Change your lifestyle

We do hope that the world society would response quickly and accordingly to the world critical
environmental problems that appear become worse every time.
Living Planet Report (2006) stated that the ecosystem of our planet is in the worst condition that never happened before and in the high movement toward an unthinkable rotten condition where no one could predict accurately.
The real example, in front of our eyes, is the uncontrolled speed of the deforestation process in the Amazon, Congo, and Indonesia which still going on until to date and might be moving faster than ever before.

'We're ready to live without hamburger' said Hanna Sundwell (16) from Sweden, he and his friend Thomas Bielby (16) from England, Hezel Candalario (15) from the Philippines, and Eni Yani (17)
from Indonesia. They came to the UNCCC Conference in Bali as members of CCC ( Children in
Changing Climate) Program. They are aware that the lifestyle of eating hamburger is just wasting energy in terms of both the process production and transportation as well.
They just don't want to inherit a rotten world from us.

Greenpeace in cooperation with Bali Hotels Association launched a save energy program called :
'Switch off, unplug, and enjoy' where all hotels management in Bali will put a strong measures to the utilization of energy like electricity, air conditioning, water heater and other electricity equipments. With the hope that Bali would be one of an energy efficient tourist destination in the world.

The climate change is just the beginning, but the effect will continue consistently and escalating
from time to time. It will, eventually create problems of water availability and food supply will become worse, and famine will be the next scenario and not to mention the possibility of
triggering new war in the world to fight for water and food.
There is no good scenario nor good news anymore, you have to be ready to the worst scenario,
that is the doomsday scenario.
So, change your lifestyle, or you will feel sorry then.

In England some decades ago, in the era of Margaret Thatcher Administration there was a campaign with the spirit of saving the world, where they re-use the waste water from bathing for watering the plant and and wash the cloth. I do not know if this spirit is still there today. You might produce the energy alternatives from both the palm oil and castor oil, where theorytecally it's visible, but you never imagine, in the long run it'll finally destroy the forest
and convert them into the plantation areas of both palm oil tree and castor oil plant and the result is just nothing but ' a zero sum game ' nobody will get benefit, we just go into another trap.
So, the key is just change your lifestyle, or you will be a looser.

Urbanization and peace

Today the problem of urbanization is getting worse where everytime the amount of people who move to the city is getting more and more, they just abandoned their land and farm in the rural area, because they do not have any choice to do beside that.
They just leave their home and farm unmanaged and neglected. This condition, like it or not, will eventually lead to a more worsening condition of environment in both the city and rural areas.
Why ?
The city will be overcrowded that lead to producing more and more waste and pollution,on the other hand,in the rural area the condition of environment will deteriorate slowly but surely, because nobody manage both farms and homes.
A brilliant idea had been introduced by former Governor of Oita, Japan, who is now the President Oita OVOP ( One Village One Product ) International Exchange Promotion Committee, Mr.Morihiko Hiramatsu,where the main aim is to solve the problem of urbanization in most big cities in Asia by empowering local communities to develop their own both culture and product, so they could gain economic benefit and community pride as well.
They can produce original products with fully local contents using an international standard of either tastes and qualities, so can be accepted globally.
This project is so far already implemented and applied to several rural communities in China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Most of the communities members are woman who mostly have a lot of spare times to study and try to develop their own products in agricultures, trade, and tourism. The government musthelp, fasilitate, and subsidized in term of technical assistance and marketing.
OVOP should be developed in the area where they could not attract hightech industries to invest,but want to be freedfrom poverty and hunger.
This movement could eventually prevent massive urbanization,and raise income to rural people
and will finally make peace to all.

Compost them all

Steps to Successful Home Composting

A Step by Step Guide

Composting is Nature's way of recycling and helps to reduce the amount of waste we put out for the bin men. By composting kitchen and garden waste you can easily improve the quality of your soil and be well on your way to a more beautiful garden. The following easy guide to home composting will provide you with all the information needed to get the best out of your bin.

Need to get a bin? Check out Bins & Accessories.
Just have some quick questions? See the Trouble shooting section.

Now let’s get composting!

Step One – Placing Your Bin

It’s best to site your bin on a level, well-drained spot. This allows excess water to drain out and makes it easier for helpful creatures such as worms to get in and get working on breaking down the contents. Placing your bin in a partially sunny spot can help speed up the composting process.
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Step Two - Put these in

Like any recipe, your compost relies on the right ingredients to make it work. Good things you can compost include vegetable peelings, fruit waste, teabags, plant prunings and grass cuttings. These are considered “Greens.” Greens are quick to rot and they provide important nitrogen and moisture. Other things you can compost include cardboard egg boxes, scrunched up paper and fallen leaves. These are considered “Browns” and are slower to rot. They provide fibre and carbon and also allow important air pockets to form in the mixture. Crushed eggshells can be included to add useful minerals.

