Hello Everyone! I havent posted in a while as Ive been out recovering from a pretty major surgery a few weeks ago. All is well now and Im starting to get my energy back and feel like myself again. My doctor is encouraging me to walk as my strength permits me (and the pain medication I might add it keeps me pretty drowsy) as this will help in my recovery.
Well it turns out one of my favorite websites is trying to get everybody to walk. Lime has launched Live The Change. The goal is to have people walk 24900 miles which is the equivalent of one lap around the world! If they reach this goal they will have: Reduced 20772 lbs of CO2 emissions from car use burned 2490000 calories and walked 498000 minutes.
Besides the health benefits to walking they want to let people know about the environmental benefits as well: Reducing just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year. The cost of operating a car for one year is approximately $5170. The cost of operating a bicycle for a year is only $120. Walking is free!
As of this posting 2420 miles have been walked! They encourage you to post your photos videos blogs and any comments on Lime about your daily

My sister is in the process of trying to help organise the first carbon neutral triathlon (A swim followed by a cycle ride and then a run for those non-sporty people of you out there) with her club Crystal Palace. Anyone who has ever taken part in a triathlon or has been to watch one will have seen how many plastic water bottles the triathletes get through the amount of promotional merchandise that is produced and will know like most big events that transportation and energy consumption is high.
Hopefully this will be a first for this type of event and as the triathlon is the fastest growing sport in the U.K could be a great example of how to plan other eco friendly sporting events and races.
If you would like to know more about their plans or could help with sponsorship of the event please get in touch.
Kate
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When my friend Anna-Lisa told me about her adventurous plans to carry out a fundraising bike ride with her fiance over the bank holiday period I was so impressed by her energy and committment I wanted to share it with you.
Anyone who gives up a potentially lazy long weekend to raise awareness about the devastating effect were all having on our marine life has to be given a voice on GGG.
I asked Anna-Lisa who works for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust to tell us about her trip the issues that are affecting the British coastline today and what we can all do about it
1. Hi Anna-Lisa first of all can you tell us what the Wildlife Trusts Operation Seahorse Campaign is?
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust launched the Operation Seahorse campaign in conjunction with the Wildlife Trusts national campaign Save our Seas. Both campaigns aim to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our seas and its diverse marine life. The UKs seas are extraordinarily rich in wildlife home to more than 44000 animal and plant species around 50% of the UKs biodiversity.

However our seas are poorly protected compared to terrestrial habitats and are under increasing pressure as offshore activities proliferate and climate change alters marine ecosystems. Every level of marine life is under threat from the charismatic bottlenose dolphin harbour porpoise and basking shark to the critically endangered leatherback turtle. Even cod our most popular fish is now commercially extinct in the North Sea.
Through the Operation Seahorse and the Save our Seas campaigns the Wildlife Trust movement (and other members of Wildlife & Countryside Link) are petitioning and lobbying the UK government to ensure that the Marine Bill delivers robust nature conservation laws including designating sites as Highly Protected Marine Reserves (sanctuaries for marine life from where NO natural resources can be extracted i.e. gravel) At the moment there is only one UK site Lundy which has been designated as a Highly Protected Marine Reserve and is fully protected from all fishing dredging and other damaging use. However at just 3.3km2 this sanctuary only represents less than 0.001% of the UKs seas.

2. What are the issues around the Marine Bill?
Through previous campaigning conducted by the Wildlife Trusts (and other members of Wildlife & Countryside Link) the UK Government issued a White Paper on the Marine Bill on March 15th 2007. The White Paper revealed for the first time the Governments detailed plans for reforming the way that our seas are managed. The Wildlife Trust felt that overall the White Paper was very encouraging as it includes many important measures that they have been pushing for but there is still a long way to go before we have strong effective new laws in place.
Although a White Paper was issued the Marine Bill has suffered severe delays & Gordon Brown recently (July 07) failed to include it in his list of priority Bills for 2007-8. We need to lobby the government to ensure that the Marine Bill comes to Parliament during the 2007-8 session if we dont show the government NOW how important it is to designate sites as Highly Protected Marine Reserves then they will fail to commit or deliver the Marine Act in the time frame that is needed to protect our dying seas.
3. What motivated you to do the bike ride?
As an employee of landlocked Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust I was already fully aware about the Wildlife Trusts Save our Seas campaign and had signed the Marine Reserves Petition. However whilst looking on the Wildlife Trusts main website I read about Hampshire and the IOW Wildlife Trusts Operation Seahorse campaign and decided to support the cause by purchasing one of their Operation Seahorse T-shirts.
Whilst communicating with the Operation Seahorse Team I discovered that they needed urgent funding in order to undertake underwater biological surveying thus as a keen cyclist and wildlife enthusiast who wanted to visit the Isle of Wight I thought that a sponsored bike ride would be a great way of raising funds and also a great way to promote the campaign.

In order to raise funds I will be undertaking an 80 mile bike ride with my fiancée who lives on the Sussex coast and is also a keen cyclist and wildlife enthusiast. During the three day cycle tour we will be wearing Wildlife Trust Operation Seahorse and Save our Seas T-Shirts promoting the campaign and encouraging people to sign the Marine Reserves Petition.
4. What will be your route and when does it begin and end?
The plan is that on the morning of Saturday 23rd August we will cycle from Rustington in West Sussex (where my fiancée lives) to Portsmouth in Hampshire (this journey is approximately 34 miles). At Portsmouth we will catch the Wightlink Ferry to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Saturday evening we will set up camp and then on Sunday we will be doing the Ryde and Bembridge 15 miles coastal circular route on the island. On Monday we will catch the ferry back to Portsmouth and cycle back to Rustington. Phew! It might not sound much to some of the more experienced cyclists however it will be rather exhausting for us.
5. How can GGG readers support you on your bike ride?
If after reading this article any GGG readers are enthused to help protect our UK seas then I would be really grateful if they could support my bike ride by sponsoring me for a few pound my fundraising page is:

http://www.justgiving.com/operation_seahorse

In addition to sponsoring me I urge GGG readers to take positive action towards protecting the UKs seas by:
Signing the Wildlife Trusts Marine Reserves Petition calling for the Bill to introduce areas that are fully protected from all damaging activities.
Email friends and family asking them to sign up too or print out the paper version of the petition to collect further signatures.
Join the Wildlife Trusts Save our Seas team a free online campaign group.
Write to your local MP and explain to them why youre supporting the campaign and what you want the Marine Bill to achieve for wildlife. Here are some hints and tips on lobbying MPs.
6. What will the sponsorship funds be used for?
All money raised through the sponsored bike ride will provide the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust with essential funds that will help them to be able to undertake urgent survey work. The survey work will provide them with facts about what needs protecting under the sea and where. Unfortunately biological surveying underwater is much more difficult and expensive than surveying on land.
For

Those of you who read Vickys post titled cycling to save our seas on August 20th may have wondered how my sponsored bike ride went and how the campaign is going. Well the three day bike ride and tour of Sussex Hampshire and the Isle of Wight was a great success the sun was shining and we saw some beautiful British coastline and countryside.

The aim of the sponsored bike ride was to help raise some funds and create public awareness for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts Operation Seahorse campaign. We raised over

Have you ever really wanted to do something to change the world but felt totally insignificant? Ever thought that just one person couldnt make a difference?

If you havent popped over to Green Guys Global lately you will have missed the news that our very own Green Guy Gareth is about to set off to the Arctic.
Thats right whilst the rest of us (well me) are moaning and complaining about a bit of frost and ice here in the UK this February Gareth will be surviving in temperatures which could dip as low as -50c.

Green Girls Global friend Katie Keegan founder of the fantastic One Green Earth presented Pete Postlethwaite with an award from the people. Heres what Katie says and asks for your support for Pete.
Over to you Katie.
On Sunday 15th March at the premiere of the Age of Stupid Pete Postlethwaite pledged to return his OBE to the queen if the government fail take serious action on climate change regarding Kingsnorth and at the G20 summit in Copenhagen. He also pledged to go to the queen as a citizen and ask her to dissolve the government and he said he would never ever vote labour again.

So I made a Peoples OBE for Pete P which stands for Outstanding Bravery for the Earth. Made out of 98% recycled materials!
We are asking any other OBE MBE GBEGBE KBE DBE and CBE holders to join Pete in his pledge.
Support Pete
You can show your support by joining the virtual event on Facebook Awarding Pete Postlethwaite

Update Aug 09 The HOTmilk campaign has now finished but Knickers4Africa still need your help. If you have underwear that you would like to donate please contact Emma at emma@knickers4africa.org.uk. Visit www.knickers4africa.org.uk to find out more.
The other day my mum told me about a scheme which helps protect women and girls from sexual abuse by donating underwear.
This scheme was set up by Zimbabwe ex-pat Morag Roy who on a return trip there was told by a friend that sexual abuse and rape of young girls was rife. A local priest explained however that having underwear could help prevent this. He said that underwear is expensive and owning these items gives a woman prestige and shows they have money. Women with underwear are considered to be more independent and assertive so men are less likely to assault them.
Morag and her colleague Corrie Peterson had previously set up a course for sexual assault victims and when she told Corrie what shed learned they decided to ask women to donate their bras.

Ive looked this scheme up online and found various references to it (some of which are listed at the bottom of this article). One article says that bras are needed primarily and preferably in dark colours for modesty reasons but another says that knickers and other underwear is wanted too.
Ive also seen some disparaging comments online saying it is patronising and unhygienic to expect these women to take hand-me-down underwear. I personally feel strongly about the value of second-hand. Surely it is a positive thing if the underwear is clean and if the women are not offended and most importantly if this plays a role in helping them. Rather than throw away your perfectly good undies recycle them and potentially keep a girl or woman safe from abuse.
Maternity lingerie company HOTmilk and their regular freight company Express Logistics are participating in the scheme and have taken thousands of pairs of underwear to Zimbabwe. If youd like to join HOTmilk and help too then you can see a list of outlets in various countries who will pass on your underwear donation to the next

If I could say one thing to the worlds Governments about climate change I would repeat the words of Elvis:

10:10 is a clever and ambitious yet simple project which is aiming to get all sectors of the UK together whether thats businesses individuals organisations educational institutions to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.

Now when I first heard about 10:10 I wondered why this project was any different to other carbon cutting ideas. Politicians were already discussing this and had agreed to some extent that emissions needed to be cut with targets in mind. However as the 10:10 folks say: