Fwd: Amazing Pictures, Pollution in China

This is sad, thought you might be interested in the pollution issue. Don't look if you are having a bad day though.
Meliss

Sent to you by Melissa via Google Reader:

Amazing Pictures, Pollution in China

via ChinaHush by Key on 10/21/09

[QQ] October 14, 2009, the 30^th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”

Lu Guang (卢广), freelancer photographer, started as an amateur photographer in 1980. He was a factory worker, later started his own photo studio and advertising agency. August of 1993 he returned to post-graduate studies at the Central Arts and Design Academy in Beijing (now is the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University). During graduate school, he studied, traveled all over the country and carved out a career, became the “dark horse” of the photographer circle in Beijing. Skilled at social documentary photography, his insightful, creative and artistic work often focused on “social phenomena and people living at the bottom of society”, attracted the attentions of the national photography circle and the media. Many of his award winning works focused on social issues like, “gold rush in the west”, “drug girl”, “small coal pit”, “HIV village”, “the Grand Canal”, “development of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway” and so on.

1. “At the junction of Ningxia province and Inner Mongolia province, I saw a tall chimney puffing out golden smoke covering the blue sky, large tracts of the grassland have become industrial waste dumps; unbearable foul smell made people want to cough; Surging industrial sewage flowed into the Yellow River…”

- Lu Guang

2. Chemical waste from Jiangsu Taixing Chemical Industrial District (江苏泰兴化工园区) dumped on top of the Yangtze River bank. May 15, 2009

3. Fan Jai Zhuang in Anyang City, Henan province, (河南安阳市范家庄) there is only one wall separating this village from the steelmaking furnaces. The villagers live in this heavily polluted environment where the village is under the iron rain every day. March 24, 2008

4. Industrial sewage of Zhejiang Xiaoshan Industrial District (浙江萧山化工园区) eventually flowed into Qiantang River. April 24, 2009

5. Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River. March 25, 2008

6. Guiyu, Guangdong province, (广东省贵屿镇) rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated, the villager is washing in a seriously polluted pond. November 25, 2005

7. Shizuishan Industrial district in Ningxia province (宁夏石嘴山湖滨工业园区), the tall chimneys spitted out smoke and dust. Residents took preventive measure for the falling dust from the sky when going outside. April 22, 2006

8. In the Yellow Sea coastline, countless sewage pipes buried in the beach and even extending into the deep sea. April 28, 2008

9. In Ma’anshan, Anhui province (安徽马鞍山), along the Yangtze River there are many small-scaled Iron selection factories and plastic processing plants. Large amounts of sewage discharged into the Yangtze River June 18, 2009

10. In Inner Mongolia there were 2 “black dragons” from the Lasengmiao Power Plant (内蒙古拉僧庙发电厂) covering the nearby villages. July 26, 2005

11. Jiangsu province Changshu City Fluorine Chemical industry land sewage treatment plant (江苏省常熟市氟化学工业园污水处理厂) was responsible for collection and processing of the industrial sewage. However they did not, the sewage pipe was extended 1500 meters under the Yangtze River and releasing the sewage there. 2009 June 11

12. Soil by Yangtze River, was polluted by Anhui Province Ma’anshan Chemical Industrial District (安徽省马鞍山化工园区). June 26, 2009

13. Large amount of the industrial wastewater flowed to Yellow River from Inner Mongolia Lasengmiao Industrial District (内蒙古拉僧庙工业园区) every day. July 26, 2005

14. A Large amount of the chemical wastewater discharged into Yangtze River from Zhenjiang Titanium mill (镇江市钛粉厂) every day. Less than 1,000 meters away downstream is where the water department of Danyang City gets its water from. June 10, 2009

15. In Haimen city, Jiangsu province Chemical Industrial District sewage treatment Plant (江苏省海门市化工园区污水处理厂) discharged wastewater into Yangtze River. June 5, 2009

16. Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant (河北省涉县天津钢铁厂) is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008

17. Longmen town in Hanchen city, Shaanxi Province (陕西省韩城市龙门镇) has large-scaled industrial development. Environment is very seriously polluted there. April 8, 2008

18. There are over 100 chemical plants in Jiangsu province coastal industry district. (江苏滨海头罾沿海化工园区) Some of them discharge wastewater into the ocean; some heavily contaminated sewage is stored in 5 “Sewage Temporary Pools”. During the 2 high tides in every month, the sewage then gets discharged into the ocean with the tides. June 20, 2008

19. Jiangxi Province Hu Ko County Chemical Industry district (江西省胡口县化工园区) is by the Yangtze River. Chemical factory landfill the Yangtze River bank to expand the scale of the factory without authorization.

20. Anhui Province Cihu Chemical Industry District (安徽省慈湖化工园区) built a underground pipe to discharge wastewater into the Yangtze River. The wastewater sometimes is black, gray, dark red, or yellow, wastewater from different chemical factories has different colors. June 18, 2009

21. Shanxi Province is the most polluted areas of China. It is also the province with the highest rate of birth defects. This loving farmer couple adopted 17 disabled children. April 15, 2009

“In Some areas of China people’s lives were threatened because of the environmental pollution. Residents suffering from all kinds of obscured diseases, the cancer villages, increase of deformed babies, these were the results of sacrificing environment and blindly seeking economical gain.”

- Lu Guang

22. Elder shepherd by the Yellow River cannot stand the smell. April 23, 2006

23. 15-year-old boy from Tianshui, Gansu Province (甘肃天水), dropped out of the school after 2^nd grade, followed his parents to Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District. He earns 16 yuan a day. April 8, 2005

24. Inner Mongolia province Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District, the couple who worked at the Plaster Kiln and just got home. March 22, 2007

25. Villagers from Kang village in Linfen City, Shanxi Province (山西省临汾市下康村) due to long-term consumption of the polluted water contaminated by industrial waste, there were 50 people who have cancer and cerebral thrombosis. 64-year-old Wang Baosheng got ill since 2003, he has fester all over his body so he cannot go to bed and lying face down on the edge of the bed each day. July 10, 2005

26. Breathing in large amount of dust into the lungs, people gets sick after working there for 1-2 years. Most of these migrant workers come from area of poverty. April 10, 2005

27. Zhangqiao village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan Province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的张桥村), a 45-year-old woman Sun Xiaojun (孙晓军) could not move her feet and hands since 4 years ago. The numerous hospital treatments were not effective. April 7, 2009

28. Zhaozhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的赵庄村), 66-year-old Zhao Bingkun suffering from esophageal cancer since 2004, after the second surgery, treatment cost already have reached over 200,000 yuan. His condition is in late stage, he is having fever everyday, waiting for death. April 7, 2009

29. Zhaozhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (洪河边的河南省西平县张于庄村), Gao Wanshun’s (高万顺) wife died of cancer. Now he lives in poverty. April 3, 2009

30. Linfen City in Shanxi province (山西临汾市) is seriously polluted area. Farmers after working in the cotton fields for 2 hours are filled with coal ashes. September 24 2007

31. Salt factory worker in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province (江苏连云港) said angrily, “when the wind blowing towards our side, the foul smell from the chemical factories is unbearable. There is even more poison gas at night." July 19, 2008

32. People form Fanjiazhuang (范家庄) are ready to submit a complain filled with their fingerprints, to seek compensation for pollution damages. March 19, 2008

33. In Shanxi Province there are a lot of charitable nursing homes, to help disabled infants abandoned by their parents. April 14, 2009

34. Liujiawan village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的刘家湾村), 13 year old Yang Xiao in November 2008 was ill with obscure disease. She was saved by the donation of the villagers. When the grandmother saw the old village chief came to visit his granddaughter, she kneeled on the ground holding granddaughter’s hand. April 19, 2009

35. The oldest is 9, not going to school. The youngest is less than 2 years old. They lived in severely polluted area. They hands and faces were always dirty. April 10, 2005

36. Mazhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province, (河南省舞钢市洪河边的马庄村) 58-year-old Ma Haipeng (马海朋) was suffering from stomach cancer since 2006 and could not work in the field. He must take medicine every day, otherwise it is too painful. April 6, 2009

37. Every year, a lot of deficiency babies in Shanxi Province were abandoned. Kong Zhenlan (孔贞兰) in Qi town (祁县) who was making a living by recycling trash adopted 25 abandoned children. April 14, 2009

38. Xuanwei (宣威) in Yunnan province is a cancer village. Every year there are more than 20 people die of cancer. 11-year-old student Xu Li (徐丽) is suffering from bone cancer. May 8, 2007

39. In Shexian Village, Hebei Province, (河北省涉县固新村) the existing cancer patients are more than 50 people and more than 20 cancer patients die each year. March 18, 2008

40. Zhangyuzhuan village by the Hong River in Xiping county, Henan province, (河南省西平县洪河边的张于庄村) 22-year-old Zhu Xiaoyan (朱小燕) had a tumor in her stomach in 2007. She died after number of hospital treatments on July 2008. 4-year-old girl with her grandfather came to mother’s tomb. April 2009 2

original source: Fengniao

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jen.

http://eroticvulture.blogspot.com/

Do Not Mail : ForestEthics

One of my pet peeves has long been junk mail. Here's a post about it from about a year ago. http://eroticvulture.blogspot.com/2008/10/fun-with-junk-mail.html
Join me and ForestEthics in sending your junk mail back to the worst offenders on November 10th. Click this link to learn how.
Do Not Mail : ForestEthics

If you don't feel like taking part, save your junk mail for me!

Rain, Rain...

So it's raining cats & dogs here. Maybe more like elephants & buffalo actually! The noon news said this is the most rain in two days since 1962. Nevertheless, what do I see as I am driving home this afternoon? A man in full rain gear WASHING HIS CAR WITH A HOSE!!!

Unbelievable.

I have grown used to the neighbors running their sprinklers in the rain. I've yelled at the gardeners for using our water to wash grass out of the gutters. I shake my head in disbelief when the city waters the medians at 2pm in 110 degree weather. I really thought I had seen it all when it comes to drought-time irresponsibility!

Once again, I was wrong! Washing a car, in the rain, with a hose.....

Sigh.

Remember to turn off your automatic sprinklers!

Perhaps I Should Do This More Often

Just cleaned the roller brush on my vacuum!

Do you think this is the reason it's smoking?

Sunday...

Today I am...

Making baby food from fresh plums.
Baking mango muffins.
Feeding Desmond.
Hard-boiling our weekly stash of eggs.
Reading library books to the girls.
Listening to Ben Folds.
Admiring the artwork of Lydia and Rowan.
Shredding cheese for different recipes I'll make in the next 2 weeks.
Mixing random stuff for trail mix.
Feeding Desmond.
Talking to Molly's boyfriend on the phone.
Answering email.
Changing diapers.
Feeding Desmond.
Sending Rowan to bed because she's being naughty.
Listening to Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.
Playing Uno Stacko with Lydia.
Listening to the Pixies.
Playing Scrabble.
Baking whole wheat onion bread.
Making Rowan's new favorite - Sloppy Joes and fries.
Watching Amazing Race.
Drinking coffee.
Folding laundry.

The Pick Up No - by Rowan

His real name is Henry.
His favorite animal is a shark.
He tries to squeeze you really hard but he's really hugging you.
He takes away the bad stuff just in case it makes you sick.
His favorite color is brown.
He is good but sometimes he is bad when he is rough-housing with his brothers who are ghosts.
He is a ghost. He is sort of a box. He does not look like this. -----> (Mommy note: arrow should point at drawing.)
Sometimes he takes away the bad stuff of your clothes.
One of his brothers said he farts real loud. Sometimes he toots. His brothers don't like it, but he likes it.
His feet are a circle and they are colored in. He sort of looks like this but not the arms because I couldn't make the arms because they are too hard.
He likes to be punched in the face. He wants me to do that every single day when I find him.
He is invisible. I find him with a flashlight that is also invisible.
He really likes to go to gymnastics.
From Rowan (he likes my name like this)
To the Pick Up No
9-14-2009
LydiaandRowan.com
He also likes a giraffe eating leaves.
He will like that we wrote this.
He is 14.

