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Petition Tag - environment
1. Support a Tax Write-Off for Cloth Diapering Families 
In 1988, over 18 billion diapers were sold and consumed in the United States that year. Disposable manufacturers say energy usage is the same for cloth or disposables, but the fact is that throwaways use five times more energy than reusable.
*The instructions on a disposable diaper package advise that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system.
* About 5 million tons of untreated body excrement, which may carry over 100 intestinal viruses, is brought to landfills via disposables. This may contribute to groundwater contamination and attract insects that carry and transmit diseases. In 1990, 18 billion disposables were thrown into United States landfills.
In 1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags.
No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.
Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.
Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.
The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.
Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.
Plastic bags pose a serious danger to birds and marine mammals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die each year after swallowing or choking on discarded plastic bags.
The issue is that polyethylene - the polymer that makes up plastic - never dies. It may break into smaller pieces, right down to the individual polyethylene molecules, but it simply doesn't fully degrade.
Finally, producing plastic bags requires millions of gallons of petroleum that could be used for transportation or heating.
3. Support the Crocodile Islands Ranger Program
The Crocodile Islands Rangers are the last line of defence for the breeding and nesting sites of endangered species, heritage areas, endangered indigenous language and traditional ecological knowledge, the jewel of countless generations of intimate co-existence with the marine environment in the Northern Territory of Australia.
4. All Reefs Worldwide need to be on an Endangered Species list
All Reefs Worldwide need to be on an Endangered Species list. With 100% more renewable Reef forests.
5. Stop the Alberta to Texas Pipeline
Stephen Harper wants President Obama to agree to having a pipeline be build from Alberta to Texas.
This pipeline threatens the environment and will make Global Warming worse than it already is.
In 2006 over 60 billion plastic water bottles were purchased. Only 1/4 were recycled/reused. The amount of water bottles we use is so immense that it would circle the earth 300 times each year. That number is growing, and water bottles are dirtier than tap.
Tap water is regulated almost daily by your towns treatment facility, most bottled water is packed and shipped within your state which removed it from testing. Thus, you are drinking untested water. Not only are you damaging your body, but you are damaging the environment to a point where it can't recover.
7. Demand palm oil be labeled!
Today palm oil is used in lots of shopping products, some of which includes pears soap, pringles, most peanut butters, clover, ginsters, haribo, Good fellas pizza, warburtons and much more. Unfortunately I wouldn't be mentioning this if it didn't have such an affect on the environment.
The palm oil industry is responsible for destroying thousands of acres of deforestation in other countries. Currently 300 football fields are destroyed in south east Asia every hour for palm oil. And it's not just the vegetation that is being affected! The animals that rely on the forest (such as orangutans) are affected, many orangutans have no place to go when the forest is destroyed. 20 years ago their were more than 300,000 Bornean orangutans in the wild, now their are less than 45,000 in the wild. Orangutans only give birth once in 6 - 10 years therefore it is hard for them to breed as much as they are dying out due to deforestation.
Please go to http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/orangutans/ for more information on orangutans.
But worst of all the industry does not even label palm oil! Most palm oil is labeled as vegetable oil, therefore many people are unaware that it is in their food. This is taking away our freedom to know what exactly goes into our food, it takes away are choice of whether or not to eat palm oil! This is wrong, they should label palm oil and deliberately point out if it is palm oil free!
A public meeting is being held at John Bentley School at 7pm on Thursday 3rd November to discuss the Hills planning application to increase the site at Lower Compton so that it becomes three times as large as it is now and thus triple the sheer amount of lorries on the A4 through Calne and the villages.
It is intended that all recyclables from Wiltshire will be taken there for sorting – then taken away to other parts of the country.
Wiltshire Council’s planning policies have already allocated land at Stanton St Quinton to use for a ‘waste transfer facility’ and not at Lower Compton.
10,000 signatures need to be gathered to show local opinion doesn’t want any further HGV movements.
We need your support to attend the meeting and get as many other people there as possible.
Save the B-line Woods!
10. Open Letter in support of Samsung workers and families
This letter is in support of the more than more than 140 electronics workers in Korea who have developed cancer and other serious occupational diseases (more than 1/3 of whom have already died).
We will be presenting it to the Korean Government in order to support the court decision which ruled in favor of compensation for Samsung workers (but the government has filed an appeal in support of Samsung).
This is an important precedent setting case and we need to demonstrate broad global support for this struggle.
11. Kent Community Recycling - Bridge the Gap.
Kent Community Recycling was founded in 1989, and has served two important functions in the community since then:
1. Education about and facilities for, recycling waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill.
2. Through our recycling exchange scheme, over £600,000 has been raised for local good causes and charities.
In October 2010, due to changes in criteria, we lost subsidy payments from the Local Authority which made up 80% of our income.