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Step Three - Keep these out

Certain things should never be placed in your bin. No cooked vegetables, no meat, no dairy products, no diseased plants, and definitely no dog poo or cat litter, or baby’s nappies. Putting these in your bin can encourage unwanted pests and can also create odour. Also avoid composting perennial weeds (such as dandelions and thistle) or weeds with seed heads. Remember that plastics, glass and metals are not suitable for composting and should be recycled separately.

Step Four - Making Good Compost

The key to good compost lies in getting the mix right. You need to keep your Greens and Browns properly balanced. If your compost is too wet, add more Browns. If it’s too dry, add some Greens. Making sure there is enough air in the mixture is also important. Adding scrunched up bits of cardboard is a simple way to create air pockets that will help keep your compost healthy. Air can also be added by mixing the contents. After approximately 6-9 months your finished compost will be ready.

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Step Five - Using Your Compost

Finished compost is a dark brown, almost black soil-like layer that you’ll find at the bottom of your bin. It has a spongy texture and is rich in nutrients. Some bins have a small hatch at the bottom that you can remove to get at the finished product, but sometimes it’s even easier to lift the bin or to tip it over to get at your compost. Spreading the finished compost into your flowerbeds greatly improves soil quality by helping it retain moisture and suppressing weeds. Composting is the easiest way to make your garden grow more beautiful.

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Taken from : Recycle now
Compost at home

Value waste

only when the last tree is cut,................
only when the last river polluted,..........
only when the last fish is caught,............
only then they will realize that you cannot eat money. ....... ( Indian Wisdom )


To convert waste to useful things is actually not a big problem, if everybody in this small planet can do it everyday and then become a habit for life. This is important since we will live, here, in this beautiful world until we're taken home.
Every activity of human being in this world will obviously produce waste, most of them are industrial waste and household waste. They usually just throw them away, where, this just to make another problem. not to solve it, because all of them will, eventually, produce methane , one of the gas which cause the greenhouse effect beside CO2 .
This kind of habit which make our world getting worse, has been conducted by world societies for hundreds years and getting intensify in the era of of industrialization and the consumerism.
So, the choice is yours, whether we're going toward the catastrophe and final countdown to see hell , or we will live here in a beautiful world peacefully.
Seventy percent of the waste produced by the society consists of organic waste, which can be converted or reproduced to compost fertilizer ( which is better than chemical fertilizer ), cattle food, and methane as bioenergy. While the rest unorganic waste could be recycled become secondary raw material or other useful things like travel bag, toy, arts article and many more.
So, everybody can have his own way to contribute to make better world for better living.
Act now or you'll feel sorry !

Do it yourself

The Composting Process

What is compost?

Compost is decomposed organic material. Compost is made with material such as leaves, shredded twigs, and kitchen scraps from plants.

To gardeners, compost is considered "black gold" because of its many benefits in the garden. Compost is a great material for garden soil. Adding compost to clay soils makes them easier to work and plant. In sandy soils, the addition of compost improves the water holding capacity of the soil. By adding organic matter to the soil, compost can help improve plant growth and health.

Composting is also a good way to recycle leaves and other yard waste. Instead of paying a company to haul away leaves, you can compost the leaves and return the nutrients to your garden. Instead of buying peat moss, save money and make your own compost!

The composting process

The composting process involves four main components: organic matter, moisture, oxygen, and bacteria.

Organic matter includes plant materials and some animal manures. Organic materials used for compost should include a mixture of brown organic material (dead leaves, twigs, manure) and green organic material (lawn clippings, fruit rinds, etc.). Brown materials supply carbon, while green materials supply nitrogen. The best ratio is 1 part green to 1 part brown material. Shredding, chopping or mowing these materials into smaller pieces will help speed the composting process by increasing the surface area.

For piles that have mostly brown material (dead leaves), try adding a handful of commercial 10-10-10 fertilizer to supply nitrogen and speed the compost process.

Moisture is important to support the composting process. Compost should be comparable to the wetness of a wrung-out sponge.

If the pile is too dry, materials will decompose very slowly. Add water during dry periods or when adding large amounts of brown organic material.

If the pile is too wet, turn the pile and mix the materials. Another option is to add dry, brown organic materials.

Oxygen is needed to support the breakdown of plant material by bacteria. To supply oxygen, you will need to turn the compost pile so that materials at the edges are brought to the center of the pile. Turning the pile is important for complete composting and for controlling odor.