I ♥ Burt's Bees

Burt's Bees has been voted the number two greenest brand in the U.S. Their products are a bit pricey, but totally worth it! My favorites are the Baby Bee Dusting Powder, Apricot Baby Oil and Coconut Foot Creme. If you've never tried any of their products, try a starter kit. http://www.burtsbees.com/

August 13

Dear Diary,
Today was really boring. Except for one thing. Mom is afraid she's pregnant. She hasn't told us, but I heard her tell someone on the phone & she bought a test for it. What if she has a baby? When I grad. from high school, it'd be 3. When it's 15, I'll be 30, mom will be 49. a sibling 15 years younger than me. Whoa. End
1990

If Dad Had a Blog...

I have a feeling this is the sort of thing we would see. The man himself sent this to me from San Francisco where he is hard at work.

Have a great weekend!

Waxing Not So Poetic

Although I try my hardest, the voices in my head are often times more contentious than content. It suddenly seems that my house is too messy, the laundry is piled too high, my bank balance is too low. I hate my hair, my face, my clothes. I get bored of my music and my books. I don't want to leave the house & I hate the thought of staying home.

This kind of discontent usually leads me to some impulsive act that gets the issue out of my system for a while. I clean for a full day, I wear makeup, I order 20 books from the library, I splurge on new CDs. I've been known to shave my head and throw out all my clothes. Usually, my fixes are pretty harmless.

Unfortunately, for all involved, such a time has come upon me as of late.

The main focus of my dissatisfaction has been my hair. Hair, hair everywhere. The hair on my head is frizzy and falling out(happens after every pregnancy). The hair on every other part of my body has grown thick and full(happens during every pregnancy).

I tried to deal with the hair on my head in a rational manner. I paid for a haircut. I'm still not satisfied, but have let it go for now. If my hair is blue or pink or orange next time we meet, you know why!

The hair on my body was another matter. So, I decided it would be a great idea to wax! Now, I've never waxed a centimeter of my body before. Never even considered it. In fact, I have laughed at others for this. Sigh... I should have stuck with that instinct.

I was a bit appalled at the $10 price tag for the waxing kit from Target but I figured, "It'll be soooo easy and last soooo long. It'll be totally worth it!" Wrong, wrong, wrong!

The kids were all happily occupied yesterday morning so I decided the time had come to try it out. I microwaved the wax and snuck off to my bathroom. No sooner had I begun applying the horribly sticky, messy wax to my upper thigh than all 4 children decided they needed me. Of course.

Luckily, I guess, the sight of me on the floor spreading goop all over myself with a stick was enough to distract them from whatever it was they so desperately needed at the moment. But, that meant I had an audience.

Molly offered to help with a wicked gleam in her eye. I declined.

Lydia wanted a complete explanation and judged me. I explained in as teacher-like a way I could manage in such a situation. (Homeschool moment! "Mommy is suffering from low self-esteem. You want to write this down? E-S-T-E-E-M. It means confidence or satisfaction in oneself. Low self-esteem means..." ugh.)

Rowan bounced around the hot, drippy wax and laughed. I set up a perimeter.

Desmond sat happily unaware in his chair. At least I didn't have to answer to him.

My horrible little girls were delighted to realize the pain I was putting myself through as I applied a strip and tore the first patch of fur from my thigh. The shrieks and giggles were enough to make me regret I'd ever started this. But I am not a quitter & I don't like to admit I am wrong, so on I went.