Without some kind of intervention, this important Local Community facility will close.
Enbridge, a company that distributes and transports crude oil across North America, is proposing a project called the Northern Pacific Gateway. The Enbridge Northern Gateway Project involves a new twin pipeline system running from near Edmonton, Alberta, to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia to export petroleum and import condensate.
Enbridge says that they are committed to constructing and operating Northern Gateway to the highest environmental and safety standards to ensure environmental protection. They say it will create a lasting legacy of local investment, tax revenue and jobs for the North. They say that they have embraced a new relationship with Aboriginal peoples across Canada and recognize Aboriginal rights. We are petitioning this today to tell you that the hidden costs to the pipeline get paid by our environment, our economy, and our people.
The destruction of the oil spill is shown by the statitcs. The latest data shows that On September 9, 2010, a rupture on Enbridge's Line 6A pipeline near Romeoville, Illinois released an estimate 6,100 barrels (970 m3) of oil into the surrounding area. On September 16, 2010, the NTSB released preliminary findings indicating that the leak was caused by a rock in the fill between the pipeline and a water main that was later laid below the pipeline.
Pipelines carry a serious risk of oil spills. Metal pipelines age and corrode over time, making them susceptible to ruptures. Pipelines are also at risk of breakage due to natural events such as landslides, and non-accidental events such as terrorism.
The National Enery Board estimates large petroleum pipelines will experience a spill every 16 years for every 1000 kilometres in length. [National Energy Board, Analysis of Ruptures and Trends on Major Canadian Pipeline Systems, 2004].
Each year, oil pipelines in North America spill millions of litres of oil into the environment. In July 2010, Enbridge’s Lakehead pipeline ruptured near Battle Creek, Michigan, spilling an estimated 4 million litres of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River. It was the largest oil spill in Midwest U.S. history. Although Enbridge claims to have a rigorous pipeline safety program, there are serious questions being asked regarding both its maintenance of its pipelines and its response to the oil spill.
The effect of oil spill is tremendous , they can be controlled by chemical dispersion, combustion, mechanical containment, and/or adsorption. Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up and it will cause the disappear of the wildlife.
This group is to pipe up against the company of Enbridge to eliminate the use of the oil pipe lines and pumps which will cause serious oil contamination.
13. Stop The Mascotte Landfill
The Mascotte City Council is hearing a proposal to build a landfill on 250 acres of environmentally sensitive land. The land borders on farms and residential areas.
The proposal has already passed a first reading, and is up for a second vote on October 3rd at the City Council meeting. They are in a rush to pass this to pay for past bad financial decisions, but the numbers don't add up. There are other alternatives to solve the city's financial difficulties, like consolidating services with neighboring towns.
We feel the requested site imposes a severe threat ti the health and welfare of our families, and that approval of such a site and plan is reckless and dangerous action by the commissioners.
14. Stop Unrestricted Wood Collection on Public Land
The State Government recently changed the rules on the collection of firewood from public land. Whereas before you had to pay a small fee and apply for a permit (allowing some planning by the land managers), firewood collection is now unrestricted.
This goes against both the State and Federal Government's own research which says that firewood collection has a significant negative impact on a wide range of native flora and fauna:
www.eastgippsland.net.au/downloads/Ecologicalimpactsoffirewoodcollection.pdf
www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/pubs/firewood-impacts.pdf
Help save our unique native species, sign the petition and make a difference.
15. Take Down those Billboards in Session Road, Baguio City
To take back a community's sense of pride and togetherness.
16. Convert School buses to CNG
School buses are an enormous cost for schools across the United States. When we convert buses to CNG it will decrease taxes and improve the learning environment of all children.
CNG for school buses will create cleaner air than buses previously running on diesel gas.
17. South Pennines for National Park status
The South Pennines is a special landscape. It's a landscape that has inspired novelists, poets and religious movements, and it's a landscape that ordinary people have risked criminal prosecution to secure access to.
Around 45 miles of the Pennine Way National Trail lies within the South Pennines, and almost the entire moorland area is designated an SSSI and a Special Protection Area in recognition of its importance for bird life. And yet despite all of this, very little of the area is protected by any formal landscape designation. In the light of this, we are seeking National Park status for the South Pennines, in the hope that this unique area will be preserved and protected for residents, for visitors and for wildlife.
18. Northern Ireland No-Fracking Required Here
Fracking (Hydraulic Fracturing of rock) is a method used to extract natural gas from the ground. The process involves pumping millions of gallons of water, mixed with toxic chemicals, thousands of feet deep into the ground.
