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Industrial Revolution has been the key factor behind the modernization of human race. It has made our lives convenient simple and easy. Intelligent people always look at the other side of the coin as well, so it would be foolish to close our eyes on the negative effects i.e. it has made us lethargic, dependent and handicapped. Even for the simplest task we require the help of machinery; physical activity has almost diminished from our lives. This is one of the major reasons why existent are so many diseases like obesity, diabetes; blood pressure etc common in our lives these days.


Changing some basic little things in our lifestyles would make our lives so much better at different levels; a simple example would be riding a bike instead of driving a car to our workplace. To some people this may sound like a joke and to others an impractical solution, but I am afraid to say neither of the two is positive thinking. Riding a bike to workplace has a lot of benefits and I would be stating just a few.


Saving Money!

Of course the moment we decide [b]not[/b] to buy a car we already have saved thousands of dollars that could be used elsewhere in a more productive way. Bikes are not only cheaper to buy but easier to maintain as well, you don’t need petrol to ride a bike neither do you have to stand in long queues at petrol stations, thanks to their smaller size you won’t get stuck up in traffic jams and will be able to easily move around.

Health and Reduce Pollution

However the greatest advantage would be the contribution you would make in saving the environment by reducing the car emissions. Emissions from vehicles are responsible for many diseases and emotions that may include stress, impatience and anger. These emissions can lead to more severe health disorders such as asthma and other respitory related illnesses.


The greater use of bikes in our life would certainly improve our health, scientist have proved that 40 minutes of cycling helps increase three years of our life. Bicycling is an excellent cardiovascular exercise its reduces the risk of having heart attacks and lowers blood pressure in addition to this it increases aerobic capacity which means more oxygen is being delivered to muscles. Bicycling for an hour can burn up to 500 calories, one of the fastest ways to lose weight.


One of the reasons why our fuel resources are declining drastically is the increase in number of cars on road these days, a possible shift to bike would save this precious oil resource as well.

Moving of Government Funds

If everybody starts to ride bikes it will allow governments to divert its resources from maintenance of the public transport sector to essential development processes. Social security benefits could rise to help the unfortunate to maintain their standard of living or public investment could rise for the greater good of the economy. There are several advantages of riding a bike which you will witness once you start cycling yourself.


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Greenpeace is an organization that was initiated in 1971, by a small team of activists. Foundations of this organization were initially laid down when provoked by their dream of a green world, a petite team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in a small fishing boat their task was to be witness to US "top secret" nuclear testing at Amchitka, a tiny island near the West Coast of Alaska. Amchitka however at that time was the last safe haven for at least three thousand scarce sea otters, and habitat to other endangered species such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons. Even though their old boat was stopped before it could even get close to Amchitka, their brave attempt sparked an outbreak of public interest. As a result nuclear testing on Amchitka ended the same year, and the island was declared a bird asylum, ever since that day Greenpeace has seen many successes and has turned into a formal organization that works towards a greener world.



Due to this very nature of the organization Greenpeace have had their differences with the Japanese over their whaling practices. [b]Japan has profoundly been involved in whaling for over a century. [/b]In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) issued a suspension on commercial whaling, which Japan conveniently ignored. They sustained the hunt using a stipulation that allowed pursuing whales for scientific research. The meat from this so called "research" has in the past ended up in shops and restaurants, even the scientists believe the research program unnecessary and consider it a commercial whaling maneuver in disguise.


The Fisheries organizations of Japan's whaling fleet sail thousands of miles every year into the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and hunt with a persistently growing quota of whales. This behavior on the part of Japanese has made some prominent international figures to object; during his presidential campaign, Barrack Obama said, "allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable." However, it’s still required by the international community to put pressure onto the Japanese to curb this extensive whaling cause if it is allowed to continue it is forecasted that the Japanese whaling is going to take more than 1000 whales during early 2011 hunts in the Southern Ocean.

