Happy Polar Bear Day!

Mama gnome got a surprise greeting today from one of her favorite humans, Carrie.

So Mama gnome wishes the same to you.

"Happy Polar Bear Day!"

Please visit Polar Bears International to see how we can commemorate this special day the polar bear way.

photo by: Alan Wilson from naturepicsonline.com

Polar bears are threatened by habitat loss, pollution, hunters, and global warming.

Please watch this video by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

video by NRDCflix

Please help save the polar bears and go green.
(c) Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

Gnomemart Versus Plastic Bag Monster

Mama gnome will not forget the first time she brought reusable bags to gnomemart.

The gum-chewing cashier raised an eyebrow and gave Mama gnome a suspicious look.

She double checked Mama gnome's license.

That truly is Mama gnome's height...and weight.

But soon, Mama gnome will have the last laugh because gnomemart has joined the fight against the bane of her existence, Plastic Bag Monster.

photo from: plasticdebris.org

A couple of weeks ago, Mama gnome went to gnomemart and after she placed her reusable bags on the conveyor belt for the groceries, the cashier smiled at Mama gnome and said, "Ahhh...Smart gnome."

Mama gnome looked around and saw she was the only gnome standing amidst the humans and she asked, "Why do you say such mystical things human?"

Cashier said, "Because we're going to be charging for the plastic bags."

Mama gnome's vision turned hazy but she managed to mumble, "When?"

"Maybe next month."

Only because Mama gnome felt faintish, otherwise she would've been whooping and hollering.

Just in California alone, 19 billion plastic bags are used by humans every year and out of that 19 billion plastic bags a measly 5 percent gets recycled.

The other 95 percent of 19 billion become minions of Plastic Bag Monster where they lounge around in their not so secret lair, Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

photo from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/North_Pacific_Gyre_World_Map.png


So when Mama gnome heard the cashier's comment, she welcomes this new ally, this gnomemart.

Here is their battle plan against the fiendish beast.

They call it the Plastic Bag Initiative.

A worthy name for a worthy cause.

Their mission: "to eliminate more than 135 million pounds of plastic shopping bag waste globally"
and gnomemart gets the extra benefits of...

"...reduce our plastic bag waste by the equivalent of 9 billion bags, avoid producing 290,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and prevent consuming the equivalent of 678,000 barrels of oil every year."

Mama gnome proudly presents her license to any gnomemart cashier.

Really, that is her height...and weight...

She'd gotten heavier with her heart so full, a heart gone green.

(c) Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

Mystery Animal of the Day

Young gnomelets have kept Mama gnome very occupied.

And it is the older gnomelet who asked, "Mama, how come you don't have a new Mystery Animal?"

And so sheepishly, Mama gnome presents the Mystery Animal of the Day.

This animal has the "strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal."

It is a marsupial, a relative of the kangaroo.

But unlike the kangaroo who is a herbivore, this Mystery Animal is carnivorous.

It feeds on carrion and preys on small mammals to a small kangaroo, wombats, birds, fish, frogs, reptiles, fruit.

It's a very noisy eater...so noisy...thus contributing to how it was named...the little devil.

If you've guessed the Mystery Animal of the Day is the Tasmanian Devil, Mama gnome would like to congratulate you and she hopes you will participate in A Billion Acts of Green, Earth Day 2011 on April 22, 2011.

Tasmanian Devil at Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia.

photo by: arndbergmann

The Tasmanian Devil is found in Tasmania, Australia's island and state.

It has a large head and neck. It has black fur and usually white patches on its chest and lower back. It's stocky and muscular.

It has a keen smell and is also described as having a "pungent smell."

The name Tasmanian Devil has a long history.

Mama gnome will not recount all the names but to give you an idea as to how this animal was named Tasmanian Devil...here it goes...

First named in 1807 Didelphis ursina, "meatloving bear."

Then later also renamed Sarcophilus harrisii,"Harris's meat lover."

Then "Beelzebub's pup was an early vernacular name given to it by the explorers of Tasmania, in reference to a religious deity who is a prince of hell and an assistant of Satan."

Other names used were Sarcophilus satanicus "Satanic meatlover" and Diabolus ursinus "diabolical bear."

Mama gnome would like to rename them as "Poor animalus creaturus name-mes just because it likes to eat loud-es and a eat a lot-es."

The Tasmanian Devil is an endangered animal.

According to the IUCN, its population has decreased by more than 60% in the last ten years.