It has been used in the USA and Australia and has caused widespread environmental damage,water pollution, including death to livestock and wildlife.
Serious health issues for people living in the area are also reported. Because of this damming body of evidence, which includes academic reports, moratoria on fracking have been put in place in the state of New York, New Jersey(USA), the North Rhine (Germany), South Africa and France.
A large area of N. Ireland will be affected by this and licenses have been issued for Central Larne-Lough Neagh Basin, Lough Allen Basin, Rathlin Basin and Rathlin Island. See link. http://www.detini.gov.uk/deti-energy-index/minerals-and-petroleum/petroleum_licensing_2.htm
The people of Northen Ireland need a full review of this decision and a ban on this process. This process could severely impact our tourism industry, agriculture, our water quality,environment and our health.
For more information see links below.
http://what-the-frack.org/
http://nofrackingireland.wordpress.com
http://www.activityireland.com
Facebook pages.
Protect our Environment-No Fracking Northen Ireland.
Stop Fracking Fermanagh.
Sign and Share this Petition
Please watch the documentary about our Great Lakes.
Also for an interactive documentary online go to:
http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
FACTS ABOUT OUR GREAT LAKES:
•At 17,500 kilometres, the total length of Great Lakes shorelines is equal to almost 44 per cent of the circumference of the Earth.
•The drainage basin of the Great Lakes covers about 775,000 square kilometres — an area the size of France.
•40 million people living in Canada and the U.S. get their drinking water from the Great Lakes.
•One quarter of Canada's agricultural production is grown in the Great Lakes Basin.
•Less than 1 per cent of the waters of the Great Lakes are replaced each year by rain and snow, surface water runoff, and groundwater flowing into the lakes.
•At least 185 non-native species have been introduced to the Great Lakes. On average a new aquatic invasive species arrives every six to nine months.
•Lake Superior has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world and is the largest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes.
•Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the largest freshwater island in the world, and one of more than 32,000 islands in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.
•Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, supports the largest walleye fishery in the world.
TAKE ACTION!
Contact your Canadian MPs, government officials, and Prime Minister. Speak out about the destruction of our Great Lakes! This has to stop today before it is to late.
Write letters and make calls to:
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca
AND
To contact a Member of Parliament call:
Toll-Free(Canada) 1 866-599-4999
Telephone: 1 613-992-4793
TTY: 1-613-995-2266
Find your Senator or M.P.:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Default.aspx?Language=E
ONTARIO:
Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
or
Premier Dalton McGuinty
Government of Ontario
Whitney Block, Room 4620
99 Wellesley St. W.
Toronto, ON M7A 1A1
Telephone: (416) 325-3777 Fax: (416) 325-3745
TTY/Teletypewriter:
1-800-387-5559
Email:
dmcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca
and/or
https://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/en/feedback/default.aspx
John Wilkinson — Minister of the Environment
Telephone: (416) 325-3777
Linda Jeffrey — Minister of Natural Resources
Telephone: (416) 325-3777
Helena Jaczek — Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment
Telephone: (416) 325-3777
20. Stop Water Pollution Now !
Dhaka is one of the most polluted cities in the world - one of the worst form - Water Pollution! The government must take necessary actions immediately to minimize pollution and develop a greener environment! Please support us in this endeavor!
1. 10% of garments factories with international contracts do not have waste treatment plants - which means they should lose their contracts as all international clothing chains require these.
2. More than 50% of factories which actually have waste treatment plants only use them during inspections, as they are very expensive to run.
3. International chains have policies whereby they announce inspections to the factories beforehand - these factories take full advantage of these policies to make sure they get away with fake standards.
4. Local workers for international chains take bribes to help make inspections easier.
DISTURBING FACTS
* 8,000 grabbers identified so far
* 1,000 acre land grabbed
* 60 percent pollution caused by industries
* 82 percent human excreta from city directly discharged in rivers
* Rivers almost biologically dead
21. We Demand a Better Waste Management System in Dhaka!
Dhaka is one of the most polluted cities in the world! The government must take necessary actions immediately to minimize pollution and develop a greener environment! Please support us in this endeavor!
1. 10% of garments factories with international contracts do not have waste treatment plants - which means they should lose their contracts as all international clothing chains require these.
2. More than 50% of factories which actually have waste treatment plants only use them during inspections, as they are very expensive to run.
3. International chains have policies whereby they announce inspections to the factories beforehand - these factories take full advantage of these policies to make sure they get away with fake standards.