As I neared the area of my leg closer to the crotch, I realized I should have taken my pants off. Yes, I now realize that is pretty obvious. But it didn't say it in the instructions! Ugh... I sure hope this crap comes off my favorite p.j.s in the wash!

So now the pants are off, giving the kids one more thing to laugh about. I complete the front of one leg and start on the back. The back... HOW AM I GOING TO REACH THE BACK?!?! I contort myself into some circus, yoga, pretzel pose and slap on the wax where ever it lands. Then the strip goes on. Sort of. It seems I have not applied the wax in a shape that conforms to my strip. I'll just have to do this quick and keep going before it hardens. I pull the strip as fast as I can and ...nothing. NOTHING! No disgustingly hairy patch on the strip! All the hair is right there on my leg!

Apparently, I have not pulled in the opposite direction of the hairs' growth as the directions have told me to. I realize I am going to have to figure out the direction of the hairs' growth on the back of my legs that has not been given any attention in 16 months. (I know this because my parents paid for me to get a massage 16 months ago and I didn't want to gross the masseuse so I Naired.)

Molly heads to her room to get a little mirror for me. So now I am pretzel-posed holding the waxy stick in one hand and the little mirror in the other. I think I am going to cry. The hair does not go one way. It goes every way!

Now please don't judge me too harshly for this next part. I was desperate. And it was her idea. She offered. Please vouch for me with her therapist when this comes up in the future as one of those horrible memories of her adolescence.

Molly, dear Molly, took pity on me and offered to finish the backs of my legs. Like I said, I was desperate. At that moment it seemed like I was doomed to be a hairy, half-waxed beast until the rest grew back, or take the offer. I hang my head in shame to admit I took the offer.

Thankfully, this did get the whole ordeal over quite quickly. It also gave Molly some insight into a career she would NOT enjoy pursuing!

Finally, much more humbled, much less hairy, I got in the bath to oil myself up. Yeah. I said oil myself up. Wax does not wash off. Wax has to be rubbed with blue oil until it comes off. The blue oil comes in a tiny little bottle, with a tiny little hole, in tiny little drops. I was fed up with that in about 2 seconds. So I reached for a bottle of extra virgin olive oil. In the tub. With all my kids.

As I looked around at all my lovely children, I thought about how much they like to talk and tease and tell amusing stories about Mommy. So I did what any wonderful Mommy like me should do. I threatened, pleaded and swore them all to secrecy. Of course I know that will only last until the first time they see any other person in the world. And I realize the nice, old, surfer-type dude working the cash register at Trader Joe's doesn't read my blog, but this gives me practice. So I am ratting myself out. It just seems better this way.

Sigh...

Thanks!

All the nice comments really made my day! I totally appreciate all my friends and family who are regular readers. A couple of the responses surprised me! It's great to hear from folks I don't know or just didn't know were reading!

Happy Birthday to Trees!

I just noticed it's been one year since my first post. In that time, I've posted 62 times. In the beginning, I really thought I'd manage more than that!

Then there were the times I thought I'd never post again. I guess we all have our ups and downs with this sort of thing. We get bored, we get busy, we have nothing to say.

Sometimes I feel like I am just talking to myself. I have to hope there are folks out there reading but not commenting as I do to many of your blogs. How about a shout out on this one just to let me know you are there?!

All-in-all, I am pretty proud of my blog. It represents me and some of what is important to me at this moment of my life.

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I have enjoyed writing and that in the future, I can keep coming up with topics of interest for you and for me!

Google Books

Thought all you book lovers out there might want to check this out! Google's new way to search books http://books.google.com/ .

Just A Thought...

Humans are the only animals on the planet that create trash!

http://www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/intro.html

It's All About Rowan!

I don't usually post things about my kids without relating it to the eco-friendly life, but I came across this photo and just had to share. It cracks me up all over again every time I see it.

If you know Rowan, you know this picture captures her perfectly. Center of attention, cute, confident and happy. Nevermind that the picture was supposed to be about Great Grandpa and the new baby, my little gymnast steals the show!

