Washington, U.S.A. - A game with a difference is being launched this week: Players can ruin the world or save our planet by opting for choices based on real-world data that has not been publicly available so far. The Facebook game aims to mobilise people to demand action rather than just talk from the Rio+20 summit in June.

Game Change Rio offers a great way to engage with the complexities facing our planet today. “Once more of us begin to understand the issues involved, we have a better chance of changing the game,” said Hans Herren, winner of the World Food Prize in 1995, and one of the initiators of the game.

Some 20 years ago, the Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference held in Rio de Janeiro, sounded the alarm on the future of our planet. Very little has happened since and Rio+20 was called to address global inertia and make change happen after all. But this follow-up summit is up against many vested interests and only with strong public pressure, is there hope for a game change.

“We developed ‘Game Change Rio’ to get the message to people we might not reach through other channels,” Herren said. To make it truly global, the game is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. A trip to the Rio summit awaits the player with the highest score and additional prizes will go to weekly champions.

Game Change Rio gives access to real-world data that so far has only been available to experts and policy makers. Based on the Millennium Institute’s Green Economy Model, which was commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the game includes all relevant sectors of the world’s economy and the natural resources available. All of these elements are linked and effects of policies are seen in their full complexity. The model has over 5,000 indicators, and with the 125 policy cards developed, the game has over 100 million possible outcomes.

Game Change Rio, the idea of Biovision – Foundation for ecological Development, CodeSustainable and the Millennium Institute, aims to raise awareness for the issues that need to be addressed if future generations are to enjoy life on this planet and goes on to propose solutions to the problems we are facing.

To play the game, for further information, interview opportunities and pictures, please go to Gamechangerio.org.

Image Courtesy of   Game Change Rio

The article Game Change Rio: Save or Destroy Our Planet? appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The HospitalityNet.org announced that the World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi Conference is going to be held between the fifth and seventh  of December. It is sponsored by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is the capital and second largest city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in terms of population, and the wealthiest emirate of the UAE in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita income. This wealth can be credited to its huge hydrocarbon resources of the area, which hold nine percent of the world´s proven oil reserves and almost five percent of the world´s natural gas.

The city has actively attempted to diversify its economy in the recent years through investments in financial services and tourism. Through this new engagement towards tourism, Abu Dhabi has also gotten involved with the environmental issues of the world. The upcoming conference is the region’s only commercial event dedicated to examining how the travel and tourism industry can become more sustainable.

This event will bring an introduction to the tourism industry and sustainability by educating those with little knowledge on its benefits, confronting the challenges in the sector, and presenting innovative solutions and examples of cutting edge initiatives. The conference and exhibition has a notable delegation of heads of industry, academics, advocates, and government bodies gathering to discuss topics surrounding sustainable development, support of local culture, and preservation of indigenous species.

The World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi Conference will cover interesting themes and debates for tourism experts such as:

• Can mass market tourism ever be truly sustainable?
• Empower consumers to make a responsible choice – what steps should the travel industry take?
• Whose responsibility is it to green the tourism industry?
• Practical steps to making your hotel or attraction more sustainable
• Regenerating and developing new destinations using sustainable tourism principles
• Can the tourism industry afford to turn its back on water conservation?
• Adventure tourism, conservation, and supporting local communities
• How can airlines do better?

There is hope that this conference will open more eyes towards sustainable developments in the tourism area and will profit with positive improvements all across the world.

For more information about the conference, please follow the link.

The article World Green Tourism Conference in Abu Dhabi appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Do you sometimes wish that you could do more for the environment but don’t know where to start? Maybe you’ve taken that first step by starting to recycle but with a hectic schedule you don’t think you have time to do anything else.

Luckily, there are several things you can do that are simple and don’t require a big investment of time and energy on the way to becoming green. Here’s a list of down-to-earth ways for you to reduce, reuse, and recycle your way to a more eco-conscience self:

1. Stop buying bottled water

Buying bottled water is both expensive and wasteful. Giving bottled water the boot will save money and help the environment. Bottled water creates 1.5 million tons of garbage yearly and although water bottles are recyclable, nearly 80 percent of these bottles aren’t recycled. If more people stop buying bottled water then fewer bottles will end up in landfills.

Two of the most popular bottled waters, Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani, are sold along side soda in vending machines and cost about $1.00 per bottle. Both brands are sold in 24-ounce bottles and their websites state that their products are filtered and purified, municipally supplied water.

What does that mean exactly? Essentially, when you buy a bottle of water, you’re paying about $0.05 per ounce for filtered city water.

