If the tree could scream...

Message from nature - "The power of capitalism"
Originally uploaded by BornJavanese

You may see the beauty of the image. However, the beauty comes out from the scream of nature, which can do nothing but expressions, expressions of being slowly slaughtered by human behaviors. If they could scream... you could hear a cry, sorrowful cry!

The behaviors that made such an image above were not beautiful at all! A staining nail stabbed in a palm tree, making slowly damaging effect to it. That's really a bad case in this era of concerning on environment: climate change. Trees are very important element in this planet earth. [skd]

Imagine you can't make this one!

Oxidation-Energy, originally uploaded by BornJavanese.

All peoples in the world come into a crisis: fossil oil, which has been so expensive that many demos spread all over countries. The crisis of energy drives efforts to save the resources as well as to develop innovations for sustainable ones.

This concern about energy wakes me up to explore things that have something to do with energy making. I am not an expert in this field. However, it is very interesting. I started with simple natural phenomena, which shows a simple process of producing energy. My mind turned to fire, which was supposed by ancient cultures to be one of basic elements in this universe. Once I had a question, "What is fire?" Then I try to answer it by my own: fire is a fact of fastened oxidation process! Hahaha... really, I don't know whether it's true or false, but I am sure, that fire is not a-stand-alone element. There are always at least two elements to make fire. One of them is oxygen. Again, maybe I do something haphazardly! Help me to know the valid answer, please...

Anyway, I get some matches and get the room dark to do my simple "energy-project". The result is shown in the picture. I used Canon PowerShot A400 in macro mode and inactivated flashlight. I just got it sharpened with amount 100, radius 1 and threshold 1. Done!

Hopefully, after you see this picture, you get your own idea and creativity to do more than what I've done. What if you can't make fire?! [skd]

Go green with "Horta" - Educational toys for kids

Since we have concerned on global-warming issues, our mind will pursue ideas to fight against the impacts. If not, the global movement due to the issues will remains for nothing!

I'm glad to find creative ideas solve this global problem. Brilliant ideas may come from the experties, but some from the laity. What is brilliant sometimes comes from simple thing as well. That's what I can say when I found an information about educating kids to love horticulture with toys!

It's about toys made from dusts of sawing activity, which is popularized by Asep Rodiansah and friends - graduated youngsters from IPB (Institut Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia). They name the toys "Horta" - abbreviating "horticultura". Look at the picture! Cute, isn't it? The green hair is growing grass! Kids will love to have it. Along with it, they will ask, "How is it growing?" That is the point of educational approach. Parents can tell them about it and teach them how to save this planet Earth from global warming!

What makes me raise my thumbs up is the idea behind the making of this cute. They spent 6 months of scientific research to bear the cuties. Furthermore the materials are from waste things: used socks and dusts of certain wood as media.

Bravo and congrats, Asep and friends! Keep going! [skd]

Go Green! Selamatkan Bumi Mulai dari Dapurmu

Go Green! Selamatkan Bumi Mulai dari Dapurmu

• Aneka jenis tissue diproduksi dari serat kayu dan tidak dapat didaur ulang. Gunakan lap/serbet yang bisa dipakai berulang kali untuk lap piring, serbet makan, lap meja, dll.
• Kantong teh celup terbuat dari bahan yang sulit hancur. Pilih teh bubuk dan bukan teh celup.
• Jangan biarkan magic jar menyala selama 24 jam sehari. Segera matikan setelah nasi atau masakan matang. Nyalakan hanya saat ingin memanaskan nasi atau makanan.
• Minyak goreng dibuat dari kelapa sawit. Keberadaan kebun kelapa sawit telah mengubah wajah hutan alam di Indonesia. Berhematlah menggunakan minyak goreng untuk menyelamatkan hutan kita dan mengurangi emisi. Hutan gambut menyerap emisi karbon lebih besar dari hujan.
• Pilih sabun atau shampoo berukuran besar, bisa diisi ulang. Selain lebih ekonomis, kita juga bisa mengurangi sampah kemasan.
• Kulkas yang kosong lebih menghabiskan listrik daripada kulkas yang penuh. Selanjutnya di http://www.hijaubumiku.com

Baca juga:
- Apa Itu Gas Rumah Kaca
http://www.green.adexindo.com/artikel-apa-itu-gas-rumah-kaca.html
- Sumur Biopori Atasi Banjir
http://www.green.adexindo.com/artikel-sumur-biopori

Go Green!
Rosa S Rustam

Adenium - A photo for The Nature Conservancy Photo Contest

Adenium - 01
Originally uploaded by BornJavanese

Since I've joined The Nature Conservancy to have the updated news from the site, I just received and enjoy a lot of beautiful nature pictures of another places on this planet Earth. Sometimes I wondered if I could share photos from my country - Indonesia. Now, I do it!

Fortunatelly, the website holds a digital nature photo competition. It's time to partake in it, I think. Nevertheless I have no camera anymore since the one I got was stolen by a thief! However, thank God, when I came home to my homecity - Jogjakarta - a good friend of mine let me use his digital camera. It's Nikon DX4. I just thought of making pictures for the beloved conservation community. I did it some.

The picture above is an Adenium. I toke it from my foreyard. The plant is growing with little shoots coming out from their stem. A new era of a living has just begun, bringing new hopes of the future! [skd]

I give you a link to Bicycle City

I thought you might find Bicycle City interesting and sent you this link:

http://www.bicyclecity.com/

Thank You,

Bicycle City - An Eco-Friendly Place to Live, Work & Play.

Send your favorite nature photos!

I have joined The Nature Conservancy - an conservation community - in April 2007. Since then I always get news from the site about the activities related to conservation efforts worldwidely. Though I have not taken any participation yet, except reading the news, including in my area - Indonesia -, I enjoy it very much. I told some friends of mine about the community, and they are interested in it.

One of many that I like most is that I can travel over the world virtually. There are so many beautiful photos shared by the members. Some are very awesome. I wonder if I could share my photos as contribution to the efforts.

Today I got an email from the community. I get informed about 2008 Digital Photo Contest held by the community. Here is a copy-paste of the announcement:

"Dear Mr. Sukandar,
Your favorite nature photos could win and inspire others! Enter The Nature Conservancy's 2008 Digital Photo Competition by submitting your favorite images.
Just like the more than 25,000 entries we received since our first contest in 2006, we're looking for beautiful nature photography representing the diversity of life on Earth — including forests, grasslands, lakes, rivers, deserts, rainforests, oceans, coral reefs, and more!

Your own original digital images of our lands, waters, plants, animals and people in nature are all eligible for the competition. View last years' finalists here.
At least 35 photos will be selected as honorable mentions and finalists. Your favorite will be declared the Grand Prize Winner and will be featured in the 2010 Nature Conservancy calendar.

To enter one or more images use the Conservancy's free Flickr™ photo-sharing group and tag each with "PhotoContest-TNC08". Or, if you prefer, you can complete our online form and e-mail each photo, one at a time.

The contest is open to all photographers age 18 or older regardless of residence or citizenship, so long as the laws of their jurisdiction allow participation. Photo submissions must be uploaded by 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, October 15, 2008. Please read the full rules before entering.

Thank you for all you do to showcase and celebrate the beauty of our natural world — inspiring others to protect our most critical natural resources. And good luck!"

I have an account at Flickr.com already. Then I uploaded some pictures that I have by my own shots. Want to see my photostream at Flickr? Click here! Would you participate in the contest? Good luck! [skd]

Beware of the believes behind your actions!

What is making this human world beauty? Beauty-making is action, as life is also action! Thus, the most important thing is action. Without it, anything will remain as nothing. The question is, what kind of action do we have to do? That will include our morality as well as our religiousity and spirituality. When we agree that human being is the image of God himself, or when all of us dream of a union with God, humanity would be the basic measurement.

However, practically our understanding about "the most right humanity" seems to be always in disputes, rather than serious efforts of making it real. Human being is an uncomplete creature in terms of evolution theory. He is still in-progress to be a perfect human being. He has to learn to be (more) human. The understanding about "the most right humanity" would be in the learning process that no one knows when it will come to an end. We just need to believe in the existence of it, to convince that it is real eventhough it is beyond! The thing is how to consolidate many believes among us! Again and again, we can fall just into disputes about the most right belief!

