Bring Back the Earth

The guest post below has been generously contributed by Eco-learning Legacies. Founder Candia Lea Cole outlines the mission as follows, “As an eco-visionary, I envision a future on earth in which all people are conscious of their role in protecting and sustaining the living ecology of people and the planet and they wholeheartedly embrace the wisdom for everyday living and learning rituals that honor their innate eco-intelligence.” Their company is currently in a contest for the best idea to help humanity. Votes can be received up until October 17th. Here's a link to the voting page: http://www.bestideaforhumanity.com/register.cfm

Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the probability that my children, and my children’s children, will be here long after me. I’ve been trying to envision how the earth will function in another 20, 30 or 40 years, and whether or not the branches extending from my family tree will be green and thriving.

To be perfectly honest, I have my moments of doubt. I am tempted at times to indulge in the cynicism of our age. Yet, just as the doubters and critics are about take over, I realize that it is up to me to determine how I will survive amidst the terror of environmental waste, pollution, and destruction. It is up to me to find strength. It is up to me to find resolve. It is up to me to see the hidden blessing that my situation is bringing me.

In today’s world, millions of us are feeling the pain of being imprisoned by our current reality upon earth, where the cries of hunger can be heard day or night around the globe, and the ice caps are melting, and the rainforest is burning to the ground.

It is hard to know where to step next, what to do next, and how to think about our place and purpose in the grand scheme of life. Yet what is becoming increasingly clear to me and others, in the face of this chaos, is that each of us needs to try and remain calm. We just need to take a deep breath.

As human beings, we are equipped to handle even the direst emergencies in our lives. As long as we have faith in each other and our surroundings, have the loving intention to live well and give ourselves permission to reclaim the innate eco-intelligence we were born with that guides us to live well. The truth we must all come to terms with is that we may never live on a planet that is entirely free of problems and dangers. What is essential is to not create any more problems, but try to fix the ones that already exist by living in an eco-intelligent manner.

Imperfect Circumstances are Perfect for Our Learning and Growth

There are hundreds of circumstances on Earth right now that seem less-than-desirable, but actually are perfect circumstances from which we can all learn about our place and function in life. These perfect circumstances represent one of the rarest opportunities in our history as a human species for our growth and maturation.

They represent one of the greatest opportunities that our bodies, minds, and souls will ever know for learning about how to function in greater harmony and balance with the rest of life. It also presents the need of each and every person to shift their everyday beliefs, actions and choices in the world, to support an ecology of personal and planetary well-being, rather than an ecology of disease. In essence, our perfect circumstances on earth today present us with an opportunity for healing and an opportunity to “bring back” the earth that we depend upon for our life and survival. 

Though I realize that some people on earth are set in their belief that our long-term destructive relationship with the earth cannot be healed, I cannot agree with them. The reason for this is that I have seen and experienced the power of healing in my own life.

If you’re saying to yourself, “What exactly is the power of healing?” I can help you to understand what I mean. The power of healing is the power to “live whole.” It is the power to set right the things that have become lost, injured, or unsettled in the course of life. It is the power to focus our energies in a direction that does not dissipate our vital life force. It is the power to avoid the kinds of internal and external conflicts that hurt our health and separate us from our true spiritual natures.

Ultimately, HEALING is about exercising the ability and willingness to live connected to the greater whole of life and to cultivate the kind of healthy relationships with the earth. It is about honoring our innate potential for integrity through eco-intelligence.

Eco-Intelligence Empowers us to Live Well in Today’s Eco-Challenged Times

In today’s eco-challenged times, it is our ECO-INTELLIGENCE that I believe will empower us to live well, because it is based on the common-sense idea that we are part of a living whole and we are meant to live in balance and harmony with the whole. Our eco-intelligence represents the intuition about “why we are here” on earth, and it validates our need to be in a relationship with life! When we are guided by our eco-intelligence, we stop believing the lie that there is separation between ourselves, each other, and all living things. We start to remember that what we do and what we think affects all life.

When we are guided by our eco-intelligence to live well in the world, we live with a clear sense of what it means to be connected to the earth. We live guided by a clear sense of what it means to be connected to global continents, nations, and cities, as well as people of different races and religions.

We live with a clear sense that we are not just bodies walking the planet, but bodies who share a connection with our minds, emotions, and spirits. By connecting with our innate eco-intelligence, we become aware of the fact that life is supported by the exchange and flow of positive energy. Energy is the key to health and the key to life!

Story of ... more stuff

Its been almost a year since I wrote a blog post about a wonderful initiative started by Annie Leonard called ‘The Story of Stuff project’. I’m sure many of you are familiar with these names by now but may be many of you still aren’t. So I thought of taking this opportunity of writing a follow up post about this project today. A lot has happened since the last post and Annie has managed to really expand her little story into something fairly widespread and influential.

‘The story of stuff’ (SoS for short, released Dec 2007) was a 20 minute, well-researched and well-presented documentary that showed us the real picture behind our consumerist lifestyle and how it eventually affects us, or more correctly, our children and grandchildren. As the name suggests, it is the story about all the ‘stuff’ that we buy, use and throw away from its cradle to its grave. I will not go into its details here as I have already done so in my earlier post and I strongly recommend you read that post. After SoS got an overwhelmingly positive response from the people world over Annie decided to expand on her more than 10 years worth of research.

