Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UN Environmental Programme calls for a green “New Deal” ala Roosevelt in the 30’s. The state can use the current economic crisis as an opportunity to invest in infrastructure, jobs, industries, all in the solution. If we build-in environmental, energy savings/reduction solutions into the fix for the current solution - we can reap the rewards in the future.
Times are tough - money is hard to come by - and winter is roaring it’s head. How about something for nothing? SCREAM to be GREEN doesn’t do giveaways very often, but I think this is a great one. We’re giving away a one year subscription to YES! Magazine. Just look at the covers above and see their commitment to the environment and sustainability! Sustainability, climate change (with Bill McKibben no less), locavores, oil, water battles, etc. Cozy up in a warm blanket with this gem of a magazine. Did I mention that YES! is printed on 100% post consumer waste recycled paper? It is.
From their FAQ:
What is YES! magazine all about?
We focus on a different topic each quarter, each one on opportunities for social change toward a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world. Recent issues have focused on redefining the “good life,” great urban places, preserving and reclaiming water resources, rethinking elderhood, finding alternatives to oil dependence.
Here is an example of some of the great material available in Yes! Magazine.
“Christmas With No Presents?”
by Colin Beavan, No Impact Man
“No Impact Man,” Colin Beavan, suspected the holidays would be just as merry without all the stuff — and he was right! Beavan and his small family have committed to living a no-net-environmental-impact lifestyle in the middle of New York City, and blogs about the adventure at NoImpactMan.com. Here he shares his very merry Christmas story — minus the stuff.
Related stories in the Sustainable Happiness issue:
* “Be Happy Anyway”
by Sarah van Gelder and Doug Pibel
The economic boom didn’t bring us (or the planet) happiness. So maybe there’s an upside to the downturn.
* “10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy”
by Jen Angel
In the last few years, psychologists and researchers have been digging up hard data on a question previously left to philosophers: What makes us happy? Here are 10 scientifically proven strategies for getting happy.
* “Happiness Test”
by Stephen Post and Mike McCullough
Researchers say thankful people tend to be happy people. YES! offers this test to find out your gratitude score.
The rules are simple. Leave a comment by 11:59PM CST, December 12, 2008 and one random lucky winner will be picked to receive a one year subscription to Yes! Magazine. If you read Yes! Magazine, we’d love to hear from you, too - enter the contest and let us know what you think.
Also - I encourage you all to follow Yes! Magazine on Twitter, too. You can follow me, too - I’d love the company.
Broadway is going green - and not just Wicked. The Great White Way, strewn with incandescent bulbs eating megawatts of electricity are being replaced. Ten theaters have already replaced their bulbs and over the next year, all NYC Broadway theaters will replace their bulbs with energy efficient models. Theaters are using LED and CFLs that will mimic the same look and feel as the incandescent - at a fraction of the wattage and thus cost.
Not only are the theaters changing lightbulbs, they are outlining plans for more environmental change on the big stage. Playbills will be made from more recyclable materials and soluable inks. Stage sets will use recycled materials and will be recycled when they are done with a show. Cleaning supplies will be ecofriendly and even touring casts are looking at ways to reduce energy use in the trucking, etc.
“By this time next year, the lights on Broadway will burn just as bright, but the energy bills and our city’s carbon output will be lower,” Maybor Bloomberg said. “This commitment will raise the level of awareness for everyone involved in these shows including the audiences and that’s going to have an impact that reverberates far beyond the Big Apple.”
Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, is providing guidance. He makes a very valid point. “It’s not like we’re running out of time,” Mr. Hershkowitz told people at the meeting. “We have run out of time.”
Source: New York Times
I’ll leave you with some clips of folks I know…
Fears of global warming and climate change often carry the argument that populous nations are being industrialized. China is in the middle of the industrial revolution. The more wealth the country brings in, the more the people start driving and acting more like traditional westerners. At least in the midst of this industrial revolution, some corporations are taking measures to mitigate their environmental footprint.
We talked about trash to treasure a long time ago, then I just stumbled over this interview. It’s a quick overview of what can and is being done now. What do you think about that this one, Pickens?
NOTE: I removed the “plasma gasification” as I was just informed that these folks are not using plasma gasification. My bad.
Remixed with Stephen Stills tune “For What Its Worth” Visit WeCanSolveIt.org for more…
The Alberta Tar Sands reminds me very much of MTR - Mountaintop Removal Mining. The illustrious Boreal Forest is being clear cut and turned into a disgusting strip mine. Waterways and the general water table is being contaminated. CO2 is being pumped into the atmosphere at alarming rates. The entire ecosystem of this once pristine landscape is being extinguished all in the name of oil - and greed. As they state in the pod, the Boreal Forest is becoming a dumping ground of the United States. US independence from foreign oil runs right through the province of Alberta.
According to DeSmogBlog, “At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing in them. Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.”
Watch the pod. What do you think? Is this energy indepence? At what cost?
