Once upon a time, Ann* and KP** were engaged.

They couldn’t live without each other. Ann needed KP to be safe and feel a sense of security, and to discipline herself to maintain a sustainable and green household.

On the other hand, KP would be nothing without Ann. KP needed Ann to carry out life targets and aims.

Yet, word had it that Ann was not ready to commit to the relationship. In fact, Ann had not been fulfilling the sweet promises between them.

At the same time, KP couldn’t wait forever. KP would leave Ann soon, or would eventually die of heartbreak.

It had been long suspected that the relationship will end soon, but things took a turn during the UN Bonn III meeting recently.

Ann and KP got married!!

Wedding Video Part 1 (Bonn III Action)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGltBKiX8RE&feature=related
Wedding Video Part 2 (Bonn III Action)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZCve8QXqQw

For the media, journalists, paparazzi, and those of you who wanted to see More Pictures!
http://adoptanegotiator.org/2010/08/05/true-love-needs-commitment/

*Annex 1
**Kyoto Protocol
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
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But that was not all.
The day after the wedding was the last day of the AWG-KP Session.

During the session, a youth delegate asked the chair, “Will you marry me?“

Perhaps others would think she was being very demanding, but she was doing so not only for herself, but for the greater good.

“We can build commitment gradually, but it starts now with an adequate 2nd commitment
period with Annex I targets that follow the science to keep temperatures below 1.5°. So this means an aggregate target for Annex I Parties of at least -40% based on 1990, without offsets and loopholes, and a review of its adequacy.

“This means everybody must do their share.

“It means, we need them to make more ambitious targets public before we meet again.”

Nevertheless, she liked leaders who were decisive, and who could make the right choices.

“But time is not on our side, we need to order the cake.

“To do this we need a location, please tell us that we can send the cake to Cancun and hold the wedding ceremony there. Because I am young, I won’t, we can’t wait for you forever!”
For now, let’s watch closely how world leaders will respond to the proposal and demands!
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True love needs commitment. Do we truly love our world, our people, and our future generations?

Will this end with ‘happily ever after’?

If yes, how long are we willing to make it last?

Yes, it’s possible. Gary Chang, an architect living in Hong Kong, managed to transform his 344-sq-ft apartment into a really amazing living space. He named it the ‘Domestic Transformer’.

http://www.flixxy.com/apartment-transformation.htmy

As we all know, Hong Kong is very densely populated and land is particularly expensive. The people have to learn to live and fully utilise the limited space they have.
Sometimes, I wonder, is it because our earth is blessed with so many resources, that we have been taking them for granted? As Gary Chang can maximise the functions of such a limited space, hopefully someday our knowledge in science and technology has improved to the extent whereby we could achieve the maximum result using minimal resources, increasing the efficiency and reducing usage and waste of resources.

Besides that, one doesn’t have to be dubbed an Environmentalist to address green issues. Some people have the tendency to think that it’s an environmentalist’s job to find solutions, when in fact people from all fields play a part. As people of different expertise or different disciplines play different roles in society, it’s important for all of us to work on combating environmental issues together, in our respective ways.

You may also want to read about the ‘Suitcase House Hotel’ by Gary Chang
http://phayung.blogspot.com/2009/03/suitcase-house-hotel-by-gary-chang-edge.html

I think you must have already known that while seeking ways to lead a convenient life or in the name of development, we have, in one way or other, very conveniently become a contributing factor to a long list of environmental problems.

Many a time, people are guilty of using polystyrene, plastic bags, and do every other thing that can deteriorate the environment because of convenience; many refuse to avoid wasting resources and to lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle, because they may think that it’s very inconvenient and troublesome to do so.

Activists try very hard to convince the public to make a little effort to help. We try to let you know how serious the problem is. We try to let you know that sacrificing a little convenience is worth it for the betterment of our world.

Yet, what if things can go another way round? What if those little actions regarded as eco-friendly can become more convenient for us to practise? What if the bad habits deemed as ‘un-green’ can become so inconvenient that we naturally give them up?

Imagine. The rubbish bin nearby is just one receptacle in which all kinds of trash are thrown without being sorted into categories.

You probably won’t go an extra mile just to find a recycling bin to throw a piece of paper, if there’s even one at all. If the paper is not going to be recycled, so be it! You probably feel you have much more important things to do than to worry about the paper.

And I don’t blame you. I can, but I don’t. (But I’d find you contemptible!)

I trust that if several trash cans are laid side by side for the public to dispose rubbish according to categories, you would actually bother to put that piece of paper into the right place where it can be sent for recycling.

This simple trash sorting measure may be common in some places, but in many places, including my own country, Malaysia, it’s usually found in airports and such, and hardly seen in public parks, roadsides, or anywhere a regular resident would pass by daily.

On the other hand, many of us have the impression that Danish are eco-friendly people. Yet, from as far as I know, they don’t cycle because they make a conscious effort to reduce carbon emissions. Maybe they are aware, but it doesn’t mean they intentionally think about being green all the time.

Sometimes, they just do it because it’s the natural thing to do. If there are cycling tracks that can lead you to your destination, everyone else cycles, and cycling is convenient and cheap, why not?

Thus, though people are the ones who shape the surrounding environment, we could also create an environment that could shape people’s habits or attitude. It works both ways.
We could
1) Create an environment that makes going green more convenient for the public.
2) Create an environment that makes habits that affect our planet negatively very difficult to practise.

For example, the government should provide relevant facilities (including something as simple as the trash sorting system) available to the people. It’s good if you want to raise the price of petrol (petrol hike was quite an issue in Malaysia) to encourage carpooling and avoid using the vehicle too much, but that’s only if you make greater effort to improve the public transport system. Public transport in certain places/countries still does not get you to your workplace, inefficient and have irregular timings, or perhaps the bus/metro station is nowhere near your home.

Make people hate plastic bags because they have to pay for requesting them. If you own a boutique or supermarket, please offer shopping bags with cooler designs (you can still print your own logo on them without sacrificing aesthetic values) so that people actually happily and willingly use the shopping bags. If you’re working in the office, gather your misprinted (on one side) or unwanted sheets of paper and put them in a nice stack near the printing machine, hopefully your colleagues do the same, and you all can use rough paper to print drafts or scribble random things.

We should help one another, and also ourselves, to create an environment that is convenient for us to live life the green way.