Dear Friends,

The political shenanigans engaged in by the 'developed' (and 'developing') nations at the recent Bali Conference on Global Warming is yet another instance of the uselessness of collective government action in the 'race to save the planet.' What race? We've known about the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the natural world for well over a century ("In wildness is the preservation of the world." Henry Thoreau said in the mid-19th Century). In 1962, the dire effects of unrestrained industrial development were brought into sharp focus by Rachel Carson in The Silent Spring, the book that inspired a generation of environmentalists, and continues to resonate today. "Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself" , she said in a television interview in 1964.

One of the many wise things said by the American anthropologist, Margaret Mead (1901-1978), was: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." In my lifetime there was an inspiring example of this when the citizens of East Berlin tore down the Berlin Wall with their bare hands, standing fearlessly against the brutality of Soviet-style Communism and the futility of the Cold War, with its senseless rattling of nuclear sabres by the super-power governments. The lesson for me of that extraordinary event was that there comes a time when the true democracy of the people can take the course of human history into its own hands. Let's hope the burgeoning growth of small groups of people and individuals who believe that "something must be done" can force those in power to bring about the necessary changes to the world's lifestyle before it's too late.

I believe that It's a Green Green World bids fair to become one of the super-powers of the eco-friendly world (but we'll be a power for good!): our Membership and our Readership grows by the day: we hope to Register our 250th Member Establishment very shortly, and we are now represented in 45 countries; the Readership of this Newsletter mounts into the several hundreds as well. In fact, we can already claim to be the most important portal for independent 'green-minded' travellers on the Net. And we've hardly begun! We are now commencing our Northern Hemisphere recruitment drive - the US, the UK, and EU eco-hospitality establishments will soon start receiving our emails.

We've spent hundreds of hours in research and I believe we have now identified well over a thousand places in the area that could qualify for Membership. Let's hope they respond positively to our efforts! If you are an owner with eco-credentials, don't wait for the email - click the Register Now button on the Home Page and come on down: you'll be very welcome! If you're not an owner, but you know an establishment that ought to be one of our Members, please let them know about GGW.

Our new 'Living The Dream' feature can be found via a link on the Homepage. This will be a series of articles by people who have started a new life as an eco-warrior. The first article is by Mark Reynolds, an Englishman who, with his Sri Lankan-born wife, Surjeewa, built a small jewel of a jungle resort in Southern Kerala, reclaiming and preserving some near-derelict forest-land in the process. My wife and I had the pleasure of staying with the Reynolds during a recent 'tour of inspection' in the area. We found many other worthy additions to the GGW portfolio in Kerala, and saw for ourselves that the State really deserves the accolade bestowed on it by the Tourist Board of being 'God's Own Country'. Click the "India" item in the country dropdown on the Home page to go on a tour of inspection of your own.

A comment from one of our Members after he'd received one of our Invitation Emails: "We receive invitations to join web portals of one sort or another several times a month. Most of them ask for money up front, (GGW doesn't, of course), with no guaranteed audience or delivery system. Many want money up front as well as commissions. If we signed up for all of them, we would be out thousands of dollars each year.

What convinced me to join your site was the mainstream way I got to it, (He found an ad of ours in National Geographic) as well as the orientation, content, look, and navigability of the site. Without that, your invitation would have sat in my in-box indefinitely."

Thanks, Rara Avis of Costa Rica - we're so glad it didn't!

The debate about air travel continues as fiercely as ever. The British Government, in the teeth of the environmental lobby's opposition, is set, it is predicted, to approve the addition of a new runway (and a 6th Terminal Building) at Heathrow Airport. The Government's position will be that air transport is going to grow massively over the next twenty years and, if Heathrow can't cope, the traffic will make use of the Amsterdam and Paris airports, with a resultant massive loss to the British economy.

Meanwhile, Virgin announces that it will test-fly one of its airliners this Spring with a mix of conventional oil-derived and bio fuels in its tanks.

And the second generation of bio fuel, we hear, will be derived from quick-growing saplings planted on waste land, thereby avoiding having to replace petroleum with potential food-producing plants. Sounds good!

You think we can't replace oil? I think 'we-the-people' just might be able to persuade 'them' (the governments and big businesses) to do it. But it's got to be done soon!

    With very best wishes from the Team at

    itsagreengreenworld.com

© 2007 The Green World Partnership