No T.P. for Pee Pee

I am sure I lost some of my 3 readers just with my title, but I will charge on nevertheless...

Since February, I have been using Family Wipes. Yes, dear reader, I threatened it, you were horrified, but I was undaunted. I am a Family Wipe fan!

Let me count the reasons why...

1. Absorbency - I was still pregnant when I bought these and was having issues with, let's just say, dryness. Cloth is obviously much more absorbent than paper. Dryness is achieved with one wipe of a folded square cloth instead of the handful of wadded tissue most use.

2. Cleanliness - Beyond just dryness, I was having an issue with toilet paper dingleberries. (Okay, fine... that's t.m.i. Like I'm the only person it's ever happened to though!) This is completely eliminated with cloth. Well, maybe I find a little lint now and then, but so what?

3. No emergency trips to the store - I hate running to the store. There is no such thing as a quick trip with 4 kids. Washable t.p. to the rescue again!

4. Millions of trees - It is estimated that over 7 million trees are used to produce the toilet paper for the United States EACH YEAR. This number could be drastically reduced if people would buy recycled toilet paper, but most of us are much too spoiled with that "cloth-like" feeling. Why not just cut out the middleman and use cloth?

5. $ - Though the cloth wipes were a bigger expenditure at first than t.p. would be, over time they have definitely paid for themselves. Even with the 2 hold outs in the family, we have cut our paper usage drastically. I buy toilet paper in a 12 pack less than once a month now. Probably closer to once every other month.

I decided to buy my wipes, but they could easily be made for less money by any crafty person. Since buying mine, I keep coming across things to reuse as wipes that would need no alterations. Shoe mitts from hotel stays and surplus baby washcloths are abundant in my house!

I bought mine from Moo Cow Momma. I found her prices to be quite reasonable. I believe I purchased 25 wipes for $20 and I got to pick the fabrics! Her selection is vast and I had fun choosing my prints. She makes many other reusable cloth items as well. My next purchase will be her reusable organic cotton and bamboo tampons. Check out her website!http://moocowmomma.com/

My entire family was appalled by the idea of washable wipes when I first brought it up. Rowan was the first to come around, and requested wipes of her own about a month after I got mine. Once those arrived, Lydia became an instant convert. To her credit, Molly actually tried the wipes, but thought they were "gross". Since we are just using them for #1, Wave was off the hook from the beginning.

So what to do about #2? The girls continue to use paper for that business. I use a flushable wipe. I find it cleans much better with less product than paper. Duh, really... You wouldn't wipe a baby's booty with paper, so why an adult?

Washing is simple. The wipes go into the laundry with Desmond's diapers. We do one full load a week and are done with it!

I find that getting used to cloth wipes was very simple. When I am away from home for any period of time, I really miss them. If you have ever even vaguely considered trying them I cheer you on to make the move!

Green Peace has issued a tissue guide to assist consumers in purchasing more eco-friendly toilet papers.http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/forests/tissueguide

Learn about the history of toilet paper!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_paper

Making Sandy Jealous (Tee Hee!)

We just got home yesterday from nearly 2 weeks at the cabin. While my father-in-law's vacation home is comfortable, cozy and convenient it does lack one amenity. LAUNDRY!

This means I carry all the dirty sheets, towels and clothes, etc., home with me each time we stay there. I really don't mind it. It is a small price to pay for such a wonderful place to visit!

Today I issued a challenge to myself in regards to this mountain (I'm talkin' 7 garbage bags full, folks!) of laundry. How many loads could I wash and hang to dry in one day?

The weather was on my side. It was 94 degrees by the weather monitor on my computer, 105 by the one on my car. The number of errands we had to run was a strike in the negative column. I would have to change loads between trips to gymnastics, the library, grocery store & Target while also making a meal for a homeschool family and delivering it. Whew!

I am extremely proud say I was able to wash and dry 4 loads! Folding will have to wait....