Well here we are in the middle of summer and there’s no doubt it’s HOT!!!  In an effort to stay cool and remain hydrated many of us reach for, and in many cases prefer, a cold bottle of water; but there are an ever increasing number of questions circulating around bottled water’s mendacious marketing campaigns, quality control and oversight; its environmental & economic impact and indeed it’s very necessity.

Take a look at the info-graph I came across while surfing the web and take a moment to consider participating in a friendly challenge:

Can you drink only tap water for a week?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-clark-howard/stop-drinking-bottled-wat_b_660499.html

I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

Andrew G

Well summer is finally here,  Yaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

So, in the interest of being GREEN and reducing our carbon-footprint, I want to share with you some tips I came across while surfing the world-wide-web of useful ideas (see link below).  These eco-tips are great because they address everyday activities, especially those activities during the summer months that can have a surprisingly high carbon-cost, and so are essential if we are to begin to adopt a more responsible & practical carbon outlook.

We all love to BBQ, shop and travel, and now, with just a few minor adjustments, we can enjoy the sunshine without worrying about how all that fun in the sun will be affecting next year’s outlook, enjoy!

http://www.carbonfund.org/blog/energy-efficiency/5-ways-to-make-your-summer-greener/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CarbonfundorgBlog+%28Carbonfund.org+Blog%29

Andrew G

*Date: Thursday, July 15th, 2010 (Shotgun Start 12:30pm)

*Venue: The Redwoods Golf Course, 22011 88th Avenue, Langley, B.C.

  
*Rules: 18 Holes Texas Scramble Format, 4 Players per team

 
*Tickets: 

Before May 15th $149.00 per player 

After May 15th $199.00 per player

Dinner Only $49.00

 

Your Golf Ticket includes:

Tailgate party during registration including prime rib on a bun & a beverage

 Putting Contest

 Texas Scramble Tournament Green Fee

 Power Cart

 Rental Clubs (If needed)

 Greek buffet dinner following the tournament

*Prizes: Best & Worst Players & Teams, Closest to the Pin, Longest Drive,
Hole-In-One Prize (A Brand New Car!)

If you would like to attend please contact James Randhawa at 604-613-6858 or visit

www.vipgolftournament.com.

Andrew G

With spring fast approaching (and in many cases already in bloom!) I can’t help but get excited about the tree-planting event(s) we have in the works.

...Vancouver!

I say, “event(s)” and “in the works”, because we currently find ourselves at a bit of a financial impasse with the current location (Maple Park, Surrey BC) that is forcing us to look at making other arrangements in order to fulfill our pledge to put 10,000 more trees into the ground this spring.

I will keep you all posted as we may have to make a trip to Surrey City Hall to address the counsel for more support!

Now, beyond all the business, I have to say again, that I’m excited at the prospect of planting!

To have an opportunity to give back to the earth and to be a part of the healing process for the air, water and soil is a meaningful part of Mannkind’s commitment to Mother Nature.

(In my opinion) Global Climate Change is upon us, always has been always will be, in one form or another–cold, hot, moderately-warm…what-have-you; and while this most recent round has been acute & aggressive, at the end of the day, I don’t think we need a scientist, or a politician, to tell us that we are living poorly and that we need to pitch-in & pick up after ourselves.

Volunteer for one of our tree-planting events and you’ll have a direct opportunity to dig-in for a better, GREENer tomorrow!  And what’s more, you’ll be geo-engineering!

Yes, Hi!  There you are…welcome, everyone, I’d like you to meet geo-engineering!

A once shy and odd-ball field of inquiry within the scientific community, geo-engineering is now emerging to the forefront of public discussion in the highest political & economic circles; in fact, Bill Gates has recently pledged 4.5 million towards geo-engineering research, and some of it will find its way right here into western Canada via David Keith and the University of Calgary.

Despite a recent rise in popularity, it’s important to keep in mind why geo-engineering was, and really is, so shy; two reasons, mainly, and these speak to the more elaborate expressions of the science (tree-planting, while it may be defined as geo-engineering, very rarely gets out of hand): first, its ecological impact is too unpredictable, especially on a global scale; and second, its technological requirements are quite, shall we say, far-fetched & fairly dangerous!

Moreover, they are all nearly impossible to test effectively due to the necessary arrangement of international accords, oversight & budgeting; and that may take a while, given what’s currently on the international table of discussion: war, famine, pestilence to name a few of the older courses…notwithstanding, major public figures are taking notice and talking about the practical benefits of solar radiation management systems and preemptive hurricane reduction practices.  All of which may indeed prove useful in the coming decades of expected environmental volatility.

