Sustainablog

Back in September, I wrote about the XPrize Foundation’s “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” video contest that they were sponsering on YouTube. Three finalists have been chosen from the 133 entries received, and it’s time for viewers to vote for one of the Crazy Green Ideas after viewing the three choices.

I just finished viewing all three videos which are under 2 minutes each:

Energy X Prize: Reduce Home Energy - This idea has communities competing against each other to reduce energy consumption. The winning community would get a hefty prize.

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If the college turnout for last week’s elections are any indication, we are fortunate in this country to have a population of highly passionate, highly informed young adults. The Mother Nature Network is looking to tap into some of that youthful energy by bringing on college interns whose passions run for the environment.

The soon to be launched environmental network is partnering with YouTube to hold video auditions to find one student from each major U.S. college to be a correspondent for Mother Nature Network in 2009. MNN’s college reporters will be highlighted contributors able to cover environmental topics in what many expect to be an exciting year for environmental causes once President-elect Obama takes office.

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Did you know that you could have vampires in your home at this very moment? Most of us do - in the form of a vampire load. A vampire load (also known as a phantom load) is the power that is sucked from a piece of electronic equipment when it is seemingly turned off (but still in standby use) or not in use.

In order to bring awareness to this waste of energy, Best Buy has created National Vampire Awareness on October 30th. They are working to educate consumers on the effects of vampire loads and how to avoid unnecessary energy use. They have a Halloween spoofy video on their website to help them do the job as well as some facts and tips. Read the rest of this entry »

Even with yesterday’s stock market rally, we’ve all got the economy on our minds… and, for the most part, we’re worrying about it. Our retirement accounts are shrinking, our jobs are less secure, and buying or selling a home seems like a fantasy. An injection of cash into the markets is welcome; an injection of new ideas is absolutely critical.

As I’ve noted in previous posts, Red, Green and Blue has teamed up with social media start-up ReframeIt to bring a higher level of transparency on energy and environmental issues to the presidential election. With the recent economic turmoil, though, we quickly realized we needed to connect these ideas with the economic concerns so many Americans now have.  So, we’ve done that… and also added some financial incentives! Now, if you participate in the RG&B/ReframeIt scavenger hunt, you won’t just get a warm feeling from contributing to the stock of knowledge on both presidential candidates and their policy proposals — you’ll also have a shot at a $1000 grand prize, and a guest posting spot at RG&B.

For the latest details, check out yesterday’s post at Red, Green and Blue… and join us as we hunt for the information the next president will need to spur the transition towards a green economy.

Image credit: spaceodissey at Flickr under a Creative Commons license

A few days ago, I went to the 12th annual Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival with a good friend (who is also the founder and Executive Director of GreenRight, a new environmental/social-justice nonprofit). Coordinated by the group Voices for Animals and run entirely by volunteers, the event brings together people of all stripes and shades from throughout central Virginia for a smorgasbord of green goodies.

After just a few moments at the Festival, you will be able to understand why it usually draws in about 6,000 visitors, making it one of the largest vegetarian festivals in the United States. In modest Lee Park in downtown Charlottesville, and spilling over into surrounding parking lots, local natural foods stores, organizations of all sorts, restaurants, and other vendors provide an unbelievable variety of goods, information, and entertainment. Add to that live music and animal adoptions, plus free samples and fun activities like face painting, and you can easily spend the entire day with other folks who are interested in livingly compassionately towards animals and the planet.

Just to give you a snapshot: Walk up to the table of the Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation and take part in a poll of transportation methods used by attendees. Depending on your mode of locomotion (biking, driving alone, carpooling, etc.), you will get a colored rock that you then put in a clear tube. As the piles grow and the tubes fill, everyone can see which transportation methods are most popular–though the most popular may not be the most sustainable as well. Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday, September 7, Philadelphians and those from surrounding communities (including me) will be celebrating all things green at GreenFest Philly. The festival coordinators expect about 20,000 people and their reusable water bottles to descend upon the Headhouse Square section of the city located on Second Street between Lombard and South Streets.

The theme for this year’s festival is water quality. There will be a Water Quality Symposium where speakers will cover topics such as Residential Water Use and What’s Happening In Your River? (that would be the Delaware River for those unfamiliar with the region). There will also be several short films at the EcoFilm Forum that will cover water topics.

While water is the theme of this year’s festival there will be much more going on. 200 exhibitors will display their green causes/services/merchandise. There will be plenty of kids activities and even a Sweet Green Organic Pastry/Dessert Contest. Oh, YUM! And much, much more.

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The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced Monday, during the opening of the US Open, that it would be making efforts to initiate long-term environmentally sustainable projects to reduce it’s carbon footprint at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (NTC) in New York.  Environmental consultants Environmental Resource Management assisted in the plans to green up the center, which include energy efficiency and management, green outreach to fans, increased recycling, environmentally-sustainable product sourcing, and more efficient transportation.