To the day she has written a book with the same title as her first documentary SoS and has produced 2 more hard-hitting documentaries, Story of bottled water and Story of Cap-n-Trade. To further enlighten us of our irresponsible behaviour and of our responsibilities she’s coming up with Story of cosmetics in July 2010 and Story of electronics in Fall 2010. Even though all these documentaries focus mainly on trends and statistics in the US I believe they’re globally applicable as every country is trying to imitate US in their lifestyle. Also it does feature the third world countries as they’re the ones that suffer from the waste produced by materialistic living in the developed countries and their own. So it is a must watch for everyone. And the best part about all these wonderfully informative and thought-provoking documentaries is that they’re all available online for free for everyone to watch! However I will go ahead and say that they’re definitely worth buying the DVDs so you can have them in your homes to show others and educate them.

‘The story of bottled water’ (released March 2010) tells us how the whole world has been fooled into thinking the tap water is not good for drinking and that the bottled water is a better option. It is a great example of ‘manufactured demand’, one of the bigger devils in our consumerist culture. It turns out that not only all bottled water isn't of better quality than tap water but its also much more expensive, tastes worse and its manufacture is one of environmentally most damaging processes. Hardly any of the bottled water comes from those pristine mountains and waterfalls that the labels show. Most of it (if not all) is just plain old filtered tap water. Recycling of those bottles is another scam that just throws your won garbage into someone else’s backyard. Annie found out that the plastic bottles thrown in recycle bins in the US ended up in huge mountains of them in India only to be ‘downcycled’ into some other product that will later end up in landfill anyway. Another interesting fact that the documentary brings forth is the reason why the local water gets polluted in the first place. It is the industries like the bottle water manufacture that are the culprit.

‘The story of Cap-n-Trade’ (released Dec 2009) is meant specifically to explain what the so called solution for climate change involves. This documentary was made around the time of the much hyped COP15 summit. I think it does a good job at explaining in layman terms what Cap-n-Trade means, not just on the paper but for the common folk around the globe and for the capitalists and industrialists. It becomes very clear why this is being touted as the best solution to the climate change when it is not. As usual the rich people who govern all the big businesses in the world have much at stake if the real measures are taken. Stopping the use of fossil fuel and finding alternatives is the only way to reduce the ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere from current 387ppm to the required, safe 350ppm. However Cap-n-Trade is being used as a mere quick-fix distraction from these real, long term solutions. As with anything else in consumer goods and services the devil is in the details in this case as well. Annie explains the 3 biggest ones in her documentary. A similar system has already been employed and has failed in the EU. So why would we want to think it will work anywhere else in the world?

The upcoming ‘story of cosmetics’ looks at how we’re never given a choice of buying safe products as everything that is on the supermarket shelves is unsafe. And we as consumers are never given any say in the decision of what should go on these shelves. I will simply copy and paste what the website itself says about ‘The story of electronics’.

A few documentaries that open our eyes to our own devils but don’t just do the finger pointing. They also give some solutions. And mainly, they show us how we all are part of the problem AND of the solution.

The Story of Electronics (working title), expected in Fall 2010, employs the Story of Stuff style to explore the high-tech revolution’s collateral damage—6 billion tons of e-waste and counting, poisoned workers and a public left holding the bill. Host Annie Leonard takes viewers from the mines and factories where our gadgets begin to the horrific backyard recycling shops in China where many end up. The film concludes with a call for a green ‘race to the top’ where designers compete to make long-lasting, toxic-free products that are fully and easily recyclable.

A few documentaries that open our eyes to our own devils but don’t just do the finger pointing. They also give some solutions. And mainly, they show us how we all are part of the problem AND of the solution.

Making 'Abundant Water' a reality

Participating in an online campaign for Earth Day 40 that was observed on 22nd April, I have met quite a few people who are doing some great work in underprevileged communities for their betterment. One such mother-son duo is Barbara and Sunny Forsyth. Sunny has started Abundant Water, a sustainable project to create water filters in Laos. The project involves training the locals, the Lao people, to manufacture simple ceramic water filters to help them provide themselves potable water. After getting to know their work, I felt compelled to interview Sunny and share the brilliant project with my readers. Please click on the link below to listen to the interview.

Abundant Water Interview

Babs Forsyth, Sunny's mother, looks after the social media aspect of this project and she's someone who has effectively used various social media platforms to spread the word about Abundant Water. I asked Babs, how has social media helped AW get the word out?

Her answer to my question was:

1 year ago I started tweeting for Abundant Water. I had no idea what I was doing or really even why but I kept at it posting updates from Sunny's work In Lao, having conversations with people I only 'knew' through Twitter and spreading the word about AW.

