September 2008's Issue
Sixty years ago plastic was an exotic development of modern chemistry. Today it is the most widespread human-made substance in the world. More than 250 billion pounds of raw plastic pellets are produced from petroleum feedstock every year. It is everywhere, in places you never imagined: computers and cell phones; packaging; food and drink containers; home furnishings and building materials; cars, trucks, airplanes and boats; children’s toys and beauty products.
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Featured in issue 415
Soundbites - Atiq Rahman
While Hurricane Gustav swirled through the front pages of our media, the hundreds of deaths caused by extreme winds in the last month around the Caribbean and in Asia rated barely a mention.
- 12 Sep 2008
- 0
This toxic life
They’re in our homes and our workplace, in the air we breathe and in the food we eat. Wayne Ellwood argues that toxic chemicals are changing the nature of nature.
- Wayne Ellwood
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Things to do before I retire
Things to do before I retire… humble thoughts from the diary of GW Bush, as revealed by Stefan Simanowitz
- Stefan Simanowitz
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Currents Coal Special
A special on coal – including the ‘clean coal’ con, windpower in China, success in Bangladesh and activism everywhere.
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Earthworks 2008 cartoon competition
Earthworks 2008: highlighting cartoonists from the global South taking part in the Biennial Ken Sprague competition.
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Time and Winds (Bes Vakit)
A beautiful contemplative immersion in the children’s sense of the immensity of time and events. Written and directed by Reha Erdem
- Malcolm Lewis
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Cambodia: Year Zero on trial
What can be wrong with putting five notorious Khmer Rouge leaders on trial? Plenty, argues lawyer Brooks Duncan, as he examines the nature of the long-awaited, and foreign-funded, trials currently underway.
- Brooks Duncan
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Message in a bottle
It’s a fashion statement and an environmental nightmare. Zoe Cormier examines one of the most successful marketing ploys ever – bottled water.
- Zoe Cormier
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Dancing, dying, crawling, crying
Stories of continuity and change in the Polynesian community of Tikopia by Julian Treadaway
- Peter Whittaker
- 1 Sep 2008
- 1
Abandon the toxic treadmill!
Things you can do to avoid toxic plastics. PLUS the Action / Campaign directory.
- 1 Sep 2008
- 2
In Defense of Lost Causes
Superstar philosopher Slavoj Zizek writes in defence of lost causes
- Richard Swift
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Plastic plants
As oil supplies dwindle, the plastic industry is pinning its hopes on biomass. Not a great idea, reasons Jim Thomas.
- Jim Thomas
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Children of the Revolution
This is a book that highlights how people caught in between places are denied identity, perspective and intimacy.
- Matthew McCann
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
El Baño del Papa (The Pope’s Toilet)
A film about the Pope’s toilet. Directed by Enrique Fernandez and Cesar Charlone
- Malcolm Lewis
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Youssou N'Dour
Senegal’s beacon of good music and positive energy Youssou N’Dour talks to Ed Stocker
- Ed Stocker
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Sea of garbage
The good ship Alguita sails an ocean choked with plastic. Blog by Anna Cummins.
- Anna Cummins
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Black holes and demonstrations
Positive outcome, but at a cost of seven campaigners lives, killed by police during a demonstration against the GCM coalmine in Bangladesh.
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Breaking China’s coal addiction
Renewables revolution is there for the taking
- Ailun Yang
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
Botswana
Since independence in 1966, Botswana’s annual growth rates have been the highest in the world – bar none. It is estimated that were it not for the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, growth rates would be one or two per cent higher today.
- Sara Gonzalez Devant
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
'Territory, autonomy, dignity... and no coal'
Jorge’s community is part of the 500,000-strong Wayúu indigenous group, and it is not only their home in the northern foothills of the Sierra de Perijá which is under threat.
- 1 Sep 2008
- 0
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