"QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from the award-winning director of THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN.

Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this alarming and ultimately uplifting film weaves together a dramatic story of the heart-felt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers around the world. This spellbinding film explores the long-term causes that have led to one of our most urgent global food crises, illuminating the deep link between humans and bees.

The story unveils 10,000 years of beekeeping, highlighting how that historic and sacred relationship has been lost. Inspiring and entertaining, QUEEN OF THE SUN uncovers the problems and solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature." -


Go to the documentary's website, to learn more!

U.S. Companies Green Business Ranking

Newsweek’s Green Rankings published this week, cut through the glossy brochure front end of big business propoganda. Partnering with two leading research organizations Newsweek have created a comprehensive ranking based on environmental management, environmental impact and disclosure. Click here for the full methodology.

By comparing the actual environmental footprints, management (policies, programs, initiatives, controversies), and reporting practices of big companies Newsweek allow you to see for yourself which companies have the best or worst environmental credentials.

The 25 companies hitting the bottom of the list contain a mix of industry sectors. Here they are plotted against the other companies listed in the same sector but with better performance. Clearly all sectors could improve their performance relative to their peers, though especially those in financials ,energy and materials sectors.

Here are the 25 worst performing companies:

Feeling Insignificant ? You should be

Earthlings

Earthlings - trailer
- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

Bringing life back to the Chilika Lagoon in India

This video shows how, thanks to joint efforts of international organizations, including IUCN's Member Wetlands International and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Chilika Lagoon in India has been reconnected to the sea, bringing its biodiversity back to the lagoon, increasing its fish resources seven fold and dramatically improving the livelihoods of local people.
The video was produced by the Star Alliance Network.

‪Bringing life back to the Chilika Lagoon in India‬‏ - YouTube
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Coca Cola Helps a Phoenix Rise From the Ashes



MD Jonathon Short shows off rPET raw product at Hemswell

One of the world‘s most famous brands is joining forces with a UK plastics firm to build a recycling facility. The deal has been described as a step change in plastic reprocessing and is a joint venture of Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) and ECO Plastics which will develop a facility in Lincolnshire, England that will more than double the amount of reprocessed PET (rPET) bottles in Great Britain.

While plastics are notoriously difficult to recycle, especially whem compounded, drinks bottles are a relatively easy and abundant commodity which has long been in need of investment to generate a recycling and re-use stream. Around 35,000 tonnes of PET bottles were reprocessed last year. The two companies said their project will increase this to more than 75,000 tonnes when fully operational. The high-quality rPET will be used for food-grade, sustainable packaging.

ECO's plant at Hemswell, Lincolnshire recently re-opened following a fire in 2009 which completely devastated the original facility, causing a plume of black smoke to become visible 30 miles from the site and was attended by 17 fire engines. "When we do something at AWS we pride ourselves on doing it properly and the fire was no exception," joked  then Chairman Peter Gangsted. With the new development the plant will be among the largest in Europe and is expected to be operational by mid 2012.

This is a first for the British drinks manufacturing industry and will begin to close a loop on PET use and re-use in the UK, since CCE currently sources its food-grade rPET from continental Europe. This plant will supply CCE with enough GB-sourced material to achieve its target of including 25% rPET in all its plastic packaging in GB by next year.

Simon Baldry, managing director of CCE GB, said: "Our investment in this project with ECO Plastics will start to address the recycling challenges in this country. British PET bottles will be recycled for re-use in packaging that will be sold from the shelves of British retailers... The amounts of high quality rPET produced in GB will more than double, enabling CCE to meet our ambitious target of incorporating 25% rPET in all our plastic bottles by 2012. At the same time, we are working with our customers to encourage shoppers to recycle more as part of our wider sustainability efforts."

The company has signed a l0-year joint venture deal with ECO Plastics that guarantees an annual supply of rPET. Coca-Cola Enterprises is making a 1/3 equity investment to support construction of the new £15m facility with ECO Plastics raising the balance.

Independent research has shown that products made with recycled plastic from the ECO Plastics site are 68% less carbon-intensive than packaging made with virgin materials.  By the middle of 2011 the management team expects the plant will be processing (140,000 tonnes) almost half of the UK's national plastics sorting capacity, equivalent to more than two billion bottles a year.

Dying from Dioxin

Everything is bigger in the States....Well that goes for their environmental pollution and environmental campaigns too. The Centre of Health, Environment and Justice was set up in the wake of the Love Canal tragedy and continues to fight for environmental justice to this day. If you think government or big business are looking out for you best interests think again, indeed don't many of our champions of government have another life as advisers of guess who....? big business. For a brief time while in government they have to devolve these interests while they get on with looking out for the people.

The story of dioxins sounds like another popular toxic history tale, that of cigarettes. Scientific evidence falsified and a catalogue of mis-information aimed at maintaining the status-quo, which is to keep on making money. Lois Marie Gibbs of CHEJ in her book Dying of Dioxin has produced an incredibly enlightening exposure of the corporate greed preventing government from acting in the interests of the people. The following extract from the Politics of Dioxins is particularly interesting.