I am not a feminist. Maybe I have lived in cotton wool – or in Finland. Daughter of a successful woman, CEO of a family business and a husband that does more than his fare share of house work. Actually, in gender-emancipated Finland my sympathies have often been with the poor men! Women’s issues just have not been an issue for me – until now.

In Global Greens Congress in Dakar we organised a women’s meeting. Everyone took their turn to tell heartfelt, sad stories about the women’s situation in their countries: there were life threads and bribery to prevent women to stand as candidates in elections, undemocratic structures and practices to prohibit women to enter politics (even amongst Greens parties!) but also just general repression, violence and rape.

In my turn, I told about a country which had had the first ever female parliamentarians in the world already in 1907, about its female ex-president and women prime ministers and about public nursery care for children. As problems, I named that a woman’s euro is still only 80 cents, the parental leave continues to be unequal, and of course, that the old boys-network still creates a glass ceiling for women. Somehow, though, our issues seemed trivial.

As the discussion went ahead it was clear that there was a great need for peer support and sharing of information amongst us. I realised that if we Finns managed to get as good and equal system as we have now, the others can achieve it as well. We decided to form an international Green women’s network that would function under the Global Greens umbrella. After all, knowledge transfer and education are the best ways to increase awareness and gender equality. And of course prevention and obliteration of that old boys-network in all countries!

In the end, the best definition for gender equality was presented in the Women and Democracy plenary in front of over 400 audience. Talking about gender quotas one man exclaimed that surely the most important thing would be to choose competent and skilled women in leadership posts. A woman panelist made a quick counter-argument: “Have you, sir, been chosen to your post because of your competency? Most male leaders are absolutely incompetent and unskilled in this world. The true gender equality will only be realised when an incompetent woman will be chosen as leader!”

materials: http://www.vihreatehdokkaat.fi/anne.bland/my-english-blog/incompetent-women

Ukraine is making plans to rebuild civil society in the areas affected by the Chernobyl accident, as the man responsible for the Exclusion Zone announces most of the affected towns could be resettled.

A round of comments have come from Ukrainian leaders today ahead of tomorrow’s 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

Speaking to parliament, prime minsiter Mykola Azarov announced extra funding for Chernobyl programs amounting to UAH3.7 billion ($460 million). The pensions of the ‘liquidators’ that performed emergency clean-up are to be increased and there will also be more money available for other people badly affected by the accident. Azarov said he is doing so ‘despite huge payments on debts, despite the frantic overpayment for Russian gas’, and because he does not want to make empty promises.

At the same time, Vladimir Kholosha, chairman of the State Agency for the Exclusion Zone (DAZV) gave a briefing at Government House. He gave the results of radiological surveys carried out last year in 2155 of the 2293 settlements in the Exclusion Zone. It revealed that ‘most of these towns can function without restrictions due to radiation’.

He said this is because time, natural processes and countermeasures have significantly reduced radiation hazard compared to the time immediately after the accident some 26 years ago.

Approaches to evacuation

The Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl was drawn to limit additional radiation doses from the accident to 1 millisievert per year, compared to the 2.4 millisieverts per year people receive from all sources. This resulted in a very wide evacuation area, affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

By contrast, radiation experts in Japan have said that Fukushima residents should be able to return home to areas where additional doses would be up to 20 millisieverts per year, although their wish is for additional doses to be as low as possible. Some areas have already been opened during daylight hours for residents and workers to make repairs ahead of a permanent return.

Kholosha also connected the towns with potential socio-economic development, which Azarov separately said was the only way to alleviate the chronic ‘state of poverty’ that hampers some of the affected regions.

A draft bill towards a definition of the ‘concept of state policy on development activities in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’ was published by the DAZV on 7 December last year but Kholosha did not reveal any specific areas he may be considering for potential development.

The only area specified in documents available from the DAZV is the Chernobyl power plant site, where other industrial activities could take place to make better use of the labour force maintained in the worker town of Slavutych.

