Green Options » environmentalism

The International Ecotourism Society’s African Safari Auction

Lucille Chi — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:20:58 +0000

The International Ecotourism Society is offering a Surperb Safari Experience as an auction to raise funds for global environmental awareness. The Safari location is at Ol Seki Mara Camp.

Safari Details: Located in the heart of Eastern Koiyaki, Kenya, Ol Seki Mara Camp offers luxury “Nina” tents with 270 degree panoramic views of the famous Maasai Mara.

Magnificent Wildlife: Eastern Koiyaki, provides an opportunity to enjoy wildlife viewing in a pristine oasis nestled amongst Cordia and Acacia trees attracting an abundance of wildlife and birds.

Your Dream Vacation: Elegant candle lit dinners, romantic dining for honeymooners, a resident masseuse – a delight for all senses!

What are Ol Seki Mara Camp’s specific sustainability Practices?

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Environmentalist, Conservationist, Or Neither?

Dave Dempsey — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:20:37 +0000

Darby Nelson, a member of a Minnesota state panel that advises the Legislature on fish, game and wildlife habitat spending, is a classic conservationist.

Almost 40 years after the first Earth Day, the term environmentalist is in some disrepute. Once a badge of honor for public-spirited citizens seeking to protect and clean up air, land, water and fish and wildlife, the word is now often associated with special interest politics. Is it time somehow to restore the term to its original associations or to choose another, like conservationist?

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Apple is Next to Leave US Chamber of Commerce, Forcefully

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:32:38 +0000

Following action by Nike, the nation’s leading utility company, and others, Apple resigned from the US Chamber of Commerce this week, and in force.

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Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:13:36 +0000

Environmental care is a practical, worldly thing. But it is also a step in one’s personal evolution. On the one hand, it is a practical response to the environmental problems we are facing. It is also a foresighted response to the issues (economic and environmental) that we might be facing if we don’t think more about the environment we live in and rely on. But, on the other hand, it is much more than that.

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Positive, Action-Oriented Books for Kids about Environmentalism

Julie Finn — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:21:49 +0000

I have two little girls, and I am NOT a fan of frightening picture books about environmentalism. At my girls’ young ages, their time is best spent learning to know and love nature, as well as internalizing such family activities as recycling and conserving energy, and leaving the bad stuff to us adults for a little while longer.

The time will come, however, when they’re a little older, when they’ll want to understand problems like pollution and extinction and global warming, and it will be my reluctant responsibility to give them some answers (if not some justification—that’s impossible). Although I’m a stay-at-home mom and not a librarian these days, I like to use my library science degree to create these reader’s guides to keep up with the best eco-friendly reading materials accessible to our children. Here are five books that manage to discuss environmentalism, both our earth’s problems and positive solutions to those problems, without being too frightening for young readers:

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Bjorn Lomborg on Who the Environmentalists Forgot

Simran Sethi — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:09:29 +0000

When the headlines told us that the global warming debate was over, it seemed like we environmentalists could breathe a collective sigh of relief. The United States elected a cap-and-trade-sympathetic administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency says it is going to exert some of the “P” in its acronym after it formally labeled carbon dioxide a pollutant last month. So now that the debate is over, has the discussion ended?

Much of what I assumed to be climate consensus has been turned on its head since I moved to the Midwest from New York. Meaning, there a lot of people here in the Middle who care about environmental issues but are not convinced climate change is related to human activities and/or is as dire as predicted. I believe it is. . .and I also believe that in order to get buy-in from such diverse constituents, it’s imperative that we engage in dialog with those who hold differing opinions.

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Carnival of the Green #182

Reenita Malhotra — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:08:13 +0000

Welcome to the Carnival of the Green! This is the 182nd edition of Treehugger’s weekly roundup of eco links from around the blogosphere.

Welcome to Green Building Elements where home owners and LEED accredited professional alike can learn about advances in green and renewable building materials, current projects in sustainable architecture and progressive urban planning, and local guidelines for creating green structures in different regions of the U.S.

Here’s what greenies worldwide submitted for this round:

Admiral India brings to life Maitri Bagh,a zoo and a park established by the Bhilai Steel Plant in Maitri Bagh, Bhilai: Part 1 .
Monkey Profit shares gives us tips on how to rake in the cash with Making Money On Twitter.
The Knoxville Home Expert has contributed two great posts. We are taken into the garden with Go Green with Sustainable Landscaping Techniques and Composting 101: What is Composting and Why Should Everyone Do it?
Guffly gives us the view on eco fashion with Men’s Organic Cotton Polo Shirt.
In Let Them Eat Plastic: SMART Art — Trash Into Treasure, Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish tells us about a competition held by environmentalist David de Rothschild, for works of art constructed from materials that would have otherwise found their way into our waste stream. Pieces like Kathleen’s plastic bottle wave tell a sad story of consumption as well as the transformative power of the human imagination.
Mikkal Travvis shares tips on staying healthy with How to Survive a Flu Pandemic.
Energy Saving gadgets gives us green home wisdom with Make Your Home Energy Efficent with The Leak Detector.
The Green Thinking Blog brings us the movie trailer of a new independent film called FRESH that features “farmers, thinkers, and business people” in the U.S. who are making positive changes in our industrialized food system. Some of the main characters include urban and sustainable farmers and supermarket owners.

Many thanks to last week’s host, The Green Phone Booth. And since Carnival of the Green, always promises to bring fresh, new content, make sure you check out Ooffoo next week for the June 8th edition!

For more information about how to participate in Carnival of the Green, please visit http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/treehugger_to_b.php

Happy Monday to you all!

Crafty Garden: Grow Your Own Natural Crafting Supplies

Julie Finn — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:38:34 +0000

I’m a novice gardener. I’ve been interested in gardening for a few years now, but since my two little girls will, this summer, turn 3 and 5, you can imagine, I’m sure, what the last five summers have been like for me. This year, however, I’m dedicated, I’m committed, I have two children who are happy and independent and love the outdoors, I have a next-door-neighbor who just cut down the tree in her front yard that loomed over my front yard–in other words, I am ready to garden.

I still don’t have an infinity of free time, however, and so not only am I gardening with the lasagna garden method, but I’m also basically eschewing nearly all ornamentals. I like my garden to be pretty, sure, but I also need it to multitask for me.

Multitasking means sunflowers, and speckled cranberry beans that climb them. It means kale in the border garden, and carrots in between the lilac bushes.

It also means that I’m growing many of the natural materials that I’d like to craft with in the coming year. Here’s a list of what I’m growing, and some other ideas for what you could put in your own crafty garden:

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Green Crafting Ethics: Do You Craft with Wood?

Julie Finn — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:26:44 +0000

My green crafting manifesto is clear about this: I craft primarily with recycled materials, and if I can’t make a recycled material work for my project, then I use primarily natural materials–cotton, hemp, wood, etc.

Generally, this makes the positives of green crafting quite clear. When I craft with recycled materials, then I know that I’m taking positive action for the environment even if what I’m crafting with was originally some sort of resource-heavy plastic–felting around dumpster-dived plastic Easter eggs to make shaker eggs or play food for my daughters, perhaps, or incorporating costume jewelry into a new piece.

The ethics of crafting even with natural materials, however, are trickier, because you have to consider not just the nature of your material, but also its provenance.

Take wood.

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(Street) Sign of the Times

Joe Mohr — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:22:43 +0000

Stuck in traffic the other day and surrounded by an army of traffic cameras, I was forced to pay closer attention to the street signs at a busy intersection. It was at this intersection where I saw this sign and thought that it really defines our present situation. “Left Turn” referring to the political/social change in direction that our country has taken. And, “Yield on Green” referring to the fact that we are now stopping (or atleast slowing down) to consider the impact our actions have on our planet.

Just thought I’d share my thoughts…

…oh and, if there were a street sign for the last 8 years it might’ve been:

or…

Environmentalism, Organic Foods Explode in South Korea

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:41:01 +0000

The success of organic foods was never a sure bet in South Korea. Since the Korean word for pesticides literally means “plant medicines” many Koreans have had a difficult time seeing what’s wrong with using them. But today’s ultra health conscious Korean is becoming more environmentally savvy too. Today, words like “blossom” and “bloom” are too mild to describe the exploding popularity of organic foods and environmentalism in South Korea.

#6 Plastic is Shrinky! A Kid-Friendly Re-use Project

Julie Finn — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:05:45 +0000

My days of Strawberry Shortcake Shrinky-Dinks are long past (although my childhood Strawberry Shortcake doll is still a prized possession–our household rule is that we are allowed no commercial culture toys in the house, unless they’re “vintage”. Ahem), but wow, were they crazy fun or what?

At last year’s Strange Folk festival, some Girl Scouts taught me and my kiddos the joys of #6 plastic. The basic concept: It shrinks! Like Shriny-Dinks! Equally awesomely! And because you get to draw your own pictures, not fill in some pre-printed coloring sheet, AND you get to re-use before you recycle, it’s a great activity to do with our budding little environmentalists.

There are lots of tutorials on the web for shrinking #6 plastic, all a little different, but here’s how my family does ours:

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Talking Green with Doubters or Deniers

Joel Bittle — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:17:37 +0000

One of my favorite web comics is xkcd’s “Duty Calls,” where the stick figure can’t tear himself away from the computer because “Someone is WRONG on the internet.” Unfortunately, too often discussions on environmental topics devolve into “You’re wrong” - “No, you’re wrong” and we lose sight of what we are trying to accomplish, namely, moving towards a healthier, sustainable, more energy efficient lifestyle. If you’re the kind of person who has to be right all the time, you’re not going to convince anyone else of anything - you’ll just be arguing minute points like there’s a debate coach keeping score, and at the end someone’s going to hand you a little trophy. In this type of debate, the goal is to get the other side to see the advantages of going green, even if it’s in a small way. Keeping the conversation going is more important than proving the other side wrong. Here are a few strategies to achieve that goal.

Avoid “Green” - The term is overused and since it means different things to different people, many are confused by it. To me, “Green” means healthy, sustainable, and energy efficient. To someone else, it might conjure images of hippies in communes. Companies use “Green” to sell products that have no business being near that word. So if you’re trying to convince someone to conserve energy and water, use “energy conservation” or tie it into “energy independence.” If you are arguing health aspects, use “chemical free,” “carcinogen free,” “hypoallergenic,” or just plain “healthy.”

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Make Felted Wool Rocks that RAWK!

Julie Finn — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:33:41 +0000

Um, you’ve probably gotten the idea by now that I like to craft with felted wool sweaters, right? The twenty-pound cardboard box on my study floor full of cut-up wool sweaters tells me that this is true. And you’ve probably also figured out that I prefer to use acrylic felt made from recycled plastic over conventional wool felt (and you don’t agree–I swear, that Wool Comes from Sheep post is the only one I have ever seen on all of Green Options in which a commentor calls a blogger a Bad Name. A Bad Name! Really? Because of crafting? I sort of left the world of academics in favor of crafting to avoid crazy politics, but anyway…).

Ahem. My point, now that I’ve gotten around to it, is that I actually do craft with new wool, but I need to know where that wool has come from so that I can assure myself that the sheep were humanely raised as the happy, frolicsome beasts they’re meant to be (I assume–never having raised sheep myself, they could be fierce and blood-thirsty predators, for all I really know).

