when not in use – such as the Bye Bye Standby. Devices in this range also allow lights to be dimmed, electronic appliances to be turned off at the power point, and motion sensors to control lights in rooms not often used. What’s more, when you go on holidays (with the money you save from not having your appliances on all the time) you don’t have to worry about electric sockets burning out and creating a fire risk.

Hybrid Mail has launched in the UK with several providers able to offer both colour and mono mailing solutions. The service allows small and medium companies to reduce costs by up to 40 percent, and almost unbelievably it is also up to 80 percent greener.

How Does Hybrid Mail Work?

Hybrid Mail reduces the need for a printer, printer cartridges, and stationary, and you don’t even need to go to the post box (or have the mail collected). For less than the price of a stamp the hybrid mail company will provide paper, an envelope, print the letter, enclose it and stream the mail item into the postal delivery service.

Why is it greener mail?

Whichever Hybrid Mail company you select will combine letters to be printed into larger volumes, and therefore print on very efficient printers. They even sort the letters to enable postal discounts to be generated that only larger companies can usually achieve. As the mail is sorted it can be sent via a postal carrier directly to the nearest postal delivery point (in most cases), this reduces the transportation normally undertaken when mail is sent in smaller volumes. This reduction does reduce CO2 emissions considerably but in addition many of the hybrid Mail providers can also offer enhanced eco solutions.

How do I use a Hybrid Mail Service?

Usually all you need is internet access and an account. Some of the larger companies offering Hybrid Mail can also provide integrated solutions, such as API installations to allow a large number of users to collaborate with one account but most small to medium business have found the web based interface completely sufficient. With full colour solutions also available it’s really easy to brand your mail items as required, but its worth noting that the mono based solutions can also present graphics but at a much cheaper price.

Can I find out more about Hybrid Mail?

Several web sites in the UK are now providing more information about Hybrid Mail, other than searching for Hybrid Mail UK, you could visit Mail Savings or HybridMail.co.uk

To begin with, alternative fuel is cleaner burning than gasoline which is good for the environment – definitely a pro rather than a con.  As we are confronted with many environmental problems these days such as global warming, many people feel we really need to take a moment and realize that it’s up to us to help stop these problems. When you use an alternative fuel in your car instead of gasoline, you are helping to stop the release of counter-productive elements into the air.

Many alternative fuel vehicles also get better fuel mileage which is another pro over con in the use of alternative fuels. Especially in hybrid vehicles, miles per gallon can be increased by more than 20 percent over a period of time!  That can make a world of difference to many drivers.

There are many tax incentives that can be found when you buy and use an alternative fuel vehicle. The government knows that there are pros and cons to the use of alternative fuel, so they want to make it as attractive as possible to the consumer to make the switch.  Who doesn’t want to save money on their taxes?  If you can get a tax break, it can greatly benefit you and you’ll be helping the Earth as well.

As for the cons of alternative fuels, while not as numerous as the pros, the problems can be a bit bigger in the general mind of the consumer.  Alternative fuel vehicles are often more expensive than regular gasoline vehicles.  Even though you can get a tax break for buying one of these vehicles, you can still expect to pay anywhere from 10 to 40 percent more retail price for an alternative fuel vehicle.

The availability of alternative fuels is another huge con to offset the pros.  While many places now carry E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline), it may be difficult to find other alternative fuel types.  Even the stations that do carry E85 aren’t as plentiful as many people would hope and they often find themselves driving out of their way just to “gas” up their cars.

The pros and cons of using alternative fuels can forever be debated.  What side you’re on depends on your commitment to our environment and what you can do to stop some of the deadly effects of the gases we release from our vehicles.