A better way to do water on-the-go is to buy a filtered water pitcher and each person in your home a reusable, dishwasher-safe water bottle. The Brita Bottle makes ditching bottled water easy: this reusable water bottle from Brita has a built in filter which allows you to filter water anywhere.

2. Switch to reusable cloth towels and napkins

Skipping paper towels and napkins in favor if a cloth alternative reduces garbage that would end up in landfills and saves natural resources. Stock up on cloth towels and napkins and store them in a drawer in your kitchen then pull them out when needed.

An easy way to determine the amount of cloth napkins you’ll need for your family and reduce your laundry pile is to assign each member of the family a different color napkin or a different color napkin ring and then wash their napkin only when it truly needs it or at the end of the week. Something Different Linen offers one-dozen, 20-inch square, cotton dinner napkins for $23.00 for sale at Amazon.com.

The retailer also sells smaller, 6-inch square napkins that would perfect for tucking inside of a child’s school lunchbox.

3. Start using reusable shopping bags

Cities across the globe are passing bans on plastic shopping bags. With tens of billions of plastic shopping bags ending up in landfills each year it’s no wonder. Even though these bags are recyclable only a very small percentage ever ends up being recycled.

The key to using reusable shopping bags is remembering them when going shopping. Stash reusable shopping bags in your car, your purse, jacket pockets or any place where you’re likely to look before heading into the store.

You’ll often be able to find reusable shopping bags for sale in your neighborhood grocery store however many stylish, inexpensive bags are available. Envirosax offer designer prints, have been tested for strength and safety, and are available different styles. The company’s Greengrocer Series bags will fit in the palm of your hand when rolled up and just under $9.00.

4. Reduce the amount of mail you receive

Let’s face it – not everything we get in the mail is important. More than one billion pieces of junk mail are delivered each year and in the United Statesalone the catalogs, sales flyers and credit card offers that clog mail boxes account for one-third of all the mail delivered in the world.

You can reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by contacting the biggest offenders directly or by visiting DMAChoice.org or Catalogchoice.org. Both companies add your name and address to junk mail and catalog “do not mail” lists.

Every year inAmerica, more than 350 million magazines are published and nearly 50 percent of those purchased end up not being recycled. An easy way to ease to minimize to lessen the burden on the environment is to contact magazines publishers and request that your subscription be converted to a digital format.

5. Reduce water consumption

A running water faucet uses about two to three gallons of water per minute and a running shower uses about five gallons of water per minute. Why is this important? Knowing how much water you’re using when you turn on the tap or step into the shower helps when trying to conserve water.

Conserving water allows more water to stay in reservoirs which helps to maintain ecosystems and preserve water for future use. You can start to lower your water usage by taking shorter showers. The average person showers for eight minutes, using approximately 40 gallons of water.

Cutting your shower time to five minutes or less will save at least 15 gallons of water which can add up to thousands of gallons per year for just one person.

Also consider turning off water faucets while you brush your teeth and shave. It takes practice to remember to turn the faucet on and off, but soon it will become second nature.

6. Clean out closets and donate unused items to charity

We live in a world that thrives on consumerism and it would be safe to assume that you, like many others, have items in your home that you no longer use. Are your closets bursting with unworn clothing? What about that set of golf clubs in your garage that you no longer use or all of the board games collecting dust in your hall closet?

Donating your unused items to charity gives them new life and placing clothing, games and other gently used items into the hands of someone else promotes reuse. It doesn’t make sense to throw away something that somebody else might be able to use.

Two charities that accept donations and help those in need are Goodwill Industries International, Inc. and The Salvation Army. Goods donated to be sold at Salvation Army Family Stores benefit the charity’s Adult Rehabilitation Centers which the organization’s website explains assists people with issues of “substance misuse, legal problems, relational conflicts, homelessness, unemployment, and, most importantly, a need for spiritual awakening and restoration.”

Donations sold in one of Goodwill International’s stores are put to use by offering, “job training, employment placement and other services to people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges.” Last year, Goodwill helped more than 2 million people train for careers.

The article Six Simple Ways to Go Green appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Green Lantern is part of the DC Comic world coming to the big screen.  The movie follows Hal Jordan, a human who is chosen by a ring of infinite power to save Earth, from Parallax, a parasite attacking Earth.  Hal Jordan, a test pilot, is called forth to protect Earth by joining the Green Lantern Corps. —an intergalactic embassy that harnesses green energy through rings to protect the universe.

