The Christmas Cheer has started. Some love it, some hate it, and many people indulge in it. In my case, Christmas reminds me of my childhood-“that sweet innocence of waiting for the end of the year to arrive.

To enjoy unwrapping presents, hanging lights, seeing cousins, singing songs, eating cookies, and feeling on vacation.

Santa Claus eventually left my heart, the presents turned into a single gift, and family time became tedious. My Christmas spirit dwindled. But this Christmas, I had a change of heart, I proposed to keep it eco, hopeful, and joyous in a different way. Encouraging with my inner conscious child, without indulging in the marketing traps.

It all started with books. This year literature has been my closest companion, my partner, and my most loyal escape. Whenever I felt like traveling to a different time, to be seduced by words, I found a cult inside the pages of 23 books. My muses inspired me to create the ultimate solution to the Christmas Tree debate: instead of buying a fake or real tree, I made a tree with what had already been a tree that was transformed into different universes: my books.

I first started creating a conscious circle representing social justice and sustainability, the tree’s base. The base was composed of second-hand books from my degree in International Relations. These I got from previous students that wanted to make an extra buck from those theory-heavy textbooks. Reading about Constructivism, Peace Theory, and Sustainable Development pushed me into adapting a more conscious lifestyle in which my mind can settle for hope rather than pessimism.

The following books that started to give height to my nerdy Christmas tree were about social justice, anthropological studies, and psychological literature that have allowed me to reflect on my identity, adding perspective on my surroundings and diverse struggles and identities.

Once I’ve had created a strong base of the tree consisting of non-fiction books that add reality to my life and understanding, the rest of the books were filled with parallel universes of fantasy, love, inspiration, lust, womanhood, and escapisms. My best friends, lovers, and joyous companions make life easy, fresh, and a rollercoaster.

Although I’m not religious, I esteem literature and knowledge; they keep me hopeful, joyous, and happy to live in a world with writers, thinkers, and artists. So, my Christmas tree represents in what I believe: the power of education, introspection, sustainability, social justice, imagination, and the unbearable lightness of being.

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This past week British Columbia braced its second climate calamity. During the summer, Vancouver experienced massive wildfires and unprecedented high temperatures. Now the Canadian province declares a state of emergency due to massive flooding and landslides.

So far, more than 30 people are missing, 6,000 people seek shelter, 400 people are trapped in Northeast Vancouver without electric power, and mudslides have destroyed roads that have left mountain towns completely isolated in freezing temperatures. These floods and mudslides are a once-in-500 years event.

“These are extraordinary events not measured before, not contemplated before.” Says John Horgan, the Prime Minister of British Columbia.

Such climate disaster is the atmospheric river phenomenon, where two months’ worth of rain is dumped in only two days. This has not only affected the livelihoods of people but global supply chains. There has been a significant mudslide in one of the largest Canadian ports in Vancouver, which has blocked the nation’s shipping and transportation of imports and exports.

The aid provided to the affected populations through helicopter flights, plus the losses experienced in the local economy and supply chains, is one of the most expensive disasters in Canadian History. Such natural disaster proves the degrees of the climate emergency we live in, where nature’s power is more potent than our human problem-solving qualities.

Let’s hope that the Canadian officials and their people find shelter, food, and warmth in these unfortunate times.

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Tuvalu is an island nation in the Pacific composed of nine atolls between Australia and Hawaii. According to the World Bank, the sea level is rising approximately 5 millimeters per year around Tuvalu. Simon Kofe is Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister, his message has gone viral as he delivered an impactful message at COP26’s convention knee-deep in seawater.

“We cannot wait for speeches when the sea is rising all around us all the time. We must take bold alternative actions today to secure tomorrow.”

Kofe demands world leaders to keep their Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C temperature increase. He also calls for greater accountability for all nations that have historically contributed the most emissions.

If the Paris Agreement targets are not met–45% emissions cut by 2030–then sea levels in the Pacific will rise from half a meter to 1.1 meters before the end of the century.

A bold message from minister Kofe, we hope that it will instigate bold action too.

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The largest delegation in COP26 is made up of 503 delegates that represent fossil fuel companies. This stark realization demonstrates an inconvenient truth: our system is so entrenched and in bed with fossil fuel companies that they are allowed to participate in at a convention that exists to fix their mess–it’s a clear indication as to why no negotiation truly speaks about the elephant in the room: keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Scientists have shown that burning fossil fuels is the main cause of the climate crisis. This is the 26th COP, we have known this fact for over 40 years, yet somehow we allow their lobbying to infiltrate imperative negotiations. Fossil fuels must be kept in the ground if we want to have an inhabitable planet.

Campaigners and climate activists are calling for fossil fuel companies to be banned from attending the conference as Tobacco companies and lobbyists were banned from WHO conventions in the 1990s. 