So, wacth out! [skd]

Hari Bumi - Awalilah dengan pemahaman!

Hari Bumi (Earth Day) tahun ini mestinya menjadi hari yang istimewa bagi kita orang-orang Indonesia. Konferensi tingkat dunia mengenai perubahan iklim (climate change) yang digelar di Bali Desember 2007 lalu semestinya menjadi pemicu semangat untuk lebih serius memperhatikan lingkungan tempat kita hidup.

Peringatan Hari Bumi sebagai sebuah gerakan bisa menjadi unpowerful bila tidak melibatkan sebanyak mungkin lapisan masyarakat dunia ini, tanpa kecuali. Selama kita masih mendiami planet ini, makan dan minum dari tanah dan air pertiwi ini, selama itulah kita mesti bertanggung jawab atas setiap perilaku yang berdampak padanya. Bukan besar atau kecilnya dampak perilaku itu, tetapi baik atau buruknya dampak perilaku kitalah yang patut diperhatikan. Besar-kecil adalah ukuran kuantitatif, sementara baik-buruk adalah ukuran kualitatif. Meskipun keduanya sama-sama penting, namun seringkali hal-hal menyangkut kualitas perilaku manusia kadangkala terabaikan. Apalagi ini jelas-jelas sebuah gerakan moral-etika terhadap ekosistem bumi (ekoetika) yang cakupannya begitu luas dan menyangkut rentang waktu yang tidak serta-merta. Tantangannya pun jelas: arogansi egoisme kita serta pola gaya hidup kita yang semakin konsumtif dan semakin dipacu oleh keinginan instan.

Sebagai sebuah gerakan moral perayaan Hari Bumi sebetulnya ingin memencet "tombol kehendak" dalam diri setiap orang. Kehendak atau keinginan akan menelorkan tindakan, dan tindakan akan membentuk perilaku yang berpola, dan akhirnya menjadi budaya. Selama seseorang tidak menghendaki sesuatu, tidak akan pernah ada tindakan sengaja dari dirinya untuk mewujudkan sesuatu itu, apalagi dengan tindakan yang terarah dan terencana.

Banyaknya iming-iming tentang gaya hidup hedonis, konsumtif dan instan sungguh menempatkan cara hidup ramah lingkungan yang penuh dengan askese sebagai pilihan yang tidak populer. Demikian pula sering sifat agresif kita terpancing: "Kalau tetangga kontrakanku saja boros memakai listrik, ngapain aku tidak melakukan hal yang sama? Kan adil!" Dalam skala internasional celetukannya bisa seperti ini, "Kalau negara-negara kaya saja dengan seenaknya membuang karbon ke atmosfir kita, ngapain kita negara-negara miskin harus menahan diri bahkan mengurangi emisi karbon dan tidak boleh menebang hutan kita sendiri? Nggak fair dong!" Tidak mengherankan bahwa gerakan etika lingkungan memasuki ruang percaturan politis para pemimpin dunia. Apalagi yang dibicarakan kalau bukan soal sharing tanggung jawab dan keadilan!

"Think globally, act locally" adalah salah satu slogan yang sering dihembuskan untuk mengajak masyarakat kita untuk memahami lebih dalam tentang dampak perilaku kita terhadap lingkungan global. Tidak peduli kita ini berada di sudud bumi yang mana, riak pengaruh perilaku kita akan sampai ke sisi lain planet ini. Dan memang, faktor pemahaman adalah dapur di belakang kehendak yang ingin dikondisikan oleh gerakan Hari Bumi ini. Pemahaman yang komprehensif mengenai lingkungan hidup diharapkan bisa membuka kesadaran kita akan dampak setiap perilaku kita bagi kelestarian bumi ini. Maka mari kita mulai mendidik perilaku kita sendiri, dimulai dengan memahami secara benar dampak-dampak yang mungkin ditimbulkannya sampai ke ujung dunia sana.

Siapa menjamin kelangsungan hidup generasi berikut di bumi ini? Pahamilah bahwa Tuhan mempercayakan bumi ini kepada kita, dan itu berarti kitalah yang paling bertanggung jawab atas nasib setiap generasi di planet bumi ini. [skd]

Senyum dong, Sayang ...

