Sustainablog

How many of the environmental education initiatives that you know of were started by teachers, parents, or non-profit organizations? That’s typical: from artistic approaches to rainwater harvesting to solar boat building, most efforts at teaching kids about environmental issues start with adults. But students often come up with their own programs, too, and the President’s Environmental Youth Awards aims to highlight those efforts that start with schoolkids.

Started in 1971 by the EPA, this awards program “…recognizes young people across America for projects which demonstrate their commitment to the environment.” Awards are given for one project in each of the EPA’s ten regions. After 38 years, the winning projects have run the gamut — everything from peer environmental education to recycling efforts to wetlands restoration. Recent winners have included

• The Green Books Project in Lewisville, NC: Student Cory Adkins saw textbooks being thrown away at his school, and started his program to sell these books… and use the funds generated to support recycling in his community.

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It’s getting to be almost a cliché here in San Francisco with large music festivals that have either a green backbone or a heck of lot of social justice behind it. Both Outside Lands and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass sit only slightly in the rear view mirror but this weekend we hit the Treasure Island Music Festival to check out the music, happenings and the overall Green flavor.

Considering that several thousand people crammed into the festival space on Treasure Island we think that overall they handled the transportation issue in a pretty Green way. We made our way to the festival via zero-emission Bauer buses that picked most of the masses up at AT&T Park. The only real griping we heard came from East Bay attendees who said that they had to drive or take BART to SF instead of having shuttle buses come to the East Bay as well.

Upon entering the festival we couldn’t help but noticing the Ferris wheel but then after that we spied a pair of decent size solar panels that sat near the entrance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t determine or find anyone who knew what the solar power generated. We’re sure it the energy went toward something beneficial. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re a fan of the Sundance Channel’s series Green Porno with Isabella Rossellini, you’re probably already aware that the acclaimed show launched its third season on Monday (with a focus on marine animals). But how well do you really know the mating habits of various animal species?

In order to celebrate the new season, we’ve agreed to host another event with the show… this time a quiz (which you’ll find below the jump). Answer the questions below in the comments; if you score 80% or above (that is, only miss two questions), you’ll be entered into a drawing for a Sundance Channel prize package that includes:

• Ella Vickers bags, made out of recycled sails
• 1 Bag at a Time farmers market bags
• A Boku journal made from recycled paper
• Sundance pen
• Sundance Channel t-shirt (made from organic cotton)
• Sundance Channel hat (made from organic cotton)

Ready to get started? Here’s the quiz (and links to videos with the answers… this isn’t that hard)

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Are you a treehugging fashionista? A green glamor girl? A photogenic fan of photovoltaics? Summer Rayne Oakes has had this space to herself for quite some time, but now GreenLoop is hoping to give her some company. As a part of the launch of its Project Green Search, GreenLoop and its partners invite you to enter the first green model competition, and take your shot at a host of prizes… including a modeling contract.

So, what’s Project Green Search? It’s an educational platform designed to “… [inspire] young people to start thinking about how to align their careers with their environmental ethics.” As Greenloop sells sustainable fashion, a model search seemed like a natural fit: not only can fashion models have quite an impact on other young people, but the fashion industry has a pretty heavy environmental footprint. The sector badly needs great young minds with a sense of style to ensure that it addresses environmental challenges while still producing couture people want to wear.

Started on August 7th, the entry period for the model competition will run through September 16th. On the 17th, the public can vote on entrants, and ten finalists will be invited to Portland Fashion Week for interviews with judges, and a photo shoot with fashion photographer Courtney Daily. After a runway show, judge will choose the winner. She will receive:

• a contract with Option Model Management;
• a complete make-over and eco-fashion wardrobe;
• a professional photography session with Courtney Dailey; and
• a natural & organic beauty shopping spree.

Sound like the opportunity you’ve needed to break into the business? Head over to Project Green Search to enter.

Ever forget your wedding anniversary? Your spouse’s/partner’s birthday? Perhaps forgetting the anniversary on which you started blogging isn’t quite the same, but after six years and thousands of posts, I felt like a total dolt when I realized today that July 10th (not today, the 12th) was sustainablog’s “birthday.”

That’s right: six years (and two days) ago, I created a new Blogger account, and started wrestling with this concept of sustainability that I’d only recently discovered. There’ve been lots of twists and turns since then, but it’s really gratifying to look back and see the growth and development of my little blog in that time.

While most of us associate birthdays/anniversaries with gifts and celebrations, these dates are also the perfect time for expressing gratitude, and looking forward (as well as back). I owe many people thanks for their support, including

The folks at Green Options: sustainablog’s always been a little unique in the GO network: rather than narrowly focusing on a niche within the green world, we’ve always done a little bit of everything. That has its ups and down, and I’m grateful to my friends at GO (and new parent company Virgance) for their patience with and support of our model.

The green blogosphere: You can’t blog in a vacuum… or, at least, you can’t blog in a vacuum and expect to build much of an audience. From early on, sustainablog’s received a ton of support from both big and small players within the green online media space. Special hat tips to Grist (one of the first big sites to link to us), Treehugger (for the writing gig and frequent linkage), Worldchanging (for frequent early linkage and some guest posting opportunities), Triplepundit, HuffPo Green, Green, Inc., Greenbiz, Lighter Footstep… I’m just getting started. Whether you’re listed or not, know that I appreciate your support.

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Saving the planet through story is how Arianna shaped the green panel she moderated at the Produced By Conference held at Sony Picture Studios over the weekend.  The Conference was put on by the Producer’s Guild of America and co-helmed by the legendary Gale Anne Hurd.

If a person’s clout can be measured by the resources they can commandeer, then Hurd is most certainly still at the top of the Hollywood heap.  Not only was the Sony Pictures Studio lot supremely pleasant to stroll around, but volunteers were everywhere to assist with even small things like fetching water. Seriously.

And Sunday’s complimentary lunch featured no less than 10 honey wagons set up to serve the likes of lobster rolls, shrimp tempura and teriyaki flank steak.  Hurd commented to me that people were already asking her when next year’s conference was going to happen and said that “we didn’t even think we’d pull this one off!”  They expected 600 attendees - 900 paying producers showed up.

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Apparently, the pine wood snake has a very distinctive schlong: no one who entered our “Name that Schlong” contest confused it with the penis of, say, a blesbok or a dragonfly, or any of the other “members” of the Grand Gallery of Penises. Well done, schlong-namers!

Now, on to the important stuff…

We have a winner!

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It’s an experience many of us relish– taking a weekend stroll through the colors, sounds, and smells of a local farmers market and then choosing fresh items to take back to our homes, as well crafts, or maybe a cd from a local band. We know that the food will eventually fill our stomachs contently, or that another item we found will be a perfect and unique gift for a special friend or family member.

This summer you can show your support for your favorite farmers market, by helping it win a $5000 reward. Care2.com and Localharvest.org are sponsoring this great online contest. The $5000 top prize will be awarded to the farmer’s market that is voted the most popular by internet users like you. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: We’ve got a new Green Porno contest running… check it out.

If you’ve had dreams about Isabella Rossellini wandering through a forest of enlarged animal penises (peni?), either you need to get to the shrink quickly, or you’ve been watching Sundance Channel’s Green Porno series very regularly. If the latter’s the case, let’s see how much you’ve picked up…

Name that Schlong

Take a look at the picture above. The arrow in the picture is pointing out a specific species’ penis. Know what it is?  Name it… in the comments. Need help?  Check out the main contest post at Sundance’s SUNfiltered blog (disclosure: I’m a blogger there).

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While Ecologic Designs (one of my previous posts) is thriving by making practical products out of various waste streams – demonstrating green innovation and up-cycling – some artists around the world are working with a new medium: trash. These artists are coming together, actively gathering vast quantities of debris floating up on shorelines or collecting waste wherever it might be piling up and turning it into beautiful pieces of art.

On a trip to Santa Monica, California, a friend treated my family and I to an amazing – if not also disturbing and mind-opening – display of crocheted sculptures created from trash.  The exhibit, Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reefs by the Institute for Figuring, was displayed in several rooms of the Track 16 Gallery at Bergamot Station.  The Institute For Figuring (IFF) is an organization dedicated to the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts.

Created and curated by Christine and Margaret Wertheim, the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit was a stunning display of an ingenious use of waste materials, creativity and community, bringing together various reefs created by artists from around the world.  The exhibition also brought attention to the plight of our oceans and the depository for our trash that it’s become, accidental or otherwise. The Crochet Coral Reef Project of the Institute For Figuring is conceived as “a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.”

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