There are 72 million pet dogs and 82 million pet cats in the United States. The pet population has an impact just as we do, but the difference is that we’re making the calls as to how we care for them, decisions that can also have strong impact on our health and the environment.
Here’s a few tips for greening up your pet:
1.) Adopt. The shelters are teeming with abandoned pets that are desperate for a home and the cost of adoption is minimal.
2.) Feed them right. Meat byproducts, commodity corn, and chemical fillers in pet food are as bad if not worse for them as they are for us. Nourish their little bodies with brands that are certified to have the good stuff or make your own pet food!
and 3.) Compost pet waste. Keep it out of your vegetable garden but it use it your flower beds and lawns for them to come up really strong!
For more ways to green your pet, check out some of the following sites:
Grassroots movements converge on Washington to urge the Obamas to appoint the nation’s First Farmer.
It wasn’t difficult for the first family to decide on a personal chef - Sam Kass has been preparing them local and organic meals since their Chicago days. But now that the Obama’s every morsel is up for discussion, some feel that the food eaten by the President should come from his own land.
In response, three separate organizations have sprung up, all calling for one thing: Turn the White House lawn into farmland.
The first, called the White House Organic Farm Project is touring it’s “topsy-turvy” bus around the nation teaching the code of the green thumb.
Another group called “Eat the View,” with its 1,600+ members are all buying up virtual plots of the First Lawn as donations.
Lastly, a local Illinois farm family created WhiteHouseFarmer.com and attracted over 100 nominees for the position of First Farmer. Out of 56,000 votes, three emerged and have been recommended directly to the President.
$6 billion for clean and safe water, creating more than 200,000 jobs
This insures critical funding for the nation’s pipes and treatment plants. We don’t often worry too much about where our clean water comes from and this line seeks to keep it that way.
$4.5 billion for greening federal buildings
The Federal building codes and standards apply to buildings constructed or used by any Federal agency that is not legally subject to state or local building codes. This means that any building, not just the White House, Pentagon, Capital Building, etc., ANY building paying their energy bills with Federal money will be subject to completely revised energy efficiency performance standards which have been set by the DOE.
State energy grants, issued through the Treasury Department, that will fund renewable energy projects that are eligible for the available tax credits.
As of October of last year, the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 prolonged tax credits in solar, fuel cells, and microturbines; increased the credit amount for fuel cells; established new credits for small wind-energy systems, geothermal heat pumps, and combined heat and power (CHP) systems; extended eligibility for the credits to utilities; and allowed taxpayers to take the credit against the alternative minimum tax (AMT) subject to certain limitations. If you’ve got these systems already in place are are planning to build new ones, you should apply here.
Funding for the state energy program, which includes important utility reforms and building code conditions.
$2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy Research and Development.
In many cases, the technology just isn’t there yet and it takes resources to get there, hence, this line item.
$5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program, creating approximately 90,000 jobs
The expansion of this service will help the program reach a critical mass and deliver what it was designed to do - help low income families make energy efficiency improvements on their homes and spend less on utilities. See if you qualify here.
A multi-year extension of the renewable production tax credit.
Even greater insurance to individuals and corporations interested in these upgrades that their renewable energy improvements will be rewarded for many years to come. This is the kind of thing that boosts investor confidence in green stocks.
A more effective tax credit for home efficiency upgrades.
If you’re not eligible for the Wheatherization Assistance Program, now you can receive the big discounts on the home energy improvements you do yourself.
$6 billion in loan guarantees for renewables, transmission and leading edge biofuels
This is a great boon for companies investing in these industries. Now there will be real money to back up the loans guaranteed by the government. This comes as particular significance to the USDA.
$2 billion for advanced batteries
More than just rechargeable batteries for your TV remote, this category of tech development may be the most important. Certainly the automotive industry has a lot to gain with hybrid-electric vehicles seeking to replace the current fleet. Here’s an interesting piece from the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USCAR). The storage of electricity produced on a massive scale for residential and commercial use is also an integral component to making the new renewable grid happen.
$9.3 billion for intercity rail, including high-speed rail
With these new high-speed rail systems, the U.S. may actually be up to speed with the rest of the world. Here’s a little more on that idea.
$27.5 billion for highways (this large pot of money is not exclusively for highways, and states and cities must use this flexibility to invest in fuel-efficient public transportation)
While this may seem a bit imbalanced up against the public transportation budgets, the ethos behind it suggests the auto fleet will be markedly cleaner by the time the highways are improved. Like it or not, the U.S. is a car culture which means the industries and infrastructure must change to accommodate it.
$8.4 billion for transit
$1.5 billion in competitive grants for transportation investments (which could be used for public transportation)
These last two lines combined with the high-speed rail budget is a pretty formidable sum to help the country’s beleaguered public trans condition. However, it may also prove to be a mere drop in the bucket if the other energy system improvements are not met.
The International Consumer Electronics Show wrapped up in Las Vegas but what happens to these soon-to-be-obsolete electronic devices once their lifetime has expired?
Electronic waste, made up of discarded TV’s, computers, and cell phones, known as E-waste has swiftly risen to become the fastest growing component of our country’s waste stream. In reality, the physical stuff of these magic machines consists mainly of lead, mercury, and cancer-causing dioxins that poison the people and habitats around them.
One such habitat can be found in the Guiyu region of China. Here, nearly 80% of the world’s e-waste is shipped to be sorted, dismantled, and melted down to its valuable elements, including gold. The result is the highest concentration of cancer and child lead poisoning in the world.
Ensure your e-waste isn’t contributing to this toxic scourge by checking out recycling brokers and accredited e-stewards the next time you’re ready to toss a used gadget.
For more on what to do with e-waste, check out some of these resources:
When choosing gold jewelry for your Valentine this year, consider the dirty secrets of this so-called precious metal.
The world’s gold is in short supply and the amount collected in the last 500 yearsd could fill two Olympic sized swimming pools. Within the last 50 years, the old wild west methods of panning and prospecting have been replaced by mountain leveling, open-pit mining that creates man made earth gashes that can be seen from space.
Having the least vital relevance to human existence, gold generates more waste per ounce than any other metal. One ounce, the amount found in a typical wedding ring, requires the removal of more than 250 tons of rock and ore. Cyanide is used to leach gold from the ore and the lead and mercury heavy waste slurry is commonly dumped into local water resources decimating fish, wildlife, and poisoning the food chain for generations.
If you really want to dazzle your Valentine this year, try buy from retailers like Tiffany & Co that are pushing mining standards higher.
For more facts and alternatives to dirty gold, check out some of these powerful images and links:
How is Twitter helping to provide clean water to developing countries?
Still fuzzy on what Twitter is? If you can express it in 140 characters, you’re ready to “tweet” yourself into the micro-blogging community some 750 thousand strong.
One thing you may find difficult to express in 140 characters, however, is the dire need for clean water in countries outside our own. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation cause 80% of all the sickness and disease worldwide. So how does a seemingly trivial web gadget help this planetary plight?
On February 12th, over 100 cities will be hosting Twestivals, bringing together Twitter communities to raise money and awareness for the non-profit organization called charity:water. All donations will directly fund costly yet vital clean water bearing systems.
Because of the power Twitter has to connect, mobilize, and inform people, these Twestivals have turned a quirky phenomenon into a force for global change.
Join the Twestival in your city by clicking on the following links:
The high price of green energy culls consumers and Clean Air restrictions on big shipping have port workers gasping for air.
The New York Times released a comprehensive evaluation of American green power programs and found that only 2% of households can voluntarily afford electricity powered by renewables. The study reveals that while green power may be expensive now, resources like wind and sunlight are free and safe from the price jumps found in oil, coal, or natural gas.
Los Angeles, California: The green wave has rolled into port and commercial shipping giants say less cargo will mean less revenue in 2009. Pollution from big shipping isn’t from the boats but from the 16,000 trucks on land. Old, dirty trucks are slated to be replaced with cash from municipal bonds but the weak market is preventing California state money from reaching the program. The port hopes to postpone any further green initiatives based on declining cargo volumes.
For more on the price of green, check out some of the following links:
Thank you for your outpouring of support for a White House Farmer – we received nearly 56,000 votes from all across the country in just 10 days!
This amazing grassroots effort has sent a huge wave of awareness across the nation. You have spoken loud and clear — not only to encourage the new administration to make Michael Pollan’s call for a White House Farmer a reality — but also for the larger cause that we are working toward with our farms and with our forks, delicious food grown sustainably by farmers in our communities.
We offer our congratulations to all the nominees, and to farmers across the nation who steward the land and grow good food. You are all winners, and we are grateful for the work you do.
I just got off the phone with a brilliant young woman named Margaret Lloyd. She’s a grad student at UC Davis going for her Masters in International Agricultural Development and Plant Pathology.
Why is she so significant at this very moment?
Today, January 31st, is the FINAL DAY of her campaign to become the official White House Farmer! Margaret is one of over 100 nominees selected to till, sow, and harvest 5 prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn at the start of this year’s growing season.
Here’s Margaret in her own words:
Q: How’s the campaign going?
A:
Q: How did you become a nominee? What kinds of things on campus have you been doing?
A:
Q: Obviously you have farming experience but have you ever had 5 acres all to yourself? What kinds of crops do you intend to grow?
A:
Q: Do you think you’ll be able to fuel the farm with the crops you grow?
A:
Q: What other challenges are you facing going into this?
A:
Q: What do you have to say to the world in support of your campaign?
A:
Our guest has been Margaret Lloyd, grad student of International Agriculture and Plant Pathology at UC Davis and nominee for White House Farmer.
There’s only a couple hours left to vote so log onto WhiteHouseFarmer.com and vote for Margaret!
While snowy slopes are fun for skiers and snowboarders, what are the environmental costs of this winter sport?
60 million vacationers will head for the hills this year and resorts are being forced to expand drastically. This means more trees chopped to clear trails, more wildlife displaced, and more energy needed to run the lifts and lodges.
So is there anything to stop this?
Recently, the Ski Area Citizens Coalition (SACC) called foul an effort where resorts were required to assess their own eco-friendliness. The problem with this self-evaluation, they said, is the absence of accountability.
The coalition fired back with their own environmental scorecards based on water usage, energy and waste management, and forest, air, and wildlife preservation.
By giving consumers the ability to choose destinations with higher scores, inadequately scored resorts are forced to steepen their efforts.
For more on skiing green, check out some of the following links.
For no other reason than this kinda made me chuckle when I first caught wind of it on GreenUpgrader.com and then again when thepoopoopaper Twittered me, it seemed irresistibly interesting. Turns out this elephant dung paper ain’t no joke but a potent little eco craze that’s helping keep these mammoth beasts thriving in the wild.
The diet of an elephant consists mainly of fruits, fibrous grasses and bamboo. These plants can be used to make paper on their own but requires a rather toxic process to achieve what an elephant’s digestive system does on its own. What’s left behind is the undigested plant matter that is first washed, combined with some other plant fibers, molded into “cakes” or “wafers”, left out in the sun to dry, and then peeled off it’s tray to make poop paper products!
The process is as brilliant as it is beneficial. The dung used is collected from conservation parks creating a clean environment for the animals while the whole process from elephant grazing to paper raising creates jobs down the entire line. The Elephant Poo Paper Company, Ltd. even goes so far as to donate a portion of your purchase from their “Poo-tique” to elephant conservation services worldwide.
The endless supply of junk food in our society creates untold amounts of waste and causes health problems like obesity and diabetes but it’s not simply sugar and fat doing the damage. There’s a common ingredient found in almost everything sold on supermarket shelves from fatty beef to sugary soda - it’s corn.
Curt Ellis, one of the creators of the documentary film, King Corn.
Corn is the basis for fast food. When we go to McDonald’s, the hamburger is fed corn, the soda is almost completely high-fructose corn syrup, and the french fries are fried in corn oil or soybean oil.
The overproduction of low quality corn as a commodity is a huge problem but there’s a lot you can do to combat it. Buy locally produced vegetables, switch to grass fed beef, and avoid high-fructose corn syrup. These easy steps will help you right the wrongs of the American food industry and live well.
For the full interview podcast with Curt Ellis, click here.
In this City Spotlight, we travel to the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Better known for its brownstones than green space, it’s home to the the country’s largest oil spill and faces challenges that all growing cities face.
Residents and legislators have had their hands full treating hazardous conditions caused by it’s man-made industrial waterways like the Newtown Creek. An estimated 30 million gallons of oil has been leaking into the soil and water around it since the 1950s.
We have no choice. This is the future. It’s about our economy in the future. It’s about our health in the future. It’s about jobs in the future and we can’t allow the energy industry to get by us.
While your city may not be 2.5 million people crammed into 70 square miles like Brooklyn, increased awareness of your surroundings can secure safe living environments for your family and neighbors.
At the recent USGBC New York Chapter Gala, Borough President Marty Markowitz took the time to address a few things that are on the minds Brooklyn residents, small business owners, and the environmental community. It was clear from his direct and sometimes gregarious responses that while every politician is subject to criticism, Borough President Markowitz certainly isn’t afraid to express his personal views.
Markowitz became involved in politics in the 1970s, by organizing tenant and senior citizen organizations in Flatbush, Brooklyn. His role as a community leader got him elected to the State Senate in 1978, and spent over two decades as a New York State Senator for Brooklyn. During his time as a state senator, he was known for creating a series of oceanfront concerts and other festivals rather than drafting legislation.
Q: What’s Green about Brooklyn?
A: Well, listen, in fact if you look in New York City, the most environmentally active community in the city is Park Slope. We lead the way, it’s true! There’s no question about it.
Q: Can small business get help to clean up toxic industrial sites and move in safely?
A: The answer is yes but it’s going to require a partnership with State and Federal Government and as you know right now, finances are such in the State that are most challenging and I’m sorry to say that we’re on a cutting mode right now but once our economy becomes stronger it’s my hope that the Federal and State Governments will be eager participants and provide the resources to allow the city to clean up. First up, we need that property, we need that land and it’s environmentally a necessity. I can tell you that, for instance, there’s a business in Brooklyn, I think you know, Whole Foods, that is not able to really get going because of the toxic level of the property that they bought and that’s a shame for all of us, the jobs potentially that we’re losing not only there but other locations.
I see the future as very bright, you know why? America has no choice! We have no choice. This is the future. It’s about our economy in the future. It’s about our health in the future. It’s about jobs in the future. And you know what, we in this nation better get on this curve because Japan and Korea and some of those Mid-East countries are already on the track and we can’t be left behind. We already failed in the automobile industry and unless we grab that industry back, we’re gonna be further behind and we can’t allow the energy industry to get by us as well. This is the future of America at stake so I’m convinced that we’ll make it happen.
A: I must tell you that I think we have to provide incentives to corporations to do what they have to do. First you entice then and then you slap them so let’s see what more we can do to entice them before we slap them. I always believe the first approach, the best approach, is to provide incentives and then if they don’t live up to their public responsibilities, then the hammer comes down.
A: Well, there’s some exciting things about the Gowanus Canal. There are proposals, as you know, of Toll Brothers to build new housing there and I believe the key, by having more development around the Gowanus and having more residential units, it will really really put the pressure on Federal, State and City Govern to clean up the Gowanus Canal once and for all.
Q: Are you involved in the Newtown Creek cleanup efforts?
A: Newtown Creek is another area. Riverkeeper and I have been very active, I’m part of the suit and there’s no question that Exxon/Mobil I believe, under Barack Obama and Congress, that we’ll have a much better opportunity to get the oil companies to clean up their garbage. It’s the truth! This is our shot, this is our chance.
One of the most fantastical gardens can be found in Kew, England where many different flowers and plants make up a varied man-made Eden. But there lies something else in Kew; something that more resembles the lair of an evil genius rather than the nature’s playground that Kew has been famous for.
The Millennium Seed Bank is a series of giant vaults that holds something more precious than any ordinary bank could hopeful in this year of economic bailouts. It holds billions of seeds that have been frozen for future uses that will be crucial to the world’s food supply and medical crises. With the world’s natural resources quickly disappearing, the Millennium Seed Bank is not just a side project for the Green movement but an insurance policy for all of Earth.
One by one, the Earth’s natural resources are disappearing. And by no means is fresh water safe from elimination. And in a world where most living things only thrive on fresh water, the search for an alternative is rising to the top of the science community’s list of priorities.
98% of the water on Earth is from the ocean. So it only makes sense that scientist have been looking to the ocean as the next frontier for survival. Plants such as kale and samphire can be cultivated in salt water, as they have been for several thousand years by our ancestors. Spinach and beetroot are also options for the salt water revolution. At this rate, soylent green is no longer something we have to look forward to.
Thought it would be helpful to direct your attention to this little letter put together by some freaked out Canadians about an industrial catastrophe that will nullify Quebec’s carbon reduction efforts.
As stated, if Enbridge is allowed to implement the “Trailbreaker Plan”, increase production and supply this pipeline that ends at the marinas of Portland, Maine, the emissions and massive holes in the ground will leave a tangible and indelible scar on the planet; it will distort and disfigure life as we know it. This is real.
Submit your attention as a concerned neighbor and read about the players and the plans below.
According to Christine MacDonald, author of Green Inc., oil sands is an extremely heavy form of crude oil found in great quantities in Canada and Venezuela. It requires an open-pit mining process that destroys forests and uses a lot of water, making it even more environmentally invasive than old-fashioned drilling.
Essentially, the oil in oil sands is mixed together with sand and clay to form a viscous and dense form of petroleum that must be separated out in order to be useful. It takes three to five barrels of water to separate a single barrel of oil from the clay and dirt.
Turning oil sands into something you can pour into your car’s gas tank takes several times more energy than processing conventional oil and contributes more than twice as much greenhouse gas. So if you hear of legislators trying to pass off an oil sands project as a way to counteract the global energy crisis, fight it with all your might.
For more on oil sands, click on some of the following links:
Is Pixar so prescient? Will our planet one day be deserted with no one left but WALL-E robots cubing massive heaps of trash our civilization simply couldn’t handle? If you haven’t seen the movie, this article is another clear representation of the sad irony found in our increasingly futile effort to reuse and manage waste.
The grim fact being that recycled materials are too costly for countries like China to buy back from top exporters like the US is what’s creating the log jam. This overpriced approach to renewables even goes beyond materials and scares consumers away from such energy utility programs offering wind, hydroelectric, and solar power at a costly premium. Seems the true innovation here requires absolute altruism on the part of it’s inventors to excavate us from these rising mountains of expensive trash.
A land of rich culture and history, England is known for many things. English gardens being one of the most aesthetically pleasing of them all. But for many horticulture hobbyists, these famous gardens are more than just idyllic backdrops.
The Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) has noted a trend in gardeners offering their gardens as Mother Nature’s safe haven for birds as well as insects. More than 25,000 gardens in England have initiated this plan by planting special plants and building homes for declining populations of birds such as sparrows and song thrushes. With these acts of ‘Green vigilante’, Ol’ Blighty will have soon have to change its nickname.
According to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, the world is flat… and hot and crowded.
Also a bestselling author, Thomas Friedman has traveled the road from Beirut to Jerusalem, he’s witnessed the towers of American life crumble with the World Trade Center on 9/11, and has come to the conclusion above all else that the world is hot, flat, and crowded.
In his new book Hot, Flat and Crowded, he takes a look at America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11 and the global environmental crisis. Friedman claims that if America can lead the world in energy innovation it will save the ailing planet and restore America’s reputation.
He calls this effort Code Green stressing urgency and action to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for a clean and conscientious energy solution.
For more on the work of Thomas Friedman, click here.
Will the crushing economy derail the big Green development plans for our cities and towns?
As cities continue to grow, large developers are incorporating sustainable technologies into their buildings. Reusing existing materials and installing roof mounted solar panels are two simple ways skyscrapers are going green.
Related Companies, is one of the biggest developers in the country and is responsible for some of New York City’s most aggressive skyscraper builds.
Jeff Brodsky, President of the Management Division of Related Companies.
Our expectation is that we’re going to be building green buildings, sustainable buildings, across our portfolio. Our commitment is over 30 billion dollars not only built but also in the planning stages and development. It’s an expectation of us that the client is expecting a sustainable and an environmentally sensitive product and if you don’t build it green now, three years from now it’s gonna be an obsolete building anyway.
And Related Companies is just one of many developers following through with their commitment to Green building despite the current economic landscape.
For more on building Green, click on the following links.
How safe is protected land and are logging, oil, and mining companies using our national parks for profit?
A land trust is a purchase of a large piece of real estate that in theory, remains protected from development. But it’s known that some of the biggest corporations and investment groups use the land for profit through logging, drilling, and mining.
Dan Tishman, Chairman of the Board for the Natural Resource Defense Council.
One has to define what logging is. There is good logging and there is bad logging. You can’t just tie up land as an eleemosynary thing forever. You have to understand that land is a valuable asset, it’s valuable for a whole host of reasons. And if in order to preserve land you need to figure out how to have some economic stream to preserve land, good sustainable certified logging practices might be the right sense.
One thing we can trust regarding our land is that not everyone has it’s best interests in mind regardless of what they say.
For more on American land trusts, visit some of the following links:
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