Overheard

“But even if responsible, ethical mining is possible, verifying it will be difficult even with the best of intentions, industry experts say. Diamonds, furs and timber all look simple by comparison, because they all come in a discrete form that can be tracked by a paper trail. A specific tree produces a specific two-by-four; a diamond comes from one mine that can be found on a map. Gold is not like that. It must be purified and smelted, amalgamated and combined into forms that jewelry makers can then use. That means many more steps on the journey from mine to display case, and no easy trail to follow.” New York Times, “With This Ethical Ring I Thee Wed”

“What I find ‘horrific’ about your country is the daily killing of innocent people in Iraq, the execution of mainly black prisoners in U.S., the massive sale of guns to U.S. citizens every day, the destabilization of the whole world by the aggressive foreign policy of U.S. government, etc.” Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette, in reponse to an American family considering cancelling a vacation because they are opposed to Canada’s “horrific” annual seal hunt

“Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing, producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy… Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 US cars for a year. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.” Emily Arnold, author of the study published by the Earth Policy Institute

“Indonesia, the Philippines and India dominate the world’s coconut industry. As much as 2 million metric tonnes of the oil, used in cosmetics, confectionary and health foods, are exported each year.” Gavin Evans, Bloomberg News

“From the orang-utan reserves of Borneo to the Brazilian Amazon, virgin forest is being razed to grow palm oil and soybeans to fuel cars and power stations in Europe and North America.” Issue 2526 of New Scientist magazine

“Canada has an abundance of fresh water. Fresh water is the oil of the 21st Century. Uh-Oh.” Advertisement for Maclean’s magazine