Feel free to click through the articles I have included below to get a better idea of how imaginative & innovative these ideas for geo-engineering really are and what challenges they face coming to fruition.  I have also included a few links that touch on how the planet itself is coping with, and responding to, the effects of climate change!

There are many more articles out there related to either geo-engineering or how the earth is healing itself, so please feel free to add the articles you come across that are cool & interesting to the comments section.

Enjoy!

Andrew G

Geo-engineering:

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/02/10/geoengineering-inevitable

http://www.livescience.com/environment/etc/100130-geoengineering-schemes-yay-boo.html

The Earth Healing itself:

http://www.livescience.com/environment/070926_gw_cure.html

http://www.livescience.com/environment/etc/100130-water-vapor.html

I ran across an interesting article that explores an apparent link between global warming and the growth rates of trees in the Eastern United States.

Forest ecologist, Geoffrey Parker, from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre (who has been tracking woodland growth cycles for more than 20 years) & Sean McMahon, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, have been diligently documenting the growth rates of trees, ranging from 5 to 225 years old, and have discovered that nearly 90% of the trees from all age groups grew two to four times faster than current models would have predicted.

Parker & McMahon decided to investigate the root of this perplexing phenomenon:

“We made a list of reasons these forests could be growing faster and then ruled half of them out, said Parker. The ones that remained included increased temperature, a longer growing season and increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide — all effects or causes of climate change.”

As their findings are still in the preliminary stages, both scientists are eagerly beginning to branch-out to other forest ecologists and encouraging them to begin taking a closer look at their respective tree-data to help flush out how widespread this accelerated growth pattern really is!

It is important to understand this arbor-anomaly, “because changes in tree growth rates can have significant ramifications on weather patterns, nutrient cycles, climate change and biodiversity…”

Now this is just off the top of my head, but given that the affects of global warming are being seen & documented around the world, there is a palpable probability that this accelerated growth could truly be a global phenomenon, and given the significant lose of forest coverage, especially in developing nations (see stats chart below) perhaps this accelerated growth rate could off-set some of the lost coverage & augment absorption of carbon dioxide…?

How do you think this accelerated growth pattern (if indeed it turns out to be a global reality) could influence global warming?

Andrew G

(Source for stats below)

Forest extent: Total forest area

(Units: Thousand hectares)

