Category Archives: Asia

Book Birthing is a Messy, Arduous Labor of Love

16 years ago, which was, scarily, nearly half of a lifetime ago for me, I visited Datong, China, in the country’s arid Shanxi Province. Datong was not only the most coal-polluted city I’d visited in my life (it has the … Continue reading

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A Not So Fashionable View of China’s Textile Industry

From today’s China Daily report about the environmental damages caused by China’s textile industry (a report cites massive abuses by brands such as Levi Strauss, Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren, Guess and Zara): The textile industry uses large amounts of water … Continue reading

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Dying Dolphins

The recent news that the corpses of a dozen endangered river porpoises were discovered in China’s Dongting Lake deeply saddened me, but even more sadly, did not surprise me. The finless porpoise has been threatened by environmental toxicity in China … Continue reading

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Goodbye Strange World?

An MIT study conducted in 1972 predicted that the world’s economy (and with it industrial output, services, pollution, and the global population) would hit a disastrous peak in 2030 (read: economic distress of irreversible global proportions) and then recoil in … Continue reading

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Let’s Hear it for… the Birds?

So maybe I’ve been on a pro-local, pro-sustainable kick lately, but I don’t think this is a bad thing (and it benefits us all, so yes, you’re welcome… haha). But I was appalled when my husband and I recently received … Continue reading

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When Orange is a Bad Omen

Here’s a poignant reminder of why we travel: to witness places like this, return home, and tell everyone we know what the world outside our borders looks like. And remember: everything you consume has consequences. Make conscious decisions daily, including … Continue reading

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The Way We See It

Reblogged from In the Dark Again: I’ve been back home for over two months now.  And while I feel a longing for the shadow puppet trail, I’ve also been able to do a different kind of searching here in America. … Continue reading

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Earth-system governance

Reblogged from Wandering Gaia: London: A group of scientists is calling for a fundamental overhaul in the way international environmental issues are decided, including reforming the UN bodies and decision-making processes to make them fairer and more effective at providing … Continue reading

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What’s in a Name? The Kony 2012 Debate Continues

“Treating awareness as a goal in and of itself risks compassion fatigue — most people only have so much time and energy to devote to far-away causes — and ultimately squanders political momentum that could be used to push for … Continue reading

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Sustainable Singapore

A few weeks back, while visiting my brother in Singapore, we drove by an unidentified construction project when we were heading to the east coast for a midday bike ride (note to self: when in Singapore, avoid exercise at noon … Continue reading

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