Greenhouse @ Worldfest 2012 - Water Saving Tips

Yesterday the Greenhouse team was present at the Worldfest event, organised by the Kooperativa Kummerg Gust (KKG), at Upper Barrakka Gardens. We were spreading awareness on Water Scarcity in Malta and promoting ways of reducing water consumption/saving water. 

 Stephanie & Marthese manning the stand and collecting water saving tips suggested by the passers-by. 

We got a lot of feedback from the wonderful people touring Worldfest yesterday, below are a number of their suggestions, which we stuck up on water droplets for all to see: 

·          Rinse the dishes in one sink instead of using running water

·          Use one-lever taps in order to prevent water drops from leaking out

·          After washing vegetables/fruit use the water to water your plants

·          Take a shower with a timer!

·          If possible build a well in the house and use rain water as drinking water – filter and boil it and drink it when it’s cool

·          Water is a life!

·          Repair water bowsers so they don’t waste water.

·          Don’t leave the tap running while brushing your teeth

·          Mix colours when washing clothes

·          Have shorter hair – it takes shorter time to wash!

·          Leave a container in the sink to collect water and reuse for flushing.

·          Do not over-shower in the Summer. Was yourself a couple of times and then cool off with a wet wash cloth

·          Lobby the government to inform the public about the reality about Malta’s water issues and not just the bills.

·          Do not shower! (regularly)

·          Keep a small basin in the shower to collect water and reuse

·          Repair dripping taps

·          Eat less meat and more vegetables – meat uses more “virtual water” to produce than fruit and vegetables.

The suggestions board filling up! 

·          Put buckets outside to collect the rain!

·          No need to flush everytime!

·          Wash your vehicles (car and boat) at a car wash that doesn’t use water.

·          Drink filtered rain water

·          Use the dishwasher – but only full loads!

·         Put a bottle of water in theflushing of your toilet to reduce the amount of water used

·          Do not use a hose pipe to wash your car – use buckets

·          Use biodegradable washing powders and use the water from the washing machine to water plants

·          Use water with awareness, be present in the moment while using the water. Drop by drop we can make it *save it*

·          Be vegetarian!

·          Wells are important – use them.

·          Buy succulents and indigenous plants that don’t need so much water

·          Ban private swimming pools in a country that lacks water.

W.H. Auden

Interesting discussions with like-minded people. 

Venturing in the World of Volunteering - Il-Hanut L-Arka

This is the first of a three part series of articles written by Lindsay Fenech following her experience in three different voluntary organisations. These articles serve to explain the details of her experience within The Fair Trade Shop (L-Arka), Funny Farm - Horse Rescue Association and The Island Sanctuary.

Il-Hanut L-Arka - Kooperativa Kummerc Gust.

Il-Hanut Arka, which is located in St. Paul’s Street, Valletta, is a shop run by Koperattiva Kummerc Gust, which its main goal is to promote fairness and equality between producers and consumers. The term ‘Equality’ defines a situation where everyone is treated the same and no preferences or exploitations are made. The producers of the items sold in the shop are offered better trading terms and conditions. These producers are found in various countries like Indonesia and India. These produce different kinds of commodities. In fact, in the shop one can find both food items and decorations.

The Fair Trade tries to reduce abuses made on these people by large firms, which their only concern is to make abnormal profits. The people who run the shop give a huge importance to human rights, which help poor people from being exploited. They keep track of different producers so that they won’t be taken advantage of. The Fair Trade works with various producers for example the EMA (Equitable Marketing Association) which is found in India. All the principles of a democratic society are valued in this shop.

Many volunteers help in the shop. The shop opens from 9.30 am to 1.00pm and from 4.30pm to 6.30 on the weekdays. However, on Saturday it only opens from 9.30 am till 1.00pm. The shop is always very busy especially in the mornings. Many people visit the shop because the goods sold are very original and unique. A lot of tourists visit the shop to buy gifts. Usually only one volunteer stays in the shop. Apart from selling things to the clients, the volunteer must also rearrange the items on the shelves and the shop window.