Wait at least two weeks before turning the pile, to allow the center of the pile to "heat up" and decompose. Once the pile has cooled in the center, decomposition of the materials has taken place. Frequent turning will help speed the composting process.

Bacteria and other microorganisms are the real workers in the compost process. By supplying organic materials, water, and oxygen, the already present bacteria will break down the plant material into useful compost for the garden. As the bacteria decompose the materials, they release heat, which is concentrated in the center of the pile.

You may also add layers of soil or finished compost to supply more bacteria and speed the composting process. Commercial starters are available but should not be necessary for compost piles that have a proper carbon to nitrogen ratio (1 part green organic material to 1 part brown organic material).

In addition to bacteria, larger organisms including insects and earthworms are active composters. These organisms break down large materials in the compost pile.

How long does it take?

The amount of time needed to produce compost depends on several factors, including the size of the compost pile, the types of materials, the surface area of the materials, and the number of times the pile is turned.

For most efficient composting, use a pile that is between 3 feet cubed and 5 feet cubed (27-125 cu. ft.). This allows the center of the pile to heat up sufficiently to break down materials.

Smaller piles can be made but will take longer to produce finished compost. Larger piles can be made by increasing the length of the pile but limiting the height and the depth to 5 feet tall by 5 feet deep; however, large piles are limited by a person’s ability to turn the materials. You may also want to have two piles, one for finished compost ready to use in the garden, and the other for unfinished compost.

If the pile has more brown organic materials, it may take longer to compost. You can speed up the process by adding more green materials or a fertilizer with nitrogen (use one cup per 25 square feet).

The surface area of the materials effects the time needed for composting. By breaking materials down into smaller parts (chipping, shredding, mulching leaves), the surface area of the materials will increase. This helps the bacteria to more quickly break down materials into compost.

Finally, the number of times the pile is turned influences composting speed. By turning more frequently (about every 2-4 weeks), you will produce compost more quickly. Waiting at least two weeks allows the center of the pile to heat up and promotes maximum bacterial activity. The average composter turns the pile every 4-5 weeks.

When turning the compost pile, make sure that materials in the center are brought to the outsides, and that materials from the outside edges are brought to the center.

With frequent turning, compost can be ready in about 3 months, depending on the time of year. In winter, the activity of the bacteria slows, and it is recommended that you stop turning the pile after November to keep heat from escaping the pileís center. In summer, warm temperatures encourage bacterial activity and the composting process is quicker

Using compost in the yard

Incorporate compost into your garden as you prepare the soil in the spring. Cover the area with 3-4 inches of soil and till it in to at least the upper 6 inches of soil. Add compost to soil in vegetable gardens, annual flower beds, and around new perennials as they are planted.

You may also use compost as mulch around flower beds, vegetable gardens, or around trees or shrubs in landscape beds. Apply a 3 inch layer. Be careful not to apply mulch close to the main stem or trunk of the plant.

University of Illinois Extension
Composting in the home garden

Save the world

The essence of those all kinds of prohibitions is actually, we have to live in a simple way instead of copying cat the bourgeois like lifestyle in a hedonistic world, which only doing stupid things by wasting, sucking, and exhausting almost all of our natural resources and left nothing but miseries, famine, calamity, and natural disasters to the next generation.
Indonesia was the host country of UNFCCC held in Bali 3-14 December 2007, with global warming as the main issue , where thousands people from around the world stormed to Bali to attend the conference ( Well ! they in fact, did the actions that's NOT 'pro environment' by employing a lot of aeroplanes which came from around the world , cars, and produced waste a lot during the convention )
It's likely that Indonesia was very busy at that time as the host country, but not so serious to implement the resolutions and recommendations of the conference. We never saw, so far, a real action and program implementation held by the government in doing so, even, we 're sure that the spirit of the convention is already evaporated, like it or not, and the business is still going as usual.
Take an easy step, like formulate the government regulation to prohibit supermarkets to give a plastic bag to buyers, so buyers must bring their own bag. This kind of rule have been adopted since decades ago by European countries . At least three parties will get benefit from this action
i.e the environment will, obviously, getting better, the merchant's cost will decrease, and the buyers will pay less.
Act soon, we can't wait anymore !

