Ecopaparazzi

Look Out! We take action and pictures to heal the Earth.

ECO-ACTIVE CELEBS

NOTICE
Please take from the ecopaparazzi site what you want while the information is still available from this network. I'm retiring this site, and it will soon be inactive. Our sister site Ursa Freedom Project (UFP) will remain active. UFP is an active network for people who want to help keep the world's bears from going extinct. Six of the eight bear species are currently on the IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species. You can help them by getting involved in Ursa Freedom Project.
Jeanette

Ecopaparazzi members are every day people taking direct action to solve eco problems in their community. YOU are the world's #1 green celebrities.

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Maren

Maren Dallman loves the biodiversity found on Earth and is most concerned about losing this very feature that is unique to our planet. Maren is an advocate for cruelty-free living and ending all forms of animal torture for human sport, entertainment, health and economic gain. She devotes much of her time to helping organizations rescue bears from abusive situations and improving the lives of bears through campaigns to end bear bile farming, trophy hunting, den hunting and bear baiting.

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Chris

Chris Genovali is the director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a science-based conservation non-profit that works to protect wilderness and wildlife throughout coastal British Columbia. Chris loves the diversity of life and views nature as his religion. Like his eco hero Edward Abbey, Chris believes "wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit."

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Ashley

Ashley Wetzel is a biology student studying large cats, and is fully engaged in wild cat conservation. Her goal is to live in Botswana studying large cats when she achieves her qualified degrees. Ashley plans student events to raise awareness and funds for wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations, and keeps an eco blogspot current. She admires people who "step up and put their neck on the line for the creatures of this beautiful planet."

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Rick

Because Rick loves the beauty of forests, rivers, oceans and animals, he takes an active role in reading and learning different ways to help protect them. He uses eco-friendly products, gets active in eco campaigns and conservation efforts, and helps teach others about ways to get involved to make the world a better place. Rick also has a soft spot in his heart for impoverished children and carves toys for them that he donates to help bring a little joy into their lives.

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Diana

Diana Oleskevich and her bicycle are inseparable. The green cyclist uses her bicycle to lessen her eco footprint, raise money for charity and get exercise. She says, "I ride my bike for fun and commuting as much as I can for conservation, to stop pollution, raise awareness, build community and experience joy." Diana stands in radical amazement of all that is.

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Siew Te Wong

Wong is a foremost expert on sun bears, a species listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species. The sun bear, though nearing extinction, is the world's least known bear species. We can change that and raise awareness about the need to save this species. Read more about Wong and his work with sun bears on his ecopaparazzi profile page.

Eco-Active Celebrity
Ecopaparazzi member Guy

GuyThaLizard is most at home in nature, when snuggled into his kayak, hand-held GPS at the ready, paddling Canada's Okanagan Valley and Kootenay areas. His passion is organizing paddling trips with fellow water enthusiasts and sharing their experiences online at his three social networks. Guy's favorite quote is, "If you are not living on the edge, you are taing up too much space."

Read our archives of previously featured Eco Active Celebs.

Visit our sister site for green bloggers and book authors.

WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT

This column focuses on what people are doing right to foster Earth Healing through awareness and direct action. Got a story? Send it.

More people are joining the slow food movement and buying from small-scale farmers, which, in turn, is creating more farmers markets and creating a better quality of life for humans and live stock and contributing to Earth healing.

People are catching on to living lightly through their consumer purchases and understanding the value of less glamour, more gratitude.

Chefs like Emeril Lasgasse are sharing healthy recipes and eco-friendly cooking tips. And people like us are watching, listening and learning, and sharing the news with friends.

We're demanding bans on smoking in public places and holding governments and corporations accountable for corporate-produced toxins. But according to a Swedish study, we need to put serious focus on household flooring. The study reveals that infants or toddlers who live in bedrooms with vinyl or PVC floors are twice as likely to have autism than those with wood or linoleum flooring.

We're educating ourselves and learning which appliances cut our electric bill and energy consumption and ditching those that don't contribute to Earth healing.

ECO WARRIOR ACTION

The plight of tigers took over John Varty's life, turning him from globetrotting filmmaker, khaki-clad-playboy and one of Africa’s most glamorous “wild men” and game hunters (including large cats) to an impoverished conservationist on a desperate personal mission to save tigers from extinction.

His ideas are getting more traction in South Africa and he is expanding his borders. He is persuading farmers on the marginal sheep farms around Tiger Canyons to turn over the damaged pasture to natural game and tigers. He is also starting to open up some satellite reserves and partnering with other private African collections that have tigers and persuading them to join his cause.

His film includes teaching his two young sons some of the skills and techniques that he learned as a boy at the knee of African trackers and poachers. But instead of teaching his sons how to kill a leopard or lion, as he himself did as a boy, Varty is instilling in his own sons a different passion for nature and the skills to help them take care of it in the future.

Gene Hashmi, Greenpeace India Campaigner

Gene Hashmi engages in civil disobedience to challenge environmental crime, a form of direct action that Gene says was sparked in his home country of India.

"Sometimes, this action involves putting yourself between the whaling ship and the whale. Sometimes, it involves chaining yourself to a bulldozer in a rainforest. Sometimes, it involves hanging banners from bridges," he says.

And sometimes, Gene says, "it means "we’re yanked up, carted off in a police van to the lock-up, reprimanded, served tea and let go all before lunch hour."

But other times the jail sentence is longer.

Following a climate change protest action, Gene and his crew of climate activists were handcuffed and hauled to the police station.

"If trying to save the world from climate change relegated us to the ranks of hard criminals, we all stood guilty as charged. But that’s not what we were charged with. We were booked under the same laws that are used to keep extremist groups like the Al Qaeda in check.

We were after all “eco-terrorists,” which really means just another form of “terrorism” in the language of a failing democracy.

In the quest to protect national security, the state now applies a medieval criminal justice system to completely legitimate acts of creative, nonviolent dissent. We were packed in a cell with 32 other inmates. Individuals charged with rape, murder or worse.

Two years later, on the day I turned 36, the jail gates opened. The Inspector General of Police, held out his hand as we parted and said, 'I don’t want you to leave with any hard feelings. We’re both just doing our jobs. Your job is to keep the world safe from environmental pollution. Mine is to keep it safe from social pollution.'

So that is how eco-warriors are now referred in the parlance of our times; “social pollution.”

My daughter Johanna was four years old when I was jailed for being a social polluter. She’s six years old now. In these past two years, instead of building fewer coal-fired power plants, our government has been building more of these damned abominations.

What is truly unfair is that the people building these coal-fired power plants won’t be around when the full, ungloved fist of climate chaos finally smashes our nose bones into our brain. They won’t be running from refugee camp to refugee camp as environmental wars break out. They won’t be escaping hunger and droughts and famine and disease.

But Johanna will.

It is for her, and for every wondrous living thing from the blue whale to the hummingbird, that I work to reclaim the space and language of dissent that we have silently given away in this failed democracy of ours."

Eco Blogs

In Economic Crisis, Conservation Funding More Important Than Ever

tiger
Protecting the natural world is critical for human survival — but fundamental change does not come cheap.

Swimming with Sharks: The Pacific Voyagers Project

tuna and dolphins feeding on baitball near Costa Rica's Cocos Island
CI-Samoa's Schannel van Dijken continues his journey across the Pacific with a stop at Cocos Island.

Language Diversity is Highest in Biodiversity Hotspots

man in traditional dress in Papua New Guinea
The world's most species-rich places are also home to 70% of languages.

Shark Poachers Chased Down by Indonesian Communities + Police

fishermen with illegally caught sharks in Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Poachers entered Raja Ampat in search of protected species like sharks. This is how we fought back.
 

Blog Posts

A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME (Puerto Princesa Underground River)

Posted by Salvie on September 23, 2011 at 11:30pm

Trees

Posted by robin bird on October 9, 2010 at 8:33pm

Appalachia Rising

Posted by Jeanette McDermott on August 12, 2010 at 12:15pm

End Animal Circus Acts

Posted by Jeanette McDermott on August 12, 2010 at 12:01pm

Ecotech Institute Classes Begin Today

Posted by Crystal Thomas on July 7, 2010 at 2:02pm — 1 Comment

Shut Down Conklin Dairy Farms

Posted by Jeanette McDermott on May 26, 2010 at 8:55am — 1 Comment

National Bike to Work Day

Posted by Jeanette McDermott on May 25, 2010 at 10:48am

Mountain Justice Summer Camp

Posted by Jeanette McDermott on May 25, 2010 at 7:38am

THAILAND'S TERRIBLE TIGER TEMPLE.......

Posted by Jan Beeton on May 20, 2010 at 1:00pm

170 Millions Acres Saved in Canada

Posted by Jeanette McDermott on May 20, 2010 at 12:56pm

We're a never-kill-wolf province, public says

Posted by Chris Genovali on March 20, 2010 at 11:15pm

POLITICS ~ ECONOMY ~ ENVIRONMENT

We’re all familiar with Big Ag’s bad reputation of picking on small-scale and organic farmers. Now Monsanto and its cronies are beating up an even more innocuous set of victims: beautiful, defenseless monarch butterflies.

new study from the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University fingers Monsanto’s genetically modified corn and soybean crops as the culprit behind monarch butterflies’ declining populations. Read more on Grist

A bird is engulfed in toxic oil sludge at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on June 3, 2010. Photo Charlie Riedel, AP photographer.

by Rhonda Winter, Eco Worldly, posted June 11, 2010
It seems that the U.S. will be scraping the putrid remnants of the Bush/Cheney administration off our shoes for many decades; not just in the form our tattered economy, torture and illegal wars, but also the horrific oil spill in the gulf. Former head of Halliburton, Dick Cheney, is responsible for pushing hard to de-regulate our country’s oil industry, systematically dismantling safety rules, oversight and inspections, replacing regulatory officials with oil industry lobbyists and executives. This has led directly to the catastrophic situation now unfolding in the gulf coast. Read more.

SPECIES LOSS ~ Urgent Action

(CNN) -- The world's eco-systems are at risk of "rapid degradation and collapse" according to a new United Nations report.

The third Global Biodiversity Outlook published by the Convention on Biological Diversity warns that unless "swift, radical and creative action" is taken "massive further loss is increasingly likely."

Human beings are causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue more than half (50-60%) of all species of life on Earth will be extinct in less than 100 years (many in just 10-20 years), as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Is this a world you want your grandchildren to live in? Learn more and take action to reduce your impact on species loss..

ECO INSPIRATION

In Portland, Oregon, the Sprockettes clad in pink and black are a common feature at bike events. Photo by Gabriel Amadeus via flickr CC license.

When Portland lost its first-place, "friendly bike city" status to suddenly hip Minneapolis, Portland bike-friendly Mayor Sam Adams called it a "clarion call." Luckily, Portland had just passed a contentious but far-reaching new Bike Plan 2030, with a few ways to possibly re-take its lead. But the ideas aren't Portland-specific - here's a road map any city in the world can follow to buck up its bike mojo and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Read more.

CONSUME CONSCIOUSLY

We can all make a difference in the quality of life for ourselves, other people and the animals we share the planet with. Choose wisely when deciding how to spend your hard-earned dollars. Your consumer choices and actions matter for human and environmental health.


Photos

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Latest Activity

GuyThaLizard posted photos
Mar 20
GuyThaLizard posted videos
Mar 20
Salvie posted a video

Earth Hour 2011 Official video

At 8.30pm on Saturday 26 March 2011, Earth Hour will celebrate a worldwide commitment to ongoing change for the betterment of the one thing that unites us all – the planet.
Mar 20
Salvie posted blog posts
Mar 20
Crystal Thomas posted a blog post

Eco-Story’s Led Lights Help Timberland Meet Sustainability Goals

About one year ago, Eco-story LED Lighting Solutions was selected by The Timberland Company (NYSE: TBL) to help its stores make an eco-friendly shift in lighting. Timberland, a leading outdoor footwear and apparel company recognized for its commitment to the environment, partnered with Eco-story to create special LED track lights that would advance the…See More
Mar 20
Melanie Burns replied to Melanie Burns's discussion Zoo animals in desperate need of your help!
"http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/sadness-for-animals-at-a-zoo-in-dubai/ ;   Sorry, forgot to add the petition! Here it is!"
Mar 16, 2011
Melanie Burns posted a discussion

Zoo animals in desperate need of your help!

Dubai Zoo, based in Jumeirah have been reported many times of neglecting and not feeding their animals on a regular basis. Their enclosures aren't big enough either and animals have been reported to doing the repetitive strain syndrome. As you can see from this pic, they are lonely and bored. Unfortunately, the laws protecting captive animals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are pitifully weak and essentially non-existent. Please please, sign my petition for this desperate cruelty to end.…See More
Mar 16, 2011
Melanie Burns updated their profile
Mar 16, 2011
Christopher Stewart updated their profile
Mar 13, 2011
Ian Kydd'Miller updated their profile photo
Feb 14, 2011
Ian Kydd'Miller updated their profile
Feb 14, 2011

Donate

 
 
 

Eco photos show the beauty and destruction of Mother Earth. Pictures sound the alarm; wake us up; and motivate us toward activism.

Members

ECO KUDOS

Kudos to artist and writer Rod MacIver for producing a gorgeous edition of one of the most inspirational books I've ever read and animated films I've ever seen -- The Man Who Planted Trees. Rod's journal includes the story by Jean Giono and interviews with the film animator Frederic Back. Buy it at Heron Dance.

Global greed is out. Local sharing is in. The Wall Street system failed us; this book is a great guide as we build the alternatives. Kudos to David Korten, one of our most brilliant economic thinkers.

Thanks to Denis Slieker and Jos van Assendelft for writing Our Balancing Act: the real value of ecosystems. The book emphasizes the need to put a monetary value on the services provided by forests in order to provide a business case against unsustainable conversion. Buy the book at www.theforestenterprise.com

The Indianapolis Prize is the largest individual monetary award for animal species conservation in the world and is given as an unrestricted gift to the chosen honoree by the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. The award is an energetic and spectacular celebration of conservation victories and puts heroes, who live in danger of both wild beasts and poachers, on the pedestal that we usually reserve for sports and entertainment stars.