Global Witness gathered data of the delegates attending COP26 and found that some of the participants of national delegations are also affiliated to the fossil fuels industry, 27 of them to be exact, including Canada, Russia, and the US.

The fossil fuel lobby at COP is larger than the combined eight delegations of the countries that have suffered the most under the climate emergency. This statistic is terrifying and only highlights the inefficiency of these empty diplomatic conversations.

The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) is the number one fossil fuel company represented at COP with 103 delegates. They promote carbon offsetting and carbon trading to continue working with fossil fuels through a transitional period to “business as usual”.

Allowing fossil fuel companies a seat at the table should be a clear sign of who politicians are listening to…

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In every corner of the world indigenous culture respects and protects nature in a manner that is synonymous with their lifestyle. This week, leaders worldwide are meeting up at Glasgow to discuss climate mitigation and the urgency to switch to net-zero emissions talking about strategies such as decarbonization, reforestation, biofuels, new technologies, and carbon capturing mechanisms.

However, these are solutions proposed by capital markets that somehow gloss over what indigenous communities urgently ask for: keep fossil fuels in the ground.

The famous Paris agreement legally states the importance of indigenous knowledge for conserving the environment, yet their voices are silenced in this COP26. The excuse? Visa restrictions and lack of proper COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Thus, major indigenous communities could not participate in the convention. “Indigenous people are more visible but we’re not taken any more seriously; we’re romanticized and tokenized. They’re trying to collect and preserve indigenous knowledge while continuing to leave us out of the actual decision-making and positions of power. It’s the only lever we have to hold states and governments accountable, but it’s the same paternalistic system as ever. We’re set up to fail, so that’s where civil society must come in.”—” said Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action.

The most devastating realization is how indigenous voices have become martyrs. In 2020, 227 indigenous activists were murdered by loggers and fossil fuel workers. Yet, somehow their voices remain unheard, their pleas unanswered, and their deaths unaccounted for.

Their absence at COP26 is a stark reminder of how this system benefits fossil fuel companies, and silences our most important fighters.

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COP26, where world leaders come together to discuss CO2 emission reduction has officially arrived…. in private jets.

Yes, you read that right.

The event organizers calculated every detail to make it as vegan, sustainable, and ethical as possible. Yet, the event’s much awaited guests nonchalantly landed in Glasgow in the complete comfort of jumbo private jets. FlightRadar24, a flight—tracking website—estimates that in the last 5 days over 182 chartered flights landed into Glasgow, Prestwick and Edinburgh airports.

That’s not all, chartered cargo planes carrying private helicopters and cars to escort the elite to and from the conference were also flown in from across the world.

On average a single one-hour private flight emits two tonnes of carbon emissions— which is 1/4 of the carbon produced by the average European in a whole year.

Perhaps our leaders should take a little trip back to 5th grade science and realize that COP26 is all about lowering every single pound of GHG emissions…

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Candy produces most of Halloween’s plastic footprint. But who are we kidding, we love sweets and trick or treating, so here you can find a list of vegan candy recipes that will make you enjoy the hocus pocus without falling into the candy wrapper trap of the year.

1. Vegan Marshmallows

2. Vegan gluten-free Twix bars

3. Vegan fudge

4. Vegan Milkyway

5. Vegan gummies

Tip: Serve everything in mason jars or empty glass jars you have laying around to make it zero-waste!

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Halloween, is around the corner, but do we know its origin?

Samhain

Back in 1200 BC, Celtic culture started to spread around Europe. Their culture is filled with mysticisms rooted in nature and the spiritual world. Many Celts followed Wicca religion —a pagan religion that practiced witchcraft and worshipped nature—Within Wiccan traditions, holidays were celebrated during the changes of the season, marking Samhain as the beginning of winter and the end of the summer—a new year.

During this festive season, Wiccans believed that the veil separating the human world from the spiritual world was especially thin, allowing spirits to interact with mortals. This made families spread altars devoted to their deceased, decorated with displays of bread, fire, and the season’s harvests to guide the souls to their loved ones’ homes. During this tradition, people would tell stories around a circle about the dead, reviving their spirit and feel it close to them.

Day of the Dead

Similarly, post-colonial Mexican syncretism follows the El Día de Los Muertos tradition, where families spread altars with flowers, pan de Muerto, sugar skulls, tequila, mezcal, and other things their loved ones treasured or pursued. Dressing up as La Catrina or El Catrin that are the human embodiments of death itself.

In certain areas of Mexico, like Oaxaca, Day of the Dead is more important than Christmas. Calendas—folkloric street parades with music and mezcal spread throughout the towns and cities. The cemeteries are filled with families playing music for the spirits and bringing offerings. Homes turn on a copal—an incense— at the beginning of the day and leave their doors open, the copal smoke welcomes the spirits back.

