Saturday Special: Toys from Trash, Toilets, Farmer Suicides, Bhopal and more

Toys from Trash: this deserves it's own post, and maybe someday, I'll get around to doing it.  Hear you will find not jut photos of toys from trash, but also pictures and diagrams that explain how to make them!  

Not all trash can be safely re-used: Greenpeace says the Mayapuri scrap market is still unsafe due to improperly disposed of radioactive material. Some kinds of poison takes a long time to clean up.


Which reminds us of Bhopal.  The anniversary is over, but the Bhopal gas disaster is still with us.  Go read and discuss the latest legal developments at the I'm a Bhopali blog. Why not give them a plug or a link as well?

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More bad news on the farm front.  
In The Hindu: Pest explosion leads to call for GM review.
More perspective from Devinder Sharma on the failure of GM cotton to reduce the need for pesticides.

"Their Final Letters," P. Sainath writes about farmer suicides in Counter Punch. 

In desperate times, suicide is not the only path people take.  Gladson Dung Dung asks, "Am I a Maoist?" 

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Some things are more complex than they seem.  CFL bulb scheme will be the world's largest carbon credit project. But is there a plan for disposing of these wonderful mercury-containing bulbs?  (If there is, nobody seems to be talking about it.)

Nature's call isn't a dial away:  India now has more mobile phones than toilets. Sudhirendar Sharma argues that this matter is not as simple as it looks. He's right, and this article deserves to be read--but it may raise more questions than it answers.


Speaking of sanitation not being simple: In Mexico, what happens when farmers use sewage as fertilizer?

Also in Mexico, the climate summit in Cancun is not likely to produce much if things keep going . There is a lot to be depressed about, and symbolic actions are not going to solve the problem. Writing on the Indian Climate Youth Network's blog, Kabir says that what we need is "a call for all Davids to take on Goliaths."   

Have a great weekend!