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The political shenanigans engaged in by the 'developed'
(and 'developing') nations at the recent Bali Conference on Global Warming is yet another instance of the uselessness of
collective government action in the 'race to save the planet.' What race? We've known about the effects of the Industrial
Revolution on the natural world for well over a century ("In wildness is the preservation of the world." Henry Thoreau said
in the mid-19th Century). In 1962, the dire effects of unrestrained industrial development were brought into sharp focus by
Rachel Carson in The Silent Spring, the book that inspired a generation of environmentalists, and continues to resonate
today. "Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to
alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself" , she
said in a television interview in 1964.
One of the many wise things said by the American
anthropologist, Margaret Mead (1901-1978), was: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." In my lifetime there was an inspiring example of this when the
citizens of East Berlin tore down the Berlin Wall with their bare hands, standing fearlessly against the brutality of
Soviet-style Communism and the futility of the Cold War, with its senseless rattling of nuclear sabres by the super-power
governments. The lesson for me of that extraordinary event was that there comes a time when the true democracy of the people
can take the course of human history into its own hands. Let's hope the burgeoning growth of small groups of people and
individuals who believe that "something must be done" can force those in power to bring about the necessary changes to the
world's lifestyle before it's too late.
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I believe that
It's a Green Green
World bids fair to become one of the super-powers of the eco-friendly world (but we'll be a power for good!): our
Membership and our Readership grows by the day: we hope to Register our 250th Member Establishment very shortly, and we are
now represented in 45 countries; the Readership of this Newsletter mounts into the several hundreds as well. In fact, we can
already claim to be the most important portal for independent 'green-minded' travellers on the Net. And we've hardly begun!
We are now commencing our Northern Hemisphere recruitment drive - the US, the UK, and EU eco-hospitality establishments will
soon start receiving our emails.
We've spent hundreds of hours in research and I believe
we have now identified well over a thousand places in the area that could qualify for Membership. Let's hope they respond
positively to our efforts! If you are an owner with eco-credentials, don't wait for the email - click the Register Now button
on the Home Page and come on down: you'll be very welcome! If you're not an owner, but you know an establishment that ought
to be one of our Members, please let them know about GGW.
Our new
'Living The Dream'
feature can be found on the Homepage. This will be a
series of articles by people who have started a new life as an eco-warrior. The first article is by Mark Reynolds, an Englishman
who, with his Sri Lankan-born wife, Surjeewa, built a small jewel of a jungle resort in Southern Kerala, reclaiming and
preserving some near-derelict forest-land in the process. My wife and I had the pleasure of staying with the Reynolds during
a recent 'tour of inspection' in the area. We found many other worthy additions to the GGW portfolio in Kerala, and saw for
ourselves that the State really deserves the accolade bestowed on it by the Tourist Board of being 'God's Own Country'.
Click the "India" item in the country dropdown on the Home page to go on a tour of inspection of your own.
A comment from one of our Members after he'd received one
of our Invitation Emails:
"We receive invitations to join web portals of one sort
or another several times a month. Most of them ask for money up front, (GGW doesn't, of course), with no guaranteed audience
or delivery system. Many want money up front as well as commissions. If we signed up for all of them, we would be out
thousands of dollars each year.
What convinced me to join your site was the mainstream
way I got to it, (He found an ad of ours in National Geographic) as well as the orientation, content, look, and navigability
of the site. Without that, your invitation would have sat in my in-box indefinitely."
Thanks, Rara Avis of Costa Rica - we're so glad it didn't!
The debate about air travel continues as fiercely as ever.
The British Government, in the teeth of the environmental lobby's opposition, is set, it is predicted, to approve the addition
of a new runway (and a 6th Terminal Building) at Heathrow Airport. The Government's position will be that air transport is
going to grow massively over the next twenty years and, if Heathrow can't cope, the traffic will make use of the Amsterdam and
Paris airports, with a resultant massive loss to the British economy.
Meanwhile, Virgin announces that it will test-fly one of
its airliners this Spring with a mix of conventional oil-derived and bio fuels in its tanks.
And the second generation of bio fuel, we hear, will be
derived from quick-growing saplings planted on waste land, thereby avoiding having to replace petroleum with potential
food-producing plants. Sounds good!
You think we can't replace oil? I think 'we-the-people'
just might be able to persuade 'them' (the governments and big businesses) to do it. But it's got to be done soon!
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Recent Registrations |
Include establishments like the world-renowned . . . |
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La Cusinga Eco Lodge
(Costa Rica)
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"a first class tropical private island resort"
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Bulungula Lodge
(South Africa)
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"An eco-friendly paradise in a remote traditional Xhosa community on the most beautiful beach in the world"
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View the rest of GGW's . . .
Green Hotels
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New
Eco Information |
Links to information about sustainable travel, environmental impact and ecological organisations and projects. |
Our latest entry . . . |
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"Achieving Environmental Conservation, Byte by Byte"
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HAVE A LOOK!
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