Upcoming Event: "Away is a Place"

On Thursday, March 15, Colby Self, Green Ship Recycling Campaign Director, Basal Action Network, Seattle, WA.  Mr. Self will present a talk titled “Away is a Place.”  This lecture will be at 7:30 PM in the Trustee’s Room, Upper Convocation Center.   It is free and open to the public. 

This lecture will “speak to the realities of our globalized economy, realities that are often overlooked in traditional economic value assessments. We will focus on the issue of toxic trade, and in particular the examples of the global shipbreaking industry and the mounting e-waste crisis that arises due to the ease by which current trade rules, or lack thereof, facilitate the externalization of costs to developing countries and the disproportionate burden of harm on them – environmental degradation, human health damage and human rights abuse. We will discuss the role of the Basel Convention and market strategies to internalize costs of hazardous waste production upstream and at source. In this age of mass consumerism and post-consumer wastes now flooding across national borders, we are all part of the problem, and thus we must all become part of the solution, always remembering that Away is a place that others call Home” (see essay at www.ban.org).

Mr. Self is an environmental policy analyst and Director of the Basel Action Network’s international ship recycling campaign. Working on human rights and environmental protection, he addresses the issue of environmental justice with the aim of developing fair and sustainable solutions to the world’s growing waste crises. His recent work on the international shipbreaking issue (see http://ban.org/ban_news/2011/110407_navy_abandons_plan_to_sink.html), a problem that has profound global economic, environmental and human health implications, recently took him to the 10^th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Basel Convention in Cartagena, Colombia, where multilateral agreement was reached, decisions that will someday be remembered historically as the turning point for global waste trade.  

Mr. Self is also a social entrepreneur, working to establish innovative solutions that internalize costs of waste production to disincentivize the externalization of costs to emerging economies downstream. To this end, he is co-founder of Ecorate.com and the Automotive Science Group, both product rating platforms for consumer durable goods aimed to help consumers make better informed purchasing decisions. He has a B.S. from the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning and Development, has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford, and is a select member of the Cambridge-MIT Institute Enterprisers Forum.

Call to Action: Remember Nhu

Would you like to know more about how to get involved with the Remember Nhu organization and prevent children from ever entering the sex trade?  Remember Nhu is seeking for individuals to help their cause.  The following positions need to be filled by the organization.  If you are interested in getting involved, visit www.remembernhu.org, send an email to info@remembernhu.org, or call 1-877-435-7648.

1) Fundraising Champion – help raise funds for Remember Nhu

2) Speaking Champion – speak at churches and/or colleges on behalf of Remember Nhu

3) Trade Show Champion – go to trade shows and career days on behalf of Remember Nhu

4) College Funds Champion – contact colleges, businesses, churches, and individuals on behalf of Remember Nhu for college funds for the rescued children

5) Groups Champion – start and organize student groups at colleges and schools on behalf of Remember Nhu

6) Create Your Own Champion – come up with a creative way to fundraise for Remember Nhu. This could be a track event, youth group fundraiser, etc.

7) Internet Research Champion – search the internet and books written for information about child sex trafficking and prevention

8) Proposal Champion – on occasion writing proposal on behalf of Remember Nhu. This could be from business proposals to limited projects

9) Advanced Training of Vision Trips Champion – write an advanced training manual for Vision Tips

10) Children’s Home Sponsor Champion – write a brochure for “Sponsoring an Entire Children’s Home”

11) Carl’s Schedule – plan and keep Carl Ralston’s schedule

12) Travel Arrangements Champion – purchase tickets and make reservations

13) Follow-up Champion – follow up on a list of things for Carl

14) Golf Outing Coordinator Champion – coordinate one or more Golf Outings on behalf of Remember Nhu

15) Grants Champion: Write Remember Nhu Grants – search for and write grants on behalf of Remember Nhu

Upcoming Event: Bertin Meance Discusses "Helping Haiti from Home"

In 1988 in Ashland, there was no internet, email, Google, Facebook, text messaging, or Skype.  This made it difficult to help others around the world who were in need.  Now, because of this technology, many victims of the earthquake in Haiti were able to receive the humanitarian assistance they needed.

Bertin Meance's presentation, "Helping Haiti from Home: How Local Efforts can Support International Disaster Relief", will highlight how a remote community such as Lafond, Haiti received support.  He will talk about how his old classmates from Ohio and Vermont quickly raised support and allowed the community school he supports to reopen, even before the schools in the cities.  He will also discuss lessons that could be learned from the disaster relief provided to Haiti.

Who: Bertin Meance
What: Helping Haiti from Home: How Local Efforts can Support International Disaster Relief
When: February 21, 7:00pm
Where: Ridenour Room, Dauch College of Business and Economics