One of the major threats to this animal is a terrible infectious cancer called the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).

The disease is spread between animals especially during the mating season and when they are feeding because of injurious biting.

DFTD is an "aggressive non-viral transmissible parasitic cancer" and the afflicted animal develops lesions and lumps around the mouth which spread to the rest of its body.

The animal is unable to feed and dies of starvation.

Another threat to the Tasmanian Devil is the red fox which was illegally introduced to Tasmania
for reasons including fox hunting which is another terrible crime. (And Mama gnome talks about fox hunting in detail here, another Mystery Animal.)

According to IUCN, other threats to the Tasmanian Devil is being killed on the roads by vehicles, being killed by dogs, and from persecution.

Persecution according to IUCN:

"Through the 1980s and 1990s, systematic poisoning in many sheep-growing areas (particularly fine-wool with its reliance on merinos) was widespread and probably killed in excess of 5000 devils per year (N. Mooney unpubl., from interviews with landowners). In the 1990s, control permits were occasionally issued to individuals who were able to argue that Tasmanian Devils were pests (e.g. killing valuable lambs)."




video from: NationalGeographic


Please read about the Tasmanian Devil's plight and visit WWF and also Save the Tasmanian Devil Program.

Mama gnome would now screech loudly, change her name to Gnomeus Eat-A-Lot-es-chocolate-us, and nip terrible humans who poison the Tasmanian Devil.

Please be the loud devil-may-care human in the planet and go green.

(c) 2009-2011 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

How Do I Globally Warm You? Let Me Count the Ways....

Early 20th century Valentine's DayCard, ca 1910

photo from Wikimedia Commons

Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love.

But Earth doesn't get any love from the Global Warming monster.

Mama gnome battles against the Global Warming Monster every day.

One of the more memorable fights was the Great Battle of October 2009, when Mama gnome

became a Lean Green Fighting....er Gnome.

This is how the wretched monster professes his global warming ways...

“How Do I Globally Warm You…Let Me Count the Ways…”

I globally warm you to the depths of your oceans and heights of your atmosphere

my carbon dioxide parts per million can reach, when feeling out of breath

For I sought to end the being of fresh air and ideal blue skies.

I globally warm you for every mile humans drive

Most earnestly in their oil glutton machines

I warm you copiously as men dig for more oil

I warm you hideously as men gouge mountain tops and poison their valleys

I warm you with oil slicks that cover ocean waters and kill majestic creatures you choose to ignore

I warm you even more with each melting ice sheet drifting to oblivion

In my old global warming ways and with your petroleum companies' faith

I globally warm your Earth with greenhouse emissions

I seem to gain every day---

I globally warm you with every tree, coal and fossil fuels you continue to burn-- and, if

you so choose...

I shall globally warm your Earth better after death…

Red hearts for humans, a black one for the Global Warming Monster.

This Valentine's Day...give the gift of love to Planet Earth, and may your hearts be green...

(c) 2009-2011, Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

Paper That Kills Tigers, Elephants and Orangutans

Paper cuts are no fun.

But here is paper more destructive and heinous for it kills endangered tigers, elephants and orangutans in one blow.

Here is photo featured in an eye-opening post by George Monbiot.

It shows the destruction of Sumatran rainforest in Sungai Sembilang National Park in Sumatra.

Sungai Sembilang National Park, Sumatra
Photograph: Romeo Gacad

According to the Rainforest Action Network (RAN):

"Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Royal Golden Eagle Group’s Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) are among Indonesia’s most destructive corporations. Between them, they produce 80 percent of Indonesia’s pulp and paper. This comes from clear cutting rainforests and replacing them with monoculture acacia pulp wood plantations grown on these cleared rainforests and peatlands. Many leading international companies and consumer brands are contributing to this tragic pattern of destruction by, often unknowingly, purchasing paper products from affiliates of APP and APRIL."

"Deforestation in Riau has been driving both Sumatran elephants and tigers to local extinction: as of 2007, Sumatran elephant and tiger populations in Riau had declined about 75 percent over the past 25 years to as few as 210 and 192 individuals, respectively. If forest clearing is not halted, both may become locally extinct in a few years’ time."

Please be informed of the many companies/minions of APP including:

• tissue/towel companies Solaris Paper
• and Mercury Paper (LIVI and Paseo brands plus private labels)
• and paper distributors Global Paper Solutions
• Eagle Ridge Paper (Ovation brand papers)
• Gold East Paper USA
• PaperMax
• The Blue Planet Group

APP has also reneged on millions of US taxpayer monies.