To those who have read the comics, there have been some changes in the transition from comic to movie.   The movie seems like it will follow the later series, as having Hal Jordan fight off the Parallax.  Hector Hammond is also in the movie and will have run-ins with not only Hal but with the fear monger, Parallax.  It seems like the movie will incorporate different areas and villains of Green Lantern from all different eras of the Comic, but will ultimately focus on the origins of Hal Jordan.

Directing the movie is the well-known action director Martin Campbell who created such titles like: 007 Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and The Mask of Zorro.  Having done these movies, it feels like he will be right at home with the action sequences of Green Lantern.  Nevertheless, it seems like Martin Campbell didn’t know the story of Green Lantern that well before he was put on the project, so the movie might not necessarily follow the story line of the comics religiously.  However, they did have Ozzy Iguanzo, a comic book expert, so they could set the record straight on some details.  Mister Campbell  had stated in The Telegraph that, “It was an extraordinary learning curve, conceptualizing the characters, going to another planet, deciding what the planet looks like and keeping a sort of reality, if you can call it that.”  However, despite the difficulties and differences from the comics, the producer/writer of Green Lantern is none other than Greg Berlanti, whom has worked on Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, an animated movie based around Hal Jordan, Kilowog and other Green Lanterns.

The cast has its fair share of stars like Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan/ Green Lantern.  Martin had picked Reynolds based upon his physical acting in “Buried”, and has been quoted saying in his production notes that, “he also physically looks the part, is charming, funny, and has a great sense of decency.“  Ryan Reynolds isn’t the only star in the movie.  Blake Lively (The Town) is taking on the role opposite of Reynolds as Carol Ferris, a fellow test pilot and lifelong friend of Hal Jordan.  Lively has this to say in the production notes about Green Lantern, ”… I love that the movie also has a great sense of fun and a hint of romance about it.”  Voices of Geoffrey Rush (King’s Speech) and Micheal Clarke Duncan (Green Mile) are used for Tomar-Re and Kilowog respectively.   Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption) also makes an appearance as Hector Hammond’s pushy father.

One thing that will make or break this movie is the special effects.  Spending about 50,000,000 dollars on them alone they should be pretty impressive.  Why spend so much?  Not only is making Parallax, Tomar-Re, and Kilowog entirely in CGI a task in itself, but trying to make an entire alien planet in less than a year is a daunting task.  Oa, the Green Lantern Corps. planet is all CGI, so creating an entire planet that looks realistic and pleasing to look at will take some serious skill.  What also is all CGI is the famous Green Lantern suit.  To do this, Reynolds is wearing a motion tracking suit.  Kind of like a leotard but soupped-up with motion tracking modules so that the artists can paste Green Lantern’s suit on Ryan Reynolds’s body. For such a daunting task there is good news.  People like Karen Goulekas (Spiderman) and  John DesJardin (Watchmen) are both overseers of the effects teams, and to top it all off Grant Major who worked on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will be the production designer.  Green Lantern may have a lot of daunting effects in over 1,300 of their shots, but they have chosen the right people in order to get the effects done well.

The article A Look at The Green Lantern appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

For all the people out there who love outdoor experiences, and know that there is not any other feeling on this planer as the one of being exposed to nature. What a great feeling is to breath the pure air, and the sound of birds that are resting on the trees. How beautiful it is to smell all the different kinds of flowers and to grab sometimes the magnificent pieces of fruits they provide to us. This is the greatness about nature, that it just relies there for us to enjoy freely, but for this reason for us to keep enjoying depends on the way we take care of it.

Therefore, here are great tips and advices to enjoy the outdoors environment:

1. Go out: First of all, what a person needs to do is get out from the city, leave behind the cold building and run to a place where you can smell the green grass and feel the pure air. Sometimes it is good to have a moment with nature, and just relax and do not feel any kind of stress.

2. Explore your local surroundings: Sometimes we do not appreciate the local surroundings we have in our own city. This is a good advice, because you would not need to a lot of money in order to travel somewhere close. People tend to think that their city is boring and that’s why they recur to leave and travel to other cities. But you will be surprised in finding and discovering special places in your owned city, places that are not really known or visited, and that you will have a great time.

3. Company: The great thing about organizing these simple getaways to a calm place is that you can take your close friends, family or couple. We know that in life the most spontaneous adventures that you don’t need to plan with great time ahead sometimes end up being gone of the most fun and great adventures. Therefore why not organizing a great trip, where you can enjoy with your loving ones?

4. Camping: Camping is one of the best experiences to feel nature at its top. From time to time we do need to leave luxuries behind and just adapt to simple situations, and something more simple and great than camping is hard to find. So why not organize a getaway to a close place with your friends and camp. It is great how eco-friendly this experience can be, but remember always to clean well the area where you did your camping in order to take care of the place.

