This week on Earth Beat, Not In My Backyard. From cocaine labs in the wilderness of Colombia to what living next to a wind farm is really like, we take a look at what happens when someone decides to build something in your backyard.

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My Empire of Dirt
Can NIMBYism be an issue in your very own backyard? That was the dilemma that faced Lisa Howard, who came home one day to find her husband Manny had decided to turn their garden – in Brooklyn, New York – into a miniature farm. But when the moment came to kill the chickens and cut the vegetables, disaster struck. Lisa tells host Marnie Chesterton that was the moment when she finally started to back her husband. Video: Manny Howard gives a tour of his backyard farm in Brooklyn for New York Magazine.
 
Wind turbines
Laura Israel is a filmmaker with a small log cabin in up-state New York, in the pretty, rural town of Meredith. Marnie talks to her about how the offer of wind turbines split their community into pros and antis, and turned neighbour against neighbour. Video: trailer for the documentary Windfall on YouTube.
 
Wind as farmer’s income
Not everyone has it in for windmills. One Dutch farmer, Pieter Beije, bought two wind turbines in 2004 when the proceeds from his potato and onion harvest weren’t enough to live on. Earth Beat’s Fiona Campbell went to the windswept Flevopolder to find out how he, his family and his neighbours find living in the shadow of the turbines.
 
Cocaine and the environment
Colombia’s history is smattered with drug lords, civil war and the displacement of millions. But cocaine production in Colombia also destroyed some of its most beautiful environment. We put Earth Beat correspondent Belinda Lopez on the back of a mule and sent her into the jungle to find out more.
 
Locusts: friend or foe?
Locusts have been around since biblical times and their devastation – apparently – knows no bounds. While they seem to incite universal fear and hatred, not everyone agrees with how much damage they actually do. Rob Nugent talks to Marnie about his film Memoirs of a Plague, in which he follows plagues of locusts through Australia, Egypt and Ethiopia.
 
Wi-Fi on Everest
It’s hardly the sort of place you’d expect to send an email, but it’s now possible to do just that from the summit of Mount Everest. While you might expect the technology to ruin the beauty of the place, local people have actually welcomed a new 3G phone network with open arms. Dawa Sherpa, who works on Everest, tells Marnie how it’s connecting the community.
 
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