4. Local workers for international chains take bribes to help make inspections easier.
DISTURBING FACTS
* 8,000 grabbers identified so far
* 1,000 acre land grabbed
* 60 percent pollution caused by industries
* 82 percent human excreta from city directly discharged in rivers
* Rivers almost biologically dead
22. Say no to Perth incinerator
Plans for a waste incinerator have been submitted by Grundon Waste Management for the Shore Road site adjacent to the South Inch and adjacent to the City Centre.
People have already made their opposition plain to such a development in massive numbers. Cllr Peter Barrett and Willie Rennie MSP launched a petition against the incinerator.
23. Don't Over Develop Durrington
In March 2010 Worthing borough council dismissed an application to develop 125 acres of greenbelt farmland and ancient woodland west of Durrington near Worthing. However the same developers have returned with a modified scheme excluding the woods and lane but still building on the farmland.
Although this revised scheme has reduced the land take to 80 acres and the woodland is spared we are still objecting as this land boarders the South Downs National Park and ancient Titnore woods. Not only are the fields important for food production, they act as a buffer between the urban sprawl and the open landscape of the English countryside.
24. Make Recycling Mandatory throughout the United States
In short, I believe it should be the law that everyone has to recycle.
All trash disposal companies should have to offer it to you.
25. Stop the Destruction of the Waterloo Moraine
Stop the destruction of agricultural land on the Waterloo moraine.
Taking a look at a zoning map of Waterloo from 2001, I noticed that a lot of the outlying land was zoned for agriculture. Right behind the Columbia Forest Court was a beautiful field that glowed a brilliant gold during the fall season. When I glanced at a more recent map from 2009, this same field was rezoned as land for development. For a decade this field had been owned by IBI, a development company that leased the property to farmers.
Up until the end of 2009, these farmers were growing their crops on their field, but last spring a sign in front of the forest that leads to the field announced City of Waterloo's plans to commence the construction of a trail, lighting and waterworks through the middle of the forest to provide a safe passage from the Columbia Forest Estates to the new “Vista Hills” development to be built on the field.
The field remained dormant until this spring, when bulldozers moved in and started to level it. In addition to IBI destroying the land, they are devastating an entire ecosystem, teeming with flora and fauna. Small animals such as groundhogs are being endangered or extirpated and moved to the nearby forest. This construction has damaged the existing ecosystem of the moraine, and there will be an imbalance of species in the forest, which can cause a lot of damage to the existing plants and animals.
A gaping hole in the forest has been cleared to make way for the new path and waterworks that is going to be constructed. The deforestation of ESPA 19 happened this month, in June, prior to a land bird monitoring report that was to be completed, and it occurred during the migratory bird breeding season.
My family and I would like you to help save the Waterloo Moraine that is being destroyed by developers such as IBI. The reason we are trying to protect this land is because it has a rich natural history: it was formed by glaciers thousands of years ago, and today is a rich supply of water for the residents of Waterloo. If you were dwelling near the construction site, would you want to watch the destruction of a valuable natural resource?
Please assist me in stopping this development by signing my petition, and you will be making a difference in our community for generations to come.
26. Stop Unwanted Unnecessary Packaging
Do you find that when you go to the supermarkets and shops that packaging could be minimised?
Bananas in packed in plastic bags for instance, or Herbal tea bags individually wrapped, fruit wrapped in cardboard and hard plastic (special (posh?) packs of 2 or 4 fruits) Tetra packs!
And so many more unnecessary packages, I am just naming a few.
27. Save Scotland's Seals from being Killed!
This year the Scottish Government have granted licences to kill 1298 seals at fish farms around Scotland.
28. Against conservative £10 billion land sell off
Nairobi ministry of lands-selling previously developed land to private developers against public trust doctrine, against public interest too.
Transfer to private developers is illegal for redevelopment purposes and undermines principle that public land is owned and belongs to public.
29. Save a Natural Heritage Area: Deny Aydan Court Rezoning
A developer is proposing 90 condominiums on Highway 54 east of Meadowmont in a state-designated Significant Natural Heritage Area and adjacent to the Upper Little Creek Wildlife Impoundment.
30. Meat Free Monday in Indonesia
We urge the Indonesian government, especially the President and the Minister for the Environment and Minister for the Health as well as environmental and animal rights organisations to recognise the many benefits of a meat-free diet.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released an astonishing report on June 5th 2009, stating that livestock agriculture is responsible for contributing a significant part of causing environmental pollution around the world. Animal agriculture’s 'contribution' to global warming is larger than the emissions from the entire transportation sector from around the globe. A 2006 a UN Report titled, “Livestock’s Long Shadow” supported this with the conclusion that global livestock farming generates roughly one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, more than all of transport combined.
This petition calls for the Indonesia government to take immediate action by adopting “Meat Free Mondays” and promoting the many health and environmental benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle to the general public.