"In 2008, APP was ordered by a New York federal judge to pay back more than $100 million of that debt to the taxpayer-financed U.S. Export-Import Bank. The debt remains unpaid."

The Forest Stewardship Council and Rainforest Alliance, and companies like Target, Walmart, Staples and Office Depot have severed ties with APP.

Sumatra is not the only APP stop.

According to this post, Cambodia is also suffering the same loss and destruction where APP has set up companies: Green Rich and Green Elite.

App has also been charged with illegal logging in China.

What can we do as humans and gnomes to help stop this deadly paper destroying our forests and killing our precious animals and resources?

Please educate yourself and read about APP here.

Boycott products from APP and its minions.

Please see the Natural Resources Defense Council's Consumer Guide for responsible paper products that help protect forests and not destroy them.

Shop for "paper products with paper products with recycled content -- especially post-consumer fibers."

Visit NRDC for more tips to help save our forests.

Please help by using your wallet responsibly and help send a clear message to paper companies.

Use super paper that helps save the world and go green!

(c) 2009-2011 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

The Slaughter of the Rhino

Mama gnome strives to stay positive and see the glass half-full.

But it's hard to keep a stiff upper gnome lip and be optimistic when you learn about the slaughter of the Rhino.

Rhinos are being slaughtered for their horns.

Rhino horns are illegally sold and bought in Asia for use for "traditional Chinese medicine" and in the Middle East as handles for ornamental daggers.

Last June 2010, poachers in South Africa killed..."the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg...(it) bled to death after having its horn hacked off."

The rhino was a mother.

"Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos."

According to this report, rhino poaching has severely worsened with:

Wildlife officials in...South Africa say 2010 was an extraordinarily bad year, with 333 rhinos poached, nearly three times as many as were lost in 2009. Five more rhinos were killed in the first weeks of 2011.

There are five species of rhinoceros:

First, the White Rhinoceros with two subspecies, the northern and southern white rhinoceros.

White Rhino

photo by: Ikiwaner, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waterberg_Nashorn3.jpg

Since 2008: "The last four northern white rhinoceros remaining in the wild are feared to have been killed for their horns by poachers and are now believed to be extinct in the wild. "

The second species, the Black Rhino, is listed as critically endangered by IUCN.

Black Rhino

photo by: Ikiwaner

According to the IUCN..."one of the main threats to the population is poaching for the international rhino horn trade."

The third species is the Indian Rhinoceros or the Great One-horned Rhinoceros. IUCN lists the Indian rhino as vulnerable and habitat decline threatens this species.

Indian Rhino
photo by: Fritz Geller-Grimm

The fourth species is the Javan Rhinoceros.

Javan Rhino

1930 photo of Javan Rhino by: Hoogerwerf, Andries, Rhino Resource Center

Mama gnome has featured this rhino sadly as a Mystery Animal of the Day,for it is considered the most endangered of all the largest mammals in the world.

According to this report:
"Last year, a Javan rhino, which is one of the world's rarest mammals, was found dead in a Vietnamese national park with its horn chopped off. Experts believe only three to five animals still exist in Vietnam."


The fifth species is the Sumatran Rhinoceros.

Sumatran Rhinos at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens

photo by: Charles W. Hardin

IUCN lists the Sumatran Rhino as critically endangered with less than 250 mature individuals and their population continue to decline because of illegal poaching and habitat loss.

Here is a video reporting about rhino poaching. Warning. Some images show the slaughtered rhinos.


video by: AlJazeeraEnglish

Do you think there is any hope for the Rhino? What can we do to help save them?

Visit WWF.

Spread the terrible news about this animal.

Please help save the rhino.

Please help and go green.

(c) 2009-2011 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

Green Gifts That Keep On Giving

Merry Old Santa Claus art by Thomas Nast

Mama gnome bundled up and braced herself for her holiday shopping.

She pulled down her pointy hat and set her drink of morning elixir by the gnome computer.

Green gifts galore flashed on the screen.

Natural Resources Defense Council's website features all these wonderful green gifts:

Help fight against global warming.

image by Robert A. Rohde, Global Warming Art

You can adopt a wolf in Yellowstone Park.

photo by Barry O'Neill, PD-USGOV-INTERIOR-NPS

Help save a polar bear and her cub.

photo by Schliebe, Scott, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Please visit NRDC and consider these green gifts that keep on giving.

