Love Life Hate Palm Oil Gala

Too bad I don't live in the UK or I would definitely be attending this event. I love the flyer! Visit the Climate Rush website to learn more about the event.

Recent Reads

Riding public transportation is good for the environment and also gives you lots of time to read!

Here are the last few books I've read:

20 Days Left to Save Cameroon's Rainforest

This is one of the most heart breaking articles I've read in a while. One of the most unique rainforests in the world has 20 days left before Cameroon government starts selling off pieces to logging companies.

Cameroon is home to Forest Elephants, Western Lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, mandrills, and many other species of endangered and threatened animals. The most endangered subspecies of gorilla - the cross river gorilla - also lives in Cameroon. Cameroon was next on my list to volunteer with endangered wildlife.

Perhaps the crappiest part of this article is I have no idea how I can help. Or how to tell others to help. There doesn't seem to be anywhere that is collecting donations. Wildlife Works is the company that has been given a chance to save it through some sort of Carbon Credit deal, but I can't find a single thing about the project on their website.


Below are the links for two rehabilitation centers I know of in Cameroon.
CWAF - Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund
Limbe Wildlife Center - Their Blog

other recent articles on Cameroon wildlife:
Bushmeat in Cameroon

Daughter Earth Friends and Family Sale

We are really excited to introduce our new prints! All are custom designed and exclusive to Daughter Earth! (All except the Forest Friends Handbag, which can also be custom ordered with any of our prints). We are also featuring photographs and a book of photography by my sister, Laura.

In order to celebrate, we are having a sale with all items up to 35% off!

Why?

1. To thank everyone for all their help and support.
2. To gauge interest on our new and exciting products.
3. To make more Facebook fans!

The sale ends in 2 weeks at midnight Pacific Time on Wednesday July 7th, so start shopping!

Orangutan Diary Entry

I was searching through some old emails and came across an email I sent my sister while we were volunteering in Borneo with orphaned orangutans. I wish I had a picture or video of this to share how adorable it was!

GENJI and ALAN were sooooooooooooo funny yesterday. oh man! i wish you could have seen it. i was dying laughing. we were supposed to do nest buildling with them but after like 10 minutes its started raining so we brought them back in there cages. but felt it was a waste abandon all those good leaves. so we piled ALL the leaves in their cage. Genji tried to build nests, but Alan kept knocking them down. Eventually Alan got on one of the platforms and started furiously shaking at this huge leave stick thing (it reached from like floor to ceilling) but he shook it too hard and fell off the platform onto the ground. Luckily the ground was covered in leaves so he didn't hurt himself. so they both found this discovery very amusing. Genji then turned over the laundry basket to make a platfrom they both kept jumping off of it and plopping onto the ground like kids jumping into leave piles it was sooo funny. They were getting such a kick out of it and having so much fun it was so cute.


Genji is female orphaned orangutan and was 3 years old at this time. She was one of the best nest builders I came across while volunteering, especially for such a young age. She was a funny little girl.


Alan was male and also 3 years old at this time. Alan was a little shy but super sweet.

(These pictures are little cards they sold at the rehabilitation center. The images really do not do either of them justice. They are both WAY cuter than they look in these crap pictures, but it is all I have to show of them)

Orangutans sleep in nests at night. They would normally learn how to build nests from their mothers. So one of the activities we did often with the orphans was nest building, since it was something they would need to learn before being released into the wild again. Without the protection from their mothers, young orangutans are very susceptible to catching cold when it rains. That is why we usually bring them in when it is raining and try to give them indoor enrichment activities.


Here is a picture of a young orangutan building a nest.

Yay Minnesota!

The state of Minnesota banned the use of biodiesel made from Palm Oil this Monday. The Indonesian government seems unhappy about this and thinks the the decision was unjustified. However the following study shows that Indonesia could be making more money through a Carbon Credit program then through sales of palm oil.

Recycled Dishware - 2

Last weekend at Union Design Festival in Hayes Valley, I discovered Who Made It. These two girls came up with another really creative way of using old dishes - jewelery holders. They stack these beautiful tea party-esque vintage plates on poles. They are really gorgeous. I really wanted to buy one but I have like 3 pieces of jewelery where I currently reside. I seriously considered buying one just for decoration. I suppose you could always stack cookies or candy on them for parties as well. Be sure to check out there Etsy Shop.







I did get the these really gorgeous greeting cards from them. I haven't expressed my love of couches on this blog yet. But these were an exciting little treat.





I also really love there logo, and little drawings on their promotional material. I totally think they should start selling more drawings as well! How cute are these: