The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.

I don’t understand why people are not bothered with the ongoing climate changes and their effects on our world. I am amazed by the ease with which teachers make photocopies and print things on paper all day long at school. And I keep asking them: “use the back of the sheet, at least!” but they don’t listen to me.

Even the ceramic mug I used to keep in my cabinet has disappeared. I started bringing a small bottle from home. I won’t give up. I will start a campaign to promote the use of our own cups and mugs. We use dozens of disposable cups every day to drink water and coffee. Can’t they feel the hell-like heat that is already scorching us?

What can you do to reduce global warming?

Although some climate changes are already noticeable, all of us can do something to help decrease carbon emissions. For example: at home, we can switch to a greener type of energy, using light bulbs that can consume up to 80% less electricity and that last 12 times longer than the regular ones. Turning off lights when we leave a room and turning off electronic devices in stand-by mode is good not only for the environment but also for our wallets.

Adjusting the thermostat for your central heating by lowering the temperature by only one degree can cut energy consumption by up to 10 percent. When you replace electronic devices, make sure to buy the most energy-efficient model.

Reusing or recycling paper, cardboard boxes, bottles, cans and plastic packing is a responsible and caring attitude to take towards future generations—our little Princes and Princesses deserve this attention as well as a more sustainable world. Reusing the water from the baby’s bath in the toilet, and the laundry water from washing machines for doing other household chores is another way to make a contribution.

Whenever you can, try walking or biking or using public transportation instead of driving. If you need to travel by car, try sharing the ride. I’ve been doing it when I go out with my girlfriends and also when I travel with someone. If you are replacing your car, consider buying a “greener” model or downgrading to a smaller, more fuel-efficient model. This is what I plan to do when I buy my next car, because I still cannot live without one. Emptying your trunk by taking out anything that isn’t necessary can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 percent.

Try to cut down on your air travel and, when you do fly, consider offsetting your carbon emissions. How about planting trees? On the Click árvore website, for each click, a new tree is planted in the Atlantic Rainforest. It’s easy and quick.

Anyway, there are many easy, simple, necessary and sensible things that we can and should do. Why not start making our contribution right now?

Image: from here.

When the Arctic Sunrise ship became visible in the horizon, still far way, tiny, sailing on the ocean in front of the hotel where I’m staying, I must confess that it made me pretty excited. Between phone calls and e-mails, and while I worked organizing the media attendance to register the moment, I would take a quick pause to watch that little spot on the ocean, getting closer, closer… until suddenly, there it was! The entire crew was on the side of the ship holding a huge banner with the theme for the expedition that we’re using in Brazil and pictures of the huge wind turbines that have been installed near the port.
The gang spent three days at sea, and many of them got really seasick—the Arctic is an ice breaker vessel and draws very high, which makes it swing a lot so that even the most experienced sailors can feel seasick—but everybody was there, happy, smiling and ready to do whatever was necessary. It’s a pleasure to see the gang working hard to further the project. Mari tells us about the arrival, in the expedition’s blog, from the perspective of those on board.  I was in one of the two trawlers we had arranged to take the press to sea, near the ship, to get some images. We handed out Dramamine to prevent any embarrassments, and followed the Arctic until it docked at the Mucuripe Port. Tomorrow we’ll have a seminar on renewable energy on board the ship, with the participation of local public authorities, experts in the area (Steve Sawyer, from the Global Wind Energy Council will be there), and people from Greenpeace to discuss the potential of Ceara’s wind—the greatest potential in the country. I’m a little under the weather with a cold (thanks to that awful air-conditioner and today’s strong winds), so I’m going to stop here.  I’m going to rest, read a bit, and listen to some music in my hotel room. The gang is on the ship, celebrating its arrival.   A toast to everybody from here, with some orange juice, some vitamin C tablets and some propolis spray for my throat. Cheers!

Read this post at the O Escriba blog: Good winds bring the Arctic Sunrise to Fortaleza

O Escriba

I had never been to Belem. Even though I have relatives living there, I only took a trip to the Brazilian mango capital because of Greenpeace—there, mango trees are everywhere, delighting the population and terrorizing drivers. I felt as if I were home, especially because the locals stress the ‘S’ and the ‘R’ just like people from Rio de Janeiro. I found out that I have cousins in town, Ivanir and Dolores, lovely people. It was great to spend an afternoon with them, feasting on açai and bacuri and drinking cupuaçu juice while we listened to thousands of parakeets (or maritacas, who knows) that had built their nests on top of a huge tree just across from the Nossa Senhora de Nazaré Church and my cousins’ apartment building. I had a great time in Belem enjoying the heat, the refreshing afternoon rain, the richness of the local cuisine, the kindness of their people, the proximity to the Amazon Rainforest, the music (the local reggae is brilliant!).

I hope to return one day, preferably with my children.

Letting so much time pass without updating the blog is not a good idea because, in the meantime, so many things happen that it is hard to put them all in a post without making it too long and tiresome to read. Anyway, I’m going to open the floodgates on my memory and just let things flow, especially because I’m already in Fortaleza and need to get up early tomorrow to set up some interviews for my friend Baitelo, the star of this leg of the Save the Planet expedition. It’s Now or Now.