Country	1990	2000	2005
Afghanistan	1,309	1,015	867
Albania	789	769	794
Algeria	1,790	2,144	2,277
American Samoa	18	18	18
Andorra	16	16	16
Angola	60,976	59,728	59,104
Antigua and Barbuda	9	9	9
Argentina	35,262	33,770	33,021
Armenia	346	305	283
Aruba	0	0	0
Australia	167,904	164,645	163,678
Austria	3,776	3,838	3,862
Azerbaijan	936	936	936
Bahamas, The	515	515	515
Bahrain	0	0	0
Bangladesh	882	884	871
Barbados	2	2	2
Belarus	7,376	7,848	7,894
Belgium	677	667	667
Belize	1,653	1,653	1,653
Benin	3,322	2,675	2,351
Bermuda	1	1	1
Bhutan	3,035	3,141	3,195
Bolivia	62,795	60,091	58,740
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,210	2,185	2,185
Botswana	13,718	12,535	11,943
Brazil	520,027	493,213	477,698
British Virgin Islands	4	4	4
Brunei	313	288	278
Bulgaria	3,327	3,375	3,625
Burkina Faso	7,154	6,914	6,794
Burma (Myanmar)	39,219	34,554	32,222
Burundi	289	198	152
Cambodia	12,946	11,541	10,447
Cameroon	24,545	22,345	21,245
Canada	310,134	310,134	310,134
Cape Verde	58	82	84
Cayman Islands	12	12	12
Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	10,222	10,328	10,405
Central African Rep	23,203	22,903	22,755
Chad	13,110	12,317	11,921
Channel Islands	1	1	1
Chile	15,263	15,834	16,121
China	157,141	177,001	197,290
Colombia	61,439	60,963	60,728
Comoros	12	8	5
Congo (Brazzaville)	22,726	22,556	22,471
Congo, Dem Rep	140,531	135,207	133,610
Cook Islands	15	16	16
Costa Rica	2,564	2,376	2,391
Croatia	2,116	2,129	2,135
Cuba	2,058	2,435	2,713
Cyprus	161	173	174
Czech Rep	2,630	2,637	2,648
Denmark	445	486	500
Djibouti	6	6	6
Dominica	50	47	46
Dominican Rep	1,376	1,376	1,376
Ecuador	13,817	11,841	10,853
Egypt	44	59	67
El Salvador	375	324	298
Equatorial Guinea	1,860	1,708	1,632
Eritrea	1,621	1,576	1,554
Estonia	2,163	2,243	2,284
Ethiopia	15,114	13,705	13,000
Faeroe Islands	0	0	0
Falkland Islands	0	0	0
Fiji	979	1,000	1,000
Finland	22,194	22,475	22,500
Former Serbia and Montenegro	2,559	2,649	2,694
France	14,538	15,351	15,554
French Guiana	8,091	8,063	8,063
French Polynesia	105	105	105
Gabon	21,927	21,826	21,775
Gambia	442	461	471
Georgia	2,760	2,760	2,760
Germany	10,741	11,076	11,076
Ghana	7,448	6,094	5,517
Gibraltar	0	0	0
Greece	3,299	3,601	3,752
Greenland	0	0	0
Grenada	4	4	4
Guadeloupe	84	81	80
Guam	26	26	26
Guatemala	4,748	4,208	3,938
Guinea	7,408	6,904	6,724
Guinea-Bissau	2,216	2,120	2,072
Guyana	15,104	15,104	15,104
Haiti	116	109	105
Honduras	7,385	5,430	4,648
Hungary	1,801	1,907	1,976
Iceland	25	38	46
India	63,939	67,554	67,701
Indonesia	116,567	97,852	88,495
Iran	11,075	11,075	11,075
Iraq	804	818	822
Ireland	441	609	669
Isle of Man	3	3	3
Israel	154	164	171
Italy	8,383	9,447	9,979
Jamaica	345	341	339
Japan	24,950	24,876	24,868
Jordan	83	83	83
Kazakhstan	3,422	3,365	3,337
Kenya	3,708	3,582	3,522
Kiribati	2	2	2
Korea, North	8,201	6,821	6,187
Korea, South	6,371	6,300	6,265
Kuwait	3	5	6
Kyrgyzstan	836	858	869
Lao People’s Dem Rep	17,314	16,532	16,142
Latvia	2,775	2,885	2,941
Lebanon	121	131	136
Lesotho	5	7	8
Liberia	4,058	3,455	3,154
Libya	217	217	217
Liechtenstein	6	7	7
Lithuania	1,945	2,020	2,099
Luxembourg	86	87	87
Macedonia, FYR	906	906	906
Madagascar	13,692	13,023	12,838
Malawi	3,896	3,567	3,402
Malaysia	22,376	21,591	20,890
Maldives	1	1	1
Mali	14,072	13,072	12,572
Malta	0	0	0
Martinique	46	46	46
Mauritania	415	317	267
Mauritius	39	38	37
Mexico	69,016	65,540	64,238
Micronesia, Fed States	63	63	63
Moldova, Rep	319	326	329
Monaco	0	0	0
Mongolia	11,492	10,665	10,252
Morocco	4,289	4,328	4,364
Mozambique	20,012	19,512	19,262
Namibia	8,762	8,033	7,661
Nauru	0	0	0
Nepal	4,817	3,900	3,636
Netherlands	345	360	365
Netherlands Antilles	1	1	1
New Caledonia	717	717	717
New Zealand	7,720	8,226	8,309
Nicaragua	6,538	5,539	5,189
Niger	1,945	1,328	1,266
Nigeria	17,234	13,137	11,089
Niue	17	15	14
Northern Mariana Islands	35	34	33
Norway	9,130	9,301	9,387
Oman	2	2	2
Pakistan	2,527	2,116	1,902
Palau	38	40	40
Palestinian Territories	9	9	9
Panama	4,376	4,307	4,294
Papua New Guinea	31,523	30,132	29,437
Paraguay	21,157	19,368	18,475
Peru	70,156	69,213	68,742
Philippines	10,574	7,949	7,162
Poland	8,881	9,059	9,192
Portugal	3,099	3,583	3,783
Puerto Rico	404	407	408
Qatar	0	0	0
Reunion	87	87	84
Romania	6,371	6,366	6,370
Russia	808,950	809,268	808,790
Rwanda	318	344	480
Saint Helena	2	2	2
Saint Kitts and Nevis	5	5

Great news regarding our program to adopt an orphanage in India this year!

