By Lyndon Rive •
May 5, 2009
Editor’s Note: Lyndon Rive is the co-founder and CEO of SolarCity, a national leader in solar power. This is the first in a series of posts from the CEOs of major solar companies.
Is it May already? Maybe it’s just me, but the media didn’t seem to make as big a deal over Earth Day as it has the last few years. I noticed that Vanity Fair didn’t do a “green issue” this year, and according to John McCaslin on Town Hall, Outside, Discover, Mother Jones, Newsweek and Time cut back on their Earth Day green issues too.
Treehugger reported that Vanity Fair is going to spread its environmental articles throughout the year, and this section of the magazine’s Web site seems to support that. But McCaslin calls it “green fatigue.” I think they’re both right.
By Simran Sethi •
April 27, 2009
Editor’s note: We’ve done quite a bit of republishing lately here at sustainablog. I’m grateful to all of those who have agreed to let us use their content, and wanted to add one more to the mix: Simran Sethi’s “post-Earth Day manifesto” from last week’s Huffington Post.
“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.” Gwendolyn Brooks
Dave Lowenstein and Gwendolyn Brooks hooked me. Just over two years ago, I was contemplating my stay in Lawrence, Kansas and sorting out future plans. The circumstances that brought me there weren’t going to keep me there. All my work was in New York and Los Angeles. I had no compelling reason to stay. Then I walked by a mural.
The mural, replete with brilliant images of incredible African-American artists connected to Kansas, is the backdrop for Lawrence’s Saturday Farmers’ Market. But that particular Sunday was scorching hot and downtown was a ghost town. The one car parked in front of the colorful wall at 9th and New Hampshire featured a bumper sticker demanding a living wage for Lawrence. I got up close to the words. I took a photo of the bumper sticker. In that sticky, solitary, epiphanic moment, everything became clear. I wanted to stay in this small town in a flat state, because of our magnitude and bond.
By Derek Markham •
April 23, 2009
Earth Day brings out the best (or worst) examples of greenwashing.
I simply ignored most of the PR pitches I got in the last couple of weeks, but one stood out to me as an absolutely ridiculous spin on a product.
I’m going to take a chance and give it more publicity than it’s worth. Here’s the pitch I got:
“Monopoly®: Planet Earth Edition gives fans the chance to buy, sell and trade the earth’s most natural resources, landscapes, and animals Monopoly® style.”
By Govind Singh •
April 23, 2009
Moving the Earth on Her Day!
When Earth Hour was celebrated on the 28th of last month, the city of Delhi saved 600 MW of electricity - the highest in any Metro city in India - just by switching off non-essential lights. In terms of Carbon emissions, it was as if 2.3 million small cars were taken off the road. It was thus decided by the Chief Minister of Delhi that the Earth Hour will be celebrated every month in the city, and 22nd April - the Earth Day was appropriately chosen to be the day for this month.
Earth Day this year was also a landmark event for the city. Delhi faces several environmental issues most of which are actually the challenges of a rapidly evolving capital city of a country which is developing at an equal pace. Trees being cut almost every day, a polluted river only getting worse, the mobility crisis and the inequity, vehicular pollution and unplanned urban planning are all issues faced by citizens who wanted a solution to these by having a say in the decision making and access to basic information.
By Lucille Chi •
April 22, 2009
Today, while walking with my dear friend after an uplifting yoga class, we were lured into a Lush shop (by the colorful poster above) to plant a seed bomb any place in the city that needs native wildflowers!
It gets even more adorable:
The Lush crew is set to do good across North America to see customers “dig in some soil, plant a few seeds, or mend a sagging fence. One good deed inspires anothor” ~ Guerilla Gardener, David Tracey
By Lisa Kivirist •
April 23, 2009
America received an Earth Day gift today wrapped in national significance and organic pea tendrils. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, declared the entire six-acres grounds of the Whitten Building, the mammoth marble USDA headquarters on the Mall in Washington D.C., as “The People’s Garden.” Goodbye grass, hello edible greens.
Today’s act builds on initial plans unveiled back on February 12, when Vilsack announced the People’s Garden concept on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. “Abraham Lincoln founded the Department of Agriculture in 1862, referring it to the ‘People’s Department,’” explains Rose Hayden-Smith, a garden historian and Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow. “The name of this new garden reflects the inspiring significant shift on the federal level in championing homegrown produce, rekindling the Victory Garden era for modern times.”
The new People’s Garden will be 1,300 square feet (slightly larger than the White House Garden, for those counting) and will include a rotation of crops, beginning with spring plantings such as peas, lettuce and kale.
This garden represents more than trendy edible landscaping. Here are three reasons why these plantings cultivate inspiration and meaning for us all:
By Dave Levitan •
April 22, 2009
Okay, it’s Earth Day and everything, so maybe I’m imagining things, but it certainly feels like the renewable energy/carbon emissions/let’s-fix-global-warming conversation has picked up steam dramatically in the last couple of weeks. I thought it might be nice to take a step back and review where things stand in Washington and elsewhere.
By Liz Thompson •
April 22, 2009
Just in time for Earth Day, Zoya has launched their exchange program to help eliminate more toxic nail polish and save your beauty dollars. Starting now through June, you can trade in any bottles of polish you may have around the house (any brand other than Zoya) and choose from one of the over 300 color choices at Zoya. Zoya will take your old polishes and dispose of them according to EPA safety guidelines. All Zoya polishes are free from formaldehyde, toluene, camphor and dibutyl phthalate.
Even after doing this for years, I still get a little flustered with the requisite Earth Day post. No, it’s not a matter of saying “Screw Earth Day” (though I get that…); rather, it’s a recognition that there’s so much content out there that I’m unsure what I can add. So, rather than taking a feeble stab at something, I’ll make my contribution by sharing some of the good stuff I’ve seen around the web and blogosphere today.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
April 22, 2009
In stead of spilling any more ink writing about Earth Day 2009, I dug up some of the best Earth Day posters from over the years. I’ve done my best to get an even sampling, but as might be expected, the earlier ones were much more difficult to track down (mostly because very few were made).
By Joe Mohr •
April 22, 2009
We can’t shop our way out of climate change and peak oil, if only we consume “green” products and services.