We have participated in a few Twitter Events:

1. Hugh Jackman's Twitter Challenge for Charity with the most votes - didn't win

2. Top10Causes Twitter Challenge for Charity with the most votes - got 3rd

3. Shorty Awards for best in many categories, in our case it was Health, AW was about 13th out of several 100.

It was in this challenge that I 'met' Michael Q Todd and decided to participate in the 40 Day Social Media Entrepreneurship Training Course he was organizing.

The AW network grew, people from every continent have offered help and this has certainly been accelerated by participating in the 40 Day Course. Sunny has been able to meet Radiance and be interviewed by her. He has also been interviewed on Blog Talk Radio and all of these events have helped to spread the word about Abundant Water. I think there is great potential here that we have only just started to explore.

It is also through social media that Sunny has been invited to talk at TEDxCanberra in October this year.

We are also looking to get involved with Buy1Give1 or a similar organization to help spread the word and generate fund for the work in Lao.

Parallel to Twitter we are also running AW Facebook Page which helps to keep our friends informed about events both in Canberra and Lao.

Thank you for this opportunity to talk about Abundant Water.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AbundantwaterDOTORG

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abundantwater/

Greenseekers: Green directory for Australia

Guest post generously contributed by Linda Parker, Managing Director of Greenseekers.

Greenseekers is a new online platform for all green operators across Australia, offering facilities for Job Search, Volunteering, Training, Contracts and Tenders, a Green Business Directory and a place to find and advertise Green Events for all industries.

Greenseekers has been created to break down the barriers and open greener employment opportunities to everyone. A wide range of skills are necessary to fulfil all requirements of industry, be it a cleaner, an accountant, tradesman or engineer. Greener jobs can also be found within companies that choose to operate more traditional product manufacturing and services in a more sustainable manner.

Greenseekers emphasises its ‘for everyone’ ideal, from the strongly dedicated ‘greenie’, to the everyday people making small changes on their way to a cleaner more sustainable future.

A little about the founder of Greenseekers; Linda Parker – Managing Director

Having grown up on the land, I have always had a passion for the correct management of the environment. Over the past eight years I have studied and worked within the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry, striving to bring a greater awareness to everyone. During this time I have encountered difficulty finding appropriate, further training, suitable employment, conscious contractors and passionate employees. Noticing I was not alone and that there were a growing number of traditionally skilled people with the desire to work for someone greener, enabling them to go home at the end of the day with a clear conscience, I set out to create Greenseekers with the help of my partners.

Greenseekers is designed to help everyone save time on searching, by cutting down on having to sift the non- green to get to the green. Leaving more time to get to what is really important.

Greenseekers is far more than just a job search website. So why not log on today to see what this new service has to offer you.

Eco-friendly nappies: My green nappy

Guest post generously contributed by Charndra Pile, Founder and owner of  'My green nappy' initiative. Charndra lives in Australia with her husband and two sons. Her interest in eco-friendly parenting is explored in several sites, beginning with Tribal Baby, which evolved into 2 Part Time EC sites for parents interested in Baby Pottying, and now has grown to include My Green Nappy, an advocacy site about modern cloth and eco-friendly disposable nappies.

My green nappy: Do YOU have one?

My Green Nappy explores the world of modern cloth and eco-friendly disposable nappies, putting you in touch with a wealth of wisdom and experience of nappy makers, sellers and users.

What makes My Green Nappy unique is that we are all working *together* for our planet, to save you time, money and to promote and encourage eco friendlier choices. It’s an advocacy site educating about environmentally friendlier options in baby nappies, and branches into other areas as well.

No finger-pointing environmentalism, just gentle encouragement – do what you can, think about where you can add in new ways to be that little bit greener in ways that suit your family right now – more will come naturally in time. The collective resources on My Green Nappy will help open your mind to the many alternatives to disposable nappies and other baby products.

My Green Nappy’s mission is to see that every baby ‘down under’ has that one green nappy to wear. It’s a simple idea – that for each baby there is the option at any time to use a washable nappy rather than a disposable one – but as we all know, from little beginnings is where change starts. In this case, nappy change!

Our mission is to strive towards every baby having at least one ‘green’ nappy to wear, keeping a throwaway disposable out of the environment each time it is worn. With over 300 thousand babies born in Australia and New Zealand each year, that one green nappy will make a difference!

Members can win a unique "Green Promise Nappy", one of a hundred that will be donated on behalf of the Earth to reduce nappy waste and promote greener nappy choices in our communities. New ones will be on offer each season. This is the ‘100 Green Promise Nappies Initiative’, another of the simple ideas to promote modern reusable nappies and the businesses who offer them to you.

We want to inspire and encourage you to use washable nappies.

Washable Nappies benefit you, your baby, your budget – and the Earth – and that’s what My Green Nappy is about – More Green Nappies for the Earth.

Three resources I’d like you to have a look at are:

•  The Green Promise Nappy Gallery – our first nappies are on display, and will be available to register to win from June.
• A Modern Cloth mini-trend gallery – these are a great way to see at a glance the wide range of cloth nappies available at some of the 320+ shops listed at the site. Pick a theme, such as ‘Girly Nappies’ and see what is on offer out there! The pictures link to the shops where the nappy comes from.
• Some collective wisdom from Your Nappy Doula’s. These are unique, info-packed articles with contributions from a wide range of nappy retailers.