Our founder Dave Mann, and his son Ricky, have arrived safely in the sub-continent to begin the work of introducing our vision to community representatives and researching various orphanages with the intent of absorbing, improving and maintaining an existing program.

Dave & Ricky begin their journey in Calcutta where they will visit the Mother Teresa Orphanage; next they travel to Chennai along India’s East coast where they will volunteer at the Bala Gurukulam Orphanage.

From there they will continue along the coast towards Goa and on to Bhopal to volunteer at the Asha Nitya Sewak Orphanage.  Finally, they will travel to Delhi and from there fly back home to Canada.

Below is a message from Dave regarding his travels so far:

Hello Gang,

Ricky and I are in Calcutta right now. Yesterday we were at Mother Teresa’s place. Wow what a wonderful place of love, just pure unconditional love, love that has no reason for love but for the fact that we all are children of the same God.

Absolutely inspiring and freeing at the same time, I also felt a distinct feeling that although she is a Saint now, she was also so incredibly human at the same time.

I could sense her trepidation, yet her trust in God the first time she decided to venture into the slums and various shanty towns. She is a wonderful source of inspiration for me.

Previous day we visited the Head of communist party of West Bengal { the ruling party } Mr. Viman Bose, a short statured man, long winded and entirely dedicated to the people. I felt he kind of understood our aspirations better than most people here.

He thought it would be a good idea for us to look at a house that could used as an Orphanage and he assured us that the approval for the Orphanage from state and national governments could be easily arranged.

As life would have it that our hosts in this town Mr Kamal Sen and Dr. Kakuli Mukerji have a vacant house in Howrah with 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, fully fenced and lovely verandas. We toured the house and Rick took lots of pictures so that you all could see. Howrah is considered poor in comparison to Calcutta.

Yesterday I was talking to a long term Caucasian volunteer at Mother Teresa’s, he told me there is a lot of need and yesterday somebody left a baby at the front door of the convent.

I am only providing all of you  a very short update. I believe we should hold off on making any decisions until we have seen a lot more and come back to Canada.

I do worry that when I come back to Canada I might lose some of the urgency I feel today. I trust the path and all shall be as it should be…

With love and deep regards,

Dave Mann

Now that 2009 is behind us and we are in full stride for 2010, I thought I’d take a moment to look back at a couple of projects from December that proved a promising culmination to a very rewarding year.

Our 1st annual Winter coat & sock drive was a surprising, albeit ad hoc, success!  The damp, cold conditions compelled many members of our board to take action and do their part to inspire those with to help those without.

Attending to the needs of the impoverished in our community has to be practical if it is to be effective and often times it is the simplest of items which can have the most impact.

For the indigent, a warm coat & clean socks secures a level of comfort and security from disease that can mean the difference between life & death.  Now I am not saying that this is the solution, but there is an undeniable boost in the quality of life which can provide more than just warmth, it can provide hope.  And it is from this place, a place where the individual can begin to see promise in his/her situation, that we can being to foster permanent, meaningful solutions.

We look forward to organizing an even bigger campaign next year, and again, we have to thank all of those who took a moment out of their busy holiday season to think of others in need.

The tangible results: 252 coats, 262 pairs of socks, 8 scarves, 16 blankets, 19 pairs of gloves, 22 hats, 217 miscellaneous articles of clothing.

The last event of 2009 for Mannkind was our Black Tie New Year’s Eve Celebration.  The programme called for cocktails, dinner, entertainment, dessert, champagne and dancing, dancing dancing!

Our guests were kept entertained with a myriad of prizes & performances: jewelery, Canucks tickets, whirling fire hoola-hoop dancer Allison Collins, breaking crew Now or Never & DJ Aftershock to name a few.

After all was said and done we were able to raise over $40,000 to help set us on the path to achieving our program goals for 2010!

A BIG thanks to all of our sponsors:

Derrick Smith - Dead Frog Brewery

Corinne Ropp - Y.O.U. Leadership Seminars

Dave Sidhu – Royal Group Tapestry Realty Ltd.

Sam Rakhra – Royal Group Tapestry Realty Ltd.

Ranj Deol – Terra Group

Polly – The Art of Wedding

Amarjit Samra – A-Class Auto Body & Paint Ltd.

Jodh Dhaliwal – Vancity Credit Union

Swaran & Gurvir Pattar – Pattar Roofing Ltd.