And one of the awesomest kinds of wool to craft with, especially if you’re not a spinner or a knitter, is wool roving (just don’t use superwash!). You can felt wet-felt wool roving to make your own felt, or you can welt-felt it around a form. A good project for a newbie is this one, in which we’re going to wet-felt some roving around a river rock. It will be hefty but soft, good for anything from a paperweight to a plaything:

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Wal-Mart Pulls Plan to Build SuperCenter on Sensitive Land

Alex Felsinger — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:11:39 +0000

After years of protests and obstacles, Wal-Mart has given up on plans to build a giant SuperCenter store on the environmentally-sensitive White Slough in Vallejo, CA.

Environmental activists were joined by Vallejoans for Responsible Growth and California Healthy Communities Network in their opposition to the plans from the start. Due to their vocal opposition, Vellejo’s city council forced a $700,000 independent environmental investigation into the plans in 2007.

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Carl Pope to Step Down as Sierra Club Chief

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:58:47 +0000

Carl Pope, the longest-serving Executive Director in the Sierra Club’s storied history, announced today that he will step down from his leadership position, effective as soon as the Board of Directors finds a replacement. Mr. Pope has been the head of the organization since 1992 and has been with the Club for over 30 years.

After a replacement is named sometime in the next few weeks, Pope will transition to Chairman of the Sierra Club, focused on climate change.

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Why Environmentalism Should Not be a Factor in Family Planning

Jamie Ervin — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:59:26 +0000

The great debate among environmentalists is that having children is bad for the environment (or rather, that NOT having children is good for the environment). If we listen to and subscribe to this mentality then we are on the road to self extinction.

There are valid considerations when one is deciding to have children (and how many children to have) like religion and your capacity to care for children. Among these issues should not be the “save the earth, don’t breed” mentality. IMO, this mentality places a greater emphasis on animal rights and earth over HUMAN LIFE and Family. Something is just wrong with that priority assignment.

We all must work toward environmental protection. We must reduce our footprint on this earth and we must raise children who are aware and carry on in earth saving efforts.

This is why I believe that we should be the people raising MORE CHILDREN. By the very nature of parenting, I am raising children who are conscious of the impact of everything they do on the earth. They CARE about conservation and reducing consumption. They are experts on recycling and reducing energy consumption. They live and value natural, organic and local food consumption. These children will grow up to be tomorrows adults who will be making policy that will promote ENVIRONMENTALISM.

If those of us who care strongly about our environment do not raise children then who will raise warriors of this earth?

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Book Review: American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau

Timothy B. Hurst — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Whether you’re (still) trying to figure out what to get that hard to shop for greenie for Christmas or you’re looking for a good book to hunker down with over the holidays, a new volume edited by Bill McKibben and titled American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau is so packed with high-quality writing it is literally hard to put down.

McKibben, well known for his environmental writings, including The End of Nature (1989), the first book for a general audience about global warming, and more recently, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (2007), has compiled the foundational writings of American environmentalism and stuffed them into a 1,000 page epic tome that anyone with a green bone in their body would love to add to their bookshelf.

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The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Biofuels, Preachers, and Echinacea

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:43:05 +0000

May Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and even Cinco de Mayo… lots to celebrate in May. We had lots to celebrate at sustainablog, also… especially a bevvy of new voices who joined us during the month.

Those new writers got us over our Spring fever slump, and took sustainablog in some very interesting new directions…

May 2008

Keith Rockmael reviewed the film A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba.
Our friends at Low Impact Living suggested five eco-smart ways to spend your tax rebate.
GO editorial intern Oscar Cardenas explored the environmental impact of using echinacea to fight colds.
Guest poster Max Gladwell argued that social media can change the world.

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Sea Shepherd Now has Former US Navy Lieutenant Onboard

Alex Felsinger — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:46:05 +0000

We’ve covered Sea Shepherd and their new television show “Whale Wars” quite a bit the past couple months, and while we love the organization and the show, we must admit that we cringe every time they make a disastrous mistake on the TV show. But things are looking brighter for the next season, being filmed currently: Sea Shepherd has brought along a former US Navy Lieutenant, Jane Taylor.

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