"Protect our planet...

[bartis_ervin]

it is the only one with chocolate!" wrote an American friend of mine.
I think it makes sense.

Ervin

Thebartiski.blogspot.com

[usenetposts]

He obviously hasn't seen "Stargate".

[bartis_ervin]

They had chocolate too? I don't remember...
Maybe then she should have focused rather on Starbucks.

Ervin

Thebartiski.blogspot.com

[ja_karola]

Seriously though. James Lovelock, the godfather of environmentalism, writes in
his last book ("The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth Is Fighting Back - and How
We Can Still Save Humanity.") that the destruction we've inflicted on our
planet is so advanced that at this point governments should be designing
emergency plans on how to handle all the more frequent natural disasters. One
tragic case scenario would be, for instance, massive flooding wiping out say
Bangladesh. What with the millions of migrants suddenly fleeing to
neighbouring India?

Things are not looking up! Even Al Gore is dedicating his life to raising
awareness. An interesting documentary entitled "An Inconvenient Truth" and
starring Dubbya's antithesis is about to come to theatres near you...

[bartis_ervin]

> Things are not looking up! Even Al Gore is dedicating his life to raising
> awareness. An interesting documentary entitled "An Inconvenient Truth" and
> starring Dubbya's antithesis is about to come to theatres near you...

Al Gore is environmentalist to the extent that he did not mention anything
related to the topic because his advisers told him it would not win him any
votes in the presidential race.

Maybe James Lovelock is right. There are dangers at every corner, since in the
last century we screwed up quite many things. The other day I was reading that
the waters of Black Sea below 200m are poisoned with hydrogen sulphide. If
something happens with the normal balance, and the hydrogen sulphide comes up to
the surface, a couple of milion people might die along the coast.

Honestly, I don't really like the Armagedon scenarios. Nevertheless, they might
be realistic.

Ervin

Thebartiski.blogspot.com

[ejmarkow]

When I first came to see my property in June, 2002, there was quite a bit of
cleaning up to do, environmentally speaking. In my back yard, about 50 pairs of
old shoes and boots were partially sunken into the ground. Under many of my
birch trees, there were some bottles, cans, glass, and pieces of metal. Where
once stood the old stable, there was a makeshift waste disposal area littered
with various items, above and below the ground. In my forests where half the
village searches for mushrooms, many plastic bottles, bags, and containers were
scattered around. The house and property remained vacant for over 20 years
which partially explains the litter problem. I cleaned up everything since
then, and maintain it's ecology quite well. There are still building materials
that are on my property which require some repositioning. The main problem I
see here are that some locals habitually throw their beer cans, bottles,
wrappers, and tissues on the roads, paved and unpaved. Once per month, I walk a
length of 1 km down my unpaved road with a bucket in hand, picking up any
noticeable trash. A larger problem is some trash in our local stream, 1 1/2 km
from my home. I once suggested to the local authority to dedicate one day for
volunteers in this village to clean up the stream and other areas. The gmina
would have to provide gloves and trash bags for this, and volunteers would be
needed. Unfortunately, the idea was played down and never implemented. The
public school does hold such an clean-up day around the school and church while
the rest of the village is neglected. Overall, it's nice and clean here, but
more can be done to improve it. Perhaps in the future it will become a reality.
I'm glad others here on this forum appreciate a clean environment.

[varsovian]

Gmina Michałowice, just west of Warsaw, refuses to ensure that all residents
have a refuse disposal contract. Thus, as it's optional, the dirty burghers do
what comes naturally to them.
Coercion is what's needed, not persuasion.
The situation will get worse, as the govt will force businesses to pay more for
their waste disposal - thereby encouraging them to dump in forests etc.

[ejmarkow]

varsovian napisał:

> Gmina Michałowice, just west of Warsaw, refuses to ensure that all residents
> have a refuse disposal contract. Thus, as it's optional, the dirty burghers
> do what comes naturally to them.

My gmina (Gromnik) implemented private waste disposal six months ago. I signed
up for it and pay about 100 zloty per year. A firm in Tarnów operates this
service. I must segregate all types of refuse (plastics, paper, glass, metal,
etc) into various colored bags, which is a good thing. I assume those items are
going to be recycled. This is a good sign for things to come. Still, it is too
costly for some individuals.

> Coercion is what's needed, not persuasion.

How does one convince them, call the Pruszków gang in Warsaw?


> The situation will get worse, as the govt will force businesses to pay more
> for their waste disposal - thereby encouraging them to dump in forests etc.

Instead of the police handing out fines to people that ride bikes without
lights at night, they should be handing out more fines to people that dump
their trash in streams and forests. This would force them to learn and obey the
law. I think communism had alot to do with individual habits that we see today.
Do you recall how polluted Katowice was only a few years ago? It's much better
today due to stricter environmental controls.

[varsovian]

The local bylaws state you must have a refuse collection contract or you face a
fine - that's a good coercive method. Just needs applying.

[ejmarkow]

varsovian napisał:

> The local bylaws state you must have a refuse collection contract or you face
> a fine - that's a good coercive method.

Are those the bylaws for your gmina only, or is it applied throughout all of
Poland? In other words, is that law passed down to each gmina from a country-
wide stated law?

> Just needs applying.

That's the root of the problem, the application of those regulations.