UN News June 17

YOUNG ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS TELL THEIR STORY AT UN CHILDREN’S CONFERENCE

A young Australian filmmaker and an Indian child combating water waste are among the 700 children from over 100 countries that are sharing their stories on how to create a better, healthier planet at a United Nations environment conference in Norway.

The biannual Tunza International Children’s Conference, organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in partnership with the Norwegian NGO Young Agenda 21, and with Bayer AG as one of the main sponsors, began today in Stavanger.

One of the largest global children’s conferences in the world, the weeklong gathering brings together children between the ages of 10 and 14 who are engaged in environmental issues, aiming to increase their awareness and equip them with skills to promote environmental projects in their communities.

“The 700 children attending the Tunza Conference are a powerful sign of the creativity, energy and dynamism that children are capable of to protect our planet,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“We can all learn from them, and we should all take heart in the fact that increasing numbers of children are becoming a force for positive change as we move towards greener lifestyles,” he added. In addition to presenting environmental projects, participants will go on field trips and learn about energy, climate change and fair trade, as well as plant trees in support of UNEP’s Seven Billion Tree Campaign. They will also learn about becoming an eco-journalist, photographing the environment and planning practical environmental projects.

This year, in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNEP will highlight the initiatives of dozens of young activists through “My Story” – a series of short video clips that will be posted at www.unep.org.

Among the stories are those of a 13 year old in Australia who is making a documentary called “A Kid’s Guide to Climate Change,” for which he interviewed a local indigenous leader, visited a wind farm and a wave generator, and built a model solar car.

Other examples include a 14 year old in India who is campaigning against water waste in his community, a 13 year old in Cameroon who is running clean-up campaigns and tree plantings, and a 13 year old in the United States who has helped organize a recycling drive and collected 100,000 pounds of e-waste.

This is the seventh edition of UNEP’s Tunza International Children’s Conference, which has encouraged hundreds of children in recent years to take action on environmental issues.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WILL HELP STOP DESERTIFICATION, UN AGENCY SAYS

Poor farmers and herders in countries bearing the brunt of desertification and land degradation can help stop or reverse those processes by engaging in sustainable agriculture, the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says.

Marking World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which is observed on 17 June, IFAD said in a statement that poor farmers and herders can form part of the solution with the assistance of international agencies.

“Ill-conceived agricultural practices, traditional or intensified, only make things worse as their poor populations have no choice but to adopt short-term survival methods, putting more pressure on increasingly scarce local resources,” IFAD said. “Climate change is increasing that pressure, and exacerbating droughts.”

This year’s theme for the Day is combating land degradation for sustainable agriculture.

The agency called for more efficient water use, improved cropping systems and better forest management, adding that hardier seeds will also help poor farmers withstand droughts and floods.

IFAD, which is tasked with reducing rural poverty, said more than two thirds of its projects are now located in ecologically fragile and marginal areas, where nearly half the world’s poor live.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a separate message marking the Day, said it was time to recognize that drylands and marginal lands are not waste lands and could be devoted to biofuel production or other uses.

“Rather, they are potential areas for agricultural intensification for both food and energy needs. Let us renew our commitment to reversing land degradation and desertification,” he said, adding that the UN Convention to Combat Desertification “could offer a long-term solution to producing more food for more people” and should be fully implemented.

At Least 10 Uses For An Old Garden Hose

Can you tell I need to work on our hoses? LOL I bought a brand new 50' length, but since I need to irrigate transplants up to 200' away from the faucet, I need a touch more than that brand new length.

I started using 1 of the lengths, and just like a re-treaded tired, it was peeling apart. Finally, 1 spot gave way with a wonderful mist billowing forth. That one's bit the big one.

But I HATE throwing anything away. I know I can't be the absolute pack rat my parents are, but if there are simple uses for something, I'll hang on to it.

I did a bit of research and Low! - there are uses for old hose! Not many, but enough to make it worth keeping some of it.

Repairing
First - consider FIXING your hose. While the one I have is beyond repair due to AGE, most aren't, including a length that needs new connectors.

A good article on repairs!
http://www.communityonline.com/local/garden/fixhose/fixhose.htm
Also from a gardening forum:
If you can tell who made it, cut both ends off, and send the ends back to the manufacturer (use google to see were to send it) and ask for a refund. Take a chance, the worse they can say is no! That is what the instructions said on my new hose if it breaks.

Uses
I honestly couldn't find other uses than what was on This Old House's site:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,1607708,00.html

1. Buffer bark. TOH landscape contractor Roger Cook slips hose scraps over wire he uses to stabilize young trees. No chafing.

2. Catch earwigs. They hide where it's cramped and dark during the day, so University of California master gardener Sue McDavid leaves 6-inch hose segments lying around her garden—makeshift traps she shakes free of earwigs later, drowning them in soapy water.

3. Gird the garage. Until junior drivers master backing in, screwing lengths of hose at car-bumper level to corners of the garage door frame beats repairing dented trim.

4. Simulate a soaker. Crimp the open end and drill a few holes.

5. Level off. Avid DIYer and host of TV's Garden Sense Walter Reeves converted his into a giant water level to establish an even grade for his patio. He attached 3-foot segments of clear vinyl tubing to each end and filled it with colored water to make the level easy to read. Genius.

6. Belt tools. Screwing opposite ends of a 2-foot halved segment to a wall, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva makes a sort of tool hanger that hugs the handles.

7. Sheathe blades. Tom Silva also slit a length to cover the teeth of his handsaw.

8. Grip buckets. A piece slipped over a wire handle provides a better grip.

9. Swing safely. Encase swing-set chains in hose segments to protect tiny fingers.

10. Extend a faucet. TOH contributor Jeanne Huber linked hoses to relocate an outdoor spigot to a convenient location. She buried the extension 4 inches deep.

Some more:
Decorate it to make it look like a snake & put around plants rabbits & birds eat.

Cut a 4' length, fasten 2 ends together to make circle and decorate as a wreath with gardening tools and such. Here is a link that might be useful: Hosepipe wreath

I also used a piece of old hose to keep my hose from crimping at the hookup (cut off about six inches, slit length-wise and slip around). Use one of those adjustable ring clamps to secure.

cut it up for dog toys

I’d seen some wicker work garden edging done and decided to make my own with the hose and a few stakes. It works and looks great. A friend of mine wove hers into a heave duty laundry basket.

Make a sander for curved surfaces like cove molding. Split open a 10-inch length of hose and insert it on the edge of a piece of sandpaper. Wrap it around the hose, cut to fit and then insert the other edge into the slit. Close the slit with a small piece of duct tape.

US Growing Season Theory

I just read a few things last night, and then watched the news today. If the futures for corn and wheat and probably soy haven't gone up yet - they will. Soon.

Corn growers have had a cold wet spring, causing them to replant much of their crop. That's expensive.

Rice growers weren't able to even plant due to the same conditions.

Now we have flooding. And not just small spot flooding from a week of steady rain. Big flooding. 300 year flooding. That kind of damage doesn't get fixed when the soil dries. All of its nutrients will have been leached from the soil, making it barely functional for the hardiest of weeds.

That means much of the bread basket is underwater and will be out of prime growing conditions for years. Not just this year.

On the news last night, there was an article about people stealing fuel from farmers. How often they can afford to have a 900 gallon tank drained remains to be seen. But this will be passed on to us either now in higher prices, or later in fewer farmers.

If you have acreage, grow your own food and hay it to sell. It's going to be needed for many years to come.