“Big-time sporting events provide a unique platform to educate fans on green initiatives, and we feel that the best way we can educate is to lead by example,” said Arlen Kantarian, Chief Executive Officer, Pro Tennis, USTA. “We have a plan that will lessen the environmental impact of the event and heighten the environmental awareness of those who attend it.”

Constellation Energy will provide wind credits through Green-E to offset the entire amount of electricity used during the US Open. US Tennis has partnered with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to give away wallet-sized cards with green living tips at the US Open.  The NTC will have convenient plastic and aluminum recycling for spectators and players.  And napkins and other paper products at the tournament will be made from between 30 and 90% post-consumer waste.

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Large events, from weddings to corporate functions to even your parents’ 50th wedding anniversary bash, provide a double-edged sword when it comes to going green. On one side, as events like these often focus around food, such gatherings provide the ideal opportunity to showcase local, seasonal and organic fare. But then there’s the other dark side of the catering and event planner world, where efficiency, cost and disposability typically rule the bottom line.

Enter Greg Christian, owner of Greg Christian Catering and Events, Chicago’s “Conscious Caterer” on a mission to bring the healthy, sustainable food message to the event scene. Wearing his white chef coat like a cloak of armor, Christensen proves that commitment, passion for healthy food and a dedication to constantly questioning and evolving can prompt true change.

Christian’s journey toward sustainability sparked when his young daughter’s asthma improved significantly through eating organic foods. “But I was living two lives, eating organic at home and using conventional foods in my businesses,” Christian confesses. “I realized I couldn’t live these two separate lives anymore and I started literally diagnosing where my food inputs came from on a world map.” This mapping system prompted not only change, but a deep sense of humility for Christian. “I’m humble and honored to be part of the global food system,” adds Christian, an emotion fueling his catering company’s constant quest to buy from area farmers, run a zero waste kitchen and continually work towards further greening his operations.

Planning an event you would like to keep green? Here are five tips to get started: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not just any number: 350.

Returning to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in our Earth’s atmosphere is the level that most of the world’s scientific community agrees as the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. When industrial revolution began, it was 275 parts per million. Today, we’re far above that at 385 parts per million and continuing to rise at an accelerating pace, often contributing to the extreme weather, shrinking glaciers and numerous other effects of climate change familiar to more and more of us.

View this stunning 350 video animation on YouTube, created by the innovative Free Range Studios, designed to reach out to the world to foster the coming together of global community to address this challenge — and hold our political leaders accountable to provide the policies that encourage the changes we must all make.

350.org, an organization spearheaded by Bill McKibben, seeks to weave together all communities around the world seeking to help our return to safety and atmospheric stability, to 350. “This is a problem that comes with a time limit,” says McKibben. “If we do not solve it soon, then we’re not going to solve it.” In eighteen months, world leaders will be meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss solutions to climate change, but their solutions are tepid at best according to McKibben. So he and several others have taken it their charge to help everyone on Earth — with the help of everyone on Earth — to understand the importance of climate change and returning to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide, forcing the kind of comprehensive change necessary at all levels of society and with governmental policies that foster such rapid change.

As we write about in ECOpreneuring and Rural Renaissance, we examine our ecoprenuerial enterprise from the perspective of how our business is a catalyst for solving climate change in various ways, like over-producing electricity from the wind and sun. Our B&B serves as a waystation for citizens searching for ways to reclaim self-reliance, self-sufficiency and community interdependence. Others we’ve met at a Green Festival, the MREA’s Energy and Sustainable Living Fair, or a farmer’s market are finding creative ways to solve our problems today with renewable energy, energy conservation, and sustainable food systems, all while thriving in a local economy.

So, how are you helping get to 350? First step, let’s get everyone on the same page and get the arrows of change pointing the same direction. See www.350.org to learn, take action and spread the word to change the world for the better. This could very well be the largest branding campaign ever with the intent of restoring our planet, rather than destroying it with the products or services we use and throw away.

Share the change. Create the change. Be the change.

Related Posts about 350:
Creativity 350: Crafting a Green World

Photo provided with permission: 350.org

Nine ‘outstanding’ programs from around the world have been chosen as winners at the first ever Sustainable Cities Awards. According to sponsors, the Urban Land Institute and the Financial Times, the awards honour worldwide examples of initiatives that showcase new ideas and perspectives for best practice in sustainable land use. Each of the winners is incorporating initiatives that are making significant contributions in highlighting the concept of sustainability in real estate.

I can’t help but be a little confused by these awards though. On the one hand, they showcase some truly inspiring projects from around the world. On the other, it seems a little suspicious that at least two of the winners are projects with high-level involvement from companies represented on the awards panel. There is also a heavy emphasis on large-scale American projects, with at least seven of the nine winners coming from the U.S. Is this simply an indication of where the main centre’s of sustainability excellence really are, or did the panel gloss over worthy candidates from elsewhere?

Here’s the full list of winners:

The Cascade Land Conservancy for the ‘Cascade Agenda,’ a 100 year visioning exercise aimed at preserving more than 1.3 million acres of forest and farmland by using market-based tools to encourage sustainable growth across the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

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