5. Sun: The great thing is to wake up with the sunrise and the view of a sunrise sky is amazing. Therefore why not enjoy sleeping earlier than other days just to see this view. A good thing about camping and being outside is that you don’t count with light and you use and feel the light from the sun and the moon which is something most of the people most of the times forget.

6. Light food: To your trip you can also accompanied with a healthy menu, which will allow you to eat healthy. This would not only make you feel lighter and healthy, but its good from time to time to just detoxify the body eating lighter things and drinking tea or water.

With all these tips I just want to encourage all the people that need a simple backpacking experience to pack their things and run off to the closest place that can bring them peace and help clear the mind.

The article Tips to Enjoy the Outdoor Wonders appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

For all the people out there who love outdoor experiences, and know that there is not any other feeling on this planer as the one of being exposed to nature. What a great feeling is to breath the pure air, and the sound of birds that are resting on the trees. How beautiful it is to smell all the different kinds of flowers and to grab sometimes the magnificent pieces of fruits they provide to us. This is the greatness about nature, that it just relies there for us to enjoy freely, but for this reason for us to keep enjoying depends on the way we take care of it.

Therefore, here are great tips and advices to enjoy the outdoors environment.

Go out: First of all, what a person needs to do is get out from the city, leave behind the cold building and run to a place where you can smell the green grass and feel the pure air. Sometimes it is good to have a moment with nature, and just relax and do not feel any kind of stress.

Explore your local surroundings: Sometimes we do not appreciate the local surroundings we have in our own city. This is a good advice, because you would not need to a lot of money in order to travel somewhere close. People tend to think that their city is boring and that’s why they recur to leave and travel to other cities. But you will be surprised in finding and discovering special places in your owned city, places that are not really known or visited, and that you will have a great time.

Company: The great thing about organizing these simple getaways to a calm place is that you can take your close friends, family or couple. We know that in life the most spontaneous adventures that you don’t need to plan with great time ahead sometimes end up being gone of the most fun and great adventures. Therefore why not organizing a great trip, where you can enjoy with your loving ones?

Camping: Camping is one of the best experiences to feel nature at its top. From time to time we do need to leave luxuries behind and just adapt to simple situations, and something more simple and great than camping is hard to find. So why not organize a getaway to a close place with your friends and camp. It is great how eco-friendly this experience can be, but remember always to clean well the area where you did your camping in order to take care of the place.

Sun: The great thing is to wake up with the sunrise and the view of a sunrise sky is amazing. Therefore why not enjoy sleeping earlier than other days just to see this view. A good thing about camping and being outside is that you don’t count with light and you use and feel the light from the sun and the moon which is something most of the people most of the times forget.

Light food: To your trip you can also accompanied with a healthy menu, which will allow you to eat healthy. This would not only make you feel lighter and healthy, but its good from time to time to just detoxify the body eating lighter things and drinking tea or water.

With all this tips I just want to encourage all the people that need a simple backpacking experience to pack their things and run off to the closest place that can bring them peace and help clear the mind.

The article How to Discover Outdoor Wonders appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

How many days a week a person washes their clothes? If you are a student I understand that once a week would be more than enough, but lets take in mind all the people that are not students, specially the family sector. Where children need clean clothes everyday, and therefore the number of day’s laundry is required to do increases.

Every year, the number of laundry loads per household, encloses approximately a cipher of 400 loads. According to Energy Star, the total water consumed by the yearly loads is about 13,500 gallons of water.

Water is the main natural resource on the planet. Therefore any attempt to take care of it or reduce its waste is valuable. So by thinking about this, why don’t we start saving water on our daily chores such as laundry? Based on reports by Proctor and Marks & Spencer, between 75 to 80 percent of our clothing’s lifecycle impact comers essentially from both processes such as washing and drying.

On the first hand, it has to be taken into consideration the amount of energy that is being used to heat the wash water, and second, the energy consumed by the drying cycle.  Due to this, a new machine named the Energy Star-qualified top-loading machine is now on the market and it can save as much as 7,000 gallons of water per year.

Buying a new washing machine, that compensates its price for the long lasting duration it provides. It would be wise to think in an eco-friendly perspective, and help the environment by buying a washing machine that use the sufficient amount of water without exceeding.

Also, regarding the dryer procedure. According to the U.S Department of Energy, the dryer checks and costs per average household normally overpass the $70 per year in energy. It is impressive the costs of energy dryers generate, so a good advice if you want save on your utility bills you can use methods such as clothesline or drying rack. This advice will help on reducing the carbon footprint linked with our wardrobes.