"Nah... begitu dong, Jeng, senyum... Kan jadi beda itu wajah. Tambah manis gitu lhoooh...!" rayuku suatu ketika kepada istriku.

Waktu itu aku baru pulang kerja. Memang sih, aku terlambat, jam 20.00 WIB baru sampai rumah! Memang keterlaluan ya?! Kayak lupa kalau sudah punya istri yang menunggu di rumah dengan harap-harap cemas. Sadar kalau telad sampai rumah, aku sudah menduga kalau di wajah istriku sudah pasti tumbuh sungut, melengkapi jerawat yang sudah lama ngendon di sana (Eh, ndak boleh yaaaa... njelek-njelekin istri sendiri! Bagaimanapun dia tetep cuantik, apalagi kalau pas lagi marahan. Byuh... cantiknya sampai ga karuan! Hehehe...). Yang jelas aku harus minta maaf. Ndak salah kan, suami minta maaf?

"Sorry ya, Jeng, aku telad pulang. Pliiiisssss...!" pintaku disertai mimik memelas, tapi sambil senyum (hehehe... bisa mbayangin ga, memelas sambil senyum?).

Tapi betul, aku lebih suka milih senyum di saat-saat seperti itu. Paling tidak senyum pada diri sendiri. Karena aku yakin, dengan begitu secara mental pun diri ini sudah terseting oke duluan. Dan rasanya energi yang kulepaskan pun terasa lebih ringan daripada cemberut bersungut-sungut. Belum pernah sih aku menimbang bobot sungut, tapi jelas, seseknya sampai ke dada. Mental pun jadi apes duluan!

Aku pernah mengikuti sebuah pelatihan salesmanship singkat, sekitar tiga tahun lalu. Ternyata, modal awal yang paling menentukan kesuksesan seorang salesman bukanlah uang atau hal-hal yang muluk-muluk. Cukup pembawaan diri dan bersikap semanak (Jw.), bahasa londonya mungkin hospitality. Sebelum "menaklukkan" customer, terlebih dahulu seorang salesman harus bisa menaklukkan diri sendiri. Dalam kondisi sedih atau gembira, baru banyak utang atau saku sedang tebal, tak peduli! Seorang salesman harus menampilkan diri dalam kegembiraan. Lha, trus piye kalau kenyataannya tidak begitu gembira?! Apalagi kalau calon customernya galak!

"Pause!" begitu trainerku menyela bayangan-bayangan buruk yang sudah berderet di ubun-ubun ini.

"Anda harus memencet tombol 'pause' atau bahkan tombol 'stop' di kening ini! Hentikan 'self-talk' yang buruk itu! Sekarang Anda saya ajak untuk berlatih bagaimana caranya mengendalikan perasaan dengan gesture kita! Percaya nggak, kalau mental tan tubuh kita ini sebenarnya saling pengaruh-mempengaruhi? Kalau biasanya tubuh kita ini membahasakan mental kita, jadi tubuh dikendalikan oleh mental, sekarang coba dibalik: mental kita membahasakan tubuh ini! Bisa nggak?!"

"Piye kuwi?!"

"Lha, latihannya begini: Coba menghadap cermin. Kemudian senyumlah. Namun, bersamaan dengan itu pikirkanlah hal-hal sedih! Bisa?!"

Semua peserta mencobanya, meskipun tak ada yang bawa cermin. Aku juga. Sumprit! Gak bisa!

"Hehehe... Sekarang dibalik, buatlah kening wajahmu berkerut, tapi sekaligus bayangkanlah hal-hal terlucu yang pernah Anda alami! Bisa?!"

Lha mbok sampai kram, Pak! Mustahil!

"Sekarang, senyumlah dan sekaligus bayangkanlah hal-hal yang menyenangkan!"

Naaaah... yang ini nih!

Begitu. Sore itu bahan training yang pernah aku dapatkan itu aku praktekkan. Istriku sih agak jual mahal waktu aku rayu. Tapi, sekurang-kurangnya itu sungut yang di jidat jadi pudar... ***