Hippyshopper

Donate a tonne to Global Cool

A tonne of Cool from Global Cool is £20. Of that, £10 goes to high quality alternative energy and energy reduction projects which result in eliminating at least one tonne of emissions. £4 gets invested in development of solar, wave, wind and biomass-generated power. £3 goes to Global Cool Productions Ltd. £2 actually gets donated to other climate change groups, and £1 is for administrative overhead. So £16 is going straight to work everywhere and the remaining £4 is for Global Cool's work. Also, if you sign a Gift Aid declaration, your donation is increased by 28%. Cool! [GT]

Global Cool

More Planet saving

"The Office" Signed iPod Nano

If you didn't get an iPod Nano over Christmas and haven't quite rationalized buying one at the post-hols sales, perhaps the "The Office" Signed iPod Nano will be what finally rolls you over.  (The bad news is, it's signed by the cast of the Yank version of "The Office".  The good news is, it's for charity, so it's a tax-deductible iPod Nano.)  Scrawled by Leslie David Barker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey and Phyllis Smith, proceeds from the auction benefit the Children's Defense Fund, Cure Autism Now and the emergency relief efforts in Darfur (specifically Friends of the World Food Program, Save the Children and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF).  Auction goes until 15 March.  [GT]

"The Office" Signed iPod Nano [via iLounge]

More Planet saving

Trees For Life - the charity that's restoring the Caledonian forest

Trees For Life is a Scottish charity that has pledged to preserve - and restore - the Caledonian forest in the Highlands.

At one time, the forest covered 1.5 million hectares; now only one per cent of that area remains. Muriel Gray, Trees For Life patron, is pictured planting the charity's half millionth tree.

The charity has joined the Billion Trees Campaign and has pledged to plant 100,000 trees in 2007. Go here to lend a hand.

Related stories: Tree art | Spuds save trees | Wood without the trees

Climate Change Experiment results

A quarter of a million people took part in the BBC's Climate Change Experiment, alongside expert scientists. Each person downloaded a computer model that used spare processing power to predict future climate.

Scientists at Oxford University received and compiled the data to create the most comprehensive prediction yet for the Earth’s climate up to 2080. The results show that we should expect a 4°C rise in temperature by 2080 according to the most likely results of the experiment.

The results confirmed that heatwaves are on the rise and, by 2080, summer temperatures of 40°C will be common. Winters will also be warmer and wetter and storms will be more frequent and more severe. Sobering news after this week's severe weather.

Read all about it at the BBC Climate Change Experiment site and watch Sir David Attenborough discuss the findings on BBC 1, Sunday 21 Jan, at 8pm (24 Jan in Scotland) in the programme Climate Change - Britain Under Threat.

Related stories: Donate your spare (computer) cycles | Reviewed: Dave Reay's Climate Change book

Long-eared Jerboa: endangered

EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct & Globally Endangered) is campaigning to save this little guy; the long-eared Jerboa.

I know it looks like a mouse with the biggest ears you've ever seen, but the Jerboa is a small jumping rodent with a tufted tail and elongated hind legs.

Now I care about all endangered species - cute or not - but this Jerboa has won my heart. Quick! Book me a place on a protest!

Related stories: Protection for weirdest species | Buy a bamboo pullover, save a panda | Open a smile account and WWF benefits

'OK to go to health spas, but choose carefully' say reports

I have to admit I'm a sucker for a bit of pampering, and what better way to recover from the stress and excess of the festive season than luxuriating in one of the UK's growing number of health spas? Around now, when I'm just beginning to mourn those summertime riverside ambles and long walks in Holland Park, the warmth and calm of the spa certainly seems like the best way to beat the January blues...

And it seems I'm far from alone. No longer the preserve of the super-rich, many more Britons are heading for these havens of calm, and according to the International Spa Assocition, the sector doubled in size between 1999 and 2003. The days of freezing our proverbials off in the local baths are now well behind us.

But what are all those pumps and heaters that fuel the gallons of water in our beloved jaccuzzis and steam rooms doing to the environment, you might wonder? (If you're not too busy drifting into a higher plane of consciousness as you enjoy a hot stone massage, that is.) The answer, in many cases is clearly 'not a lot of good', but as firm believers in living green lives we can actually enjoy, we're happy to alert you to a recent article in the Guardian that lists a few of the new breed of eco-spas that rely on natural resources for a guilt-free, ecologically sound spa experience. And...relax!

 

Greenpeace looks back on 2006 in pictures

2006 just a blur to you now? Take a trip down memory lane with Greenpeace.

The site is displaying striking images from 2006, some of which will probably stick with you for a while.

This one shows Greenpeace activists occupying the Didcot coal-fired power station - the second most polluting station in Britain.

Related: Greenpeace sez: Apple sucks, Nokia rules

For Pete's sake lay off the peat

The Scottish Wildlife Trust has added its voice to those of Alan Titchmarsh and Monty Don in urging gardeners to stop using peat.

Although peat only covers 3% of the earth, it is an extremely importantant wildlife habitat - and consequently part of conservation. Added to that, peat bogs actually lock-in carbon from the atmosphere, that would otherwise contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Unfortunately, amateur gardeners are not heeding the message and there has been no change in their consumption of peat as a growing medium.

To hear on Monty Don's views on climate change and how it affects (and indeed should affect) gardening, check out this month's Gardeners' World magazine.

[Via Independent]

2006 roundup #14: Support elephants, not breasts

Project Elephant, which is a charity designed to prevent elephants from extinction, is good.  The Bombay Bedspread Company gave a cut of their fair-trade Indian bedspreads to Project Elephant (and we're pleased to note that the mention of PE here at Hippyshopper helped generate a bit of that donation).  When you know exactly what's going on with the money, and trust the participants, you can hope to shop in a way that generates bonus dividends for charity.  GreaterGood, which lets you click to save rainforest, provide food, etc, is another fine example of socially-charged shopping.  But what about the pink-ribbon goods?  The Assertive Cancer Patient feels exploited, because often manufacturers stick a ribbon or some pink on a piece of gear and provide almost nothing in actual cancer support.  My personal observation as a disabled woman is, on top of that, that breast cancer is not exclusively a woman's disease.  All this pink is condescending as hell!  Plus, why is it cancer of the breast is the one getting all the attention?  We get strokes, too; shouldn't the problems with our brains be more important than the problems with parts of our body that we can survive without?  Or is there a suggestion that the breasts are so blasted important that they must be saved at all costs?  Toss the brain!  Save the boobies!  [GT]

Original stories: Bombay Bedspread Company: beautiful, ethical, affordable | Donate to Project Elephant via The Bombay Bedspread Company | Fair Trade elephant quilts | GreaterGood gives greater gifts | Yay or Nay: Boycott Breast Cancer month

Save the Rain campaign

Apparently a third of our household drinking water is flushed down the loo each day.

Save the Rain is raising awareness of Rainwater Harvesting so that we can reduce demand on the UK's mains water. 

If you install a Rainwater Harvesting system, you can save up to 50% of your mains water  usage by collecting rain from the roof and recycling it for use in flushing toilets - and you'll save money on your water bills, too. Which sounds like a win-win kind of a plan to me.

More water saving.

amp

2006 roundup #35: Edward Burtynsky and WorldChanging

Edward Burtynsky is, in my relatively educated opinion, the finest landscape photographer working today.  He photographs some of man's harshest works - shipbreakings, mine tailings, oil rigs - and gives them the beauty, weight and complexity of Degas ballerinas.  But don't just take my word for it; in 2004 Burtynsky won the TED Prize, which entitles the winner to make a wish.  His: “encourage a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living.”  The result was a Burtynsky teamup with eco-team WorldChanging, and this year they came out with WorldChanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century.  In stores now.  [GT]

Original story: WorldChanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century

Planting trees may do more harm than good

The Guardian reports today on a study by ecologists that claims planting trees in order to combat climate change is a pointless exercise at best and a counter-productive action at worst.

The study, co-authored by Ken Caldeira of the global ecology department at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Stanford, California and Govindasamy Bala, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, also in California, says that trees reduce greenhouse gasses by taking in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis but they also trap heat in the forest canopies. Apart from at the equator, they reckon that the heat trapped outweighs the heat released (through the reduction of carbon dioxide). The further away from the equator you are, the worse the balance in terms of heat-trapping versus carbon-dioxide absorption.

This adds some more weight to the arguments of those people, and I count myself amongst them, who say that it's all very well having these nice carbon-offsetting schemes (and it's better than nothing) but we should concentrate on addressing the issues at source, rather than paying someone else to take the polluting effects of our behaviour off our conscience.

Planting trees to save planet is pointless, say ecologists [via The Guardian]

Related stories: Do carbon-offset schemes work? | Carbonfund.org offers free carbon offset for links | Cemtrex: newest player in the carbon credits market 

Photo credit: Weird looking tree from germanium's Flickr photostream used under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence

New Year's Resolutions from Friends of the Earth

It's almost here; the time to make well-intentioned New Year's resolutions for self-improvement, then break them in time for cocktails on January 3rd.

However, 2007 could be different. Friends of the Earth has compiled a list of eco-friendly resolutions, listing the benefits to you with the corresponding benefit to the environment.

For example, ditching the car and walking or cycling. Good for you - get fit, good for the environment - less polution.

This list is either a fabulous tool for extra motivation, or double-the-guilt for when you fail. You choose.

Related stories:  Chocs for New Year | A Year of Living Generously

Independent Appeal: Charity Auction 2006

Fancy a day in the life of the Independent? It's for sale. So's a ringside seat for London Fashion Week, a full-on rethink for your not-so-blooming garden - or a rethink for your broken heart with agony aunt Virginia Ironsides. Winning bids tend to go from £500 to £2500 (though Bono's hat or the Damien Hirst plates could well push out of the norm). Proceeds to a variety of good causes. [GT]

Independent Appeal: Charity Auction 2006

Related stories: Pomed eco-chic online auction fundraiser | Third Annual Chevy Chase Earth Day Auction | Jackie Chan autographs for PETA

So, you think you're green? Wanna see how much?

Global Action Plan has developed a questionnaire - called the GreenScore - to show you how green you really are.

The GreenScore applies to households, so you need to take the behaviour of your family (or live-in-whatevers) into account, too.

Along with your score, it gives you lots of tips and ideas for improvement. Do you dare take the test?

[Via Ecoworrier]

More planet saving.

London Remade throws down the green gauntlet

London Remade has thrown down the green gauntlet and challenged us all to have a sustainable Christmas.

From buying a potted Christmas tree, to buying presents from recycled materials from an ethical trader such as Recycled Products, to using low-energy fairy lights and switching them off whenever you aren't in the room, there are loads of easy ideas to celebrate with less waste.

When you unwap your presents, do it carefully and re-use the paper next year. I know that sounds like something your grandad would've done, but considering that around 83km of wrapping paper will end up in the bin by Boxing Day, it might be time to concede that he had a point...

Related stories: Dreaming of a green Christmas | Grow your own Christmas tree | Recycled circuit board decs

BeGreen today for a cleaner tomorrow

Unlike single-purpose sites (not that I don't love them) like Treeflight, BeGreen does an omni-analysis of your overall carbon consumption (from the car you drive to the brand of light bulbs you use) and offers you opportunities to offset that consumption based on what your budget allows. Picture this: you eat a whole cream-filled, glazed doughnut and then spend a whole hour jogging to burn it off. Carbon offsets are something like that. They offer a way for you to “take away” the emissions you put out there. [GT]

BeGreen [via PopGadget]

Related stories: Make it a Treeflight | Carbonfund.org offers free carbon offset for links | GreaterGood gives greater gifts

Ethical sales and boycotts outstrip beer and fags sales

Give yourselves a big pat on the back because, according to the Co-operative Bank and The Future Foundation's annual Ethical Consumerism Report published today, the value of ethical consumerism in the UK was worth more than sales of cigarettes and alcohol.

Using stats published by the Office for National Statistics, the report calculated that the ethical consumer market in 2005 was worth a whopping £29.3 billion in the UK, compared with the retail market for beer and fags of £28 billion.  Even more impressively, ethical consumerism was worth 11 per cent more than in 2004, when overall household spending only rose by 1.4 per cent.

But before we go and get all smug, the Co-op's impressively job-titled Executive of Business Management Craig Shannon said we shouldn't get complacent as "total ethical spending is spread over a wide range of products and services, and in very few markets has it become the market norm. Overall, spend on ethical foods still only accounts for 5% of the typical shopping basket."

Infuriatingly for disciples of the unfettered free market, the Co-op's man advocated more intervention to help eco-friendly and ethical stuff gain the market lead, citing the example of A-rated fridges being helped by initiatives like EU labelling, removing energy-wasting products from sale and well-targeted subsidies.  Using horrible management-ese he said, "The efforts of far-sighted, highly motivated consumers need to be leveraged and supported with business innovation and government intervention."

Photo credit: 'Free Range Pickled Eggs' taken from Haversack's Flickr photostream under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence.

Local Works needs you for 23 Nov

Ballot Day is 23 November and Local Works needs you. If you support the Sustainable Communities Bill it's not too late to volunteer with Local Works to lobby your MP on the local sustainability agenda. Politics will be turned upside down as communities are given the power to reverse Ghost Town Britain and decide how the places they govern are developed or conserved, rather than being dictated to by government. Visit LocalWorks.org to read the entire text of the bill. [GT]

Volunteer with Local Works

Related stories: Don't fly-tip in Mendip: put in the bin | Environment minister Ben Bradshaw suggests direct action against Tesco | Sustainable Style Foundation

Paper consumption doubled in Canada during 'paperless office' revolution

Between 1983 and 2003 - the advent of the supposed 'paperless office' - paper consumption in Canada has doubled, going to nearly 100 kilos of paper per person annually - 20,000 sheets. There's also more use of phone and mobile - and courier services, in addition to email. Phew! Okay Canada, you may be more connected, but 2,867,442 tonnes of paper a year? I haven't even printed a draft of my novel. Grow up. [GT]

Paperless office is pure fiction: report [Our Lives in Digital Times [231 kb PDF] report]

Related stories: The Hidden Life of Paper and Its Impact on the Environment | The UK needs 3 planets to support it | ViaStone: rock, (inkjet) paper

Supermarkets Selling Green Credentials

An interesting story about how supermarkets are really hammering home their green credentials appeared on The Guardian's website this weekend.

Posh shoppers' favourite Waitrose already likes to go on about how ethical they are, and they've been joined in recent months by Asda (looking to save the equivalent energy consumption of 62 households in each of their stores), Tesco (investing £100 million of their record £2.2 billion profits in an 'environment fund') and Sainsbury's (looking to use compostable packaging for 500 of its 10,000 own-brand items).

As the article points out, much as these initiatives are welcome, these are but small steps on a very long journey.  The Guardian quotes Sandra Bell, the Friends of the Earth spokesperson, when she says, "If [the supermarkets] were really serious about sustainability they would have to address the huge amount of CO2 emissions generated by flying food in from all over the world, including food they could source much closer to home."

Let's be realistic, though.  Supermarkets aren't going to do anything out of the goodness of their hearts, so if you must shop at them - bearing in mind The Guardian tells us a greengrocer is hugely more energy efficient than a supermarket - it's important to keep up the idea of eating local and seasonal produce.  (For help with the latter, Eat The Seasons is an invaluable resource.)

Stores bid to win ethical shoppers

Reduce pesticides to reduce suicides, says WHO

Another good reason to outlaw common access to pesticides is that pesticides are the suicide method of choice in Asia. Readily available and potent, pesticides account for over 25% of global suicides, and act slowly enough that the person has ample time to (as is nearly always the case, again according to WHO) repent his decision but not be able to save himself. More than 95 per cent are desperate when they learn they are going to die," said Jose Bertolote, WHO co-ordinator of mental and brain disorders. "They did not want to die, and that's the tragedy." Most are simply looking for attention, and ironically get it too late. [GT]

Restrict pesticides to reduce suicides: WHO

Related stories: Plonk: kills bugs dead | Buy a Bamboo pullover, save a Panda | Damian Lewis + Samaritans = better mental health (hopefully)

Spread the net: ten bucks, one net, save lives

Canadian celebrities (which is a tad like being world-famous in Poland, yes) Belinda Stronach and Rick Mercer have joined forces for a very straightforward charitable enterprise: for every ten Canadian dollars donated (about £5), Spread The Net will buy one bed net for someone in Africa, which will likely prevent that person from being bitten by a malaria-carrying mosquito. The net-drive was announced at the Montreal Millennium Promise Conference, an international summit on poverty which also starred Bill Clinton. (That guy is everywhere!) [GT]

Spread The Net [via Bourque Newswatch]

Related stories: Ethical celebrity sighting: Clinton gives out Solio chargers | Ethical celebrity sighting: The Clinton Global Initiative | Inconvenient Truth 2

Save the earth: don't go to work

The RAC Foundation is specifically appealing to the business community to stay home. Telecommute, that is. RAC estimates that fully half of all UK workers work in information technology of some sort, which can generally be done from any location (and trust me, I have). There's no reason, they argue, to have those people clogging up the roads needlessly. If all IT workers stayed home one day a week, it would cut emissions by 1%, and eliminate 1.7 million car trips. RAC also asks companies to teleconference and videoconference, have internal blogs and wikis, and generally make it easier for people to get information without having to go over and ask Johnson for it.

Speaking as someone who has telecommuted 95% of the time, the rare occasions where I am demanded to be on site are generally still goofy. Any job that can be done with a computer can be done in a bathrobe on a beach. Go home! [GT]

RAC Foundation [via Tech Digest]

Related stories: Eye Catcher Videophone | Evesham Carbon Free PC | Donate your spare computer (cycles) to climate change

Ethical celebrity sighting: Guardian Interviews Al Gore

A shout-out to Calvin Jones for tipping off Treehugger about a video interview the Guardian did with Al Gore a couple of years ago. Normally that would be old news, but fortunately for us the planet changes slowly enough that the lessons of 2004 can still resonate today (unlike the mobile phones). It's 45 minutes of the man who missed the presidency to become a movie star. Thanks Calvin! [GT]

The Climate Crisis [via Calvin Jones, Treehugger]

Related stories: Ethical celebrity sighting: Clinton gives out Solio chargers | An Inconvenient Truth nears theatres | Sir Richard Branson pledges £1.6bn for global warming

California imposes legal greenhouse gas limits

The Governator may not be giving up his Hummers, but we can forgive him because he just made California the first state to impose limits on all greenhouse gas emissions. Since California is one of the most populous states and tends to set the trends, this is a terrific sign. Also notable: While environmentalists have praised the bill, some business leaders have complained. Which, with all due respect for business, tends to be a good mix when laws are getting done. [GT]

Schwarzenegger signs landmark global warming bill

Related stories: Monday's unethical celeb: Schwarzenegger categorically not giving up his Hummers | Seattle hires goats | Yay or Nay: a black Kate Moss for the Africa issue

Brother, can you spare some Greendimes?

Junk mail, particularly in North America, is a shocking blight.  Consuming vast amounts of paper and being transported at a huge discount (so costing enormous amounts of transport gasoline and oil as well), most of it is simply discarded on receipt.  Would you pay ten cents a day to avoid that?  Now you can.  Greendimes not only unsubscribes you from junk mail lists, they also plant a tree for every month that you're subscribed to their service.  Cost is only $3 USD a month (and available only in America) - and by reducing the amount of mail you throw out with your identity plastered all over it, you also reduce your chances of having your identity stolen.  [GT]

Greendimes [via Joel Makower]

Related stories: 50 Ways to Save Your Water | Is recycling utter rubbish? | Throwplace takes what you don't want

'Walk for Home' - all the way to Coronation Street

We could all use more exercise.  Maybe a nice little stroll through Manchester?  It'll only cost you £10 - and you might win a backstage tour of Coronation Street itself.  Your tenner (plus anything else you're good enough to fundraise as part of your participation - they ask you pull up a minimum of £70) goes to support Walk for Home, an event organized by Shelter, a group that aims to get all of the UK's 170,000 homeless into more agreeable circumstances.  You can do a 5km walk or a 12km walk.  If you convince 4 other people to go in with you, your place is free.  Dress warmly: the event is on Sunday 29 October.  [GT]

Walk for Home

Related stories: Monday's ethical celeb: Damian Lewis + Samaritans = better mental health (hopefully) | Bike to Egypt, prevent meningitis

Click to save Swedish old growth forest

By now you're familiar with the concept: click to do good.  In this case, click to save 2 square decimeters of Swedish old growth forest.  So far 564119,55 SEK  has been collected.  If you're feeling especially flush, you can buy one ancient pine tree permanently for 200 SEK (around £15 (which is a pretty good deal) or just make an outright donation to help save the Taiga.  If you donate 1,000 SEK (£65 or so) or more, you get your name inscribed at the forest entrance.  Cheap at twice the price!  [GT]

A Click For The Forest

Related stories: The Animal Rescue Site | GreaterGood gives greater gifts

Get free Divine chocolate AND a £5 coupon

Chocolate is good.  Fair trade chocolate is better.  Free fair trade chocolate (with a £5 coupon for EthicalSuperstore.com) may well be the best chocolate ever.  Just trip over to ZeroPointZero, the new social networking and activism site.  There, you can send a 4.2 gram mouthful of Divine chocolate to a friend (or yourself, if you're sneaky) and both of you get the Ethicalsuperstore.com voucher.  Who said being fair had to be hard?    [GT]

ZeroPointZero [via EcoStreet]

Related stories: NHR Organic Aromatherapy Chocolate | If there's chocolate in your clothing clap your hands (Divine chocolate, that is) | Advent calendars: Fairtrade-style

Pants to Poverty: buy pants, end poverty

Say Pants to Poverty! Fair trade, organic cotton, these pants (available in the 'hot' and 'boxer' varieties) are intended to be an alternative to the sweatshop scandal that lies behind most cotton. £9 each with P + P starting at £2. Part of the Make Poverty History campaign. [GT]

Pants to Poverty

Related stories: Hot pants | Sexy sexy hemp panties

Yay or Nay: Ashton Kutcher donates $50k to Habitat for Humanity if he gets 50,000 friends

As part of promotion for his new movie, The Guardian, Ashton Kutcher has promised he'll donate $1 USD to Habitat for Humanity for every MySpace user that becomes a friend of his, up to 50,000 friends.  It's hardly a pledge drive; Kutcher clearly has the celebrity necessary to get 50,000 people (or that many fake accounts) to sign up.  And $50,000 isn't a whole lot of money to somebody in his position.  On the other hand, Habitat for Humanity is an international organization, supremely neutral, and this move draws positive attention to them (as well as positive attention to the value of a $1 donation if there are enough of them).  Is Kutcher doing enough to justify his showboating?  Post your comments: yay or nay.    [GT]

BE A FRIEND [of Ashton Kutcher] NOW AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

[Don't forget to vote at Trashionista, Bridalwave, Corrie Blog, Kiss and Makeup, The Bag Lady, Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny too!]

Ethical celebrity sighting: The Clinton Global Initiative

It's backed by Bill Clinton - and George Bush Sr (not to mention First Lady Laura Bush). It promotes hybrid cars and Fair Trade coffee. It's the Clinton Global Initiative, and you (and by you I mean you) are called on to publicly commit to one of 52 world-saving activities - or write your own. [GT]

Clinton Global Initiative

Related stories: Ethical celeb: Damian Lewis + Samaritans = better mental health (hopefully) | Throwplace takes what you don't want | More happy choccy for charity

Bike to Egypt, prevent meningitis

If you'e always wanted to meet the Dalai Lama (no, seriously!) the Meningitis Trust has the cure for your Tibetan Blues. Register for £199 and they'll help you fundraise the rest. If hiking ten days through the frozen mountains is a bit more than you can manage, you can spend five days cycling the length of the Nile, or just three days cycling from London to Paris. Or can we show you something in a trekking the Great Wall? You do go outside, don't you? Why be pedestrian about it when you can experience the stuff that dreams are made of, and help fight killer meningitis at the same time? [GT]

Meningitis Trust Overseas Trek & Cycle

Related stories: Monday's ethical celeb: Damian Lewis + Samaritans = better mental health (hopefully) | Throwplace takes what you don't want | The charitable Pricerunner

9/11 in New York

Hippyshopper is about how we all fit into the world. What happened in America on September 11/2001 proved that whatever our nationality or beliefs, that this world is a smaller globe than we had ever before imagined.

This is not a political forum; it is a publication to promote how we can all do a better job of living here. As a reminder of how what we do affects everyone else, here is the following memorial:

"Agnes Eck: in memory of her son Mark that still talks to her every day, and she's still in my heart." - Mark Eck, Sept 11, 2006

Monday's ethical celeb: Jackie Chan autographs for PETA

During rabies outbreaks in China, massive culls of strays are all too common. As part of PETA's Humane Rabies Control in China, Jackie Chan has donated a handsomely autographed card for auction on eBay which runs until September 9. All proceeds donated to help ensure dogs in China have up-to-date rabies shots, that those dogs which must be euthanised experience humane methods, to educate the public, and ensure those who are bitten get immediate post-exposure vaccines. [GT]

Jackie Chan Personal Handmade & Signed Greeting Card

Related stories: Eat chocolate, prevent animal cruelty

ViaStone: rock, (inkjet) paper