This is a collection of links to great green gift ideas to start off your holiday season now that it is December and by my books, fair time to start Christmas shopping. I’m not into the consumerism hoopla that is Christmas, but I’m not a grinch, either. The list here is the same as the page on this blog I just created called Green Gifts, found at the top menu bar. As a result, the lists will be for Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza or whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year. However, green gifts can be given all year round, though at the caution of consumption. So please, enjoy your holidays responsibly in as many ways as you can!

Minh Tan
Envirostats author
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10 great gifts for the eco child 
It’s a tough job to keep the kids happy and save the planet, but the following should do the trick.
(The Independent)

10 great gifts for the green woman
Racking your brains for something suitably stylish, yet planet-friendly?
(The Independent)

10 great gifts for the green man
A selection of presents to the keep the eco-warrior in your life at the top of his game.
(The Independent)

10 great organic christmas drinks
There’s no reason why you shouldn’t go local or organic with your festive tipples.
(The Independent)

Green Christmas getaways
Let someone else worry about the cooking while you take a break in the lap of eco-luxury.
(The Independent)

Alternative green Christmas activities
activities for nature-lovers where family fun is high on the agenda.
(The Independent)

10 green new year’s resolutions
From buying local to saving water, Laura Smith offers 10 ways to make 2008 an ecologically sound year.
(The Independent)

Environmental Defense Christmas List 
Annual roundup of earth-friendly ideas.
(Environmental Defense)

The donation story was carried by Reuters without giving perspective like I did with the story from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that I had commented on just days ago. The point is the $300 million seems large, and it is on some scales, of course, but not for research by these people who benefit from providing so much oil to the world. I don’t know if the two people are related. However, they’re on the same economic scale and I expected more out of the former. Still, I will give credit and acknowledgement for the donation because if you look at his younger fellow countryman, at least he’s giving a damn about the environment even if he might be harming it in other ways.

Minh Tan
Envirostats author

Custom options for the luxury jet include private bedrooms, a movie theatre and a gym with a jacuzzi.

“Prince Alwaleed is the first, and so far the only, customer of this aircraft,” Airbus spokesman David Velupillai said at the Dubai International Airshow.

“It’s like buying a new car or a new TV,” Velupillai told the Associated Press, “One wants something bigger and better.”

The prince (no capital P) is the 13th richest person in the world as of Nov 2007.

Airbus would not disclose the price for the customized jet, only saying that it would cost more than the list price of $320 million US. 

And you thought flying around in private jets were wasteful!

It’s like buying a new car or TV??? Enjoy it Alwatever your name is, cause someday, your offsprings will be living out of its remnants once your oil runs out or the Americans becomes less oil dependent, and that’ll be a lot sooner than you think… oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you don’t think if you’re making decisions like that! [Envirostats author]

- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Nov 12 2007

* The UAE is a small country without a huge population, sure, but they have the highest per capita ecological footprint of any nation as pointed out in Stat 0509. No year was given for “annual”, and it might be too optimistic to make the call for 2006 seeing how long this sometimes take. Another source will carry more detail on this issue, which, if I see, I will update this statistic.

As ever, these figures come with the usual health warnings. First, it is reported voluntarily, which makes it possible for different companies to measure and report their carbon dioxide emissions in different ways. Second, the data only includes carbon dioxide emissions up to the point of sale. None of the emissions resulting from consuming oil and gas, driving cars or using any of Wal-Mart’s or Asda’s thousands of product lines are included.

Eight of the 10 largest companies on the globe come from one of the oldest and historically most carbon-intensive sectors in business: oil and gas. Between them, the oil majors shown in our table account for 91% of the total emissions of CO2. No table was given and no source was identified as compiling the table so what is meant by “total emissions” is not known, but it would seem, from later on, that the oil and gas giants in the list account for 91% of emissions of the top 10 in the list, with the top 10 emitting the same as the United Kingdom. However, despite lack of original source, the media source was deemed to be trustworthy by me.

Three of the remaining top 10 companies come from the car-manufacturing sector. General Motors has the highest emissions at 12m tonnes per annum. DaimlerChrysler and Toyota both emit a modest 7m tonnes each. In relative terms DaimlerChrysler is slightly more efficient, emitting 35 tonnes of carbon dioxide per $1m of sales, compared with 36 for Toyota. Could this be a sign that others in the car-manufacturing sector are following Toyota’s well-documented lead in tackling climate change and sustainability?

This is a significant amount of carbon dioxide, and in the case of four of the top 10 companies — Exxon, Chevron, Toyota and ConocoPhilips — individual emissions are heading in the wrong direction, with overall greenhouse gas emissions increasing between 2005 and 2006. This is at a time when scientists, politicians and economists have reached consensus that we need a serious reduction in global carbon emissions, and we need it now.

For more, please see a very interesting source article. [Envirostats author]

- Dr Sally Uren, Director of the Forum for the Future’s business programme, and advisor to the Guardian on sustainability, via The Guardian, Nov 5 2007

It was not clear whether short ton or metric tonne was the unit of measure, but you get the idea of the damage done since it is just under a 10% difference.

This story seems to implicate Israel, but Israel is only a partial contributor. The source was a report by Zalul, an Israeli environmental organization who, like all ENGOs over there, probably struggle to be heard from Israel’s preoccupation with war and security issues. There was government rebuttal to the report, stating it was inaccurate, which I have posted so you can decide for yourself.

There have been a few other environmental statistics on Israel’s environmental performance on this blog. Just search “Israel” in the Search Bar at upper right to find them. It is a bit tragic few of its neighbours, especially the Islamic ones, keep much or share much of such environmental information. [Envirostats author]

Shafdan, or the Dan Region Association of Towns for Sewage and Environmental Issues, is the company responsible for the sewage of the greater Tel Aviv area’s 2.5 million people (26 municipalities) and is the biggest polluter in the eastern Mediterranean.

• Shafdan spokesman Amnon Liebermann said 96% of the area’s waste was recycled as water. However, the remaining 4 percent is discharged as sludge into the sea.
• Following a government decision, the Shafdan began preparations to burn the sludge. But the Environmental Protection Ministry now says it wants to look at agricultural solutions, such as turning the sludge into fertilizer.
• Sagit Rogenstein, Zalul’s national projects director, said burning the sludge would release harmful chemicals. “So you would be breathing it instead of swimming in it,” she said.
• Liebermann said the Shafdan was open to other options. It invested 50 million shekels ($12.5 million) to experiment with a solution called enviro, which mixes the sludge with calcium. The end product can be used for agriculture or building material.
• “We believe that in six months we will use enviro on 15 percent of the sludge,” Liebermann said.

The Environmental Protection Ministry said Zalul’s report was not accurate and beaches were much cleaner than they used to be. “Israel is in one of the better positions in this area,” a ministry spokesman said.

The most recent United Nations report on the Mediterranean ranked the greater Tel Aviv area as one of the 10 most polluting urban centers in the Mediterranean.

Minister Gideon Ezra recently told the Jerusalem Post his ministry lacked the manpower to enforce environmental regulations properly. “To make a real change I need a strong legal department in my office that can investigate and press charges against criminals who pollute,” he was quoted as saying.

Environmental consultant Daniel Levy said some progress has been made in recent years in reducing pollution, “I would give the government credit…But we have reached a plateau,” he said.

- State of the Sea Report for 2007 by Zalul, summarized via Reuters, Oct 16 2007 (download is off-site)