Sam Suds and the Case of PVC: The Poison Plastic

This animation campaigne tries to alert bad plastics in our living.
It's funny;however, I was so sad to see my lubber ducky turned out to be bad.....-.-;;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpmE_b90XTU&feature=player_profilepage

Gloria Steinem's article over Jeju Island, NYC Times

August 6, 2011

The Arms Race Intrudes on Paradise

By GLORIA STEINEM

Gloria Steinem is an author, an activist and a co-founder of the Women?s Media Center.
THERE are some actions for which those of us alive today will be judged in centuries to come. The only question will be: What did we know and when did we know it?
I think one judgment-worthy action may be what you and I do about the militarization of Jeju Island, South Korea, in service of the arms race.
Jeju isn?t called the most beautiful place on earth for nothing. Ancient volcanoes have become snow-covered peaks with pure mountain streams running down to volcanic beaches and reefs of soft coral. In between are green hills covered with wildflowers, mandarin orange groves, nutmeg forests, tea plantations and rare orchids growing wild; all existing at peace with farms, resorts and small cities. Unesco, the United Nation?s educational, scientific and cultural organization, has designated Jeju Island a world natural heritage site.
Now, a naval base is about to destroy a crucial stretch of the coast of Jeju, and will do this to dock and service destroyers with sophisticated ballistic missile defense systems and space war applications. China and South Korea have positive relations at the moment. But this naval base is not only an environmental disaster on an island less than two-thirds the size of Rhode Island, it may be a globally dangerous provocation besides.
Residents of Gangjeong, the village that is to be home to this base, have been living in tents along the endangered coastline, trying to stave off the dredging and bulldozing. In a vote several years ago at a village meeting, residents overwhelming opposed the base.
They?ve tried to block construction with lawsuits and pleas for a proper environmental impact study. They?ve been fined, beaten, arrested and imprisoned. They?ve gone on hunger strikes, chained themselves to anything available, invited tourists in to see what?s at stake, established Web sites and won support from global peace organizations. Members of the ?no base? campaign, including children, camp out along the shore behind high walls erected around the site to conceal the protests. Police officers patrol outside. This has been going on for more than four years.
You may be wondering why you haven?t heard more about it. I doubt that I would know, either, if I hadn?t visited Jeju Island nine years ago, and been unable to shake the memory of its beauty, and traditions that may be remnants of an ancient culture of balance. The island itself is said to be the body of the Creation Goddess, and is often called Women?s Island. It is home to the legendary women deep-sea divers known as Haenyeo, as well as sacred goddess groves and shamanistic traditions. For many women especially, it is becoming a symbol of what once was and could be.
But among the half million or so residents, there are also memories of terrible loss. Before and during World War II, Japanese troops stationed there used islanders as forced labor and murdered many. Just before the Korean War, South Korean forces burned villages to the ground and killed perhaps as many as 30,000 islanders because they didn?t support dividing the peninsula into North and South, and so were assumed to be Communists. But with work and old wisdom, Jeju gradually restored its uniquely peaceful culture as South Korea?s only autonomous province. In 2006, Roh Moo-hyun, then South Korea?s president, apologized for the massacre and declared Jeju the Island of Global Peace.
When I was invited in May to again visit Jeju, by friends in the Korean women?s movement, I could see why it attracts peace conferences, honeymooners, environmentalists, marine biologists, film crews, pilgrims and tourists. But I also visited the peace encampment, within sight of harassing police officers and waiting bulldozers. The mayor of Gangjeong, the leader of the resisters, said quietly that he and others would give their lives to stop construction. His 92-year-old mother walks down from the village to the shore every evening to make sure he is still alive.
Still, the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, a former head of a construction company who was known as ?Mr. Bulldozer,? hasn?t yet had a change of heart about supporting the naval base. Indeed, he seems to have the same relationship to construction that President George W. Bush had to oil. But I fear South Korea is a tail being wagged by the Pentagon dog. In contrast, his predecessor, Mr. Roh, said before he died that he regretted only two things: sending South Korean troops to Iraq and permitting a naval base on Jeju Island.
Jeju Island is on a very short list of candidates in a public Internet campaign to choose a new seven wonders of the world, and Mr. Lee is campaigning hard for it. He may have to choose. How can Jeju Island be one of the seven wonders when its claim rests on nature about to be destroyed?
Meanwhile, there are more people signing protest petitions on the Web, calling anyone they know in Washington, or going to Jeju Island to support and safeguard the protesters and show that tourists without guns, not military bases, are its economic future. In my daily e-mails with protesters on Jeju, I learned that bulldozers were spreading small rocks in preparation for laying concrete over lava, and living coral that is a distinctive natural habitat. Once the bulldozers are out of sight, children pick up those rocks, pile them into towers and plant a peace flag in each one.
For myself, I am writing this column, putting a petition on my Facebook page, and hoping for enough Arab Spring-like activism to topple one naval base.
I?ve never known less what will happen. I can still hear the dolphins crying as if sensing danger. But somehow, my faith is in the villagers who say, ?Touch not one stone, not one flower.?
Besides, now you know.

Follow up report: Jeju naval base

It has been 4 years since government announced its plan to build naval base in Jeju Island, which is home for nine UNESCO-designated Global Geo Parks, three World Natural Heritage sites and a Biosphere Reserve.

The naval base on Jeju Island will strategically equip South Koreans and their American allies with the capability to strike long-range ballistic missile batteries in southeast China that target Japan or Taiwan. Washington sees this base as a central pillar to its defense system in the Asia-Pacific region. And China sees it as a threat.

On July 6, the government and the Navy filed for a court injunction barring any action opposing base construction and the protesters? entry to the base site.

I think it is really an irony that our government wants Jeju island to be selected as the new seven wonders of the world while destroying its nature on the other hand.

Many residents are opposing the base construction but this project involves global powers. Not just Korean government but American government is also involved so we need more powerful voices to let those government to listen.

Famous women's right activist Gloria Steinem wrote on the New York Times column that both government took the matter really seriously and should reconsider.

I hope many people will see the irony of Jeju's status and work on to bring out unified global voice over the long dragging matter.  Alberta Yoo.

Severe Weather in 2011

2011 was one of the deadliest and costliest years in terms of natural disasters. Almost 1500 tornado warnings were issued only in the month of April. Thousands died in the United States alone due to tornadoes and other numerous disasters. However, the year of 2011 is barely half past and over 900 tornadoes, 50 droughts, hundreds of snowstorms, and thousands of severe thunderstorms hit the United States alone. Scientists in weather organizations all over the world, including NOAA, have all agreed on a single conclusion: The year on natural disasters will just get worse and worse as the 2011 progresses.

It is now the end of the tornado season and this single type of disaster has proved to be a devastating beyond measures. Already the United States government has spent more than $30 billion on repairing the damage the tornadoes had done. As the hurricane season is beginning, scientists fear the impact these “king of disasters” will do to various countries that lie on the coastline of continents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/science/earth/16climate.html?_r=1&ref=earth

Greenpeace urges Korea to give up nuclear energy

Mario Damato, executive director of Greenpeace East Asia, talked on the organization's flagship Rainbow Warrior at Incheon Port that Korea should stop developing nuclear power plants citing worst ever Japan's nuclear accident.

Greenpeace monitored radiation on both sea and land for about two months near the earthquake-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. They discovered the radiation levels of sampled marine life, vegetables and soil were much higher than official limits, raising serious concerns about continued long-term risk to people and the environment from contamination. 

Greenpeace will visit potential nuclear plant sites and do the anti-nuclear energy campaign until June21.

Source: The Korea Times, International Herald Tribune

Greenpeace new office in Seoul, South Korea

According to Mr.Mario Damato, the Executive Director of Greenpeace East Asia(GPEA), Greenpeace will launch a new office in Seoul, South Korea and work on creating positive change for the environment in Korea.


Its main activity will be focusing on nuke plants in Korea. Also, Mr.Damato says Greenpeace will not concern 'Four river development plan' in Korea because the plan itself is a regional matter.

Rainbow Warrior will be visiting the port of Inchon on coming June4 and June5 as a part of East Asian tour.

Source: Chosun Daily, Greenpeace home

Eco-Generation Green Interview with Ricky Kim(리키 김)

Mr. Ricky Kim is an actor, model and TV personality in Korea. He has appeared in 'Dream Team'(Season2) these days, and become very popular.  He's originally from Kansas, and he tells the Eco-gen about his take over environmental issues.

Eco-Generation Street Campaign

Today, we participated in a large street campaign with other Eco-generation ambassadors. This two-and-a-half hour long activity took place in Itaewon, a small part of Northern Seoul. The campaign began at 1:00 P.M. From then to about 2:20 P.M. we all ate a nice, fulfilling lunch at a nearby Outback Steakhouse. Since there were almost twenty people, we had to use about ten connected tables and eat from about forty different plates.



During the massive lunch, all of the eco-generation ambassadors discussed how to promote environmental awareness through campaigns, green articles, videos of interviews with environmental experts, and possibly advertisements. We stood out in the cold weather on a raised platform next to a major metro station. There, we handed out pamphlets about our organization and gave an explanation to each passerby. Although some of those around us ignored us and rejected our offers, we were still able to raise awareness among many other people. During this time, I learned many different creative ideas on ways to raise awareness among the general public about all the environmental issues we are facing with every day and in the near future.



 The most important part was the street campaign since I felt many different emotions. Many foreigners seem to care more about the environment compared to the passing Koreans. Out of about fifty passer-bys, only twenty took interest. We seriously need to work on raising awareness.







(In the left photo) This is me standing next to my teacher, whom I surprisingly met at the metro station by pure chance. We took a photo together on the raised platform.

Biodiversity survey results

  We have gathered all our survey results, based on a public of about age ten to twenty, and have analyzed them by making three circle graphs. The first graph (Q1. What is biodiversity?) apparently shows us that the general public does not know about the biodiversity that well; only a third of the people polled knew what it was or heard about it. The second graph (Q2. What is biodiversity related to?) is at least good news since everybody can infer what biodiversity is related to. The last graph (Q3. How much of the world’s plant diversity for food and agriculture has been lost during the 20th century?) brings the worst news for only 15 percent of the public could answer the question correctly. Therefore, in the next meeting we are going to decide what to write in our personal letter to UNEP Korea or possibly the Seoul Metropolitan Government. An option we are considering is to convince the organization to include environmental awareness in the regular school curriculum.

Meeting on Biodiversity Survey

Biodiversity hotspots, such as tropical rainforests in South America, coral reefs of the Equatorial Pacific, and river ecosystems, have been gradually fading away over the years. Even in Korea, the precious wildlife around the Han River, Nakdong River, and many other major rivers are being destroyed every time a factory is built around it. Therefore, in order for us to take action on preserving biodiversity in these areas, we have decided to take a short, but crucial poll. This survey will help us determine how much of the general public knows about these issues.

Therefore, we have decided to have several online meetings amongst ourselves. In the process, we will make graphs and decide on an action plan to help relieve this perilous and aggravating situation, including writing a personal letter to UNEP Korea.