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This organic web of a web site aims to uncover environmental solutions and pose questions about the fantastic array of problems that we, our planet’s most “intelligent” of species, are causing to our only home. You have found the right place for answers to urgent questions: |
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| We want to radically re-think the way we treat our environment from our day to day consumption of products and energy to engendering a longer term view for the future. | Will our generation be remembered as the one that had a chance but did not take it? | |
| WiserPlanet is an organisation that has been set up to collect and disseminate resources and information for a more informed way of life with the modest aim of creating a wiser planet! A wiser planet would conserve biodiversity, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, switch to clean renewable energy, ban toxic materials, spread the benefits of a healthy environment... The list is long. | ||
| In short, the idea is to speak plain, look our situation square in the face and ask in a Cleesian manner “What. We. Do. Now…?”. Where to start? By gathering practical environmental solutions, exposing the latest ideas and re-exposing older tried and tested ideas, the WiserPlanet organisation aims to foster change drop by drop – just like our ice caps are melting. | ||
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| A big question, but a good one. But before searching for answers we must first frame our question! What exactly constitutes wiser living or a wiser way of life? What do we want to sustain when talk about sustainable development? Indeed, what is sustainable development? Is the goal to sustain our current standards of living and, if so, how can these be measured? Or, should we be trying to repair before we sustain?! | ||
| The short answer is that no one really knows. There is no single answer to these questions. Indeed everyone has their own answer but as a collective, we are beginning to get the idea that we could be doing much more to conserve biodiversity and reduce emissions. | If the Chinese consumed as North Americans average we would already need another planet to satisfy our needs. | |
| Even if only our Chinese brothers and sisters were to increase their consumption of natural resources to equal the North American average we would already need at least another planet to satisfy our needs - so we are not doing too good then…! | ||
| Add to this the population of Africa, South America and the rest of Asia and an alarming picture begins to form. A picture so huge, so grotesque, so intrinsically human that to all intents and purposes it is impossible to fathom. To make matters worse is that this weighty picture is then mauled by intellectuals, perverted by politicians and ignored by the vast majority of the only species that is causing the damage to the environment in the first place. The rub is that only that species that can make things better. | ||
| Follow this link to find out how many planets would we need if everyone lived like you! | ||
How much damage have we done? |
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| Again, we are not entirely sure exactly how much damage has been done. Nor are we certain of being able to reverse our situation. However, we are sure that biodiversity is being threatened to such an extent that we have entered a time of mass extinction. There has been no comparable trend since the dinosaurs were wiped out about 438 million years ago. | The mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs can compared to the loss of species we are presently witnessing. |
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| Some argue that even to talk about long-term survival is morally questionable when a third of our population is hungry and living on $1 a day or less. Others argue that animals should have equal rights to humans. Check out various "ecosophies" on our thoughts page. | ||
Solutions |
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| What is clear, is that an escape from our present situation will have to take into account both human needs and the needs of the ecosystems we live in. Individually we can all improve the way we consume. Companies such as Utility Free provide home electricity options that use alternative power sources such as solar power - a good first step in the right direction! | ||
| a second step, or rather leap, would be to pass laws that require countries to harvest specific quotas of their energy through solar power or other renewable technologies like wind power, geothermic energy or biofuels? Perhaps the market should be used to regulate our interaction with the environment - should we pay up front for waste disposal services so as to encourage recycling and reuse? | ||
| This is ultimately what this web site is about. Here is a place to come for answers to important questions. Questions that when asked together and with enthusiasm, can make a difference – drop by drop. Whether it will be enough is anyone’s guess but it could be fun to try… | WiserPlanet aims to disseminate solutions to the fantastic array of problems that humans have caused | |
Test your knowledge of our Earth HERE |
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