Therefore, an environmental-friendly laundry regimen is provided, for you to get some tips and facilitate you in the process.

It is just a way of living, and caring for the environment. If you could save energy or water by finding alternative ways to make your laundry more eco-friendly, feel happy cause you are already putting your grain to the world.

The article Eco Friendly Laundry Time appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

In February this year Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that her government would begin to put into place a tax on carbon.

This caused controversy in the media and in the court of public opinion, as during her 2010 election campaign Ms Gillard stated on air that there would be tax on carbon if she and the Labor party were elected.

The new tax will be placed on large businesses that are polluting with the most carbon, but Ms Gillard acknowledged on ABC television show Q&A that there would be some cost of living increases as a trickle down from the tax on business.

During the launch of the carbon tax she made clear that price impacts would be felt, particularly in areas which generate a lot of carbon, encouraging them to lower emissions.

“Now as a Labor Government, when we price carbon we will ensure that the carbon price is fair, that it is a fair system.

“Every cent raised from pricing carbon will go to assisting households, helping businesses manage the transition and funding climate change climate change programs, and the Government will always support those who are in need of assistance with cost of living pressures,” Ms Gillard said.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott called for a revolution after Ms Gillard announced the tax.

He and others critical of the scheme have drawn attention to Ms Gillard’s statements before the election saying unequivocally there would be no carbon tax.

In various media interviews Ms Gillard has come under extreme pressure for her new proposal.

Quote from Alan Jones radio program on 2UE in Sydney:

HOST: … they (the electorate) wouldn’t be as angry as they are today were it not for the fact that you said there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead. You said I rule out a carbon tax and Wayne Swan, your deputy, I just want to, so that you understand, Wayne Swan said this, your deputy:

Wayne Swan on Audio Clip: No, it’s not possible that we’re bringing in a carbon tax. That is a hysterically inaccurate claim being made by the Coalition.

The Coalition in Opposition have also been hugely vocal in their disapproval of the carbon tax proposed by Ms Gillard.

Senator Eric Abetz, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate said that a carbon tax will destroy jobs as well as increasing the cost of living and crippling Australia’s trade.

“The Australian people have every right to feel betrayed and outraged by Labor’s shameful deceit,” Senator Abetz said.

“Not only did Julia Gillard deceive the Australian public, it’s clear that in announcing her back flip under pressure from Labor’s Green Alliance partners, the Prime Minister didn’t seek approval from her own Labor colleagues.”

The Opposition have also said the carbon tax is another sign of the power of the Green party in the Labor government.

The 2010 election that placed Julia Gillard and Labor in power did not give Ms Gillard a large enough majority from the voters to have outright power in the Senate.

Ms Gillard formed a minority government with the Green party and several Independents.

The article Australia & the Carbon Tax Debakel appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Just the thought of using enough creativity for creating new things out of old ones is great! Not only is an eco-friendly solution, but the results and designs are great! If you like the urban furniture style, then these are great news for you!

The geniuses that came up with this art are Jason and Adam Podlaski. They are the creator of their first creations the “DeckStool”, but now they’ve just design and build The Deck Bench. This is their new creation that was inspired by their first design the “DeckStool”. They used the bases form their previous invention but this time they redesign it and decided to create a new piece that had better characteristics, and was more comfortable.

Therefore, what they basically use, are parts of skateboard decks.  They have created really cool designs, but really taking in consideration that the art is eco-friendly by using up cycled skateboards.

It all began one day, when Jason saw his brother Adam handing to him a pile of his old, used and broken skateboard decks, and ask him to create a piece of furniture. Jason tells that when he looked at the decks immediately he noticed that there were basically 2 sizes of decks, longer ones and smaller ones. He began to play with them, and the longer decks appeared for him like legs for a chair, and the shorter ones he Picture them as useful for a seat. Therefore, alter putting the pieces together and playing until forming something the first stool was design.

In U.S.A the recycling is very important, and the eco-friendly products are well valued. The broken skateboards are a byproduct in the American culture. And they are destined for the landfill. Therefore this idea of using the decks and creating furniture our or them its great because the decks are being recycled and they do not generate waste.

Nowadays, the brothers count with a factory in Pennsylvania where the designs are built and finished. All the designs are great, and can decorate rooms giving them an original touch. So if you are looking for new furniture, here is a great idea!

The article Old Skateboards Decks Turn Up to be New Awesome Furniture appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.