DAZV will work with local authorities and labour unions to promote volunteerism and development of supporting civil society groups. One concrete measure will be the creation of a radio station for the region, which is due to begin broadcasting before the middle of this year.

Belarusian example

Belarus lies close-by to the north of the Chernobyl site and was badly affected by contamination spread on the wind during the accident. In 2010 that country announced a multi-year plan to promote basic economic activity in its evacuated Gomel and Mogilev regions.

The official plan begins by reducing fire risk by clearing overgrown areas and then properly disposing of buried contaminated items. Infrastructure work can then follow – the rebuilding of roads and reconnection to gas and electrical grids.

Among the first self-sustaining industries in the Belarusian regions could be forestry, with schools and housing provided for the families of specialist workers before broader development begins.

Мaterials: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Most_Chernobyl_towns_fit_for_habitation_2504121.html

adopted by
European Greens Congress, Paris, 11-13 November

Remembering the tragic consequences of the nuclear accidents and catastrophes in the last 25 years like in Chernobyl (Ukraine, where 900 000 people died from the explosion and the disaster affected more than 5 million people) and the recent tragic events in Fukushima (Japan, where the total number of victims will only add up with the next generations growing up), once again it shows that the nuclear energy remains the most dangerous one. The nuclear energy also is the most expensive way of energy gaining and when something goes wrong – we put our environment at risk and pay with our lives and lives of our children, too.

We do not have to rely on this high risk technology when we have safe, clean and sustainable alternatives to our disposal.

We are aware that the Lithuanian Minister of Energy Mr. Arvidas Sekmokas on 11.October 2011 has submitted the official documentation regarding the construction plan of the new NPP in Lithuania (Visagina) to the European Union Energy Commissioner Mr. Günther Oettinger. Submitted documentation means that the official conversations and coordination process with the European Union has started.

Bearing in mind that Latvia and Estonia have expressed their support to Lithuanian government representatives regarding the new NPP in Lithuania (Visagina), the information however is classified or hidden and people are kept in the dark in all three of Baltic States. They are not informed about the facts how the possible NPP will affect their economy, political environment, human health and, last but not least, how well are Baltics and nearest countries (Poland, Belarus, etc.) prepared for the worst case scenario – the accident in the NPP?

The new NPP in Lithuania (Visagina) is planned to be build less than 20 km away from Latvian border with the second biggest city in terms of inhabitants (600-700 thousand people) nearby, around 100 km away from Lithuania’s biggest city Vilnius (with 800 thousand inhabitants), 19 km away from the border of Belarus and around 200 km from its capital Minsk, 300km km away from the boarder of Poland and 300 km away from Estonia. The information must be public, transparent and available to anybody in the affected area!

The building site preparation in Lithuania might start already next year (in 2012), the actual building works of the NPP is set for 2014 and by the 2020 the NPP is expected to be fully operational if everything goes according to the submitted project plan.

Belarus itself who was one of the countries, which was affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe most of all, also plans to build the nuclear station on its territory. In 2016 they plan to run the first energy block, and in 2018 – second.

Finland with two already operating nuclear plants (Loviisa and Olkiluoto) in October 2011 announced that it had chosen Pyhäjoki, in northern Finland, as the site for the country’s third nuclear power plant. Construction is expected to start in 2015.

Having regard to the above mentioned facts, it is clear that the territories alongside Baltic Sea are getting seriously threatened by a nuclear power whereas there are plenty of options for clean and safe renewable and sustainable energy resources.

Taking into account that there is a strong desire to decrease the amount of working NPPs in Europe and stop the construction of the new ones, it is clear that alongside the nuclear power plant also comes the radioactive storage issues. Hence even when the NPP is closed the storage warehouses remain hazardous. Thereby it is very imprudent to build new nuclear plants or its reactors for there are no safe way back!

All of the European people got even more threatened just last week when Serbia publicly announced that they have finished building “the biggest warehouse for nuclear and radioactive waste in Europe” (storage and processing of radioactive waste at a rate of over 3 000 cubic meters) in Vinca, only 14 km from the city of Belgrade, with two million inhabitants. But we all know that there is no risk-free solution for nuclear waste management.

Also the Parliament of Ukraine recently adopted the law in the first hearing “On the management of spent nuclear fuel”, which suggests the construction of nuclear storage warehouse near its capital city Kiev with almost 3 million inhabitants. Even more like in Baltics all the required accompanying notes to the law are being kept secret. Moreover the rights of victims of the Chernobyl disaster are violated too for national authorities have refused to fulfil the social obligations established by the Ukrainian and international legislation – guarantees for financial compensations (pensions and other benefits).

Bearing in mind that the nuclear waste has to be restored time to time and that the process is very dangerous and expensive, and for saving lives of millions of people not only in the above mentioned countries but in all the Europe –

European Green party calls upon Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Belarus:
1. On the basis of Aarhus Convention, for complete transparency and necessity of including citizens and non-governmental organisations in decision making about environment and people’s health to unclassify all the information regarding the new NPP in Lithuania, Finland and Belarus including the seismic indicators of the new NPP sites.
2. To open up and commit to an equal and public debate on the energy policy for Baltic Sea region countries and its neighbouring countries too with both pro – and anti – nuclear experts.
3. To consider the possibility of building new alternative and sustainable energy supply sites in Baltic Sea region countries.

European Green party have following demands for Serbian and Ukrainian government:
1. Public access to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), with reference to the relevant institutions that conducted and approved the document.
2. Public participation in the process of creating the SEA.
3. Public listing of all significant impacts on the environment, especially those that can be harmful for the environment and people, along with protective measures.
4. Considering that warehouses mentioned above belongs to the category of projects for which Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is compulsory, make the access to the EIA, as well as the list of public and scientific authorities familiar with SEA and EIA and their attitude, available and public.
5. To unclassify all the information regarding the new nuclear waste storage warehouse law proposal being processed in the Ukrainian government at the moment.
6. The government of Ukraine to renew the social guaranties and compensation for victims of Chernobyl disaster.

European Green Party believes that the world should be nuclear-free. Therefore, we urge the all the counties to take into account its inhabitants’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to live in a healthy and safe environment, listen to opinions and voices of the society and start investing in much safer and more clean energy resources.

My quest to be more green didn’t start until I had kids. I didn’t seem to care about what was in my food, that I had to air out my house for hours after cleaning it and had no problem using all sorts of chemicals to get rid of ants, weeds, and so on. I used to be a bleach and paper towel addict.

Then I brought home my first little bundle of joy…and she changed everything! I started to care BIG time about the products I used and what we were eating. I started a quest to find safer products for cleaning our home, started getting a farm box each week of organic produce and stopped having the pest people coming out to spray lord knows what all around our house. We took big steps in the right direction.

Then my 2nd bundle of joy arrived. This bundle had allergies…poor girl! Finding a laundry soap that didn’t cause a rash was hard (no matter how “green” or “sensitive” it said it was!). We were constantly thinking she had a cold and kept coming back from the doctor with the same diagnosis–allergies. That is when I discovered the company that I am now an advisor for–H2O at Home. It took me from being sort-of-kind-of-green-at-least-I’m-buying-the-products-that-claim-to-be-eco-friendly to being the green person I am today. I had 2 bins of cleaning products that didn’t work—I gladly got rid of them and replaced them with a couple products that do a better job and the packaging is cute too It was a friend who told me about H2O at Home at a playgroup b/c i think she was tired of hearing me complain about cleaning products that don’t work. She hooked me with things like “clean your windows with just a microfiber and water” or “use a tub a clay that cleans everything from silver to marks on the walls to granite to bathrooms.” This friend did not sell the products she just loved them. After using them and finding out there were no advisors in my area I decided to go for it b/c I knew they would be a hit with everyone who tried them. I’m so glad I did!