Christian Influence

When Christians began to spread their religion and traditions, missionaries aimed to delegitimize other pagan religions condemning venerations of the dead as traditions tied to the devil. The pope incited the masses to convert to the Christian faith by accommodating Christian holidays and traditions to Celtic calendars, so what we know of today as the day of All Saints in November 1st was a response to eliminate the “devil malicious” pagan celebration of “Samhain” or “Dia de los muertos.”

Similarly, a lot of Christian saints are responses to polytheistic religions that have different deities. These were methods the Catholic Church used to convert pagan souls.

From Samhain and Dia de los Muertos to Halloween

As Christians adapted Samhain to All Saints Day, the name was slowly altered to All Hallows’ Eve (Hallows meaning Saints).

During Samhain some people welcome the spirits home whilst others feared them. Those who feared them dressed up in costumes in order to confuse the spirits. In Dia de los Muertos, indigenous cultures displayed skulls to commemorate their past loved ones. Slowly halloween evolved to absorb Samhain or Dia de los Muertos traditions that the Christian faith deemed decent. This meant that costumes, bonfires, skulls and candies remained, whilst altars that invoke spirits back were banned.

Consumerism slowly transformed All Hallows Eve into what we know today.

Why celebrating the dead is important

Celebrating the dead is celebrating a passed life. Remembering loved ones, their favourite songs, shared memories and their preferred meal is healthy. It is a day dedicated to reminiscence, focusing people’s energy for a day to bring back past lives. Death is certain, we need to adopt these celebrations to heal our relationship with death,

This is why we invite you to celebrate the real meaning of Halloween: honoring death through acceptance and love for life.

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The Halloween Costume Rentals revolution is here

to make this spooky season sustainable and scary!

Here our list of the top 10 halloween rental costume stores.

London Halloween Costume Rentals

• • National Theatre Costume and Props Hire

    If you want to go all out with the most beautiful costumes, book an appointment with the National Theatre and be the life of the party!

New York

• • We’re Having a Party

    They have a huge stock of classic and contemporary costumes as well as party supplies.

Milan Halloween Costume Rentals

• • Lo Bosco

    Lo Bosco is a classic spot in Italy for costume rentals, you can find anything in their big stock of costumes.

Madrid

• • Calabuch Costumes

    This authentic Madrileño spot is famous for its theatrical props and costumes that will make the people around you turn their heads to your majestic Halloween costume.

Paris Halloween Costume Rentals

• • Somier

    Here you can find everything from props to medieval costumes. Go get lost in their amazing halls filled with fantasy and fun!

Sydney

• • Snog the Frog

    This colorful and funny store holds the biggest Halloween Costume collection! Enjoy yourself in this funky adventure!

Mexico City Halloween Costume Rentals

• • Renta Disfraces

    In this store, you can find all themes ranging from all ages, sizes, and qualities. Find yourself the perfect outfit for the spooky holiday!

Los Angeles

• • Adele’s Rental Costumes

    Here you can find a wide variety of Halloween costumes online, so when you get to the store you already have an idea of what you can expect.

Berlin

• • Wild Berlin

    This store has a wide variety of costumes as well as matching shoes!!

Buenos Aires

• • Todo Disfraz

    Rent your Halloween costume in this chic store and enjoy the dress-up!

The post The World’s 10 Coolest Halloween Costume Rentals appeared first on eco-nnect.

For 170 years, World Expos have provided a platform to showcase the most remarkable innovations that have shaped the world we live in today. The famous Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle have been historical landmarks conceived for the Global Expos.

Expo 2020 will continue that tradition with the latest technology from around the globe, showcasing sustainability and the need for innovations in architecture and urban development.

This year’s Expo is held in Dubai, unveiling a self-sustaining enormous futuristic “sustainability pavilion” named Terra. Residents and tourists will explore the relationship between nature and humans, enabling them to reflect on their actions on the environment.

Terra has a large solar canopy on top of the pavilion with over 4,912 solar panels, generating 5.5 megawatts of renewable energy to the Emirates peninsula. Around the structure, you can find 18 “energy trees” that rotate following the sun’s path.

Plus, the architects and engineers found a technology that transforms air into water, making it a self-sufficient building in the middle of the desert, demonstrating that sustainability is possible wherever there is intention. Terra also has a greywater recycling system that aims to reduce water use by 0.

This new landmark will inspire a new generation of sustainable infrastructures.

Dubai, responsible for this innovation, demonstrates how despite its oil-based economy it has encouraged young entrepreneurs to develop sustainable innovations.

This year’s Expo showcases new models of urban development, hopefully paving the way for a regenerative economy.

Check out the video of the Expo to immerse yourself in the experience of the futuristic Terra.

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