GINKs

An interesting article here from the Guardian about population and the environment... and GINKs (Green Inclinations, No Kids).

Thanks to Alan Parkinson.

Ecotourism in the Napo region of Ecuador...

A brief discussion about ecotourism this morning after we'd finished watching Nick Middleton, focussing on the Napo region of Ecuador. Although we didn't have a lot of time, there was some good thinking going on about the possible consequences of the decisions you were making when we played the Ecotourism Game... Have another go, and see how you get on:

Environmental Benefits of Tourism..

Quick reminder at the start of the lesson about the negative impacts of tourism on the environment.... We then went on to talk about the possible benefits of tourism for the environment - use of tourism revenue to: regenerate old and run-down sites; protect/conserve endangered species; develop new educational resources so that people learn about and come to appreciate the environment; implement cleaning/maintenance (eg beach cleaning on Copacabana Beach in Rio), etc.

We discussed the importance of proper planning and maangement of tourism, and the importance of all stakeholders/interest groups working together.

You then looked at conservation and management in the Peak District - that work for Thursday next week please. On the subject of conservation in the Peak District... I've not listed to all of them, but it might be worth you checking out the podcasts on the PDNP website of Geography students from Lady Manners School in Bakewell talking to representatives from the NPA about conserving the landscape whilst encouraging people to visit.

Witches' knickers?!

If you're a regular Geogtastic visitor, you will no doubt already know my feelings about plastic bags... I've written about them a number of times - and Yr8 did some fantastic work on plastic bags last year... But I've never, until this evening, heard them referred to as "witches' knickers"!! According to an excellent new article from the BBC though, that is what they are called in Ireland (where, by the way, they'll cost you 9p each in a supermarket).

Councillors in Brighton and Hove recently voted on a bag ban, asking shops to stop handing them out to customers, and the village of Modbury in Devon have been pleased with their bag ban trial and have just made the ban permanent.

Check out the BBC article to find out more - including 10 arguments FOR the plastic bag... And a great video of A Day in the Life of a Plastic Bag...

Here's a picture of the superb plastic bag collage that 8HCh (now 9NSq) produced last year...

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day - the aim is to get bloggers all around the world posting about the same issue - THE ENVIRONMENT.



We hear stories about the environment every day in the news... melting sea ice, carbon footprints, renewable energy, extreme weather events, resources running out, deforestation, animals becoming extinct, food miles, packaging, the list goes on... Many of the posts on Geogtastic have been about environmental issues and we're increasingly being told that we should be recycling, composting, walking to work/school, buying British food, switching off lights, etc.

So... over to you... Leave a comment about the environmental issues YOU'RE concerned about... ARE you concerned about the environment? Which issue worries you most? What do you to to help the environment? What else could you do??

Your Climate Your Life

Have a look at this excellent new website from the RGS - Your Climate Your Life. It looks at climate change, but focuses particularly on how it is affecting our lives, in terms of what we buy, where we live, what we eat, and so on, and there is a specific section for A level which is well worth checking out...