What elses to be done

We have a a lot to do, choose one of them, act now, do it now !!!!!
No use plastic bags, use canvas or cloth, wash your clothes with cold water instead of hot water,
do not use poisonous insect killer/pesticide, re-use everything when it's possible, write down all your notes on both sides of paper, do not use disposable cup, use solar energy to heat your water, do not use spray paint to avoid harmful emissions, control and manage your water consumption, stop killing endangered species, never contaminate water, take a bus or walk or cycling instead of using a car/motorbike,try to repair durable product instead of buying new one, do not dispose containers/ cans/ bags/cartons/old paper/shipping package and reuse them, always use save energy bulbs, watering your plants using washing waste water, never warm up your car too long, turn of machine when fueling car, take stairs instead of elevator, eat your food all never discard them, keep your refrigerator clean and defrost regularly, dry your clothes using sunlight, no burning your grass, by local product so no transportation needed, no styrofoam containers, donate your time and money to the conservation program, plant trees whenever you can, teach your kids to respect mother nature and environment, encourage all your family/ your neighbours/ your friends to do so.
I wish I have a better place to live in the world in the rest of my life ! Good luck guys !

What to do

There are a lot of things could be done to slow down the process of global heating, and every individu can choose one of them that fit well with his circumstances. The most important thing is your awareness and commitment to do so. Than , tell your family, your neighbours, your friends to do the same things.
Here are some tips :
-No lights and electrical appliances/devices after you finished to use them.
-Put your airconditioning in a medium or light cold, or put it off at night.
-Be a smart and well mannered driver never be a mischievous driver.
-'Value waste', put your rubbish properly, if possible fermented your organic rubbish to produce
biogas or bioenergy or fertilizer/compost. ( Study more :"How to convert your garbages into
useful things")
-Open your doors and windows to allow sunshines go into your house space, so you do not need
electrical loights..

The Earth Day

To stop global warming is impossible, because naturally the world is getting warmer everytime, our effort is just to slowdown the process. On the other side, the activities of producing the greenhouse gases ie. co2 and methane are getting stronger in the world, where industrial countries like G8 and the emerging giant industries like China and India have a significan role in producing those gases, not to mention the rate of deforestation in both Latin America (esp. Brasil) and South East Asia (esp. Indonesia) which are getting worse, even in a point that is very, very critical, arrived in an alarming condition, where scientists never imagined before.

Talk is cheap !
So act now, do not wait to the government initiative nor regulations, since the beurocratic wheels are turn very, very slow, even do not turn anymore, who knows ?
Everybody in this small planet could make changes, although a very, very tiny changes, will be very valuable and beneficial to the world and mankind. Do small things to prevent the process of global warming go faster.
We're in the beginning of a very critical periode, if we do not anticipate wisely , correctly, and properly, we will, sooner or later, enter into the dark periode in the human civilation, we never imagined before.
Now,we already witnessed a lot of natural disasters, from the melting of the poles, the rising up of ocean surfaces, flood everywhere, unpredicted climates, extreme both heat and cold weather and lot more, that eventually, will lead to a catasthrophy.
Start now! Act now!
Make the world a better place to live, or you'll never have an opportunity anymore.
Good luck !

Respect mother nature

The more simple your life, the better the world will be, this is based on the data of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) carried along in the atmosphere in the first quarter of 2006 which is 381 ppm, far beyond
the average level happened beforethe industrial ra in the 19th century.
Why ?
Well, because after that, a lot of industries were built all over the world in a massive ways, including large scales deforestation by burning and destroying tropical forest, especially in Brasil and South East Asia, where Indonesia is absolutely the worst among them.
All of those activitities, i.e. industries and deforestation produce gases which is called carbon dioxide (co2) and methane. Not only those two activities which produce poisonous gases, but other activities like combustion engines which burn fuel in an engine of car and motor bike , and large dumped of garbages also could produce similar gases that harmful to human life.
Both co2 and methane gases could then create " the green house effect " i.e in a simple mean is the effect where gases may let the sun infrared ray get into the atmosphere to radiate all living things in the world and keep them alife , but unfortunately these gases will not allow the infrared ray out of the atmospere and keep it. This phenomenon, in the long run could obviously
trigger an excessive heat in the atmosphere and make our world become hotter everytimes.
This condition will , of course, then affect a lot of unpredicted situations, like the large scale melting both south and north poles.
Not only that, it also confuse both weather forecast and seasonal times, cause fire and burn forests evrywhere in the world, unsuccesful or even a fail harvest in agricultural, resulted in global famine, like we already witnessed lately.
The other dangers that emerges slowly but surely, already in front of our eyes, like the emerging and raking up of new dangerous diseases, i.e AIDS, avianflu, monkeypox, ebola, anthrax and a lot more that will emerge soon and ready to attack human life, whetheryou like it or not. Unfortunatelty, we have not found yet the medicine to either cure or prevent those diseases.