TAKE ACTION!

Subscribe to YES! magazine for informative and uplifting world state of affairs.

A series of studies find that activism brings pleasant emotions, greater life satisfaction, and more experiences of freedom, competence, and connection to others. Posted from http://www.yesmagazine.org/

Reduce your footprint.

Take back the comment boards on green blogs and websites. They've been domineered by obstructionist opponents of science and climate action long enough. So what can we do? Comment back. Read more.

Learn why biodiversity is important. Ask a kid. Even a 3-year old understands the importance of bees for pollination.

Put Earth first in 2010. De-clutter your mind and reprogram it for green. Explore avenues for green activism. Beware of the Green Scare and loss of civil liberties. There are tips on how to do this at Planet Green.

Become part of the Backyard Revolution and landscape for wildlife.

Replace your lawn with native shrubs, flowers and trees. Plant a butterfly garden, and put in a pond. You'll benefit from the beauty and tranquility of your yard, and wildlife will benefit from the food and water sources that you provide.

Need some guidance? Read the book Bringing Nature Home.

Half of all animal species will be extinct in our lifetime, unless emissions peak by 2020. Cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing your energy consumption, learning more about climate change and getting active in community efforts to heal the Earth. Become part of the solution.

Feed the hungry.
Save indigenous people.
Stand up for workers' rights.

Be kind to animals.
Stop factory farms.
Save 100 animals every year.

End deforestation for grazing.
Save an acre of trees.
End grazing on public lands.

Tell USDA 'Wildlife Services'
to stop killing wildlife for
corporate ranchers' profits.

Stop wars for resources.
Help end corporate rule.
Live your conscience.

Save our oceans.
Stop the #1 polluter of water.
Support a sustainable planet.

Think outside yourself.
Live compassionately.
Stop the violence.

Forum

Zoo animals in desperate need of your help! 1 Reply

Dubai Zoo, based in Jumeirah have been reported many times of neglecting and not feeding their animals on a regular basis. Their enclosures aren't big enough either and animals have been reported…Continue

Started by Melanie Burns. Last reply by Melanie Burns Mar 16, 2011.

UN calls for shift to veganism 1 Reply

In order to maintain sustainability as we move toward a global population of 9.1 billion people by 2050, the …Continue

Tags: hunger, UN, agriculture, veganism, vegan

Started by Jeanette McDermott. Last reply by Maren Dallmann Jun 16, 2010.

Help for the Honeybees and us

As most of you know, the chemical burden in the food chain and the environment as a whole is quite huge, I am doing my part to help not just us humans but also the honeybees.This started several…Continue

Started by Wil Spencer Jan 17, 2010.

Hope for Sun Bears

A new facility, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), is being built in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, in response to threats that are driving the sun bear species to extinction: human…Continue

Tags: Malaysia, sunbears, Conservation, Borneo, Bornean

Started by Jeanette McDermott Jan 5, 2010.

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the…Continue

Tags: philosophy, society, sustainability, industrialization, globalization

Started by sushil yadav Dec 4, 2009.

Following the 'Midway Journey' The Great Pacific Garbage Patch 3 Replies

If anyone is interested in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Pacific Gyre) I encourage you to follow a group of Media Artists currently on Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean. They are documenting the…Continue

Tags: Gyre, Chris, Jordan, The, Patch

Started by Sherry Robinson. Last reply by Sherry Robinson Dec 4, 2009.

Abuse at Korean Zoo for entertainment 2 Replies

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/panic-bear-cciPlease be assured that we (moonbears.org) are dealing with this immediately. Completely…Continue

Tags: korea, zoo, abuse, animal

Started by Kelly Frances. Last reply by Ashley Wetzel Nov 11, 2009.

Monkey School in Korea, investigated by KARA

The follwing article was produced by KARA, an animal welfare group in Korea. This TERRIBLE facility was also reported on in an article by Ms Carly Nugent on behalf of moonbears.org for Groove…Continue

Tags: korea, abuse, animal

Started by Kelly Frances Sep 27, 2009.

LEARN!

Bees pollinate the cereals we eat, forests and wetlands purify the water we drink, and trees trap pollutants from the air we breathe. The Wealth of Nature shows us the wide range of Mother Nature's amazing services.

Download the Implementation Strategy for 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Within these eco portals are key people and organizations that are working to heal Mother Earth.

Organic Consumers Association

Smithsonian Zoogoer archives

Download the Educator's Guide to Biodiversity and engage in dialogue about teaching youth about our wondrous Mother Earth.

The IUCN Red List is a key conservation tool. Download the pdf to learn more.

"The longer we wait, the more expensive it will be to prevent future extinctions," says Dr Jane Smart, Head of IUCN's Species Programme. "We now know what species are threatened, what the threats are and where we have no more excuses to watch from the sidelines." Learn more about bears on the IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species.

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