I personally suggest that volunteering with il-Hanut Arka is an amazing experience. I spent approximately 9 hours working with the shop and I really enjoyed it. I got to meet new people and the other volunteers were really friendly. Since I was working for a good cause, the experience was really satisfying. It also made feel really appreciated and help me widen my knowledge. I got to learn more about different cultures. I also realised that I should put more into consideration those who are ‘less fortunate’.

International Women's Day Film Festival: Screening of "Pushing the Elephant"

Greenhouse would like to invite you to the screening of Pushing the Elephant which is part of International Women's Day Film Festival. The screening will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Dr Marceline Naudi from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, FEMA.

Date: Monday, 7th March

Time: Noon

Location: Common Room, University of Malta.

STOPoverty in partnership with CAMYouths, Ceratonia Foundation, Greenhouse, KKG and SKOP is organising a Film Festival on the occassion of the 100th Anniversary of the International Womens' Day.

Film Synopsis:

In the late 1990s, Rose Mapendo lost her family and home to the violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo. She emerged advocating forgiveness and reconciliation. In a country where ethnic violence has created seemingly irreparable rifts among Tutsis, Hutus and other Congolese, this remarkable woman is a vital voice in her beleaguered nation’s search for peace. Now, Rose is confronted with teaching one her most recalcitrant students how to forgive—Nangabire, the daughter who remained behind.

When war came to Rose’s village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose managed to escape with nine of her ten children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. Over a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the US where they must face the past and build a new future.

We follow Rose and Nangabire over the course of a year as they make up for lost time. Rose struggles to find balance in her life as a mother of ten and a full-time advocate for refugees. She is the co-founder for Mapendo New Horizons. Her speaking engagements have her traveling around the world from the White House to the UNHCR in Geneva to peace talks in Goma, Congo.

Meanwhile Nangabire, now seventeen, must adapt to America and discover how she fits into the sprawling Mapendo family. As mother and daughter get to know one another, they must come to terms with a painful past, and define what it means to be a survivor, a woman, a refugee and an American.

Through this intimate family portrait unfolding against the wider drama of war, we will explore the long-term and often hidden effects of war on women and families, particularly those in traditional societies—financial despair, increased susceptibility to rape, and social ostracism.Pushing The Elephant will capture one of the most important stories of our age, a time when genocidal violence is challenged by the moral fortitude and grace of one woman’s mission for peace.

http://www.artsengine.net/pushing_the_elephant/

Know Your Food - Know Yourself

What's Up Next?

WorldFest10 - If food could Speak!

Greenhouse will be part of the WorldFest this year. An annual event organised by the Kooperativa Kummerc Gust (Malta Fair Trade Cooperative) with the aim of promoting Fair Trade in Malta. This year's event will see th closure of the Kieku L-ikell Jitkellem Campaign where the focus will be put on Food and where our food comes from.

As part of this Day Festival Greenhouse is planning to set up an Exhibition on the water content to produce different food. The concept is known as virtual water and its a critical concept in determining the real water scarcity in our communities. So come and learn as ours will be only one part of the Festival where everyone will be pulling the same rope to teach the public a little more about our Food.

Remember

You Are What You Eat

Looking forward to see you all there :)

More information regarding the event:

On Sunday, May 16 from 10.00am to 10.00pm, the Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta will be hosting hundreds of Fair Traded food items and crafts from Malta and small communities in Latin America, Asia and Africa, and a series of events celebrating Food Sovereignity at this year’s ninth edition of WorldFest. This Fair Trade Festival is organized by the volunteers of Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust in collaboration with other organisations.

This year’s edition will include a traditional Ethiopian coffee ritual, a public forum in Maltese on food sovereignity, a stand by two Mexican workers and labour rights activists who have been invited to Malta to share their experiences, different activities for children and teenagers, a performance of forum theatre, and a concert featuring a young international female trio, traditional dabke dance and the up-and-coming Maltese band Plato’s Dream Machine. Entrance to all events will be free.