Give the best gift of all and go green.

(c) 2010 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

A Grateful Gnome

photo from: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Here is something Mama gnome is thankful for...

According to this report:

"The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas."

"Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department, said the designation would help polar bears stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change."

Here is a movie by Sophie Keller and Oli Barry showing what might happen if there were only two polar bears left in the world...


video from: liveartheatre


Mama gnome and the gnomelets chant: "Save energy...save the polar bears!"

On this Thanksgiving Day please celebrate and give thanks.

Help save the polar bears and go green.

(c) 2009-2010 Jenaelha, friendly Gnome's Blog

Take That Plastic Bag Monster!

Mama gnome almost fell off her stoop when she read this

Los Angeles Times report:

"L.A. County Passes Sweeping Ban On Plastic Bags"


Please pardon Mama gnome while she whoops and hollers like a mad gnome.

"Wooohoooo! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Take that Plastic Bag Monster!"

The bane of Mama gnome's existence is this wretched creature, Plastic Bag Monster.

It lives and grows in size in its evil lair, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, fed by its minions of trash monsters including plastic bottles, plastic caps, styrofoam monsters, disposable plastic cutleries, take out containers and by its most prolific minion...plastic bags...

"In Los Angeles County alone, 6 billion plastic bags are used each year, an average of 1,600 bags per household a year. Government figures show that only about 5% are recycled."

And for the whole state of California, 19 billion plastic bags a year. Nineteen Billion.


video from: Orbit26200


Last September, California was poised to pass a sweeping plastic bag ban.

Mama gnome was heartbroken when the bill failed.

It was killed by heavy advertising and lobbying by Plastic Bag Monster's creator: the plastic bag manufacturing industry.

So on that cold September day, Plastic Bag Monster laughed its evil laugh.

But today on this cold November day, Mama gnome laughs back at Plastic Bag Monster's face and she says, "Take that Plastic Bag Monster!"

Please bring your reusable bags everywhere: groceries, bookstores, department stores, farmer's markets...everywhere...so you'll always have one to use instead of taking a plastic bag.

Please bring your own reusable containers to restaurants for your left-overs instead of using take out styrofoam container monsters.

Please help Mama gnome defeat the Plastic Bag Monster and go green.

(c)2009-2010 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

The Year of the Dying Tiger

photo from:Mayankkatiyar

According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, the year 2010 is the year of the Tiger.

Mama gnome would like to categorize it as the Year of the Dying Tiger.

During the beginning of the 20th century there were an estimated 100,000 tigers.

And now a century later, 100 years later, the tiger population has decreased to less than 3,000 tigers in the wild.

Humans have killed off 97% of the tiger population.

Just in the last ten years tiger habitat has decreased by 40%

What is pushing this animal into extinction?

According to IUCN:

"...consider habitat loss and poaching for trade to be primary causes of a significant decline in Tiger range and numbers."

"Despite strong international action to eliminate it, illegal trade persists...Although all countries have banned use and manufacture of tiger bone, illegal production persists in several Asian countries, especially in China, Malaysia, and Vietnam."

"In China there are several operations engaged in intensive breeding ("farming" of tigers), with the captive population reportedly reaching 5,000. They are pressuring the government to allow them to produce tiger products, and several are already engaged in illegal production of Tiger bone wine."

"Tiger farming perpetuates and threatens to re-ignite consumer demand."



video from: BBCWorldwide


What can we do to help?

Visit WWF's Save Tigers Now

Educate family, friends, children about the plight of the tigers.

Don't buy fur, be it tiger fur, fox fur, or any other animal because it perpetuates the problem.

Don't buy tiger medicine. Don't use tiger medicine.

Report businesses or people who trade in tiger parts, products. It's illegal and Mama gnome would like to add..."downright #$#^#." That's why.

Don't buy tiger wine.

And Mama gnome would like to add, "Why in the world would you want to drink wine fermented from the bones of this animal? Or any other animal actually...Drink morning elixir instead, so vital for life."

Part of the problem that is killing tigers is habitat destruction, so be aware of products you buy, paper products which contribute to the destruction of their habitat.

Please visit Natural Resources Defense Council to see lists of green paper products from toilet paper to paper towels.

Use cloth napkins, recycle old shirts and cut them up to be used instead of paper towels for wiping down counters.

Save our trees and forests and save the tigers' home.

Please help the dying tiger...and go green.

(c) 2010 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog