giving up the bottle.

great news: bottled water sales down 1%!

Bottled Water Sales Flatten During Recession

—NPR

Brita Climate Ride 2008 NYC to DC

this is so cool.

i commute. i carpool.

i would like to announce that after 7 months of commuting and making excuses not to take bart (seriously, it's like a 16-minute walk in the morning and then the 50-minute ride and i have to hop on a bus to my office...) i have found a buddy to carpool with. 

the polar bear—on thin ice.

first day of sparing the bay area air in 2008.

a beautiful day in the san francisco bay area. bettered by it being the first "spare the air day" of 2008. as a public transit believer it was delightful walking up to the turnstile and seeing the red tape over the slots for coins and passes. a dream come true. it almost makes up for the train delays and overcrowding.

for more details about spare the air, check out a previous post from 2007.

rooftop clatter.

reindeer on the roof totally! but goats? after reading this article, ultimate use for a green roof, yes! sign me up.

what about you? could you see having goats on the roof being a helpful green action to take?

my parents have a couple pygmy goats on our farm in ohio (pictured, gilbert and sullivan are mingling with our chickens, fondly named "the helens.") and i'm a big fan. maybe someday i'll have my own.

singing in the rain-forest.

wish i could be there in nyc to experience this rainforest foundation performance. feist, sting, billy joel, and james taylor are just a few of the singing sensations performing to save the rainforest--being rainforest month and all. there's still time for you nyc locals to buy tickets. someone go and report back!

be sure to check out the empire state building tomorrow night too during the event. it will be lit up in green in honour of this month. cool huh?

los angeles dethroned by lowly pittsburgh in air quality battle.

ranked first in the short-term particle pollution category on the american lung association's annual state of the air report, pittsburgh dethroned reigning champion los angeles. the american lung association qualifies short-term particle pollution as a "deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols... the body's natural defenses, coughing and sneezing, fail to keep these microscopic particles from burrowing deep within the lungs."

pittsburgh kept a close second against the champion los angeles in the most year-round particle pollution game.

these rankings may look bad for los angeles but the truth is they've made strides in improving their air quality, both year-round air pollution and smog.

still, there is much much much to be done nationwide. but there's clearly hope by the example of los angeles. they showed us that if you're really determined to change you can!

see how your city and state ranked.


even if your city isn't listed as a contender in poor air quality, please understand that smog is very very dangerous. it can creep into your system and stick around for periods of time and lead to heart attacks, asthma, difficulty in breathing, strokes, lung cancer and even early death. imagine, lung cancer without ever picking up a cigarette.

so you see, air quality and smog impact more than just our ozone layer.

read the horror story about donora, pennsylvania and their smog attack on halloween night in 1948. maybe it'll help you consider more ways you can improve the air around you. remember, doing your part helps more than you know. (the picture above is from that dreadful night.) from the lessons learned at donora the 1955 clean air act passed.

dive into protecting our oceans!

summer is fast approaching which means many of us will be heading toward a coastline. while we all know we need to lather up in sunscreen to protect ourselves, we must not forget about protecting our oceans. with so much coastline traffic expected every summer, the oceans and beaches will be turned over with our debris and junk--abandoned sandcastle pails and shovels, food scraps, soda cans and beer bottles, etc--not to mention the pollution added to the air with all the minivans and suvs and other vehicles driving and waiting in lines of traffic.

learn more ways you can help preserve our oceans from both your home and when you're outside basking in the sun on one of the world's beaches. strap on your snorkeling mask and dive in with ariel on an educational ocean adventure to learn how.

the site, keep oceans clean, is embellished with ariel from walt disney's the little mermaid leading you through games, tips for parents and teachers, ideas for how you can help protect our oceans, and tv and radio ads for you to watch and listen to. it's fun. take a few minutes to check it out. if you have little ones, they can view it with you. they'll love the games and the tv spots.

do your part. educate yourself.

getting to know greenpeace.

while contemplating what to write about today i got to thinking about greenpeace. their interns are always knocking me down on the street with their clipboards and goodwill messages--gotta love their fortitude. lucky for me i can honestly tell them i have a friend working for greenpeace and i'm a regular site-reader. they smile at that and let me go.

here's a brief history about greenpeace:

it all began in 1971 with a cozy group of committed citizens aboard a small fishing vessel sailing toward amchitka island in alaska. their mission was to protect united states nuclear testing off the coast of alaska by actually placing themselves in harm's way. it was daring and risky--staring death in the eye for a natural cause. although they were intercepted by the united states coastguard, the mission was successful by bringing to the headlines the dangers of nuclear testing--worldwide.

since that effort, greenpeace has promised to educate and protect the world in the harms facing our planet all through ordinary yet committed people. they've grown considerably since their early days--30 offices internationally--and managed to maintain that same vivacity in their activists and donors.

greenpeace also doesn't solicit the government or corporations for funds. nor do they endorse politicians. their money comes from supporters and donors. to put a price tag on your support click here.

their campaigns.

global warming and energy
project hot seat
exxon secrets
science
solutions
energy [r]evolution
skeptics
climate lawsuit
global warming and energy reports
u.n. climate conference

oceans
whale defenders
bering witness
seafood
threats to ocean life
oceans reports
marine reserves
wildlife facts

forests
u.s. forests
forests worldwide
solutions to deforestation
kleenex=kleercut
music wood
forest reports
forest wildlife fact sheets

nuclear
no new nukes
disarmament
safety and security
nuclear reports
chernobyl anniversary

toxics
chemical threats
going hi-tech is highly toxic
go pvc-free
bhopal disaster
toxics reports
clash of the consoles

genetic engineering
ge industry
bans and labeling
go organic
ge reports

i'm way into the forest and ocean campaigns.

get involved!

do your part.

another earth holiday: arbor day.

another day to celebrate this lovely earth we inhabit: arbor day!

celebrated in the united states on the last friday of april, arbor day has roots dating back to nebraska in 1872. it was established by j. sterling morton.

accompanied by his wife, morton moved to the nebraska territory in 1854 (nebraska didn't become a state until 1867). jumping right into the heart of it all, morton became the editor of nebraska's first newspaper which opened doors for him to become involved in politics and promote the settlement of nebraska.

at the time, nebraska, being in the heartland of the great plains, was barren of trees. while the tallgrass prairie was ideal for farmland, wood wasn't readily available for building houses or even for fuel to heat those houses thus stalling the settlement. even the homestead act with its free offers of land didn't entice families to migrate toward nebraska.

at a meeting of the nebraska state board of agriculture in 1872, morton, a plant lover himself, proposed a tree planting holiday, what we now know to be arbor day. upon this day, counties and individuals were coaxed by the promise of prizes to whomever properly planted the largest number of trees. history shows that more than 1 million trees were planted in nebraska on that april 10, 1874.

the nebraska state tree is the cottonwood, pictured above.

morton's home in nebraska city is now recognized as a state historical park, arbor lodge. it includes an arboretum and extensive landscaped grounds. the national arbor day foundation now runs morton's farm, appropriately called arbor day farm.

at my elementary school, it was customary for second-grade students to go home with a tree and plant it. my tree was a sweetgum and stands proud next to my older brother's sweetgum in the backyard of our old house.

so if you have the chance, plant a tree today. if you join the arbor day foundation, they'll give you 10 free trees! or sign up for paperless billing with your wireless provider or credit card company, which might be more practical, and save a tree.

live simply. take action.

rock port, missouri: small city making big headlines.

before today, i'd never heard of rock port, missouri.

they're a town of 1,300 and they just made history as the first united states city to be 100 percent powered by wind. rock port will only use about 113 of the 116 kilowatts the wind turbine will produce. they'll supply it for a cost to neighbouring cities.

rock port, thank you for making the dream a reality and setting the example to everyone else. you have found the answer and yeah, it was blowin' in the wind.


bob dylan
"blowin' in the wind"

how many roads must a man walk down
before you call him a man?
yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
before she sleeps in the sand?
yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
before they're forever banned?
the answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
the answer is blowin' in the wind.

how many times must a man look up
before he can see the sky?
yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
before he can hear people cry?
yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
that too many people have died?
the answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
the answer is blowin' in the wind.

how many years can a mountain exist
before it's washed to the sea?
yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
before they're allowed to be free?
yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
pretending he just doesn't see?
the answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
the answer is blowin' in the wind.