WorldFest will bring to an end KKĠ’s campaign on food sovereignty, Kieku l-Ikel Jitkellem, supported by the EU-funded project Enlarging Fair, which was launched on World Food Day, 2009, in cooperation with a host of other local and foreign organisations.

Other organisations, NGOs and cooperatives that will also have stands are Koperattiva Rurali Manikata, the Arabic Culture Information Society, Moviment Graffitti, The Gaia Foundation, Food First Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta, Greenhouse Malta, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I Shop Fair Project, Home Economists in Action, and Ta’ Żeppi. These will provide local produce and information about different issues related to food. For the first time, Koperattiva Rurali Manikata will be selling carob syrup made with local carobs and Fair Trade sugar.

During the day there will be activities for children such as face painting. Between 11.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon and between 5.00 and 6.00 p.m. there will be interactive activities for teens. Two Mexican women, one working in a factory that produces mobile phones and the other working with CEREAL, a Mexican NGO dealing with human rights, will be present throughout the day to raise awareness about the harsh conditions that workers have to face in the supply chain of IT production.

A public forum on the global impact of individual choices, “Għażliet Personali: Impatt Globali,” will be held between 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m. and chaired by journalist James Debono. The speakers include Ms Nathalie Grima from Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust, University lecturers Dr Suzanne Piscopo and Dr Karen Mugliett, AD spokesperson for sustainable development Mr Carmel Cacopardo, and Mr Martin Galea De Giovanni from Friends of the Earth. The forum will explore issues related to food sovereignty and enhance public awareness. The public will be encouraged to participate in the discussion.

After the forum, Maltese, Palestinian, Asian and Eritrean food will be on sale, followed by the evening’s performances which start at 8.00 p.m. For the first time, WorldFest will feature a theatrical forum in which the audience will be asked to propose solutions to a given situation. The performers at this year’s concert are an international trio made up of Arianna, Anne and Anna; dabke, the most popular folk dance in Palestine, and a live performance by Plato’s Dream Machine.

Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust is a not-for-profit cooperative which has been promoting Fair Trade since 1996. WorldFest is an annual event that creates public awareness about Fair Trade and development issues. The public is invited to attend this festival celebrating Fair Trade and Food in a multicultural atmosphere. More information about WorldFest, Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust and Kieku l-Ikel Jitkellem Campaign is available at www.l-arka.org and www.l-ikel.org.

15 organisations and l-Ikel network against GM produce

The following is a Press Statement which Greenhouse endorsed as part of a joint letter campaign addressed to the Commissioner John Dalli over his approval of the GM potato Amflora to enter EU markets.

Health Commissioner Dalli, under the new Barroso Commission has recently (March 2nd, 2010) authorised the cultivation of a genetically modified (GM) crop in the EU for the first time since 1998. The European Commission has given the green light for the cultivation of GM potato Amflora, developed by the German chemical firm BASF, for processing into industrial starch. Only a day after this controversial decision (March 3rd, 2010), the European Commission also authorised the use of three GM maize products for food and feed, along with the growth of the Amflora GM potato for industrial use and feed.

The danger of these GMO's is that their altered genes may be incorporated in the genetic makeup of non-GMOs by mixing and there is no way of being sure that this does not happen. This mixing has been happening around the world and in fact about 6,000 rice producers have filed claims against Bayer since the US Department of Agriculture announced, back in August 2006, that trace amounts of genetically modified rice were found in the US long-grain rice stocks. Once GMOs start being cultivated there is no way of going back – it is very risky with astronomical adverse consequences.

One of these consequences is the possibility of the antibiotic resistant gene present in the Amflora potatoes entering our food chain. When we’re battling some of the most resistant pathogenic strains around, the last thing required is the threat of an antibiotic resistant gene to complicate matters. We implore you ask this question to yourself; ' Is the enhanced starch production that the Amflora potato is designed to produce worth risking the health and wellbeing of all the EU citizens?'

Evidently the majority of Europeans have asked themselves this same question because 70% of them are against the cultivation of these organisms, and many countries, including Malta, already stated that they are also against the cultivation of GMOs.