TED Tuesday: Self-repairing architecture

Venice, Italy is sinking. To save it, Rachel Armstrong says we need to outgrow architecture made of inert materials and, well, make architecture that grows itself. She proposes a not-quite-alive material that does its own repairs and sequesters carbon, too.

Changents Green Guerrillas

Sunday Spotlight from about two weeks ago featured ‘Changents’ (Change + Agents = Changents) who describe their goal as ‘Connecting the people that help the world to the people that help them.’ And I had promised that in my capacity as an author and blogger I will feature various Changent stories on my blog.

The first Changents I interviewed are Green Guerrillas (GGs) self-dubbed the Youth Media Tech Collective. They are a group of youth (aged 13-19) living in upstate NY who drive around in a veggie powered van and use film making and storytelling to raise awareness renewable energy and protecting environment. An eclectic group of “sustainable storytellers who challenge the status quo”, the GGs advocate equitable living and learning environments. What inspired me to interview GGs is the unique combination of the section of community they work with and the way in which the GGs have chosen to empower them. Since 2006, they have empowered marginalized youth and adults to identify the issues which adversely impact their lives and actively challenge institutional imbalances which threaten their futures. [Images source]

Q1] On Changents webpage GGs describe themselves as “[...] young sustainable storytellers who are cool with Mother Earth. We are a grassroots collective of youth, used to be youth, activists, filmmakers, hip hoppahs, historians, graphic artists, grease car drivers, journalists, life-long learners, media makers, off-grid survivors, photographers, poets, punx rockahs, students, videographers, visual artists, and writers… among other things!” What was the motivation behind bringing together such diverse group of individuals and starting Green Guerrillas? How has it expanded over the years and has its scope and influence increased with time?

A1] Our team that started Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective represents a diverse array of activists, artists, cultural workers, eco-enthusiasts, and movement-building strategists who were youth organizers amongst their peers in the 1990s. Green Guerrillas is an extension of our work to inform and empower young people to connect the dots between pollution and prisons by challenging the increased use of policing, criminal justice supervision, exploitation, and resource extraction nationwide and abroad.

Since planting the seed to start Green Guerrillas in 2000, our program’s design and implementation from 2002 until now has been influenced by local/regional conditions and events in Ithaca and New York; the growth of the prison industrial complex and the “green movement” in the United States; the destructive impact of globalization on indigenous communities worldwide; and, the input and direction offered by all members (young and old) of our Collective.

Since officially starting our program in Summer 2006, Green Guerrillas have redefined sustainability in terms that make sense to us, and our communities, by expanding the scope of our work to include: (1) community organizing (leading a high school walk-out in 2007); (2) hands-on experience with renewable energy technologies (converting our bus to run on waste vegetable oil in 2008); (3) eco-cinematography (spending time outdoors overcoming “nature deficit disorder” with HD camera equipment in 2009); and, (4) regional/national/international movement-building activities (co-organizing a Prisoner Justice Conference, the Allied Media Conference, the United States Social Forum, and the Northeast Climate Confluence in 2010).

By connecting the dots between the same ideological approaches which criminalize immigrant communities and pollute the air, water, and soil we all collectively need for survival, Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective represents non-traditional leaders who are actively asserting a rarely heard or respected voice into the global conversation on sustainability with confidence in our commitment to define ourselves and our futures.

Q2] Since 2006, GGs have empowered marginalized youth and adults to identify the issues which adversely impact their lives and actively challenge institutional imbalances which threaten their futures. This is definitely a very challenging and demanding task. Tell us about your most (or one of your most) testing experience (as a group or individual) in raising awareness about sustainable living in marginalised communities. What difficulties did you face and how did you overcome them?

A2] Green Guerrillas are teens who are at-risk for criminalization and incarceration based on factors such as race; family income; history of family incarceration; and, adverse personal experiences with the criminal justice system, foster care, special education services, and zero-tolerance school discipline policies. In 2007, after a state human rights commission made an official finding of discrimination based on actions by administration and staff in failing to protect a student within the Ithaca City School District, Green Guerrillas took the lead in organizing our peers and adults in the community to demand substantive policy changes. After attempts to engage the school board through administrative channels proved fruitless, Green Guerrillas led our peers at Ithaca High School in a walk-out that re-asserted the position of young people at the decision-making table when it comes to the design and implementation of school practices and policies. Immediately after the walkout, Green Guerrillas and other students who participated in the action were threatened with racial violence and other reprisals which led to a school shut-down, an article in The New York Times, additional school disciplinary consequences for student activists, and intervention by the United States Department of Justice.

For several months following the walk-out, Green Guerrillas continued to organize our peers and encourage all community members to take a proactive role in eliminating the factors that negatively impact success for all students in the school district. But despite hundreds of hours of meet-ups, strategy sessions, and community engagement exercises—and the increased confidence with which staff and students alike came forward to share their stories of isolation and discrimination—few changes materialized. Even the progression of a pending lawsuit—that was afforded its “day in court” as a direct result of the public pressure prompted by the walk-out—was eventually side-stepped in favor of “business as usual.”

The after-math of the walk-out was very challenging for the emotional and psychological stability of several members of Green Guerrillas. Grades and school performance suffered as a result. Two of our youth members decided to leave the group within a year of the events surrounding this tumultuous time in our small, rural upstate community.

On the two-year anniversary of the walk-out (October 2009), only 1 of the 5 teens in Green Guerrillas who led this effort was still actively working with our Collective. She and another teen (who is now in college) were successful in overcoming the odds and graduating from high school on time with their class in June 2009. The 3 other teens received their GEDs. In the Fall of 2009, one is in college, one is looking for work, and one teen is incarcerated.

The campaign for equity in our living and learning environments in Ithaca and Tompkins County continues. As recently as this week (02-01-10), a community meeting was held where it was acknowledged that racism remains “rampant” in the schools, and district staff are not making adequate progress in addressing the issues which impair student success.

Green Guerrillas serves as a “safe space” for teens who must overcome marginalization by mainstream society to grow and expand as activists, artists, community organizers, sustainable storytellers, and healthy and whole human beings.

Q3] You respect The Great Law of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations), which reminds us to live in a way that considers the impact of our actions at least seven generations into the future so as to preserve planetary wellness for those who inherit Mother Earth. Like this old wisdom of the native Americans, what are the 3 most significant and/or helpful lessons, facts or values did GGs learn from your interactions with the marginalised and local communities during your awareness campaigns and/or media recording sessions?

A3] As low-income youth of color, Green Guerrillas engage in weekly political education sessions to expand our critical perspectives on environmental and social issues. As a result of our increased awareness of renewable energy technologies, green building options, the impact of our carbon footprints, the existence of eco-friendly businesses, and our vulnerability to low expectations along the school-to-prison pipeline, Green Guerrillas are better equipped to put into context larger issues of cultural hegemony, globalization, racism, classism, patriarchy, and sexism vis-à-vis our own life experiences.

Green Guerrillas recognize the role mainstream media plays in supporting stereotypes which promote sweat shops over sustainable style, genetically modified crops over locally-grown organic foods, and pollution and prisons over sustainability and social change. As part of our commitment to making sustainable healthy life choices, and encouraging others to do the same, Green Guerrillas spend time outdoors (camping, creating eco-cinema, agricultural activities) to connect with, and personally develop a tangible relationship to, the natural world. Further, with every team decision, Green Guerrillas consider sustainability first and foremost by remembering the four R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, and rebuy. For example, Green Guerrillas’ events are zero-waste; our program vehicle runs on biodiesel and vegetable oil; in our work space we eat local and organic foods and snacks, and compost our food scraps and paper goods; and, our work gear is made from organic cotton and sweatshop-free fabrics. Even our team banner is made from recycled plastic bottles!

Additionally, Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective organizes broad based constituencies to re-think fossil fuel dependency and challenge false solutions to climate justice. In Fall 2009, Green Guerrillas joined other eco-activists in 31 states to challenge hydraulic fracturing for domestic natural gas exploration and extraction. Using media tools to help raise awareness and challenge natural gas as a transition fuel, Green Guerrillas are working to expose the irreversible environmental damage that drilling in the Marcellus Shale (our backyard) will have on our air, soil, and water, threatening animal, human, and plant life for many generations to come.

Q4] In April 2009 GGs embarked on a 16-month project to travel locally, regionally, and nationally to create your fourth, full-length feature film, Green Guerrillas Blockumentary v.3 HD which will showcase stories of sustainability from under-represented communities in the current environmental movement. Did you find difference in awareness level and attitude towards sustainability in general in different parts of the nation? If so, what factors would you say significantly contribute towards this discrepancy?

A4] During Winter 2009, Green Guerrillas started our latest project… which involves our third film, acquiring HD camera equipment, renovating our biodiesel/veggie oil bus, and embarking on a road trip to collect stories from others like us who challenge the status quo with a commitment to sustainability and social change.

April – June 2009, Green Guerrillas participated in an Awakening of Mother Earth ceremony with the Piscataway Nation in Southern Maryland; helped prep the site for a yurt-raising at the Black Oaks Center for Renewable and Sustainable Living outside Chicago; and, purchased HD camera equipment with the help of a generous anonymous donor. In July 2009, Green Guerrillas completed Green Guerrillas Blockumentary v.2.5: Green Grease Guzzlers. Over the Summer and Fall, Green Guerrillas spent a considerable amount of time outdoors connecting to our environment, while building our media-making skills. We produced two eco-cinema shorts. Currently, Green Guerrillas are in pre-production for our fourth film: Green Guerrillas Blockumentary v.3 HD: Ganonyonk | Gye Nyame | Generation (GG v.3 HD in 3G). We have started renovating our bus.