Bruce Kehler & Mukhtiar Jatt – Country Lumber Ltd.

Harjit Soni – Skyline Plumbing and Heating Ltd.

Parm Sandhu – Custom Glass Ltd.

Currencia Mortgage Investment Corporation

Hair Family

Dr. Bawa & Simmi Randhawa

Dr. Satnam & Kamal Gandham

Basra Family

Tejinder Mann & Family

Dr. Sachdev & Family

Bob Bhindi - Golden Tree Jewelers

Here are a few pics from the party:

Andrew G

This past week we got some good news from the city of Surrey Parks Board!

They have managed to locate a central site that can accommodate & sustain the 10,000 trees we are committed to planting in the Spring of 2010!

We are already garnering volunteers & sponsorship from the local Surrey business community and we look forward to putting on an event that will be both fun & educational.

The spot is Maple Park in Surrey, BC.  Located at 84th Avenue & 149th Street, right next to Maple Green Elementary (see link for aerial photo) - maple-park1

All this talk of trees got me thinking– where are all the trees and what are they doing?

Sounds simple and silly enough but after a little research I found a whole new appreciation for our tall green friends and their role in sustaining & stabilizing our planet’s soil, climate and water cycles; not to mention the fact that they are home to millions of plants, animals and bugs!

Here’s the link to an uber-informative guide that highlights the great forests of the world; it touches on their past prominence, current conditions and future outlook.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2007/dec/13/forests

I also ran across a cutting edge tool, developed by Google and unveiled at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, that is helping scientists and forest managers map & model the effects of deforestation in real time!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/10/google-technology-deforestation

Andrew G

Wow!  It’s amazing to think about the logistics of putting 1,000,000 trees into the ground in only one-hour but that’s not hampering an eco-happy bunch of community groups in the UK from giving it their best shot!

The current record is held by the Philippines with 653,000 trees planted in an hour.  This new mark of one million will hopefully encourage other nations to accept the challenge of going GREEN in a hurry!

But for these UK eco-enthusiasts it’s about more than a record, it’s about instilling an appreciation for the natural world.  Headteacher Mike Poppit puts it best,

“As educators, it’s vital to emphasise to future generations the importance of taking care of our environment and to replenish natural resources where we can.  What better way is there than planting trees with today’s children, who can watch the trees grow over time, and to come back to as adults with their children?”

In a word - AWESOME!!!

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2009/12/09/teesside-groups-take-part-in-tree-planting-world-record-attempt-84229-25349649/

Andrew G

The Copenhagen climate summit is now under way and from the look of it humanity is in a real bind– atmospherically, biologically, politically, & economically.

• We are now in the midst of the warmest decade on record, the affects of which are being felt around the world (floods, drought and desertification… to name a few).
• We need money to fund the transition to greener technologies & infrastructure but we’re in a recession right now and so developed nations are stretched thin, at least for the short to mid-term.
• We need countries to seriously & sincerely cut carbon emissions in order to keep global warming tolerable but looming & obnoxious questions remain: who should cut first, when and by how much?  Is every country equal or are developing nations “entitled” to their share of emissions in order to secure acceptable living standards?
• We need to conserve trees in order to maintain ecosystems & improve air quality but we also need jobs, farm land & homes.

I am beginning to see a pattern here and there appears to be no easy solution for anyone.  What issues related to climate change are important to you?  If you could stand-up and address the assembly gathered in Copenhagen what would you say?

For some reason a quote by Groucho Marx comes readily to mind for an opening sentence, “politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying all the wrong remedies.”

And given the track record of these of these global eco-summits I can only hope that the pressing timelines propounded by the scientific community provide enough impetus for unbridled global action!

We are now into day 3 under the big tent, here are some articles to get you up to speed with the main issues, stories & personalities of the 2009 climate summit:

Here’s a great starter guide for the Copenhagen Summit:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2009/dec/07/copenhagen-climate-change-carbon-emissions

The US and China have a big part to play but here are some other nations to keep your eye on,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/30/countries-to-watch

Here’s a Copenhagen jargon buster,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/22/climate-change-glossary-jargon

Here’s some juicy “gossip” regarding a possible breakdown in cooperation & shared understanding between developed and developing nations that will live on in infamy as “the leaked Danish draft” ,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/09/copenhagen-summit-danish-text-leak

Why Copenhagen may prove more successful than Kyoto,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/09/copenhagen-kyoto-climate-change

I look forward to your comments & questions.

Andrew G