Blog Archive
We're looking for supporters who would like to join the Board
Posted on March 02, 2018 by Jamie Gorman
We’re expanding our Board at Friends of the Earth. And we're asking you - and all our supporters - to consider putting their name forward. If you are interested, then fill in this application form before 5pm on 15th March.
Friends of the Earth is a small and nimble organisation campaigning for environmental justice in Ireland and globally as part of the Friends of the Earth International federation. Our vision is of a just world where people and nature thrive.
It’s an exciting time for the environmental movement in Ireland and globally as we campaign for a just and equitable transition to a fossil-free future, call for a re-think on unsustainable resource consumption and work in solidarity and partnership with communities and other movements for justice.
Permanent link | Categories:
48 hours to get TDs to take quick action on plastic
Posted on January 15, 2018 by Oisín Coghlan
Our plastics campaign is off to a flying start.
On Wednesday, TDs and Senators will begin considering the Waste Reduction Bill. It proposes concrete steps to cut plastic waste, like a deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and a ban or a levy on plastic-lined coffee cups.
We're joining forces with Zero Waste Ireland, VOICE and Uplift to present a petition outside the Dáil to urge TDs to pass the law quickly, before any election derails progress. They have been working on plastics for a while. Now we're adding our weight, and your voice, to the campaign.
Two things you can do:
Click here to add your name to the petition.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
"The only option was to put my body in between the diggers and the earth"
Posted on December 08, 2017 by Guest Blogger
A member of Fossil Free TCD went to the UN climate talks in Bonn last month. This is the first of two reports she wrote for us.
I am crouched behind a damp sand bank and can feel my heartbeat in my ears. People shuffle hurriedly in both directions next to me, careful not to slip into the trench behind. I am too terrified to peer over the bank, in case I come face-to-face with a riot cop, and his shield or baton comes crashing into me. I huddle down smaller. Can they see my rucksack over the edge? Someone grabs by elbow violently and I almost shout out - but it is ok. My affinity group is planning our next move. We turn to the hundreds lining the cusp of the pit above, as high up as House 6 from the base: “Which way?” we whisper-scream up at them. “Go left!”, “Left!”, “No cops left!” they shout back, and we are off. Last chance to go back, but we’re up and over and gone. Police far to the right but they’ll never reach us in time. I am running before I know it, and look back for my “buddy” Emma, who has asthma. Her, Tony, and Frodo are close behind. Of course, as it turned out, none of these were their real names.
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: climatechange • energy
Ladybird Expert series on Climate Change - A Summary
Posted on December 04, 2017 by Guest Blogger
Notes on: Climate Change, by Tony Juniper and Emily Shuckburgh
Ladybird Expert series 2017, (52 pages including some illustrations)
Summarised by:
Paul Donnelly, August 2017
Paul was a highly respected, committed member of Dublin Friends of the Earth and suddenly passed away in November 2017. He spent much of his time collating information about climate change in order to make the topic more accessible for people. May he rest in peace.
Background:
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • transport • foodandfarming
Plastic & Microbeads - FAQ
Posted on December 04, 2017 by Guest Blogger
by Amelie Deinhard, Dublin FoE member
What is Plastic?
Plastic consists of synthetic organic polymers. Their base units are monomers, which in turn consist of ethylene and propylene: carbon-hydrogen compounds with non-metals.
History
Plastic was invented in the 1920s by Belgian scientist Leo Hendrik Beakeland and correspondingly called Bakelite (1). Industrial production of plastic began in the 1950s. The American "Life Magazine" then jumped to the topic and advertised on its cover pages the new fabric as "throwaway material" for every-day-life.
Permanent link | Categories: waste • water • plastic
A scare in time?
Posted on November 02, 2017 by Oisín Coghlan
The scariest thing I saw this Halloween was this new report about carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The last time CO2 stayed this high, sea levels were 20 metres higher than they are today.
But there is hope . Research also reported this week concludes "an energy transformation big enough and fast enough to curb global warming remains within reach. Better still, we do not need to wait for new inventions to implement the changes we need; the transformation can happen right now".
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
Register now for Mobilise.Resist.Transform. - A 6 week Introduction to Environmental Issues
Posted on October 11, 2017 by Meaghan Carmody
**COURSE NOW FULL, PLEASE EMAIL TO BE PUT ON WAITING LIST AND FRIENDS OF THE EARTH VOLUNTEER LIST**
You know the environment is important, otherwise why would you be reading this? Perhaps you have an inkling that it's much more important than most people seem to think...but you don't really know how to articulate the issues. You know the general assumptions of society are at least partly to blame;
- That the climate is changing and it's hurting those who are most vulnerable the most
- That we're plundering the Earth's resources for economic gain
- That we are becoming more and more detached from where our food comes from
- That the amount of plastic we're creating is unsustainable
- That endless economic growth on a finite planet is untenable
- That there is an element of injustice inherent in all environmental and climate issues
Permanent link | Categories: course • school of sustainability • education • activism
Almost there: 24 hours to save our soils!
Posted on September 11, 2017 by Oisín Coghlan
Since I sent the email below on Thursday, about 1000 people in Ireland have signed the official petition to trigger EU action to protect our soils.
We need about 1000 more to fulfil the Irish quota of the European Citizens' Initiative. And we have until midnight on Tuesday (Brussels time!) to get them.
If you've signed already, thank you. Please do tweet this and share this on Facebook to spread the word.
If you haven't signed yet, your support could tip the balance .
As chef Darina Allen puts it in this video :
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • water • biodiversity • foodandfarming • soil
Take action to reduce flooding
Posted on September 07, 2017 by Oisín Coghlan
We were all shocked and dismayed by the terrible flooding which devastated parts of Donegal and Derry recently which has left families and businesses in ruins. - and the awful thing is it's likely to happen again. [1] The farming community in east Donegal was also badly impacted, with acre upon acre of potato and grain crops washed away and destroyed through the sheer surge of the flood waters. It's hard to know what to do when catastrophic events like this happen. But we can work together to help lessen the impact of flooding like this.
Protecting healthy soils reduces flooding.
Permanent link | Categories: biodiversity • foodandfarming
48 Hours to Save Our Rivers ... And it'll take you less than 5 minutes to do your bit.
Posted on August 29, 2017 by Oisín Coghlan
Ever wonder how clean our rivers and lakes really are?
The bad news is only half our waterways and bays are in good ecological health.
Tell the Government we must do better than this.
What's worse is that the Minister Eoghan Murphy's draft River Basin Management Plan is really weak: over the next three years, he only intends to clean up about 10% of our failing waters.
The public consultation closes on Thursday at 5.30pm. We've made it really easy for you to tell the Government we must do better than this. We need a robust and ambitious plan to protect our waters from pollution and degradation – for nature, for communities, for tourism, and for everyone who enjoys a splash!
Permanent link | Categories: water