Progress

As has already been mentioned it is an objective of Greenpeace to end Japan's malicious whale massacre and they have been able to succeed to some extent. [b]Recently Greenpeace announced news of partial success[/b] after almost three years of putting pressure onto Japanese authorities to stop the tapered massacre of whales. According to Greenpeace; on the subject of the "[url=http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/news-and-events/news/whales/tokyo-two-verdict]Tokyo Two[/url]" trial, Japanese officials involved with the Japanese Fishing Agency publicly acknowledged that they used to accept whale meat as "gifts" from private companies accountable for the wide scale whale massacre under the semblance of scientific research. Moreover, one of the officials, who allegedly acknowledged whale meat anticipated to be around $840, bowed in regret during a press conference.


On the 5th of January, the [url=http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/news-and-events/news/whales/victory-japanese-govt-admits]Japanese Government also admitted to corruption[/url] in the Japanese whaling industry. This doesn't end whaling all together but it is certainly a start in the right direction and progress is being made. 


To find out more about Greenpeace's involvement with anti whaling please visit their website:


[url=http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/issues/whales]http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/issues/whales[/url]










Watch [url=http://www.livestream.com/?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks]live streaming video[/url] from [url=http://www.livestream.com/greenpeaceaustraliapacific?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks]greenpeaceaustraliapacific[/url] at livestream.com

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With all the hype and protests against a carbon tax, why don't we start protesting for the carbon tax. If people want change then voicing it is one way of showing support for change.


The Australian Youth Climate Coalition is doing just that will a campaign to put a price on pollution. 


Show your support by participating in the campaign. Join the AYCC Facebook group and also follow them on Twitter.



 


For more information please visit: [url=http://aycc.org.au/campaigns/priceonpollution/]http://aycc.org.au/campaigns/priceonpollution/[/url]


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Inhabitat to a great job on reporting and capturing the North American eco market. Here is a video of the crew looking at the new line of eco cars that are being demonstrated at the North American International Auto Show in 2011.


The future certainly does look intersting for eco cars.


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[b]The next Sydney Sustainability Drinks will be held on Wednesday the 13th April 2011.[/b]


Please note change of venue. Sydney Sustainability Drinks will now be held at [url=http://www.merivale.com/#/cbd/bar]CBD Hotel[/url] (Fourth Floor):75 York Street (Corner of King & York), Sydney 2000.


An open invitation is extended to all who are "passionate about sustainability"! Enjoy an evening of networking and a chance to find out about some of the exciting activities going on around Sydney in sustainability while winding down with a drink at [url=http://www.merivale.com/#/cbd/bar]CBD Hotel[/url].


Thanks to Les Williamson who was our guest speaker in March.



 


Les is the Vice President for [url=http://www.cisco.com/web/ANZ/index.html]Cisco[/url] Australia and New Zealand. Les’ responsibility is to drive profitable growth and market leadership through the innovative use of technologies to transform business.  He is driven to helping customers take advantage of business and social transitions to increase productivity, create competitive advantage through new, sustainable business models and lower the impact of business on the environment.


Les will speak about the role of Information & Communication Technology in improving sustainability and what sustainability means to Cisco.


The March door prize was kindly donated by [url=http://www.ecoswitch.com.au/]EcoSwitch[/url].


[url=http://www.sydneysustainabilitydrinks.com/rsvp/]RSVP here[/url].


This event provides an opportunity to meet other people interested in creating a more sustainable world, exchange ideas and hear different perspectives about the social and environmental challenges we face. Come and meet a wide range of passionate people who are interested in making a positive difference.


Sydney Sustainability Drinks is a non-sponsored event (ie: you buy your own drinks!) and the atmosphere enables people to introduce themselves and feel comfortable with meeting new people and exchanging ideas. Please join us and invite your friends and colleagues who share the same values.


Anyone with a passion for creating a more sustainable society is welcome to attend! As space is limited it is essential to [url=http://www.sydneysustainabilitydrinks.com/rsvp/]RSVP[/url]. We look forward to seeing you there.


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