As I was saying, I spent an afternoon with my cousins, the children of my grandfather’s brother. I don’t know this part of the family, I mean, I knew about them, but had never really met them, except for that one time we had dinner at a pizza place, a year ago, during a trip they took to Sao Paulo. When my father reminded me of them, I called them up and made plans to meet for lunch, breakfast, visit the ship and everything, but what really worked was the “play by it ear” thing (as always). I went with Mari on foot to try to catch up with the march that had already left Docas Station. Midway, I remembered that my cousins lived in that area so I called them and we ended up watching part of the Latin American leftist march from the seventh floor of a building located across the church square. When Greenpeace’s huge inflatable bull emerged at the corner, we ran downstairs to catch a ride.

One of the things that surprised me the most in Belem was the kindness with which the locals welcomed Greenpeace.  Yes, there were some concerns about security, we were warned not to walk around the streets wearing our Greenpeace shirts, to ignore any provocations, etc.—after all, Para is among those states with the highest rates of deforestation where people who defend the forests are killed (even a missionary in her seventies like Dorothy Stang). But nothing happened, on the contrary. I saw people swearing their love to Greenpeace, begging for a shirt or at least a little ribbon, wanting to get on board regardless of the destination, demanding that we create a volunteer group in the city. We won them over—and they won us over.

I also fell in love with the local cuisine. I don’t care much for fish, but in Belem I practically ate only fish. Filhote ao tucupi, pirarucu with a bean salad, tambaqui and rice with jambu, and everything came with a generous side of manioc flour. By the way, the number of things we can do with manioc is impressive—flour, sauce, appetizers, dough, ice cream. It’s a gift. I also ate many times on the boat, great food, prepared by Iracema (from Manaus) and by a Filipino cook whose name I just can’t remember now (oops, my bad…) I really wanted to get on board and come to Fortaleza, but I was left out this time. Anyway, I had to arrive earlier to contact the media for all of the activities that we are conducting here in Ceara—in addition to the “open boats,” there is a seminar on wind energy and a meeting with Fortaleza’s restaurant and supermarket owners to show them the negative impacts of shrimp farming in the environment.  Maybe next time, who knows?

It’s a shame that I was unable to see more of the World Social Forum. I’ve only been there twice, only attended talks by Greenpeace, and had little contact with the other organizations present there. But the atmosphere was cool and very diverse. Highlights included the indigenous tribes in attendance and the large shed built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution. I hope that WSF will soon return to the Amazon.

Still in Belem, I met people that I hadn’t seen for a long time, like Oona, João and Sérgio Amadeu, who helped me organize a good farewell party for Greenpeace in the city—a show by Fernando, from Teatro Mágico, in front of the ship. The artist went for it immediately and the show was very cool—approximately 300 people gathered in front of the Arctic Sunrise. The video of this improvised soirée is down below. We are already planning on a repeat, just wait!

There were so many good vibrations that soon after we had a party at the ship’s heliport and, from there, we went to a street carnival, at Praça do Carmo, and stayed there until four in the morning. Since the night was young, we still had time to catch a performance by Juca Culatra and Power Trio, at Açaí Biruta. Great music! And it got even better when Fernando, who had joined us, was recognized by the guitar player and called onto the stage. They played a song from Teatro (I really don’t know which one) and the crowd cheered, just as like when the group started playing Umbabarauma, by Jorge Ben, to wrap up the presentation. I recorded a little bit; it’s down below too.

The sun rose, our energies vanished and we returned to the hotel feeling as light as feathers. On the next day, the ship’s last in Belem, everybody was tired, but happy. At the end of the day, we disassembled everything and stored it on the ship which, at this exact moment, is sailing to Fortaleza—it should arrive here on the 6th.

Well, if my fading memory didn’t fail me, this is more or less what I saw and experienced in these last few days.   Now it’s on to Fortaleza. Tomorrow I’m going to meet with my friend Sávio, who has left the good life in Sao Paulo to live an even greater life here, in the land of Sasha Grey. Right on!

I think this post is long enough to allow me to skip a few days without any postings, isn’t it? Anyway, let’s see what we can do. See ya!

(There was not enough time to upload the photos and videos of Juca Culatra. I’ll do it tomorrow.)

Teatro Mágico and Greenpeace together in Belém (January/2009)

Read this post at the O Escriba blog: Magic moments in Belem

O Escriba

I don’t have a car for ten days. Repair shop. Recycle the old car or buy a new one? Stay without a car? And working at night, in a community that is not very safe? Isn’t it the moment to get rid of it? It’s something to think about.

I’m aware that a car, with 1.0 motor, like mine, that consumes fossil fuel, throws CO² to the Environment. And, in order to neutralize such emissions, I have two options: to plant a new tree to compensate the carbon dioxide or to walk and not throw it. There’s also the issue, very important, by the way, that the gasoline that you save when you leave your car at home, stops you from emitting 0,8 Kg of CO² per kilometre.

These days, carless, I’ve been walking on foot, by bus, by van, by ride.
It’s an experience that has done real good for me. I even thought about taking up walking again. I had forgotten how healthy, relaxing and stimulating it is, at the same time. Walking through the neighborhood I live and living up to the available services near home and not having to go so far to go shopping? It’s something to think about.

Image: from here