We only ask the European Commission to uphold democracy and to safeguard the interests of all European citizens and revoke the decision taken. The well-being of the people you represent should take precedence over the interest of chemical corporations.

An email action can be pursued by everyone who disagrees with the introduction GMO produce in Malta via the Friend of the Earth Malta Cyber Action link http://www.foemalta.org/home/index.php/no-to-gmos

This press release has been endorsed by the following networks and organisations:

Alternattiva Demokratika Zghazagh - Green Youth, Ager Foundation, Centre for Environmental Education and Research, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Food First Malta, Friends of the Earth, Moviment Graffiti, Greenhouse, Koperattiva Rurali Manikata, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement, Nature Trust Malta, Permaculture Research Foundation, Slow Food Malta, Youth Alive Foundation, Zminijietna – Voice of the Left and Kieku L-ikel Jitkellem Network.

Campaign start on World Food Day - 'Kieku L-ikel Jitkellem'

On the occasion of World Food Day, Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust, the only Fair Trade organisation in Malta, is launching a campain with the theme of the right to food under the slogan “Kieku l-ikel Jitkellem”. This campaign is part of a larger project called Enlarging Fair in which KKĠ is participating, together with four other new EU member states. The project is coordinated by an Italian Fair Trade organisation and is co-financed by the EU.

KKĠ will not be working alone on this theme. It sought to involve other organisations, entities and individuals who are interested in participating in the campaign as a network. Among the organisations, NGOs or cooperatives which have joined the network there are Food First Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta, Greenhouse, Inizjamed, Moviment Graffitti, Slow Food Malta, Third World Group, Youth Alive Foundation and Żminijietna.

.........

The main aim of the “Kieku l-ikel Jitkellem” campaign is to raise awareness about world hunger and related environmental, social and economic issues and how we can make a difference to poor producers through our everyday choices and actions especially as consumers. The campaign will address various themes linked to the problem of world hunger such as:

§ The right and access to food;

§ The globalisation of the food market;

§ The industrial food chain;

§ The raw materials market (e.g. coffee and cocoa beans);

§ Volatile food prices, food subsidies and food dumping;

§ The situation of rural women in developing countries;

§ Food and intercultural education;

§ Genetically modified organisms, respect for biodiversity and free access to seeds;

§ The use of pesticides and their harmful effects;

§ The production of crops for food rather than for alternative energy.

.......

The major targets of the “Kieku l-ikel Jitkellem” campaign will be consumers and students in schools. More people need to recognise that the problems of poverty and hunger in the world today are not due to lack of food but due to lack of access to food.

Therefore in the coming months, KKĠ will be distributing educational material aimed at raising awareness on the themes linked to the “Kieku l-ikel Jitkellem” campaign. This material includes a set of ten postcards, each one containing information and messages in Maltese about Fair Trade, social justice, protection of the environment and local sustainability. KKĠ also has a documentary on DVD in English which was filmed in India and Sri Lanka. The short film features interviews with Vandana Shiva, world-renowned environmental leader and thinker as well as with growers of rice and herbs. This material will be distributed in secondary schools and during public activities organised by KKĠ or by other organisations taking part in the campaign. KKĠ will also be publishing a Consumers’ Guide so that consumers will be better informed about the food products they buy and how they can become more responsible consumers. The production of the postcards was sponsored by APS Bank.

........

The campaign will reach its peak in May 2010 with Worldfest, the annual Fair Trade Festival which KKĠ has been organising for the past eight years.

More information about Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust, L-Arka World Shop and the “Kieku l-ikel Jitkellem” campagn is available on the following websites:

www.l-arka.org u www.l-ikel.org

Angele Deguara and Nathalie Grima

Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust

For the Full Version of the Press Release: http://www.l-ikel.org/pr-launch-english.doc

Il-Verzioni kollha tal-Kunferenza Stampa: http://www.l-ikel.org/pr-launch-malti.doc

Reference on the Time of Malta: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091017/local/consumers-urged-to-go-for-organic