Tinks is going on a diet, like it or not.

Seems they had to fatten the fellow up just so as they could have him joining Britain’s Pet Fit Club, put him on a diet and get him crowned champion if he loses weight on a 100-day diet and fitness regime. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. How about we fatten up the owner till s/he is five times or more his/her normal size, then make that person lose it all in 100 days?

Eight of Britain’s most overweight pets are competing in a 100-day diet and fitness test in hopes of becoming the pet fit club champion.

How about this for a new year’s resolution? Let’s not abuse our pets. Let’s not let them get so fat they have to compete in such ridiculous schemes.

Isn’t there a belief that animals/pets often times look like their owners?

What’s your New Year’s resolution?

If you're new here and you like our articles, how about subscribing free for our updates via RSS feed.

The small Japanese town of Kuzumaki (coo-zoo-mah-key), not to be confused with uzumaki (whirlpool) has just 8,000 residents that are showing the rest of the world how things might be done … that is, kicking the fossil fuel habit.

How green are they?

1. Electricity is generated from cow dung.
2. Dozens of wind turbines decorate nearby Mt. Kamisodegawa (kah-mee-so-de ‘like in dead’-gah-wah)
3. 25% of schools get power from 420 solar panels
4. biomass facilities
5. wood chips converted to gas

(more…)

China is second guessing, third guessing Mother Nature. The Middle Kingdom launched its third geostationary meteorological satellite – the Fengyun-2-06 as part of its Long March Series.

The satellite weighs in at 1,390kg and was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology in cahoots with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The 2-06 is the third in the series and is to play a part in weather forecasting (weather guessing) for China and her neighbors, all in hopes of reducing the impacts of disasters.

China has sent 115 missions into space as part of China’s Long March Series of Rockets launched in 1970. China also hopes to be a better player and partner in international meterological organizations.

I don’t know what this satellite launch costs, but I wonder if money might not have been better spent on the ground, shoring up mountains and providing break walls and dams and such.

What do you think?

Source: Xinhuanet

Here today, gone tomorrow and back again today. That’s the story with the Gumprechts green pitviper and a Theloderma licin.

Scientists have found more than 1,000 new species in Southeast Asia’s Mekong region over the past 10 years. A spider as big as a dinner plate, a rat thought to have gone extinct 11 million years ago and a cyanide-laced, shocking pink millipede were also found.

A Gumprechts green pitviper and a Theloderma licin

The species were found in the rainforests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern China. The official number is 1,068 and just some quickies: the huntsman spider has a leg span of 30cm; the dragon millipede produces cyanide (I wonder who found this out and how?).

Scientists also found species in rafters at restaurants.

Lots of biodiversity in the region said the head of the World Wildlife Fund. The species included:

1. 519 plants,
2. 279 fish,
3. 88 frogs,
4. 88 spiders,
5. 46 lizards,
6. 22 snakes,
7. 15 mammals,
8. 4 birds,
9. 4 turtles,
10. two salamanders and a toad

and a partridge in a pear tree.

Discoveries took place on average of two a week for 10 years. And, all was right with Charles Darwin lovers.

Source: Cri

Just 9 months old GreenPacks, is celebrating Christmas (X-Mas, or whatever you call it) for the first time. We’re pretty darn excited and would like to wish you to stay healthy, happy and as green as possible.

“Feliz Navidad, Prospero Ano y Felicidad”

You most likely know what that means even though you don’t speak Spanish, but we’ll make sure you’re getting a good one. We want to wish you a Merry Christmas, so how can we do it better than Jose Feliciano ?

Merry Christmas!

Alex (and Bill)

Merry Christmas…Merry Christmas…Merry Christmas

None of that Happy Holidays stuff from me, though I have no evil intentions of being insensitive to others’ feelings.

Christmas is about Christ. Call me a Bible thumper if you like. I’ll take it as a compliment.

I believe the Earth we live on is a gift from the Creator and it is for *that* reason we ought to treasure it and be good stewards.

Find a ball on the side of the road and a child will play with it, then likely toss it aside. However, if the child is given the ball by someone who loves him/her very much, s/he is likely to treasure it forever. The ball we live on is a gift. Let us care for it, love it. Let’s recycle, make good use of reusable energy sources. Let’s not abuse the Earth. Because it’s a gift.

Christmas is a time of giving. There is only one gift greater than the Earth we live on. Let’s remember the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas….Merry Christmas….Merry Christmas

The International Earth Rotation Service is calling for a leap second - the 24th of its kind since the first in 1971. I wonder what they did before that?

At midnight GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on December 31st, the world will stop while a second is added to clocks everywhere.

The Earth rotates at different speeds in different years. The moon’s gravity supposedly has something to do with this. IERS uses calculations from more than 200 atomic clocks which base their time measurements on atomic resonance frequency.

Timekeepers warn that refusing to coordinate clocks might lead to lapse or collapse in communication, aerospace, finance and transportation. Remember Y2K!

Atomic time was introduced in 1958. Since then the Earth’s rotation has gained 33 seconds. I wonder, how did we and the animals get along before we had atomic time to tell us we were all off?

When I was in the Navy, we learned that the most reliable, predicatable and accurate measurements for navigation and time were the stars. Seems like we can’t be the Creator’s doing no matter how hard we try.

What are you going to do with your extra second?

First of all, do you know who “The Bunny Butcher” is?

Well, if you thought of Donna Karan, you’re right, because that’s how PETA used to call her.

I’m using past tense, because the famous fashion designer announced that the fall 2009 collection will be fur-free and that future lines will also be fur-free. Even though we’re not fans of what PETA does, it sure sounds like a good direction to be heading to.

We’re genuinely happy because it looks like a great victory for animals, but I’m really skeptical about keeping her hands off fur. Plus, what’s she going to do, use more synthetic fabrics made of petroleum-based fibers?

Meanwhile, congrats to Donna Karan. – via Ecorazzi

Image courtesy of david_shankbone

Sanyo Electric is the world’s largest Li-ion secondary battery maker. At Eco-Products 2008, Sanyo introduced a street lamp that operates on solar power. The lamp stores power generated when the sun is up, then uses a built in capacitor for illuminating at night. This strategy along with low-power white LEDs is becoming the trend. Sanyo hopes to replace the lead batteries in use with current solar-powered lamps with Li-ion secondary batteries win 2-3 years.

Meanwhile, Fuji Heavy displayed a rechargeable lawn mower that also uses a Li-ion secondary battery module. The lawn mower (disguised as a weed cutter) can be charged in about 60 minutes. It used to take me about six minutes to cut my lawn with a pair of scissors. Seriously! My lawn was that small.

Now we can mow our grass at night and not use any fossil fuels, eh?

In October, Alex shared an initiative brought to you by Audubon in alliance with Toyota called TogetherGreen. If you remember, TogetherGreen’s main focus is to secure a bright and healthy future for generations to come … but it takes the inspiration and wisdom from dedicated leaders to accomplish such a goal.

TogetherGreen has been fortunate enough to have some of the most brilliant, community leaders on their side, with creative ideas and visions that will steer us even further in the right direction.

Today, you’re being introduced to the Fellows who are going to shape our tomorrow with their creative visions that will ensure a positive environmental change. Awarded by the new conservation alliance of the National Audubon Society and Toyota, Fellows were selected from scores of applicants across the country by an advisory board of environmental leaders.

Forty of the nation’s most promising conservationists will advance their environmental vision and conservation leadership skills as recipients of the first TogetherGreen Fellowships, receiving a $10,000 stipend and assistance in launching local projects to educate a wide range of communities about the environment. Fellows will engage communities in efforts to conserve land, water and energy.

One of the goals of TogetherGreen is to foster diverse leaders and serve communities who have not previously been engaged in conservation activities.

The first year of TogetherGreen Fellowship projects include mentoring youth in Los Angeles Latino neighborhoods; an urban forestry program for African Americans in Gainesville, Florida; and a conflict management workshop in conservation networks in Appalachia.

Other projects range from helping urban students save energy by installing solar panels in their school to mobilizing rural ranchers to protect water quality. Along the way, the TogetherGreen Fellows will develop new and expanded abilities to forge conservation progress in the future.

The efforts of the Fellows will aid people and wildlife around 39 cities in 24 different states. A list and short bio of each Fellow, including their projects, can be found by visiting: http://www.togethergreen.org/fellows.

It really is up to us to secure our environmental future, and we are so lucky to have these Fellows as our role models. I wholeheartedly encourage each and everyone one of you, learn more about these individuals and find out ways in which you can get involved in your state.

Has anyone already attended a TogetherGreen volunteer day? Let us know how it went.

- Julie Hurvitz