The United States is not the only country fighting for a cleaner and healthier world. Environmentalism and protecting the Earth’s wildlife, is actually spreading across the whole globe. We at Starry Night Lights are one of many companies, who are encouraging efficient energy use and protecting our environment. We would like to encourage you to join those who have already committed themselves to becoming more environmentally conscious. Here are some examples and stories of global environmentalism, which is occurring all over the globe.

China:
Is one of the world’s most polluted nations. Air pollution is especially severe in China, and some experts have even suggested that the levels are so high that some of China’s pollution has spread over bodies of water to other nations. With the summer Olympics of 2008 being held in China, a lot of pressure has been put on China to clean up. Interestingly, there are already successful environmentalist movements in China, such as Green Camp. Green Camp is a summer camp for college students, which promotes democratic practices in dealing with pollution and environmentalism. This is a very interesting approach, especially because the Chinese government aggressively puts down democratic movements in the country. However, green camp has been able to successfully encourage ‘going green’ by leaning on the traditions of Daoism and Buddhism, which encourage unity with man and nature.

Africa:
Many nations of the continent of Africa do not have efficient recycling practices. Recently nations like Kenya have made efforts to change the recycling practices used in their countries. Kenya, like many other African nations suffers from large numbers of plastic bags, like the ones used for groceries, floating around the country. As a result, to curb the waste that the bags are causing in the country, Kenya has actually passed a tax on the plastic bags. This means that if an individual has his or her groceries bagged, they will have to pay a ‘bag tax’. This may seem silly, but it has proved helpful in reducing the amount of plastic bags floating around the nation. In South Africa, the plastic bag has even been called the nation’s “national flower”, because of the large numbers of bags found on trees and bushes. Just like Kenya, South Africa is taking similar measures to reduce plastic bag waste.

Global Environmentalism – ‘brought to you’ by Starry Night Lights !