I think back to the first time I saw the products and how I felt like I was let in on a cleaning secret. It annoys me that we have been trained to keep buying these ineffective cleaning products that need to be constantly replaced and they are so full of harmful chemicals. Or that there is no standard for saying a product is green in the US. I try to educate people and help them learn how to read lables. You read it for your food–why not for what you are using for what you are cleaning with?

The other day my husband was cleaning out his truck. He took out one of the kids carseats and if you have kids you know how bad it can get under a carseat! I have no idea what the heck they spilled but on one side it was like a black goo and on the other side looked like a raspberry smoothie had been dumped. We used to use this fabric cleaner on our cars. Lord knows what’s in it but it smelled pretty bad and we’d air out our cars for a few days. H2O at Home has this all purpose microfiber mitt that other advisors had been swearing lifts stains out of rugs and carpets with just water. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try–and it worked! And even better my husband was SHOCKED that it worked. He kept asking…just water?

So that is how I went from being a recovering bleach addict to someone who uses just chemical free cleaning product and doesn’t buy paper towels anymore!

To learn more about my company go to www.myh2oathome.com/molly

http://www.greenwayup.com/blogs/267/147/how-i-became-a-greener-person

This article originally appeared on the BSR Blog.

The reaction to Steve Jobs’ death on Twitter last night was fast and furious. So much has already been written about his vision, his genius, and the way he changed how we all think about interacting through devices designed in a simple, elegant style.

The world is undoubtedly worse off without his ideas, but the spirit he generated — at Apple, NeXT, Pixar, and beyond — is strong and will likely lead us forward, expecting new and better things from our technology companies every day.

Watching the dialogue evolve online, the Twittersphere — no doubt dominated by technophiles — responded with shock, then appreciation, a heartfelt outpouring for the wife and children he leaves behind, and a review of his legacy.

As Dave Roberts (@drgrist) alluded to with this tweet, “Jobs perfected front-end design. Now we need designers to work on the back end, the substrate, the supply chain, the hidden,” there has been a deeper, on-going conversation of late about the sustainability of technology products that are such a big part of our lives.

The recent public dialogue about technology manufacturing has shed some light on the complexities of making the beautiful, ever-changing, and innovative technologies we all want — while striving to maintain a price that is considered “affordable.” It has also highlighted the need for more sustainable solutions to combat the rapid obsolescence of the technologies developed.

I’ve spent time in China at the Foxconn facility, and with many electronics companies, active NGOs, and my colleagues at BSR as we have dissected the ICT supply chain and looked for ways to collaborate, influence, and change what is a complex set of demands, expectations, and cultural differences in the creation of many products. This ever-evolving conversation and commitment to incremental improvement is challenging but incredibly necessary to generate new ideas around responsible practices — both in how business operates but also what consumers want, expect, and most importantly, purchase.

Steve Jobs is often quoted as saying “stay hungry, stay foolish,” which, in his original Stanford commencement speech, is interestingly enough attributed to a quote he saw on the back of a Whole Earth Catalog.

But he also said in that same speech, “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

If, in respecting his legacy, we take that advice and apply it to our conversations on supply chain, workers’ rights, and business impacts globally — for the electronics industry or any industry that impacts communities — we will all be better off.

It is not news that the manufacturing of our beloved devices (“i-” or otherwise) come with complications and questions. These tools also keep us connected and increased the speed of information, and, in a sense, shortened the real and proverbial distance between the workers who manufacture and the users.

Working on the substrate is not the sexy work of design but could serve to change the fundamentals of our experience as users and consumers of technology. At BSR, we work with companies who are able to sail fearlessly into the future, tackling unanticipated challenges and engaging broadly where no solutions exist today.

Jobs was a master at this, creating and fulfilling needs we did not even know we had. The possibilities presented by harnessing this type of power and intellect inspired by him — and directing it toward a sustainable future — are endless. Let us be inspired to apply the fantastic creative thinking on innovation and design that he championed to the sustainability challenges we see, inevitably creating a more elegant — and equitable — world.

Image courtesy of Apple.