Joel Madden's Tappin' That

Joel Madden joined the heroes over at UNICEF in 2008. He’s committed to supporting UNICEF’s water and sanitation programs, and is acting as the 2009 National Spokesperson for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Tap Project.
Check out what he has to say about the project below.

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Last year, I got to see—up close—what it’s like when safe, clean drinking water is a luxury, not a given. I traveled to the Central African Republic (CAR), where a third of the people don’t have safe water. Instead of waking up in the morning and turning on the tap, they may have to walk miles to get water from a dirty stream. Or pay someone for a bucket of water that came from a contaminated well. In a health clinic in this great little town, Sam Ouandja, we met children who were sick and dying from drinking unclean water. It was awful. I’m a father and seeing kids dying for reasons that can so easily be prevented was something I just couldn't accept.
But every day around the world, over 4,200 children die from water-related diseases. This year, I signed up to be the spokesperson for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Tap Project, because I want people to be aware of this horrible truth. And do something to stop it. During World Water Week, March 22–28, the Tap Project raises money for UNICEF to bring clean water to millions of kids around the world. It works like this: restaurants ask people who come in for a meal to give $1 for tap water they’d usually drink free. That one buck can pay for a child to have clean drinking water for 40 days. This is a great, simple idea that makes a difference. Go check out the Tap Project website to find restaurants near you that are part of Tap this year. Or learn about all the other ways you can donate and get involved.
On my trip to CAR, I got to see some of the awesome work UNICEF is doing with the money we raise. I can’t tell you how great it felt to meet people who—because of UNICEF—had clean water in the refugee camp we went to. Or to hang out with kids at a school with a UNICEF well who were healthy—not sick from bad water. But I think about the kids I met in Sam Ouandja—children I sat with, played with, sang with… children who could die because they don’t have clean water. You can really make a difference for kids like these with the Tap Project. So please—get involved!

-Joel Madden

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ONE.org, UNICEF, TAP Project

Best Week Ever: Trees.

Earlier this week Indonesia decided that it was time to enforce stricter deforestation laws, today the results of a new study is also in favor of the trees.
Five world renown organizations,
World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF),
the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR),
the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT),
the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA),
and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), have conducted a study on the financial stability of deforestation, for the past 20 years, and presented the results at the UNFCC Conference in Bali.
The outcome?
With the economy changing to favor environmentally friendlier products and with the market for carbon credits on the rise, in some places mandatory, it is costing major deforestation countries more to cut down the trees then to actually leave them in the ground.
Southeast Asia, Central Africa and the Amazon Basin were all found to bring in less then $5 per every ton of carbon they released. While US and European buyers are paying upwards of $35, 23 Euros, to offset a one ton reduction in carbon emissions.
"Deforestation is almost always driven by a rational response to what the market values and for some time now, it has just made more financial sense to many people in forested areas to cut down the trees," said Brent Swallow, leader of the study and Global Coordinator of the Partnership for Tropical Forest Margins. "What we discovered is that returns for deforestation are generally so paltry that if farmers and other land users were rewarded for the carbon stored in their trees and forests, it is highly likely that a large amount of deforestation and carbon emissions would be prevented."
The report observes that offering economic repayment for carbon storage, keeping the trees alive, would be effective to recover the lost income from their carbon emissions not to mention rebuild ecosystems & prevent countless species from becoming extinct.

Conserve Your Billboard

South Africa's electricity supplier, Eskom, portrays one way to conserve energy.

Africa Receives Help for the Largest Internet Bill EVER

The entire continent of Africa is set to receive an investment of 55 billion dollars to help have widespread internet access by 2012.
The ITU and African Development Bank (AfDB) equally undertake to combine forces in connecting all African capitals and major cities with a broadband infrastructure and to strengthen its connectivity.
"By 2015, broadband and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) services will be extended to all African villages," in a statement by the International Telecommunication Union. According to the World Bank, the cost of connecting to the Internet in Africa is the highest in the world, at some 250-300 dollars per month.

Join Our Nothing But Nets Team

East to West coast flooding is the result of weekss of torrential rainfall across the continent of Africa. Over one million people are in need of immediate aid in over 14 countries.
"Our greatest concern is to reach children who are most vulnerable, but roads and bridges have been destroyed, making access difficult," reports Paul Sitnam World Vision's emergency response director for West Africa.

The floods have washed away not only the roads, but homes and food as well.
Life threatening as the flooding is, the greatest challenges of survival are still yet to come for sub-Sahara Africa. All of this excess water serves as a haven for breeding mosquitoes. And the mosquitoes in Africa carry, as you prob. know, the Malaria virus.
We are running a campaign that allows you to send a life saving Malaria Net to a family in Africa for just $10. Every $10 buys a bed net, distributes it to a family and educates them on its use. Also, a generous grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match every donation! Join our Nothing But Nets Team and to save a family from Malaria! 2% of our goal met!