Beginning in April 2010, Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective will be travelling locally, regionally, and nationally to uniquely distribute Green Grease Guzzlers (a dynamic, teen-centered, novice friendly, edu-taining "howto" film). Our Green Grease Guzzlers 2010-2011 Biodiesel/Veggie Oil Bus Tour will be a two-prong media/demonstration vehicle approach to increase the general public’s access to information on alternative and sustainable transportation; inspire young people — as future vehicle owners and drivers — to assume leadership roles in reducing the impact of global climate change on the planet; and, increase the number of diverse perspectives in the local, regional, and national conversation on environmental responsibility and social justice. Our Green Grease Guzzlers Tour will feature both our film and our Collective's biodiesel/waste veggie oil bus (the "star" of v.2.5 transformed into a renewable energy demonstration vehicle/mobile studio). Some stops on the tour will include a prisoner justice conference in Albany, the Allied Media Conference in Detroit, the United States Social Forum in Detriot, and the Northeast Climate Confluence in the Catskills of Upstate New York.

With regard to GG v.3 HD in 3G, the themes will focus on people’s connection to the planet using the Ganonyonk (Haudenosaunee/Six Nation’s Thanksgiving Address) as a guide; universal energy that connects all living beings as represented by the Adinkra Symbol Gye Nyame of Ghana; and, our collective responsibility as caretakers to maintain the balance of life for the benefit of those yet to come, commonly referred to as the Seventh Generation. Because of Green Guerrillas recent involvement in raising awareness about the potential environmental impacts of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, it is anticipated that GG v.3 HD in 3G will be completed in August 2011 following the close of our Green Grease Guzzlers 2010-2011 Biodiesel/Veggie Oil Bus Tour. Green Guerrillas intends to use the tour to film and photograph footage for GG v.3 HD in 3G.

Q5] What is the vision and/or goals for GGs in 2010 and in near future? And would you like to give any message to the readers of this blog that really needs to be spread into this world far and wide to make your vision and/or goals a reality?

A5] Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective is an innovative, grassroots job-training program which values our creative insights and capacities to transform our reality as leaders and participants for change. Green Guerrillas are working to further our larger vision to end the exploitation of all people and our planet’s natural resources by increasing the number of diverse perspectives in the local, regional, national, and global conversations on environmental responsibility and social justice.

For 2010, Green Guerrillas are building a movement to encourage everyone to play an active role in redefining sustainability in ways that make sense to them and to the healthy and holistic continuation of all life on Mother Earth. We recognize the need for more spaces which encourage broader community development of critical environmental and social consciousness in an effort to collectively and creatively re-imagine all the possibilities for transformative action in every aspect of our lives.

Our latest film, Green Grease Guzzlers, premieres in Ithaca on April 1st. Following the premiere, Green Guerrillas are taking Green Grease Guzzlers on the road to expose the environmental destruction caused by petroleum dependence, and encourage viewers to take responsibility for their lifestyle choices while also critically analyzing the quck fix “solutions” offered by corporate-backed bio-fuels.

Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective believes in a renewable future for all… now. We invite others who share in our vision to join us by supporting our Green Grease Guzzlers 2010-2011 Biodiesel/Veggie Oil Bus Tour—we are seeking green sponsors for our bus and a variety of venues to screen our work.

Recyle craft: Fat Bottom Bags

Guest post generously contributed by Recycle crafter Christi Spangler of FatBottomBags.com (Facebook, Twitter).


Hi everyone!  First off, I'm so honored to be guest posting today on Watchful Eyes Thoughtful Mind. Thanks for the invite Radiance! 


My name is Christi Spangler and I'm an evironmentally concious recycle crafter and founder of FatBottomBags.com a plastic bag recycling project.

FatBottomBags.com was born from my dream of a better world and my desire to find a way to repurpose those problematic plastic carrier bags. My goal was to find some way to utilize this wasted resource while raising awareness about the importance of recycling and the harm that these bags and other plastic debris is doing to our environment. 

A few years ago I began making these reusable bags from "disposables" and selling them locally.  After talking with many other concerned people in my area, I was encouraged to bring the message and these great bags to the internet in order to reach out globally.  So here I am!

I quickly recycled through all of the bags I had collected on my own, so I put the call out to friends, family and other locals to gather up and recycle the plastic bags they might have stashed in drawers and closets.  Now I'm up to 23 families for whom I recycle on a regular basis.  In addition to the locals, I've started a couple of recycling exchanges online.  Through the website, I'm collecting colored plastic bags and mesh produce bags for recycling too! 

So far at FatBottomBags.com our efforts have kept over 5000 (and counting) plastic bags from becoming part of the problem in our wastestream.  And that's just what I've recycled from my kitchen table!  In addition, I'm encouraging others to take an active role in recycling too!  I've shared my secret with a  DIY video to make your own mesh sided FatBottomBag and I'm blogging about other ways you can make a difference too!  

I love recycling and I love to make a difference in the world.  What I started as a simple closet cleaning has grown into a recycling phenomenon!  Proving my favorite quote, "When we all do our small part, we can (and do) change the BIG picture!"

***Learn more about plastic bags harming the marine environment through these sources:

Disturbing video of whale dying from ingesting plastic bags:

Read about the 7 sperm whales that died in Foggia, Italy from ingesting plastic bags.

Turtle eating plastic debris:

Sunday Spotlight: Changents

‘Connecting the people that help the world to the people that help them.’ Yes, this is how ‘Changents’ (Change + Agents = Changents) describe themselves on their website. I do not know if I should call ‘Changents’ an organisation, a network, a support-system, a charity or what? Because to me it seems all-in-one. The reason for that is that ‘Changents’ is made up of numerous individuals. Individuals just like you and me. Nobody significant if you think in terms of financial, political or glamorous influence on the world at large. But they’re all making a difference at the grass root level, where it matters the most. Individuals from all over the world are starting and championing movements every single day in various communities. Some of them are “green” champions, some are heralding a community development project, some promoting education, some others seeking health and sanitation facilities while someone else might be rooting for human rights. ‘Changents’ is a place where they all come to share their stories with the world. And it is also a place for people like me who want to help them help the world.

The categories listed on the ‘Changents’ website in which the various Changents work are Corporate Responsibility, Disaster, Education, Energy, Environment, Health, Homelessness, Human Rights, Hunger, Politics, Refugees, Terrorism, Tolerance, Violence, War & Conflict. So those who’re passionate about any of these causes can find people making a difference in these fields at a click of the mouse. Each Changent has their own blog to share the updates of their triumphs and trials. And others can share these stories as well as comment on them. One can also find Changents based on geographical location of their work. Making good use of social media Changents has presence on Twitter and on Facebook. The website even has the Facebook connect feature which lets you share your activity and the Changent stories with your Facebook contacts. And you can start making a “ripple” in the world by inviting friends to join Changents.

I have only recently come across and joined Changents. And in my capacity as an author and blogger I am going to be featuring various Changent stories on my blog in the coming days. I will try and maintain diversity by writing about stories from different parts of the world and also people working in diverse fields like education, eco-conservation, human rights and many more. So keep your eyes peeled for the updates and search for posts tagged with “Changents”. I hope that at least one of these numerous gems of selfless acts will inspire to take an action and spread the word.

TED Tuesday: From redwoods to north pole

Science writer Richard Preston talks about some of the most enormous living beings on the planet, the giant trees of the US Pacific Northwest. Growing from a tiny seed, they support vast ecosystems -- and are still, largely, a mystery.

Lewis Pugh talks about his record-breaking swim across the North Pole. He braved the icy waters (in a Speedo) to highlight the melting icecap. Watch for astonishing footage -- and some blunt commentary on the realities of supercold-water swims.

This time, DON'T vote for "change"

Climate change is real ... and climate change effects are long term. I want to focus on these two aspects of climate change today. In the past I’ve written about global warming, the tipping points of weather patterns to look out for, importance of replanting the rainforests and many other subjects relating to changing ecology of this planet ... changing for worse.

I hope that I do not need to harp too much on the first aspect that the climate change is real. I believe, whether you openly accept it or not, each one of us have realised this by now through our own experiences. There is a debate over whether it is caused by humans or nature. I think the point is moot. Whatever the reason, as the most intelligent and technologically advanced Earthlings, we humans CAN and need to do something about it. If it is caused by us, we definitely need to negate the effects of our deeds on the planet and fellow Earthlings. And for a second if we believe it is natural, as Earthizens (technologically and socially advanced Earthlings) we bear the responsibility of changing the course of this natural phenomenon. After all, it is not going to be the first for us, is it?

The second aspect, however, needs more voice given to it. I do not think enough people realise that climate change is not instantaneous. The results of whatever substances released in the ecosystem that cause these changes are evident only decades later. I believe common people and policy makers alike do not understand this very well. Or the policy makers can mislead common Earthizens due to their ignorance of this fact. The “funny weather” we all are experiencing globally now is caused by emissions 25-30 years ago. And if we cut the emissions now, the effects will show a couple decades later. So we need to be patient and not short-sighted. By the way, ‘emissions’ don’t only mean gases (Green house gases have become synonymous with climate change) but also the liquid and solid forms which are sometimes more detrimental. This is another point on which the general public of the Earth needs to be educated.

To end this post I would say this. We need to do something about climate change because it is real. Whatever the cause the Earthizens have to try their best to slow and possibly revert it, either because we’re responsible for it or because we’re the only ones capable of doing so on Earth. The masses need to be educated about the long term effects of climate change and the power to act lies in their hands rather than a few policy makers.

Take action: http://www.blogactionday.org/en/takeaction

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Packaging: who needs it?

A guest post generously contributed by Bob Williamson, Founder and Chair, Greenhouse Neutral Foundation. Contact details and details of book 'ZERO Greenhouse Emissions - The Day The Lights Went Out - Our Future World' authored by Bob are given at the end of this post.

When going about busy daily lives for most of us in the developed nations, we rarely give much thought to the externalities either upstream, or downstream of our consumer society. Upstream from our individual consumption, we can site the resources used by manufactures; the raw materials, the water they consume, the energy and all the emissions associated with these activities. Downstream we can site not only the costs of collection, but the loss forever of these original consumed resources (all that energy and water) when recycling for reuse doesn’t happen. Downstream are also the environmental time bombs of toxic waste and landfill methane emissions we are leaving for future generations to deal with. The mounting piles of rubbish arriving daily at landfill sites around the world are testament to the profligate ways of our own current consumption and of the desire for ever rising profits by industry and commerce.

Finite resources are used in making and supplying all these goods to us and then almost instantly in the case of packaging, they are discarded to landfill. They take with them vast amounts of externalised consumed resources that are mostly hidden from our view ‘out of site and out of mind’. (example – an aluminium can in the smelting process alone will consume 25.75 litres of water!) See the PPI white paper which reports 37% of greenhouse emissions in the US are attributed to non-food products - “Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices,” this report offers new insight into the impact of products and packaging on climate change.

I have lobbied long and hard for these consumed resources in products and disposable packaging to be brought to the foreground with the hope that we will change our habits with knowledge, to a future that is more in balance with the laws of nature. If we don’t, very soon we will need to live our lives with finite resource extinction. In the book I take a tongue in cheek look at packaging waste and suggest the ‘Unpackaged Movement’.

Here is an excerpt: Now what about that plasma TV, the fridge, or even the electric drill bought at the corner superstore? What exactly are we buying, the product or the packaging? Are we buying the TV, the electric drill or other consumer products, or the cardboard box and cardboard packing, the bubble wrap and the polystyrene foam? I have an idea here. We could start a movement, the Unpackaged Movement! One of my favourite songs from the 1960s got me thinking, Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant.” Quite appropriate I think, as Arlo got busted for dumping garbage. I downloaded the lyrics off the Web and was going to put them in, but they would have been longer than the book so far, so here’s the gist of what happened and how it might be incorporated into present-day real life. As mentioned, Arlo got busted for dumping Alice and Ray’s (Alice’s husband) garbage, paid the fine of $50, and had to pick up the garbage in the snow. When called up for the draft, they wouldn’t take him because he had a criminal record. He suggested at the end of the song that if you wanted to get out of going to Vietnam, for your psychological evaluation you could walk in and sing a bar of “Alice’s –Restaurant” and walk out. He said if one person did it they would think he was a nut and wouldn’t take him. If two people did it they would think they were both crazy and they wouldn’t take either of them. If three people did it they would think it was an organization. And if fifty people did it they would think it was a movement.

So, here’s the plan: we all unpack our purchases at the store and leave them with the cardboard box and cardboard packing, the bubble wrap, and the polystyrene foam. “Here you go, you can have this, I just want what I came here to buy!” Now if just I did it they would think I was a nut. But if we could get a movement going, The Unpackaged Movement, all the packaging could stay where it belongs, with the person/company who is making the profit and make them responsible for waste that would normally fill our bins. (There is a P.S. here—I’ve put my money where my mouth is on this idea. The look on the guy’s face at the hardware superstore when I dropped in to deliver all their cardboard packaging and plastic back was a picture. “I bought this product at your store last week. But I don’t want the packaging. So you can have it back. Thank you.” I found the whole experience strangely exhilarating. I have some more in the trunk of the car for my next trip out.) End excerpt

There is indeed a PPS to this story since I wrote ‘ZERO Greenhouse Emissions – The Day the Lights Went Out – Our Future World’.

The unpackaged daily life of our family has become very personal.

On one particular occasion we needed a replacement kettle to the one that was designed to last a month outside the warranty period of 12 months. I returned to where we had bought the other Breville stainless steel electric kettle and bought the same model. When unpacked at home on the kitchen counter, my daughter dutifully packed the old one in the box that the new one came in; writing on it ‘PLEASE RECYCLE’ and on my next trip out I called back to the mega electrical store, walked up to the salesman I had seen the day before and said, “Hi.”

He replied “Can I help you sir?” looking at the box in my hand.

I said ‘Yes, I bought a kettle yesterday from you, the very same model I bought 13 months ago from this store. Here is the old one back, packaged up in order for you to send it back to Breville for recycling along with their box and polystyrene packaging. Thank you.”

Handing him the box, I savoured the look on his face, knowing full well of course, that its long journey of return to China would stop at the dumpster at the rear of the store. Still as I said in the book, if we all did it, then we would see a movement and eventually become extended producer responsibility and as it should be; ‘ZERO Waste’ to landfill.

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Bob Williamson
Founder & Chair, Greenhouse Neutral Foundation
Author of 'ZERO Greenhouse Emissions - The Day The Lights Went Out - Our Future World'
Hard cover book or e-book available for $9.99 from http://bit.ly/Q1tAu
Publishers YouTube Author review can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIuk6Jnu9-w
Email BobWilliamson@greenhouseneutralfoundation.org
Alternative email greenhouseneutral@bigpond.com
Website http://www.greenhouseneutral.net/
US Operations Web Address http://www.greenhouseneutralfoundation.org/
Foundation’s YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/GreenhouseNeutral
Foundation’s TV Channel http://zerogreenhouse.isofa.tv/
Blog http://lettersfrom2030.blogspot.com/
Daily Environment News Items http://www.greenhouseneutralfoundation.org/articles/